Meanwhile, there were a lot of albums that had songs I liked, but not the whole thing. That's probably the case for almost the whole list, actually. Probably only the Top Ten Albums of 2013 were albums I actually like from start to finish - the rest, from #11 on down, are just increasingly-shrinking track lists I approve of as you descend.
31. Iron & Wine - Ghost On Ghost (Nonesuch)Sam Beam continues to expand his sonic palette, moving further and further from the hushed folk of his first 2 albums that I love dearly. That being said, the live show we caught at the Chicago Theater this year -- featuring a horn section, strings, and backup singers -- was fantastic!
Click here to watch + listen to "Joy."
One of two bands that has emerged from the ashes of my beloved The Ruby Doe, this one includes guitarist/vocalist Aaron Ellh. Heaviness for fans of legpipe-rawk, this debut "demo" has a cleverly accurate title, since they literally have no other songs: these are the best.
Click here to listen to "Complex Man."
33. King Khan and The Shrines - Idle No More (Merge)
Click here to listen to "Complex Man."
First album of new material in 5 years from this Berlin-based garage ruckus band, fronted by an Indo-Canadian with a fresh lease on life. These guys are a ton o' fun!
Click here to watch + listen to "Bite My Tongue."
34. Quasi - Mole City (Kill Rock Stars)
Click here to watch + listen to "Bite My Tongue."
Quasi is Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss, a formerly-married duo from Portland who return with this album of distorted-keys-and/or-maybe-guitar-plus-drums indie rock. Weiss is known for her work with Sleater-Kinney and Wild Flag, Coomes for Heatmiser (with Elliott Smith), although in Coomes' case Quasi has really been his main project since its inception in 1993. Coomes' gifts for melody and quirk make for a compelling contrast, one that is rooted in Beatley, experimental classic rock, particularly on this sprawling double album. Perhaps to make their intent clear, the recording comes with a batch of 70's-era covers.
Click here to watch + listen to "You Can Stay But You Gotta Go."
35. David Bowie - The Next Day (ISO/Columbia)
Click here to watch + listen to "You Can Stay But You Gotta Go."
Bowie surprised a lot of people with this new album, as no one knew he was making it. And while there's some solid cuts on here, I just didn't click with this one, generally. He sounds vital and very very ROCKING though.
Click here to listen to "Dirty Boys."
36. Elvis Costello & The Roots - Wise Up Ghost (Blue Note)
Click here to listen to "Dirty Boys."
What a great collaboration! Great songwriter meets great hip-hop band! It's nice. The songs aren't really there, however, but the ones that work are quite good.
Click here to watch + listen to "Walk Us Uptown."
37. Yo La Tengo - Fade (Matador)
Click here to watch + listen to "Walk Us Uptown."
A hushed, lovely album from these masters of indie rock. They played a ZZ Top cover when I saw them this year, which completely blew my tiny mind.
Click here to watch + listen to "Ohm."
38. Telekinesis - Dormarion (Merge)
Click here to watch + listen to "Ohm."
Recorded at the Austin, Texas studio of Spoon's Jim Eno, which happens to be located on Dormarion Lane. Extremely catchy indie pop from this drummer-fronted band.
Click here to watch + listen to "Ghosts and Creatures."
39. Mountains - Centralia (Thrill Jockey)
Click here to watch + listen to "Ghosts and Creatures."
The Brooklyn-based duo of Koen Holtkamp and Brendon Anderegg return with their gentle instrumental explorations. This time they chose to layer the sounds in the studio, beginning with acoustic instrumentation, then adding subtle electronics/effects, arriving at moments of somnambulant drone that build to developed melodic ideas. Beautiful music that is simultaneously dense and delicate, it is reminiscent of Brian Eno's ambient work, Boards of Canada, Terry Riley, and above all, Mountains.
Click here to listen to "Tilt."
40. Tullycraft - Lost in Light Rotation (Fortuna Pop)
Click here to listen to "Tilt."
Tullycraft is a twee pop band your new boyfriend's too stupid to know about, making fun, danceable, cute, nerdy indie rock with skill and a sense of humor since 1995. Notoriously DIY, pressing vinyl when it wasn't fashionable (you could say the same of twee*), the band sticks to a formula of brief boy-girl singalongs about innocent love and drama. Music you can cuddle your squeeze in a cardigan to, gaze into their pale eyes, and ponder how they're over 40. (*More twee adjectives: sweet, retro, jangly, Anglo-Saxon, shambling, basementy.)
Click here to watch + listen to "Lost in Light Rotation."
Click here to watch + listen to "Lost in Light Rotation."
2013 answered my occasional question, "What happened to the great Dan the Automator?" Turns out he was waiting for his money to finally dry up? Pillowfight is funky and cool, evoking Automator's Lovage project from a decade ago; you could do a lot worse than this thumpery, dig?
Click here to listen to "Get Your Shit Together."
Now that Tall Chris snuck off to live here in Chicago, Police Teeth is less active. J. Burns has started Seminars, which sounds heavy and angry with swaggering riffs and clever lyrics, as is in keeping with his past. I'm reminded of Future of the Left at times.
Click here to listen to "Easy 'Cause It Is."
43. The Dismemberment Plan - Uncanney Valley (Partisan)
The first album from this indie rock band in a decade is not as good as we wanted it to be. But there's some winners here, and those are worth celebrating!
Click here to watch + listen to "Waiting."
The first album from this indie rock band in a decade is not as good as we wanted it to be. But there's some winners here, and those are worth celebrating!
Click here to watch + listen to "Waiting."
A smoove head-bopping jam lead by vocalist Galen Disston, whose powerful wail is perhaps this band's strongest asset (however, note his subtler approach in the lovely duet with Sharon Van Etten below). Grooves, lush organ and/or staccato piano, retro reverb guitar hits: all of it bears a similarity to the Black Keys' recent work, Cold War Kids' early output, White Rabbits, Delta Spirit and the like. Somewhat remarkable, as upon forming in 2008 the six-piece Pickwick was basically a folk & roots act.
Click here to watch + listen to "Lady Luck (feat. Sharon Van Etten)."
45. Califone - Stitches (Dead Oceans)
Click here to watch + listen to "Lady Luck (feat. Sharon Van Etten)."
New Califone sounds like old Califone: dusty, rootsy, are those canned beats? Maybe a little weird. Never bad.
Click here to watch + listen to "We Are a Payphone."
46. Future Bible Heroes - Partygoing (Merge)
Click here to watch + listen to "We Are a Payphone."
Stephin Merritt is a pop songwriting genius. His least interesting efforts will always still be pleasant to experience.
Click here to watch + listen to "Living, Loving, Partygoing."
47. Grayskul - Zenith (Fake Four, Inc.)
Click here to watch + listen to "Living, Loving, Partygoing."
Grayskul is hip-hop duo Onry Ozzborn and JFK, of the sprawling Pac NW Oldominion crew. Expanding beyond the dark, gothy sound of their previous work to something more far-reaching, they deliver a strong indie rap album with fine guest turns by Aesop Rock, Xperience, NyQwil, and more. No Skeletor or He-Man though.
Click here to listen to "We Vanish."
48. The Bronx - The Bronx IV (White Drugs/ATO)
The Bronx is from L.A. Also, the Bronx doubles as a Mariachi band. This newest effort is less scary than past work, featuring catchier melodies and riffs, but still heavy as hell. A couple tracks are almost corny, but on the whole the Bronx delivers good badass rock.
Click here to watch + listen to "The Unholy Hand."
Click here to listen to "We Vanish."
The Bronx is from L.A. Also, the Bronx doubles as a Mariachi band. This newest effort is less scary than past work, featuring catchier melodies and riffs, but still heavy as hell. A couple tracks are almost corny, but on the whole the Bronx delivers good badass rock.
Click here to watch + listen to "The Unholy Hand."
49. Federation X - We Do What We Must (Recess/Molasses Manifesto)
I love that this Bellingham rock band, in existence since I lived there a million years ago, continues to put out albums. This new one is a dirty, chunky mess with occasional hooks, which is what I want. You really can't go wrong with Fed X.
Click here to listen to "Bear Hug."
50. Deltron 3030 - Event II (Bulk)
Deltron 3030 is a collaboration between Del the Funky Homosapien, Kid Koala, and the aforementioned Dan the Automator. Back in 2000 they made a hip-hop concept album about a future dystopia where corporations rule the Universe (which is crazy, because as everyone knows, there's no oil or marketing targets in outer space). The trio has returned with this long-delayed 2nd full-length depicting a more futurey future where civilization remains under assault by corporate excesses.
Click here to watch + listen to "City Rising From the Ashes."
Click here to listen to "Bear Hug."
Deltron 3030 is a collaboration between Del the Funky Homosapien, Kid Koala, and the aforementioned Dan the Automator. Back in 2000 they made a hip-hop concept album about a future dystopia where corporations rule the Universe (which is crazy, because as everyone knows, there's no oil or marketing targets in outer space). The trio has returned with this long-delayed 2nd full-length depicting a more futurey future where civilization remains under assault by corporate excesses.
Click here to watch + listen to "City Rising From the Ashes."
