Ladies and gentlemen, the countdown begins today! Without further ado, here are our votes for #16-25 of the year:
Ladies and gentlemen, the countdown begins today! Without further ado, here are our votes for #16-25 of the year:
#25: Darkside – Psychic
Darkside is made up the duo of electronic artist Nicolas Jaar and guitarist/composer Dave Harrington. Jaar is one of those few electronic-ish artists, like a James Blake or Amon Tobin, that put a lot more focus into the actual art and connection of sounds to emotions, so I was excited to get more into Darkside. With an album title like Psychic, you know you’re going to get something altogether different. The album starts immediately with a drone, then proceeds as layers of ambient sounds and lush guitars with haunting voice production meet you throughout. It grabs you on the first listen with the voices and repetition, and with each subsequent listen you start to hear more layers within the sounds. (Video: “Paper Trails”) –John Reinhold
#24: James Blake – Overgrown
When James Blake was announced the winner of 2013’s Mercury Prize, my first thought was “Sounds about right.” The shortlist was loaded — David Bowie, Arctic Monkeys, Disclosure, Laura Marling, and Laura Mvula — but Blake has cultivated a sound that commands respect, and Overgrown feels at once like a stop on that journey and a perfectly enviable final destination. Building off 2011’s fantastic Enough Thunder EP, Overgrown crystallizes the soulful tendencies Blake’s been soaking up, bonding a sense of gravitas to the dub-indebted electronic manipulations that made him stand out to begin with. Throw in Brian Eno guest production and RZA rapping about fish and chips and you’ve got yourself a winning formula. (Video: “Retrograde”) –Davy Jones
#23: Phosphorescent – Muchacho
Muchacho is a frighteningly intuitive record. Anyone who’s been in a dark place and wished for some release from the weight of their demons will experience Matthew Houck’s creation as an echo of the way self destruction ebbs and flows. This zonked out folk album begins with “Sun Arise,” a tune best described as gospel in a haunted candy shop. Simple as it sounds, the lyrics, “Dark as I been, ease. Be easy oh,” complement the haunting chords they support. This is the ultimate record for the human disillusioned by love, and “Song for Zula” is THE anthem of that feeling. On “Quotidian Beast’ Houck yelps viscerally, calling to mind an older man who’s well versed in the destructive patterns of his mind. The album ends with the discordant yet hopeful harmonies of “Sun’s Arising.” Muchacho is a veritable bender that comes full circle at sunrise. It starts light yet ominous, toes the line with sanity, and finally decides to man up and let go of hurting oneself and therefore, one’s lovers. (Video: “Song For Zula”) –Kristina Headrick
#22: The Last Royals – Twistification
This might just be the perfect indie rock record. From top to finish, the album has every great quality that indie rock has prided itself on since its inception. You’ll get it all here: acoustic laments, electric exhibitions, synth-heavy hooks, and quirky little ditties. While most of the songs here are upbeat, the lyrical mood is much more somber in comparison. The themes can be heartbreaking at times, and the reckless vulnerability of the lyrics portray an optimism that’s lost on most troubled romance songs. The music isn’t groundbreaking at all, but it puts indie rock on display like nothing before it for a truly unforgettable experience. (Video: “Friday Night”) –Doug Nunnally
#21: Janelle Monae – The Electric Lady
This isn’t the type of record that’s going to get massive airplay, nor the type of record that you’re going to fully appreciate after the first listen. Janelle Monae’s sophomore effort is a deeply intricate work of art that might just be the most ambitious record of the year. Monae has all the talent and poise to land herself on the same pedestal as your Beyonces and Rihannas, but instead of toiling over a hit song, she seems more than content building intricate symphonies of R&B songs. Once you fall down the rabbit hole of Monae’s “Metropolis,” it’s quite hard to climb back out. (Video: “Q.U.E.E.N.”) –Doug Nunnally
#20: Inter Arma – Sky Burial
Though arguably the best year for metal in two decades, much of what the harsher end of the musical spectrum produced in 2013 focused either on self-consciously stylized retro tendencies or on blazing a single-minded path into parts unknown. Inter Arma, however, wisely opted for a middle course, carefully crafting the sort of unique and syncretic blend of black metal, doom, and rustic psychedelia towards which their earlier efforts had hinted but never quite achieved. Finding a more interesting and well-executed vision of heavy music would prove difficult, even with the rich abundance of such that this year has offered up. (Video: “‘sblood”) –Graham Scala
#19: Superchunk – I Hate Music
Superchunk is a band that manages to sound youthful and mature at the same time. I Hate Music showcases some of their most contemplative material, as well as some of their more raucous. Yet the contrast doesn’t faze the common fan of the group, because let’s be honest–no one does it better than Superchunk. They can devastate with a single phrase, an epic chorus, or a wonderfully intricate guitar solo. Who would have known that a song about soundchecking could be one of the catchiest rock gems released all year? On top of that, this is a perfect companion piece to their outstanding 2010 release Majesty Shredding, and it shows how terrific a band can be when they come back from a long-term hiatus. (Video: “Me & You & Jackie Mittoo”) –Shannon Cleary
#18: The Wonder Years – The Greatest Generation
The Greatest Generation is the fourth studio album from The Wonder Years. As on past albums, the band delivers phenomenal lyrics and upbeat tracks, but this album also displays significant maturity and deviation into slower-paced songs. One of the best aspects of this band is their honest and relatable lyrics, and this album does not disappoint–the single, “Passing Through A Screen Door,” is a song about the struggle with feelings of failure. Listeners should expect darker than usual content, with songs about friends in hospitals and lyrics that question personal strength. Kudos to The Wonder Years for continuing to keep it real. (Video: “Passing Through A Screen Door”) –Laura Bittner
#17: Kopecky Family Band – Kids Raising Kids
After being blown away seeing Kopecky Family Band play live at this year’s Fall Line Fest, I knew there was something more to this band. I immediately bought the group’s debut full-length, Kids Raising Kids, and haven’t stopped playing it since. The amount of talent each member of this group has is contained into one cohesive sound, but still allows each member to show off. It’s an upbeat, fun party record that just wants to have a good time, starting off powerful with “Wandering Eyes” and doesn’t pull any punches until the relaxing notes of “Ella,” which drifts you off to bliss. (Video: “Heartbeat”) –Andrew Cothern
#16: Local Natives – Hummingbird
Lush percussion, electronic rock melodies and layered male falsetto rivaling Shearwater set the 2013 Local Natives album, Hummingbird, apart from many other records of its kind. The LA five-piece construct sweeping soundscapes with polyrhythms and multi-part vocal harmonies. The piano- and keyboard-led arrangements utilize grandiose shifts in dynamics to their fullest, emotive potential, especially in “Heavy Feet.” With lines in the aforementioned track like ,”telling me how you’re going to outlive your body . . . ” and “maybe I know better than to read more than what’s written”, the song takes verbal and musical aspects to an audio form of “painterly.” (Video: “You & I”) –Sarah Moore Lindsey
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Stay tuned; #15 through #6 are coming on Thursday! And be sure to click here to check out our five favorite albums that didn’t make the cut, as well as a list of all contributors.
