February 2014 Monthly Album Report

In which I list all the albums I've heard in the month in question, hastily assign them subjective rankings, corral them into stiffly crude categories and then quietly slip out of the room unnoticed:

Albums Listened To: 66

Year To Date: 77

Getting the tattoo needle warmed up now (i.e., loved a lot):

• St. Vincent, St. Vincent

Loved:

• Benji, Sun Kil Moon
• Beyoncé, Beyoncé
• Small Town Heroes, Hurray For the Riff Raff

Thought were great:

• Along the Way, Mark McGuire
• Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Sun, Damien Jurado
• Cheatahs, Cheatahs
• Dead, Young Fathers
• The Haden Triplets, The Haden Triplets
• Hotel Valentine, Cibo Matto
• Occult Delight, Mode Moderne
• The Outsiders, Eric Church
• Rival Dealer, Burial
• So Long, See You Tomorrow, Bombay Bicycle Club
• Sun Structures, Temples
• Too True, Dum Dum Girls
• Vapor City, Machinedrum

Thought were great, but the rest of the world said "meh":

• Angel Guts: Red Classroom, Xiu Xiu
• Dirty Gold, Angel Haze
• Galore, Thumpers

Would have been my favorite album of 2014 so far for the music alone, but was docked at least one-half star because of the annoyingly self-aware, almost flippant lyrics:

• Story Music, Teitur

Thought were damn good:

• †††, †††
• Animal Serum, Prince Po & Oh No
• because the internet, Childish Gambino
• Blame Confusion, Solids
• Burn Your Fire For No Witness, Angel Olsen
• Cilvia Demo, Isaiah Rashad
• Daughter of Everything, Vertical Scratchers
• Dizzy Heights, Neil Finn
• Emmaar, Tinariwen
• Innocence, Pontiak
• Join the Dots, Toy
• The Lights from the Chemical Plant, Robert Ellis
• Little Red, Katy B
• Lope and Antilope, Get the Blessing
• Morning Phase, Beck
• Oxymoron, Schoolboy Q
• Peace Kehd, The Doppelgangaz
• The Unnatural World, Have a Nice Life
• Voices, Phantogram
• Where Shine New Lights, Tara Jane O'Neil
• Wonderland, CEO
• You Should Be So Lucky, Benmont Tench

They'll do:

• All Love's Legal, Planningtorock
• Animal Heart, Nina Persson
• Blank Project, Neneh Cherry
• Chiaroscuro, I Break Horses
• Eric Paslay, Eric Paslay
• From All Purity, Indian
• Ghettoville, Actress
• Hard Working Americans, Hard Working Americans
• Love's Crushing Diamond, Mutual Benefit
• Metafather, Imbogodom
• Mind Over Matter, Young the Giant
• Rave Tapes, Mogwai
• The Satanist, Behemoth
• That Girl, Jennifer Nettles
• Wave One, Com Truise

Said "meh," but the rest of the world thought were great:

• Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light On Everything, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra
• July, Marissa Nadler

No, but thanks for playing:

• The Good Life, John the Conqueror
• Lido, The Colourist
• Piano Nights, Bohren & Der Club of Gore
• Riser, Dierks Bentley
• Slip Away, Total Slacker
• Warpaint, Warpaint

Oh God, I can't unhear this: None this month.