Concert Addict Chick's TOP 25 ALBUMS of 2014

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE DAY!!!!!!!

In honor of the new year & after 12 solid months of VERY careful consideration, I present to you the crème de la crème of 2014:

1 - TV On The Radio - Seeds
2 - Broken Bells - After The Disco
3 - Beck - Morning Phase
4 - Spoon - They Want My Soul
5 - tUnE-yArDs - Nikki Nack
6 - Caribou - Our Love
7 - Atmosphere - Southsiders
8 - Jungle - Jungle
9 - Real Estate - Atlas
10 - Kiev - Falling Bough Wisdom Teeth
11 - Dan Croll - Sweet Disarray
12 - Sylvan Esso - Sylvan Esso
13 - Bear In Heaven - Time Is Over One Day Old
14 - RAC - Strangers
15 - Gardens & Villa - Dunes
16 - Kishi Bashi - Lighght
17 - The New Basement Tapes - Lost on the River
18 - Little Dragon - Nabuma Rubberband
19 - Glass Animals - Zaba
20 - Future Islands - Singles
21 - Chet Faker - Built on Glass
22 - Liars - Mess
23 - Karen O - Crush Songs
24 - SBTRKT - Wonder Where We Land
25 - Ty Segall - Manipulator

Runners Up:
-Sturgill Simpson - Metamodern Sounds in Country Music
-Aphex Twin - Syro
-Jack White - Lazaretto
-Thom Yorke - Tomorrow's Modern Boxes
-Phantogram - Voices
-Flight Facilities - Down To Earth
-Warpaint - Warpaint

Soundtracks:
-Guardians of the Galaxy - Awesome Mix Volume 1
-Gone Girl - Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross

And, in order to start easily checking out any & all of the music you might have missed this year (including ALL of the above), please start following me AND Concert Addict Chick's BEST OF 2014 playlist on SPOTIFY!

Metamodern Sounds In Country Music by Sturgill Simpson

Because country isn't exactly my favorite genre of music, I'm sure I often overlook quality tunes I'd actually enjoy if I ever bothered to give them a chance. Luckily, when Sturgill Simpson's album Metamodern Sounds In Country Music started appearing on many critics' Best of 2014 lists earlier this month (AND Sturgill performed on both The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon & Late Show with David Letterman), I became intrigued & gave it a listen via Spotify. I enjoyed it so much I bought a copy of the CD for my parents for Christmas! They love country.

If all modern country music sounded (& looked!) as good Sturgill Simpson, I just might love country too! His voice is beautiful, pure country perfection.

Life of Sin


Turtles All The Way Down


NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

Gold Coins by Charli XCX

The best track off Charli XCX's new album Sucker = 

Trouble by TV On The Radio

Despite being obsessed with the ENTIRE new album by TV On The Radio, my #1 most favorite new song from Seeds is the 11th track entitled Trouble. 

It really does make you feel like everything's going to be OK :)

Primus & The Chocolate Factory Willy Wonka Movie Mashup

Are you looking for a trippy, fun way to start the week of Christmas? If so, look no further!

"A mashup of the original Willy Wonka film with Primus' Primus and The Chocolate Factory album in place of the original soundtrack." - Charlie Mahoney

Come with me
And you'll be
In a world of
Pure imagination...

Primus & The Chocolate Factory (Mash-up - Edited into the original film) from Charlie Mahoney on Vimeo.

Golden Facelift by Broken Social Scene - Previously Unreleased!!

Broken Social Scene hasn't released a new album since May 2010 but, luckily for us, they just contributed a previously unreleased track entitled Golden Facelift to Broadsheet Music: A Year In Review, a collection of original songs reflecting upon relevant news topics from the past year.

Contributing artists include BSS, Reuben And The Dark, Fucked Up, Tamara Williamson & Absolutely Free, Jason Collett & Zeus & Brendan Canning & the album is presented by Arts & Crafts, The Globe & Mail & Canadian Opera Company. 

Golden Facelift touches upon the subject of reclamation & human accountability.

Remixes Made With Tennis Data by James Murphy (of LCD Soundsystem)

If you like tennis & James Murphy &/or LCD Soundsystem, then James Murphy's latest album entitled Remixes Made With Tennis Data is for you!! 

I'm not sure where the idea initially came from but James Murphy worked with IBM to convert raw data sounds pulled from U.S. Open tennis matches into listenable, danceable music. By utilizing a specific algorithm I won't pretend to understand, Murphy & IBM ended up creating over 400 hours worth of sound then Murphy remixed that material into the album now entitled Remixes Made With Tennis Data. 

There are no vocals on any of the 12 tracks so don't expect anything TOO similar to my beloved LCD Soundsystem but this upbeat, instrumental, electronic music makes for a great working, studying, exercising &/or cleaning the house soundtrack! 

Making Music with Tennis Data

Guardians Of The Galaxy: Awesome Mix Volume #1

Last night, my boyfriend went to 3 different Redboxes in the Santa Monica area before he finally tracked down a Blu-ray copy of Guardians Of The Galaxy. Even though we saw the film in 3D its opening weekend, we loved it so much that we were eager to watch it again the moment it was available on DVD & it turns out it was even better the 2nd time around! The cast is perfect. The dialogue is hilarious. The action sequences keep you on the edge of your seat. And, last but certainly not least, the soundtrack is absolute MARVELous. Check out just a "few" of my favorite tracks below!

Guardians Of The Galaxy is 1 of my favorite movies of 2014 for sure. It's in my top 9 so far along with The Lego Movie, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Gone Girl, Birdman, A Million Ways To Die In The West, Edge of Tomorrow, Interstellar & Fury.

I'm Not In Love by 10cc

Come & Get Your Love by Redbone

Hooked On A Feeling by Blue Suede

Moonage Daydream by David Bowie

Fooled Around & Fell In Love by Elvin Bishop

I Want You Back by The Jackson 5

Spirit In The Sky by Norman Greenbaum

Lazerray by TV On The Radio - OFFICIAL VIDEO PREMIERE!

A new TV On The Radio music video makes any day brighter!

This morning, TVOTR released the official, Atiba Jefferson-directed video for the 10th track on their 5th studio album Seeds. Lazerray is definitely the most punk rock-ish song on the album so it's only appropriate that the video takes place in a skate park & features famed skaters Eric Koston, Lance Mountain, Sean Malto & Andrew Reynolds showing off some of their craziest tricks!

Kendrick Lamar Debuts NEW Track on 3rd to Last Episode of The Colbert Report EVER - 12/16/14

After 9 years on the air, there are sadly only 2 episodes left of The Colbert Report & Stephen is going out with a serious bang.

On last night's 3rd to last episode, Stephen briefly & hilariously interviewed Kendrick Lamar (The Colbert Report's last musical guest EVER!!) then Kendrick took the stage, along with his Flying Lotus buddy Thundercat & saxophonist Terrace Martin, in order to debut the 2nd new track off Kendrick's upcoming, sophomore studio album. 

Both the track & album currently remain untitled (at least publicly) & Kendrick has not yet provided a release date but that's just making it all the more exciting! Kendrick's recent, memorable, black-eyed, AWESOME performance on Saturday Night Live combined with last night's KILLER performance on The Colbert Report are causing the anticipation to build exponentially.

I'm quickly becoming a huge Kendrick Lamar fan. I really hope he tours next year so I can see him perform! Coachella perhaps? :)

2141216234215 by YardieGoals

"Just add the word 'responsibly' at the end!" - Stephen Colbert

The Wrong Year by The Decemberists (Lyric Video) - NEW!

The Wrong Year is the 3rd new track to be released from The Decemberists' upcoming 7th album What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World. Keep an eye out for the full album on January 20th! 

My only question is why don't The Decemberists embrace their band name & release EVERY new album in December? It seems only logical!

Sugah Daddy by D'Angelo & The Vanguard - 1st Single from NEW Album BLACK MESSIAH

Since it's all anybody is talking about today, I figured I should jump on the D'Angelo train & check out his 1st full-length album in over 14 years, Black Messiah, which he practically dropped overnight. 

The full album is already streaming on Spotify, available for purchase on iTunes & every single song was JUST uploaded to D'Angelo's Youtube page 1 short hour ago!! I've only listened to a few tracks so far but I'm liking what I'm hearing!

Check out the funky 1st "single" Sugah Daddy BELOW, then, if you're intrigued, listen to the rest of the album on Spotify, iTunes or Youtube! 



Thanks for the early Christmas gift, D'Angelo! Welcome back to relevancy!! You're officially trending!

First by Cold War Kids

First is one of my favorite tracks off Cold War Kids' excellent 2014 album Hold My Home.



It's so good it even made the cut for Concert Addict Chick's Best of 2014 Spotify track-list!! :)

True by Operators

Another Dan Boeckner (of Wolf Parade, Handsome Furs &, most recently, Divine Fits) side project? YES, please!!

Allah-Las & Tashaki Miyaki @ El Rey Theatre - 12/11/14

I'm ashamed to admit, before last night's Allah-Las & Tashaki Miyaki show at El Rey Theatre, I had not been to El Rey (1 of my top 2 favorite indoor live music venues in LA...Troubadour is #1) in over a YEAR! The last show I attended at El Rey was Phosphorescent back on 10/1/13! I've been blowing it! :-P

I can't thank my fave hometown concert buddy, Darin, for giving me the 2nd ticket he won from KXLU 88.9 so we could hit up El Rey Theatre together last night. I was especially impressed with Tashaki Miyaki who I'd never even heard of until a few days before the show (per Darin's recommendation). They were fantastic! You can't beat a hot, female, lead vocalist who also plays drums! 

And Allah-Las' grungy surfer rock sound resonates SO well live! They put on a killer show!

Feel The Lightning by Dan Deacon - Official NEW Song AND Video!

Check out Dan Deacon's super silly, colorful, Andrew Jeffrey Wright-directed video for the 1st single (Feel The Lightning) off his upcoming album Gliss Riffer which will be released via Domino in late February.

Fun fact: Dan Deacon did ALL the vocals on the track...including the "female" ones! Dude's got range!

Catamaran by Allah-Las

I'm SO excited to see Allah-Las live for my 1st time TONIGHT at El Rey Theatre!!

tUnE-yArDs @ Sonos Studio - 12/9/14

THE best 1st visit to Sonos Studio EVER = My 6th tUnE-yArDs show!!! Thanks Sonos, Pandora & tUnE-yArDs! The free strawberry moonshine was an added, tasty bonus! I still can't believe I was standing only 10 feet away from Merrill Garbus for an entire hour! All I wanted to do was reach out & HUG HER! The woman is an absolute wonder & her dress was next level awesome. 

Also, Merrill's new backup singers/dancers are the perfect addition to everything tUnE-yArds is about...originality, creativity, embracing your inner weirdo, positivity, energy & FUN!!!!!

If you live in the LA area, do everything in your POWA to get to The Wiltern tonight to see tUnE-yArds for yourself! You can thank me later ;)

Bassem Sabry by of Montreal - NEW!!

Tuesday morning exclusive!!! of Montreal has announced the March 3rd release date of their upcoming new album Aureate Gloom & they've been so kind as to provide us with the 1st single Bassem Sabry along with the album's cover art. 

I've only seen of Montreal live 1x before (in May 2013 at Echoplex in LA) but I can't wait to see them again when they tour the new album! They put on 1 of the most lively, quirky, weird & FUN shows I've ever seen!

Chateau Lobby #4 (in C for Two Virgins) by Father John Misty - NEW Homemade Video!!!

Joshua Tillman aka J. Tillman &/or Father John Misty is a funny, blunt & talented man who, just this morning, released a new, homemade (via an iPad) video for the 2nd single off his upcoming new album I Love You, Honeybear. The song is called Chateau Lobby #4 (in C for Two Virgins) & the new album will be released on February 10th. 

Now I want banana pancakes.

Check out Father John Misty's hilarious, official statement re: the video for Chateau Lobby #4 (in C for Two Virgins):

A few months ago, I had an idea for a video. I was going to rent a wedding chapel, get a dozen kittens and stage a kitten wedding, over which I would preside and intercut with performance footage of me lip-syncing the song which you’re hearing today, “Chateau Lobby #4 (in C for Two Virgins)”.

Sounds great, right? It may have even gone viral because kittens. If a video goes viral, that means you’re reaching a wider audience, and you might even get on a chart. If you get on a chart that means you’re streaming more records, and the more records you’re streaming the more money you supposedly have for hiring kitten wranglers.

Aside from the fact that kitten wranglers are considerably more expensive than you may realize and that said-kitten wranglers all informed me there was no way we were going to be able get the outfits I had mocked up onto said-kittens, there was another extenuating factor involved in the decision to abort this music video concept and ruin the slim likelihood that I might ever get to see the Huffington Post entertainment headline “EX-FLEET FOXES DRUMMER WEDS CATS”.

That reason is that the song actually means a great a deal to me.

It’s got the #4 on it because this iteration Chateau Lobby was the 4th attempt at arranging and producing the song that did not turn out perversely sentimental. Sentimentality brutalizes emotion. Much like ironic music videos.

I don’t care if you like the video or not. The label isn’t crazy about it. Management isn’t crazy about it. I have been informed I’m basically kissing an MTV Woody award goodbye forever. I made it on an iPad on my wedding anniversary with the one I love. We ate pancakes.

I love you,
Josh

Hey Mami by Sylvan Esso

Because this track is starting to pop up on a lot of Best of 2014 track lists, I FINALLY just heard it for my 1st time a couple days ago & now I get what all the hype is about!! 

Per MANY a  strong recommendation, I now need to see Sylvan Esso live ASAP &, since I sadly can't make My Morning Jacket's One Big Holiday NUMERO DOS in Mexico in 2 months (OBH1 last January was THE most uniquely amazing concert-going experience of my life!!!!), I'll have to settle for heavily hoping Sylvan Esso plays Coachella in April!

Over Our Heads by OFF! - Official Video (PART 1) Featuring JACK BLACK

If you like Jack Black, skydiving, LSD, gratuitous violence &/OR the band OFF!, this video is for you :)

"Jack Black stars as a deranged skydiving coach who takes the guys on an excursion in honor of Keith Morris’s 59th birthday. The trip takes a horrifying, gory turn when the LSD kicks in. Part two (“Meet Your God”) coming next week." - OFF!

Push Pull by Purity Ring - NEW!!!

Our very first taste of Purity Ring's upcoming 2nd album is quite delicious!

Get More:
Purity Ring, Push Pull, Music, More Music Videos

Here's hoping they make it onto the 2015 music festival circuit because I've only seen them live once so far at FYF Fest 2012 & it just wasn't enough. They're extra RAD live!!

LOST

The 1st time I heard the song Lost was on November 7th 2012 when Divine Fits performed a FANTASTIC cover of the Frank Ocean original at The Fonda Theatre. I managed to capture a pretty decent-quality video of the entire song that you can watch right HERE:



After the show, I immediately looked up the Frank Ocean version of Lost, became temporarily obsessed &, 2 years later, I still love it. It's a classic.

frank ocean [lost] from christopher francis ocean on Vimeo.

I Wish You Would by JD McPherson

I can't get enough of JD McPherson's old-fashioned rock 'n' roll sound! I heard I Wish You Would on KCRW a few weeks ago & was convinced it was a track from the 1950's or 1960's then was shocked to learn it was from an up & coming, modern-day artist! I'm definitely going to check out JD McPherson live the 1st chance I get!

Bruno Mars & Mark Ronson Performing Uptown Funk on Saturday Night Live - 11/22/14

If you're looking for something to put a little pep in your step on this beautiful Monday morning, Bruno Mars & Mark Ronson's Saturday night performance of Uptown Funk on Saturday Night Live should do the trick. It has everything: a sick beat, groovy dance moves, flashing lights, 80's/90's throwback costumes, a rad crew of backup singers/dancers & a killer horn section. It'll definitely funk you up!!

SNL has really been upping their game the past few weeks...at least as far as the live music sets go. The sketches are leaving a bit to be desired but the musical guests are outdoing themselves!

After Midnight by DOROTHY

DOROTHY is not only a soulful badass but she's also SUPER hot! I can't wait to hear (& SEE) more from her soon! Thanks for the excellent recommendation, Brendan!

Classic by The Knocks Featuring POWERS (RAC Mix)

Kendrick Lamar Loving Himself on Saturday Night Live - 11/15/14

I'll admit I don't know much of Kendrick Lamar's music but, after seeing his enthusiastic, self-loving, super memorable SNL performance (accompanied by a full band & 4+ backup singers) this past Saturday night, I'm inspired to do some research! The man certainly puts on a show! 

Kendrick's geriatric robot dance moves & demon black eyes are just icing on the cake.

Medicine by Broken Bells

Medicine is 1 of my favorite tracks off Broken Bells' 2nd album After The Disco.

You gotta take your medicine...

Louder Than Words by PINK FLOYD

I wouldn't necessarily recommend listening to the supposed last new Pink Floyd song ever Louder Than Words for your 1st time while watching the accompanying promo video but, regardless, here it is!! :)

Buzzkill(er) by The Dead Weather - BRAND NEW!!!

Check out a brand-new track from The Dead Weather!! Alison Mosshart & Jack White make for a killer combination (especially live!). I can't wait for The DW to tour again!

Sunshine by Flight Facilities Featuring Reggie Watts

This new Flight Facilities video featuring the always fabulous Reggie Watts has everything: a groovy beat, funky dance moves & Venice Beach Boardwalk. And I think Reggie has actually got something with his Happy Days meets Twilight movie pitch! ;)

I Won't Let You Down by OK Go

Here is yet another creative, colorful, fun & incredibly well-choreographed video from the always clever & inventive OK GO :)

Mr Noah by Panda Bear

Mr Noah is the 1st single off Panda Bear's upcoming new album Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper (set for release on 1/13/15) but it's also the title track of a surprise 4-song Panda Bear EP currently available on Spotify. 

You can watch the new official video directed by AB/CD/CD below. 

It's making me (kinda) wish it was next year already!

You'll Stay by Tom Vek

My newfound love for this 2012 track by Tom Vek makes me really wish I was attending KCRW's Masquerade Costume Ball and Dance Party this Saturday night but seeing Beetlejuice at Hollywood Forever instead will help ease my pain ;)

Does Anybody See You Out? by Cowboy Indian Bear

A lovely track from Lawrence, Kansas-based Cowboy Indian Bear's 2013 album Live Old, Die Young: