KamerTunesBlog Year In Review 2014

2014 has been another superb year of music for me. I didn’t get to revisit as many artist discographies here as I had hoped to, due to several factors beyond my control, but I thoroughly enjoyed the ones I wrote about along with all the Gateway Compilations, One And Done and Two And Through artists I highlighted over the past twelve months. As always, I continued to expand my collection with new & catalog releases by some of my favorite artists, and I checked out a number of artists who had previously flown below my musical radar, some via individual albums and others through compilations and box sets. Unlike last year, when Steven Wilson’s The Raven That Refused To Sing was my Album Of The Year by a wide margin, this year there were no front-runners. Instead, I enjoyed dozens of incredible albums & compilations which were among the hundreds of new titles I acquired. I was most excited about the Super Deluxe Edition box sets of the first five Led Zeppelin albums, which I will likely discuss in a series of posts once that reissue program is complete. The most pleasant surprise of the year was the new Pink Floyd album, The Endless River, a mostly instrumental collection of music based on 20-year-old recordings which might not be up there with the band’s classics but it’s a beautiful record (especially the surround sound mix) with some typically gorgeous guitar work from David Gilmour.

Below you’ll find three lists. The first one sums up the albums that had the biggest impact on me via the posts I wrote here. I’ve included hyperlinks to the related post for each album, in case you missed them. The second list highlights the albums that were released in 2014 (and a handful from 2013 that I didn’t get to last year) which had the greatest impact on me, while the final list covers the reissues, compilations, box sets & other older releases that I got this year and spent the most time with. I didn’t have time to include links to audio clips but everything on these lists is worth seeking out, whether it’s via YouTube, a streaming service or a “give it a shot without hearing it first” CD or LP purchase.

Thanks to all of my readers for your contributions throughout the year. You continue to make this “labor of love” such an enjoyable experience for me. I hope you & your loved ones are enjoying the holiday season. Wishing you a very happy New Year, and may 2015 be filled with nothing but incredible & inspiring musical discoveries. Hopefully you enjoy these lists. Please let me know if anything below had a similar impact on you.

Albums I Revisited & Wrote About That Pleasantly Surprised Me Or Cemented Their Greatness
THE KINKS: The Kinks, Face To Face, Something Else By The Kinks, The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire), Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround Part One, Muswell Hillbillies, Schoolboys In Disgrace, Low Budget, Give The People What They Want, State Of Confusion, Think Visual
THE STOOGES: The Stooges, Fun House
AL GREEN: Green Is Blues, Al Green Gets Next To You, Let’s Stay Together, I’m Still In Love With You, Call Me, Al Green Explores Your Mind, Al Green Is Love, I Can’t Stop
SYD BARRETT: The Madcap Laughs, Barrett
K.D. LANG: Angel With A Lariat, Shadowland, Absolute Torch And Twang, Ingénue, Drag, Invincible Summer
HALL & OATES: Abandoned Luncheonette, War Babies, Along The Red Ledge, Voices, Private Eyes, H₂O, Change Of Season

Albums Released In 2014, and 2013 Releases I Finally Heard This Year, That I Love (in alphabetical order)
Anathema – Distant Satellites
Beck – Morning Phase
The Black Keys – Turn Blue
Circa Zero – Circus Hero
A.J. Croce – Twelve Tales
David Crosby – Croz
Elbow – The Take Off And Landing Of Everything
The Empty Hearts – The Empty Hearts
Flying Colors – Second Nature
The Gloaming – The Gloaming
Ben & Ellen Harper – Childhood Home
Jason Isbell – Southeastern
Eric Johnson & Mike Stern – Eclectic
Wilko Johnson & Roger Daltrey – Going Back Home
Mastodon – Once More ‘Round The Sun
Moon Safari – Himlabacken Vol. 1
Laura Mvula – Sing To The Moon
Opeth – Pale Communion
David Pack – David Pack’s Napa Crossroads
Pink Floyd – The Endless River
The Rails – Fair Warning
Rival Sons – Great Western Valkyrie
Sand – Sand
Shearwater – Fellow Travelers
Sloan – Commonwealth
Bruce Springsteen – High Hopes
Thompson – Family
Glenn Tilbrook – Happy Ending
Tin Spirits – Scorch
Tinariwen – Emmaar
Frank Turner – Tape Deck Heart
John Wesley – Disconnect
Lucinda Williams – Down Where The Spirit Meets The Bone
Yusuf (Cat Stevens) – Tell ‘Em I’m Gone

Newly Acquired Reissues, Compilations & Box Sets I Love, And Artists I Finally Checked Out, In 2014 (in alphabetical order)
Michael Bloomfield – From His Head To His Heart To His Hands (3CD + DVD box set)
Big Bill Broonzy – The Anthology
Ry Cooder – 1970-1987 (11-CD box set)
Betty Davis – This Is It!
Peter Gabriel – Back To Front – Live In London (Blu-ray + 2 CDs)
Serge Gainsbourg – Comic Strip
Gentle Giant – The Power And The Glory (Blu-ray Edition)
Godley + Creme – Cry – The Very Best Of Godley + Creme
Donny Hathaway – Never My Love: The Anthology (4-CD box set)
Hot Tuna – The Best Of Hot Tuna
Billy Joel – A Matter Of Trust: The Bridge To Russia (Blu-ray + 2 CDs)
Mark Lanegan – Has God Seen My Shadow?: An Anthology 1989-2011
Led Zeppelin – Super Deluxe Box Sets of first five albums
Little Feat – Rad Gumbo – The Complete WB Years (12-CD box set)
Lone Justice – This Is Lone Justice: The Vaught Tapes
Bob Marley – Legend: 30th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray + CD)
Matching Mole – Matching Mole (Deluxe Edition)
Van Morrison – Moondance: Deluxe Edition (4 CDs + Blu-ray)
Oasis – Definitely Maybe and (What’s The Story) Morning Glory (3-CD expanded editions)
Danny O’Keefe – Classics
Philadelphia International Records – The Collection (20-CD box set)
Anthony Phillips – Harvest Of the Heart – An Anthology (5-CD box set)
Public Image Limited – Gold
Jess Roden – The Best Of Jess Roden
TV Eyes – TV Eyes (2-LP vinyl reissue)
Weezer – Pinkerton (4-LP Vinyl Deluxe Edition)
Johnny Winter – True To The Blues: The Johnny Winter Story (4-CD box set)
Bobby Womack – Everything’s Gonna Be Alright: The American Singles 1967-76
XTC – Drums And Wires (Blu-ray edition)
Yes – The Yes Album and Relayer (Blu-ray editions)