The best music of 2014: Young Thug, Aphex Twin, Charli XCX and more
Here’s the best of what floated past in 2014.
1. The rise of Young Thug
If the English language has a breaking point, Young Thug is going to find it. The Atlanta rapper became the year’s most radical pop star through a succession of ear-tweaking hits (“Lifestyle,” “Danny Glover”) and astonishing mixtapes (“Black Portland,” “Tha Tour Part 1”), spewing out dazzling torrents of melodic squeaks and mewls. He’s pushing toward rap’s post-verbal frontier. Nobody else sounds this defiant, this inventive, this alive.
2. Sam Hunt, “Montevallo”
Let’s count how many times Sam Hunt defies the odds in the following sentence: The best album of 2014 [one] comes from a college-quarterback-turned-songwriter [two] who’s figured out a way to reconcile country music and hip-hop [three] with supreme elegance [four!] while describing his bruised-up heart in ways that would make Drake and Conway Twitty jealous [five, six], and if you’re still not convinced that this is the shape of country music to come, try counting again.
3. Just about everything produced by DJ Mustard
With a sound as big and clean as outer space, DJ Mustard owned America’s radio waves this year, producing 2014’s sleekest R&B singles — Tinashe’s “2 On,” Jeremih’s “Don’t Tell ‘Em” — while still finding time to drop his own meticulous and tenacious solo debut, “10 Summers.” But nothing in Mustard’s mammoth songbook eclipsed his contributions to “My Krazy Life,” the taut, vivid album he helped produce for the Compton rapper YG. Together, they’ve forged the most promising partnership in West Coast hip-hop since Snoop met Dre.
4. Modern — and “Metamodern” — sounds in country music
Country music has always been defined by its ties to tradition — and it’s always been up to the artists to decide whether to cut those ties or twist them into knots.
Accordingly, three of the year’s best country albums confidently flaunted their 21st century-ness without surrendering any cred. Reigning Nashville queen Miranda Lambert applied a smart and subtle layer of pop gloss to her fifth and best album, “Platinum,” while Eric Church‘s “The Outsiders” nonchalantly utilized some funky, futuristic timbres. (With “The Joint,” he may have accidentally invented hillbilly trip-hop, too.)
And then there was Sturgill Simpson, whose superb “Metamodern Sounds in Country Music” included a few psychedelic flourishes to complement his lyrics about hallucinogenic reveries and the meaning of the universe. Are psychonauts the new outlaws? We can only hope.
5. Aphex Twin, “Syro”
After 13 years in semi-seclusion, pioneering electronic music producer Richard D. James has returned with a new Aphex Twin album that feels as painstakingly rich and breathtakingly ambitious as the best science fiction. See you again in 2027, sir?
6. Dej Loaf, “Try Me”
What a sweet, menacing, mysterious, indelible song. It’s the breakout hit from a Detroit singer-rapper who talks landfills of trash but sounds as if she’s carrying a much heavier load on her shoulders. It’s as fleeting as it is profound, because, like so many similar pop miracles, it’s over in 3
7. Popcaan, “Where We Come From”
His earlier singles were designed for dance floors, but Popcaan’s evocative debut album resides in the bleary after-hours that separate darkness and sunrise, gloom and hope. It’s easily the best dancehall reggae album released this decade.
8. Hiss Golden Messenger, “Lateness of Dancers”
North Carolina folk singer M.C. Taylor has been untangling his relationship with God — or lack thereof — over the course of four splendid Hiss Golden Messenger albums, and while No. 5 doesn’t result in the big epiphany he’s been chasing after, Taylor’s sense of melody has never sounded more transcendent.
9. Rae Sremmurd, Bobby Shmurda and the endurance of ecstatic toughness
There’s a certain ecstatic toughness that flows through punk, metal, rap or any branch of pop music where young people strike threatening poses to express the joys of being alive.
This summer, you could hear it most distinctly in Bobby Shmurda’s “Hot Boy” and Rae Sremmurd’s “No Flex Zone,” two surly hits from young rappers who were clearly having big fun. Now, these scowling songs get played at wedding receptions.
10. The new (fuzzy) math rock
“Math rock.” Ever heard of it? It’s a punky nano-genre built on fussy guitar lines and zig-zag rhythms — and two terrific young bands took it for a fresh spin this year by loosening the beat and remembering to breathe.
Naomi Punk’s “Television Man” captures the woozy thud of the band’s spectacular live show, while Horse Lords‘ “Hidden Cities” pushes, pulls and piles up guitar riffs like loose Jenga blocks. Both albums are clever, vibrant and feel like the opposite of homework.
11. Lori McKenna, “Numbered Doors”
Chronicling that awful moment when a broken heart finally calcifies, McKenna has penned another batch of fallen-out-of-love songs that are almost too punishing to bear. But wow, they’re gorgeous — proof that she’s one of the most brutal and sophisticated storytellers in country music, or any music.
12. Charli XCX, “Sucker”
As a songwriter, young Charli already knows how to make bubble gum feel as nourishing as a meal. And as a budding star, she already understands that sincere fakery will always trump fake sincerity. So if this album makes her as influential as she oughta be, tomorrow’s pop universe could be a wonderful place indeed.
Warning: Songs on the following playlist contain explicit lyrics.
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