Dedicated Ears 2014 Compilations List

So many great compilations came out this past year. I downloaded over 50 of them. So I decided they deserved their own list instead of throwing a few of these in my most listened to list. Thanks to all the artists whose music makes it possible, all the cool labels and the blog/ sites out there that make these great albums known.

1. exploding in sound records - Sampler 2013 - 2014  EIS is a Brooklyn based label that has some seriously sweet garage rock bands on there. Ovlov's noise rock track "Moth Rock" is a distorted beauty. The lo, lo, lo fi of LVL UP song "Angel From Space", short and sweet.  Love the dissonant  track "Bump a Grape" from Pile. And last but not least, Chicago based garage rockers excellent track "Kicked Out The Fear".

2. Ziklibrenbib - Volume 9 features alternative, indie, pop tracks from France based Creative Commons blog Ziklibrenbib.  My favorite crazy Italian rockers CRTVTR's anthem "Workers" is a track i can listen to over and over. The sweet strings and accordion of  Holland based La Tabu's waltz timed track "Nada", which made it on my other year end list. Brooklyn's duo Lizard Kisses acts 50's influenced  "The Storm" is a syrupy sweet little number. New York based Salt Cathedral's song "Dirty Me", is a dance pop gem. Kelly Latimore's folk track "Overgrown" is another example of great songwriting, nothing new to Latimore.

3. The Active Listener - Sampler 15  New Zealand based Active Listener specializes in all things psychedelic. Standout out tracks on this sampler are psych rockers Kingdom of The Holy Sun, "Swarga", The Citradels track "Dervish and the shoe-gaze band Ummagma's "Lama" (Ian Baird remix).

4. Sello Regional - Regional presenta Temporal Volumen 3 has Cumbia, dub, folktronica, tropical based dance music. The label is based in Santiago , Chile.  Standout tracks are the ambient "Cute Quarter" by Species, "Ibnertia" by Barda and "Curiosity" by Yelram Selectah.

5. Reflections Art and Literary Magazine - Reflections 2014 Newton South, Massachusetts high school students music sampler. Love the diversity of the music on the sampler. Favorite tracks are electronic rock track "Cyberpunk" by Brian De La Cruz,  and "Buff Up My Boy" by Yogurtland.

6.  Stickshift Recordings - Weapons of Construction  Punk rock, diy, feminist from Burlington Vermont based net label Stickshift Recordings. "Free Speech" by Not Right, "Sayonara" byGirlcrush, and "Carnage" by Black Rabbit are my favorite tracks.

7. Gururguruguru Brain Wash - Gururguruguru Brain Wash Psychedelic rock, electronic from Japan based label guruguru brain. Favorite tracks are the meandering  psyche-rock meandering "Theme " by Yozepf of Kirezi,and groove oriented "Dhidalah" by ASTRO.

8. Dine Alone Records Indie, pop, rock sampler from Toronto based label Dine Alone Records. Favorite tracks are : the 60's production pop number "Genevieve" by Lucius,

9. Track and Field Records - Summer Compilation Vol. 1 Pop, indie from Portland label track and field records. Love the dream pop track "Iroqouis" by Cemeterties,  the dreamy "Swim Around" by Appendixes, and "Get High" by Tender Age.

10. beta snake records - Servo Driven Hip Swivel Alternative, folk, garage, noise pop sampler from New Jersey based label beta snake records.  Favorite tracks : the quirky "Hey!" by Hulaboy, the odd and melodic "But..." by Cephalopods & Their Allies, "Nobodies Die" folk tale by the always excellent Car Seat Headrest, and the short and sweet "Dead end Mabel" by Makeout Vertigo.

11. Fleeting Youth Records - Volume 2 Mainline 2014 Alternative rock, garage rock, grunge, punk rock sampler from Austin based label Fleeting Youth Records. Favorite tracks are "I Wanna Take Pills With You" by Slippertails, keeping with the drugs theme "Charming Flow" by Balue and also the buzz rock of "Correscondido" by Le almeida.

12. Avocado Family Records - Avocado Sampler Indie, folk, pop, rock from Bellingham based label Avocado Family Records.  My favorite tracks = sweet electro pop track "Gentleman's Harvest by The Magician & The Gates of Love, the dance track "Angle Dust" by Mike Preuss, and "Untitled" by Catcher.

13. The Blog That Celebrates Itself -   The Dark and Cold Sounds of TBTCI Vol. II  Alternative, noise, post-punk, psychedelic covers  sampler from Sao Paulo based label The Blog That Celebrates Itself Records. My favorite tracks are "The Same Deep Water As You (The Cure)" by People of Nothing, "Crank" (Catherine Wheel) by Silo Halo and "Spellbound" (Siouxsie and The Banshees). 

14.  Nekoi devojki - Nekoi devojki Indie, rock, alt, all female sampler? Yes all female sampler from  Macedonia based Nekoi devojki. Favorites are : fuzz rock track "Song No. 2" by GreenFuzz, ambient pop  beauty of "Smile" by Devotjka and  the electronic pop gem "Denot koga se rodiv" by Bernays Propoganda.

15. A High Tower - Songs for Maddy  Rock, indie from a Fort Wayne based collection of musicians.  From their bandcamp page" This album is a celebration of life. Life in general, but in-particular the life of one young woman named Madelyn Stephenson. She left this planet much sooner than she should have, and because of that this planet will never truly know what it's missing or what she would have done to make it a better place to be. Back to the album, it's filled with songs from independent musicians based in Northeast Indiana that wanted to honor Maddy's memory. " Favorite tracks are the psych heavy track"Somewhere in The Soft terrain" by Burning Tapes and "On and On" by The Lonely Reals.

16. Crash Symbols - Touched by an Angle Experimental, electronic pop sampler from Morgantown based Crash Symbols. Favorite tracks are "Sleep Forever (Wakeup)" by The Ambulance, "Bone Flag" by Snailpoison, and "Talking Cure" by Blackhoods.

17. Folkadelphia - Folkadelphia Sessions Volume II Americana, folk, acoustic, bluegrass, country sampler from Philadelphia based folkadelphia. Love thew track "Drive" by Marissa Nadler, "I Called" by Jeny Hval, and "Slow Riders" by Cuddle Magic.

18. Kiiro records - FOREVER SHOEGAZE Indie, pop, rock, shoe-gaze sampler from Japan based label kiiro. Favorite tracks are "Melt" by Hot Glass, サーチライト  by 17歳とベルリンの壁, and "I Am Waiting Last Summer by kazuma.