Best of 2014. The list has 35 albums, like the previous year.
17 albums from Europe: 4 from Italy, 2 from Ireland, 2 from Germany, 2 bands based in Spain (Basque Country and Catalonia), 1 from Austria, 1 from Belgium, 1 from Denmark, 1 from France, 1 from Hungary, 1 from Sweden, 1 from the UK and 1 from Ukraine
11 albums from North America: 8 from the USA and 3 from Canada
1 album from South America: Brazil
1 album from Africa: South Africa
2 albums from Australasia: Australia
2 albums from Asia: 1 from Indonesia and 1 from Japan
Remarks
1) As usual, this post is titled as “the best of”. However, this is not a competition, but a sort of a game. Remember that I give neither points, nor stars to the albums that are reviewed. I’d say that, IMHO, this is the list of the most enjoyable albums of 2014. It's a party!
2) This list is subjective, but not unfair: it covers the albums that I have enjoyed. Other lists are being posted on other sites and they'll be different. And I feel that diversity is good.
3) Important: Please remember that it’s a list of albums, not a list of bands.
4) I've tried to be coherent. Everybody should know that I prefer original material to over-exposed standards.
5) Please remember that I'm only a fan. Maybe some albums are technically or musically better than others. I have taken into account catchy songs, fresh approaches, originality and maybe I've given priority to raucous sounds rather than to polished sounds
6) Yes, this is a Celtic Punk e-zine. Then priority has been given to Celtic punk bands, but you'll also find quite a few Celtic rock and folk punk bands.
7) Only the albums that have been received for review/airplay purposes and/or that have been shared for free by the bands have been rated. Other recordings were released in 2014, but unfortunately no copy was submitted. Anyway, I feel that this is not biaising the list.
8) This Best of 2014 covers the albums that have been released from December 2013 to November 2014.
9) Neither Live albums, nor only covers albums have been taken into account. The same applies to compilations.
10) To be at the bottom of the list doesn't involve that an album is rather poor. The difference between the 5th place and the 20th place would be a tiny nuance.The same applies to the places going from 21st to 35th.
11) A lot of songs from these albums have been added to the streaming radio along the year and they are regularly played.http://www.radionomy.com/es/radio/celtic-folk-punk/indexhttp://celtic-folk-punk.playtheradio.com12) To the fans: feel free to share your comments below.13) To the bands: it’s extremely difficult to rank every recording and I guess that some people won’t be happy. However, I really appreciate and respect the hard work by every single band. The quality of all of the recordings has been very high!Albums 201401 - Bastard Bearded Irishmen "Rise of the Bastard" Review02 - The Ramshackle Army "Letters from the Road Less Travelled" Review03 - Creeds Cross "Gods & Fighting Men" Review04 - Uncle Bard and The Dirty Bastards "Get the Folk Out!" Review05 - Craic "Amongst the Mischief and Malarkey" Review06 - The Black Tartan Clan "Scotland in Our Hearts" Review07 - Paddy Murphy "CoffinShip"Review08 - Finegan's Hell "Drunk, Sick and Blue" Review09 - Rovers Ahead "Always the Sinner, Never the Saint" Review10 - Mosche di Velluto Grigio "In te ho sognato, in te spero morir" Review11 - Roughneck Riot "Out of Anger" Review12 - Whiskey Wagon "Somewhere Under the Table" Review13 - The Fighting Jamesons "Every Day Above Ground" Review coming soon!14 - Drink Hunters "Lurking Behind the Woods" Review15 - Lugh "Quando os canecos batem" Review16 - The Clan "The Clan" Review17 - Fiddler's Wage "A Needle Pointing North" Review18 - The Wages of Sin "Queensbury Rules" Review19 - The Mahones "The Hunger & The Fight Part 1" Review 20 - Firkin "Finger in the Pie" Review21 - Celkilt "On the Table" Review22 - O'Hamsters "Kiev, Dublin, Alcohol" Free Download23 - The Sunday Punchers "The Sunday Punchers" Review24 - Blood or Whiskey "Tell the Truth and Shame the Devil" Review25 - McOnak "Piraten Matxinada" Review26 - Kilkenny Knights "Brady's Pub Tales" Review27 - Craic the Lens "The Cannon" Review28 - Auld Corn Brigade "Rebels till the End"Review 29 - Jay Wars "Carry Me Home" Review coming soon!30 - Homeland "The Show" Review coming soon! 31 - Kitchen Implosion "Pretty Work Brave Boys!" Review32 - Charlie's Rum and The Chaplin "Ballad of Motherland"Review33 - Birmingham Six "Move On" Review34 - Kilt the Messenger "Hero Punk" Review35 - 16 Tons with Ally "Safari" ReviewHonorable mention:
Remember, no compilation albums are elegible for the list. But this album is really amazing:
VA "Wind from the Foreign Land - An Indonesian Celtic Punk Compilation" WLRV RecordsReviewEnjoy!