So having said that, here are my favorite records of the year 2013.
TIE: 10. Woman by Rhye
Rhye's debut album is as bold an experiment as they come. Smokey and sensual, Woman is a collection of beautiful love ballads sung by a husky vocalist reminiscent of the female R&B heyday of the 90s.
Now, before you read another word of this writeup, listen to their song "Open" here.
You ready?
Yeah...that was a man singing that. It's not just a gimmick, either. By eschewing the hyper masculine tradition of male soul music, vocalist Mike Milosh is able to create a profound sense of vulnerability in his music. Woman really speaks to the fragility of a soul captured in the throws of love while at the same time espousing the beauty of such a predicament. He plays coy with personal pronouns, so the genders of the singer and the subject of the song are never readily apparent. There's a phenomenal economy to this album, and its minimalist approach make it a strikingly intimate record. With only ten tracks, it can remain tight and focused. It's romantic, sexy and a damn good album all around.
Standout Tracks
1. Open
4. Verse
6. 3 Days
TIE: 10. Electric by Richard Thompson
Shut up, Mumford; Grandad's back to show you how it's done. 45 years into his musical career, Thompson's thirteenth solo album proves that he's still the reigning master of the folk rock genre. And he's not ready to surrender that mantle anytime soon. Electric may not be a revolutionary record, but Thompson doesn't need to fix what ain't broken. Instead, he delivers a solid performance with all the things we've come to expect from the veteran; slick musical production, sophisticated guitar licks, and a rye, biting humor that his gravelly voice delivers magnificently. Unlike the more subdued efforts we've seen from Thompson this millennium, Electric has an energy to it that he hasn't exhibited since 1991's Rumor and Sigh. He's alive on this record, and enjoying himself so much that it's impossible not to have fun along with him. Another year, another stellar outing; this is business as usual for Thompson. If you're not familiar yet, now's as good a time as any to get acquainted with him.
Standout Tracks
1. Stony Ground
3. Sally B
6. Good Things Happen to Bad People
10. Snow Goose
9. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Live From KCRW
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds started this year off on a more emotive note than we've grown used to hearing from them by releasing Push the Sky Away. And while that is a fine record, the one that really captured me was October's Live From KCRW. Now, generally speaking, I hate live records. The noise of a roaring arena crowd and the fact that they're usually recorded in a large space serve to distort songs into frankly crappier versions of their studio counterparts. And without the obscene noise and the presence of the artists themselves, it never feels like live albums can really capture the energy of a rock concert (outliers like MC5 and Jerry Lee Lewis notwithstanding).
But this show, in such an intimate venue, is a different animal altogether. If the band performed in Cave's living room for a group of friends, I imagine it would sound something like this. There's a real sense of respect for the audience here, and the band seems comfortable and laid back. Cave is jovial, and playful with the audience, playing for them new material and some of his lesser known classics. A few additions, like a child's choir and string section, help breath new life into the band's older work. The band is having fun on this album, and if you're a fan of Cave at all, it's a treat for the listener that I can't recommend enough.
Standout Tracks
1. Higgs Boson Blues
3. Stranger than Kindness
8. People Ain't No Good
8. Soundtrack to Bioshock Infinite
I know, I know...a soundtrack doesn't count as an album. And most of the time, that's true. But the Soundtrack to Bioshock Infinite is a musical experiment that pushes my particular buttons so well that I can't help but feel that it was specifically tailored for me individually. This post isn't about the best albums of the year by consensus, the most groundbreaking ones or the ones that will stand up over time. It's about my personal favorites. And I have to include Bioshock Infinite for that.
But allow me to back up. For those of you who aren't familiar with the game, Bioshock Infinite is a video game set in a fictional flying city circa 1917. One major story element concerns the bending or reality, and the ability for humans to see in alternative versions of Earth in the past, present and future. So to help create the illusion of a time-muddled 1912, the game runners created a soundtrack that was comprised partially of era music (Ish. Most of the music is actually from the 1920s, but that only makes things sweeter for me.) and partially of more modern popular songs reworked into era style. The Beach Boys' 1968 hit "God Only Knows" is redone as a striking barber shop quartet piece. "Tainted Love" becomes a jazz-blues song in the style of Bessie Smith. "Shiny Happy People" by REM is played as a jaunty jazz showtune and Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" gets a Noel Coward makeover. I could go on and on, but the fusion of 20s music and modern song is nothing short of magical for me. Toss in a handful of the best turn of the century music that America had to offer, and you get one of my favorite records of the year. The soundtrack for Bioshock Infinite is nothing sort of a genius stroke. And particularly for an enthusiast for historic music such as myself, few releases this year have been so enjoyable.
Standout Tracks
Fortunate Son (Performed in capella delta blues)
Shiny Happy People
Will the Circle be Unbroken (Performed with a gospel choir)
God Only Knows
7. By the Lamplight by Larry and His Flask
Larry and His Flask have officially turned in my 2013 sleeper hit with with By the Lamplight. And were it not for the similarities between this and that, Gogo Bordello's effort this year would occupy this spot. As it is, however, Larry and His Flask edge them out.
It's difficult to describe LAHF to the uninitiated. Folk punk is probably the best I can come up with, and like Gogo Bordello, there is a large array of world music influence from Gypsy to East European to klesmer all thrown in for flavor. Think Flogging Molly after about 20 mics of acid (is that how mics work? I honestly don't know). Like their previous work, Lamplight is best when its as hectic as possible. There's a lot of sound being thrown in your face on this record, and it creates a wild, manic cacoffiny of sound that's impossible not to tap your feet to. Rather than anarchic craziness, the furious tempo of a half dozen different instruments actually allows LAHF to create fascinatingly rich melodies from the chaos. The band's music even works on tracks like "Gone From You", in which the energy is dialed back considerably. This is a fun, energetic record that establishes LAHF as an act to pay attention to going forward.
Stand Out Tracks
3. Barleywine Bump
5. Log, Hearth and Ash
11. Gone from You
6. Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action by Franz Ferdinand
Every year, my list of favorite albums is topped by artists who made revolutionary breakthroughs, or wrote astounding lyrics, or had a perfectly thematic masterpiece. Those albums are all great, and they're a big part of the reason why I listen to music the way I do. Franz Ferdinand's newest outing is not one of those records, however. Rather than being groundbreaking or heartstring-pulling, Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action is just plain old fun. In fact, there isn't a single album I heard all year that I had as much fun with as I did this one.
None of that is to say that this is somehow cheap music. Far from it. At the heart of this up-tempo, energetic experience is a band that remembered why its fans liked them in the first place. When they burst on the scene with their 2002 debut, their combination of loud guitar rock and dance music made them a refreshing anecdote to the post grunge funk that rock found itself in (you'll remember that Limp Bizkit was a thing people listened to for a while there). They've spent all the time since trying to reinvent themselves in some way, and as a result, they've never seen the same levels of success. So for this outing (the band's fourth) they threw that all away and went back to the original formula. They have fun with it, too, poking fun of themselves and the age of their band on tracks like "Fresh Strawberries". FF remains a band full of talented players, and the fretwork absolutely shines here. Even the songwriting on this record is strong; arguably the band's best yet. But ultimately, this album is one that stuck with me this year because it's just a hell of a lot of fun.
Stand Out Tracks
1. Right Thoughts
4. Stand on the Horizon
8. The Universe Expanded
5. The Bones of What You Believe by Chvrches
(My full review can be found here.)
I am still astounded by how popular this band is right now. In my time following music, I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone take the indie scene so quickly and enthusiastically before, while still having huge popular success. This is the band of the moment, and even on this blog, the most hits I ever got was when I did a review of their record.
It makes sense. Chvrches has everything it needs to be successful. The songwriting is sharp, the music is hook intensive and the approach to electronic music is innovative. Chvrches is a sharp, fresh band capturing that perfect "now" moment for listeners hungry for a change of pace. At a time when every decent 90s band is racing to get back together and groups like Kings of Leon are pushing out as much recycled music as possible, it's great that bands like Chvrches are looking forward to the future. This is the best pop album of the year, and I greatly anticipate what's to come from the young group.
Stand Out Tracks
3. Gun
4. Tether
6. Under the Tide
4. Electric by the Pet Shop Boys
(My full review can be found here.)
Perhaps I shouldn't be so quick to knock on comeback artists. The Pet Shop Boys gave us Electric back in July, and it has endured as one of the year's most impressive albums. In fact, I was harder on Electric in my original review than I should have been, I think. The more I listen to this album the more impressed by it I am, and most of my initial criticisms have abated with time and repeat listens. The Pet Shop Boys have released one of the most thematically striking electronic albums I've heard in years here, and in doing so have returned to form and branched out at the same time. For most bands who've been active for over three decades, the best days are long gone. For PSB, they might just be starting as they move into the future. And they're taking the whole of electronic music along for the ride.
3. Nomad by Bombino
I still have no idea what this record is about. And I still don't care any more than I did when I reviewed it. Neither should you. Entirely sung in the Taureg language Tamashek, Bombino's music can be a bit off-putting to those listeners who demand to know what a singer is on about. Ignore it, I say, and embrace the ride. Nomad combines Taureg folk music, which is predominantly played on guitar, with American blues rock. The sum of those parts is a snakey, twisting record featuring the best guitar you'll ever hear this side of Jimi Hendrix. It is at once very foreign and extremely familiar. Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys produced the record, and its got his signature sound to it. You can hear it on that band's albums and on others artists he's worked with like Dr. John and Hanni El Khatib. That may sound like a mismatch, but it works beautifully. This is a world music record tailor fit for an American audience, and given the insane level of talent that Bombino has wailing on a guitar, you owe it to yourself to check it out. This is a must not miss record, and that it's so often left out of these lists is nothing short of a tragedy.
Stand Out Tracks
Every damn one
2. The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight. The Harder I Fight, the More I Love You by Neko Case
Mark 2013 as the year that Neko Case broke out to become one of my favorite artists recording music today. I've always been a fan, but this record, (which I've said from the moment I heard it was her best) really established her as one of the most potent composers and songwriters in the industry. This is an absolutely fabulous record that I can't seem to find enough superlatives for. Case has always demonstrated an astounding grasp on word play, storytelling and the arrangements to bring them all together. But now, as she turns her analytic eye from her rich, fictional characters to herself, she reaches a whole new level of poetry. It's impossible to listen to as natural a storyteller as Case not learn something about her, but her most recent work is almost nakedly revealing. I know from her interviews that this isn't a comfortable position for her to be in, so that makes the accomplishment of this album all the more impressive. And while the songwriting is the star here, Case is able to wade through country, rock, gospel and pop flawlessly with each sounding perfectly natural. This is a stellar record that I have nothing but good things to say about, and were it only not for one more, would easily be my favorite of the year.
Stand Out Tracks
Starting with "Man", track 3 on the album, and ending in "Local Girl", track 10, this album goes on a run of genius unparalleled by any consecutive song stretch on any album featured here.
1. Light Up Gold by Parquet Courts
Here's a sentence I didn't think I'd get to write ever; my favorite album this year was a punk record. That's not to say that modern punk is bad. Because it's not. It's just not great. Not great, that is, until artists like Parquet Courts decide to get in on the action. PC's only been kicking around for a few years now, but they've been tearing up the Brooklyn punk rock scene. Now they've gotten national attention, as Light Up Gold is getting serious album of the year props.
They deserve it, too. As a punk band, you know they're doing something right when it takes them only 33 minutes to rock a 15 track album. That's not just them thrashing through, though; these songs are remarkably clean and succinct, rather than just being fast. Parquet Courts remind me of the Minutemen back in their heyday; smart, sophisticated punk rock with good lyrics and a higher sonic calling than power chords and noise. And the lyrics are good, too. PC explores the quandary of an adult avoiding societal responsibility. They're stoned, irritable folks who are searching for their identity in the world with only the least amount of enthusiasm required. And they just wanna have fun, man. What's so wrong with that?
This album is a joy to the ears because it represents the best of what punk has to offer. It explores serious themes without ever taking itself too seriously and makes its complaints about the world without ever getting too heavy. It's self deprecating without angst. And throughout its entire length, Parquet Courts are breaking new ground without ever failing to have fun doing it. Go have fun with them.
Standout Tracks
2. Borrowed Time
3. Donuts Only
5. Yonder is Closer to the Heart
9. N Dakota
14. Stoned and Starving
Couldn't Quite Make It
As always, there are a few records that deserve an honorable mention because they couldn't quite make it on onto the list, but got just close enough that taking them off was torture for me. Here they are.
Like Clockwork by Queens of the Stone Age
Pure Heroine by Lorde
Run the Jewels by Run the Jewels (The only hip hop album in contention for the list. It was a weak year for rap music)
Trouble Will Find Me by The National
Push the Sky Away by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Pura Vida Conspiracy by Gogo Bordello
Same Trailer, Different Park by Kacy Musgraves
There's a Last Time For Everything by Lucy Wainwright Roche
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