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Old 2013.12.16, 02:52 PM   #51
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Hubardo is this year? Coulda sworn it was 2012. Anyway, I thought it was pretty decent. Tool meets Opeth with sax.
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Old 2013.12.16, 03:10 PM   #52
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Hubardo is probably my favorite album this year. Definitely give it another chance. Even though it clocks in close to two hours, it doesn't nearly feel that long as you listen.

I don't really see it as Tool meets Opeth. Kayo Dot (and Hubardo) is a much different beast than either of those bands. Tool was actually my first band obsession. I still love them, but their activity as a band is very poor. Being a fan of Tool is a joke these days.
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Old 2013.12.16, 03:47 PM   #53
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Hubardo is definitely a lot easier to get into than their previous albums, that's for sure. I don't know if I'd rank it in my favorites but its certainly not one of the worsts (Yeah Yeah Yeahs Mosquito gets that honor)
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Old 2013.12.16, 05:54 PM   #54
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TOP 50 of 2013


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Wheel Laura Stevenson and the Cans

I don’t even care. This is my fanboy pick of the year, but after a listen you should agree that this is no stretch. Laura Stevenson carries an irresistible personality through each of her songs. Wheel takes her down a country road, and while not as immediate as 2011’s delicious Sit Resist, Wheel is gorgeous. There is some great tune-age on this thing too. It opens soft, but from start to the incandescent throb of the title track and finale are melodies, explosions, and yearns that will stick to you. Stevenson ups her production, matures her sound, and fashions the most fleshed out and rounded record of her budding career.

“Every Tense” and “Runner”

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R Plus Seven Oneohtrix Point Never

I nearly missed the boat with R Plus Seven. It is a very dense, very abstract album, even by Daniel Lopatin (Oneohtrix Point Never) standards. I was more than a little bummed he didn’t delve further into the murky, airy depths he explored with 2011’s phenomenal Replica; this record is more similar to his Chuck Person’s Ecco Jams vaporwave project. Lopatin acts as a mirror in outerspace that reflects all of our concentrated media back to us at once. R Plus Seven is full of new agey Windows 95-era “information superhighway” sounds; the kinds of sounds that imagined what the future would sound like and got it oh so wrong. Lopatin guides us through a low-res Second Life full of low-polygon models, flat textures, bad clipping, and pastel vectors in the sky. The sounds may sound hollow and lifeless, but they all sound familiar to us. Lopatin questions if we spend too much time in this computerized, user-friendly world – a world designed to entice us to stay. “Zebra” plays like every newscast, from all over the world, played at once. Information stripped away, but bombarded at 120 cycles per second. “Boring Angel” suggests this place is the result of some holy covenant between the user and some architect. A benevolent creator or a crafty marketer? “Still Life” expands that all might not be roses, but by the end of the album Lopatin imagines we would settle in try to make the best of the situation anyway. Do you think that’s true?

“Problem Areas”


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Champagne Holocaust Fat White Family

Unsettling imagery aside, Fat White Family could go crystal black on their visual presentation and still leave your jimmies rustled. In doing so, aren’t they the most true in their psychedelia? Freak out the establishment, etc. While Fat White Family is unflinching in their disruption, their tools of malice are catchy songs. You can’t help but pay extra attention to them, almost against your will; Champagne Holocaust can be sing-songed along with the rest of the brit-rock best. Where other brit rockers might preach anti-establishment and turn around and sing songs about boys and girls, Fat White Family oozes their animalistic message and reminds the listener how close we are.

“Is it Raining in your Mouth?”

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Wakin on a Pretty Daze Kurt Vile

Kurt Vile builds upon his revelatory Smoke Ring for my Halo with songs that are more graceful, more psychedelic and more direct. The adapted folk-structure borders close to prog-rock at times like on either of the album’s 9+ minute bookends as he shifts in and out of moods, tones and melodies. The songs remain simple, but how they grow to such lengths without becoming too drab or monotonous is thrilling. Vile leans on his guitar to tell the story much of the time which is nice during times when most artists turn to heavy guitar durges or (worse,) synths and drum machines. When most guitar music is either too non-confrontational to go electric or on the extreme deep end, Vile manages to stand firm with attitude without resorting to violence.

KEXP set

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Slow Focus Fuck Buttons
I was slow to come around to Slow Focus. It is so in your face and metallic, not unlike a Sleigh Bells record. Slow Focus is distorted and hits like a ton of bricks. Foreboding looms over every track, like the music corresponds to some yet unseen extra-terrestrial doom. The drums hit hard and flat like bowling balls on a metal floor and the synths crackle and spark. Fuck Buttons stack their sound so high it is what I imagine meeting some incomprehensible power to be. It’s beautiful, but terrifying; you want to turn away, but you are drawn to it.

“The Red Wing”


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Sing to the Moon Laura Mvula

Sing to the Moon is a perfect album to listen to during “list season.” Mvula and producer Steve Brown polished and shined this record to sound timeless -- like the best of the Christmas songs you’ll find on the radio this time of year. Mvula mixes ageless orchestration with modern beats, electronics and techniques that is both beautiful and fun. If they make the next James Bond soon, why not peg Mvula to sing lead? She has the volume and her sound is fittingly cinematic, a thundersome “Live and Let Die” would be a treat.

“Sing to the Moon”

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Gravity Ben Lukas Boysen

Gravity is about solitude. You wake up, your home is empty, its the only home on your street, and there is no sign of anyone else ever being on earth kind of solitude. All the emotions that get carried along with it, that moment of realization, the depth during, and the question if there’s ever an end to it. On “Nocturne 1” Boysen explores the memories of shared times before the reality settles back into place. However, Gravity isn’t a depressant. Necessarily. The title track and “To the Hills” have a sense of motivation. Maybe the solitude isn’t so bad. Some solitude is necessary, and undervalued -- some prefer it. Some people panic at the thought. Ben Lukas Boysen gives validity to both.

“To the Hills”

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Rainer Secret Mountain

The crowd sourced Rainer is a fulfilled crowd pleaser. Secret Mountain is yet another moody act to surface from Baltimore who assembled one of the smoothest and most yielding albums this year, let alone debuts. On Rainer, the band creates a smoky ambiance for singer Kelly Laughlin’s voice to saunter through. The band shows tremendous melodic chops as they neither waver from their sound palette nor lose my interest. While in past years, acts like Diiv and Real Estate used reverb to mask their tracks like Vaseline, Secret Mountain is both liberal and very conscious with it and use it to paint the sound space wherein the band creates some truly memorable songs.

“Make Love Stay”

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Melt Yourself Down Melt Yourself Down

The season seven premiere episode of The Simpsons was the resolution of the “Who Shot Mr. Burns” cliffhanger. One of the possible culprits was salsa bandleader Tito Puente. When the Springfield police question, Puente demonstrates he would only take revenge on Burns through song. Melt Yourself Down expands upon this premise with an explosive debut. The music feels so accusatory, possibly due to leader Pete Wareham’s falling out with his previous band, Acoustic Ladyland. Even the slower track, “Free Walk” seems to point a finger. The ensemble is neither afraid to incorporate electronic instrumentation or get downright sludgy -- both demonstrated on “Mouth to Mouth.”

“Tuna”


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Major Arcana Speedy Ortiz

I will never tire of 90’s-inpsired Alt. rock bands. The RnB resurgence is comforting, but it just doesn’t scratch that itch. Somehow, 90’s nostalgia flew right over everyone else and they’ve already resumed being cynical towards acid wash, flannel, girl power, and Fraiser. Honestly, were on year 13 of 1980’s part two. Can we please let it go? If I have to shovel down another glittery, quasi-ironic, synth band…90’s aesthetic is built for detachment!

Maybe Speedy Ortiz feels these same cold shoulders. Major Arcana is full of frustration, “me against the world,” and hurt feelings. Speedy Ortiz channel some of the 90’s best “I don’t care (but really I do)” acts like Pavement, Breeders, maybe Liz Phair. Maybe pop culture’s resistance to 90’s nostalgia is a blessing in disguise. That aesthetic works best with opposition.

“No Below”
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Old 2013.12.16, 06:00 PM   #55
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COIN COIN Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile Matana Roberts

Music is the history of people and in Matana Roberts’ COIN COIN series, she tells that story in it’s native tongue. She tells the hard times, the happy times, the poor times, and times of resolution. As she shifts through time frames, so does the music. Elements of rag time, blues, even some big band beats here and there splash across the jazz canvas. Matana directs her band from movement to movement in a graceful long form. On Mississippi Moonchile Roberts focuses on her own family, specifically her grandmother. Even though the time period is that of Jim Crow, segregation which culminating with the civil rights period, Mississippi Moonchile’s emotion is unswerving. Even “The Labor of their Lips” which is a bustling and oppressive track has an assured finish. Speaks volumes over Robert’s sax.

Mississippi Moonchile set


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Colored Sands Gorguts

Much effort was spent to find 2013’s best metal album. Colored Sands occupies much of that discussion. With their fifth full-length, the first in over a decade, Gorguts summons pulverizing drum attacks and carnivorous guitar riffage. Colored Sands is black metal at its most consuming. The music just absorb all the light and looms over the listener like a thunderhead. With the act’s previous LP’s, technicality was the signature. Here, that precision has been shifted from the instrumental performance to the song writing. Not shy with the usual heft and aggression you would expect from a band like Gorguts, mastermind Luc Lemay is most attuned to the progression this time around as he keeps the textures and emotions varied with the severity never compromised. Gorguts settles into some very hairy grooves that even a black metal greenhorn could savor.

“Colored Sands”

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New History Warfare vol 3: To See More Light Colin Stetson

Colin Stetson returns with a new study in his New History Warfare series. This time, out are the spoken word verses and in are…Justin Vernon melodies? (If 2012 was the year of the traveling Stetson, 2013 is the year of Vernon-for-hire.) The Bonny Bear is definitely jarring at first, but after a few second thoughts works as a nice flourish. That’s all it is, set-dressing. After all, what you really came to hear are the alien sounds of Stetson’s sax. The sounds are spell-binding. Stetson’s gasps for air, puffs on the reed, harmonic hums that don’t even seem to coincide with the actual saxophone. The beat of the buttons, the buzz of the reed, the crackles of the saxophone body itself – everything is an instrument. Sometimes you get what you might imagine a saxophone study to sound like, glorious and triumphant. Other times, you’ll think you are listening to a grindcore album.

“Among the Sef” and “In Mirrors”

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Race Music Armand Hammer

Is music only worth listening to if it can stand on its own merit, ignoring lyrics? I often scold those who put misplaced obsession in lyrics (lest we forget how deep Trent Reznor is these days.) But adhering to my own belief keeps me oblivious to some music that greatly rewards close explication. Race Music is a most extreme example. Armand Hammer (one part Billy Wood, one part Elucid; both underground stalwarts) spin tales incomprehensible in these seventeen tracks. The two MCs jump from image to image, often working in abstractions, or metaphors upon abstractions, that are little but hype on first-pass. But there’s something in their incensed spit and earnest production that begs revisits, and on those revisits, those disjointed phrases and fuse to form some of music’s most personal tales. Billy Woods is quickly blowing up to KDot proportions in the underground, but with his very wordy, motivational speaker flow requires too much attention to make it on the outside. Woods and Euclid are pleased as punch at this and make these Armand Hammer tracks reflect their sensibilities. No club chants or anthems, Race Music opts for refrains that are almost anti-chorus. Beats that are funky and fierce, but only to be heard in support of the MCs, not in a car two lanes over. Race Music is the lyricist’s favorite album.

“Hatchet Job”

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Body Music AlunaGeorge

Just how long was the wait for this album? When Alunageorge first hit my radar, I could barely corral thirty albums for an end of year list, let alone write about them more than “p good.” (Okay, maybe my writing isn’t there yet still. But look at how many albums I can spill about now!) Aluna Francis’ packs so much attitude into her undersized voice that it holds it own against collaborator George Reid’s throbbing FlyLo-via-”Return of the Mack” backdrops. My favorite moments on Body Music happen when AlunaGeorge operates as a two headed beast, like on “Your Drums, Your Love.” You get Aluna’s hook about “treading water,” but you also get the looped hook of “Your drums…” --one of this year’s best moments.

“Your Drums, Your Love”

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The Man Who Died in His Boat Grouper

In the first seconds of “Vital,” you’ll hear everything I love about Liz Harris’ music. The sound of a weary acoustic guitar bouncing over a barren, cold room, and Harris’ voice echoing out into eternity. The way Harris uses her voice, it seems incidental that it winds up a song. When I hear The Man Who Died in His Boat I hear Harris, with a guitar, near a bog at night with so much on her heart that she must release to the moon. When I listen to Liz Harris/Grouper, I always feel like everything’s going to be okay. It’s not that everything is positive, there’s a lot of pain an uncertainty in the music. But Harris’ voice is a comfort blanket.

“Vital”


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Ripely Pine Lady Lamb the Beekeeper

Aly Spaltro brings a variety of sounds to her debut. Soft, acoustic, melancholic numbers like “Florence Berlin” and tough howlers like “Bird Balloons.” The most valuable asset Spaltro brings to Ripely Pine is her dynamic compositions. Her songs move from movement to movement, emotion to emotion, like the epic “You are the Apple.” It stars off as a bluesy skiffle, before moving into a groovy rocker, an introverted whimper, before culminating in hysterics. On her first studio album after a few self-releases, Spaltro swells her sound to incorporate strings and brass to make her already adventurous songs into a grand undertaking.

“Bird Balloons”

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Pure Heroine Lorde

Probably the biggest surprise this year. A superb song wins massive popularity, comes from an even better record from a great young artist. How surprising? My wife heard the thing before me! She comes in and asks if I’ve heard of “Lorde” and that she really liked the song. I did my investigation and was pleased. That weekend, we heard it play on satellite radio. The next week, heard it a few more times. In a month “Royals” played on local radio (and San Antonio radio stations are literally the last places to receive new music.) Now I can’t turn on my radio without hearing one of the Pure Heroine tracks. (I haven’t recognized so many songs on the radio since middle school!) Lorde has a brilliant voice, she emotes so much and harmonizes with herself so well. The backing tracks are extremely sparse. Sometimes it’s just a beat with Lorde providing all other arrangement. The album spotlights Lorde squarely and I couldn’t be happier that Lorde and her producer made such a bold decision. Too often albums shy away from really making a statement through production choices, especially top 40 pop albums. Pure Heroine is the exception. It declares, “Lorde is here,” and might change the pop game. Make way for copy cats!

Bonus conspiracy theory time! When my wife and I first dug up Lorde youtubes, one thing we kept unearthing were various live covers of "Royal“" by Selena Gomez. Because I have to be constantly cynical to “the mainstream,” I think whatever label really vied to make “Royals” a Selena Gomez hit. Mercifully though, the original became an insurmountable smash.

“400 Lux”


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Demo ██████

The album that is impossible to google. ██████ (possibly pronounced as “We Don’t Have a Name,” henceforth referred to as “the band,”) produce some of the smoothest, most accessible black metal you will find. Smooth and accessible, you might balk? Similar to the other classicist maligned, 2013 darling, Deafheaven, the band keeps their guitars simple. No math-like technics or obese tones, the guitars are slick and bright. This makes the riffs and progressions pop out as the band often keeps the pace relatively slow (for metal.) “What? Now you’re saying the word slow? What kind of metal is this?” Okay, fine. Maybe the descriptors are all wrong, but what is right is the feelings you get when listening to Demo. Thrill. Vigor. Teeth-gnashing, fist pumping, go-time exuberance.

Full album on bandcamp

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Once I was an Eagle Laura Marling

Unless you watch your music player closely, you might not realize the first song isn’t fifteen minutes long. Laura Marling’s Once I was an Eagle sprawls across the room. Over an hour, sixteen tracks, and an overall bitter and focused voice, Laura Marling has a few bones to pick. The most blatant of which seems to be the patriarchy on “Master Hunter” where she throws down the traditional feminine roles and assumes that of a hardened hunter. This narrative seems to continue on the beaten “Little Love Caster” where, at odds, she insists her status of master. Is she a hunter of the beast described in “Take the Night Off”? If “water doesn’t do what it did before,” then what does that say about her state given what’s said in “Devil’s Resting Place?” I almost feel like a spoiler warning is due. Once I was an Eagle is lyrically and thematically woven and joy to pick apart as much as to sit back and be washed over.

Suite: “Take the Night Off," "I Was an Eagle," "You Know," and "Breath"
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Old 2013.12.16, 06:05 PM   #56
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Nepenthe Julianna Barwick

Barwick continues find new spaces and objects to shine her voice upon. On Nepenthe she finds help from Alex Somers and múm to further form her compositions. While ambiance is the second most important piece to any Julianna Barwick piece, this is by far her least ambient record yet. There is even a piece that resembles an honest-to-goodness song, and it is quite a highlight! There is more adornment to Barwick’s voice than ever here that all do well to carry her voice – a new setting. Nepenthe is a fantastic come down record, but also pulls out some surprises. The half way marker, “Pyrrhic” ups the tension quite a bit before a graceful landing. It’s easy to liken a voice as pristine as Julianna’s to angels, but I hear no heaven. I hear a haven. I hear a secret forest where all sorts of nymphs and creatures live, a place where few get to experience. A magic place.

“Forever”

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Truant/Rough Sleeper Burial

Last year’s Kindred was about heft and power. Truant / Rough Sleeper is about the deflation of power. (Truant dropped in mid-December last year, technically 2012, but not enough time to really consider it for last year’s list. Burial’s next release due in a week or so will in kind be eligible next year.) Burial builds up steam and then mashes the stop button, then either rebuilds or moves on to a new sound. The most superficial, but no less interesting, feature to this release are the parts where the songs cut out. Both tracks cut out at in sync with each other, implying that the songs are quantum entangled with each other. Especially on the vinyl pressing, this must be cool; like there’s a defect in that part of the wax. It may only be two tracks, but they contain more ideas than many pack into forty-minutes.

“Truant”

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Tape Two Young Fathers

Fresh off their Tape One mixtape last year, Young Fathers strike. Tape Two has a stripped down sound but no less ornamental. In a loaded hip-hop slate, how do Young Fathers stand out? The Young Fathers sound is very soulful, tribal, smooth and because they can break into harmony out of nowhere at any time, very pretty. The album starts with “I Heard” which sounds like it could have been an outtake from Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange. The album builds to the most raucous and original track, “The Queen is Dead,” which not only features some fireball spit but climaxes with a stomping descent into hell.

“Queen is Dead”

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Dream River Bill Callahan

The Americana title and pastoral cover art may present this album as an easy listening, hotel room art, experience. Even the very passive intro, where he recollects the only words he said all day were “beer” and “thank you,” supports this. Much of this album relishes the small joys, but it is a certain level of intense about it. Maybe the soft percussions don’t say it, or Callahan’s mahogany voice, but the rich lead guitars punctuate with a passion. The album is very much one from someone relaxing on a porch that overlooks a field, but at times, when the guitars become too much to bare, like the climax of “Summer Painter” feels more like a peyote-fueled dance around the bonfire in said field.

“Spring”

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Psychic / Random Access Memories Memories Darkside

Darkside shine a funky and soulful light on electronic music with both of their projects this year. The spotlight of their true opus this year, Psychic, is in its opener “Golden Arrow.” The groove percolates out of nothing more than a few glitches and bobs. Before you know it, the track hops like an alien Soul Train. Somehow the best guitar showcase this year is an electronic album. Dave Harrington’s guitar dances and sings over the worlds sprung from Nicholas Jaar. Psychic is a night-time driving album for me. This is the music you listen to where the only lights around are unnatural, you creep around the “cool kid” area of time, and get yourself lost and on an adventure.

But wait there’s more! Darkside added a little more to the hype chamber by preceding the release of Psychic with a deconstruction of the latest Daft Punk record. Random Access Memories Memories takes it’s already referential source material and throws it in a blender. If Daft Punk honored their idols, is Darkside honoring Daft Punk? Or, are they challenging them? As demonstrated on both records, Harrington and Jaar you can instill enough soul into electronic music without succumbing to a dance beat.

Boiler Room set

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Immunity Jon Hopkins

I love when an album keeps you guessing. When I first worked through Immunity’s “side a,” all I heard were aggressive dance beats and strong keyboard up front. Even as the great tone shift that happened in the back third of the track “Open Air” I knew eventually I was going to grow EDM-fatigued and tune out. No matter how good the sounds were. But a funny thing happens, a third of the way in to “Breathe this Air”, the jagged neon electronic clouds open up to a tender piano melody. I wait for “the drop,” but no. It never happens. Instead the synths join in on the piano’s mood and continues from there. After “Collider” there is a brief hold for silence before continuing to “Abandoned Window” and the rest of the second half of the album. The silence separates the two songs as well as the synth-driven inclusive first half of the album from the more piano driven, introspective half. But just when you think you have Hopkins figured out, the two modes mingle on the decidedly poppy late-album tent pole “Sun Harmonics.” Immunity plays out in widescreen and runs the gamut of emotions, and like a great movie, after going through it once, you start to notice the details that were planted earlier in the album that are unmistakable later and casts the whole work in a different air.

“Breathe this Air” and “We Disappear”

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General Dome Buke & Gase

General Dome is one of the most unique records this year because Buke & Gase are one of the most unique bands. Buke & Gase are not pseudonyms for Aron Sanchez and Arone Dyer, they are the names of two of their signature, handmade, instruments: an evolved baritone ukulele that now is part electric guitar (buke) and a guitar - bass cross pollination (gase.) The duo compliment the industrial tinges of their mut instruments with some bombastic pop songs and jagged melodies. In an era where everyone is supposedly interested in rewriting the rules of sound, why are so many chained to their macbooks? Sanchez and Dyer have the right mindset and 13 amazing tracks to back them up.

“Houdini Crush”

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mbv My Bloody Valentine

The new Avalanches, the new Madvilliany, Detox; the new My Bloody Valentine used to be among them. Last December, the drumming got louder – but this had all happened before. The new mbv was “definitely” going to drop before new year’s 2013. But the day came and went. “Don’t believe his lies” said the popular Kevin Shields meme. Just as everyone calmed back down, a facebook post announced the release. A panic had swept up a percentage of the music community. Not only was there a new album, but it would be in people’s ears as fast as bandwidth provided. No time to speculate, hype, or any preparation. Would it even sound like the same band? Would it be a loveless cash in? Would they still have it? Would it be different from Loveless or would it be the same?
As the album starts, most tension alleviated. After 22 years, the band picked up right where Loveless left off. The biggest accomplishment of mbv happens in those first three songs. In 22 years of imitation acts, even if some convinced, MBV undressed them all as pretenders.
If any work stands as a better commentary on Loveless, it’s mbv. After picking back up the mantle, Shields and the band progresses the shoegaze sound. The middle of the album has the band present some of the band’s most approachable tracks. The song “If I Am” sounds like a solar-flare, Soft Bulletin-era Flaming Lips song, fed through Kevin Shields’ amplifier. Then with the last act of the album, the band makes some of its most experimental tracks, like the pounding “Nothing is”. The song cycles over and over, picks up steam. By the end of the song, it feels like the sound waves can break rocks.

“Who Sees You”


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MCII Mikal Cronin

In 2011 Mikal Cronin produced one of the modern day’s finest, pure rock and roll records. His follow-up shows he rubbed off the fuzz from his debut and sharpened his pop melodies. I thought his underground garage sound was a big part of his debut’s charm. For a cleaned up sound, the songs needed to hit the right spots.

Cronin was up for the challenge.

MCII starts with one of the best first acts (first three or so tracks) this year. Once this album gets rolling, it doesn’t really stop until it’s rather melancholic close. Mikal Cronin crafts perfect rock songs with such ease and frequency I keep wondering why everyone doesn’t put out music this good. Cronin is Lebron James, a freak of nature.

(Well, he’s Lebron James if Lebron got inexplicably less ink than Carlos Boozer (Ty Segall) and the Gilbert Arenas Washington Wizards (Thee Oh Sees.))

(Crossed off my bucket list: “Make lengthy basketball analogy in end of year music write-up.”)

KEXP set

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Yeezus Kanye West

After Thanksgiving, my cousins and I resumed a conversation that has persisted since the summer, “What’s the deal with Ye’?” Where is the line between Kanye West the (presumably) normal guy, thoughtful producer and Kanye West the egomaniac spectacle or are they one in the same? Whether or not Taylor Swift’s video was as good as Beyonce’s, or whether or not Sway had the answers, pretty much everybody wanted to hear what Kanye had to say as follow-up to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Much has been said about the sonic disparity between the two, but when you make something as vibrant and bombastic as Twisted Fantasy (and if you presume Kanye buys into the hype that the album was a game-changer) where else can you go? Kanye is too smart to play the same note twice, so of course comes the tear down. (Someone beat me to the Nevermind-to-In Utero likeness unfortunately.) Kanye’s Yeezus show (the album and media sideshow) is a challenge to the system that is alway eager to give him audience (one way or another.) Even aside from the more obvious, and more easily acceptable, new sounds Kanye works with, the jarring and grating near-industrial sounds in much of the first-half of the album; much of the subject matter can be tough to stomach. Not that it’s violent or horrific ala Woods, Billy or Grips, Death, but how familiarly blunt it is. If Twisted Fantasy was a confessional, Yeezus is made of statements from South Park’s Shitter. If Pinkerton was uncomfortable, Yeezus can sometimes feel like listening to a tack. But at the same time, is what’s expressed really all that different from your own deepest thoughts? Kanye challenges the inner and exterior selves of his listeners on Yeezus and makes the tunes stick in their heads.

“New Slaves”
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Old 2013.12.16, 06:10 PM   #57
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Torres Torres

Torres’ Mackenzie Scott is a master of the build-up, which she infuses with the blues on her debut. The result is an album I could not shake after its January release. Even when the build-up is subtle like the quiet rumble in “Jealousy and I,” Scott’s voice emotes the frustration and disappointment required of the song. The brooding “Honey” and the straight-up banger that is “When Winters Over” might be the tracks that readily welcome, but it is the pared down tracks that shine the harsh spotlight on Scott’s voice is where the true gold lies. While she is no Lorde or Laura Mvula, Scott evokes as many feels-per-minute as the best of them proves to be 2013’s premiere singer-songwriter.

“Waterfall”

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Random Access Memories Daft Punk

Daft Punk sent the hype machine into overdrive earlier this year when they splashed an unexpected teaser in the middle of Saturday Night Live this year. Being the kind of guy who watches Saturday Night Live religiously still, I launched to my laptop, along with hundreds of others asking “is there something I missed about Daft Punk?” Daft Punk was on a mission, declared in Random Access Memories' opener, they were to “give life back to music.” Though Giorgio Moroder expresses the desire to create “a sound of the future,” Daft Punk are eager recreate the sounds that inspired them and take ownership. Daft Punk turned down their DAWs and samplers and brought in live musicians. The use of live drums punches up Daft’s sound, most notable towards the end of the track “Giorgio by Moroder.” What would probably otherwise sound like an exploratory progressive piece instead becomes an outright jam with some fierce drum punches and a growling bass line. Daft Punk demonstrate their knowledge of dance music from the 70’s and 80’s not just through their composition, but did the research to recreate the the precise tones. As I write these pieces, I listen to the album. During the song “Touch” my wife commented how Paul Williams’ vocal on the track sounded like Tony Bennet or Frank Sinatra. That would be in large part due to the microphone Daft Punk used on the track – one used by Frank Sinatra himself.

“Lose Yourself to Dance”


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Loves Crushing Diamond Mutual Benefit

“Put on some music” is how the “put on some music game” always starts. “Okay, what kind of music do you want to listen to?” I ask as a formality. The game has a predefined script, you see. “What kind of music do you want to listen to,” has only one answer that I’ve ever encountered since my wife and I started this dance. “Something chill.”

Here in lies the challenge, I don’t really do chill music. I want something heavy, meaty, something to make my speakers throb, punish me, or at the very least bum me out for the rest of the day.
I’ve yet to play Loves Crushing Diamond for her, but if there’s any album in this list that qualifies it is this. To be fair, the band emotes a generous amount, but with it they create these sweeping, weepy, stand still moments in time. Their songs are simple and approachable, but gorgeous.

Pray my wife never ups the difficulty by requesting dance music.

“Advanced Falconry”

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Government Plates Death Grips

Death Grips lands another sucker punch. In typical Death Grips fashion, the album was released over twitter and facebook with no ad campaign, no interviews, no mention of a new album. The closest bit of buzz was the band going into seclusion to work on a movie, which may or may be not be true. They keep the audience off balance with surprise album drops and yet another shift in sound. On Government Plates the band shifts the attention to Flatlander and his electronics. This time, MC Ride may not be in every track, Zach Hill’s contribution might be more subtle; they highlight the “silent” member of the group. It is glitchy, pounding and frenetic. The opener “…Pillbox hat” is the band at it’s most recognizable while still pointing to the rest of the album. From there the songs become sparser and more and more MC Ride becomes another instrument to layer and distort. The surest Death Grips trademark is their autarchy (their mantra in the album’s closer: “Fuck whose watching.”) Among Death Grips’ fans often have a hard time reconciling each of their releases. No matter what they plan for 2014, be it another surprise album, a movie, or some strange collaboration with Beyoncé and Robert Pattinson, I’m sure it will carry that irresistible Death Grips’ aloofness.

“You might think he loves you for your money but I know what he really loves you for it's your brand new leopard skin pillbox hat”


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Engravings Forest Sword

(Forest Sword) Matthew Barnes layers samples, beats, and some scrumptious guitar tones to make one of 2013’s most unique electronic releases. The acoustic instrumentation holds the music earthbound while his electronics create atmospheres that creep through every crevice. “Thor’s Stone” for example sounds like aninfestation of a zombified version of feudal asia. Barnes is particularly adept at creating sounds that have texture (usually icy or woodie) that you just want to keep listening to. In spite of some shared charecteristics of his sounds, unlike many electronic producers, Engravings manages to be a varied collection -- moment to moment, track to track. I still feel like I am a hopeless novice to electronic music, but Engravings does alot to extend itself to the inexperienced listener.

“Thor’s Stone”


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GNK YC the Cynic

YC the Cynic is one of the most intriguing young rappers on the scene. YC’s modus operandi seems to be to figure out where he fits in the world. Many of his songs feature his struggle to relate to his peers, his loved ones, society, and history. Even misunderstood, YC pleas to those around him to raise the bar as he reminds “you’re children of God” implying the idea was lost amongst other labels. YC also takes a concerted effort to repurpose and reimagine those labels. The best of these moments comes at the end of “God Complex” where the sketch attempts to explain “the N word” as a good thing and further transposes it with “Negus.” On several tracks, YC takes the position of a powerful king, or even a God, suggesting the true power within when you “exceed your expectations.”

“Molotovs at Poseidon”

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Nervous Young Man Car Seat Headrest

I am going to make a bold prediction (and let’s not let my poor track record with predictions undermine my sentiment.) In ten to fifteen years we will hear future pop-rockers will name drop one of bedrock-underground’s (Car Seat Headrest) Will Toledo’s albums as an inspiration. Kind of like how every songsmen after ‘94 could cite Gregg Alexander while no consumer could ever procure one of his tapes, or Jeff Mangum as the Pitchfork-era dawned. Toledo is very similar to both. He has the lo-fi grandeur of the latter and saccharine candor of the former. Toledo says his inspiration on Nervous Young Man was greatest hits cds -- magnify the short form over the long. The more scatter-shot the better. Nervous Young Man is an album that deserves your listen -- Will Toledo crafted 2013’s best pop-rock songs and earned my obscuro-pick of the year.

Full album on bandcamp

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Teethed Glory & Injury Altar of Plagues

The nastiest, grimiest, disenchanting record I found this year. It growls and lurches, but at times can be off-puttingly catchy. Like “Burnt Year,” it gallops in with a beat that sounds like it could develop into something almost dancey. By the time the song finishes though, the last lines are a chilling wail of someone watching his son die. The record sounds like someone’s torture basement. It’s nothing but stone and wood, there’s dust and shackles, but also a torn loveseat in the corner and a tattered rug. Many bands of this sound, even one’s that take a progressive approach, don’t capture the same kind of atmosphere and emotion as Altar of Plagues do on “A Remedy and a Fever.” Not only do they vary the loud, quiet, and the raucous, sparse, but manage the carnage and relief. This balance actually concentrates the darkness into outright dread.

“God Alone”

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Mahou ga Tsukaenai nara Shinitai Oomori Seiko

The kids that grew up listening to Jpop, as we know it today, are grown up now and it shows. Japan was a hot bed for young, new, interesting acts that expanded upon Jpop in some way. Wakusei Abnormal was all anyone talked about for the first few months until Kyary Pamyu Pamyu became the hot thing this spring-summer. Kyary even drew western ink (what?? Fantano, I…) All the while, a young artist from Matsuyama was breaking atmosphere. Oomori Seiko’s debut Mahou ga Tsuakaenai nara Shinitai (translated: “You are Dying if you don’t use Magic,”) was pretty a big release for an underground, acoustic pop singer with a vocal delivery that’s more Yoko Ono than Ami Yumi. That is to say, most resisted.

Fast forward nine-months and Oomori is arguably “next big thing” status in some circles. For good reason. Oomori makes very organic, personal music. Minimal electronics, minimal production, and 110% heart. Oomori’s performance always feels a breeze away from being a complete cacophony. She walks the line just enough that the songs aren’t lost while still feeling just a bit dangerous. Much has been said about her vocals, and there’s more that could be still. She attacks her melodies so unbridled that it often sounds like you are walking in on her in confidence of privacy. The song writing is pristine. “Ongaku o suteyo, soshite ongaku e” just might be the song of the year, and can we talk about how “Lilith’s Fair” “Saishuu Kouen” is? Shades of Alanis and Fiona.

Later in the year, a reporter asked her opinion on Kyary Pamyu Pamyu’s unexpected international attention. She issued a throw-down. And she should. With her brand of personal-nearing-on-private pop, artistically she can go as far as she wants. I hope she exceeds the best of them.

“Ongaku o suteyo, soshite ongaku e”

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midcity Clipping

Some might give Kanye too much credit to Yeezus for being harsh and industrial (really, its just one track.) Other’s might find Death Grips to be their listenable limit. The noise arms-race in hip-hop picks up steam in 2013 -- and make room for Clipping because “music” is just a vague suggestion to these guys! Despite the fact their backing tracks are reserved mostly for noise, glitches and ambiance, Clipping is undeniably hip-hop. Samples are few and far between, keyboards and other traditional instrumentation are sparse, and the beats are subtle. If Clipping uses any traditional drum machines or tracks, they do a very good job of disguising them. Most beats are looped glitches, rumbles, or pneumatic air puffs. The MC Daveed Diggs’ flow however is all old school. He is fast, wordy, and is the safety cart you are more than happy to ride in as it takes you through hip-hop’s most intense rollercoaster.

KEXP set
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Old 2013.12.16, 06:14 PM   #58
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Virgins Tim Hecker

Virgins opens with what sounds like a steam powered piano that hurtles closer and closer to the listener who is tied to the tracks. Instead of crushing the listener’s head, it culminates with an epiphany. What was violent and menacing has in a beat become delicate and poignant. This is the moment that best describes Hecker’s attack, the juxtaposition between the two states of mind – and how interdependent they really are. Tim Hecker’s main tools are minimalist piano phrases and what sounds like the ambience of a concrete factory. This creates a Replica like creepiness, especially when Hecker jumps in with some glitches and blown out microphone noises. Virgins engages from its well-researched sounds but also its long-form compositions. Hecker spaces his tent poles like “Live Room” and “Virginal I” with smaller songs that hang in the air to paint a scene like “Incense at Abu Ghraib.”

“Virginal II”


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Modern Vampires of the City Vampire Weekend

It’s easy to take one look at Vampire Weekend, turn “360 degrees” and walk away. Affluent grads who appropriate African beats and tropical rhythms in an approachable, breezy package. I admit that this was me. Even after they announced Modern Vampires of the City, I intended to pass. But after hearing “Step” a few times, I had to have a talk with myself. “Now Patrick, now that you do this snooty list every year, you are obligated to do your Vampire Weekend homework.” As usual, I found I was all wrong. Vampire Weekend dials back the jumpiness of their first two records and ups the pomp and melodrama. They add more electronics and shifted vocals and sounds; the saxophone on “Diane Young” adds a delicious growl throughout the track, not to mention the jack-hammer electronic drums. The jewel of the album is its centerpiece, “Hannah Hunt.” The track glides into one of the great emotional climaxes this year when the piano and slide guitar try to take control of Ezra’s wails before regaining composure to a sizzle. Modern Vampires has a pristine sound, masterful melodies, and inspires me to mash the repeat button where before I was hesitant to even press play.

“Unbelievers”


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Sunbather Deafheaven

Ask any hard rock, metal fan to speak about Sunbather and you will get more than a few nasty remarks and refutes, that it’s not “real” black metal, and some that it’s not at all. Sure, it’s not black metal at it’s purest, but an album this derided must be good. Deafheaven presents a hard rock meets hardcore package that sparkles. The band mixes in some Godspeed-esque, “Arco AM/PM” musique concrete and post rock elements as well as acoustic interludes to meld the long form. These shorter, quieter songs link the bigger showstoppers, which themselves are diverse. Going back to how Sunbather “isn’t real” black metal yadda yadda, Deafheaven borrows less from its black metal peers, like the weight and despair from Gorguts’ Colored Sands. They reach more to the epic arena rockers for inspiration. In their tentpole tracks, Deafheaven intermittently catch their breath before another reach for the stars. The album is fierce; it doesn’t motivate through anger or pain, it demonstrates triumph.

“Dream House”

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Run the Jewels Run the Jewels

It was widely known that Killer Mike and El-P would follow up last year’s fantastic R.A.P. Music, but it was a surprise that they would full-on collaborate under a shared moniker. They are still going to follow up, R.A.P. Music properly; Run the Jewels is supposed to act as a fun “victory lap” record akin to Watch the Throne. Unlike Throne, Jewels is fun for the audience too. Run the Jewels features some of the most quotable, outrageous, mug for the camera lines. “You don't wanna look into my big crystal balls, suck the future,” in a song where they preach “Do dope, fuck hope.” In “Banana Clipper” Killer Mike consoles a grief stricken mother by telling her “she raised a bunch of fuck boys. Next time do better.” “No Come Down” Killer Mike describes a lap dance that becomes a religious experience. Basically the entire lyric sheet of “Job Well Done” is the most out spoken hype-track you will ever hear. If you like your hip-hop loud and outrageous, run the jewels.

“Run the Jewels”

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Shaking the Habitual The Knife

The Knife returns, with their first full-length since 2009’s Silent Shout,with their most ambitious release yet. The first track to drop from this album, “Full of Fire” states the first disc of Shaking the Habitual’s thesis, “Lets talk about gender, baby.” The Knife talks about the roles of women, sex, and their relationship with men/others.“Without You My Life Would Be Boring” are some of the most profound love songs this year. Even if The Knife describe the relationship as an animal marking territory. So no, this isn’t the most straightforward album you’ll hear this year. The Knife put their pop-sensibilities of Deep Cuts on the low burner and further explore the experiments hinted at in Silent Shout. They mix their usual electronics with acoustic instruments from all around the world as well as some homemade, improvised instruments (a bed spring was used on “Stay Out Here” for instance.) On disc 2, The Knife uses “Raging Lung” to pivot from gender roles in society to talking about social structures and the inequality of wealth, using the imagery of a prostitute to encompass both at once. The Knife set out a record unmistakable. No other record sounds as dense, as fierce, as all encompassing as this. Even on the shelf, this record stands out from feet away. The Knife aim for sensory overload: from the sleeve that distorts your vision from looking at it too long, to the sounds that even evoke the other senses.

“A Tooth for an Eye”

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Exit! Fire! Orchestra

2013’s first great album is one of its best. Exit! Is a monolith of free form, avant-garde, jazz. Fire! Orchestra creates a fully realized scene of terror. The band strikes the first sparks, document the flames as they start to catch and creep through the band hall, until the entire space is engulfed. But the band seems to not only serve as documentarian, they appear as actors on the scene. They sound as though they have caught fire and scramble to escape over top each other. But they also have a careless menace to them – as though they too are the fire! They too are the fire men fighting the beast until it is squelched or it has consumed everything in the scene. Exit! Is full of rising and falling action, cool groovy performances mixed with out-and-out noise. You might not be certain you like it off the bat, but you will be certain to hear how it ends.

“Exit!”

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Old Danny Brown

This time, Danny Brown leads with his introspective side which results in an escapable start to Old. Danny reflects on his troubled upbringing and time as a drug dealer on the front half of the record, most in depth in the first four tracks capped by “Wonderbread” In this song Danny takes the perspective of himself as a child on a trip through his neighborhood to buy bread where he witnesses things that he doesn’t understand and frighten him. It’s bouncy and silly while being surreal -- it sounds like it should be a self-indulgent mess. But it is a track that stands above the rest, and that should say something since the three tracks that came before it our some of 2013’s best. Self loathing succumbs Danny once again near the end of the first half with “Lonely” and “Clean Up” where he blames himself for all of his problems and hurting his loved ones. But the swag monster doesn’t stay down too long. The rest of the record features some of the most quotable and infectious songs. There are quotes left and right that you can sprinkle into any conversation: “Don’t let me into my zone!” “Slow days, fast days, gettin paper anyway,” “Like open wide, ho!” et cetera. (My favorite is to sing,“Food coma! I am in a food coma!” after a large meal. I get a kick out of it anyway.) The album concludes with the mellow “Float On” (that includes a nice feature from Charli XCX.) To imply that the hazy riot that consumed the entire second half of the album was a drug-induced illusion? Danny Brown finishes the record where he found himself on “Lonely”? Is the new drug he’s trapped in the party tracks? As crazy and catchphrase-tastic as this album can be, it is expertly constructed. How is this not my top album?

“Lonely”


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You’re Nothing Iceage

You’re Nothing is high octane gasoline. Listening to it is like pumping it into your veins where it combusts in your heart. Iceage goes balls to the wall and play like there is no tomorrow. Singer Elias Bender Rønnenfelt carries an impenetrable accent which somehow makes the songs that much more desperate. Iceage tears through their songs with such ferocity you would think there was a time limit. Even with all that abrasion, Iceage conveys very clear, very memorable melodies. This album was made to be sung to your car while driving as you fuss your own hair, bang your head, and howl out what you think Elias might be saying. My biggest highlight is the final, title, track. It is one, concentrated, spiteful jab. I wish it was longer, but in keeping it short, Iceage assures the punch’s sting stays fresh.

“Morals”


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Dour Candy Billy Woods

Billy Woods’ prolific year can be likened to Kendrick Lamar’s ascension last year. Both released debuts that turned underground heads one year before their hotter, zoomed and enhanced, sophomore records. Now, will Billy Woods blow up in 2014 too? Will he have a killer feature verse? Will he play SNL and open for hip-hop royalty? The feature could happen, but the rest is unlikely. Woods is not cut from that cloth. He is not an easy rapper to get a taste for. At least he wasn’t for me. His flow is just a beat above spoken word. His beats and production are moody and punctuate well but rarely flashy enough to incite a party or riot. And his lyrics are not radio friendly. He’s no more vulgar than any other mainstream rapper, but his lyrics are not easily parsed and extremely learned. He will drop film references, poetry references, historical allusions, and quite a few basketball analogies. Dour Candy is full of literary treasures. There’s no real attempts to sing, and no trendy deadpan flows or accentuated voices; Wood’s emotes with fire in his spit. Hip-Hop meets Def Jam Poetry. His star will no doubt rise after his two monster projects this year. Should Doom and Aesop Rock prepare? Or should The Throne pay attention after all?

“Lucre”

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Double Cup DJ Rashad

Number 1 is a spotlight. There was much deliberation on what deserved that spotlight this year. Each of my top 5 held #1 in my heart at some point this year, and anyone of them could have represented the year to my ears. But the point of these lists isn’t just to say what I liked and give recommendations. I like to examine what music means to me, what it can mean, and what I learned from it. DJ Rashad’s Double Cup is the album that gave me an experience that I never had before. And I can queue up the tracks a relive that. Double Cup is a revelation for the footwork dance scene and for me personally. On Double Cup, DJ Rashad melds house, jungle, and other styles of electronic dance music with hip hop. The beats are frantic on this record, but instead of just being a pulverizing listen, DJ Rashad uses the rest of the tracks to lower the tension­. DJ Rashad has a full palette of synths and samples that he works with on this record and somehow incorporates it all cleanly within footwork’s demanding details. Not all footwork music reaches these heights, DJ Rashad just used that framework to capture a feeling. Double Cup sounds like 2 AM, 4 AM, driving with your no good friends away from a party to find more trouble to get into. It is smooth, sexy, cool, and a rave all in one record.

“She A Go”
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Old 2013.12.16, 07:11 PM   #59
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Thanks everyone for reading another year! Got a super late start on writing, basically wrote every moment of freetime, after work, since Dec 1.

What did I get wrong? What did I get right? What are your favs? can't just be me and dg!
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Old 2013.12.16, 07:33 PM   #60
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No Reflektor at all? Interesting.

Sunbather was initally gonna be on my top 20, but then I realised how much it just makes me wanna listen to that other black metal band that is extremely hated by black metal fans but loved by critics that made a similar album a little while back.

I will definitely check out the Iceage album, the few tracks I've watched on YouTube remind me of The Birthday Party. (uggh, those YouTube user comments though... what a joke).
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