The 55 Best Albums of 2014 (23-33)

Posted on January 18, 2015 by acompleteunknown

There have been questions about this year’s countdown…to answer the big one: I did not do a poll this year. Though I promised, I ran out of my time in my life, day job, and parenting duties. So, this year, you’re just going to have to live with my list and my list only. Enjoy the kitty.

Here are the 55 Best Albums of 2014 (23-33):

23. Johnny Cash - Out among the Stars
24. Movement - Movement EP
25. Ryan Adams - Ryan Adams
26. Jenny Lewis - The Voyager
27. Merchandise - After the End
28. Beck - Morning Phase
39. Y.G. - My Krazy Life
30. You Blew It! - Keep Doing What You're Doing
31. Cloud Nothings - Here And Nothing Else
32. The Black Keys - Turn Blue
33. Claire - The Great Escape

Buy these albums and more…now!!!

My 11 Favorite Albums of 2014 (so far)

Posted on July 3, 2014 by acompleteunknown

It’s been a weird year in music. There’s actually been a lot of great music…but nothing that has yet to stand above the rest. There’s been no real consensus on what albums are 2014’s calling card. From site to site, it seems there’s a lot more variety than most years. And my top 11 is no different. While there seems to some shared love for James Vincent McMorrow, Against Me!, Cloud Nothings, and The War On Drugs, my favorite album of the year (the infectious Broken Bells) is nowhere to be found on any list. The Jack White peaks into a couple lists but has been widely slammed, probably because the album was made for vinyl and listening to any other way takes it down a notch. Strangely, it happens to be my favorite non-White Stripes Jack White recording to date. I’ve seen Pure X and Conor Oberst get a couple mentions (albeit low on lists). White Sea and First Aid Kit are two budding artists hitting their strides, yet fail to get mentions. Last on my list is the addictive EP by the band Movement. Everyone’s raving about How To Dress Well (which is another good album) but I feel like Movement is doing the same thing but is already leaps and bounds ahead. But this is the great thing about music…there’s something for everyone to love.

Happy 4th! Enjoy songs from the albums below…plus a few other good tracks from this year.

Here are my 11 favorite albums of 2014 (so far):

Broken Bells – After The Disco
James Vincent McMorrow – Post-Tropical
Against Me! – Transgender Dysphoria Blues
Jack White – Lazaretto
Conor Oberst – Upside Down Mountain
Cloud Nothings – Here And Nowhere Else
Pure X – Angel
First Aid Kit – Stay Gold
White Sea – White Sea
The War on Drugs – Lost In the Dream
Movement – Movement EP

Don’t forget to check out our blog’s awesome new book The 111 Best Lists of the 2000s. Available now!

The 11 Best Songs By The Cloud Nothings

Posted on April 2, 2014 by acompleteunknown

This weekend the internet was in an uproar over the #cancelcolbert hashtag. A comedian made a sarcastic comment about racial insensitivity. That’s what comedians do. They bring light to controversial topics via comedy. Sometimes the jokes make their points brilliantly and sometimes they miss their mark, completely. But the outrage over the comments were almost as absurd as the Washington Redskins’ charity that the jokes were trying to make fun of in the first place.

We need to stop throwing the term “racist” around every time we get our feelings hurt. A racist is someone who belittles another race to show his race’s superiority. Colbert was never belittling another race to show his own racial superiority. He was belittling the owner of the Washington Redskins (Daniel Snyder), who also is not necessarily a racist. Snyder didn’t name the team. He bought the team when it already had its name. Because he chooses to not change the name of the team that has been in existence for over 40 years doesn’t make him a racist. It may make him racially insensitive or even a douche bag…but he’s not a racist. Hitler was a racist. David Duke is a racist. Steven Colbert is a comedian. Daniel Snyder is a racially ignorant business man. The irony is that through this whole mess…Colbert’s joke has drawn more ire toward him than Snyder has drawn for his deliberate insensitivity.

Second of all, in marriage, spouses are always told to pick your battles. The same goes here. If you’re the leader of a movement, and you’re trying to prove to the world that you should be taken seriously, you need to stand up against/for something that matters. Blowing your wad on a stupid joke makes you look petty. While there are real problems involving race and discrimination in the country, you’re wasting your time and our time on something that honestly doesn’t fucking matter. If my first impression toward your organization is that you waste your time on meaningless noise, then when something comes along that does matter, I won’t be there to support you. Ever read the story about the boy who cried wolf?

A great new album by the Cloud Nothings is out now. With only 8 songs, the band doesn’t waste our time with album fillers…because every song matters.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By The Cloud Nothings:

Not Important (Cloud Nothings)
Wasted Days (Attack On Memory)
Stay Useless (Attack On Memory)
Morgan (Turning On)
You’re Not That Good At Anything (Cloud Nothings)
Leave You Forever (Leave You Forever EP)
Our Plans (Attack On Memory)
Been Through (Cloud Nothings)
Cut You (Attack On Memory)
Should Have (Cloud Nothings)
Didn’t You (Didn’t You)

Buy the Cloud Nothings new album, Here And Nowhere Else …now!!!