Earlier this year, I wrote about how 2013 was the year of the event album, in that we saw the return of many artists who had been inactive for a long time (My Bloody Valentine, Mazzy Star, Justin Timberlake, Boards of Canada, Daft Punk) and new releases from blockbuster artists (Kanye West, Vampire Weekend). Elsewhere, music critics wondered whether we were seeing the end of guitar rock in an increasingly synth-based world. Additionally, I saw many thinkpieces this year about the "Emo Revival," a resurgence of bands making quality emo music (I'll just have to take their word for it). 2013 wasn't a year where you could pin down one overarching narrative; instead, there were many narratives happening at once. It was the year that indie went pop (Haim, Chvrches), pop went indie (Sky Ferreira, Charli XCX), rap continued to make its steps into a new golden age, etc.
I've often said that I don't consider any year to be a "bad" year for music, but 2013 seemed to be a particularly good one. Expand my list to a top 30 instead of 20 and every album would still be something I consider great. I don't know whether it's about a true uptick in quality or an expansion of my tastes, but this was the year where it finally felt like there was too music. Almost every week had a release I wanted to listen to, and there were some albums that could've been top 20 contenders (Janelle Monae, Blood Orange, Sky Ferreira, Beyonce) but I didn't have the time to give them more than a few listens.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with my list. I had a tough time figuring out the order -- my #1 and 2 were pretty locked in for most of the year, but after that it's much more of a grab bag -- and these last few weeks have been time for me to relisten to albums and manically switch placements around. One thing I would've liked is for a little more diversity. There are more pop and rap releases than there were in previous years (perhaps indie rock IS dying!!!), but these are all albums that you'll see on basically any other Best of the Year list. Looking for an interesting list? Well look elsewhere, because this isn't it! Okay, now on to the actual list (with links included for the highlight songs if there's a Youtube video for it)...
Honorable Mentions (25-21)
Though it's not as good as XXX, I like how Danny Brown reverses the common party high/crash structure on Old. I've been a big Drake agnostic since his career started, but even I can't deny how awesome Nothing Was the Same is. Action Bronson's Blue Chips 2 is almost as good as its predecessor and features the most fun beat selections I've heard all year. My Name is My Name might be the most underrated rap album of the year, and Pusha T hasn't sounded this vital since the heyday of Clipse. Kool A.D.'s loopy, brilliant double mixtape 19/63 was very high on my list for most of the year, but it was ultimately too scattered for me to give it placement in my top 20.
I've often said that I don't consider any year to be a "bad" year for music, but 2013 seemed to be a particularly good one. Expand my list to a top 30 instead of 20 and every album would still be something I consider great. I don't know whether it's about a true uptick in quality or an expansion of my tastes, but this was the year where it finally felt like there was too music. Almost every week had a release I wanted to listen to, and there were some albums that could've been top 20 contenders (Janelle Monae, Blood Orange, Sky Ferreira, Beyonce) but I didn't have the time to give them more than a few listens.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with my list. I had a tough time figuring out the order -- my #1 and 2 were pretty locked in for most of the year, but after that it's much more of a grab bag -- and these last few weeks have been time for me to relisten to albums and manically switch placements around. One thing I would've liked is for a little more diversity. There are more pop and rap releases than there were in previous years (perhaps indie rock IS dying!!!), but these are all albums that you'll see on basically any other Best of the Year list. Looking for an interesting list? Well look elsewhere, because this isn't it! Okay, now on to the actual list (with links included for the highlight songs if there's a Youtube video for it)...
Honorable Mentions (25-21)
Though it's not as good as XXX, I like how Danny Brown reverses the common party high/crash structure on Old. I've been a big Drake agnostic since his career started, but even I can't deny how awesome Nothing Was the Same is. Action Bronson's Blue Chips 2 is almost as good as its predecessor and features the most fun beat selections I've heard all year. My Name is My Name might be the most underrated rap album of the year, and Pusha T hasn't sounded this vital since the heyday of Clipse. Kool A.D.'s loopy, brilliant double mixtape 19/63 was very high on my list for most of the year, but it was ultimately too scattered for me to give it placement in my top 20.
Deerhunter is a band who's slowly morphing into something that fits my tastes. Back in their early days, they were still highly acclaimed, but aside from a few songs, their sound didn't really appeal to me. Then when they put out Halcyon Digest in 2010, my opinion began to change. It's not so much that they became a completely different band, they just had the elements that didn't work strained out, and the result was a lush and gorgeous album. Shifting a bit more, this year they came out with Monomania, whose garage rock leanings might be the band's true form. Frontman Bradford Cox is meant to be a rockstar, given the way he swaggers around the Strokesian "Pensacola" or the sputtering "Back to the Middle." He fares well on the slinkier songs, but even "Blue Agent" and "T.H.M." benefit from having more of a rock foundation than a shoegaze one. On the lyrics side, Cox injects some personal details into the sickness-heavy "Neon Junkyard" and "Nitebike" (Cox himself suffers from Marfan Syndrome). Monomania is surprisingly one of the best rock albums of the year, managing to be fun and emotional at the same time.
Highlight Songs:
1. Pensacola
Veronica Falls' cold, chugging guitar sound is reminiscent of The Velvet Underground, but without that band's alternation between raucous energy and aching reflection, it's easy to sound repetitive. Luckily, Waiting For Something To Happen is bolstered by its simple charm and indelible melodies. Somehow, the band manages to find little variations on a narrow sound; it's hard to explain it, but it's an innate feeling. As a result of the consistent sound, the album feels well-sequenced and paced, and the middle section from the title track to "Buried Alive" is an amazing stretch. The album switches things up near the end, closing out on the lone ballad "Daniel" and slow winding "Last Conversation." But for the most part, the band is content with sticking to their established norms, and for the time being, I'm content with listening to them.
Highlight Songs:
1. Buried Alive
2. If You Still Want Me
3. Last Conversation
Reflektor, the fourth album from the grandiose Arcade Fire, is more fun to think about than it is to listen to. Frontman Win Butler has many ideas running through this album, most notably the communication breakdown that he feels is occurring in our society. One of the most clever examples of that is the use of language in "Joan of Arc." In the song, Win's part is in English and from the perspective of this man who's describing a woman as powerful and admirable. Then Regine's part is from the perspective of the woman, who suggests that he's got it all wrong, and the fact that she's singing in French reflects his fundamental misunderstanding of her. Another concern of the album is how technology and social media has diminished the way we relate to one another, seen most notably on the title track. Reflektor is long enough to take up two discs, and it does a neat trick of having the first half be more about worldwide panic, while the second half narrows things down to personal apocalypses. This technophobia deeply ingrained in the album will probably seem laughable in 20 years, but for now, it's saved by the fact that the music is still top notch. This album is a grab bag of styles, from the Smithsian jangle of "You Already Know" to the funky "Porno." Reflektor may be more fun to think about than it is to listen to, but it's still pretty fun to listen to.
Highlight Songs:
1. Awful Sound (Oh Eurydice)
2. Afterlife
3. Here Comes the Night Time
Chvrches are an easy band to latch onto while making the kind of "Guitar rock is dead!" arguments I talked about in the introduction of this post. All of the band's three members were involved in more guitar-based bands, before uniting to form this synth-pop band. Guitar rock is not dead, no matter what anybody says, but I'm happy that these guys gave it up, because The Bones of What You Believe is a wonderful collection of synths and hooks. The true draw of Chvrches is its pixie-like lead singer Lauren Mayberry, whose sugary sweet voice carries most of the songs. Aside from the appeal of her vocals, she can write an earworm of a hook like it's no big deal. Songs like "Gun," "Night Sky," and "We Sink" start out modest, only to explode once the hook hits. Her background work is even the highlight of "Under the Tide," which one of the other guys in the band takes lead on. They also manage to avoid the common pitfall of repetition that these kind of synth-pop bands fall into, by varying up the texture of their synths. One second they'll be sprightly on "Lungs" and then they'll be an heavy onslaught on "Lies." The Bones of What You Believe is one of those albums where any song can be a single, because that's how catchy it all is.
Highlight Songs:
1. Lungs
2. Lies
3. Gun
Pedestrian Verse is the fourth album from Scottish sadsacks Frightened Rabbit, and you'd think by now, their brand of wallowing would've worn out its welcome. But they manage to avoid complete lugubriousness by having such rousing, meaty songs. "Holy" has this careening anxious energy, "The Oil Slick" moves along on its bouncy rhythm section, and the entire album features that kind of well-crafted instrumentation. It also helps that lead singer Scott Hutchison is an impressive lyricist. The often gloomy nature of the lyrics are successful because they're not platitudes; his words are specific and sharp. Take "December's Traditions," which opens on the evocative, "December's traditions suck the last of summer from our cheeks / Draws the curtains, strips the trees / In so-called living rooms, Scottish pastimes come to roost / Love's labor stains the linen sheet." There's also an air of hope to Pedestrian Verse that hasn't been seen on their previous records. They may be making the same Scottish guitar rock that they were when they started, but they're growing incrementally. [Read the original review]
Highlight Songs:
1. Dead Now
2. The Woodpile
3. Nitrous Gas
15. Disclosure - Settle
I don't know much about UK garage or any of the other genres that influence Disclosure, so I can't really speak to the backlash saying that Settle is too derivative. All I know is that I love this record. Sometimes, particularly in the rap world, when a producer decides to make an album on their own, they can't manage to match the same heights they do when making a few beats on various albums for other people. What makes Settle work so well is that brothers Guy and Howard Lawrence are great curators, and their synergy with the album's slew of guest vocalists is amazing. Some of the best of the best in the UK's current electronic/R&B scene make appearances here, with many delivering their best work. "Confess To Me," for example, takes the usually sultry Jessie Ware and puts her on a sinister dance track. Elsewhere, Ed Macfarlane of the synth-pop band Friendly Fires sings on the decompressed "Defeated No More." But the songs that don't feature any guest vocalists are fantastic as well. Songs like "When a Fire Starts to Burn" and "F For You" use repetition to the point where they'll be etched in your brain after one listen, while "Second Chance" keeps things short and choppy. It may not reach for the stars every time, but Settle contains many of my favorite songs of the year.
Highlight Songs:
1. January (ft. Jamie Woon)
2. Confess To Me (ft. Jessie Ware)
3. Defeated No More (ft. Ed Macfarlane)
14. AlunaGeorge - Body Music
13. Superchunk - I Hate Music
Long past the point where other bands descend into mediocrity, Superchunk is still delivering killer music 10 albums in. Part of that could be because they're well-rested -- after taking a 10-year break, they came back in 2010 with Majesty Shredding -- but whatever the reason, I Hate Music is a great no-frills rock record. It's kind of crazy that a bunch of people in their mid-40s are making the most youthful music out there, but this album is chock full of songs that are bursting with energy, like "Me & You & Jackie Mittoo." However, they contrast that by showing the wisdom that comes with age in the midst of all of those catchy hooks. "I'm learning how to be and not to seem," singer Mac McCaughan says, in the album's most telling line. They may hate music, but their own record is a great addition to an already impressive catalog.
Highlight Songs:
1. Low F
2. Overflows
3. What Can We Do
12. Haim - Days Are Gone
It seems like people care more about how music makes them look, as opposed to how it actually sounds. That's the only explanation I can give as to why Haim has proven to be so divisive. When I hear complaints about them, it's mostly just gripes about how "they're just a pop band" or how "they're like Wilson Phillips." (They're not like Wilson Phillips; both bands just consist of sisters.) Though it's never said explicitly, the subtext of these misgivings is that they're inauthentic, even though they've been playing instruments since they were little kids and they play them well. They may be "just a pop band," but they were never meant to be anything else; it's just the marketing that pushed them towards the indie blogosphere. So Days Are Gone is very much a pop album, a great one at that. Their sound recalls late 70s and 80s pop, with a more propulsive core and glossier finish. For example, "The Wire," a midtempo duel-vocal number, sounds like a mid-to-late period Fleetwood Mac song. Aside from the three members' sisterhood being easy fodder for bad jokes, their chemistry is palpable, and songs like "Days Are Gone" and "If I Could Change Your Mind" find them perfectly synchronized with one another. If Haim is a band made to be played at an American Eagle, then the customers are luckier for having them.
Highlight Songs:
1. If I Could Change Your Mind
2. The Wire
3. Don't Save Me
11. Los Campesinos! - No Blues
Los Campesinos! have always made music that feels immediate. From the days of "You! Me! Dancing!," the band's shambolic energy and undying exuberance made their first records some of the most fun music I've ever heard. And even when they slowed down a bit, they kept that immediacy, thanks to the lyrics of frontman/self-deprecating miserablist Gareth Campesinos. His lyrics are pretty macabre, marrying intense emotional pain with grotesque body horror, but they pique the senses nonetheless. To put it in his words, he knows how to get "knees knocking and blood flowing." According to him, No Blues is more cheery than the apparently too gloomy Hello Sadness, which is hilarious, because almost every song on this album features some mention of death. But as long as they can make tunes as catchy as "Let It Spill," as funny as "Avocado, Baby," or as beautiful as "Selling Rope (Swan Dive To Estuary);" then I'm not complaining. [Read the original review]
Highlight Songs:
1. For Flotsam
2. Cemetery Gaits
3. What Death Leaves Behind
10. Local Natives - Hummingbird
8. Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City
7. The Strokes - Comedown Machine
6. Ariana Grande - Yours Truly
I've had a deep, only partially explicable love for Jojo's music ever since I was in 8th grade. Her first album, if you'll recall, was released when she was 13, and as a result, there are some moments that really make me cringe when I go back and listen to it. But for every moment of discomfort, there are about 20 other moments that perfectly capture what it's like to feel intense emotions without having the full capacity to interpret them. Why am I spending so much time writing about Jojo in a blurb about Ariana Grande? Well now that Jojo has disappeared off the face of the earth, never to be seen or heard from again, I believe that Ariana Grande is going to be the one who fills that vacuum for me. Not only do the two have very similar vocal stylings -- to the point where I feel an aching nostalgia for my youth every other time I listen to Yours Truly -- but they both also perfectly ride the line between pop and R&B. There's quite an old-fashioned sensibility to this debut. For being a pop album in 2013, it's a largely sexless affair. Instead, the album exists in a world full of daydreams, stomach butterflies, and sweaty palms -- even the title Yours Truly evokes a certain sense of innocence. Somehow, it manages to be refreshing and not at all cloying. And the songs themselves? Well, they're amazing. It's filled with jams -- nothing but jams, I tell you! You'll find bass-heavy midtempo songs ("Honeymoon Avenue"), doo-wop ("Tattooed Heart"), breezy pop ("You'll Never Know"), and emotional piano ballads ("Almost is Never Enough"); and they're all great. She doesn't fare as well when she tries to imitate the current radio landscape, but luckily there's only the repetitive "Piano" and generic dance song "Better Left Unsaid," and even those are pretty good. Don't let the fact that she's a Nickelodeon star be a deterrent, Ariana Grande is the real deal.
Highlight Songs:
1. You'll Never Know
2. Tattooed Heart
3. Lovin' It
5. Waxahatchee - Cerulean Salt & Swearin' - Surfing Strange
After P.S. Eliot broke up in 2011, the Crutchfield twins decided to venture out on their own, with Katie going solo as Waxahatchee and Allison forming the band Swearin'. The very next year, both acts released their debut albums -- Waxahatchee's soul-baring acoustic American Weekend and Swearin' putting out their gloriously sloppy self-titled album. If 2012 was the Crutchfields' introduction to the world, then 2013 is the year that they truly took it over. Both acts can be lumped into the category of 90s alt-revival, with Swearin' being influenced by bands like Superchunk, The Breeders, and Built to Spill; and Waxahatchee's sound recalling Cat Power and Kathleen Hanna. Despite the bands existing on different ends of the alt-revival spectrum on their first albums; Cerulean Salt has a bit of a harder edge, while Surfing Strange features more slow and mid-tempo songs; so they have sort of met in the middle. Still, the two albums serve as an interesting counterpart to one another. Katie is the better writer, and Cerulean Salt has some of my favorite lyrics of 2013. She excels at poetic turns of phrase, saying things like "we're only 30% dead" to describe her age. Allison, on the other hand, has a killer ear for melody and as a result, Surfing Strange features a seemingly endless amount of indelible hooks. At the end of the day, it's just fuzzy guitar rock, but very good fuzzy guitar rock. Individually, the two albums give you a look into the creative deviations of the Crutchfield twins, but taken together, they're a complete summary of how confusing, painful, fun, and wild being in your early 20s can be.
Highlight Songs:
1. Dust in the Gold Sack (Swearin')
2. Dixie Cups and Jars (Waxahatchee)
3. Curdled (Swearin')
4. Kanye West - Yeezus
Yeezus came out at a time when I was experiencing some ear problems and couldn't listen to music unless it was at a really low volume, and I enjoyed it well enough, but it's an album that is meant to be blasted. In the months since then, my ear problem subsided, and I've become a rabid fan of this album. As much as I try to divorce the artist from their art, it's hard to get the full experience of Kanye West the Musician without thinking about Kanye West the Personality. Anybody who's heard one of his numerous rants will know that he's got an opinion on any and every thing. As a result, Yeezus is a ferocious, blistering album, assaulting you both sonically ("I'm In It") and lyrically ("New Slaves"). Despite the narrative implying that it's inaccessible, this album is packed wall-to-wall with jams. If you can't bump to the buzzsaw synths in "On Sight" or the imperial march of "Blood on the Leaves," then you've got a problem. Kanye's rapping may be dumbed down and puerile, but it works because the true focus of Yeezus is the exhilarating production. There are obvious gems, but the secret masterpiece is "Send It Up," which seamlessly blends its siren beat, a cold King Louie verse, and Beenie Man samples to create a whirlwind of a song. You can view the whole album as a representation of Kanye's fractured psyche and oversized ego, but most of all, it's just a really great way to spend 41 minutes. [Read the original review]
Highlight Songs:
1. Bound 2
2. Black Skinhead
3. Send It Up
I don't know much about UK garage or any of the other genres that influence Disclosure, so I can't really speak to the backlash saying that Settle is too derivative. All I know is that I love this record. Sometimes, particularly in the rap world, when a producer decides to make an album on their own, they can't manage to match the same heights they do when making a few beats on various albums for other people. What makes Settle work so well is that brothers Guy and Howard Lawrence are great curators, and their synergy with the album's slew of guest vocalists is amazing. Some of the best of the best in the UK's current electronic/R&B scene make appearances here, with many delivering their best work. "Confess To Me," for example, takes the usually sultry Jessie Ware and puts her on a sinister dance track. Elsewhere, Ed Macfarlane of the synth-pop band Friendly Fires sings on the decompressed "Defeated No More." But the songs that don't feature any guest vocalists are fantastic as well. Songs like "When a Fire Starts to Burn" and "F For You" use repetition to the point where they'll be etched in your brain after one listen, while "Second Chance" keeps things short and choppy. It may not reach for the stars every time, but Settle contains many of my favorite songs of the year.
Highlight Songs:
1. January (ft. Jamie Woon)
2. Confess To Me (ft. Jessie Ware)
3. Defeated No More (ft. Ed Macfarlane)
Aluna Francis and George Reid, the duo that make up the UK's AlunaGeorge, are like the Reese's Pieces of music. In isolation, the narrow range of Aluna's cooing voice could get tiresome after a while, and George Reid's minimal production might seem too much like a collection of disconnected sounds, but together they sync beautifully. Reid's production perfectly rides the line between old school (there are shades of 90s R&B and house to his sound) and new school, with his deep, rubbery bass and fluttering keyboard splashes. They're perfect for the simple, but deceptively catchy melodies that Aluna writes. "Diver," the album's centerpiece, is the best Aaliyah song that Aaliyah never made, while "Your Drums, Your Love" feels like something that's completely its own. All of Body Music features that push and pull -- between new and old, minimal and lush. Let's just pretend they don't close out the album with that ridiculous cover of "This Is How We Do It" though.
Highlight Songs:
1. Diver
Long past the point where other bands descend into mediocrity, Superchunk is still delivering killer music 10 albums in. Part of that could be because they're well-rested -- after taking a 10-year break, they came back in 2010 with Majesty Shredding -- but whatever the reason, I Hate Music is a great no-frills rock record. It's kind of crazy that a bunch of people in their mid-40s are making the most youthful music out there, but this album is chock full of songs that are bursting with energy, like "Me & You & Jackie Mittoo." However, they contrast that by showing the wisdom that comes with age in the midst of all of those catchy hooks. "I'm learning how to be and not to seem," singer Mac McCaughan says, in the album's most telling line. They may hate music, but their own record is a great addition to an already impressive catalog.
Highlight Songs:
1. Low F
2. Overflows
3. What Can We Do
It seems like people care more about how music makes them look, as opposed to how it actually sounds. That's the only explanation I can give as to why Haim has proven to be so divisive. When I hear complaints about them, it's mostly just gripes about how "they're just a pop band" or how "they're like Wilson Phillips." (They're not like Wilson Phillips; both bands just consist of sisters.) Though it's never said explicitly, the subtext of these misgivings is that they're inauthentic, even though they've been playing instruments since they were little kids and they play them well. They may be "just a pop band," but they were never meant to be anything else; it's just the marketing that pushed them towards the indie blogosphere. So Days Are Gone is very much a pop album, a great one at that. Their sound recalls late 70s and 80s pop, with a more propulsive core and glossier finish. For example, "The Wire," a midtempo duel-vocal number, sounds like a mid-to-late period Fleetwood Mac song. Aside from the three members' sisterhood being easy fodder for bad jokes, their chemistry is palpable, and songs like "Days Are Gone" and "If I Could Change Your Mind" find them perfectly synchronized with one another. If Haim is a band made to be played at an American Eagle, then the customers are luckier for having them.
Highlight Songs:
1. If I Could Change Your Mind
2. The Wire
3. Don't Save Me
Los Campesinos! have always made music that feels immediate. From the days of "You! Me! Dancing!," the band's shambolic energy and undying exuberance made their first records some of the most fun music I've ever heard. And even when they slowed down a bit, they kept that immediacy, thanks to the lyrics of frontman/self-deprecating miserablist Gareth Campesinos. His lyrics are pretty macabre, marrying intense emotional pain with grotesque body horror, but they pique the senses nonetheless. To put it in his words, he knows how to get "knees knocking and blood flowing." According to him, No Blues is more cheery than the apparently too gloomy Hello Sadness, which is hilarious, because almost every song on this album features some mention of death. But as long as they can make tunes as catchy as "Let It Spill," as funny as "Avocado, Baby," or as beautiful as "Selling Rope (Swan Dive To Estuary);" then I'm not complaining. [Read the original review]
Highlight Songs:
1. For Flotsam
2. Cemetery Gaits
3. What Death Leaves Behind
Gorilla Manor, the last album from Los Angeles band Local Natives, made my top 20 in 2010, but I still wouldn't be able to launch much of a defense if anybody accused them of being indie-by-numbers. They did it well, but their first album just felt like the component parts of bands like Fleet Foxes and Grizzly Bear. In the three-year space between albums, the band got a new bassist and hired super-producer Aaron Dessner to work on their second effort. Consequently, Hummingbird feels not only like a huge step forward for the band, but also does much in the way of establishing a unique personality for them. What it lacks in Gorilla Manor's manic intensity, it makes up for in assured songs that build beautifully. The harmonies are still there, they've just been refined, feeling like an element that strengthens the songs instead of carrying them. Hummingbird may be less accessible than the band's debut, but it's ultimately much more rewarding.
Highlight Songs:
1. Colombia
9. Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience Part 1
After dropping one of the previous decade's best pop albums, it'd be easy for Justin Timberlake step away from music completely, and for a while it seemed like that was going to happen. It'd be even easier for him, once he decided to come back to the game, to release something that was completely perfunctory (some might describe Part 2 as being just that). But part 1 of the 20/20 Experience is anything but lazy or phoned-in. It may not be better than FutureSex/LoveSounds, but it certainly is bigger. Most of the songs eclipse the 6-minute mark, but they breeze by. That's because they're less like songs and more like movements, transforming suddenly but seamlessly. Musically, the album is sort of like a tour through the history of pop and R&B, starting at motown ("That Girl"), moving on to Off the Wall (the outro of "Don't Hold the Wall"), and landing firmly planted in the future ("Pusher Love Girl"). To that latter point, it's important to note that Timbaland is the true star of this album. The 20/20 Experience is just so fun to listen to over and over, because there's always something new to find in his dense soundscapes. Together, he and Justin Timberlake have crafted an album that may be as decade-defining as their last one was. Let's just hope the next one doesn't take as long.
Highlight Songs:
2. That Girl
I've been a fan of Vampire Weekend since day one, yet even I could've never imagined them creating Modern Vampires of the City. It's an album that's such a gigantic leap forward in terms of lyrics, maturity, and depth. Perhaps the most thematically cohesive album on this list, Modern Vampires is concerned with all manners of faith, vacillating between questioning and accepting. Any mention of God is a quick way to kill a song, but Ezra Koenig navigates that minefield without any problems. And for all this talk of faith and existential musing, the best song on the album is "Hannah Hunt," a simple song about a flagging relationship. Putting aside the lyrical content of the album, it's also perfectly sequenced, and you'll feel like you've been through a complete arc after finishing a full playthrough. A part of me misses the nervy energy of their first two records (and it's still there on "Finger Back"), but I can't help being impressed with this shimmering beauty of an album. [Read the original review]
Highlight Songs:
1. Hannah Hunt
It seems like The Strokes can't win. When they make an album that's in line with their usual sound, they get accused of not evolving. However, when they try something new, it seems like people just want a return to "that classic Strokes sound." For their 5th album, Comedown Machine, the boys have decided to hedge their bets. Songs like "50/50" have a rough-edged charm, capturing the sound that the band first became known for on Is This It. Likewise, the cresting guitars and dotted bassline on "Tap Out" wouldn't feel out of place on 2003's Room on Fire. Of course, the dueling riffs of guitarists Albert Hammond Jr. and Nick Valensi are still there, their lines crossing and twisting together in perfect unison. Meanwhile, you wouldn't find anything close to the woozy album closer, "Call It Fate, Call It Karma" on any of their other releases. Similarly, "One Way Trigger" is full-on 80s new wave, even more than anything on Julian Casablancas' solo album. Regardless of this happy medium that they managed to find, people still weren't so hot on this album either, but I sure did like it. [Read the original review]
Highlight Songs:
2. Tap Out
I've had a deep, only partially explicable love for Jojo's music ever since I was in 8th grade. Her first album, if you'll recall, was released when she was 13, and as a result, there are some moments that really make me cringe when I go back and listen to it. But for every moment of discomfort, there are about 20 other moments that perfectly capture what it's like to feel intense emotions without having the full capacity to interpret them. Why am I spending so much time writing about Jojo in a blurb about Ariana Grande? Well now that Jojo has disappeared off the face of the earth, never to be seen or heard from again, I believe that Ariana Grande is going to be the one who fills that vacuum for me. Not only do the two have very similar vocal stylings -- to the point where I feel an aching nostalgia for my youth every other time I listen to Yours Truly -- but they both also perfectly ride the line between pop and R&B. There's quite an old-fashioned sensibility to this debut. For being a pop album in 2013, it's a largely sexless affair. Instead, the album exists in a world full of daydreams, stomach butterflies, and sweaty palms -- even the title Yours Truly evokes a certain sense of innocence. Somehow, it manages to be refreshing and not at all cloying. And the songs themselves? Well, they're amazing. It's filled with jams -- nothing but jams, I tell you! You'll find bass-heavy midtempo songs ("Honeymoon Avenue"), doo-wop ("Tattooed Heart"), breezy pop ("You'll Never Know"), and emotional piano ballads ("Almost is Never Enough"); and they're all great. She doesn't fare as well when she tries to imitate the current radio landscape, but luckily there's only the repetitive "Piano" and generic dance song "Better Left Unsaid," and even those are pretty good. Don't let the fact that she's a Nickelodeon star be a deterrent, Ariana Grande is the real deal.
Highlight Songs:
1. You'll Never Know
2. Tattooed Heart
3. Lovin' It
After P.S. Eliot broke up in 2011, the Crutchfield twins decided to venture out on their own, with Katie going solo as Waxahatchee and Allison forming the band Swearin'. The very next year, both acts released their debut albums -- Waxahatchee's soul-baring acoustic American Weekend and Swearin' putting out their gloriously sloppy self-titled album. If 2012 was the Crutchfields' introduction to the world, then 2013 is the year that they truly took it over. Both acts can be lumped into the category of 90s alt-revival, with Swearin' being influenced by bands like Superchunk, The Breeders, and Built to Spill; and Waxahatchee's sound recalling Cat Power and Kathleen Hanna. Despite the bands existing on different ends of the alt-revival spectrum on their first albums; Cerulean Salt has a bit of a harder edge, while Surfing Strange features more slow and mid-tempo songs; so they have sort of met in the middle. Still, the two albums serve as an interesting counterpart to one another. Katie is the better writer, and Cerulean Salt has some of my favorite lyrics of 2013. She excels at poetic turns of phrase, saying things like "we're only 30% dead" to describe her age. Allison, on the other hand, has a killer ear for melody and as a result, Surfing Strange features a seemingly endless amount of indelible hooks. At the end of the day, it's just fuzzy guitar rock, but very good fuzzy guitar rock. Individually, the two albums give you a look into the creative deviations of the Crutchfield twins, but taken together, they're a complete summary of how confusing, painful, fun, and wild being in your early 20s can be.Highlight Songs:
1. Dust in the Gold Sack (Swearin')
2. Dixie Cups and Jars (Waxahatchee)
3. Curdled (Swearin')
Yeezus came out at a time when I was experiencing some ear problems and couldn't listen to music unless it was at a really low volume, and I enjoyed it well enough, but it's an album that is meant to be blasted. In the months since then, my ear problem subsided, and I've become a rabid fan of this album. As much as I try to divorce the artist from their art, it's hard to get the full experience of Kanye West the Musician without thinking about Kanye West the Personality. Anybody who's heard one of his numerous rants will know that he's got an opinion on any and every thing. As a result, Yeezus is a ferocious, blistering album, assaulting you both sonically ("I'm In It") and lyrically ("New Slaves"). Despite the narrative implying that it's inaccessible, this album is packed wall-to-wall with jams. If you can't bump to the buzzsaw synths in "On Sight" or the imperial march of "Blood on the Leaves," then you've got a problem. Kanye's rapping may be dumbed down and puerile, but it works because the true focus of Yeezus is the exhilarating production. There are obvious gems, but the secret masterpiece is "Send It Up," which seamlessly blends its siren beat, a cold King Louie verse, and Beenie Man samples to create a whirlwind of a song. You can view the whole album as a representation of Kanye's fractured psyche and oversized ego, but most of all, it's just a really great way to spend 41 minutes. [Read the original review]
Highlight Songs:
1. Bound 2
2. Black Skinhead
3. Send It Up
3. Killer Mike & El-P - Run the Jewels
Last year, El-P released the long-awaited Cancer4Cure, and it was my favorite rap album of 2012. Not only that, but he also produced all of Killer Mike's R.A.P. Music, which was one of the year's best rap releases too. If it seemed as if the two were preparing to annihilate the competition in 2012, they did just that this year, releasing their free album -- according to them, don't call it a mixtape -- Run the Jewels. If you thought the songs on their solo efforts that featured one another were good, then this album will blow your mind. Where El-P applied his skronk sound to Cancer4Cure and made the beats more organic on R.A.P. Music, he scales things back for this one, delivering minimal-by-his-standards boom bap. The album has a throwback sensibility not only in sound but also in spirit, because above all else, Run the Jewels is a celebration of rapping. The two are formidable rappers on their own, but listening to them together is something to behold, as they spit in perfect lockstep, tagging each other in and out like a pair of wrestlers. And it's got some of the best trash talking, always quick to throw daggers like "Me and Mike will go twin hype and do a dance on your windpipe / put them jazz hands back in your pants or get them shits sliced." "Run the Jewels is not for your children," indeed.
Highlight Songs:
1. Sea Legs
2. Get It
Last year, I was a big fan of 10 Day, the debut mixtape from then-19-year-old Chance the Rapper, and had a feeling that he was going to be the next big thing. Still, the vibrant, confident, and assured Acid Rap far exceeded my expectations. His sing-song yap can be a deal breaker to some, but after a few listens, it becomes his greatest strength. Chance has a preternatural ability to perfectly meld with songs, lithely weaving in and out of the beat. There's a youthful exuberance to much of the mixtape, and it's relateable because he just seems so excited to be making music. "Chain Smoker," my favorite song of the year, is a great example of this, where on the hook he shouts, "I play this so loud in my car I forget to park my whip." But it's also not afraid to get reflective, serving as an interesting portrait of life on the streets of Chicago. Songs like "Pusha Man" and "Acid Rain" are rapped with the world-weary delivery of someone whose experiences have made him feel older than he is. In an age where it's rare to have all three, Acid Rap manages to bring impressive rapping, lush beats, and catchy hooks to the table. It'd be amazing if a record this full-bodied came from a 30 year-old, let alone someone who's a decade younger. [Read the original review]
Highlight Songs:
1. Chain Smoker
Sometimes I feel like I'm losing my mind when it comes to Camera Obscura. Every year they release an album, it's the best album of the year, yet they never get anything more than quietly positive responses from the rest of the blogosphere. Maybe it's a testament to their unflagging consistency -- after delivering 5 straight winners, perhaps people have gotten bored of their greatness. Desire Lines, the latest from this Scottish sextet, might even be their best album yet. As a lyricist, Tracyanne Campbell has never been better, delivering songs with a great deal of emotional complexity. Yet they're also free of equivocation or any other kind of foggy language, preferring to state thoughts and feelings in a direct manner. On "William's Heart," she sings, "You say honesty has made me cruel, I say you're soft and you're made of wool." As a songwriter, she's still got a keen ear for melody, from the swaying "Cri Du Coeur" to the doo-wop leanings of "I Missed Your Party." The band has managed to stay in their wheelhouse ("New Year's Resolution" sounds like vintage Camera Obscura) while also stretching out to incorporate splashes disco and carribean music to this record. Obviously, it's the rest of the world that's losing their mind, because Desire Lines is by far the best album of the year. [Read the original review]
Highlight Songs:
3. Every Weekday
Well, that wraps things up for my best of 2013 list. I love reading other lists, so feel free to share yours in the comments. Or if you want to just tell me how much my list sucks and that I'm a stupid, awful person, then you can do that too!
Well, that wraps things up for my best of 2013 list. I love reading other lists, so feel free to share yours in the comments. Or if you want to just tell me how much my list sucks and that I'm a stupid, awful person, then you can do that too!
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