Albums of the year - v.2013 - general discussion and that

[Thread Owner]

Hello.

We had this up and popping by May last time out, so either it hasn't been a vintage year, or maybe the music folder is a shadow of its former self. Maybe both. WHO KNOWS?

Here's some stuff I like in the extended and long play format. Tell us all what you like.

Local Natives - Hummingbird

Weapons-grade commercial American indie

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Darkstar - News from Nowhere

Dialled down on the grime & dubstep influences and greatly increased on the Animal Collective/pop front

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These New Puritans - Field of Reeds

Continued transgression in to neo-classical tape playing. With Portuguese lady

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Deafheaven - Sunbather

Hipster metal act of the year. Intermittent excellence with clumsy shoegaze references

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Earl Sweatshirt - Doris

OFWGKTA's media favourite. Subtly great.

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Gold Panda - Half of Where You Live

Coffee table dance. Amusing on twitter.

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Deathscalator - Racial Golf Course No Bitches

Umm... riffs.

So yeah. There you go. I haven't listened to either the Merchandise or Jon Hopkins album yet. I'm lead to believe they're both great.

Here's my Spotify playlist that I'll continue to add to: Albums of 2013.

[Qazimod]

Once again I think I've spent more time this year searching for older albums I used to have and threw out, or older albums I missed out on first time around, so my 2013 pickups are limited to "Random Access Memories" and er...

[CrispinG]

<p>1. Earl - "Doris"</p>

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<p> </p>

<p>2. Kanye West - "Yeezus"</p>

<p> </p>

<p>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViGNBLQpGWE</p>

<p> </p>

<p>3. James Blake - "Overgrown"</p>

<p> </p>

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[imp]

Thee Oh Sees - Floating Coffin

Julia Holter - Loud City Song

Daniel Wohl - Corps Exquis

Rhye - Woman

Pop music could always do with more wist.

Fuck Buttons - Slow Focus

I think I'm getting older.

[Marlowe]

mbv is the best thing. Love the three-part structure, building up from what you'd think of as the familiar MBV sound to a pulsating final third that is as sonically interesting as it is rocking. Foolishly, my first couple of listens were on some mediocre earphones on journeys, and I wasn't all that impressed. Late at night, with a good set of headphones, playing the high-quality files through my audio interface -- another proposition entirely. All those glorious low-mids come alive, Shields proving himself once again the master of processed guitar tone. There is no stand-out track, no Sometimes (which remains their best song), but as an overall record I actually like it more than Loveless.

[keineboom]

1. Daft Punk - RAM. Not all that the hype train would lead you to believe, but enough awesome tracks like Motherboard, Giorgio by Moroder etc to make it one of my favourites.

2. Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest. An album I seem to have absorbed like some viscous material. I regularly put it on while doings some work and let it seep into my subconscious.

3. John Grant - Pale Green Ghosts. Great collection of unsettling skewed pop. GMF sounds like the Divine Comedy on anti-depressants.

[Mammas_Boy]

1 up for that John Grant album. It's amazing. Hearing the string sections on a decent system made my ears jizz.

[larrydavidsanger]

Pissed Jeans - Honeys. While not as good as the previous album, it's still damn good.

Nick Cave - Push The Sky Away

[Arc'Tan'Gent]

That Nick Cave album is gorgeous.

My favourite this year so far is probably Savages' Silence Yourself. Try this one on for size.

[Guest]

A Hawk & A Hacksaw - You Have Already Gone to the Other World

Bit of a perfect storm for me this, love the Balkans and the Paradjanov film that inspired this. This will be my album of the year by some distance.

[wullie]

Jamie Lidell - Jamie Lidell

El-P + Killer Mike - Run The Jewels

Tyler, The Creator - Wolf

+1 for the John Grant and Kanye albums mentioned already

[ZOK]

The only proper whole album I have bought this year (as opposed to individual tracks) is Anne Marie Ghost of The Sea by Monkeyheaven, aka rllmuk's very own Gorf King. It's just too lovely for words, and considering that you can get it for a fiver some of you other drunkards should buy it too.

http://monkeyheaven.bandcamp.com/album/anne-marie-ghost-of-the-sea

Album of the year!

[Marzipan Travolta]

Mikal Cronin - MCII

I cannot get over how lovely this is. It's summery guitar rock type stuff. Think Ash, Weezer or No Age.


If I had to pick a favourite I'd say the opener:

Spotify link:
Mikal Cronin – MCII

Drenge - Drenge


This isn't out yet but I've seen them live and been listening to every bit I can get hold of for a while. They're a heavy guitar two piece, somewhere between Black Sabbath and The White Stripes.

Here's their track Backwaters:

It went up on Spotify this week:
Drenge – Drenge

[keineboom]

I'd also like to add an honourable mention for Pet Shop Boys - Electric. I wouldn't have expected a contemporary PSB album to be so fierce. Plus 'Love is a Bourgeois Construct' is a work of genius.

[hub2]

Shouting in the Evening is the belter on that album.

[DeadRussian]

I'd say it's been a reasonable year.

Future Bible Heroes - Partygoing

Major Lazer - Free The Universe

GRMLN - Empire

Waxahatchee - Cerulean Salt

Parquet Courts - Light Up Gold
Treetop Flyers - The Mountain Moves

Public Service Broadcasting - Inform - Educate - Entertain

Born Ruffians - Birthmarks

Saturday Looks Good To Me - One Kiss Ends It All

Lemuria - The Distance Is So Big

ONSIND - Anaesthesiology

Still Corners - Strange Pleasures

The Thermals - Desperate Ground

College - Heritage

Julia Holter - Loud City Song

Torres - S/T

Unknown Mortal Orchestra - II

Caitlin Rose - The Stand-In

Mavis Staples - One True Vine

Grouper - The Man Who Died In His Boat

Laura Stevenson - Wheel
Kavinsky - Outrun

Hookworms - Pearl Mystic

[Shoes]

Bibio - Silver Wilkinson

Gorgeous, autumnal-tinged folk-electronica.

Bonobo - The North Borders

Bonobo's most accomplished LP to date.

Lusine - The Waiting Room

Fantastic electronic-pop.

R.A The Rugged Man - Legends Never Die

Slightly hit and miss, like all R.A albums, but my favourite hip-hop LP of the year.

[iloverage]

IDEAL CITIES by ROOMRUNNER

A criminally under-looked rock record.

[BeeJay]

First time in years that I actually feel like I heard about 50% of the albums mentioned here (yay for spotify). Some that have already been mentioned I have enjoyed like Julia Holter, Jon Hopkins and Deafheaven.

However, here are my top 3 so far this year:

Congo Natty - Jungle Revolution

Just felt so fresh yet incredibly nostalgic at the same time. Came out of nowhere and reminded me how good jungle could be

The D.O.T - Diary

I am a big fan of both The Music and The Streets so surely this would be a big hit with me? The album has some missteps but really grows on you, even the sometimes cringe worthy singing.

The D.O.T. – Don't Look At the Road

Vampire Weekend - Modern vampires of the weekend

This has to be here purely because it has had the longest run on my ipod this year. Not really been a fan of them before but this one really struck a chord with me. A great go to album for me this year.

apologies for the lyric video

[DeadRussian]

Here's some Spotify action for my 2013 list...

Best of 2013

[acidbearboy]

Daft Punk is the only decent album I've heard so far this year. Space Dimension Controller's debut had its moments, but he put out better tunes on his earlier EPs.

[Mentazm]

Only heard of a handful of the acts mentioned so far, and only listened to 1 of the albums - RAM. Which sounded like a noodly student art project.

Can we do single of the year instead?

https://soundcloud.com/westonemusicgroup/phase-craze-eds7-israel-medina

[multi]

Sorry for the slight derail here, but can I say we are fucking blessed with what technology has given us now.

Came in here just for a look (listen) like, but because of the streaming services available (in my case google play music - 7.99 a month), I've got to listen to (and keep) some new music within seconds of reading about it in here, that previously I would have taken note of and then forgotten to look up tomorrow.

I hadn't heard of John Grant until just before, now I cannot stop listening. Thanks keineboom, you've made an old man very happy. I'm gonna be the greatest mother fucker at work next week when I spread that round like a virus. Fucking lovely stuff.

We're so lucky.

[Arc'Tan'Gent]

New Fuck Buttons one is top notch, too.

http://open.spotify.com/track/3vLo21kV2oBMqXd6W9KDRC

[ah]

Man, I shouldn't have come in here and hoped to escape without a list of new records to buy. That James Blake album is my "disappointing" pick this year, though - I think there's only one good song on it (it's a great song, but there's still only one of it). Anyway. Following the OP's format:

Circle Takes The Square - Decompositions: Volume Number One

Debut album in 2003, nothing for a while, whispers of new material in 2007, and just when you've given up hope then they start playing shows and this second album appears and is great beyond all reasoning. These are songs of bare earth and unending sky, rocks and wind, bone and blood. Digital release for free last year; records shipped in January.

Run The Jewels

I only kind of liked El P and Killer Mike's solo albums from last year - a handful of great tracks each but they both fell off in the second half. This one is like 30 minutes long and it has zero bad tracks. The only blemish is the lame gigolo/weirdo skit thing over one of the tracks. There's literally nothing else wrong with this album.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6lgoMkx0Os

My Bloody Valentine - MBV

Much like with the CTTS album, this has no right to be as good as it is. Bands don't reform and put out music this good. The opening track is gorgeous, and they could have just done eight more the same and I'd have been pretty happy, but it's way better than that.

Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest

Sounds like BOC; is amazing. Reminds me of all those old german electronica groups who were as much interested in teasing new sounds out of their machinery as in composing music - some of the noises they pull together are worth losing yourself in for a couple of days before coming back up for air.

EDIT: I forgot this one!

Eleanor Friedberger - Personal Record

I made a thread about this and not one person noticed. You guys are missing out.

[Mr Do 71]

Ceephax - Cro Magnox

Superb electronica album from the king of acid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfL2yU3xGHc

Sally Shapiro - Somewhere Else

She delivers another quality album of italo disco pop

Camera Obscura - Desire Lines

Not their best album, but this track is superb and it has that beautiful guitar solo.

Julia Holter - Loud City Song

Wonderful album from the gorgeous Julia, and this track is lush.

Boards of Canada

The wait is over!

Little Boots - Nocturnes

The lovely Victoria returns with an album full of pop tunes

[ah]

That Jon Hopkins sounds really good.

[PinkMoon]

A Hawk & A Hacksaw - You Have Already Gone to the Other World

Bit of a perfect storm for me this, love the Balkans and the Paradjanov film that inspired this. This will be my album of the year by some distance.

Fantastic, thanks - I had totally missed this release. Seen them live several times, always absolutely enchanting.

[Arc'Tan'Gent]

A guy put this on at work the other day, it's utterly captivating and magical.

And I haven't even seen one episode of the series. So brooding (I wanted to say haunting but that's such an overfitting word).

[CrispinG]

A$AP Rocky - LONG.LIVE.A$AP

this year was all about the new school of rap. not interested in guitars or 40 year old rappers talking about back in the day.