Top 20 Albums of 2014 20. Lykke Li I Never Learn [LL Recordings/Atlantic] I Never Learn is Lykke Li’s Blood on the Tracks. That is to say, this is the album on which the Swedish songwriter has abandoned any pretenses and surrendered to pure, unvarnished pain through her music. While her previous two albums were riddled through with earworms like “Dance Dance Dance,” I Never … Read More
Top 25 Songs of 2014 25. Lykke Li – “Never Gonna Love Again” [Atlantic] The product of a catastrophic breakup, I Never Learn contains the saddest music Lykke Li has recorded to date, making it one of the most heartbreaking records of the year. Yet despite the specter of loss that casts black and lovely shadows over all of these songs, I Never Learn is … Read More
Best Albums of 2014 (So Far) As we ease into the halfway point of 2014, it’s time to pause, light up the grill and enjoy the summer, bathing ourselves in the glorious new music that this year has yielded. We are pleased to present a list of albums that we feel have bubbled to the top of the heap. And while there are some significant absences … Read More
Todd Terje: It’s Album Time [xrr rating=4.0/5]Todd Terje’s It’s Album Time begins with a synth line that I imagine blaring over a PA as lasers pierce the darkness of a smoke-filled club for fans awaiting their Norwegian disco god. Yes, Norwegian cosmic disco is a scene, and Terje is its star practitioner. Producer Terje Olsen took his nom de vinyl in homage to Chicago house … Read More
