I’m Brendan. I ride bikes. Because it’s fun. In closing, I’d like to let folks know that music is good.

Peace out cub scouts.

My name is Tyler and my music taste is widely varying. I got divorced this year, so, obviously, as is generally the case, I have tried and tried to devastate myself and crush my soul with music. That’s probably reflected in my choices here. I can’t tell you, though, how upset I was to find Woodkid’s The Golden Age came out last year. That would have been my number 1 had that not been the case. I just… I just hope some people out there will benefit from this list. Listen to something new today. And every day.

I’m Justin. I’m a student financial aid counselor, avid homebrewer, frequent concert-goer, amateur writer– and well, amateur person, for that matter. Honorable mentions in music this year include:
Run The Jewels – RTJ2
Flying Lotus – You’re Dead!
Sylvan Esso – (Self-Titled)
Ought – More Than Any Other Day
Swale – The Next Instead

It’s been a pretty good year.

2014 was really a pretty weak year. There were lots of good albums, but not many great albums. That made it hard to make this list, as, outside of The Satanist this year, there are about 15 or so records that I could’ve put in the other 4 slots here. Those other albums are:

Deep Mountains – Lake of Solace
Alcest – Shelter
Anathema – Distant Satellites
Fire! Orchestra – Enter
Freddie Gibbs & Madlib – Piñata
The Great Old Ones – Tekeli-li
Panopticon – Roads to the North
Sunn O))) & Ulver – Terrestrials
Sylvan Esso – Sylvan Esso
Gridlink – Longhena
Swans – To Be Kind

Hello! I am Karla and I work at Pure Pop. I spent most of this year listening to older albums and discovering a lot of cool compilations. The best show I saw this year may have been Attic Abasement at CMJ or TOPS’s band practice, but I also can’t remember all the shows I saw this year.

Here is a list of my favorite EPs/split albums from 2014:
– Spencer Radcliffe – Brown Horse split
– Adult Mom – Sometimes Bad Happens
– Florist – 6 days of songs
– Attic Abasement – Nod Split

My thoughts on the past two years of music:

2013 music = Hot Shit
2014 music = Cold Diarrhea

I’m often found behind the counter at Pure Pop. Here are some other great records from 2014:

Bryce Dessner/Jonny Greenwood – St. Carolyn by the Sea & Suite from “There Will Be Blood”
Sharon Van Etten – Are We There
Perfect Pussy – Say Yes to Love
Iceage – Plowing the Fields of Love
Deerhoof – La Isla Bonita
A Sunny Day in Glasgow – Sea When Absent
Cymbals Eat Guitar – Lose
Courtney Barnett – The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas
St. Vincent – St. Vincent
Fennesz – Becs

I’m Shawn. I study biochemistry and mathematics in New York. Here’s some other music from I liked from this year:

“Fuck Off, Get Free, We Pour Light On Everything” by Mt. Silver Zion
“Are We There” by Sharon Van Etten
“LOSE” by Cymbals Eat Guitars
“You’re Dead!” by Flying Lotus
“RTJ2” by Run the Jewels
“Present Tense” by Wild Beasts
“More Than Any Other Day” by Ought
“Syro” by Aphex Twin
“Nikki Nack” by tUnE-yArDs
“Here and Nowhere Else” by Cloud Nothings
“Atlas” by Real Estate

I’m Rian. This is the stuff I liked.

Soul stuff I would have put up if I didn’t confine my list to punk stuff:

Naomi Shelton – Cold World
Lee Fields – Emma Jean
Budos Band – Burnt Offering

More trash:

Gas Rag – Beat Off
Ooze – Ooze
Coneheads – Out Of Conetrol
Impalers – Psychedelic Snutskaller

My name is Jake L., and I am a student and a music advocate. I enjoy going to concerts, listening to music, and music news. I make my way to Pure Pop whenever I get the chance, but sadly in 2014 I haven’t been there as much as I like to be due to financial struggles, but that doesn’t stop my love for music. There were a lot of albums I wanted to include on this list (To Be Kind, Nikki Nack, Supermodel, This Is All Yours, Strange Desire, LP1, etc.), but I feel these albums are easily my 5 favorite from the year. I hope that 2015 brings even more fantastic releases, and I hope you all have a wonderful year as well!