Favorite Albums of 2013 - Playlist

Here's a Spotify playlist with some of my favorite songs from my favorite albums of 2013 -- Enjoy!

Best of 2013

Favorite Albums of 2013

My goal with these things is to get them finished by the end of the first month of the year. Looks like I've done it again! I apologize if the quality of the writing has dropped off a bit, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Now, without any further ado (I had to look up the spelling on that), my favorite albums of 2013:

Honorable mention:
Youth Lagoon - Wondrous Bughouse
Sat. Nite Duets - Electric Manland
Duckworth Lewis Method - Sticky Wickets
Touche Amour - Is Survived By
Los Campesinos! - No Blues

#11) Torres - Torres

I guess this lady's (real name Mackenzie Scott) family pooled together some money to buy her a guitar and some time at a recording studio, and this is the result. No doubt, she's a talented lady. I couldn't have done it. Last year, it was Family Band; this year, it's Torres. Two bands that struck very similar chords for me. Somewhat spooky, ethereal, emotive, intimate stuff.  Lilith fair? Maybe. Was she the baby given up for adoption in Moon & Back? Who knows. Why are there eleven albums on the list? Because I'd forgotten about one until it was too late. Nowhere to go but down. Nothing to do but drown.

Slay Tracks: Honey, Moon & Back, Don't Run Away, Emilie, Waterfall


#10) The Veils - Time Stays, We Go

In digging in a bit to write this, I was struck by the number of reviews of this album that cited The Veil's 2006 album Nux Vomica as one of the overlooked classics of the last decade. I can't say I disagree. That album is full of unparalleled gothic bombast. Their 2009 album Sun Gang's wasn't too shabby either.  Time Stays, We Go catches the band at an interesting moment - this is a very capable band that can effortlessly click into a taut melody, but now seem less sure of where to take them. They've downplayed the big upswells, and the feverish, possessed vocals -- the things that made them so previously compelling. Instead of being driven by the music, this seems to be a band very much driving the music - and they do it very well. I just wish they'd bring a little crazy back.

Slay Tracks: The Pearl, Sign of Your Love, Turn on the Rain, Another Night on Earth


#9) Speedy Ortiz - Major Arcana

Female Malkmus. Pioneer Valley. Chunky, lo-fi guitars. Indie in the early 90s sense of the word. A bit too heavy on the brokenhearted bad romance vibe, one mustn't complain.

Slay Tracks: Tiger Tank, No Below, Cash Cab, Plough, MKVI

#8) Polvo - Siberia

After taking a decade off, these guys ended up at #5 on my 2009 list. They came almost as close this time around. To label them as "math rock" is probably more of an insult than an useful descriptor, but that's what they're often tagged as. If they are experimenting with weird time signatures and whatnot, it doesn't get in the way at all. The songs grow and mutate, but always in a melodic and interesting manner. In fact, of all the albums on my list, I find this one the most chilled out.

Slay Tracks: Total Immersion, The Water Wheel, Some Songs, Anchoress


#7) The Strokes - Comedown Machine

I'm probably the last living Strokes fan. But, what can I say, I like these guys. And this, to me, seems like a bit of a return to form. Not that they can ever really get back to that bygone era, but you can still have a nice time listening to it.

Slay Tracks: Tap Out, Welcome to Japan, 80's Comedown Machine, Slow Animals

#6) The National - Trouble Will Find Me

This album got kind of a bum wrap earlier this year. One of my buds went as far as writing that it ruined the first 29 years of his life. Sure it's sometimes a little boring, and as another one of my buds pointed out, Matt Berninger hasn't screamed for the past three or four albums, but if you don't compare it to every thing else that they've done and don't look only for shortcomings, it's a very good album. Hushed, referential/reverential (allusions to the Beatles, Nirvana, Elliot Smith, Violent Femmes, and even earlier National albums), this is a great album to listen to as the Summer fades and the cool winds of Fall sweep in.

I have only two emotions 

careful fear and dead devotion 

I can't get the balance right

Slay Tracks: Demons, Don't Swallow the Cap, This is the Last Time, Graceless, Humiliation


#5) The Virgins - Strike Gently

These guys sound a lot like Tom Petty (in a good way). The album is the first release from Cult Records - a record company owned by Julian Casablancas of the Strokes (see earlier entry). No doubt, this album has a bit of a Strokes vibe too. It's nice stuff though. Easy listening. Entertainment Weekly said this about it: "Strike has the Modern Lovers' deadpan vocals, Television's jagged Grooves, and Lou reed's street-hassle guitar riffs."

Slay Tracks: Prima Materia, Wheel of Fortune, What Good Is Moonlight, Travel Express (From Me).


#4) Arcade Fire - Reflektor

Hey, has anybody seen my connector around here? no, that's not it - that's just a reflector. Another big band that got kind of a bad wrap because they changed up their style a bit. These guys played in Haiti and wanted to make an album of music that you didn't need to know to enjoy here. They mainly succeeded. The second half is killer -- the stretch between the Hey Jude tones of Awful Sound and Afterlife is as good a run as any they've ever had.

Slay Tracks: Joan of Arc, Awful Sound (Oh Eurydice), It's Never Over (Hey Orpheus), Porno, Afterlife


#3) Future of the Left - How to Stop Your Brain in an Accident

Andy Falkous' (the lead singer) tongue is so deeply planted into his cheek that I imagine it's bleeding. On first listen, I didn't expect to like this album as much as I do - it's harsh, angular, and initially seemed relatively dark and bleak. But subsequent listens warmed me up to it, and I found incredible melodies and songwriting. This album is so f'ing funny to me now. Falkous is a man who seems deeply unsettled by the world, but absolutely loves it as well. It's like how we learned that the political spectrum is actually a circle and not a line -- the same holds here: despite the world-weary cynicism, there is an unrelenting optimism.  He takes great pride in pointing out it's ridiculousness. No one else could write these lyrics: "Once I dreamt of owning my own home and renting six bedrooms to call center veterans: good tenants and better communicators / But ambition encountered an economy dominated by forces so deep they confound themselves." 

Maybe Eddie Argos, the lead singer of Art Brut, said it best:

THE NEW FUTURE OF THE LEFT ALBUM REALLY IS WHAT ALL GUITAR MUSIC SHOULD ASPIRE TOOOOOOOOO!!!!! HOOOORAYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MOTHERFUCKER !!!!!!!!!!!!BUY THIS ALBUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Slay Tracks: Bread, Cheese, Bow and Arrow; Johnny Borrell Afterlife; I Don't Know What You Ketamine; How to Spot a Record Company; Donny of the Decks 

#2) Frightened Rabbit - Pedestrian Verse

Another popular band around these parts (aka, my apartment). Frightened Rabbit returned very early this year (I can remember listening to this as I dug my car our of major snowstorm last January) with their fourth album and found the band if not still ascending, then at still riding their peak. No doubt, you'll remember that FR walked away with the cherished title in 2010. They came damn close this year. I'm a sucker for optimistic Scottish misery and there isn't a band who does it any better. I have never wanted more to be a man and build a house around you / I am just like all the rest of them: sorry, selfish, and trying to improve. Looks like we're growing up.

Slay Tracks: Acts of Man, Holy, Dead Now, The Oil Slick.


#1) The Drones - I See Seaweed

i see seaweed on the lawn

there's no point coming here no more

do you remember way back when?

when weeks sank in the swimming pool

holidays were cotton wool

your bald tyre friends, the pelicans, cowboys and indian

admit it, she was kinda cute

her panties were your parachute

they found her near the airport, in a crater, near the bend

where she and i'd walk by the zoo

not knowing we'd do what all plagues do

i forget her all the time these days and be forgotten too

So begins the Drone's 6th album and there's no turning back. Over fifty minutes of the most thoughtful and raucous music you'll ever hear (and they've added a keyboardist).  Per usual, Gareth touches a lot of interesting subjects, but what's always so fascinating is the unique way he does it. Overpopulation: "we're lockstepping in our billions / lockstepping in our swarms / lockstepping in the certainty that more need to be born" Old arguments: "it's like i'm shooting at a shadow that a bomb burned on the wall." Google Maps: "i took a strangely disembodied walk down memory lane / to the home of my late mother and my youth / under the full glare of a hot LCD sun / i rode nine eyed survivor Street View." Genocide, climate change, corrupt politicians -- yeah, yeah, we've heard it all before. How is this different? Well, let the man speak: "Every time you go in and do something you’re a different person. I’m not 22. It never gets old. It never gets boring.” Exactly right, Gareth.

He touches on a lot of stuff, but it never bogs down the music because he does it so artfully. That's a good part of a fun for this band; that, and the fact that they make extremely rocking music in an era where it's popular to sit quietly in your room and make electronic music on your computer. A real palate cleanser this, as always.

Slay Tracks: I See Seaweed, Nine Eyes, Laika, Why Write a Letter You'll Never Send

You Got Me

Nice little number here from the Generationals. Enjoy!

I See Seaweed

You can check out "How to See Through Fog," the single from their upcoming album here. Booyah, little doggies! 

My Favorite Albums of 2012

Another good year of music - some old favorites released some really good new albums, I got into some bands that have been kicking around for a while but I hadn't really listened to and, most importantly, I stumbled across some great new acts.

I guess this opening "salvo" (that pun will make sense later, but it will never be funny) is usually a place to make a few larger points about music too, so here goes. I sometimes hear people lamenting that the 1) glory days of music are behind us and 2) that the internet has ruined music. The quick answer to both, is that that's  a load of bulljive. I think the people making these comments - and you know who you are - just aren't willing to do the legwork to find the good new music and base their opinions on the crap they hear on the radio. So the glory days of music are just really behind them. For everyone else willing to make a bit of an effort, they'll see that everything is just going fine-and-dandy. On technology's impact on the quality of music, it's definitely a lot easier to make and release music nowadays than ever before, which has led to a lot of crummy music being made and released, so I can definitely understand the argument that the average quality of songs has gone down. That being said, these same things have opened the door for a bunch of great musicians who wouldn't have had the same chance before, so I think there are a lot more really good bands than before as well. More bad bands on the bottom, more good bands on the top. Just more bands in general, really.

And another thing: As the hardworking staff over at mitchfork suggested, look out for these ladies in 2013. It's poised to be a big year for Haim.

On with the show!

10)  Black Forest Fire, Transit of Venus

I think this Austin-based shoegaze band sound kind of like what the Silversun Pickups might if they were on tranquilizers. That's meant as a compliment. This is a very easy album to listen to -- it has very few drastic changes, which make the drastic changes that much more drastic when the show up. Here's a nice picture I found of the band:

Slay Tracks:Do It for Sara, Majestic, Saint Christopher, Don't Need an Angel

9) Papercranes, Three

This might not really count as an album. It's a collection of three related EPs: First Born, Middle Child, and Baby. You see the idea. In my opinion, the middle child is the best - it's the rowdiest, most full of life, and catchiest. (Editor's note: I'm the youngest in my family). The other two are a bit quieter and more subdued, but also very good. Interestingly, this family-based concept comes from a woman in a quite well-known family herself. Lead singer Rain Phoenix is the sister of Joaquin and River.   

Slay Tracks: Rose Stem, Setting, Shared, Matter, View

8) Titus Andronicus, Local Business 

These guys are pretty interesting, mixing punk rock with a dash of Springsteen, and a deep philosophical angst. This makes sense, I suppose, punk rock was initially about rebelling against the man/system (don't quote me on this) so it was only a matter of time before some punk band turned these observations to the vast, cold universe. How about these for opening album lyrics?
 
Okay, I think by now we've established
Everything is inherently worthless
And there's nothing in the Universe.
With any kind of objective purpose.


Sounds like the kind of dreck a disenfranchised college kid would write, and what could lead to pretty mopey music. This isn't the case here. Titus' write huge, fist-pumping anthems, seemingly shouting that if the universe is devoid of meaning, at least we can find some solace in the brotherhood of man. While two or three songs on here are kind of throwaways, there are more than enough to cover the price of admission.  Some more good lyrics, from the brilliantly titled track: "Still Life With Hot Deuce on Silver Platter."

Out, walking the street
looking for these
alleged elegant truths
It's just me
lonely me
and the other irrelevant dudes
arrogant enough to believe
this is developing news
I exist just as a fish
stuck with the pelican blues
- hot deuce!  
  
Slay Tracks: Ecce Homo, Still Life With Hot Deuce on Silver Platter, My Eating Disorder, In A Big City

7) Divine Fits, A Thing Called Divine Fits

 

My expectations were pretty high for this super group, featuring Britt Daniel from Spoon and Dan Boeckner, formerly of Handsome Furs (#1 on the 2011 list) and Wolf Parade (#6 on the 2010 list) - and while they may not have been exceeded, they were definitely pleasantly met. These guys can knock out catchy songs in their sleep, which, I suppose, was my concern -- that they would just crank these puppies out. But they're too talented group to just dial it in. Good effort here.


Slay Tracks: Would That Not Be Nice, The Salton Sea, Baby Get Worse, Shivers


6) Sat. Nite Duets, Summer of Punishment

 

I got lazy so I took the following from the A.V. Club's list of the top 15 Milwaukee albums from 2012.

"Milwaukee’s premier purveyors of shaggy guitar rock try their damndest to be frivolous, but on the excellent Summer Of Punishment, Sat. Nite Duets let their guard down and reveal some genuine concerns. Sure, there are still plenty of lyrics about getting shit-faced and carpooling with AC/DC, but scratch the shambling surface and you’ll find a wistful, winning tribute to gauzy nostalgia and misspent summer youth. Nowhere does that heady theme resonate more strongly than on Summer’s best track, “Of Age.” Amidst the band’s well-honed sound, a bittersweet tale of “wasting your 20s” is sketched out with remarkable clarity and humor. “Growing up can only be so hard” is the sort of effortless, tossed-off line that Sat. Nite Duets have long excelled at, but the band outdoes itself with the terrifically evocative lyric, “Take your handle off the bars and fly, / pretty soon it’s going to be July.” There’s no amount of gags or snickering references that can take the edge off a line like that."

Long story short they remind me of Pavement without sounding like they are ripping off Pavement.

Slay Tracks: Of Age, Genghis Khan, Way Behind My Age Group, WWDD, Andy's Going to Heaven

 5) Pomegranates, Heaven

If someone asked me to name the greatest indie band of the last five years that they'd never heard of, I'd probably have to say the Pomegranates. They've released four albums in that time period (including #7 on 2010's list), and have a new one coming out next year (which they financed through Kickstarter). Not only is this a very talented band, but also a very hard-working one. In my opinion they are the rightful heirs to Modest Mouse, and their time will come.

Ha, oh yeah -- that reminds me. I was somewhat pissed that Pitchfork didn't review their new album, after having reviewed their first few, so I wrote them this letter:

I know you guys must get a lot of emails about bands to review, but here are three GREAT albums that I think you've overlooked:

1) Easter Vomit -- Vs. the Natural History Museum   this album is a lo-fi classic and for a site that loves Pavement so much, it seems weird that it would be overlooked.

2) Grand Salvo -- Slay Me in my Sleep   I assume the reason he hasn't gotten reviewed is he's Australian. But this is an intricate, beautiful album whose only real comparison is Sufjan.

3) Pomegranates -- Heaven  -- you've reviewed all their old albums, why not the new one? This is such a great band and they could use some of the attention they'd get from a review.

Thanks so much!

Jake Grindal

They never got back to me. Can't blame a guy for trying.


Slay Tracks:  Pass Away, Sisters, Letters, Lost Lives

4) Family Band, Grace and Lies

 

According to my "scrobbler," I have listened to tracks from this 9-song album 789 times, meaning I've listened to the album about 88 times and that doesn't take into account how many times I've played it on my ipod. Pretty crazy - but it's more a reflection of how easy this husband (a former heavy-metal guitarist) and wife (a former visual artist) duo are to listen to.  It's kind of spooky, atmospheric music where the tension slowly builds but never boils over. More than anything, it actually reminds me of Sufjan's Seven Swans album -- just a really good, focused, meditative album.

 Slay Tracks: Lace, Ride, Grace & Lies, Rest

 #3) Foxygen, Take the Kids Off Broadway

I guess this is technically just an EP, but it's got a running time of nearly 40 minutes, so it makes the cut. They're kind of all over the map here, but they seem to be one of those bands that can stitch together a bunch of disparate parts into a catchy, cohesive whole. At different times, they sound like Bowie, the Rolling Stones, MGMT, the Unicorns, you name it. I think I texted to Jake Lowell that he should listen to this album about 40 times, but he never got back to me. He's in Puerto Rico right now getting a brain transplant. No joke.

Slay Tracks: Make It Known, Take the Kids Off Broadway, Waitin' 4 U, Why Did I get Married?

#2) Cloud Nothings, Attack on Memory

These guys used to be a chill-wave band. They did a complete 180 for this album. I first heard it in very early January and thought that I'd found my favorite album of the year, which would've been pretty weird. January was also a period in time where victor always wanted to go to the bars all the time. He'd call you at 9:00 on a Tuesday night and ask if you wanted to get drinks with him at Christophers (although, definitely not din cause of their middling Yelp rating). Here's a snippet of a convo I had with Johann on the morning that I first heard that album, which followed a night out with groober.

Johann: what's the word?

7:57 AM me: just porking away

  listening to this cloud nothing albums

 me: sounds pretty sweet

 

7:59 AM Johann: phew

 

  and i'm listening too

 me: yeah -- it might not be down your alley

  The Steve Albini-produced Attack On Memory is their sharpest work yet, trading in that fuzzy, suppressed production in favor of a more aggressive, crisp sound. Albini, who has produced classics for Nirvana and the Pixies, sounds right at home working towards Cloud Nothings' vision. If you've had enough of the hazy hipster bands, give Attack On Memory a listen.

8:01 AM Johann: i like this 1st song

8:03 AM me: you do?

  it's pretty intense, right?

 Johann: yeah

  that's ok

  i don't mind intesnse always

 me: good way to wake up

 Johann: i like the pixies

 me: yeah

 Johann: and wolf parade

  and handsome furs

8:04 AM me: yeah

  how was last night?

8:05 AM Johann: eh, ok i guess

8:06 AM nothing too crazy

  you?

8:07 AM me: not too much -- groceries, gym, bar with vic for a drink

8:08 AM Johann: you and vic... always at the bah

 me: ha -- he's a funny guy

  always wants to go to the bar

8:09 AM Johann: what do you guys talk about?

8:10 AM me: life

  trying to get him back on his feet

 Johann: what are your strategies?

8:11 AM me: you ever seen shawshank?

  deinstitutionalization

8:12 AM Johann: hahahahahaha

8:13 AM victor loves dependency, hopelessness, learned helplessness, and other maladaptive behaviors

Slay Tracks: No Future/No Past, Wasted Days, No Sentiment, Cut You.


#1) Grand Salvo, Slay Me in My Sleep

 

Not a surprise here, I know. I wrote about Grand Salvo back in August. Easily my favorite album of the year and quite possibly the best novel of the year. It tells the story of an elderly woman who is visited by the ghost of her girlhood love through a series of vignettes which alternate perspectives and time periods. It's a hushed, ecstatic album that reminds you of how meaning becomes attached to different objects in our lives, how that meaning changes over time, and how it can all add up to make the world a very magical place.  An example:

a stone sits in a creek
a path into the woods
I wronged her in my youth
an acorn on the sill
a tree upon the hill
careful not to breath
a nuckle with a bee
a doll made out of wood
a bell upon the sea
a suitcase on the bed
the last one she will pack

It's a great album to listen to on a cold Sunday morning with a hot cup of coffee as you try to walk off a hangover and need to be reminded of god's majesty here on earth.

Slay Tracks:  the entire album?

The Boys are Back in Town

2013 should be a good year for these fellas.

Don't Save Me

Really digging this song/vibe from Haim, an up-and-coming indie group comprised three sisters from California. Toby turned me onto them. I played it for Sela though and she compared it to Country music. They definitely seem to be very "now," but don't come across as inauthentic. Let me know what you think.