Jane Weaver – The Silver Globe<\/b><\/p>\n
I\u2019m rapidly reaching obsessive levels of play with this adventurous album. Space rock meets 60s British melancholia: if you puzzle over which element is retro and which is futuristic, then this is the record for you. Weaver\u2019s voice is mysterious and spellbinding \u2014 just one more reason why she fills the space left by British indie groups Broadcast and Stereolab.<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ET6nFIe0QG0<\/a>\n <\/p>\n D\u2019Angelo & the Vanguard – Black Messiah<\/b><\/p>\n Was there a bigger \u2018event album\u2019 in 2014 than this one? D\u2019Angelo ended his 15-year drought to address the outrages and laments of Black America in the year of Michael Brown, Eric Garner and too, too many others. (Among other revelations, his surprise release also illustrates why music writers should really wait until the very end of the year to write their end-of-year lists.) This would all be academic if not for the music \u2014 an exciting evolution of his singular, waaay-behind-the-beat funk.<\/p>\n