At this point, I’ve listened to somewhere close to 200 releases from this year alone — a number I’ll surely pass by the time the year ends.
However, that still doesn’t totally satisfy me.
That means I’ve heard most of the year’s big, universally acclaimed albums, and I’ve also loved plenty of smaller records.
But to me, music is no fun unless you’re sharing it with people, so here are four of my favorite small-scale, overlooked or underrated releases of 2014 — albums you won’t see on many year-end lists but are well worth seeking out.
Milo — “A Toothpaste Suburb”
Following a series of promising mixtapes and last year’s excellent double EP “Things That Happen at Day/Things That Happen at Night,” “A Toothpaste Suburb” is the first album by LA-via-Wisconsin rapper Rory Ferreira, known by his stage name Milo.
Accordingly, it’s a synthesis of everything Ferreira’s been working toward throughout his career.
For one, there’s his ear for soulful, off-kilter beats that give “A Toothpaste Suburb” a rich electronic texture.
Most important, though, is the way Ferreira rolls academia references, inside jokes, tinges of nostalgia and plain honesty together, a formula that hasn’t always coalesced perfectly for Ferreira but works magic here.
It’s self-aware, yes, but completely true. “A Toothpaste Suburb” is an embracement of life in a glorious art-rap package.
Nouns — “Still”
“Still,” the second full-length album by Arkansas punk band Nouns, exists somewhere near the place where post-punk, Modest Mouse and the current emo revival intersect.
It’s melodically fascinating but also consistently lo-fi, which gives the album a rawness that matches its lyrical weight.
“Still” can be difficult to listen to at times — it is, first and foremost, a complicated, deeply personal portrait of mental illness as told by multiple facets of vocalist Hunter Clifton Mann’s personality — but delving into the immense darkness is rewarding, especially when rays of positivity peek through.
Especially after a first listen, it’s hard to go into listening to “Still” without putting up some protective walls, which Nouns nevertheless dismantles, slowly and affectively, every time.
Ricky Eat Acid — “Three Love Songs”
Sam Ray is just in his early twenties, but he’s already released more music than some musicians do in a lifetime.
He has 15 releases under that name, but “Three Love Songs” is his first full-length.
It’s a warm, enveloping success that also takes full advantages of the long-play format, as the songs here range from sonic portraits of ethereal rural landscapes to danceable, Drake-cover-sampling earworms.
There’s an undercurrent of darkness running through “Three Love Songs” that augments its musical world-building.
It’s the rare album that actually has the ability to make you feel like you’re somewhere else.
United Nations – “The Next Four Years”
For a band with such an impressive pedigree — its ranks include members of punk greats Thursday and Converge – hardcore outfit United Nations stays surprisingly under the radar.
Part of that is due to the band’s legal issues with the actual United Nations, who sent the band a cease-and-desist notice in 2008.
That controversy informs the sharp sense of humor that permeates “The Next Four Years,” the band’s first album since that notice.
Vocalist Geoff Rickly constantly peppers his lyrics with jabs at the organization — “What’s the difference between the Real U.N. and these pigs you see on stage? At least we can take a joke” — that fit the relentless musical aggression on display.
Even beyond the jokes, “The Next Four Years” is cynical and eardrum-destroying, punk to the highest degree.
