AUDIOMUTANT: Not a Best Music of 2014 List

- by Señor Editor, 19 December 2014

Because frankly, I don’t feel a lot of good music came out this year (you’ll have time to school me later, in the comments), so listing the few things we already talked about would feel pointless. Sure, there was some good stuff, but not a lot of it really stuck with me or inspired me to write about it. I write around 50 articles a year on this site. Last year, 12 of them were about music. This year, there were 5. FIVE?! That said, let’s take a look at some of the good stuff of 2014 we didn’t yet mention!

SINGLE: RATKING – “CANAL” AD-ROCK REMIX

I think Ratking is one of the more interesting “new” hip hop groups, one that certainly is doing their thing without trying to sound like anything else that’s out (and that’s something I really enjoy in music artists). That said, me and their “So It Goes” album didn’t really hit it off. I liked some things about it, but overall it wasn’t exactly my jam. That said, this remix of one of the album tracks was probably the first rap shit that I was feeling post-“Copper Gone” (one of the few musical highlights of this year, don’t you know). That was around July.

I really like hearing Wiki on this kind of production, and the whole thing just flows beautifully. It’s also cool to hear Adrock making some new music, and this beat just goes in. The reverbs and echoes in the vocals, the atmosphere and the drums used are very much Beastie Boys, but it all sounds super fresh and Wiki makes the beat his own. It’s nice to hear how well these two work together. It all fits together naturally, and I’d like to hear more of that stuff. Please.

ALBUM: TYSON - "CASIO FIASCO"

For something completely different, we have this pop record by Guelph, Ontario artist Tyson. This was submitted to us when I was off on my vacation, and when I got back I was so swamped that it fell through the cracks. And that’s not good, because it certainly deserves some recognition. While I mostly cover rap stuff on here (and it’s what we get sent the most), I certainly see the value in a good pop record (and other stuff, too, so please don’t just send us your hip hop joints – we hate most of them). And this is a good pop record. Here’s a track:

This is basically a set of 10, quite diverse, catchy songs. Tyson himself says: There has been an ongoing brawl at the label about which genre best describes this record: Outsider-pop? Weirdo-pop? Glitched-psych-pop? Whatever it is, it's not afraid to take pop and scribble outside the lines. And that’s true. Whatever label you slap onto it, it’s a very well-produced album, from start to finish. 

On some songs, Tyson kiiiiiiind of sounds a bit like another Guelph guy we know, but the vocal styles and backing tracks are mostly very different, and the man has a good voice. You can check out the whole album right here, and why shouldn't you?

ALBUM: BUCK 65 – “LAUNDROMAT BOOGIE” (PROD. BY JORUN BOMBAY)

Speaking of Canadians, we got this little Buck 65 mini-album. While the big Buck 65 release this year was his “Neverlove” album (I like Buck a lot, “Super Pretty Naughty” makes me laugh, but this wasn’t a record I particularly liked), he also released this laundromat-themed record on the sly. It’s one long mix, you can listen to it here:

This is obviously a much more traditional Buck right here, and while it won’t blow your roof off (not that it’s meant to – it’s a relaxing, funny mix for doing your laundry), it’s a smooth, good listen with some great moments.

ALBUM: METERMAIDS – "WE BROUGHT KNIVES"

The biggest surprise this year for me was Metermaids’ “We Brought Knives” record. The Metermaids are a NY duo, signed to Strange Famous Records, and this is their second album. I’m saying it surprised me, because while I generally like a lot of SFR stuff (really looking forward to the next B. Dolan), THIS is the release that sold me on them. From what I read, a lot of big things happened in emcees Swell and Stein’s lives after the release of their debut album, and that may be why it feels there’s much more put into every song on “We Brought Knives”. There’s clear purpose in the lyrics and the music evolved along with them.

This is a fantastic album, and one I’m still processing (it dropped just this month and I got to it a couple days ago), but I can already say there’s plenty to like here. This is not an empty rap record that says a lot without offering anything of substance. This feels like a very complete and polished album, and everything you hear on it, whether it’s funny or very personal, sounds like it has a reason to be there. The track below, “I’m Alive So Everything I Own Is My Lucky Everything” (featuring SFR labelmates Sage Francis and Prolyphic), is the song I played the most in the last week, and there’s a lot more where it came from. So check out “We Brought Knives”. Buy it straight from the label. This is actually one of the best things out this year.

So that's the good stuff that came out in 2014 that we haven't mentioned previously! Check out the music page to view other albums we enjoyed this year and actually wrote about more in-depth! Also, as far as I'm concerned, the best album of 2014 is Sage Francis' "Copper Gone"! Another also: if you're outraged that your favorite musician's record didn't make the cut on Trash Mutant this year, feel free to comment here and try to put me onto things you think I'll like! And if you're an artist, send submissions to our inbox, if you think we might like your stuff. I mean, we MIGHT! And if we will, we'll definitely cover it here.

Tagged: music, AUDIOMUTANT.

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