{"id":1721,"date":"2015-01-10T17:35:58","date_gmt":"2015-01-11T01:35:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/?p=1721"},"modified":"2021-12-17T09:15:39","modified_gmt":"2021-12-17T15:15:39","slug":"of-the-year-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/of-the-year-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Of The Year – 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

For once I’m writing this at a not too unreasonable point after the end of the year in question, so no need for a backdated post inserted via time travel…<\/p>\n

1. LILILIL<\/em><\/a> — Benji Hughes<\/strong>
\nI can’t think of another album in the last decade \u2014\u00a0if not ever \u2014\u00a0that leaves me with such a big grin every time I listen to it. LILILIL<\/i> is concept album Benji wrote for his daughter. The story is a time travel rock opera set in outer space and narrated by Jeff Bridges. Various characters leave “space messages” that are basically introductions to “space jams” by Benji. Plus the whole thing starts off with a repeated chant of “I am from the future…I am from the future…I am from the future.” You had me at hello…<\/p>\n

2. OXOXOXOX \/ Songs in the Key of Animals \/ XXOXOXX<\/em><\/a> – Benji Hughes<\/strong>
\nYes, I really am saying my 4 favorite albums of 2014 are by the same artist. And it was pretty much a no brainer. Since they are only available for purchase as a set I’ll go Nielsen-style and group them together under a single number. (This also gets me off the hook from needing to rank them individually.) Can you say infallible band?<\/p>\n

3. Supernova<\/em><\/a> – Ray LaMontagne<\/strong>
\nRay’s best record since his debut. Taking chances with vocal arrangements and cool stuttery noises that paid off big. Any other year this would have been number one with a bullet.<\/p>\n

4. The Voyager<\/em><\/a> – Jenny Lewis<\/strong>
\nBreezy, poppy, snarky, confident and fun.<\/p>\n

5. V for Vaselines<\/em><\/a> – The Vaselines<\/strong>
\nKurt Cobain’s fandom and Nirvana’s 3 famous covers sent me seeking out the Vaselines 20 years ago. Some songs I have always loved (“The Day I Was a Horse,” “Teenage Superstars” and “Dying For It”), but mostly I respected them and found the other songs more interesting than good. The same was mostly true about their 2010 comeback record — but V for Vaselines<\/em> is easily the best album in their catalog. I hope they do another one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For once I’m writing this at a not too unreasonable point after the end of the year in question, so no need for a backdated post inserted via time travel… 1. LILILIL — Benji Hughes I can’t think of another album in the last decade \u2014\u00a0if not ever \u2014\u00a0that leaves me with such a big…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[16,4],"tags":[39],"class_list":["post-1721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music","category-time-travel","tag-of-the-year"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3pfx3-rL","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2381,"url":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/lx-commentary-15-so-well\/","url_meta":{"origin":1721,"position":0},"title":"LX Commentary #15: So Well","author":"LBDG","date":"October 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The setup for this chapter came to me with the clarity of a message from my future self: Benji & L, on a date at a hardware store, chaperoned by Frank, coveting an unidentified handcrafted object for mysterious reasons. \"You've got it made, because you're made so well.\" Early on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Behind the Scenes"","block_context":{"text":"Behind the Scenes","link":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/category\/behind-the-scenes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Screen-Shot-2021-09-28-at-9.55.03-PM-300x180.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2339,"url":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/lx-commentary-13c-girl-in-the-tower-part-iii\/","url_meta":{"origin":1721,"position":1},"title":"LX Commentary #13c: Girl In The Tower (Part III)","author":"LBDG","date":"September 11, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Let's pick up where we left off with the doors. SAL + MON = Salmon. The CD version of the album Songs in the Key of Animals assigns these names to each disc. The LP version subtitles the sides. L Extreme the novel pays tribute with little signs on two\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Behind the Scenes"","block_context":{"text":"Behind the Scenes","link":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/category\/behind-the-scenes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/SalMonSITKOA-279x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2518,"url":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/lx-commentary-22-jubalee\/","url_meta":{"origin":1721,"position":2},"title":"LX Commentary #22: Jubalee","author":"LBDG","date":"November 28, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Jubalee\" is an epic track oozing with vivid imagery to work with, making it ripe for a play by play trek across various locales. Florist --> Tea Shop --> Circus My initial approach was a redux of the fake Halloween neighborhood watch trick-or-treating section, sending Benji & C & Frank\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Behind the Scenes"","block_context":{"text":"Behind the Scenes","link":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/category\/behind-the-scenes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Screen-Shot-2021-11-26-at-11.13.30-AM-154x300.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2612,"url":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/lx-commentary-24-love-on-a-budget\/","url_meta":{"origin":1721,"position":3},"title":"LX Commentary #24: Love On A Budget","author":"LBDG","date":"December 11, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Defeating the villain was (seemingly) the point of the previous chapter, but we still have 3 songs left. What's next? It's about to get weird... Just like the song says: \"Love on a budget doesn't make much sense anymore.\" A simple line, I embraced the second half of that lyric\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Behind the Scenes"","block_context":{"text":"Behind the Scenes","link":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/category\/behind-the-scenes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Screen-Shot-2021-12-06-at-10.27.21-PM-283x300.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2240,"url":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/lx-commentary-10-all-youve-got-to-do-is-fall-in-love\/","url_meta":{"origin":1721,"position":4},"title":"LX Commentary #10: All You’ve Got To Do Is Fall In Love","author":"LBDG","date":"July 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Upon deciding to run with this fairytale interlude for the rest of side B, my storytelling goal became connecting the dots from Benji & Jessica to Benji & L while moving things towards a confrontation in \"The Tower\"\u2014whatever that might turn out to be. So easy to do, right? :)My\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Behind the Scenes"","block_context":{"text":"Behind the Scenes","link":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/category\/behind-the-scenes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Screen-Shot-2021-11-30-at-9.58.58-PM.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2123,"url":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/lx-chapter-commentary-3-you-stood-me-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":1721,"position":5},"title":"LX Chapter Commentary #3: You Stood Me Up","author":"LBDG","date":"May 15, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"A dream, a frame story, and a flashback walk into a novel based on lyrics from a double album by Benji Hughes\u00a0who also stars as the protagonist.Kidding aside, the thrill of working on L Extreme was the kitchen-sink zaniness of the structure. 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