Best Music of 2014: #2 Sturgill Simpson - Metamodern Sounds in Country Music

If this album didn't make your list, you either don't put together an albums-of-the-year list or you have an irrational fear of country music. Or, perhaps, you simply didn't hear it.

Considering I'd never even heard of Sturgill Simpson until barely more than a month ago, the latter suggestion is a distinct possibility. If that's the case, and if you're open to country music at all, plan on adding this to your "best 2014 albums you didn't hear until 2015 list."

Best Music of 2014: #3 Cloud Cult - Unplug

I've been saying for a long time live albums are eligible for my year-end lists, but I think this is the first time one has made it, or at least it's the first time one has been ranked so highly.

This album exposed me to older Cloud Cult songs I was unfamiliar with, offered most of the songs in a different format from their original versions, and was presented as a single one-off performance rather than a live compilation. 

Those are pretty much my three criteria for considering a live album as one of the best of the year. Unplug is clearly just that.

Best Music of 2014: #4 Sun Kil Moon - Benji

The two artists with the longest streaks of consecutive albums in my top ten see those runs end this year, while Sun Kil Moon and one other band (to be revealed) join the ranks of acts with three top tens in my list's 19-year history.

On the heels of last year's #1 album, Mark Kozelek's fourth top ten overall puts him in pretty select company (more on that later, hopefully).

Best Music of 2014: #5 Temples - Sun Structures

Speaking of retro-inspired music, this one goes back a little further than your typical classic rock reference point. Put simply (or not), this is 50+ minutes of incense and peppermints and McGuinnesque guitar jangle.

Best Music of 2014: #6 Strand of Oaks - HEAL

It seems like there's a lot of indie rock inspired by classic rock in my top ten this year. Perhaps my taste has been trending that way for a while, but it seems more evident this year. I'd say three of the five I've revealed so far, including this one, fall into this category.