If anything this year is just the opposite. In a casual perusal of the new, 2013 music I added to my iTunes, it became clear quickly that I had a good 25 albums I needed to whittle away at to get my final list. After talking to some other contributors to the site, I know I was not alone in this challenging task.
That's how a top 10 list becomes a top 15. In order to "technically" not cheat, I'll do the last 5 as an honorable mention group without any real ranking. Mostly, these albums didn't make it because they had a strange or convoluted connection to me, didn't get enough play or just need more time to sink in. Give me another month and I'm sure this list gets as scrambled as 7th grade Cinemax.
Honorable Mentions:
While I truly did enjoy this album I'm sure I have more of a connection to it because I helped pay to make it. Through a PledgeMusic campaign I helped finance that one snare drum on track 7. Technology allows for this and there is a good chance that all music is going to be put out in this way when labels fold in the future, but for now it just seemed cool as hell for me to contribute directly to the creation of the art of someone I appreciate. A California band that I found through a buddy of mine, The Fling takes breezy Beatles pop and fuzzes it up a little. Think this would have made my top 10 if it was as good as it's predecessor, but still a really good chill album.
These guys crashed out of the gate with Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, one of my favorite debut albums of all time. The albums were choppy and mixed to say the least from that point on. It had almost gotten to the point where I wasn't going to actively seek out their new work. Then I stumbled across the track "Do I Wanna Know?" and I was back in, hard. Purchasing the album I wasn't let down by what they had become and it got me stoked enough to go back and check out their last few albums again for another listen. While I wasn't convinced I should have loved them any more than I did, the fact that this album caused me to try should say enough.
Go see these guys live and you're a fan. Get past the fact that they are media darlings (a less experimental Wilco of 2004 if you will) and really listen to any of their albums. Odds are you'll dig what you hear. I resisted for as long as I could prior to The Boxer, but "Brainy" had me from the first few seconds. This year, their new record is tight, varied and just downright good shit. Everything from the build of "Sea of Love" to the simmering melancholia of "I Need My Girl" manages to sound like a band as comfortable in their own skin as could be. The problem for me is the mood of this album is too forlorn (like most National work). While that's a perfect soundtrack for a miserable college existence and or a post breakup wallowing, sadly my life is too positive right now to enjoy this album fully.
This is the second time the supremely talented MTB has rehashed their songs in an acoustic format. Both EPs have been really successful at re-interpreting their effect laden and electric heavy album counterparts. The two new songs (especially "Riddles") were a great bonus in combination with the first 5 newly arranged versions. Stripping these tunes down does wonders for your appreciation of the substance beneath the flair. The major issue for me was that I don't like the last 3 songs they redid in the first place, and hearing them acoustic only confirmed my thoughts.
Another workmanlike album from a band that fits that ethos to a T. The third album from this southern Cali band churns out some fantastic songsmanship one after the other. As they grow as songwriters though, they are losing a little of the raw studio brilliance that was pulled out of them by none other than Jonathan Wilson himself (see ranking #2) on their debut work, North Hills. With that said, "From a Window Seat" is easily one of my favorite songs of the year and there is a good chance I play it on repeat in my casket as they lower me into the ground. When you see these guys live, an area where they always thrive, this collection of songs makes more sense. They are slowly working their way through the 70s musical landscape I love and only a really strong musical year helped to push them out of the top 10.
The Real Deal
Every time I listened to this smattering of genres, sounds and styles I found myself enjoying it immensely. If this album could package "On Blue Mountain" into a 45 minute track, it would probably be my number 1 record of the year. Even now as I listen through to do my review, I'm amazed it's not higher in my rankings. I'm just not familiar with the album in it's entirety. The problem was I didn't find myself listening beyond track 4 . I'd just keep hitting repeat to hear those sweet "I need it, I need it, I need it" falsettos just ONE more time. This was easily the hardest one for me to rank. I'm still not sure how it didn't make it beyond #10.
I'm as surprised as anyone to see these guys here after the weak sauce which was 2011's Backspacer. They still hold onto a little too much of that pop sheen that I felt made their previous effort too polished and radio friendly, but it's edges have been roughed up. The album kicks off with the really solid, albeit predictable hard rock threesome recipe of a lot of PJ albums in the past. The album gets really good though when you can explore some of the more unique, mellower tracks that follow. The first 20 seconds of "Sirens" bother me to no end, but from there I am helplessly hooked into the crooning Vedder of my old man dreams. Perhaps it's the aging of my parents or the burgeoning orchid of femininity that's blossoming in my old age, but "Future Days" never fails to make things get a little misty. In fact, outside of a poorly redone Vedder ukelele tune ("Sleeping By Myself"), a strangely cheap blues rip ("Let the Records Play") and a poor ass acoustic ballad ("Yellow Moon"), this album contains 9 songs I really enjoy. Vedder's voice sounds rich, the mix is tight and for the first time, having every band member bring ideas to the table sounds cohesive and comfortable.
8. Strokes - Comedown Machine
The amount of songs I don't like on this album says how much I enjoy the shit out of those that I do. This is not a band that was in my good graces after Angles and they returned the scene of the (genre) crime. Thankfully they did it with style, grace and a lot less keytar. It's a roller coaster for me. "Tap Out" starts out really strong, perfectly sound-tracking a buddy cop "getting to know you better" montage. But then, nothing makes any sense. Going from "All the Time", which sounds the most like a First Impressions outtake, to "One Way Trigger" manages to upset, confuse and excite me all at the same time. Then they kick out "Welcome to Japan", a track that blows the roof off my expectations for any Strokes song ever, leaving me confused in puddle of my own uncertainty. That's how I leave this album. I'm pleased that things look brighter than before, but I still don't really know what the hell is next.
7. Blitzen Trapper - VII
I've been on a rock solid 4-year long Blitzen Trapper kick. I can't scratch the itch and it's been years of intensely digging at it. With that said, I expected this album to be higher. Don't get me wrong, I still really enjoy this odd amalgam of "hick hop" meets "country whoop ass" and in a normal year I probably would have had this in my top 3. "Ever Loved Once", "Drive On Up", "Thirsty Man" and "Don't be a Stranger" were everything I could have wanted. Two things happened though. When I first heard it, only 4-5 tracks really stuck with me and I got the sneaking impression that they were trying to get a little too far away from the country/folk/psych/rock that I had become infatuated with. Suddenly, this album was tumbling down my rankings. Thankfully though a few buddies and I went and saw them at a really small venue and I had a chance to hear most of the new tracks live. They stretched them out, jammed like hell and blew the minds of anyone in attendance. It made sense now and easily catapulted back up into the top 10.
Just recently, I went through why this album managed to weasel it's way deep inside my dome. Thanks to Dr. Doobin' I found an album that I never would have bothered to check out and lookie, lookie where it ended up. Aren't you proud good Doctor? As a real testament to how much I enjoyed Evil Friends, I need to dive into the bands back catalog. But for now I'll continue to shake a variety of tail feathers to the funky grooves and soaring choruses. As I listen again and go back to attempt to find a favorite track, I realize I can't. I just like too many too much. This type of top to bottom consistency is rare in a band, especially in one you haven't had the time to fully digest and appreciate. Let Dr. Doobs guide you to the light here fellow bloggers, this is some grade A, premium, homogenized and pasteurized beef stick.
Another album I covered in detail earlier this year, this couldn't have hit me at a better time. There was no real production value, a fan base clamoring for more of their rawer guitar freakouts and then me, enjoying this album repeatedly. It just sounds like a few guys getting together, putting on some records I enjoy and then drunkenly trying to recreate their own version of them. Maybe it's because that's all I've ever wanted to do as a person who can't play a lick of music, but hot damn did this hit me right in the breadbasket. "Half Angel Half Light" is easily in the top 5 songs of the year for me, "I Saw Her Face" would make Uncle Neil proud and "Bird Song" seems like it would be enjoyable as hell live with that truly perfecto harmonica. Though I know the circumstances surrounding my discovery helped to make this album reach such heights on my list, I'm sure that in years to come I'll be validated by my continued love.
I didn't think there was any way that these guys could put out an album that would compete with my love of Blonde on Blonde, a record that has been one of my most played in the last 10 years. In fact, I purposely lowered my expectations because I didn't want to be mad at a band just because they put out something so stellar previously. Thankfully, I didn't have to do much lowering. The songs lost a little youthful flair, but what they lost in youth, they grew in polish and maturity. The peaks may not have reached the same heights, but the general vibe you floated along at stayed at a cruising altitude way above average. These guys grew up, showing a more refined sound on "3am Spiritual", "Idol", "Only Natural" and "Glossed". Even if this album had sucked, I wasn't going to be mad at these guys thanks to the work they did before. But now that I have these two records back to back, I can easily say they have a seat at the "really excited about every subsequent album release" table. Welcome fellas.
Outside of the time I got Cat's Cradle Ebola when going to see these guys perform the new album with Dr. DoobieBros (which we chronicled with our inaugural podcast!), I couldn't have had a stronger connection to a local band since moving myself from the frozen north. Going back to 2011's Majesty Shredding I have managed to see these guys 4 times and enjoy everything they've put out, from full length records, to EPs, to little summer one-off tracks that celebrate the joy that is driving with your windows down. This album has a little darker feel to it but the songs couldn't be better. "Me & You & Jackie Mittoo" could only improve if it didn't end so quickly. "Void", "Trees of Barcelona", "Low F", "FOH" and plenty of others bring a youthful exuberance to topics that shouldn't have that type of levity. They sound like kids, play music like pros and talk about issues that become more prescient by the day as I grow older. I can only hope I'm doing what I do half as well as these guys are at their age.
The honest truth. If we did this list in another month, this album would be in first place, easy. I just tracked it down about a month ago and though I've been trying to make up for lost time by playing it until my ears developed leprosy, it just didn't quite have the time to leap into the #1 position. An LA producer, Mr. Wilson cobbles together an impressive cadre of musicians (Benmont Tench, Mike Campbell, Graham Nash, David Crosby, Jackson Browne, Josh Tillman and many others) to create one of the finest albums of the year. "Love to Love" has a killer country rock groove, "Future Visions" has the sexiest funk breakdown this side of James Brown, "Moses Pain" takes you on a ride through everything great about Laurel Canyon and plenty others do their part to show just how much talent this guy has to offer. I couldn't stop recommending this album to everyone I came across. It literally became an obsession. If you have any faith in my ability to appropriately rank music and you like the sounds of the 70s, you should stop whatever you are doing right now, skip reading #1 and just listen to this album for the rest of the day. Seriously.
Mr. Wilson was only foiled by his long time red-headed rival, Dennis the...err..Josh Homme. This summer my obsession with this album reached Fanfare-ian levels. In fact, in the spirit of recommendation I vehemently pushed this album on Doctor Dee, knowing full well his hatred of their live sound. As he chronicled quite well, this album brings the sex stomp. When I first heard it, I was living a normal life. Now my wife is 7 months pregnant. Coincidence? I think not. Odds are this album, Biff Tannen, a flux capacitor and mother Mary lead us all to celebrate the December 25th birth of the man himself.....Rod Serling. The raucous, cripplingly seductive guitar romps of "I Sat By the Ocean", "If I had a Tail" and "Smooth Sailing" are enough for me to moisten my own undergarments. But, surprise(!), there are also some mellower moments that truly shine as well. "The Vampyre of Time and Memory", "Fairweather Friends" and "Like Clockwork" all deliver in an arena I didn't think these guys could even step foot into. After the absolute abomination of an experience I had when I saw/got shit on for 2 hours seeing these guys live earlier in life, the fact that I am itching to get back out there and see them again should answer any questions as to what album was the best this year. Congrats, you Queens you, you deserve it.
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