– posted by Colby
[Post Script Note: It just dawned on me that most of the links I’ve provided below are to Spotify and will only work if you have a Spotify account (which you can do for free). But not everyone wants a Spotify account and I can certainly appreciate that – it seems like every time I turn around I’m being pressured in to signing up for one more account or membership. My apologies for those of you who don’t have or wish to have sign up. This was not an attempt to push the service and I’ll try to use a more ubiquitous method in the future.]
Best Albums of 2013:
#1. Southeastern, Jason Isbell – If you’ve followed any of my past music lists you may remember I’ve been a big Jason Isbell fan going all the way back to his days with the Drive-By Truckers. Since leaving the Truckers, he’s put out a number of great solo albums but this is the one that’s gotten the most critical acclaim and I can understand why. I’m not sure the music is quite as dynamic as some of his past stuff, but the lyrics (always an Isbell strength) set a standard this year that few could match.
#2. Light Up Gold, Parquet Courts – I love this album because it’s fun, whitty, and full of layed-back punk attitude. It also pulls off the miraclulous trick of somehow sending me through a time machine to my college years (full of Archers of Loaf, King Kong, Pavement and Silkworm) without sounding dated.
#3. 6 Feet Beneath the Moon, King Krule – Soul? Singer-songwriter? Jazz? R&B? I have no idea how to classify this album and I don’t think I’m the only one who struggled with that. But it’s good – really good. It may take a couple listens to fully sink in, but if you set aside any pre-conceived barriers you can’t help but get sucked in by the power that flows through the open, spacey arrangements. I’m nowhere near experienced or connected enough to make any kind of predictions, but I won’t be surprised to see King Krule develop into one of those underground music figures loved by other musicians, indie-critics and music “snobs” around the world.
#4. The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight…, Neko Case – I admit it, I love Neko Case. But because I can admit it, I honestly think I was able to set aside my feelings and give this album an objective listen. And well, it still amazes. Over the years her sound has become more complex (maybe less accessable – which is kind of ironic considering that at the same time she’s gotten more main-stream attention) and certainly harder to put in a genre bucket, but as I’ve said before (in this blog), I believe Neko Case to be one of the best song writers of our time.
#5. Grownass Man, The Shouting Matches – I continue to be surprised at how little attention and critical notice this album received. I understand the sound isn’t particularly ground braking, it’s pretty much straight-up blues rock, but an album doesn’t have to create a new sub-sub-genre to be great. Maybe it’s snubbed because it’s too accessible. Maybe it’s the victim of more Justin-Vernon-Backlash. Whatever the case, it hasn’t affected me because I’ve loved this album since the first listen. It’s probably the album I’ve listened to the most this year and if I was rich and could have live music at my house party, this is the band I’d have. SPECIAL AWARD: Hands down, this album wins Best Album Title of 2013.
#6. The Graceless Age, John Murry – This is a dark, gritty, intense album both musically and lyrically. Maybe a cross between Elliot Smith and Richard Buckner. Sonically similar to one of my favorite albums from last year, Father John Misty’s Fear Fun. Reviews of the album quickly mention Murry’s relation to Faulkner and the painful results of his battle with addiction but none of this background story is needed to appreciate the brutal power behind his songs.
#7. Modern Vampires of the City, Vampire Weekend – From what I’ve seen, this is the album on my list that you’ll be mostly likely to see on the top of professional critics lists and by ranking it #7 I may be selling it a bit short. This really is a great album by Vampire Weekend and I was excited to see that they were able to follow up on the light-hearted fun of their earlier albums with this more mature, complex work. It’s still the same Paul-Simon-Afrobeat-like sound they had before but with better song writing. (I just wish they had skipped playing around with the voice distortion.)
#8. Talon of the Hawk, The Front Bottoms – This is the newest (to me) album in my 2013 catalog but I really didn’t hesitate to put it on my Best of 2013 list. You could call it basic guitar-bass-and-drums driven rock but it worked for me right away with smart lyrics set against catchy rock hooks. I turn it up, I pound my fist, I sing along. That’s what rock music is supposed to do, isn’t it?
#9. Melt Yourself Down, Melt Yourself Down – From the very opening notes, this album makes me jump up and down, twist my hips, and flail around like an idiot. The mix of Afrobeat, electronical and fusion pulls me into the imagined chaos of a crowded nighclub in a dirty corner of a large European metropolis, filled with the influences of Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. Globalization gets a lot of bad press but I’ve found one up side with this album.
#10. Pushin’ Against a Stone, Valerie June – I believe you’d be hard pressed to deny that Valerie June has made an excelent album, masterfully mixing primitive Americana, blues, gospel, folk and rock (all very well traveled genres) in a genuinely original, sincere and timeless sound. Her voice brings a mystery to the music, at once delicate and punchy, simultaneously floating by lightly and pulling you in deeper. It’s a voice that some may not appreciate right away, but the more you relax and give it a fair listen the more you’ll come back to it.
Bonus Selection – Best Reissue: Magnolia Electric Co., Songs: Ohia – I didn’t discover Jason Molina’s music until well after this album was originally released in 2003, which is kind of a surprising to me considering how obsessed I was with alt-country in the early 2000’s. But Magnolia Electric Co. is a timeless album that’s as accessible now as it was then. That’s why it succeeds so well as a reissue this year – not only on it’s 10th anniversary but also in the year that Molina died.
Bonus Selection – Best Kind-of-2013 Release: Spectral Dusk, Evening Hymns – Okay, I had to cheat a bit to fit this one on the list. It was actually released in the US in 2012 (which I missed) but it was released in the UK this year which is when I found it while checking out ADM. But I had to include this album because it struck such a deep chord with me. Frontman Jonas Bonnetta has written some incredibly personal lyrics about the death of his father which may not resonate with everyone, but for me this was an album that I was irresistibly drawn to. It’s heartbreaking and ethereal; well suited for late nights when everyone else is asleep, headphones on, the house dark and silent. I don’t know all the back-story of Bonnetta’s family (“I’m gonna chop down the family tree/Mill them into boards and build an effigy/I’m gonna set it on fire/It’s gonna set Dad free/Show no mercy”) but his reflections on parental loss and the growing awareness of becoming an adult hit me like a punch (Oh, please come back to me/I need you if I’m to be a man/Oh, I’m not doing that well/That is just what I tell my friends”). Turning forty this year may not have made me face my own mortality quite yet, but listing to Bonnetta’s music has helped me look at the emotions of confronting my father’s mortality.
Not More Music Crap? 