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The Best of The Best of 2014 So Far Lists (So Far)

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We here at Impose like to break down the fourth wall between industries (music, media, sports, fashion, Facebooking) and their clientele (you). We’re a bunch who have no qualms exposing the unseen filter through which media output flows, so let’s level about the SEO-race that has become the Best of The Year list: List(icles).

You see, the quarterly Best of the Year list—once called the “Year End”—is actually a race to own the very Googleable phrase “Best of (insert year here)”. The earlier you can get up your “Best of (insert year here)” list, the earlier you can start generating clicks from those in search for new (and AWESOME) music. Of course, there is some legitimacy to these lists, after all, we have hit a certain point in the year and as BuzzFeed has proven, people love truncated information in easily digestible forms. In fact, the legitimacy has risen to Vegas heights thanks to Sports Betting Dime offering up odds on Sam Smith or Banks like you’d bet the ponies at your local Downs track. But are we to assume that it was just coincidence that most music blogs felt the need to make the same exact listicle at the same exact time? And who are we to judge? Still, the RACE IS ON.

Instead of joining the race (we don’t run unless someone is chasing us), we’ve decided to aggregate and review the lists that have already been provided for us. No longer do you have to go clicking through all the Best of 2014 (So Far) lists, because we’ve presented it all here for you to click through. Because let’s be real, we like clicks too. Here, apparently, are the BEST albums of 2014 so far, according to the frequency in which they appear on the 24 lists (15 from FACT) we have rounded up and recapped in slideshow form below. You can thank us for doing all the mouse work with a share and a smile. 😉

11 Best Albums of 2014 So Far

(in order of number of appearances)

YG, My Krazy Life (Pu$haz Ink/CTE World/Def Jam Recordings) 9 of 24YG My Krazy Life album cover

Sun Kil Moon, Benji (Caldo Verde Records) 7 of 24
sun kil moon benji cover

Freddie Gibbs & Madlib, Piñata (Madlib Invazion) 6 of 24
freddie gibbs and madlib pinata cover zebra print

Kassem Mosse, Workshop 19 (Workshop Records) 6 of 24 (4 of which are Fact Mag contributor picks)
Kassem Mosse Workshop 19 cover

Angel Olsen, Burn Your Fire For No Witness (Jagjaguwar Records) 5 of 24Burn Your Fire For No Witness

St. Vincent, S/T (Loma Vista) 5 of 24
st vincent

Todd Tenje, It’s Album Time (Olsen) 5 of 24
Todd Tenje album time

Sharon Von Etten, Are We There (Jagjaguwar) 4 of 24
are we there sharon von etten cover

EMA, The Future’s Void (Matador) 4 of 24
EMA

The War on Drugs, Lost in the Dream (Secretly Canadian) 4 of 24
war on drugs

Swans, To Be Kind (Young God/Mute) 4 of 24
Swans to be jind