Wednesday 15 January 2014

Top 10 Albums of 2013...



1.  Deerhunter - Monomania

Deerhunter's "nocturnal garage" record has got to be my favourite release of the past year, the sound of Bradford Cox and co. just not giving a fuck and dropping the ambience that they showcased in their previous albums.  On the whole, it's straightforward, dirty rock & roll music and it provided a vastly different first listen to their previous efforts.  'Neon Junkyard', 'Dream Captain', 'Pensacola' 'Back to The Middle' and 'Leather Jacket II' all sound like Cox relishing in his frontman status, living out his Joey Ramone fantasy, his raw, distorted vocals sounding as twisted as ever.  There is still sophistication present despite the serrated feel of the album, and the closer 'Punk' is probably my favourite song of the year.  The way it grows from a calm hum to a feedback-looped and chaotic finish, it's wonderful.  I just wish it went on for longer, into a typically Deerhunter krautrock outro that goes on for ages.  Unfortunately it doesn't, but it just means the band have left me wanting more.  'For a year, I was queer, I had conquered all my fears".  Truly brilliant.


2.  The Strokes - Comedown Machine

Angles was a bit hit and miss but Comedown Machine showed that The Strokes are back on form again.  I loved the poppier direction on Angles, and it's been carried on in some ways into their latest work.  Jules's vocals are stunning, with him straining into falsetto at almost any opportunity and showing off an impressive range in the process.  There's the usual 70's and 80's rock/pop leanings and retro vibes throughout, with some futuristic surprises too, such as album highlight 'Happy Ending' and the funky opener 'Tap Out'.  It's been really great to hear one of my favourite bands delivering true quality once again, and I hope they continue in the same direction on the back of this memorable LP.


3.  Bosnian Rainbows - Bosnian Rainbows

I was anticipating this album for almost a year, having seen the band play the Deaf Institute in September of 2012 and having my face blown across the dancehall.  Teri Gender-Bender is the best frontwoman on the planet and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is, well, Omar Rodriguez-fucking-Lopez.  The album is a weird and wonderful prog-pop krautrock odyssey, driven by the rhythmic God that is Deantoni Parks, who drums whilst providing the bass via a synthesiser, and the finished result is just produced to perfection.  'Dig Right in Me' and 'Morning Sickness' are just... amazing.  Two of the best things I've heard all year.  There is a funky, robotic feel to the whole thing that is shattered by some heart-in-mouth guitar moments from Rodriguez-Lopez, and it just sounds unique, like no other band I've listened to before.  And Gender-Bender's stream of consciousness lyrics are beautiful.  She comes off like a fucked up, futuristic she-Jim Morrison.  JUST FUCKING LISTEN TO IT.


4.  Arcade Fire - Reflektor

Probably Arcade Fire's best album, from a band that are constantly changing and upping the ante with each now offering.  James Murphy's production isn't wasted, with some of the songs on the album sounding like the dance-rock stadium fillers he wrote with LCD Soundsystem.  The basslines are tight and groovy, you can almost hear Murphy shouting at the bass player "less is more!"  'Flashbulb Eyes' is perfect, like an outtake from a Talking Heads show performed for a voodoo tribe, and to be honest the first six or seven songs are masterpieces and contain such variety.  The second half of the record is great too but the first half alone is reason enough for this to be fourth on my list.  'You Already Know' is one of the best songs I've ever heard.  Bowie makes a cameo appearance on the title track but his presence is much more than his guest vocal: there are splashes of the Thin White Duke all over, with a few Scary Monsters (& Super Creeps) vibes thrown in.  Just an absolute joy of a record.


5.  Unknown Mortal Orchestra - II

II came out right at the start of the year and I instantly knew it'd be on this list.  I got into UMO about a year earlier, being a bit of a latecomer to their debut album, and totally dug their 60's psychadelia and catchy, poppy melodies.  I didn't think this album could be as good as it actually is, and must have played it 100 times during the early months of 2013.  It's funny, I don't really rate the first and last tracks ('From The Sun' and 'Secret Xtians') but everything in between is fucking amaaaaaazing.  The singles are memorable but my favourites are 'The Opposite of Afternoon' (joyous), 'No Need For a Leader' (proggy rock & roll) and 'Faded in The Morning' (dark), all truly colossal tracks, showing off Ruban Nielson's spectacular guitar chops and strung-out, at times piercing vocals.  I wish that the 'Swim & Sleep (Like a Shark) b-side 'Waves of Confidence' had made it onto the final cut, as it is an unbelievably trippy piece of krautrock mastery.  I just hope he doesn't leave it too long for another record.


6.  Kanye West - Yeezus

This album shocked and surprised me when I first heard it.  I loved the new direction though, and the boisterous but minimalistic production.  Daft Punk did the first couple of songs, and you can tell.  The best moments for me are the outlandish ones, like opener 'On Sight' and the ultra-political 'New Slaves', and I love the contrast when the calm, soulful moments come, like the emotional ending to the latter, dripping in autotune.  'Bound 2' is easily one of the greatest hip-hop moments of 2013, and the parody video by Seth Rogen and James Franco cements its legacy.  Kanye pisses me off sometimes with some of the ridiculous shit he says, but at the same time I admire him for it, because it seems he genuinely cares about music as a whole.  Lou Reed praised Yeezus, and he's one of my biggest heroes, just as passionate and self-assured during his lifetime as Kanye is now.  Arrogant, I guess ya could call it.  But when they're that fucking good, who can blame them?


7.  Daughn Gibson - Me Moan

Gibson is definitely the least known musician on my list this year, an odd country & western-meets-spooky John Maus alchemist of beautiful and haunting sounds.  I loved his debut but this one is on a par with it.  There is so much range to his sound despite the ever-present splashes of country music, and bagpipes even make it onto this record via 'Mad Ocean'.  'Phantom Rider' is my favourite song, and his baritone drawl is epitomised perfectly on it.  Other highlights are 'The Pisgee Nest' (sinister as shit) and 'You Don't Fade' (weird vocal-sampling, moody and all the better for it).  He's just a great artist and deserves to be bigger than he is.


8.  !!! - THR!!!ER

I LOVE !!!  Barely any of my friends are into them which is disappointing because I love ranting on about them at any given opportunity.  Yeah, they can be a bit corny at times, but they're just so fun and energetic and they write fantastic funk-punk numbers.  I've never had the pleasure of seeing them live, sadly, but I can't wait till I do because their gigs look insane.  They're a bunch of acid-tripping, pill-popping party animals, or maybe they WERE, as they aren't spring chickens anymore, with the enigmatic singer Nic Offer being in his early 40's now.  Their previous album Strange Weather, Isn't It? was brilliant but this one is probably even better and I'm so glad it lived up to my high expectations, as I often have a tendency to over-excite myself about these things.  Highlights are 'Even When The Water's Cold' (previously titled 'Byron' on an episode of Pitchfork's +1 series), 'Fine Fine Fine' (Human League-esque), 'Except Death' and 'Careful'.  A nice thing to know (for me) is that John Frusciante saw them live once and loved them so much that he invited them to open for the Chili Peppers.  Somebody, please embrace this band for how good they are then I can have someone to discuss them with!


9.  The Flaming Lips - The Terror

The Lips followed their epic masterpiece Embryonic (and a lot of messing about with 24 hour songs etc. in between) with the bleak, doom-filled but still scarily beautiful The Terror.  In their back catalogue we can hear happy, elated rock-pop music, but you won't find any of that here.  Apparently multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd relapsed back into heroin use during the creation of this record, and Wayne Coyne (who also had a bad time, splitting from his wife of 25 years) says that it definitely affected the mood.  It's stark, minimalistic (at times) and tortured, but there are still some uplifting moments, just not very many of them at all.  The message is that there is love, but ultimately we are all fucked and everything will end.  Wow.  I love it personally, but if you want to tackle it make sure you're packing some Kleenex.


10.  Chance The Rapper - Acid Rap

What a weird and wonderful album.  Chance The Rapper is an odd, quirky, dynamic MC/singer and I was captivated by his unpredictable style and song-craft throughout this record.  Chance is like a cartoon character at times, making childish noises and throwing "na na na na na naaahs" in whenever he feels like it, but the best parts for me are the curveball moments, like the dark router route that 'Pusha Man' takes when it mutates into it's second half.  It becomes a lament about young life ending too quickly, a paranoid and sad tale shrouded in weed smoke.  On the flipside, we have the super feel good hit 'Juice' and the charming, sweet 'Cocoa Butter Kisses', so it's not all doom and gloom, in fact far from it.  It's a nice, steady album about reflection with some fantastic bars from Chance and his guests (Ab Soul, Action Bronson, Childish Gambino).  It got the recognition it deserved from the world press and was championed by sites like Complex, so things are looking up for Chance.