top 14 albums of '14

Well as opposed to last year's list, I actually managed to be on time with the top albums list of 2014. Writing this now, I realize that every year I make myself do more and more work writing about one more album. Shit, if I have to talk about 20 albums in 2020 I better have a lot of free time on my hands. There were disappointments, a lot of them, and still a lot of albums I heard great things about but never got the chance to listen to in depth, like St. Vincent's self-titled effort or Iceage's Plowing Into The Field of Love, so you can expect not to see those in this list. Personally, there seemed to be more singles that caught my attention than full-length albums, but I will save that for the next post on the top 14 tracks of 2014. Let's pull a Marty McFly right now and set the DeLorean back to January 1st as we take a look at the albums I enjoyed this year.

album review: "III"

Arist: BadBadNotGood
Genre: Fusion Jazz, Neo-Jazz, Hip-Hop Instrumental
SOT's: "Triangle", "Confessions", "Eyes Closed", "Differently, Still", "Since You Asked Kindly"

Skyrocketing into fame is a perfect way to describe the journey these three former Humber College students have experienced in the past three years. Hailing from Toronto, ON, BadBadNotGood, or abbreviated to BBNG, is comprised of keyboardist Matthew Tavares, drummer Alexander Sowinski, and bassist Chester Hansen. They began to create a buzz on the Internet following their collaborative jam sessions with Tyler, the Creator. Following this burst in fame, the band ended up working and touring with big names such as MF DOOM, Earl Sweatshirt, RZA, Frank Ocean, and Danny Brown. Known for their distinct fusion of hip-hop and modern jazz, BBNG comes through with their first ever fully-original LP on III, parting from the track listings on their previous albums BBNG and BBNG2, which were mainly comprised of a wide variety of jazz renditions of songs from multiple genres, including the Ocarina of Time themes, Gucci Mane, ODB, Robert Glasper, Kanye West, Feist, and many more.

album review: "Forcefield"

Artist: Tokyo Police Club
Genre: Indie Rock/Indie Pop
SOT's: "Argentina (Part I)", "Beaches", "Through The Wire", "Feel The Effect"

The Canadian indie rock band Tokyo Police Club, hailing from Newmarket, ON, present us with their newest project Forcefield which was released through the Mom+Pop record label. After their very successful predecessor album Champ (2010), Tokyo Police Club return with a new, heavy pop-driven sound while retaining very few elements of their old technique, though it is still present in this project. In the past, it was TPC's quirky lyricism and high energy that captivated me at first, all summarized in my favourite song "Wait Up (Boots of Danger)". On Forcefield however, we encounter a lot of face value lyrics and themes typical of the pop album formula: love, heartbreak, summer fun, etc., which may not necessarily be a bad thing, just unusual of Tokyo Police Club.

FRESH: Drake ~ Draft Day

Last night, Drake released an unforeseen track, "Draft Day," with perfect timing in anticipation for the upcoming NFL and NBA 2014 drafts. With several name-drops, whether explicit or not, and a sampled Lauryn Hill, this song is sure to garner attention from the hip hop community.

Drake opens up the song with a sample from Lauryn Hill's 1998 hit "Doo Wop," along with recognition to college football and basketball phenoms: Johnny Manziel and Andrew Wiggins, respectively. He continues with his usual braggadocio theme over this lighthearted beat until he delivers a soft hit to Chance, but not without disclaimer: "And if I left this shit to chance, I would've picked a name like Chance the Rapper / No offense cause I don't know that nigga." Shortly after, Drake ostensibly revives tension between he and Jay-Z, with the line, "Just hits, no Mrs. / That's for the married folks." This was likely in response to the statement Jay-Z made directly to Drake on the 'We Made It' remix which also featured Jay Electronica; this back-and-forth between Hov and Drake could possibly extend into further songs, as it hasn't seemed to dissolve thus far.

Don't stop listening to the song just yet, Drake still has a few names up his sleeve. He pays homage to Jose Canseco and his use of 'roids during his MLB career, along with unexpected and unrelated shout-outs to Jennifer Lawrence:

"On some Hunger Games shit I would die for my district / Jennifer Lawrence you can really get it / I mean for real girl, you know I had to do it for ya"

It seems like Drake has got into a rhythm with his tracks, releasing several songs that are either leftovers from NWTS or simply side-tracks that he's been doing for fun. Either way, we should hope to hear some more non-album songs in the future.

album review: "Supermodel"

Artist: Foster the People
Genre: Indie Rock, Synthwave, Indie Pop
SOT's: "Are You What You Want To Be?", "Pseudologia Fantastica", "Best Friend", "A Beginner's Guide To Destroying The Moon"

Returning to the music scene following their successful debut studio album Torches in 2011, Foster the People come back at full force with their sophomore effort, Supermodel. As many of you will notice when listening to this record, Supermodel focuses a lot more on experimentation & symbolism that maintains some key aspects of their old sound while also incorporating new genres and instrumentation styles to bring us a refreshing, matured collection of songs. What makes this album so interesting is that it will serve as the successor to the band's exponential fame arising from their hit song "Pumped Up Kicks" (which received months of radio airplay on multiple stations), which ultimately determines Foster the People's status as either a one-time hit, or a genuinely talented group.