Top 89 Staff Picks: Kristoffer Tigue, college contributor
December 01, 2014
Kristoffer Tigue, a recent graduate from the University of Minnesota, is a college contributor to our Local Current blog.
Best albums of 2014
1. Perfume Genius: Too Bright
Too Bright is everything you want in a great album. Drawing from many disciplines — including pop, rock, and electronica — the album is at its heart bohemian. What truly shines through, though — and I typically hold to this theory for most great albums — is the singer's vocals. Mike Handreas's voice is a habitue of heartbreak and attitude. He's a diva through and through.
2. Jeremy Messersmith: Heart Murmurs
Jeremy Messersmith's Heart Murmurs is as digestible as they come. The album is easily one of the catchiest albums of the year, which some might argue detracts from its authenticity — but Messersmith has somehow found a way to approach the often hackneyed topic of adolescent love in such an earnest fashion that you can't help but appreciate it and reminisce.
3. The New Pornographers: Brill Bruisers
It's been four years since the New Pornographers released an album, but their new album Brill Bruisers was well worth the wait. The new material is classic Pornographers, full of boundless energy, great storytelling, and fantastic harmonies.
4. Mogwai: Rave Tapes
Mogwai's Rave Tapes is an hour-long prog-rock-lover's wet dream. While at times, the album feels like a droning on of one song rather than a compilation of ten, fans of Mogwai know they're getting what they paid for. The laid-back, trans-inducing experimental rock is rich, melodious, and guaranteed to get you through that term paper without hitting the "next" button once.
5. Run the Jewels: Run the Jewels
Run the Jewels, a.k.a. Killer Mike and El-P, make one hell of a comeback with their rap-duo debut self-titled — you got it &8212; Run the Jewels. While El-P hails out of New York City and Killer Mike from Atlanta, two cities with very distinct sounding hip-hop, Run the Jewels sounds less a hybrid of the two styles but rather a beast of its own. Part club-rap, part 90s gansta rap, and all energy, this album is a must for any hip-hop head.
6. Run the Jewels: Run the Jewels 2
Pulling a fast one on us, Run the Jewels released a second full-length album later this year. Run the Jewels 2 is as its name suggests, an extension of its predecessor, complete with the same in-your-face energy, punching beats, and fluid yet vulgar spits.
7. Phantogram: Voices
Voices seemed like the album of the summer. No matter where you went, or which state you resided in, you couldn't seem to escape it. That makes sense: Voices is electropop-rock at its finest. The beats are bass-y, the vocals catchy, and like in most electropop, the lyrics are childish. Although the themes in the album tend to be on the morose side, the music itself is all dance party — so, dance away.
8. Benjamin Booker: Benjamin Booker
Benjamin Booker may be the third or fourth revival of post-punk rock music. I've really lost track at this point — but that's okay, because Booker's self-titled album knocks it out of the park and garage rock will always have a place in America, and England, and Japan too, probably.
9. Wilco: What's Your 20? Essential Tracks 1994-2014
No, Wilco didn't release a new album. What's Your 20? Essential Tracks 1994-2014 is a compilation of 20 of Wilco's greatest hits. That's right, Wilco made a greatest hits album. Isn't there a saying about greatest hits albums meaning the death of a band? Either way, the album has most of the classics on it.
10. Tweedy: Sukierae
Wilco's Jeff Tweedy released his first quasi-solo album, Sukierae. The new band, named Tweedy, is a duo with his own offspring, 18-year-old Spencer Tweedy. The album breaks away a bit from Tweedy's dealings in Wilco, but doesn't stray too far. Most anyone wouldn't be able to tell the difference. With that said, the album is solid, and Tweedy's son can hold down a drum kit, no problem.
Best songs of 2014
1. TV on the Radio: "Happy Idiot"
2. Perfume Genius: "Queen"
3. The Decemberists: "Make You Better"
4. Run the Jewels: "Run the Jewels"
5. Phantogram: "Black Out Days"
6. Tweedy: "Summer Noon"
7. J. Roddy Walston and the Business: "Take it as it Comes"
8. Tycho: "Awake"
9. Alt-J: "Hunger of the Pine"
10. thestand4rd: "Simple Needs"
Best new local artists of 2014
Thestand4rd
Spooky Black / Corbin
Sonny Knight & the Lakers
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