AMN Best of 2014 (So Far)

We are half-way through 2014, and therefore it is a good time to revisit some of the best releases that have come to my attention so far this year. Of course it is important to keep in mind that there are plenty of releases I’ve yet to hear, so this list is far from comprehensive.

For each of the releases that we’ve reviewed, a link is included.

The best so far:

Led Bib – The Good Egg
Nels Cline Singers – Macroscope
Jack O’ The Clock – Night Loops
Peter Kerlin Octet – Salamander
Thumbscrew (Halvorson / Formanek / Fujiwara) – Thumbscrew
Touch and Go Sextet – Live at the Novara Jazz Festival
Dan Weiss – Fourteen

Excellent releases:

Sam Boshnack / Quintet – Exploding Syndrome
Tom Carter & Pat Murano – Four Infernal Rivers
Chicago Underground Duo – Locus
D.C. Improvisers Collective – In the Gloam of the Anthropocene
Barry Guy New Orchestra – Amphi / Radio Rondo
Ross Hammond – Humanity Suite
Otavan Veret – Otavan Veret
Reconnaissance Fly – Flower Futures
Peter Van Zandt Lane – HackPolitik

Honorable Mentions:

2TE Freund, Der – Sub Divo
After the Rain – The Night Must Fall
Aram Bajakian – There Were Flowers Also in Hell
Guy Barash – Facts About Water
Raoul Björkenheim eCsTaSy – eCsTaSy
Black Dirt Oak – Wawayanda Patent
Philip Blackburn – Music of Shadows
Tyler Blanton –  Gotham
Jaap Blonk  /Sandy Ewen /Damon Smith/Chris Cogburn – North of Blanco
Brute Force – Brute Force
Chris Campbell – Things You Already Know
Jeff Cosgrove  / Matthew Shipp / William Parker – Alternating Current
Anthony Davis – Notes from the Underground
Kris Davis – Massive Threads
Deadwood – Sheolic
Djam Karet – Regenerator 3017
Pierre Dorge  / Torben Westergaard / Tyshawn Sorey – Like Salamanders We Survive
Mark Dresser  / Gerry Hemingway / Assif Tsahar – Code Re(a)d
Peter Epstein Quartet – Polarities
André Foisy –  The End of History
Gauci / Knuffke / Filiano – Chasing Tales
Ben Goldberg / Adam Levy / Smith Dobson – Worry Later
Rich Halley / 4 – The Wisdom of Rocks
Michael Hersch / Blair String Quartet – Images from a Closed Ward
Ideal Bread – Beating the Teens
In Slaughter Natives – Cannula Coma Legio
Indigo Mist (Cuong Vu / Richard Karpen) – That The Days Go By And Never Come Back
Jon Irabagon / Mark Helias / Barry Altschul – It Takes All Kinds
Max Johnson – The Prisoner
Max Johnson Trio – The Invisible Trio
Keith Kelly – The People Who Left
Igor Krutogolov / Karate Band – How to be a Crocodile
Helmut Lachenmann / JACK Quartet – Complete String Quartets
Dominic Lash Quartet – Opabinia
Led Bib – The People in Your Neighbourhood
Locrian – The Crystal World
Chris Lynn  / Daniel Barbiero – Augmented Landscapes
David MacBride – A Special Light
Machine Mass / Dave Liebman – Inti
Marsen Jules (Martin Juhls) – Beautyfear
Ryan McGuire –  Civilian
Medeski, Martin & Wood / Nels Cline – Woodstock Sessions (Vol. 2)
Mesektet – Towards a Bleak Sun
Szilárd Mezei / International Improvisers Ensemble – Karszt
Nicole Mitchell / Black Earth Ensemble – Xenogenesis II: Intergalactic Beings
N.E.W. (Steve Noble, John Edwards, Alex Ward) – Motion
Keir Neuringer – Ceremonies Out of the Air
Adriano Orru – Palimpsest
Ed Palermo Big Band – Oh No! Not Jazz!!
Richard Pinhas / Tatsuya Yoshida – Welcome in the Void
Reutoff & Sal Solaris – Eigengrau
Eric Revis – In Memory of Things Yet Seen
Jason Roebke – Combination
Rent Romus / Lords of the Outland – The Proceedings of Dr. Ke
Daniel Rosenboom Quintet – Fire Keeper
Jonathan Rowden Group – Becoming
JC Sanford Orchestra – Views from the Inside
Sax Ruins – Blimmguass
Shrine – Nihil
Sonar – Static Motion
Marco Stroppa – Upon a Blade of Grass
Treha Sektori – Severh Sehenh
Wolvserpent – Perigea Antahkarana
Jack Wright / Ben Wright – As If Anything Could be the Same