If 2013 ended today, I am confident in saying that this year has already blown 2012 away by a mile. Between long awaited follow ups (Daft Punk), continued greatness (Deerhunter, The National, Vampire Weekend), and exciting debuts (Atoms for Peace, Rhye), 2013 has been one of those years that keeps me excited for the future of music.
Over the next five days, our writers will be discussing their favorite albums and songs at the half way point of 2013. I know that personally, I always enjoy looking back at these lists to see how the second half of the year measures up to the first, and if early releases will hold up against the fresher, flavor of the moment, songs and LPs. Anyways, here begins our recap of 2013's first six months in music. Make sure to check back all week for what should be (at least I hope) a diverse collection of picks.
- Mac McGuire (Editor-in-Chief)
Steve Gordon
San Francisco garage monsters Thee Oh Sees have been crazy busy the last couple years, dropping clumps of records and touring incessantly. 2013 saw the release of Floating Coffin, probably one of their best offerings in years. It's often quite heavy, but cleaner songwriting and an increase in production quality allow John Dwyer and Brigid Dawson's vocal harmonies to cut through the rancid, grimy mix, lending a sense accessibility amidst the decay.
Song: Anamanaguchi - "Meow"
Brooklyn's chip-punk quartet, Anamanaguchi, were relegated to videogame nerd circles before they announced the upcoming release of Endless Fantasy, their debut LP, earlier this year (to be released on vinyl, CD, download, USB, and, yep, functioning NES cartridge). The DIY project raised over $277,000 on Kickstarter (well beyond the $50K they asked for) largely on the strength of lead single "Meow," a futureshock psych romp that's danceable, nostalgic, and catchier than the Mario theme.
Nick Sessanna
Album: Deafheaven - Sunbather
Deafheaven's Sunbather is an hour long collection showcasing an impossible mix of shoegaze and black metal. Throughout Sunbather, atonal washes of screams mix with enormous guitar lines, somber piano dirges, some spoken word, and everything in between. In this case, Deafheaven somehow has just as much in common with Sigur Ros as they do with Converge. Black metal drums and screams somehow mix beautifully with the otherwise not-so-heavy guitar tracks. Thick with delay, reverb, and other effects, Sunbather is a swirling vortex of noise, albeit a beautiful one.
Song: Weatherbox - "Big News"
In the words of Weatherbox singer Brian Warren, "This song is about staying in your room for two months, thinking that everybody in the world hates you, and then coming out and realizing you were right." If a few months and all my friendships are all it takes to write a song like "Big News," I think it might be a risk worth taking. Weatherbox has discovered a penchant for inserting pop-sensibility into a discordant frame, mixing frantic guitars into a calm rhythm-section skeleton. There's something a little off about this song, but essentially that's what makes Weatherbox so great. Nothing about it should work, but it does.
Cliff Parks
Album: Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
I wrestled with this for a good while, but the album that’s taken over is Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories. It’s a record with a mission I can and do subscribe to, it’s super dense with information, you can actually shake your ass to it in a rhythmic fashion, and it’s a ton of fun to listen to. For all of its obvious artifice and sharp, stylized clarity, it has heart and soul, achieving genuine artistic transcendence. Plus, you can actually dance to it. Please note: I am in no way an EDM fan.
Song: Daft Punk feat Pharrell & Nile Rodgers - "Get Lucky"
I wrestled with this one too. Should I go with something off of the new Vampire Weekend, Charles Bradley, or that epic M83/Susanne Sjundfor ditty for the Oblivion soundtrack? Nope, it’s more Daft Punk, because “Get Lucky” is wickedly, absurdly good. I can’t begin to guess how many times I’ve heard it in the last few months and I still adore it. It’s the song of the summer, and probably the song of the year. Nile Rodgers is a guitar genius, pure and simple.
John Hugar
Album: City & Colour - The Hurry And The Harm
When I saw the announcement that a new City & Colour album was coming out, I was cautiously optimistic. Their last album, 2011's Little Hell, is one of my favorite albums of the past decade, and I didn't think the follow-up could possibly be on anywhere near the same level. I've since learned to never doubt Dallas Green, as The Hurry And The Harm is right there with its predecessor, and may even surpass it. The opening title track creates a cinematic feel lasting throughout the album, while "Two Coins" ranks among the deepest songs Green has ever written. Fans of his punkier work in Alexisonfire may still be getting used to this new direction, but Dallas Green is one of the best songwriters around, and folk suits him extremely well.
Song: Yo La Tengo - "Is That Enough"
Yo La Tengo have tried many things over their nearly 30 years of existence, but until now, orchestration was not one of them. The addition of a string section to a band not usually known for that can be sign of creative stagnation, but in this case, it's a sign of a band who's never been afraid of anything continuing to ope new doors. "Is That Enough" is an easy highlight of their excellent new album Fade, and it ranks among the most beautiful songs the band has ever written. After this long of a career, Yo La Tengo shows no signs of decline, with regards to both quality and ambition.
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