Ah, December: that time of year when music critics everywhere look back through their most-loved records and throw caution to the wind, ignoring everything that's true about the meaninglessness of hierarchy in art and the limits of genre to declare some version of "Hey! Are you not capable of forming your own opinions? Here are my opinions, which are being published because that's my job. Come, fight about them in the comment section."
Truly, 2014 felt like a mammoth of a year in Bay Area music. For an attempt to wrap it all up in a bow, see next week's Year In Review issue. For a seasoned take on the electronic and dance music scene in 2014, check out Chris Zaldua's column in this issue. Just want to get your list on? Below you'll find teasers of SF Weekly music writers' favorite local releases from the past 12 months, in the very academic categories of rock, electro-ish (did literally everyone get a synthesizer for Christmas last year?), and hip-hop. You'll find the complete lists online at sfweekly.com. Come, fight about them in the comments section.
ROCK
Sun Kil Moon – Benji
It's not right that Mark Kozelek made more headlines this year for talking shit about The War on Drugs than for his sixth solo record, but from the depths of his trolling the past few months (see: releasing an actual song called "War On Drugs: Suck My Cock"), that's maybe what he was going for. Which is a damn shame, because Benji, a gorgeously difficult and deeply personal opus even from a man known for his personal songwriting, is undoubtedly the former Red House Painters' frontman's best work. Between a precise account of his sexual history and stories of family members' untimely deaths, we get snippets of grumpy-about-aging Kozelek, trying to park near the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, or eating ramen as he hears the news that James Gandolfini died. In an overwhelmingly dark record, beauty is in the mundane on Benji, and we only wish Kozelek would let it do more of the talking. Emma Silvers
tUnE-yArDs – nikki nack
Oakland's Merrill Garbus has made quite the name for herself in the indie-music scene. Critically acclaimed, she's also one of the most incredible live performers in the bizness, mesmerizing crowds with live loops of instruments and her signature banshee-like voice. On her third LP, nikki nack, she continues to tinker with the "tUnE-yArDs concept" of complex arrangements of layered sounds. The single "Water Fountain" got serious play as one of the top singles of the year. But for me, this album's crowning moment came on "Wait For A Minute." It's a seemingly effortless production of Garbus not trying to get too intricate with the loops and layers. It's a simple drum beat and Garbus just letting loose and showcasing her divine voice. Moments like these, where Garbus doesn't seem as concerned with the normal twists and turns of her arrangements, allow us to experience the rawest product of tUnE-yArDs and the talents of one of indie's most unique voices. Adrian Spinelli
Ty Segall – Manipulator
Ty Segall is nothing if not prolific: Fans of his work over the past eight years can count on a new project, with a distinctly different feel from a seemingly completely different decade from one release to the next — which wouldn't be that impressive if he didn't tend to release three or more records per year. Manipulator, Segall's longest album yet at 56 minutes, represents a departure from that breakneck pace — it took him 14 months to complete — and the payoff is immeasurably satisfying, with an immersive, '70s psych-tinged mood that swells over the course of its 17 tracks. We're generally game for whatever Segall has up his sleeve, but if this is a sign of things to come, we're excited to watch him keep maturing as a songwriter and guitar player, and we hope he keeps taking his time. (P.S. Segall wrote this record in the months before leaving for L.A., and recorded it a SOMA apartment. So yeah, we're still claiming it as ours.) ES
Cold Beat – Over Me
The resurgence of post-punk in the Bay Area music scene could be portrayed as old hat for some. Enter San Francisco's Cold Beat, a band led by Hannah Lew of Grass Widow fame. This year the band released its debut album, Over Me, on Crime on The Moon (Lew's label) and brought a little more life to the forlorn subgenre. With the airy and fragile vocals some have come to expect from Lew amid punchy, perfectly orchestrated instrumentals, the album serves as post-punk guide for catharsis. Lew's lyrics take you on a ride through loss, anxiety, love, and identity. And shining tracks such as "UV" and "Mirror" are excellent pit stops on that insecurity-ridden ride. Over Me is one of this year's better post-punk albums, and it can be hard for any unsuspecting person who listens to this album to get over. Erin Dage
Chuck Prophet – Night Surfer
If Prophet's 2012 release, the restrained-yet-sweeping Temple Beautiful served as an elegy for a lost San Francisco, Night Surfer, which the ever-articulate singer-songwriter released this past fall, is a wary-yet-hopeful eye to the future: With songs like "Countrified Inner City Technological Man," Prophet takes a piss out of the toy-filled world around him, while the presence of chunky, arena-ready guitar hooks (courtesy of REM's Peter Buck) and '70s Rolling Stones-esque riffs and backing vocals make it very clear he's having too much fun for the record to be intended as straight social commentary. Prophet's pseudo-spoken lyrical style, too, is ripening as he ages; while there have always been Petty-ish undertones, Night Surfer has him sounding like an alternate member of the Traveling Wilburys. Which is to say, timeless. A changing San Francisco couldn't ask for a better musical documentarian. ES
ELECTRO-ISH
Tycho - Awake
Tycho frontman Scott Hansen's first musical instrument was a drum machine. Tycho is a byproduct of the digital age; a producer that embraced the electronic revolution head-on with his debut release Past is Prologue and really made a splash with his second LP, Dive, on avant-garde electronica label Ghostly International. But on his third effort, Awake (also on Ghostly), Hansen introduced more live instrumentation and it brought new life to Tycho. On the album's opening track, "Awake," a simple, yet atmospheric guitar riff opens up into a lush bass groove and we're transported into a comfortable ambient world. The production leads into electronic intricacies, new-form sounds and another continent on Tycho's planet. One of the genre's most consistent innovators, Hansen is leading the charge on San Francisco's lo-fi electronic music scene. AS
Cathedrals – Cathedrals EP
Dammit if Cathedrals weren't the most pleasant surprise to come out of S.F. this year. The confluence of producer Johnny Hwin's artistically ambitious sounds and singer Brodie Jenkins' elegant vocals made for the most ethereal product to come out of the Bay in a hot minute. Hwin is the man behind local artist collective The SUB, where he and Jenkins formed the electronic dream pop duo. Their self-titled EP on Neon Gold has some serious fire behind it. It's conservative at only six tracks, but that hardly matters when you want to hear every single one of them on repeat. On "Harlem," Jenkins' silvery vocals guide us through punchy bass hits, catchy guitar riffs, and a feeling of being arms-open-and-head-towards-the-heavens on the most beautiful day of the year. "Unbound" boasts one of the most spectacular videos of the year, while flexing Cathedrals' unique approach to music and art. There's so much to love with this band — including a debut release that makes us hopeful for the future of the local music scene. AS
Astronauts, etc. - Sadie
Oakland's Anthony Ferraro is a classically trained pianist — he has the French composer Hector Berlioz tattooed on his arm — which makes it almost seem unfair that he's so skilled at producing the elegant, effortlessly dreamy keys- and synth-heavy electro-pop that made up this year's six-song EP, Sadie. Leave something for the rest of us, you know? We've heard he's at work on an LP that might be less electro, more ... we're not sure yet. Truth be told, Sadie's brevity left us jonesing for more of the same, but for the time being, we'll follow him wherever he wants to go. ES
Les Sins – Michael
What do you do when you've reached the apex of popularity in a genre to the degree that people actually credit you with its mainstream rise? If you're Berkeley's Chaz Bundick, aka Toro y Moi, the boy king of chillwave for the last half-decade, you say "fuck it" and make a dance album. Michael, the first full-length offering from Bundick's side project Les Sins, has the kind of energy that only comes from an artist having serious fun while he's creating something — just try and resist a grin (or disco moves) while listening to "Why," featuring fellow East Bay resident Nate Salman, of Waterstrider, on vocals. ES
The Seshen – Unravel
Insisting that you can't be boxed into a genre is pretty standard fare for bands who combine even a few different elements of rock, pop, soul, or electronic music — but when the seven members of The Seshen tell you that they really, truly don't know how to categorize the sounds they make, you get it. Unravel, this year's EP from the East Bay crew, feels like a transmission from another place entirely: Imagine going to outer space with Erykah Badu while listening to Little Dragon, and you'll start to get the picture. The marriage of percussion-rich live instrumentation and harmonies from Lalin St. Juste and Akasha Orr with a healthy dose of ethereal electronic manipulation from in-house producer Aki Ehara keeps you on your toes. The band signed to UK label Tru Thoughts this year — we're curious to see where the next takes them. ES
HIP-HOP
Souls of Mischief – There Is Only Now
Oakland represent! Twenty years after the release of the iconic 93 'til Infinity, the East Bay kings of hip-hop put out their sixth studio album. There Is Only Now is ambitious, and it succeeds largely on the effort of Adrian Younge, a producer who's quickly becoming a go-to name in hip-hop. Dude is J-Dilla good (real talk) and drops classic soul samples throughout. Meanwhile A-Plus, Tajai, Opio, and Phesto are still steppin' to the mic with conscious rhymes, tackling relevant themes like police brutality and the justice system with multiple appearances from Busta Rhymes and Snoop Dogg. This is a money hip-hop release — bump the deluxe version of the record with a second disc of instrumentals. AS
K. Flay - Life As A Dog
There's never been any question that Kristine Flaherty, aka K.Flay, the Stanford grad who grabbed the hip-hop world by the collar as a college junior with her first-ever mixtape 10 years ago, has immense talent. But for the last few years, we were left wondering when her first real full-length would see the light of day. Life As A Dog, the LP she self-released (and mixed here in the city at Different Fur) after getting out of her contract with RCA, answered this question far more than satisfactorily. Showcasing a newly complex level of songwriting as well as actual singing from the emcee, it's a coming-of-age album in the best possible sense. She's still full of fast food references, stoner party anthems, and boner jokes, but this is also the perfect record for a hungover day bumming around the city, lamenting that you're still suffering unrequited crushes while your friends are having babies. In short: It sounds like turning 30, which, surprise, Flaherty is doing next year. She has plenty to celebrate. ES
Sage the Gemini – Remember Me
Either it doesn't take much to embody the sound of Bay Area rap in 2014, or Sage the Gemini makes it look easy. (Almost certainly the latter.) Following up on the twin national hits "Gas Pedal" and "Red Nose," both gently percolating slaps that ably bottle the sensation of a hundred high-tech vaporizers lighting up rhythmically in an otherwise pitch-black club, the Fairfield MC's debut full-length Remember Me mines the same lightly mechanized, nonchalantly lascivious vein to consistently satisfying effect. Sage never reaches past his technical comfort zone, but he never dilutes it much either; perhaps his best quality as a rapper is the strength of his convictions. "Fuck the cool crowd," he declares on track one: "Bitch I'm a nerd." Nerds need to party sometimes too, after all, which lends a little credence to his claim, on the "Gas Pedal" remix, that he's "the Bay's respirator." Daniel Levin Becker
Kev Choice – Oakland Riviera
A classically trained pianist, emcee, bandleader, and producer who has impressively straddled the worlds of jazz, hip-hop, and classical music for over a decade now, Kev Choice came into his own this year with a musical map to his hometown. Jazzy interludes named for Oakland streets (International, MacArthur, etc.) serve as segues between tracks that feature the seemingly eternally positive Choice rapping about the gentrification of the Uptown District and other changes taking place in his beloved East Bay. The former bandleader for Lauryn Hill still plays the keys with a who's who in East Bay hip-hop (The Coup, Too $hort), but we have a feeling Oakland Riviera is only the start of his solo career, not a blip on the map. ES
Fidel Cash – Ignorant Summer (mixtape)
Besides having a hotter rap dictator name than local mainstay J "high as fuck at the taco truck" Stalin, Hunters Point MC Fidel Cash earns a nod for Ignorant Summer, an omnibus of hood swagger that casts his raspy chameleon flow over contemporary hotnesses including Drake's "Draft Day," Dej Loaf's "Try Me," and Bobby Shmurda's "Hot Nigga." As that last one suggests, Cash takes it upon himself to shine some light on the Bay Area's popularly neglected criminal underbelly, but he's neither humorless nor nihilistic about it. (Ignorant Summer is hosted, if you will, by a deeply obnoxious motivational speaker who weighs in on everything from Ray Rice to the optimal rate of salad consumption for an aspiring hustler.) Another Cash mixtape, the equally strong Poe Lil Rich Kid 2, came out earlier this year, but Summer is more dextrous, more unpredictable, more straight-up fun. May his regime live on. DLB