2014: Roundup • Albums • Songs • Sounds
This is the fourth annual collection of my favorite sounds of the year. It’s my favorite list to do by a long shot.
As in years past, I’ve pulled out the sounds from their songs and lined them up in the audio file above. The full list with descriptions is below so you can follow along.
(Previously: 2011 and 2012 and 2013)
I have more than twice the number of sounds from 2014 than in previous years, and the attendant audio collage is more than thirteen minutes long. Enjoy!
Oh, and I’d love to hear what you think about this collection or if there are moments that stood out in songs for you this year. You can find me on Twitter at @matthewmcvickar or email me or drop a note in my Ask box.
Andy Stott — Violence
Chorus-ending snare fill. Low-frequency near-silence before the drop.
Anenon — Lithograph
Pitched-down pad with corresponding pitched-down vinyl crackle.
Angel Olsen — Windows
Snare buildup to finale.
Aphex Twin — Xmas_eve10 (thanaton3 Mix)
Rubbery vocal sample. Bongo triplet.
Aphex Twin — produk 29
Mid-measure song start with surprise snare.
Ases Falsos — Symmetry
Bursting into the chorus.
Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks — A Sender
“OHHHHhhhhh-h-h-h-h!” pitch-decay delay.
Baths — Fade White
Echoing clicks and pitched-up-and-panned guitar artifacts.
Beck — Heart Is a Drum
Reversed vocals.
Bing & Ruth — We Are on the Side of Angels
Echoing rumbles.
Bombay Bicycle Club — So Long, See You Tomorrow
Bombastic ending.
Call Super — Hoax Eye
Digital thunder.
Caribou — Second Chance
Repeating high-pitched vocal “ooh-ooh” on the three.
Caribou — Silver
Drum fill. Reversed vocal sample. Rising synth brass embellishment.
Charli XCX f. Simon Le Bon — Kingdom
Held note cut-up.
Clark — Snowbird
Tick-tock of white noise and kicks.
D’Angelo & The Vanguard — The Charade
Reverse-reverb to clap.
EMA — Satellites
Back-and-forth of white-noise drone and analog bass drone.
Grouper — Labyrinth
Microwave beep.
Gunnar Haslam — Incidental Magnetics
“—between—an organism—”
Hundred Waters — Show Me Love
Multi-tracked velar stops in break and awake.
Hundred Waters — Innocent
Muffled snare duplet. Rising vocal run with boomeranging whoosh.
Ian William Craig — Before Meaning Comes
Heavily degraded, crackling vocal loops.
Interpol — Anywhere
Weird high-pitched voice doubling “be kind to the bass.”
James Blake — 200 Press
Bell knocks. Three 6 Mafia sample + minor-key arpeggio + “latenight— latenight— latenight.”
Jamie xx — Sleep Sound
Drum fill and “come on.”
Javiera Mena — Otra Etra
“Aohh.” And you can hear it again later, heavily reverbed in the background.
John Roberts — Indigo
Pitched-down sword-clash sample? (Sounds like it’s saying “Look-look at me.”)
Koen Holtcamp — Between Visible Things
Guitar-string shriek.
Lee Bannon — NW/WB
False ending and distorted reverb outro.
Leon Vynehall — Time
Cut-up and panned piano notes.
Little Dragon — Only One
Three-note synth-tom pattern, then the ‘Icct Hedral’ sound-alike background synth.
Lone — Jaded
Rolling claps.
Loscil — Ahull
Rhythmic cut-panning.
Loscil — Sea Island Murders
Reverse-reverb piano notes.
Loscil — Sturgeon Bank
Auto-panned synth speeding up in time to catch up with the beat.
Marissa Nadler — Drive
“…behind the cellular lights.”
Millie & Andrea — Corrosive
Insane drum-break drop.
Mono/Poly — Alpha & Omega
Noisy hi-hat.
Moonface — Daughter of a Dove
Weird distant-yelling noise low in the mix in the right channel. And the crescendo into chord change. (And a lot more.)
The New Pornographers — Born with a Sound
When it switches to Amber Webber’s voice and you can’t tell for a second because her vocal tone is so close to Bejar’s.
Nicki Minaj — Pills N Potions
Slight quaver at the end of “overdosin.’”
Notwist — Kong
Drum fill.
Objekt — Dogma
Snare drum accents.
Orcas — Filament
Time-stretched loop with rhythmically repeating sections.
Owen Pallett — The Riverbed
“Hurtle into the breach” echo. “You might have it wrooONG!” rising vocals.
Panda Bear — Boys Latin
Bass loop out of phase.
Perfect Pussy — Interference Fits
Feedback outro.
Perfume Genius - Fool
Interlude rising vocal solo.
Perfume Genius - Too Bright
Pitched-up synth embellishment.
Phantogram — Fall in Love
Snare duplet with a different snare sample.
Plaid — Hawkmoth
Bouncing synth, slighty behind the beat.
+/- — The Bitterest Pill
Lyrical/melodical callback to ‘All I Do’, the first song on +/-’s 2002 debut album.
Popcaan — Ghetto (Tired of Crying)
Dissonant steel drum.
Popcaan — Waiting So Long
High-pitched yelping cadence.
S. Carey — Creaking
Two-note (A to B) guitar and piano figure.
Sevendeaths — All Night Graves
Arpeggios.
Shabazz Palaces — They Come In Gold
Time-stretched four-note melody in right channel.
Shamir — On The Regular
Pitched-down “obviously absurd” and that eagle sample.
A Sunny Day in Glasgow — In Love With Useless (The Timeless Geometry in the Tradition of Passing)
Crowd-noise chorus.
A Sunny Day in Glasgow — The Things They Do to Me
Guitar delay into 4-4 kick and echoing guitar strings.
Sisyphus — Take Me
That beat, especially the feedback-y snares and snare-less feedback hits.
Super Flu — Jo Gurt (DJ Koze Remix)
“Okay.”
Suzanne Kraft — 8:13
Layered and reversed vocals and tongue-clucks.
Tame Impala — Endors Toi (from Live Versions)
Live sidechained synths.
Tame Impala — Be Above It (from Live Versions)
Extended interlude with synth arpeggio and guitar delays.
Taylor Swift — Blank Space
Bouncy slapback kick drums. “I’ll write your name” pen click.
Teebs — Shoouss Lullaby
Surprise live drums.
Trust — Joyland
“Rest assured I sleep alo-o-o-one.” And the voice switch for “…and the parts unknown.”
tUnE-yArDs — Wait for a Minute
Repeating clicky loop in left channel.
The War on Drugs — Red Eyes
Droney breakdown.
St. Vincent — Prince Johnny
Flanged hi-hat and squelchy snare.
Vic Mensa — Down on My Luck
Syncopated cowbell.
Viet Cong — Continental Shelf
Descending two-note guitar motif.
Weyes Blood — Hang On
Time signature change. The rising melody of “Oh you can tell…”
Wild Beasts — Wanderlust
Synth pad.
Wild Beasts — Daughters
Ping-ponging power-synth.
Woods — Only the Lonely
Delay feedback intro.
Wye Oak — I Know the Law
Breathy titular chorus and background-vocal “I knowww.”
Yemi Alade — Johnny
“Ques—tion.”
Zammuto — Good Graces
Panned and flanged drum kit.
Zammuto — Great Equator
Analog synth tangle plus reversed feedback squall.
Zammuto — Henry Lee
Echoing flourish.
amandla
prguitarman
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
turnnoffyourmind
gamechangershow
romaincrisis
gummygunk
