2014: Albums of the Year (#30 - 21)

30. Max Graef - Rivers of the Red Planet (Tartelet)

Max Graef loves dusty house and J Dilla: I love Max Graef...

Listen to 'Itzehoe'

29. Paul White - Shaker Notes (R&S)

White's more organic and less straight hiphop-approach shaped 'Shaker Notes' into a beautiful, dreamy and psychedelic album...


Listen to 'Where You Gonna Go?'

28. Cooly G - Wait 'Til Night (Hyperdub)

Clinical and cold but so damn sexy; Cooly G's sophomore album exceeds all expectations...

Listen to 'So Deep'

27. Jesse Boykins III - Love Apparatus (NoMadic)

Machinedrum's surprisingly slow and soulful beats turned out to be the perfect playground for Boykins' dreamy romanticisms...

Listen to 'Show Me Who You Are'

26. FKA twigs - LP1 (Young Turks)

FKA lived up to the high expectations; 'LP1' turned a promising talent into a household name...

Listen to 'Two Weeks'

25. Shabazz Palaces - Lese Majesty (Sub Pop)

Shabazz Palaces' new album needed multiple listens to reveal its beauty, but turned out to be an worthy follow-up to 2011's 'Black Up'...

Listen to '#CAKE'

24. Theo Parrish - American Intelligence (Sound Signature)

I can't name any album that runs over 2 hours and doesn't get boring... Or at least I couldn't...

Listen to 'Footwork'

23. The Budos Band - Burnt Offering (Daptone)

The Daptone-dons sound angrier, darker and grittier than ever on their fourth full album... 

Listen to 'Burnt Offering'

22. Clap! Clap! - Tayi Bebba (Black Acre)

Italian producer pairing African rhythms with the sounds of Chicago: you can't get more global than Clap! Clap!...

Listen to 'Kuj Yato'

21. Hawk House - A Handshake to the Brain (Virgin)

I have no idea why this magnificent record didn't get more attention, because it's been a while since I heard such a wonderful, warm and well-executed hiphop-album...

Listen to 'Chill Pill (Experiment 2)'