Our most anticipated albums of 2014,
Broken Bells
James Mercer was a bit of a musical vagabond when the Shins initially went into hiatus. Ultimately he would team up with Danger Mouse, best known for his work with DOOM and Gnarls Barkley. Despite the curious pairing, Broken Bells’ debut made for a solid listen and is worthy of a followup.
Real Estate
Real Estate created some of our favorite pop music in 2011. Somewhat lost in the shuffle of other great emerging acts such as Youth Lagoon, the band looks to deliver their highly debuted followup next year.
Flying Lotus
Flying Lotus has always had a consistent catalog and somehow Until The Quiet Comes surprised virtually everyone with its quality. A relentless creator, it’s hardly surprising FlyLo is already set to release his next album in 2014.
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
Falling somewhat into the emo camp, the next installment by Pains couldn’t arrive with any better timing as the genre has slowly reemerged. Once again, the expectations are high here as their last effort was considered their best.
St Vincent
Annie Clark will be picking up the moniker of St Vincent again after touring extensively with David Byrne. Easily one of our favorite rockers, any new St Vincent record is something to covet.
Run The Jewels
One of our top ten albums of 2014, Run The Jewels is back next year with the next chapter. Killer Mike and El-P are two widely respected underground MCs and their verbal firepower is really something to behold with this project.
Joanna Newsom
After Newsom’s last colossal effort, she’s essentially cemented her standing as one of the most critically adored artists on independent music blogs everywhere. Her success is vastly deserved and we can’t wait to see how she reinvents herself going forward.
Fleet Foxes
After obtaining unprecedented levels of mainstream success and a change in lineup, Fleet Foxes certainly could have flown into a death spiral like so many bands before them. Fortunately, the folk outfit will return sometime next year to an industry so thoroughly saturated with Mumford soundalikes.
Kanye West
Ye has been anything but complacent when it comes to creating music. Time and again, he has defied the odds against him and produced arguably the best record of the year during every major release. It’s hard to imagine any subsequent effort being anything less than classic status.
Frank Ocean
Our most anticipated album of 2014, Frank Ocean showed the world what he was capable of with a deeply personal Channel Orange — a record that draws on shades of influence like D’Angelo, Marvin Gaye and even Michael Jackson. A second consistent effort from Ocean could easily establish him as an all-time great.
Tell us your most anticipated albums of 2014 in the comments.