ToJo’s Top Ten Albums of 2013 (And at least twenty others that you should also totally listen to, but don’t take my word for it)

With 2013 safely and officially in the bag, let’s do a quick recap of the year that was music, 2013. 2013 was a tough year to do a top ten, because there are about forty different albums that I could justifiably put in the number ten spot. The top five are about as elite as any top five this decade, but there are countless records this year that I loved just one hair below that that are all well worth your ear-ttention.

10. Random Access Memories by Daft Punk is the best feel-good, dance-pop (disco) record of the year. These guys know how to groove. They utilize an all-star stable of cameos to great effect. Like I said, there are like thirty albums that were fighting for this spot, but I would have been hard-pressed to leave off the grooving-est record of 2013 from my top ten. Instant sophisticated dance party playlist. Solid Gold.

9. Muchacho by Phosphorescent is lush and gorgeous; the most feel-good, feel-bad album of the year. Great for quiet nights & contemplative mornings, this record is complete in its aesthetic of wounded beauty, harboring one of the best songs of the year, “Song for Zula” with highlights throughout.

8. Overgrown by James Blake is a work of stubborn genius; my initial inclination was to judge Blake as a singer-songwriter type, as he crafted one of the best such songs of the year in “Retrograde”, but that is not what Blake is nor what Overgrown is, and it does not deserve to be judged as such. It is blues and electronica and production-forward soul and noise and dub-step and dance all rolled into one. It is a challenging and rewarding step forward.

7. Cerulean Salt by Waxahatchee is the best ‘90s power-pop record of 2013, straight out of the Alanis Morissette playbook, it is confessional, wry, smart and strong and a damn good listen.

6. You’re Always on My Mind by a Great Big Pile of Leaves is a shimmery, shiny, tasty delicious snack. Clocking just over half an hour with songs packed air-tight with hooks and harmonies and gobsmacking ear-goodies, the new AGBPoL record recalls Weezer at the height of their power, and it’s a welcome delight. Listen to this and say that you heard it before they got huge. Better yet, go see them live, because they put on one of the best shows you could see. Of particularly note is the brilliant drumming and rhythm section and maturity in the vocals and harmonies. There are some killer vocal performances on this record near the end. See also: Pizzanomics

5. Immunity by Jon Hopkins…I said of this record that it is “an electronic tour de force. Jon Hopkins is a soundscape guy, so it’s interesting to hear him playing with “beats” of a dance-floor variety, but the album is so much more than that. It takes a man with a classical background and an understanding of space and of beauty and the temporal to be able to make an album so fully-realized. It is a concept and it is a successful one.” Around midyear, and I stand by every word.

4. Yeezus by Kanye West is the best most infuriating record of the year. Love him or hate him, or hate him or hate him (I know that most of you still do), Kanye is at the forefront of the musical conversation. Every time he puts something out, I am interested. Yeezus is spectacularly, almost perfectly imperfect. It is ugly and crude and challenging and it has a mean soul. And it is fucking brilliant because of it and not in spite of it. Much attention has been paid to Kanye’s repurposing of civil rights lines and music “free at last” referring to a woman unbridling her breasts, the use of “blood on the leaves”, a song referring to the Jim Crow era and lynching, to recount his domestic and social life. And these things often feel distasteful, but they never feel disingenuous, and they are always challenging and fascinating. I guarantee you this is the record Drake and the rest of his peers spend their time angry masturbating to. Production flourishes and gaudy lines abound. And yet it is still brilliant.

3. Trouble Will Find Me by the National is an album that I initially struggled with mightily. It is an album so dense and packed with Matt Berninger’s droll, high-brow baritone and suffocating despair that I was initially turned off. I thought I wanted a record from the National that breathed more, that showcased the Dessner’s compositional talents and Bryan Devendorf’s unique drumming.  I stand corrected. When the record finally clicked with me, it clicked hard. The National here cement themselves as the leaders of the Brooklyn indie scene, growing and evolving, adding complex time signatures, and the most mature album of their career. Overflowing with beautiful imagery and dual-guitar attacks, this record is the most beautiful gray rainy day you've heard. In part, because the National finally give you a glimpse of the rainbow on the horizon, just off-frame.

2. Modern Vampires of the City by Vampire Weekend is remarkable, in many ways, for all of the reasons that the new Arcade Fire record isn't: VW are a band that I was initially inclined to dislike for stupid, white-privileged, first-world reasons – that the rich white kids from Columbia make “world music”, minus all of the actual struggle and social acuity of Graceland (their last record, Contra). I grew to love Contra, and then their self-titled debut that I had somehow missed. They are both brilliant records, driven by front man Ezra Koenig’s keen sense of song craft and melody, creating infectious and clever little hooks and ditties that proved my stupid first impressions desperately wrong. These guys are a legitimately great band. Period.  I hesitate to say that Modern Vampires of the City is their best record yet – I have grown to love all of them deeply and uniquely – but these guys just cranked out their third great record in a row, a record that is sophisticated and smart and diverse, that is clever and sentimental and nostalgic and that covers disparate sonic territory all the while maintaining a core aesthetic. And they did it all with minimal fanfare, with no talk of concepts, no production by Brian Eno, no attempt to be “the next U2”.  I, for one, am glad they did. If this was anything other than the 21^st century and I had listened to this on anything other than strictly digital formats, I would have worn through numerous physical copies of this record already. And would be sure to do so several more times going forward.

1. White Lighter by Typhoon is the best album of 2013. I am, admittedly, a sucker for high-concept, high-composition chamber indie music. Typhoon happened to release the best such record of the year. The album proceeds like a symphony, or like scenes/songs from a “film/that I will never make”.  Driven by lead-singer/song-writer, Kyle Morton, it is rare to find a band with eleven full-time members that feels so tight and dexterous, they churn through styles and time signatures and various syncopations, weaving tales of heartbreak and hope. White Lighter is a cinematic musical masterpiece. Put this in your ears, close your eyes tight, and listen on repeat. That was how I spent countless hours this year.

Top Songs of the Year:

1. Young Fathers by Typhoon: like watching your favorite movie of the year in four and a half minutes.

“When you're young you're hot
You have your whole life before you
Everyone will adore
You'll grow up, you'll be an astronaut
or anything you want.”

2. Even if We Try by Night Beds: Gorgeous. Haunting. Best Male Vocal Performance of the year. Check the music video for a real trip. Kind of like Jason Molina said: “try and try and try…just to be simple”

“Stumbling down the hillside
In the waning moon light
Hear me, calling
And wailing on the doldrums”

3. Retrograde by James Blake:  to regress, retreat, go backward

“I'll wait, so show me why you're strong
Ignore everybody else,
We're alone now”

4. Sonsick by San Fermin best female vocal performance of the year? Check it live.

"I'll fall for you soon enoughI resolve to love
Now I know it's just another fuck
Cause I'm old enough
Sell lies like they're only drugs
It'll pick me up"

5. Black Skinhead by Kanye West: Kanye at his angriest. And it works.

"Enter the kingdom
But watch who you bring home
They see a black man with a white woman
At the top floor they gone come to kill King Kong
Middle America packed in
Came to see me in my black skin"

6. Pink Rabbits by the National: a rainy day; hopeful heartache

"I couldn't find quiet
I went out in the rain
I was just soakin' my head to unrattle my brain"

7. Song for Zula by Phosphorescent: something hauntingly, heartbreakingly primal

"All that I know love as a caging thing
Just a killer come to call from some awful dream"

8. Hannah Hunt by Vampire Weekend: A slow moment from their record illuminates their talents as composers

"If I can't trust you then damn it, Hannah
There's no future, there's no answer
Though we live on the US dollar
You and me, we got our own sense of time"

9. Youth by Daughter: dontgottatalkthatmuch

"And if you're in love, then you are the lucky one
'Cause most of us are bitter over someone"

10. Immunity by Jon Hopkins: The sounds of contemplation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8eQR5DMous

Another 40 albums well worth your attention:

11. Birthdays by Keaton Henson

12. Run the Jewels by El-P & Killer Mike

13. Wed 21 by Juana Molina

14. The Stand-In by Caitlin Rose

15. Lanterns by Son Lux

16. Ceremony by Anna Von Hausswolff

17. The Silver Gymnasium by Okkervil River

18. Twelve Reasons to Die by Ghostface Killah and Adrian Younge

19. San Fermin by San Fermin

20. The Jazz Age by the Bryan Ferry Orchestra

21. Invisible Empire/Crescent Moon by KT Tunstall

22. Dysnomia by Dawn of Midi

23. We the Common by Thao and the Get Down Stay Down

24. Wonderful, Glorious by Eels is Eels

25. Like a Rose by Ashley Monroe

26. Ghost on Ghost by Iron and Wine

27. Love’s Crushing Diamond by Mutual Benefit

28. {Awayland} by Villagers

29. Amok by Atoms for Peace

30. Space by Nils Frahm

31. Annie Up by Pistol Annies

32. Dream River by Bill Callahan

33. Reflektor by Arcade Fire

34. Woman by Rhye

35. Same Trailer Different Park by Kacey Musgraves

36. …Like Clockwork by Queens of the Stoneage

37. The Worse Things Get, The Harder I fight… by Neko Case

38. AM by Arctic Arctic Monkeys

39. Untamed Beast by Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside

40. Acid Rap by Chance the Rapper

41. Southeastern by Jason Isbell

42. The Electric Lady by Janelle Monae

43. Repave by Volcano Choir

44. New Moon by The Men

45. Fade by Yo La Tengo

46. The Invisible Way by Low

47. Light Up Gold by Parquet Courts

48. Dormarion by Telekinesis

49. Once I Was an Eagle by Laura Marling

50. Nothing Was the Same by Drake

EPs:

I Want to See Pulaski At Night by Andrew Bird

EP by Cassandra Jenkins

Fade Away by Best Coast

Rival Dealer by Burial

Movie Soundtracks:

The Hunger Games OST

Inside Llewyn Davis OST

The Great Gatsby OST

Post Script:

As great a year in music as 2013 was, it was also a year in which we lost Jason Molina, which loss introduced me to his music. I had previously been unaware of Molina's vast oeuvre. It is a sometimes unfortunate fact of how much great stuff there is to consume that such great stuff gets passed over. But the loss of Molina, which has since led to my connection to his music, may well end up being the most lasting musical memory I have of 2013. A ten-year anniversary edition of Magnolia Electric Co. was released this year. Especially if you have not heard it, you would do well to give it a thorough listen.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2013/03/18/174646022/jason-molina-a-folksinger-who-embodied-the-best-of-the-blues-has-died

Best of 2013 Playlist

2013 Contenders album of the year shortlist. Full albums.

The Best of 2013 (First Half)

With the first half of the year officially over, it’s time for a quick recap of my favorite album releases from 2013:

1. Cerulean Salt by Waxahatchee is cohesive and impassioned; a tour of the sounds of the last two decades of power pop with great force and emotive songwriting. Two albums in, watch out for Waxahatchee. Katie Crutchfield is on her way to being an establishment.

2. Birthdays by Keaton Henson is stunning in its pained beauty. Birthdays is so fragile and beautiful, it feels almost like voyeurism to listen to it, which is a unique and affective feeling for a record to inspire. In a word: breathtaking.

3. Immunity by Jon Hopkins is an electronic tour de force. Jon Hopkins is a soundscape guy, so it’s interesting to hear him playing with “beats” of a dance-floor variety, but the record is so much more than that. It takes a man with a classical background and an understanding of space and of beauty and the temporal to be able to make a record so fully-realized. It is a concept and it is a successful one.

4. Yeezus by Kanye West is a statement. It is short and dark and industrial and angry and forceful. Every new Kanye record is an event. He is steering popular music unlike any other major artist working today. Kanye makes music the way Michael Jordan played basketball. At its best, this is the best record of the year, but it is not without its swings and misses. It feels to me like a hard play in the paint, where Kanye makes a miraculous bucket under pressure, but misses the freethrow. Despite its near-misses, Kanye has made one of the most essential albums of the year to date.

5. Muchacho by Phosphorescent is meditative; a 21st century soundtrack for quiet nights and contemplation, filled to the gills with lovely songwriting and a gentle production touch. I could listen to the opener, “Sun Arises”, a sort of one-man, electronic-drenched Fleet Foxes all night long, before it lurches directly into “Song for Zula”, one of the best songs of the year, and never looks back.

6. Annie Up by Pistol Annies is a trio of badass honky-tonk ladies at the top of their badass honky-tonk lady form. In a lot of ways, the first half of 2013 was the year of the honky-tonk ladies and this is arguably the best of the best. It’s often dark and subversive and tongue-in-cheek, but above all it is fun, and the arrangements are solid and the harmonies are air-tight.

7. Random Access Memories by Daft Punk is the new Daft Punk record. Duh. Aside from Get Lucky, which seems to have been the runaway track of the first half of 2013 (at least in the social circles that I orbit around), Daft Punk made a glorious 13 track record mixing clever homages, vintage dance cuts, and thoroughly modern electronic badassery. These guys just keep slaying dragons.

8. The Stand-In by Caitlin Rose is situated perfectly at the sublime intersection of traditional country, alt-country, and pop music (which is, admittedly, a personal weakness). Part Neko Case, part Ryan Adams, part Fleetwood Mac, this record covers most of the territory at all points and in between and combines to make for a damn fun listen for all the right reasons.

9. Modern Vampires of the City by Vampire Weekend is Vampire Weekend’s third great record in a row and proof-positive that these guys are here to stay and at the forefront of the Brooklyn/NYC indie-establishment. The record is twisty and turny and always clever, it knows when to be restrained and when to rock out. It is nothing if not solid from the top to the bottom.

10. Twelve Reasons to Die by Ghostface Killah and Adrian Younge is the shock of the year for me. Adrian Younge outdoes the RZA and gives Ghostface a format to sound like he’s back in mid-‘90s form. Immediately accessible and eminently listenable, this make-believe soundtrack was a great move for both artists and is the best true hip-hop record of the year.

11. Like a Rose by Ashley Monroe is everything that the Pistol Annies record is if a bit sweeter and truer and less bombastic. Clever, sharp, occasionally scathing, occasionally gorgeous. Ashley Monroe is having herself a year.

12. Ghost on Ghost by Iron and Wine is the album the Iron and Wine should have made (and I’m glad they made it). The Iron and Wine that started out with bedroom recordings and moved onto the dusty, pastoral Americana they shared with Calexico have taken that horn approach and added more jazz elements and advanced time signatures. The songwriting is as gorgeous and earthy as ever. It all fits very well and adds up to one of the best albums of their career and of the year.

13. Woman by Rhye is perhaps the sexiest music of 2013. It is subtle, it is androgynous, it all feels like a silk slip on soft flesh. It works.

14. Trouble Will Find Me by the National is maybe the wordiest and most poetic record of the year. The National build beautiful little dollhouse soundscapes up around Matt Berninger’s droll baritone with a backbone of double Dessner guitar attack and Devendorf rhythm section (Bryan’s drumming is particularly essential). I must admit, it took me a moment to warm to this record. Initially I felt like it was buried under the relentless weight of Berninger’s baritone, and it didn’t feel like progression from High Violet. I hope one day that these guys will make an album that breathes a bit more easily. A few listens later, however, I was spellbound. It is somehow both heavy and delicate. They add some odd time signatures to their bag of tricks on this one. Its highlights are every bit as breathtaking as their finest work.

15. Overgrown by James Blake is the still inconsistent work of a truly captivating talent. James Blake is fascinating if frustrating, which this record can be. From the title track through Retrograde (easily one of the best tracks of the year), the album is nearly sublime, and it is on that basis, that I award this with the number 15 spot, despite my hopes that he will become slightly more focused and less self-obsessed and noodly as he progresses.

16. Wonderful, Glorious by Eels is Eels, with E at age 50, still making essential, personal Americana. A bit more freewheeling than the Eels of Blinking Lights… and Electro-Shock Blues, this record is the Eels of Shootenany & Souljacker making personal, gritty rock interspersed with heartwarming ballads. These guys are hall-of-famers

17. We the Common by Thao and the Get Down Stay Down is a quirky little pop/indie record from an overlooked talent and Thao’s most accessible and fun record to date, with particular help from Jon Congleton and an assist from Joanna Newsom.

18. {Awayland} by Villagers is a well-realized meeting of elctro-folk; it is literary and smart and complete.

19. Same Trailer Different Park by Kacey Musgraves is the final of the honky-tonk women powerhouses on this list, and like them it is clever and aware and sharp and agile, at-once disarming and charming, it is a force of traditional country songwriting in the 21st century

20…Like Clockwork by Queens of the Stone Age is the second-biggest surprise of the year; I never expected to care about the new QotSA album, much less love it. I am shocked and awed by the sonic diversity and precision of this record. They explore territory that I never expected, and it is striking and awesome.


A Youtube Collection of a song or so from each release:http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbJCM0q25r1rJK0VhWKQmzqUuuZ5TffJY

The Best Music That I Listened to in 2012 as of December the 9th (An Imperfect List) by Tom Johnson:

LPs:

The Best Album of the Year:

 Adventures in Your Own Backyard by Patrick Watson

Top Tier:

A Church That Fits Our Needs by Lost in the Trees

Break it Yourself by Andrew Bird

Fear Fun by Father John Misty

Shields by Grizzly Bear

An Awesome Wave by Alt-J

Tramp by Sharon Van Etten

Landing on a Hundred by Cody ChesnuTT

Shallow Bed by Dry the River

Passage by Exitmusic

What We Saw from the Cheap Seats by Regina Spektor

Second Tier

The Idler Wheel… by Fiona Apple

 R.A.P. Music by Killer Mike

 Love This Giant by David Byrne & St. Vincent

 Until the Quiet Comes by Flying Lotus

 Swing Lo, Magellan by Dirty Projectors

 Django Django by Django Django

 The Greatest Man in the Universe by Bobby Womack

Third Tier

Centipede Hz by Animal Collective

 Is Your Love Big Enough? by Lianne Le Havas

 Skelethon by Aesop Rock

 Port of Morrow by the Shins

 America by Dan Deacon

 Blues Funeral by Mark Lanegan Band

Blunderbuss by Jack White

 Flight by Dave Stapleton

 Nootropics by Lower Dens

 Arrow by Heartless Bastards

 Channel ORANGE by Frank Ocean

 Young Man in America by Anais Mitchell

Boys & Girls by Alabama Shakes

I Like to Keep Myself in Pain by Kelly Hogan

 American Weekend by Waxahatchee

St. Peter & 57th Street by Preservation Hall Jazz Band

Fourth Tier

Cancer4Cure by El-P

The Temper Trap by The Temper Trap

Live from the Underground by Big K.R.I.T.

Coexist by the XX

 Locked Down by Dr. John

The Lion’s Roar by First Aid Kit

 Heaven by the Walkmen

 Silver Silver by Simone White

 151a by Kishi Bashi

 The Heist by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Notable EPs:

Silent Hour/Golden Mile by Daniel Rossen

The Undersea by The Antlers

Hands of Glory by Andrew Bird

Kindred by Burial

Bringing in the Darlings by Josh Ritter

True by Solange