1O’Hooley & Tidow
The Hum
2St. Vincent
St. Vincent
3Jenny Lewis
The Voyager
4Angel Olsen
Burn Your Fire For No Witness
5Sharon Van Etten
Are We There
6Perfume Genius
Too Bright
7Damien Jurado
Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son
8Morgan Delt
Morgan Delt
9Mark Lanegan Band
Phantom Radio
10King Creosote
From Scotland With Love
11EMA
The Future’s Void
12Wye Oak
Shriek
13The New Pornographers
Brill Bruisers
14Elbow
The Take Off and Landing of Everything
15The Afghan Whigs
Do The Beast
16Grouper
Ruins
17Lucius
Wildewoman
18Wild Beasts
Present Tense
19The War On Drugs
Lost In The Dream
20Mirel Wagner
When the Cellar Children See the Light of Day
21Sturgill Simpson
Metamodern Sounds In Country Music
22The Rural Alberta Advantage
Mended With Gold
23J Mascis
Tied To A Star
24Spoon
They Want My Soul
25Honeyblood
Honeyblood
The Hum and St. Vincent were released a week apart in February 2014 and it’s a testament to their quality that even with the toll of many months listening that my pick for record of the year was a straight choice between the two.
It was a hard decision but I picked the O’Hooley & Tidow record for my number one. It’s a very beautiful record packed with personality and humanity. That sense of personality edged it ahead of St. Vincent’s seamless, jeweled, statement of intent.
Gig of the year was Neutral Milk Hotel at the Corn Exchange. A joyous experience from beginning to end despite the slightly rubbish venue.
My favourite new-to-me song of the year was You, Sailor by Erin McKeown.
My most listened to song from a 2014 record was Coil & Spring by O’Hooley & Tidow