I made a huge list of my favorite new releases from 2013 and was interested in other people’s lists.
List is pretty long with links to Youtube for songs so I will stash it behind a spoiler tag so as not to clutter up the thread on the first post.
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CHVRCHES – The Bones of What You Believe
I haven’t been into euro-synthpop for years, but CHRCHES brings back everything that was fun about the 80’s and 90’s bands while adding their own wry sensibility. Catchy hooks, great lyrics, danceable beats, and the singer’s siren like voice makes this an album I cannot put down this year
We Sink - CHVRCHES - We Sink (Live on KEXP) - YouTube -
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Push the Sky Away/ Live at KCRW
I am cheating a little and offering up both of this year’s releases as a single entry. When longtime Bad Seed Mick Harvey departed the band, some worried that a lot of their guitar based bite would leave with him. It turns out that this departure was less something to mourn and more a welcomed evolution. Nick and the band often transition back and forth between rock albums and more contemplative releases and Push the Sky Away is more the latter. At times introspective, and in others confrontational it is a solid album front to back which is more brooding than loud, more visceral than angry. Live at KCRW provides a great live dialed down performance that is geared more towards acoustic presentation of these new songs plus some old classics and makes a great pairing with Push the Sky Away. Not to be missed.
Higgs Boson Blues (PtSA version) - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Higgs Boson Blues (Official Video) - YouTube
And No More Shall We Part - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - And No More Shall We Part (Live From KCRW ) - YouTube -
Descaparecidos – Anonymous/ The Left is Right (Single)
One of my all time favorite albums of the early 2000’s was Descaparecidos Read Music Speak Spanish. Conor Oberst created an Omaha super group and made loud grinding intelligent rock that was in strict contrast to his folk roots with Bright Eyes and his solo work. In 2012 the band reunited for a series of live dates and ended up putting out some new singles. The best of the lot in 2013 was the Anonymous/ The Left is Right combo. The band is in top form musically and provides a great post-punk style aural assault coupled with Conor’s politically steeped, sardonic lyricism.
Anonymous - - YouTube -
Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City
Prior to this album I was never really a Vampire Weekend fan, they always seemed too precious for their own good. That said, this album is solid beginning to end. They provide a more interesting rock to baroque counterpoint than on their previous albums and have some songs that are both addictive and smart. Even if you have tried them in the past and didn’t like them, give this a chance, you may be won over like I was.
Step - Vampire Weekend - Step (Official Lyrics Video) - YouTube -
Neko Case – The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You
Neko Case has been one of my favorite alt-country acts. She continues to put out album after album of solid material. Her songs can be rollicking fun one moment, then self aware and defeatist the next. She is one of the gems of the genre and the new album continues to show why she will continue to perform and succeed long into the future. She jumps from country driven fair to roadhouse rocking and back. This is an album for everyone who ever had to fight for love or questioned their choices.
Night Still Comes - Neko Case "Night Still Comes" (Lyric Video) - YouTube -
Savages – Silence Yourself
Savages are an amazing all female band delivering haunting, driving rock. This album provides you a driving rumbling beat augmented by guitars both soaring and jangly, screeching and howling. Vocals that are part warbling, part growling, and all power. This album provides some of the hard straight forward indie rocking I didn’t know I was missing until I heard it. Any rock fan will dig this album.
City’s Full - Savages - City's Full - YouTube -
Future of the Left – How to Stop Your Brain in an Accident/ Love Songs for Our Husbands (EP)
Future of the Left took to the internet to finance their latest album as many other artists are doing of late. The fact that they met their goal within a few days speaks to the following the band has. Those who pre-paid, knowing that the band always puts out a quality listening experience were treated to a pre-release EP of sorts. Love Songs for our Husbands provided a glimpse of what was to come and it was amazing! The more widely available How to Stop Your Brain in an Accident is the full EP that has a few tracks from previous EPs, and a lot of fresh new material. As is the norm, this band provides humor, wordplay, complex song structures, and blistering tracks that will rock your face off. Not to be missed.
The Bisexuality of Distance (Love Songs for Our Husbands) - - YouTube
I Don’t Know What You Ketamine (How to Stop Your Brain in an Accident) - - YouTube -
Sigur Ros – Kveikur
Sigur Ros is another band I didn’t really “get” until this year. In the past their ethereal albums didn’t click with me. This year they released a more rock based album that includes driving beats layered with ethereal vocals and a litany of instrumentation that can be both transcendent and dark. I may not be in the camp of the rabid fans, but this album definitely opened my eyes to what can be so great about them.
Isjaki - Sigur Rós - Ísjaki (Official Lyric Video) - YouTube -
Drenge – Drenge
These newcomers dropped an album so thick with grungy rock you feel transported to the 90’s, in a good way. This album is fun, noisy, bluesy, and oh so listenable. You need to just crank this, sit back, and let it sink in to your very soul.
I Want to Break You in Half - Drenge - I Wanna Break You In Half - YouTube -
Lemuria – Get Better
Another album that slipped under my radar until the end of the year, Get Better has a great female vocal delivery spread nicely over a solid crunchy guitar base. It’s like a delicious bagel of indie music.
Dog/Dogs - - YouTube -
John Grant – Pale Green Ghosts
John Grant takes keyboard tracks and then layers amazingly written lyrics both cleaver, taunting, and challenging. His delivery is haunting and reminiscent of Dead Can Dance. It’s an album for listening and dissecting. Poetic, funny, and consuming, it’s something that can easily take your attention from whatever is going on and not let go willingly, sticking in your head for days.
I Hate This Town - John Grant - I Hate This Town [Pale Green Ghosts] - YouTube -
The Avett Brothers – Magpie and the Dandelion
Alt-country? Alt-folk? Who cares, this album has great songs, great banjo (I am a sucker for good banjo), fantastic harmonies, and the kind of soul that makes me understand how some people get really sucked into this genre of music. This plays so much better to me than anything Edwin Sharpe has put out and I am loving every minute of it.
Vanity - "Vanity" - The Avett Brothers - YouTube -
Kurt Vile – Wakin on a Pretty Daze
Park folk, part rock, part stoner sensibility, this album gives you a great mellow listening experience that leaves you feeling satisfied and wanting more. And perhaps some funyuns… It is the kind of album suited to the cloudy days we have here in the Northwest, or sitting on your porch watching the clouds go y, or staring out a window into the cold with a hot beverage. It’s all introspection and coziness.
Snowflakes are Dancing - - YouTube -
Parquet Courts – Light Up Gold
This album should appeal greatly to anyone who loves the post punk sounds of bands like Mission of Burma or the Replacements. Great guitar work couples with punchy vocals delivered with a knowing wink. The lo-fi production values adds to the charm to make you feel like you are in some basement club or forgotten bar listening to a band that is just short of making a breakthrough.
Borrowed Time - Parquet Courts - Borrowed Time - YouTube -
The Blow – The Blow
This record surprised me by coming out of nowhere and providing a fun, stripped down electronic sound. With peppy beats and sparse vocals it’s like pickled ginger for my ears after listening to a lot of hard and heavy music. The kind of album that can boost your mood and clear your mind.
From the Future - The Blow "From The Future" - YouTube -
Queens of the Stone Age - …Like Clockwork
A very good album by the veteran rockers! I have only had a passing interest in them in the past but I feel that this album could change all of that. A lot of depth and easily replayable.
I Sat By the Ocean - - YouTube -
Thao and the Get Down Stay Down – We the Common
The first Thao and the Get Down Stay Down album sucked me in with its quirky vocals and understated instrumentation. This latest outing bounces around from quieter folky sounding tunes to electronic driven danceable songs, to experimental sounding tracks that are hard to define. Thao’s incomparable vocal stylings remain and entrance throughout.
We Don’t Call - Thao & The Get Down Stay Down- We Don't Call - YouTube -
Nine Inch Nails – Hesitation Marks
Trent returns from his foray of scoring movies and video games, and his side project with his wife, to deliver another solid Nine Inch Nails album. It continues in his latest vein of brooding tracks that grow with intensity as each song progresses, providing a slow burn of an album rather than a blinding migraine flash of light like some of his earlier works. This is an album of a mature musician who knows how to craft his sound and message and lead you where he wants you to go.
Came Back Haunted - Nine Inch Nails - Come Back Haunted - YouTube