For me, Thrill Jockey Records is like no other label. Daring to release albums where others wouldn't dream to tread, they are not concnered over genre or style and have bcome my favbourite label of the year enabling me to listen to albums I would never contemplated previosuly.
Over the course of 2014, Thrill Jockey has released 19 new full-length albums, 4 EPs and split releases and re-issued 5 unavailable classics from some of their most loved artists. Sufficed to say... it has been an incredible year and a diverse one. In 2014 they have released more metal albums than any other year in the label's history (including one disguised as a collection of house and techno anthems!), delved deeper into the world of modular synthesis, released several records by some of the most innovative drummers in the world today, been blown away by some of Japan's most creative artists, and that just scratches the tip of the surface.
Below is a list of everything they have been up to this year, because they know that when you're compiling year-end coverage... reminders can be helpful, sometimes.
Here's to 2015...........
A Minor Forest - Flemish Altruism/Inindependence
"Two of the most endlessly rewarding albums of the 90s boom." - Pitchfork
[Listen] [Watch]
Black Pus/Oozing Wound - Split LP
“If you like noise, and fun, then this is definitely for you.” - The Line of Best Fit
[Listen]
The Body/Sandworm - Split LP
"A full-on aural assault." - CVLT Nation
[Listen]
Golden Retriever - Seer
"More playful, almost pop aesthetic is emerging for Golden Retriever." - The Wire
[Listen] [Watch]
Guardian Alien - Spiritual Emergency
"The results are strikingly original, not least in the album’s structure." - The Skinny
[Listen]
Heat Leisure - III/IV
"As stoner-rock it hits a sweet spot and then evaporates into the ether without wearing out its welcome." - Wondering Sound
[Listen]
Koen Holtkamp (of Mountains) - Motion
“Holtkamp makes solo electro-acoustic compositions of epic length and hypnotic beauty.” - MOJO
[Watch] [Watch]
Holy Sons - The Fact Facer
Emil Amos's voice is often a joy to hear. By the end of the album you can scarcely believe that this man is the drummer in Om." - The 405
[Listen] [Watch]
Glenn Jones - Welcomed Wherever I Go
"From a Forgotten Session has the pacing of a raga but the personality of the blues, its tension stretching toward forever." - Pitchfork
[Listen]
Mary Lattimore & Jeff Zeigler - Slant of Light
"Elegant exploration of space and form." - The Quietus
[Listen] [Watch]
Liturgy - Renihilation
"However harsh the words and however heavy the music, Liturgy have fun with their chosen form-- playing ferociously, writing imaginatively, and, in the process, making a record that reveres black metal's legacy while, at its best, pushes it forward." - Pitchfork
[Listen]
Man Forever & So Percussion - Ryonen
"Ryonen stands out as Man Forever’s most introspective and meditative installment to date, utilizing silence and drone to place distinguishing distance between the individual beats and rattled instrumentation" - The Line of Best Fit
[Listen] [Watch]
Music Blues - Things Haven't Gone Well
"Heavier than a concrete tumour rotting in the bowels of hell" - Terrorizer
[Listen] [Watch]
OOIOO - Gamel
“Whatever you listen to next will seem pedestrian by comparison. Lovely.” - The Independent on Sunday
[Listen]
Oozing Wound - Earth Suck
"Oozing Wound are the Chicago trio ripping up the rulebook of thrash." - The Guardian
[Listen] [Watch]
Pontiak - INNOCENCE
"Their spare southern rock has a Gothic stoner mystery all of its own." - Classic Rock
[Listen] [Watch]
Jon Porras (of Barn Owl) - Light Divide
"... a powerfully absorbing piece that is difficult to not lose one's self within." - XLR8R
[Watch]
Rhyton - Kykeon
"Kykeon is Armageddon rock come from within deep centuries old lost civilisations which will leave you floating downstream on a dark river of myth and portent." - Rock-A-Rolla
[Listen] [Watch]
The Skull Defekts - Dances In Dreams of the Known Unknown
“The album is a thrill from start to finish” - The 405
[Listen] [Watch]
The Soft Pink Truth - Why Do The Heathen Rage?
“A vigorously thought-provoking record.” - Q
[Listen] [Watch]
D. Charles Speer & The Helix - Doubled Exposure
“Speer’s country art-rock with a with a side Southern fried is damn tasty.” - Q
[Listen] [Watch]
Trans Am - Volume X
“Trans Am remain one of America’s most inventive bands.” - Prog Magazine
[Listen] [Watch]
Alexander Tucker - Alexander Tucker
"This debut album, released for the first time to the mass market, is a tremendous indication of what was to come, and what is to come, from (arguably, of course) Britain’s finest songwriter. This, as is everything Tucker has released, is highly recommended." - The Line of Best Fit
[Listen]
White Hills - Glitter Glamour Atrocity
"Glitter Glamour Atrocity is both a landmark in White Hills' career and also in modern underground psych-rock." - Prog Magazine
[Watch]
Dustin Wong & Takako Minekawa - Savage Imagination
"Everything is a little tighter and brighter, with the personalities of Minekawa and Wong burning harder than before. It's a jubilant, uplifting work, taking on several shades of happiness as it turns through its 43 minutes." - Pitchfork
[Listen] [Watch]
Wrekmeister Harmonies - Then It All Came Down
"Robinson's triumph is maintaining the sonic extremes for as long as he does. By the time the scorched earth guitars combine with black metal vocals for the song's final thrust, Then It All Came Down has taken listeners through the full cycle of musical emotions." - Exclaim
[Listen]
Thalia Zedek Band - SIX
“Another haunted masterpiece of bruised blues from Boston-based rocker.” - Uncut
[Listen]
A full Thrill Jockey artist roster is here.
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