After reading nearly a million top ten/top fifty/best of 2013 album lists on various music blogs, I figure the last thing the world needs is another “best of’ list. Yet, I decided during a long drive from St. George to Monticello, Utah last Saturday (while listening to an Indie Rock “best of 2013” countdown on Sirius XMU) that as a tribute to a long year of listening and re-listening to a crazy number of rock albums during the course of 2013, I would have to compose and publish a list of my own. A further impetus for composing a “best of” list is a year of gnashing my teeth over reading countless Pitchfork album reviews. Reading Pitchfork is somewhat of a guilty pleasure – I love some of the staff writers’ work (especially Ian Cohen, who is an absolute lights-out writer). However, I often sense that the writers play to the expectations of the editorial staff leaving little space for them to take chances with their opinions. Strong evidence for this assertion may be found in the Pitchfork’s staff top ten best album lists the website posted in December.
A casual perusal of the Pitchfork lists compels me to imagine the majority of its writers belonging to a herd of livestock, driven by the growls of the editorial sheepdogs. Several staff top ten lists are derivative of the top 50 list Pitchfork put out and appear to be more-or-less jumbled versions of that list featuring Vampire Weekend, Kanye West, Daft Punk, Disclosure, Haim, My Bloody Valentine, and Drake. Sure, I admired all of those albums to various degrees (with the exception of Drake), but gee whiz, after decades of critical and popular bashing of disco music, how did Random Access Memory suddenly make Giorgio Moroder cool again? Modern Vampires of the City is a fine listen (although can someone explain the appeal of “Diane Young” to me?), and has some great songs, and demonstrates a major creative step forward of an awesome band, and blah blah blah, but does it really deserve the universal critical acclaim as the outright zenith in indie rock? I certainly didn’t think so. It seems to me that critical acclaim or distaste for music undergoes cascades, so that once an album garners praise or disapproval from the most influential outlets and writers, the majority jump on the bandwagon, leaving very little space for dissent and risk-taking.
In any case, what I present here is a list, not of the ten best albums of the year (since I apparently lack the musical acumen to recognize the immensity of Vampire Weekend, Kanye, and Daft Punk in any “best of” list), but rather the top ten rock albums of 2013 to which I simply loved listening and did often through my hours and hours and hours of traveling along the lonely roads of the Navajo Nation for work.
10. Yuck – Glow & Behold
Back in 2011 when Yuck released their first album, I was so enamored with the single “Get Away” (which features one of the best riffs of contemporary indie rock), that I was aghast when neon pink wearin’ Hello Kitty lovin’ Frank Nooch declared it one of the most overrated albums of the year. I subsequently dismissed Nooch as an idiot (especially since he also poo-pooed the amazing Fleet Foxes album Helplessness Blues, and described Foo Fighters Wasted Light as “soft rock for soccer moms”). Nooch was spot on with the Yuck debut though, which in retrospect, except for two songs (the fore-mentioned “Get Away” and “Suicide Policeman”), is a bore. Since the release of Yuck, its founding member, guitarist and lead singer Daniel Bloomberg, decided to call it quits. What seemed to be the final blow for Yuck (the first being Nooch’s nasty attitude) might have been the best thing that happened to the band since their new album is loaded with some great songs. And of course Yuck still boasts one of my top five Brainy Asian Chicks on bass, Mariko Doi, and the heavy lover with the afro from Jersey on drums, Jonny Rogoff. The single, “Middle Sea,” is my favorite and also has a hilarious video featuring Rogoff, with disappointingly shorter hair, acing some stodgy old dude in tennis.
9. Yo La Tengo – Fade
I missed out on Yo La Tengo’s glory years in the 90’s, however, after hearing and loving Fade last January, I set out on a meticulous listen of every Yo La Tengo LP. Fade is obviously one of those late-career albums (which are not usually ideal exemplars of a great band’s work), but in my mind the playfully eclectic nature of this album serves as a microcosm of Yo La Tengo’s entire discography. The first track, “Ohm,” could have been culled directly from the Moody Blues’ On the Threshold of a Dream, and the subtle intensity (plus the outstanding brass arrangements) of tunes like “Cornelia and Jane” and “Before We Run” leave me wanting to listen to them over and over (since I’m a sucka for brass arrangements). In addition, the how-to-make-tortilla soup demonstration for the acoustic folk tune, “I’ll Be Around” deals perhaps one of the best music videos ever.
8. Small Black – Limits of Desire
I recently heard this synth pop band characterized as “chill wave,” which I guess is supposed to be something like synth-based, R&B influenced pop tunes. While I’m not sure music expressing such influences needs to find itself in a new, hip-sounding category manufactured by know-it-all bloggers (or if the artists even want their music associated with the category), I guess I’ll go with it. The smooth tunes on this album certainly make me feel pretty chill, especially the first single and album opener, the luscious “Free at Dawn.” Lead singer Josh Kolenick has the kind of smooth romantic voice that would make Bryan Ferry blush. And, similar to some of my favorite 80’s Ferry albums like Avalon and Boys & Girls, the enjoyable, mellow vibe maintains itself throughout the entire album, with just enough hooks and interesting arrangements to make it an intriguing listen, even if the listener isn’t “chill.”
7. Foals – Holy Fire
Foals was the last concert I attended before departing from the East Coast last summer for the bowels of southeastern Utah where the only live music around comes from the yelps of various coyote packs and a good ol’ boy string band from Blanding called the Elk Ridge Boys (I like the coyotes better). Fortunately, the excellent Foals’ set sent me out of musical civilization with a bang. I love Foals’ distinctive song structures which build through mathematical precision, but with Holy Fire, the band deviates from its typical game plan by adding heaps of emotional intensity, relieved by dramatic implosions leading to more cool, contemplative tones. Holy Fire is full of such moments from my favorite Foals’ tunes ever, “Inhaler,” when singer Yannis Philippakis brusquely proclaims “and I can’t get enough, SPAAAACE…” (“Milk and Black Spiders” is a song of similar ilk). Even with all of the intelligence and musicianship Foals offers, the band has also established a pop concept with pretty catchy numbers full of hooks like “My Number” and “Bad Habit.” In spite of their youthful appearance (their drummer even looks like Opie from Mayberry), these guys are musical precisionists, which has been evident on their past “math rocky” outputs. Now they are placing their talents within a greater pop vibe, Foals have made their music much more interesting and accessible.
6. Naked and Famous – In Rolling Waves
This is one of those albums that has taken it on the chin from critics, with most lamenting that the album is a big letdown and “less fun” (in the band members’ words “darker”) from their debut smash Passive Me Aggressive You. I got my hands on In Rolling Waves a few weeks before it dropped last September and devoured it – darkness and all. I haven’t looked back since and have probably given it more listens than any other album this year. I guess the tunes are dark for alternative rock music, yet there are some cuts in this material I find absolutely addictive, especially the title track and “The Mess.” I love the collection so much that if I had any guts I would put it at the top of the list. But alas some of its offerings are shaken by pretty corny (yet, in my mind endearing) lyrics. I also think the band made mistakes with the singles they released (“Hearts Like Ours” and “I Kill Giants”), which fall to the lower strata on my hierarchy of the albums best tunes. In Rolling Waves also differs significantly from Passive Me Aggressive You in that the arrangements are much richer, especially with the vocal interplay between singers Alisa Xayalith (#1 Brainy Asian Chick) and Thom Powers. Anyway, I think this is a pretty sweet follow up to the debut (but I’m biased).
5. Chelsea Wolfe – Pain is Beauty
Speaking of dark…..Listening to Chelsea Wolfe’s blacker than black folk tunes invaded my conscious and unconscious life in December, and I am hoping the experience won’t affect my ability to think positive thoughts. Wolf’s work is certainly dreary, but the musical complexity of her compositions makes the extreme bummer definitely worth the listen. At the same time, Wolfe’s repertoire is so fresh, the genre/genres within which she is working on any of her albums are hard to pin down or classify. It is pretty clear that artists are breaking some musical boundaries when bloggers can find no better category than “ethereal wave” to place them in, which is even cheesier-sounding than chill wave. Wolfe has managed to chart some interesting musical territory, at times using just a guitar, such as in her recent acoustic album, Unknown Rooms. However, I think she could make interesting music if left with just a washboard and a fog horn. No matter what sort of musical accoutrements Wolfe employs, her lovely yet somber vocal and the cool electronic arrangements she creates in Pain is Beauty consistently result in some engaging, provocative tunes (meaning the entire album is good). I could not put this album down in December, and my mind may never be the same again.
4. Kvelertak – Meir
There were some great metal albums released in 2013 (and also one of the worst metal albums of all time with Ghost B.C.’s hideous effort), in addition to Kvelertak, my favorites came from Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, Russian Circles, and Blood Ceremony. Kvelertak is a Norwegian band that I dismissed back in 2010 when I viewed the disturbingly violent video for their single “Mjod.” After hearing Meir for the first time last spring, I felt sorry I missed listening to their debut back then, because it’s awesome. Meir is, in my mind, even better, because it reminds me of some of the harder metal acts from the early 80’s, especially Balls to the Wall/Metal Heart era Accept, while maintain a contemporary freshness. The sounds on Meir playfully flirt with death and doomy metal, goofy vocal melodies that dangerously resemble pop rock, and throwback guitar power ballads. The description seems as if the collection of tunes should come off as one big inconsistent hot mess, but it’s the sheer eclecticism on this album that keeps it interesting throughout – even with frontman Hjelvik singing the entirety of the lyrics in Norwegian. This is not a bad thing in my mind, as it reminds me of the indistinguishable screams of Udo Dirkschneider in the power metal tunes like “Fast as a Shark.” I would say that Kvelertak and several doom metal acts that have released stellar albums in the last couple of years (loved Pallbearer’s 2012 debut) is bringing me back to a genre I gave up for dead in the 90’s.
3. San Fermin – San Fermin
The marching-band mania functioning as the lead single to this band’s debut, “Sonsick”, was hands down the best song of 2013. Aside from that killer single, however, the album is carried by a handful of amazing, harmonious tunes sometimes resembling the quirky, off-kilter machinations found on Dirty Projectors last two LPs. According to San Fermin’s founder, Ellis Ludwig-Leone (who, like David Longstreth of the Dirty Projectors, also graduated from Yale), the band falls into the category of “musical project,” making it seem as if its members are a bunch of hired guns assembled to do an album and then immediately part ways. The recording of the album, for example, featured singers Jesse Wolfe and Holly Laessig from the band Lucius. Yet, San Fermin is currently on tour (Salt Lake City on 2/26/14 baby!), and Ludwig-Leone has brought in the awesome-sounding-live Rae Cassidy to sing the lead female parts full time, so I have my fingers crossed that San Fermin will officially break out of the project phase and become a real band. All of the songs on the record are lusciously arranged with all kinds of brass instrument bellowing and strings, as well as a choir with the female vocalists exchanging lines with the Allen Tate’s rich crooning baritone. I have seen several live performances on YouTube and fully anticipate the San Fermin live experience to be even more powerful than listening to their tunes on my cell phone.
2. Chvrches – The Bones of What You Believe
This Scottish synth pop band’s heavily anticipated debut album hit like a ton of bricks in September meeting all expectations and proving probably the most consistently enjoyable LP of the year, so much so that it made it into nearly every indie music critic’s top twenty. Same as everyone else, I can’t find any missteps with the collection of songs, with literally every tune a potential hit single (Chvrches released 5 of the 12 songs on the album as singles). Among this great collection the absolute “gotta-turn-up-the-volume-for-this” songs are the lyrically intriguing “The Mother We Share,” “We Sink,” and “Gun” (the first three songs on the album), all perfectly exemplifying Lauren Mayberry’s awesome hook-filled choruses accompanying brilliantly arranged synths, loops, samples, and percussion. From that point the tunes become a little less poppy and more challenging, but nonetheless satisfying (I especially love the rapid fire synth passage at the end of “Tether” that could have emerged from one of the Pet Shop Boys’ more emotive moments). Unlike the unbelievably overhyped Haim debut, The Bones of What You Believe is THE album in 2013 to deserve all the critical revere it received.
1. Blood Orange – Cupid Deluxe
Blood Orange is the future of my music. I love this Brooklyn-based R&B, indie rock crossover thing that is going on that contributes a little 70’s era funk, a little 80’s era Prince, and a whole lotta awesomeness with acts like Blood Orange, Janelle Monáe, and the amazing (and viciously underrated) Solange Knowles. As the cool British dude who is the force behind Blood Orange, Dev Hymes has also produced some of Solange’s music (like the insanely cool EP True from 2012 – too bad Hymes and Solange got into a spiteful tete-e-tete via Twitter last fall over who contributed the most to the EP). When I first heard Cupid Deluxe back in November I was stunned for days, similar to how Destroyer’s Kaputt affected me three years ago. Subsequent listens have only driven me further into a deep fascination with this album, but what I like bestest are the album’s deep and groovy rock tunes that mingle funky horns, sweet bass grooves, and the exquisite vocals of Hymes’ girlfriend Samantha Urbani. I’m dreaming that albums like Cupid Deluxe quickly usher in a new wave of African-American influenced rock music missing since the demise of 70’s funk bands like the Ohio Players and Lionel Richie-era Commodores.
Anyway, here are 20 other albums I LOVED, but am too lazy to rank or write anything about (since I should be working on my dissertation RIGHT NOW instead of writing something no one will read).
Queens of the Stone Age – …Like Clockwork
Kings of Leon – Mechanical Bull
Janelle Monáe – The Electric Lady
Yamataka//Sonic Titan – Uzu
Local Natives – Humming Bird
Frankie Rose – Herein Wild
Russian Circles – Memorial
Widowspeak – Almanac
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats – Mind Control
Frightened Rabbit – Pedestrian Verse
Cults – Static
Washed Out – Paracosm
Foret – Foret
Capital Cities – In a Tidal Wave of Mystery
Laurel Halo – Chance of Rain
Shout Out Louds – Optica
The Strokes – Comedown Machine
Au Revoir Simone – Move in Spectrums
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Specter at the Feast
Tegan and Sara – Heartthrob