year-end music wrap-up

I usually have one standout new musical discovery for every calendar year. For 2014 I declare Temples to be it. They released their first album in the spring and proved themselves to be pop craftspeople of consistent appeal. Hear them now!

[I would also have liked to tip the nod to Towns, a band I was quite excited by -- but, alas, they recorded their first album in the winter, announced its release in the spring... and then announced their own breakup before the day the album actually came out! It was deleted as soon as it was released -- if I hadn't preordered my copy I likely would not have one at all. I was really looking forward to more from those boys...]