The 55 Best Albums of 2014 (34-44)

2014 was filled with 90s superstars, indie rap reinvention, 80s throwbacks, and some of the best EPs to come out in recent memory. The 55 Best Albums of 2014 (34-44):

34.  Nothing - Guilty of Everything
35.  D'Angelo - Black Messiah
36.  Protomartyr - Under Color of Official Right
37.  Future Islands - Singles
38.  LA Dispute - The Rooms of the House
39.  Freddie Gibbs and Madlib - Pinata
40.  Stevie Nicks - 24 Karat Gold
41.  Smashing Pumpkins - Monuments To An Elegy
42.  Schoolboy Q - Oxymoron
43.  Ought - More Than Any Other Day
44.  Small Black - Real People EP

Buy these albums and more...now!!!          

The 55 Best Albums of 2013 (1-11)

Here they are...my 11 best albums of 2013.  Up next will be your top 111.  Last chance to send in your favorite albums now.  I will compile everyone's picks and publish the super list next week.  Just in time to start our chronicling of 2014.  Have a happy and safe new year!

Here are the 55 Best Albums of 2013 (1-11):

1. Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
2. Haim - Days Are Gone
3. Empire of the Sun - Ice on the Dune
4. Small Black - Limits of Desire
5. The Strokes - Comedown Machine
6. Ra Ra Riot - Beta Love
7. Kisses - Kids in LA
8. The Arcade Fire - Reflektor
9. Calexico - Spiritoso
10. The National - Trouble Will Find Me
11. Arctic Monkeys - AM

Buy these albums and more now!!

Don't forget to check out our blog's awesome new book The 111 Best Lists of the 2000s.  Available now!

The 11 Best Songs By Small Black

Today's big music news finds Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre donating 70 million to USC to start a new school for the ever changing music, technology and business industry.  As noble of an effort as this is and extremely commendable, I wonder if it hinders progress.  Hear me out.  Dr. Dre and Iovine are major innovators in the field of music.  They didn't go to school to learn how to be ground breaking, they taught themselves through being on the front lines.  And though there are a slew of cutting edge bands that have ties to college and art school (Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk, MGMT, Pavement) it seems like the most successful route to becoming a musical innovator is by living in the trenches as a struggling musician for years and paying your dues (Eminem, Guns N Roses, Nirvana, The Black Keys, The Beatles, and N.W.A.)  I'm not saying this isn't a positive thing...it is.  I guess my question is can great music be taught or is it learned?

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Small Black:

1. Photojournalist (New Chain)
2. Search Party (New Chain)
3. Despicable Dogs (Small Black EP) 
4. Love's Not Enough (Moon Killer Mixtape)
5. New Chain (New Chain)
6. Moon Killer (Moon Killer Mixtape) 
7. Two Rivers (Moon Killer Mixtape)
8. Crisp 100s (New Chain)
9. Sun Was High (Photojournalist)
10. Camouflage (New Chain)
11. Sunday Son (Moon Killer Mixtape)

Buy Small Black's new album, Limits of Desire...now!!