The 20 best albums of 2014

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While many of the most exciting things we heard this year were short players and mixtapes – releases that experimented with alternative forms and distribution models to the industry standard 'album' model – there was no shortage of brilliant full-length statements from artists both new and established.

If our best tracks of 2014 list was dedicated to new artists, then our albums list is testament to the fact that, in 2014, established musicians seemed to be pushing themselves creatively and entering new stages of their personal lives and artistic careers. Artists like How To Dress Well and Lone released albums that left their imitators struggling to keep up. The Bug experimented with the narrative potentials of the album and delivered a career best. Aphex Twin returned after a 13 year absence and made it feel like he'd never really been away.

But there was still room for new voices, with game-changing debut albums from FKA twigs, Arca, and 18+ all released within a few months of each other. And Todd Terje finally delivered on his promise of a debut album, so many years on from his first single.

You can listen to Dummy's 20 best albums of 2014 as a Youtube playlist.