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<\/center>In my blog posts of last week, I surveyed some of my 2014 favorites: music-related books; DVDs; concerts; and interviews. For these last few days of the year, I’ll wrap up with a look at my favorite music of 2014, specifically new and reissued titles. Today, it’s four of my eight favorite albums of new music released in 2014.<\/p>\nNight Beats \u2013 <\/strong>Sonic Bloom<\/strong><\/em><\/a> Jimbo Mathus \u2013 <\/strong>Dark Night of the Soul<\/strong><\/em><\/a> The Last \u2013 <\/strong>Danger<\/strong><\/em><\/a> The Paul & John \u2013 <\/strong>Inner Sunset<\/strong><\/em><\/a> Stay tuned for more of Musoscribe’s best new music of 2014.<\/p>\n
\nI make no apologies for the retro-mindedness that pervades my favorite new music. I’m one of those who believes that the mid-sixties gave popular music (rock in particular) its best material. And I daresay the members of Night Beats<\/strong> agree; everything about Sonic Bloom<\/em> screams 1966. But that doesn’t mean one needs to be a garage-punk aficionado to dig them. When reaching for a modern corollary, I tend to think of Night Beats’ music as a more tuneful rethink of the sort of thing Black Angels<\/strong><\/a> (another favorite) create.<\/p>\n
\nI was never any sort of fan of Squirrel Nut Zippers<\/strong>, so I didn’t approach the solo music of Jimbo Mathus<\/strong> with anticipation of finding much I’d dig. But what I discovered \u2013 first on his blue vinyl EP, then onstage in and person at the 2013 Americana Fest, then on Dark Night of the Soul<\/em> \u2013 was the work of a man who appreciated, understood and (most importantly) synthesized various American musical forms, creating something very much his own. Mathus’ wide-screen style suggests a more rock-minded version of The Band<\/strong>, with hints of Alex Chilton<\/strong><\/a>‘s wild devil-may-care abandon. You can hardly beat that.<\/p>\n
\nMiddle-aged guys playing thrashy punk? Yeah, that happens. This high-speed rock owes a debt to The Minutemen<\/strong> and the stop-on-a-dime pyrotechnics of Fugazi<\/strong> and H\u00fcsker D\u00fc<\/strong>. But piano in the mix? Didn’t see that coming. And combo organ, and vocal harmonies? Hey, that’s unexpected. Taken as a whole, their early Kinks<\/strong>-like presentation suggests a group that has assimilated all the best of what’s edgy and exciting about rock’n’roll. Like all the albums on this list, highly recommended.<\/p>\n
\nThere’s always room in my collection for what I call \u201cpop.\u201d My definition differs from the widely understood one in that I focus more on guitar-based music with a classic songwriterly approach. And I can think of few better exemplars of the style than this duo featuring Paul Myers<\/strong> (also a fine autho<\/a>r and clever Twitter user) and John Moremen<\/strong><\/a> (also a hotshot guitarist who’s worked with the Mystery Lawn stable of artists, Half Japanese<\/strong> and many others). If you like acts such as XTC<\/strong> <\/a>and Marshall Crenshaw<\/strong><\/a>, you’ll swoon when you hear cuts like \u201cEverything Comes Together.\u201d Me, I get shivers. An outstanding LP start to finish.<\/p>\n
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