St Vincent holds off the challenge from Swans. Just
ADM 2014 Half-Year Report: The Year Of The Underdog
Here we are, six months of 2014 behind us, and the ADM chart is topped exclusively by albums that have slid in under the mainstream radar
Plenty of big-name releases have left our critics unimpressed so
far. Coldplay, whose sixth album became the
highest selling album of 2014, find themselves with an ADM rating
of only 6.1. That's the 320th best rated album of the year so far.
Pharrell Williams, whose single has been in the UK
chart for every single week of 2014, finds his album in 281st place
here at ADM.
Of the 377 albums released in the last six months, The
Black Keys are placed 159th, Bruce
Springsteen 295th, Rick Ross 301st,
Kasabian 338th, and Lily Allen
360th. All big-selling, chart-topping major releases that have
disappointed, or even angered some critics.
With Robin Thicke, The Kooks,
Alt-J, Interpol and
Morrissey all slated for July-December, could one
of them buck the trend?
And so to the top end. With no clear leader, two albums stand out.
First is St Vincent, ahead by a margin so slim it
required a detailed look at figures previously never revealed by
our ADM chart-calculating computer. Her eponymous fourth LP gets a
flat 8.60, only 0.04 of a mark ahead of the nearest challenger. Her
albums have been outscoring each other with each release, and the
fourth is no different. Enough for a spot in our All Time Top 10,
for the record.
In second, with an 8.56, is the thirteenth album from New York
post-rockers Swans. The difference in scores
between the top two is obviously slim. Eight different sources gave
St Vincent 10/10, with only six for Swans. Both contenders also
receiving eleven scores of 9/10 or higher.
It certainly hasn't been a year defined by genre with the rest of
our top 10 ranging from experimental pop (Wild
Beasts), to extreme metal (Behemoth);
clever indie rock (The War On Drugs and
Sharon Van Etten) to alternative hip-hop
(Young Fathers); and lo-fi indie (Angel
Olsen) to electronica/techno/dream pop hybrid
(East India Youth). There is even an album of
ambient guitar pieces in there (Fennesz).
Everything but chart-friendly pop music, it seems.
Outside of the top 10 tells the same story. Arguably,
tUnE-YaRdS, EMA,
Beck and Future
Islands could be considered the only mainstream
releases in the top 30. It's the unexpected that are turning the
heads of our sources up and down the chart.
All the big names must be hoping that their stock has fallen so
low with the critics that, by 2015, nobody will expect anything
from them. "Underdogs", you could say...
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8.60
ST VINCENT
St Vincent
Bold, poised, precise without sounding sterile, St Vincent seems
to be a straightforward triumph. (The Guardian)
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8.56
SWANS
To Be Kind
An album that emphasises rather than establishes Swans'
reconfirmed position at the top of the experimental rock tree, but
that doesn't make it any less of a thrill. (Drowned In Sound)
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8.39
THE WAR ON DRUGS
Lost In The Dream
A flawless, ethereal artistic statement by a band who has
clearly refined and perfected their craft. (The Line Of best
Fit)
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8.27
SHARON VAN ETTEN
Are We There
Van Etten chose to take production duties into her own hands.
The result is something so intimate, and so honest, that it at once
feels rude to listen to but at the same time impossible to tear
yourself away froms. (The Arts Desk)
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8.21
ANGEL OLSEN
Burn Your Fire For No Witness
It's her honest lyrics that carry the album, with heartbreaking,
insightful lines revealing themselves on each listen. (Consequence
Of Sound)
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8.16
BEHEMOTH
The Satanist
Behemoth have the skills and integrity to mount an assault on
the rock mainstream without any need to compromise. (The
Guardian)
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8.14
EAST INDIA YOUTH
Total Strife Forever
A startling album - the best thing you'll hear in these
tempestuous January days, and one that will continue to burn
brightly long after the embers of 2014 have burnt out. (Drowned In
Sound)
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8.13
FENNESZ
Bécs
He not only conjures noises never before heard, he crafts images
never before seen. (Beardfood)
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8.11
WILD BEASTS
Present Tense
Their most complete record by a serious stretch, it's a work
that laughs, cries, detests, adores and above anything else
inspires. (DIY)
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8.05
YOUNG FATHERS
Dead
Young Fathers possess that which makes the best British acts
truly special: a singular identity born of multinational mixology.
(Clash)
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And the next 40
11. Ben Frost A U R O R A
12. Neneh Cherry Blank Project
13. Tune-Yards Nikki Nack
14. Mac DeMarco Salad Days
15. EMA The Future's Void
16. A Sunny Day In Glasgow Sea When Absent
17. Simone Felice Strangers
18. Beck Morning Phase
19. Sun Kil Moon Benji
20. Nick Mulvey First Mind
21. The Delines Colfax
22. Hurray For The Riff Raff Small Town
Heroes
23. Perfect Pussy Say Yes To Love
24. Strand Of Oaks Heal
25. Roddy Frame Seven Dials
26. Future Islands Singles
27. Cloud Nothings Here And Nowhere Else
28. Against Me! Transgender Dysphoria Blues
29. Gruff Rhys American Interior
30. Taylor McFerrin Early Riser
31. White Lung Deep Fantasy
32. Todd Terje It's Album Time
33. Rosanne Cash The River & The Thread
34. Marissa Nadler July
35. Parquet Courts Sunbathing Animal
36. Jollie Holland Wine Dark Sea
37. Freddie Gibbs and Madlib Piñata
38. The Soft Pink Truth Why Do Heathen
Rage?
39. The Antlers Familiars
40. Jack White Lazaretto
41. Liars Mess
42. Elbow The Take Off And Landing Of
Everything
43. Fear Of Men Loom
44. Total Control Typical System
45. Tinariwen Emmaar
46. Owen Pallett In Conflict
47. Lydia Loveless Somewhere Else
48. Hiss Golden Messenger Bad Debt
49. Bellowhead Revival
50. Alcest Shelter