2014 was a great year for electronic music as new artists burst onto the scene, talent poured in, and established artists evolved their sound to continue to push the genre in the right direction. Whether you’re a fan of dubstep, downtempo, glitch, future-funk, or house there was quality music being generated by so many names. With talent like Opiuo, Haywyre, Porter Robinson, and deadmau5 all releasing albums, spots on this year’s list were tightly contested.
So who made the cut?
5. Dirty South – Without You
Leading off our list is the latest from Dirty South, Without You. He reengineered his style so much for this album and we love it. Where his previous albums adhered to the more typical structures of prog-house this album smashes those and rebuilds. First, we love the diverse sounds that he used and worked together so well. More so, we appreciate the different format that each song follows, as each track differs from its predecessor but still fits with the vibe of the album. All the time and effort Dirty South put into making this album an evolution of his sound and style makes it deserving of our number 5 spot.
https://soundcloud.com/dirtysouth/sets/with-you-the-album
4. Tipper – Forward Escape
If you’re looking for lush, trippy bass music then look no further than the number four spot on our list, Forward Escape. Tipper continues to push the boundaries of the genre by engineering unique sounds and configuring them into tracks that transport your mind elsewhere. There are only a few other artists that have this ability but Forward Escape is more proof that no-one does downtempo like Tipper (as if we needed more proof). We’re loving “Gulch” and “Hommage Sliders” every time we press play.
3. Bassnectar – Noise Vs. Beauty
15 albums deep and Lorin is still managing to pump out creativity, positivity, and raw energy like it was 2008. As we are all familiar, he took a six month hiatus from his hectic tour schedule to focus solely on making this album. In that time he created 27 tracks and 15 of those saw the light of day to become NSVB. We love this album for the beauty like “You & Me” and “Ephemeral” that are juxtaposed with the rawness that is “Gnar” and “F.U.N” and “Noise.” Further, after all these years, tracks, and albums, Lorin is still releasing content that makes fans ooo and make this face multiple times a show which deems him worthy of this spot.
2. Gramatik – The Age of Reason
There were a ton of great releases on the Lowtemp label this year, but none better than Gramatik’s The Age Of Reason. The Slovenian instrumentalist gave us a thorough taste of what he can create in the Electro-Soul-Future-Funk genre providing a 15 track collection for the fans. This album showcased his vision of infusing more original instrumentation, with a bunch of songs featuring Exmag and collabs with ILLUMNTR, Gibbz, and Cherub. He really managed to make this album distinct from his previous work which was mostly within the realm of instrumental hip-hop, producing an album that is distinct in its use of the elements of Electro-soul. We’re loving “Expect Us”, “Torture”, and “Just Jammin NYC”.
1. ODESZA – In Return
The decision to give ODESZA the top spot was the source of a lot of arguing amongst our writers but in the end we had to give it to them for their work on In Return. Every song is beautiful, the album flows so cohesively, and the duo managed to innovate and continue defining their distinct sound. A couple of our favorites are “White Lies” ft. Jenni Potts, “Sun Models”, “Bloom”, and “Sundara” which is often the song I play right when I wake up. We can’t wait to see what 2015 has in store for ODESZA.
Honorable Mentions
Eliot Lipp – Watch the Shadows
Manic Focus – Cerebral Eclipse
TPA – Pushing Through The Pavement
Porter Robinson – Worlds
Mr. Carmack – Dimebag
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