AllMusic 2014 Year in Review
Favorite Indie Pop and Indie Rock Albums
There was plenty of outstanding indie rock and pop to go around this year, including the debut full-length by FKA Twigs, excellent new albums from St. Vincent and Spoon, and the latest dreamy record from the War on Drugs.
The ambitious debut by this Leeds quartet displays expertly crafted, experimental indie pop, created from a sprawling labyrinth of styles.
A hypnotic mix of '80s synth pop and world music from Europe and India.
The inspired musician delivers her "pop" album, which makes recognizable genres bleed into one of her own sublime creations.
Equally fiery and committed, Cloud Nothings' fourth album is sustainable punk.
EMA / Billy Sandness / Leif Shackelford
EMA's ambitious second album explores the relationship between identity and the Internet in dazzling, often affecting vignettes.
Incredibly catchy and dark proper debut by this U.K. indie pop group builds on their brilliantly raw singles collection.
The multi-talented artist's first full-length expands on her innovative sounds and bittersweet sensuality.
The Canadian hardcore band continues to reinvent punk rock on its revelatory fourth album.
The group's fourth album finds them streamlining their synth pop-influenced sound into something danceable and emotionally cutting.
Recorded in Portugal, this is some of the ambient artist's most vulnerable and beautiful music.
Jad and David Fair celebrate the joys of life in the modern world, with some help from John Dieterich of Deerhoof.
The Michigan group returns to its experimental roots, delivering a dazzling, bittersweet set inspired by prog rock and Hammer horror.
Raw, exceedingly emotional, and melodic neo-emo-punk that stands proudly next to the classic albums of the '90s emo wave.
Following the introspective WIXIW, Liars deliver some of their most spontaneous and wickedly gleeful songs in years.
The Swedish group's fourth, mostly self-produced album is highlighted by a handful of stormy ballads.
The band's first album as a trio strips away the noise, revealing them as first-rate purveyors of swooning synth pop.
The Swedish singer/songwriter delivers a beautifully glacial set of break-up ballads on her strong third release.
Canadian goofball grows up alongside his lighthearted but deceptively complex pop style, offering his most consistent set of songs as he ponders aging.
The Brooklyn-based band uses hardship to completely transform themselves and their music, delivering mysterious, celebratory electro-pop.
Riveting, often bleak work from Cherry -- only her fourth proper solo album but as collaborative as anything from her deep, undervalued discography.
Impressively dark and dramatic shoegaze/noise rock debut that takes the tropes of those styles and totally owns them.
Pallett's fourth long-player exists somewhere in between the sugary opulence of Kishi Bashi and the chilly refinement of Homogenic-era Björk.
Their second album is streamlined, angry, full of undimmed passion and fire, and also quite catchy and fun, just like the group's debut.
The second installment of the band's trilogy of albums inspired by classic movies offers a thrilling riff on vintage low-budget horror.
Mike Hadreas' bold, terrifying, and heartbreaking third album features Portishead's Adrian Utley and PJ Harvey collaborator John Parish.
Second album from Detroit post-punkers expands on their furious beginnings with more nuanced moods and production.
Inventive arrangements and daring leaps of style make this indie singer/songwriter's fourth album a triumph.
The former Yura Yura Teikoku founder's post-apocalyptic lounge is thought-provoking, musically dazzling, and sometimes bewildering.
The Nottingham duo's brilliantly crude breakthrough proves they're one of the most truly punk acts of the 2010s.
The band's first album in four years is a concise return that's too complex to be considered back-to-basics.
A fascinating mix of directness and artifice, St. Vincent's fourth album is her most satisfying yet.
The Jicks get mellow, sunny, and mischievous on this, their first album since Malkmus reunited Pavement.
The pairing of artists renowned for experimentation yields a strangely melodic, often thunderous offering equal to the sum of its parts.
Another epic-scale salvo from these noise-rock pioneers, slightly less dark than their best-known work but no less intense.
Inspired by '90s R&B, TEEN focus their experimental leanings into a set of exciting, ambitious, and womanly songs.
Temples' debut is a thrilling introduction to their brand of backward-looking, forward-sounding psych pop.
The band's third album adds some obvious '80s elements, and further synthesizes and improves their unique brand of dance-pop.
The band's debut album is a low-key psych pop delight that casts a calmly enchanting spell that's hard to break, even after the album ends.
Third album of dreamy, understated, and slowly unfurling rock stands as this Philly group's finest hour.
Tim Brown / Lunchbox / Donna McKean
Fuzzy, hooky, blown-out indie pop that sounds like the best thing Elephant 6 never released.
Second album from Montreal quartet merges sophisticated '80s pop and blurry home-recorded production.
Trust's second album is bold, vulnerable, dark, exuberant, and surprisingly danceable.
tUnE-yArDs' third album thrives on contradictions, delivering some of the duo's most challenging yet accessible music.
Jeff Tweedy teams up with his son Spencer for a set of personal, intimate songs informed by love and family crises.
Noisy guitars and simple but sweet melodies cheerfully coexist on this offering from the West Coast indie hero.
Fantastic second album from this formerly noisy folk project steps up in terms of clarity and emotional weight.
Honed by consistent touring, the duo focuses on powerful vocals and percussion with stunning results.
Fifth album from Ohio cult heroes is a grim but oddly beautiful celebration of the messy details of life after age 30.