Top 30 Best Albums Of 2013: PART II (#11--20)...

The penultimate section...







11. Foxygen We are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic: the duo’s sophomore delves deep into trippy Bowie territory, staggered by two brilliant tracks (No Destruction, On Blue Mountain) but backed up consistently with seething, bluesy rock that bands longer in the tooth still haven’t come close to mastering. The beats and choruses trip in without a moment’s notice—nice trick when one just wasn’t expecting it.





12. Sat. Nite Duets Electric Manland: calling this a classic rock album may be pushing it but the record’s numerous nods to gold-encrusted oldies are impossible to ignore.. Alternately blistering and bittersweet, the album’s hazy images of ex-girlfriends and wasted afternoons spent getting high are pure Sat. Nite Duets. This is an impeccably produced concept LP-- a herky-jerky jaunt stuffed with wanky guitar stabs and Talking Heads-esque breakdowns that still manages to touch on the band’s pet theme of fleeting summer fun.





13. David Bowie The Next Day: ten years have since the last Bowie album and as much as a rock god he is, no one expected much. How wrong we are: The Next Day brims with shocking ferocity while revisiting his hey days of the 1970s but not stealing from it. The most immediate thing is the lush instrumentalism and Bowie’s vocals rising to match it. The grooves are stylistic and lyrically the man is still pushing buttons.





14. A$AP Rocky Long Live A$AP: hip/hop continues to be the one genre that evolves into exciting new territory and last year saw the rise of the sensitive thug type: the young, urban male (Schoolboy Q, Frank Ocean)examining a harsh life and spitting it out back. A$AP Rocky is no different and his debut LP continues this trend by demanding its fair share of pussy, weed and respect. Though Long Live A$AP clings to the past at times, it sandwiches its momentary lapses with thrills of pure lyricism and guest skill-set tracks like 1 Train where Danny Brown and Kendrick Lamar bring the house down in style.





15. The Child of Lov The Child of Lov: already branded with goodness in the form of contributions by Blur and Gorillaz front-man, Damon Albarn and punk band Doom, The Child of Lov’s (Cole Williams) self titled debut is a pretty good way to commence one’s musical trajectory. The album is scattered with an alluring high wail reminiscent of Cee Lo Green and is an energetic ride. Williams died a few days ago so that makes this project even more special.





16. Popstrangers Antipodes: an album that revels in the dissonant darkness, adept at offering something accessible before pulling the rug out from underneath. This is first evident on Jane, where an organ and seemingly innocuous guitar riff subtly shifts in unease when the bass rumbles through. There’s a minute of this musical interplay before everything explodes into white distorted noise, and Joel Flyger’s disaffected vocals drift in. That sense of unease pervades much of Antipodes – the stretched, off-kilter chiming guitar and Flyger’s hushed, slightly menacing voice in In Some Ways.





17. Autre Ne Veut Anxiety: propelled by two massive songs at the start (Play by Play, Counting), Arthur Ashin’s debut LP roars to life with its Prince-aping futuristic R&B pop hybrid. Though sure to be divisive, the album’s production is spot on, clever even. The textures involved feel sparkly and exciting: hear and just believe the metallic effect of the guitar subtlety guiding Ego Free Sex Free.





18. The Doppelgangaz Hark: New York duo The Doppelgangaz, made up of childhood friends Matter Ov Fact and EP, have released their much-anticipated third studio album, Hark. The 12-track project includes reader-approved singles Hark Back and Oh Well. There are no guest features but the flows are tight and among the very best rap will have this year.





19.M.I.A Matangi: like the woman who made it, Matangi is hugely inventive and a bit exhausting: if it's hard to take in anything other than small doses, you can't help but be glad it exists. On the title track, Arulpragasam takes aim at her legions of pallid imitators: "Lookalike, copycat, doppleganger, fraud … if you're gonna be like me you need a manifesto." You could argue that's yet another example of her tendency to, as the Australians say, let the wind blow up her arse and waggle her tongue.





20. Black Joe Lewis Electric Slave: “Electric Slave is what people are today, with their faces buried in their iPhones and the only way to hold a conversation is through text,” Lewis explains in the album’s press release. While he’s not always singing about escaping modernity, the music itself carries a good deal of that weight. He may mythically title songs like Vampire and Golem; the lyrics largely focus on timeless issues of the heart and an old-fashioned drive for good times.

Top 30 Best Albums of 2013: Part I (#21--30)...

It wasn't particularly a great year for released music. too many stars failed top shine, too many divisive records. Was it a promising year--yes, definately. Here are the thirty (30) best records of a puzzling year. Already, I'm looking forward to the many mouth-watering albums slated for next year however.

Here is this year's list with a few original and borrowed quotes...








21. Queens Of The Stone Age 'Like Clockwork': "there's a lot of the Queens sound in this album, but there's also a lot of new ideas. This album, though, has the crew on top of their game. Never has a Queens album had so much nuance, diversity, power at times and subtle beauty at others. The composition is impeccable, the production is gorgeous, and the songs themselves paint a landscape of desolation and hopelessness."





22. Janelle Monae 'The Electric Lady': "continues her utopian cyborg concepts of its predecessors, while presenting itself in more plainspoken, personal territory in addition to experimenting with genres beyond conventional funk and soul music genres such as jazz, pop- punk and gospel, as well as woozy and sensual vocal ballads."





23. Protoje 'The Eight Year Affair': "Protoje offers up tales of love and faith here but most importantly, he’s creating a space for diversity…something the genre is slowly losing. There’s allusion to blues, dancehall, spoken word and jazz here, which is really saying something. In these moments, Protoje seems to be attempting to push the boundaries of his sound, even at the expense of potentially losing dancehall fans or those who favor more bass-heavy, upbeat reggae offerings. Such tracks best showcase Protoje’s versatility as an artist and his willingness to look beyond today’s Jamaican radio hits for songwriting inspiration — a trait with deep roots in reggae’s history."





24. Norwegian Arms 'Wolf Like A Stray Dog': "Norwegian Arms is a curious new duo, comprising of mandolinist/vocalist Brendan Mulvihill and percussionist Eric Slick (of Dr. Dog). The two combine mandolin with spare drums and flourishes of keyboard to present a new, buffed-to-shine take on folk-pop. It’s a brisk set they give us on Wolf Like a Stray Dog, from the frenzied rise-and-fall of And Then I Found Myself in the Taiga to the eccentric, snapping chaos of the title track to the sweet melodies of Tired of Being Cold. At its best, this set gives us a lively sound, one that gets the blood pumping without forgetting about deep hooks and solid choruses."





25. Haim 'Days Are Gone': "Along with the stunning My Song 5, which spikes its En Vogue homage with very current-sounding electronics, Let Me Go – a relentless, house-like pulse decorated with harmonies doused in dub-like echo – suggests there might be more to Haim in the future than mining the past. For now, Days Are Gone makes them seem an increasingly rare thing: a guitar band heralded as a sure thing, who still feel like a sure thing once you've heard their debut album."





26. Volcano Choir 'Repave': the multi-talented Justin Vernon may have downplayed future Bon Iver material but here with his other band, he continues to have an authorial stamp. A few tracks bear that out more than others, yet the album remains surprisingly cohesive, effectively splitting the difference between the fussed-over refinement of Bon Iver and the sometimes unfocused experimentation of Volcano Choir’s first album, 2009’s Unmap. It’s a balancing act that pays off.





27. Deerhunter 'Monomania': "Even at its most melodic, Monomania is still targeted by a severe fuzz undertone. Garage rock to the max. A bordering confusion by the time Leather Jacket II hit, which sounds similar to a deranged group of teenagers' first ever practice session with their instruments (that they bought dirt cheap from a local pawn shop; cocaine residue has infiltrated the wiring). Areas of melody are buried deep in these louder songs, but they are there."





28. Alice Smith 'She': "Smith works a nether region 'twixt Beyoncé and Norah Jones, no doubt why she wound up in major-label limbo after her eclectic 2006 debut. The equally adventurous follow-up lands in a new R&B world that embraces oddballs like Janelle Monáe and Santigold, whose stylistic freestyles Smith beat to market. She does sultry and cool well. "







29. Arcade Fire 'Reflektor': "Reflektor's sound is lush and imaginative, but never in a way that suffocates you with the fumes of its polish. It's limber and loose, as though the songs were performed live; the arrangements breathe, seethe, and sweat. As their detractors will be quick to point out, Arcade Fire's greatest crime in the past has been sometimes coming off too stately and self-serious but on the first half of Reflektor they often feel like they're deflating their own sense of grandeur. It's nice to hear a band that showed up on the scene quite literally dressed for a funeral now sounding like they're having (at least a little) fun."





30. V.V. Brown 'Samson & Delilah': Vanessa Brown previously recorded this album then scrapped it. If she was dissatisfied with it in its eary form, then she’s clearly elated with it now that it’s a novella for the famous biblical relationship between Samson and Delilah. Samson & Delilah is a brave work of art. One listen and it’s apparent that this is the sound of an artist breaking away from the shackles of the corporate music world’s cookie-cutter, pop star mold. Brown is holding the reins this time around and doing things entirely on her own terms.

2013 Artist Of The Year...

...and the winner is


Kendrick Lamar



Not that reasons need to be given but here are a few pointers:

his debut, 'Good Kid, Mad City' was undisputably the best album of 2012.

Given the rules, in its year of eligibility, the album has snared 7 Grammy nominations, including Best Album.

The album has gone platinum.

Kendrick has a leading five (5) songs on my year-end best songs list.

He has been everywhere, toured with Kanye.

And I could go on but you know everything I will say already so lets just raise a glass to this most deserving accolsde...

Top 100 Best Songs of 2013: PART IV (#21--40)

The penultimate set of songs...





21. EVOL (Marina & The Diamonds): sees Marina wielding darkly cynical lines — “It only takes two lonely people to fuck love up and make it evil” she sings on the chorus — with a lyrical conceit that’s clever, if a little too on-the-nose.





22. He’s Seeing Paths (Parquet Courts): runs to over seven minutes long and is told from the perspective of Savage as he wanders the streets of New York, through Chinatown and over the bridge, his “eyes going side to side, scanning for haters” over a minimal looped beat.





23. I’ve Seen You Crying (Divino Nino): when the band tears into the second couplet, the doo-wop of the 1950s comes alive in a very modern, stylistic way. Not many bands have perfected this juxtaposition but Divino Nino has.





24. Nosetalgia (Pusha T feat. Kendrick Lamar): the two unravel sprawling verses over a beat lean enough that the guitars that slice through echo out into some seemingly pitch-black night around the rappers. Mix in a sample from Boogie Down Productions, which sounds like KRS-One putting his blessing on the track, and you’ve got one of the purest lyrical gems of 2013.





25. Kids Get Away (Jamaican Queens): Jamaican Queens make exactly the kind of music that incorporates thick harmonies, grooving drums, Passion Pit-esque electronic guitar sounds, and somehow a fundamental Americana-sounding songwriting, like a bluegrass band just decided to branch out into making electronic noise-rock.





26. Gravez (Hooded Fang): the opening line is about being covered in ash from burning graves-- paired with an assault of fuzzed out guitars, belligerent drums, and a buzzsaw bassline. Things just get louder from there…thank God.




27. Mirrors (Justin Timberlake): with its mix of a beat-boxed rhythm and tight string arrangements, it’s completely geared for an arena-sized, love-conquers-all message: opening with a swelling organ and electric guitar and featuring multi-tracked vocals that sound like a crowd or choir singing behind him.





28. Sacrilege (Yeah Yeah Yeah): Wailing about an angelic-seeming yet forbidden love, Karen O's voice has a tender quality, and Nick Zinner's guitar stomps and pirouettes around her with prickly aplomb.





29. Kalopsia (Queens Of the Stone Age): the moon-age-day-dreamy verses of the song are deviously upended by a Ziggy Stardust-covered crunch and lightness of foot.





30. You Feel So Lonely, You Could Die (David Bowie): a stunning return to his forlorn, animated self. No one has ever done ballads as expertly as Bowie and this recent gem is no different.





31. Destruction Makes the World Burn Brighter (Chelsea Wolfe): consists of some of her most upbeat moments recorded, Wolfe pulls of some pretty mean melancholy in steady acoustic…as if she was no longer the reigning goth chick around.





32. Mind Mischief (Tame Impala): Kevin Parker knows his band is currently hitting that electronic sweet spot most bands can only dream of. He sees his songs as blank canvases rather than boxed-in verse/chorus structures while emphasizing fluidity, constant motion, and textural evolution.





33. Worldmade (Tanya Morgan): reaches for a surprising classical blend of warm, cascading strings and bombastic, radiant horns after laying a smooth track with this understated rap masterpiece.





34. Gun-Shy (Grizzly Bear): The band’s tightly-coiled harmonies find another winner, this time wrapping a huge vocal combo around some surfer pop sentimentalism.





35. Smang Life (The Doppelgangaz): a throwback to two decades earlier but the duo time their action to dreamy perfection, causing heads to nod in deep appreciation.





36. Play by Play (Autre Ne Veut): though R&B has rallied through some soulful efforts of late, nothing has prepared us for this white hipster fueling the genre with 1980s bad hair vibe. It shouldn’t work but thank God he didn’t play by the rules.





37. On Blue Mountain (Foxygen): a result of many spins of 70s Bowie and The Velvet Underground, Foxygen’s masterpiece stretches its groovy intent into every available sound bite, teaching Pop Levi the lesson he stopped noting two years ago.





38. Cat & Mouse (Radkey): driven by the sheer force of drummer Soloman Radke, Can & Mouse takes cues from modern bands like Queens Of The Stoned Age to produce a punk classic that raises far for questions than answers.





39. Diane Young (Vampire Weekend): apes Elvis Prestley’s youthfulness without blushes, adding a modern twist to Cobain’s angst over teen restlessness. This is a surprising risk that pays off for the band as its brilliant swagger has eluded Koenig thus far in his career.





40. Master Hunter (Laura Marling): Marling turns hurt into a very convincing show of feminism and self-empowerment. Like Fiona Apple before her, she has mastered the art of sounding simultaneously calm and royally pissed off.

Top 100 Best Songs of 2013: PART III (#41--60)

Here, after a few days delay, is the third part of my list...




41. Kush Coma (Danny Brown feat. A$AP Rocky): by his own account, making it to his 30th birthday was a tremendous accomplishment in and of itself, and Danny's post-XXX deluge of features gave the impression of someone who was trying to make up karmic ground.





42. Ghosts (On and On): a haunting refrain that includes a beautiful ending, (‘I was on the verge to scream/ when you wouldn’t scream/ about anything’. A touching refrain.





43. In The Green Wild (Julia Holter): Holter has always played around with pop whimsy but, here at last, she flings herself head first into it and the thrust is a delightfully unpredictable record. There’s something for Bjork lovers and well as those who worship at Joanna Newsom’s shrine…





44. New Slaves (Kanye West feat. Frank Ocean): The song discusses slavery and segregation as well as racism in general, materialism, and stereotypes of African Americans in the United States in typical Kanye anger. The burst of Ocean’s vocals at the end lifts it into the stuff of greatness.





45. Monomania (Deerhunter): the band returns with their usual wonderfully creepy style and Cox is in form, reminding us that there must be something wrong in his head, but never with his brilliant music.





46. A Tout A L’heure (Bibio): with its looped arpeggio acoustic guitars, hypnotic vocal treatments, and overlaying synthesizers, A Tout a l’heure could literally play on a continuous loop for hours and you would never mind and never want it to end.





47. Body Party (Ciara): drops in a little ‘90s inspiration from Ghost Town DJ’s and ramps up a lot of the slowed down synth, which sounds like a slurred harp, and lets you know that tonight it’s going down, tell your boys it’s going down.





48. Wanderlust (The Weeknd): grooves along at a nice R&B pace, and proves that you can actually dance to a Weeknd track after all. He's a singer who often evokes Michael Jackson, but here, he imitates MJ's craft in more than vocal riffs.





49. Heartbeat + Setbacks (Thundercat): The song contrasts the vulnerability of the lyrics with an arrangement that's pure love-- rapturous coos and horns, a demanding and rewarding rhythmic swing that's just off in a way that it takes colossal amounts of practice to get right.





50. Jane (Popstrangers): makes for an ominous first impression, with a tangled guitar and thudding bass giving way to a, skittering, drum-led verse section that never really finds a stable key and rhythm, periodically collapsing back into the mire, only to rise again.





51. I & I (Protoje): from a casual glance—indeed with its stunning rapid-gun spray lyrics—it’s hard to notice the political implications of I & I but pause at the line, “hear say Audley start drive Audi” and it’ll keep your head ringing right throughout this zinger.





52. Cocoa Butter Kisses (Chance the Rapper feat. Vic Mensa & Twista): that Chance decides to use drawl to bring a point across doesn’t diminish this stunning cry for love and family. When the chorus comes in, then it energizes his effort and then the real genius becomes apparent.





53. Sexxx Dreams (Lady Gaga): Gaga has always blurred the lines with female sexuality and empowerment but here she tries to blend Madonna, Janet Jackson and Prince into one song and somehow comes off as early 90s Mariah Carey instead.—while remaining on point with the songs sheer bisexual intent. Astonishingly, it manages to work, which within itself is some sort of gender equality achievement.





54. Sexodus (M.I.A): the intense humming of bass on a gentle end-of-the-night number that doesn’t seem to serve much purpose other than to signal that Matangi can be sexy if it wants…or its provocateur vulnerable when needed.





55. Line Of Fire (Junip): Line Of Fire reveals itself slowly and builds to a soaring two chord anthem, with pulsing synths and electronics, acoustic undertones and the warm vocals of Jose Gonzalez.





56. Pushing Up Against A Stone (Valerie June): an incredibly strong collaborative songwriting effort between June, Auerbach, Kevin Auguanas, and Richard Swift. Filled with guitar effects no unlike the work of the Black Keys, June has the upmost inspiration to fuel her pipes.






57. Acetate (Volcano Choir): Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) has this is the ability to indulge in extravagant power balladry without taking on the seemingly requisite overblown persona where all this heavy lifting is necessary when you're carrying the weight of the world.





58. Manhattan remix (Cat Power feat. Angel Haze): Ryan Hemsworth presents a sly remix, with Angel Haze adding formidable teeth to the already chill Cat Power ballad. It’s an interesting mix that immediately works.






59. Fool For You (Alice Smith): Smith is not interested in taking your wheel and making it better; she is not, strictly speaking, interested in your wheel at all. Girl just wants to sing out, even if she has to cover a Cee-lo track to do it.





60. Lost (Shad feat. K-Os, Lisa Lobsinger & Ian Kamau): Shad hasn’t really revealed much new with his game as an MC here but he’s still switching up flows, delving deeper into the technical aspects of his craft, and the end result is his most multi-layered performance.