Flycasual's - Best 5 of 2014
Best of 2014 Damon Albarn EL-P Flycasual Jungle Killer Mike Royal Blood Run The Jewels Tony Allen War on Drugs Zach De La Rocha2014 - Another Great Year For Music
This time of year always fills me with a sense of happy dread. Not only is Christmas round the corner with all the buffoonery that that entails but it's the real stress of compiling your best of the year. Never mind an eight month old baby and getting my head around a new job it was this exclusive list that was giving me sleepless nights. Many thanks as always to my fellow bloggers Old Pa, Sfw, London Scouser and Shell Hunter for providing class A material for the blog but also contributing to my soundtrack of the year. Props y'all!
Jungle - 'The Heat'
It's not very often a band comes along and completely knocks me out Frank Bruno style. These guys ticked all of my boxes since I first heard them earlier this year, they were elusive, their videos had some brilliant dance choreography and they had a retro vibe not heard since Hue and Cry in the 80's (ok maybe not them but they're definitely channeling a 80's white soul ting but light years better). Needless to say they didn't disappoint at Latitude either, the moshing (why?) kids did however. Band of the year, sound of the summer, stunning!
War On Drugs - 'Red Eyes'
On many a best ofs list and for good reason, it really doesn't get much better than this. Devastatingly brilliant, it gives me goose pimples every time. Beautiful melody, beautiful musicianship, a track perfectly put together...and then he goes "woo" and it kicks off! Almost Springsteen-esque. Oh stop gushing! We missed them at Latitude but we past the tent when this played and that was highly memorable. Thanks to Old Pa for the heads up, track of the year!
Royal Blood - 'Loose Change'
An absolute belter! That's a lot of noise coming from two guys. Watching them perform live is something else, this is only the beginning for the talented Brighton duo. A firm family favourite, 'Loose Change' is the brightest diamond from a solid debut album.
Run The Jewels - 'Close Your Eyes' feat Zach De La Rocha
Run The Jewels - 'Close Your Eyes' feat Zach De La Rocha
Fierce, chaotic and rude, reminiscent to how I felt when I first listened to Public Enemy in the 80's. Run the Jewels is Rap's in form duo, EL-P and Killer Mike, with a VIP guest spot from Rocks very own, "I'm bloody annoyed", Zach De La Rocha (who incidentally did his verse in one take). Perfect for the middle aged dad to turn the stereo up to 11 in his Peugeot estate after the kids are safely dropped off at school/nursery. A Bombtrack fo' sho'.
It would have been hard to ignore Damon Albarn after he released his debut solo, Everyday Robots, earlier this year. Though it was a decent album with some notable standouts, it was the sobering collaboration with Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen that hit the spot.
It took lots of workin and twerkin to squeeze dem tracks into a top 20. A labour of love fo' sho' and I'm sharing it below, have a listen. Or if you're feeling a little adventurous try my B-sides for size here.....
