The Sifting Pan

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Kimbra - The Golden Echo


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Best Albums of 2014 #5.) Kimbra – The Golden Echo

Kimbra - The Golden Echo

released in August 2014 via Warner Bros. Records

The Golden Echo is both majestic and enamoring in the way it leaves behind an insatiable thirst for more. New Zealand’s very own Kimbra has truly outdone herself on her latest release with the ability to keep her unique brand of experimental pop so palatable. She’s miles ahead of her fellow intellectual alt-poptress and the proof is in the incredible range of genre warping going on here. The debate about the coming mono-genre rages on, and all the while Kimbra has created a saturated cocktail that combines more genres then I actually knew existed.

Here is where things start to get a little strange. As it turns out, The Golden Echo is an experimental concoction that goes down smoother than I could have ever possibly expected. I never knew I could fall for an album that had so much going on in areas music that I simply have no foundation. I can understand how at first everything it may seem too overwhelming to handle, but like a good movie, as you watch it time and time again, you begin to pick up on the clever artistic choices made that add to the overall appeal. Clocking in at over an hour, with its shortest track being closer to 4 minutes, The Golden Echo is very much like watching a cinematic experience, and I strongly recommend setting aside the time to give it shot.

Kimbra has created more than a few engrossing songs that I will surly keep on sharing and playing for decades to come.

Favorite Tracks:
90s Music
Love In High Places
Goldmine
Miracle
Carolina
Nobody But You
Madhouse

Twitter Handle: @kimbramusic
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/kimbramusic
Spotify:  Kimbra

Glass Animals - Zaba


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Best Albums of 2014 #6.) Glass Animals – ZABA

Glass Animals - Zaba

released in June 2014 via Wolf Tone (UK)/Harvest Records (US)

It’s quite surreal how damn crisp Glass Animals can make rich layers of worldly instruments sound. Even spine-tingling at times, as the diverse and powerful percussion hijacks your skeletal frame and forces rhythmical movement. I found it quite easy to give into the primordial spirit of things and indulge in the finer offerings of this British quartet. Gooey will win you over instantly with its rich and sweet textures that melt upon arrival to your cranium. Satisfying to quite a few of the senses and truly remarkable, it is beyond me how this song did not become a huge hit in the United States.

It’s hard to believe in a post Alt-J world that Glass Animals can not find a nice comfy audience. These guys are dripping in too much sincere talent and musical merit for us to turn the other check. I personally have found ZABA to make more sense and be more cohesive than any Alt-J record I’ve ever listen to. Maybe that’s just me, but I would really like to see the people who went bonkers for other the British oddities take a chance on these guys. They more than deserve the exposure and praise for such a smashing debut.

Favorite Tracks:
Gooey
Walla Walla
Wyrd
JDNT

Twitter Handle: @GlassAnimals
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/glassanimals
Spotify:   Glass Animals

Jungle - Jungle


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Best Albums of 2014 #7.) Jungle – Jungle

Jungle - Jungle

released in July 2014 via XL Recordings

Deciding to take a chance on British electronic funksters Jungle turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made in 2014. In the realm of online music buzz these guys were being held up as a bright and creative beam of light, in what early on might have seemed like a slow beginning for our year in music. So after much avoidance (Because honestly I don’t usually care much for psychedelic dance music) I finally took a gamble and oh my did it ever pay off. Jump right into Busy Earnin’ and you will have trouble denying that there is something special going on here.

Jungle’s self-title debut contains a gorgeous cascade of many sounds, but with some that are most likely not made by any instrument that you or I posses any familiarity with. I highly suggest you go into this album open minded and ready for anything, because it will get weird. Not the uncomfortable kind of weird where you’ll want to leave the situation, but that certain kind that might spark a unknown curiosity inside you. There are some true gems on this album that stand out, but I highly recommend giving the whole record a spin before nitpicking.

Favorite Tracks:
Time
Julia
Busy Earnin'
Crumbler
Lemonade Lake

Twitter Handle: n/a
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/jungle4eva
Spotify:  Jungle

Dan Croll - Sweet Disarray


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Best Albums of 2014 #8.) Dan Croll – Sweet Disarray

Dan Croll - Sweet Disarray

released in April 2014 via Capital Records

Dan Croll’s overwhelmingly strong debut album Sweet Disarray is exactly just that.

It’s delicious, daring, dandy and disorienting! 
It’s fresh, fly, friendly, and fascinating!
It’s gregarious, gracious, grand, and gravitating!
It’s simply sweet disarray!

In just under 40 minutes, Dan Croll manages to compact together what takes many musicians a lifetime to achieve. Mr. Croll created an indie pop album where almost every single song has the capability of holding its own. Each one crafted with an individual majesticness that only it may boast. It’s not as if Dan Croll reinvented the wheel or anything, but damn did he create one that I will keep on spinning until the end of my time.

Quite cleverly, he has channeled the style of many indie popsters and rockers that have come before him, but at the same time forged a sound that can now only be attributed to him. In due time the world will catch up to the all the glory and pop prowess of Dan Croll.

In Sifting Pan terminology, Sweet Disarray is what we call a big ol’ fat bag of indie gems.

Favorite Tracks:
Compliment Your Soul
Can You Hear Me
From Nowhere
Thinkin Aboutchu
Only Ghost
Home

Twitter Handle: @DanCroll
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/dancroll
Spotify:  Dan Croll

The Holidays - Reel Feel


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Best Albums of 2014 #9.) The Holidays – Real Feel

The Holidays - Reel Feel

released in February 2014 via Liberation

It’s hard to have a care in the world once you find yourself lost in the vibrant world of Real Feel. 2014 direly needed an album with endless feel-good riffs, and The Holidays came forth with an extraordinary solution. Real Feel is a musical journey through a tropical paradise that feels all too real. Track by track, the album takes you on a grand tour of the most remote and gorgeous parts of Oceania.

Yes, this brilliant composition of tunes will literally make you feel like you’re in a whole other hemisphere. The Holidays have indeed created a rich and textured world through their laid back indie rock finesse. Never has something so chill also been this damn exhilarating. It’s a damn shame that these Australian gentlemen don’t get more exposure in the States. Their latest album deserves some serious commemoration for the ten tracks of true sun-soaked bliss contained within.

So whenever you might need an escape from this dreary world…
You can always apparate there in a moments notice with Real Feel!

Favorite Tracks:
Voices Drifting
Japan Window
Simple Pleasures
Long Now
All Time High

Twitter Handle: @theholidays
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/theholidaysband
Spotify:  The Holidays