January 13, 2015 Playlist

THE BEST OF 2014
Featuring the
KOSMIK RADIATION TOP 25!

       
"To Be Kind" by Swans (2014)
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Swans  "To Be Kind"  2014 (USA)
It's time to say hello to 2015 and stuff 2014 down our memory holes! We're running down the Kosmik Top 25 for the year just past, so in keeping with tradition this week's classic album is Dave 3000's pick for the best album of 2014. Swans first album came out in 1983 and the group disbanded in 1997 only to be reformed in 2010; the only constant member is leader/singer/guitarist Michael Gira. Since reforming, they have released three new albums - two of which are two-hour-long triple-LP epics. The first of these was 2012's The Seer, which was #6 on the Kosmik Top 25 that year; it might have placed even higher but that was a very strong year for new music (including the return of Crazy Horse with two albums that year!) I have been  aware of Swans since way back (I used to think of them as a gothier/angrier Sonic Youth), but frankly The Seer blew me away and seemed like an entirely new chapter in the group's history. Amazingly, To Be Kind (their second triple album in a row) is even better! The band plays powerful trance-inducing orchestral rock and Gira "suddenly" (after 30 years) seems to be one of the most powerful singers in rock. Resolutely underground but sure to be remembered long after most of the ephemeral popular music of our time, this sucker lands on top for 2014 - in spite of a string of masterful albums by longtime KR show favorites like Scott Walker (top album of 2006) and Ariel Pink (making his third appearance in the KR Top 5 though the top spot continues to elude him).
(N) = New Release
   

Artist Song Album Year (Label) Country
The Black Lips WaitingUnderneath The Rainbow (N)
(Kosmik Radiation #15 album of 2014)
2014 (Vice)USA
Ty Segall Feel
Manipulator (N)
(Kosmik Radiation #17 album of 2014)
2014 (Drag City)USA
White Fence Arrow ManFor Those Recently Found Innocent (N)
(Kosmik Radiation #24 album of 2014)
2014 (Drag City)USA
Thee Oh Sees King's NoseDrop (N)
(tied for Kosmik Radiation #22 album of 2014)
2014 (Castle Face)USA
Stephen Malkmus & The JicksLariat
Wig Out At Jagbags (N)
(Kosmik Radiation #9 album of 2014)
2014 (Matador)USA
 
 
Thurston Moore Germs BurnThe Best Day (N)
(Kosmik Radiation #25 album of 2014)
2014 (Matador)USA/UK
Laetitia Sadier The Scene Of The LieSomething Shines (N)
(Kosmik Radiation #11 album of 2014)
2014 (Drag City)France
Damaged Bug 1/2 An AirplaneHubba Bubba (N)
(tied for Kosmik Radiation #22 album of 2014)
2014 (Castle Face)USA
Trin Tran Your WorldFar Reaches EP (N)
(Kosmik Radiation top local album of 2014)
2014 (Castle Face)USA
   
 
Pink Floyd Louder Than WordsThe Endless River (N)
(Kosmik Radiation #6 album of 2014)
2014 (Columbia)UK
Watter This WorldThis World (N)
(Kosmik Radiation #14 album of 2014)
2014 (Temporary Residence)USA
   
 
Swans A Little God In My HandsTo Be Kind (N)
(Kosmik Radiation #1 album of 2014)

CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
2014 (Mute)USA
OOIOO Gamel Udahah
Gamel (N)
(Kosmik Radiation #5 album of 2014)
2014 (Thrill Jockey)Japan
Mark McGuire To The Macrobes --> Astray (excerpt)Along The Way (N)
(Kosmik Radiation #7 album of 2014)
2014 (Dead Oceans)USA
Scott Walker & Sunn O))) BrandoSoused (N)
(Kosmik Radiation #2 album of 2014)
2014 (4AD)USA/UK
 
 
The Skull DefektsPattern Of ThoughtDances In Dreams Of The Known Unknown (N)
(Kosmik Radiation #4 album of 2014)
2014 (Thrill Jockey)Sweden
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Satan Speeds UpI'm In Your Mind Fuzz (N)
(Kosmik Radiation #10 album of 2014)
2014 (Castleface)Australia
Bo Ningen Maki-ModoshiIII (N)
(Kosmik Radiation #23 album of 2014)
2014 (Stolen)Japan/UK
Brian Eno & Karl Hyde Moulded LifeHigh Life (N)
(Kosmik Radiation #13 album of 2014)
2014 (Warp)UK
Liars Mask MakerMess (N)
(Kosmik Radiation #20 album of 2014)
2014 (Mute)USA/Australia
 
 
Neneh Cherry Blank ProjectBlank Project (N)
(Kosmik Radiation #8 album of 2014)
2014 (Smalltown Supersound)Sweden/UK
Cibo Matto Deja VuHotel Valentine (N)
(Kosmik Radiation #19 album of 2014)
2014 (Chimera)Japan/USA
The Black Keys Turn BlueTurn Blue (N)
(Kosmik Radiation #21 album of 2014)
2014 (Nonesuch)USA
The Budos Band Magus Mountain
Burnt Offering (N)
(Kosmik Radiation #12 album of 2014)
2014 (Daptone)USA
Ariel Pink Dayzed Inn DaydreamPom Pom (N)
(Kosmik Radiation #3 album of 2014)
2014 (4AD)USA
 
 
Wildest Dreams (DJ Harvey) Yes We Can CanWildest Dreams (N)
(Kosmik Radiation #16 album of 2014)
2014 (Smalltown Supersound)UK
Earthling Society TortugaEngland Have My Bones (N)
(Kosmik Radiation #18 album of 2014)
2014 (Riot Season)UK
Cem Karaca IhtarnameNem Kaldi? (N)
(Kosmik Radiation reissue of the year)
1975 (2014 Pharaway Sounds)Turkey
   
  
Bob Dylan & The Band All You Have To Do Is DreamThe Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete (N)
(Kosmik Radiation reissue of the year)
rec. 1967 (2014 Columbia)USA/Canada
Death We're Gonna Make ItIII (N)
(Kosmik Radiation reissue of the year)
rec. 1975-1992 (2014 Drag City)USA
          
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