holaOLA's 60 Favorite Albums of 2014: Full List

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This is the simple single-page version of holaOLA Indie Music Blog's Favorite Albums of 2014 list. If you'd rather experience the traditional multi-page list with album art and full album streams, please begin with the Intro or Page 1. Otherwise, you can read the full list below and click on any of the albums below to be taken to its respective page within this blog to stream it in full.


holaOLA's 60 Favorite Albums of 2014:
60. Vensaire - Perdix
59. Steve Gunn - Way Out Weather
58. Incan Abraham - Tolerance
57. Mesita - The Phoenix
56. Axxa/Abraxas - Axxa/Abraxas
55. Posse - Soft Opening
54. Strand of Oaks - Heal
53. Pattern Is Movement - Pattern Is Movement
52. The Antlers - Familiars
51. Avi Buffalo - At Best Cuckold
50. Frankie Cosmos - Zentropy
49. Francisco The Man - Loose Ends
48. Ought - More Than Any Other Day
47. Hiss Golden Messenger - Lateness of Dancers
46. Sylvan Esso - Sylvan Esso
45. Sean Nicholas Savage - Bermuda Waterfall
44. Christopher Owens - A New Testament
43. Wild Beasts - Present Tense
42. SOHN - Tremors
41. Landlady - Upright Behavior
40. TOPS - Picture You Staring
39. Happy You - Giggle
38. Absolutely Free - Absolutely Free.
37. Snowmine - Dialects
36. The Rural Alberta Advantage - Mended With Gold
35. Woods - With Light And With Love
34. Yellow Ostrich - Cosmos
33. SUNBEARS! - Future Sounds
32. Owen Pallett - In Conflict
31. Foxygen - …And Star Power
30. Sun Kil Moon - Benji
29. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Oddments / I'm In Your Mind Fuzz
28. Matt Kivel - Days Of Being Wild
27. Cymbals Eat Guitars - LOSE
26. Hundred Waters - The Moon Rang Like A Bell
25. Kevin Morby - Still Life
24. Ariel Pink - pom pom
23. Merchandise - After The End
22. Abram Shook - Sun Marquee
21. LOW ROAR - 0
20. Ty Segall - Manipulator
19. St. Vincent - Digital Witness
18. Perfume Genius - Too Bright
17. S. Carey - Range of Light
16. Los Angeles Police Department - Los Angeles Police Department
15. FKA Twigs - LP1
14. Amen Dunes - Love
13. Adult Jazz - Gist Is
12. Cloud Nothings - Here And Nowhere Else
11. James Vincent McMorrow - Post Tropical
10. Against Me! - Transgender Dysphoria Blues
9. Spoon - They Want My Soul
8. Caribou - Our Love
7. Sharon Van Etten - Are We There
6. #1 Dads - About Face
5. Future Islands - Singles
4. Real Estate - Atlas
3. The War On Drugs - Lost In The Dream
2. Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire For No Witness
1. Mac DeMarco - Salad Days

Click here to download holaOLA's FREE best of 2014 compilation featuring a single from each album

Intro • Page 1 • Page 2 • Page 3 • Page 4 • Page 5 • Page 6

Just Rolled In: Crepes - "Ain't Horrible" [slacker pop / jangle pop / indie rock]

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One of the most recent additions to Melbourne's robust indie music scene, the four-piece band Crepes (originally from Ballarat), has just released the easy going indie pop track "Ain't Horrible" as the first single from their forthcoming 2015 debut EP. The song's laid-back guitar/drums interplay and singer Tim Karmouche's lackadaisical vocal delivery remind me of a mix between Cass McCombs and Melbourne "dolewave" band Dick Diver, while its gratifying blend of harmonizing vocals and keys and the sometimes-strange assorted sound effects layered throughout the choruses and latter half of the song give me the feeling that I'm falling in slow motion into the freaky psychedelic realm of Connan Mockasin or Mac DeMarco. However, the way that Crepes have managed to draw from multiple influences to make a "slacker pop" song sound so rich, smooth, and catchy is what makes them truly unmatchable, and as the title seems to suggest, not horrible.

Swell EP: Monogold - This Bloom [psych pop / indie pop / experimental]

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One of my greatest discoveries of 2011, Brooklyn's very own experimental psych-pop trio Monogold, is finally back in my life with new music. Not unlike The Softest Glow (their amazing LP that initially caught my ear) and the debut We Animals EP before that, the recently released This Bloom EP is by no means lacking in the hook department and is damn sure to make you shake something. Brimming with bouncy beats, soaring falsetto harmonies, tropical guitar licks, kaleidoscopic looping and sampling, and most importantly, positive vibes, these endorphin-inducing sound collages establish Monogold's This Bloom as the go-to pick-me-up record this fall to keep us from slipping into winter hibernation while making the arrival of spring seem within our grasp. 

It may have taken them a while to put out some new jams, but I'm psyched to hear that they are already working on an acoustic followup release called Good Heavens, and sometime next year, they will be gracing us with a full-length record!

Stream and purchase Monogold's entire new EP below and watch a video of the band doing a live acoustic performance of "Holograms" at NYLON Studios in NYC, which may be a bit more autumn-appropriate, so make sure to check out their first two releases on their BandCamp page to get your blood pumping again.

Just Rolled In: Denpasar - "Dumb Fun" / "Old Enough" [indie pop / indie rock]

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As I tend to do in my spare time, I was spending the evening clicking through SoundCloud pages on my endless search for new music when I came across something that immediately stood out: the instantly gratifying and catchy-as-hell indie pop song "Dumb Fun" by Brisbane, Australia duo Denpasar (off their upcoming Joy EP). In the same vein as the snarly San Diego surf punks Wavves, Ben Fahey (who composed the song and seems to be the primary singer of the band) along with his production-savvy counterpart Alex L'Estrange pummel through this addictive track tirelessly, winding up just under the two-and-a-half minute mark, and with Fahey hardly having taken a breath.

Another pick from Denpasar's Joy EP, "Old Enough", caught my ear with its shimmery guitars, complex structure, and glossier indie pop finish. This one was composed by L'Estrange and rolls along at a more leisurely pace, but is unfortunately even shorter than "Dumb Fun". The slightly snotty vocals of the previous track are traded for more dreamy-sounding ones on "Old Enough", which makes for more of a euphoric listen.

The Joy EP was slated to be out mid-2014, but I haven't been able to locate it online, so check Denpasar's Facebook page for updates.

Stream the two songs below, along with a couple great tracks from Fahey and L'Estrange's previous indie rock band Don Koyote and a recent song from another one of L'Estrange's current projects – Bilby.

Just Rolled In: Wilder Maker - "Hope Springs" [americana / indie folk]

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Boston-born, Brooklyn-dwelling Gabriel Birnbaum is the songwriter behind the Americana/folk rock band Wilder Maker, which used to be known as Boy Without God and already has a couple records out, but his credits don't stop there. Whether on stage or in the studio, the twenty-eight-year-old musician has played with the likes of Sharon Van Etten, Jens Lekman, Akron/Family, Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, DeVotchKa, Landlady, and SKATERS. He is also a member of the Ethiopian pop group Debo Band who released a critically-acclaimed full length back in 2012 via Sub Pop Records.

With this extensive résumé and the release of the lead single, "Hope Springs", from the first volume of Wilder Maker's upcoming Everyday Crimes Against Objects of Desire series, Gabriel Birnbaum is on the right track to making a name for himself and putting his band on the map. The song floats along at a leisurely pace with wispy guitars, dreamy organs, and beautiful boy/girl vocal harmonies, but the most standout characteristics of the track are Birnbaum's blues-y baritone (much like Bill Callahan's voice, or Justin Vernon's, when he's not hitting falsettos or tweaking the AutoTune knob) and the contradictory echo of the word "die" during the hopeful choruses. However, considering that Everyday Crimes... is a conceptual series of three EPs dealing with the tribulations of a rough breakup, the mixed emotions of the choruses make sense, and when bandmate Katie Von Schleicher chimes in with Birnbaum on the choruses just after he finishes reminiscing over his lost love in the verses, it effectively adds a realness to the melancholic situation of which we have just scratched the surface with "Hope Springs".

Pre-order a copy of Everyday Crimes Against Objects of Desire, Vol. I here or get your hands on it when it's released November 18 via Bleaksploitation Records. Enjoy the first single "Hope Springs" from Wilder Maker's three-part EP series below, as well as an excellent track from their 2013 album Year of Endless Light.

Swell Album: #1 Dads - About Face [indie rock / soul / experimental pop]

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Tom Iansek has been featured on holaOLA before, but as half of the award-winning Australian duo Big Scary. Now, the Melbourne songwriter is back, further proving his excellent musicianship, songwriting, and vocal skills as the force behind #1 Dads, his solo project, which recently released the beautiful record About Face on Pieater Records.

Formed as a way to keep busy creating new material between recording sessions and touring with his more established music project, #1 Dads first made its mark back in May 2011 (as Dads) with the debut release, Man of Leisure. The only real sonic connection that can be made between the two projects is that they both feature Iansek's passionate vocals and experimental pop sensibilities. Comparing #1 Dads' new record with Big Scary's recent genre-defying Not Art LP, Iansek not only mellows down his vocals a bit (albeit without sacrificing any of the soul), but he tones down the music too, favoring subdued piano arrangements and acoustic guitars to punchy keys and percussion. The presence of guest vocalists (Tom Snowdon of Lowlakes, Ainslie Wills, and Airling) on select tracks of About Face also adds a new dynamic to his minimal indie rock, making for an engrossing listening experience that's just as diverse as the list of genres tagged to his previous music.

Stream/purchase the entire album below and hop on over to #1 Dads' BandCamp page to stream and/or buy 2011's Man of Leisure.

Artist Making Waves: Pat Hull [folk / soul / singer-songwriter]

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Originally from Connecticut, singer-songwriter Pat Hull is the son of two classically trained musicians and vocal/piano teachers who fortunately managed to pass on their singing skills and love for music to him. Growing up, Pat picked up multiple instruments like piano, saxophone, and cello, but fell in love with the guitar and starting playing with bands in his college years in New York. After graduating in 2009, Hull moved out to Chico, California for graduate school where he sharpened his skills, recording three albums with the help of other musicians. In 2010, he moved back to Brooklyn where he met and collaborated with Jason Beck and Michael Chinworth on his next two albums, 2011's Light and last year's Shed Skin. Now, Pat Hull resides in Santa Cruz, CA and recently put out his newest record, In The Yellow Room, which is a collection of intimate songs recorded live between 2011 and 2014 with bandmates Mark Robertson and Bob Reynolds at Yellow Room Recording in Portland, Oregon.

As is evident on In The Yellow Room, Pat Hull is one of the few great modern folk musicians with a soulful voice that enraptures you the moment it meets the microphone. My family and I had the pleasure of seeing him perform live on his solo tour this summer in Newburyport, MA, where he played for a small crowd of unsuspecting microbrew aficionados in a local brewery. He played for a few hours, churning out original songs along with a number of classic rock and folk covers that would have slipped by me had my mother not recognized the lyrics and started mumbling along. Everything sounded uniquely his own thanks to the marriage between his alluring singing style and complementary guitar playing. One thing is certain as you listen to Pat Hull play: His impassioned, soothing signature is left on everything he touches.

Jump on over to Pat Hull's BandCamp page to stream all six of his beautiful albums, or you can start below with his two latest records, In The Yellow Room and Shed Skin. Be sure to follow him on Facebook to hear about upcoming shows and releases.

Just Rolled In: Burn Antares - "Crystal Love" [psychedelic / rock 'n' roll / 60s revival / soul]

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The 1960s might be long gone, but luckily enough for us millennials (and nostalgic baby boomers), psychedelic rockers Burn Antares from Sydney, Australia are gracing stages and studios today channeling the soul, melody, and groovy vibes intrinsic to that decade's music. Fronted by the seductive pipes of Grace Farriss, daughter of INXS keyboardist/guitarist/composer Andrew Farriss, Burn Antares manages to catapult us back almost half a century with their psychedelic guitar riffs and solos, jangly percussion, ceiling-busting background vocal harmonies, blazing organs, and of course, Farriss's soulful, energetic vocals, which are quite evocative of those of Stevie Nicks.

Already having released an excellent self-titled debut EP in late 2013, Burn Antares are back with the single "Crystal Love" from their upcoming EP Fur Coat & The Peace Boat, which is being released this October. Check out the track below, followed by their beautiful rework of INXS's song "By My Side" and a full stream of their debut EP.