At fucking last...
40. Jay-Z - Magna Encarta Holy Grail
Not his finest hour, there are some terrible lyrics on this. However as usual, the production is exemplary and there are enough good moments on it to make it worth the occasional listen.
39. Beach Fossils - Clash The Truth
Recorded in more hi fidelity than their 'so indie it hurts' debut album. This (the follow up) isn't quite as strong, it has a couple of fantastic songs, the best being the opening title track. Nontheless a pleasent listen though.
38. Mazes - Ores and Minerals
Completely different sound to their debut, the summery surfy pop-punk has departed and is replaced by a proggier sound. When they get it right like on Bodies and Jaki they sound excellent. Unfortunately these moments are not plentiful enough. Will be interesting to see where they go from here.
37. The Black Angels - Indigo Meadow
Was kind of bored with the black angels when this came out, listened to it once then didn't bother going back till recently. In spite of my lack of enthusiasm for them now I just can't ignore that this is another solid release from them. They do the whole doom laden rock thing so well, Evil Things is superb and as with the previous album they have started to do quieter more poppy songs which aren't too bad either, there are times when they sound quite kinksy on this album.
36. French Films - White Orchid
A slightly rockier and more straight up album to the jangly amazingness of the debut, an album which I couldn't stop listening to. This one doesn't work as much for me. The opening track is however absolutely stunning and one of their finest.
35. Boards of Canada - Tommorows Harvest
Like a number of artists in the list, BOC returned after a long hiatus and easily slotted back into 2013. Tommorows Harvest is more of the same blissed out melodies they're known for. My only criticisms are that there is no stand out track and that as with all their other stuff, it's too fucking long!
34. The Icarus Line - Slave Vows
Saw these a million years ago give a really good set supporting primal scream. Totally forgot about them though and only bumped into them again this year. Slave vows is a fine album of really fucking dark stooges-esque rock n roll. In some ways the singer reminds me of Axl Rose too, perhaps Axl should check em oot. Dark Circles and Dead Body are particular highlights.
33. Yuck - Glow and Behold
A very credible effort from Yuck, produced in difficult circumstances. Some really lovely catchy stuff on this.
32. Four Tet - Beautiful Rewind
If truth be told, probably his worst effort for some time considering he's had 3 superb albums in a row before this. I am however a bit of a fan boy of his and there's enough for me to enjoy on this. Some good stuff on here but just not enough imagination.
31. Factory Floor - Factory Floor
Weird album. On the face of it, it seems too repetitive and joy-less but that in a way is it's charm. It never fails to get me in a complete trance. Factory floor is a pretty apt name really the synths are sparse early 80's sounding with a definite nod to new order and the percussion is pure mechanical robotic factory beats.
30. The Strokes - Comedown Machine
Pretty good work for what essentially is a contract album. Just shows what they could do if they were all on the same page and foccused. I love the last 3 songs on the album, Happy Ending is such a fun song.
29. Yeah Yeah Yeah's - Mosquito
It's hard to get over how good their first 3 albums are when you listen to this album. It's not that the Yeah Yeah Yeah's have nosedived in quality at all but the bar had been set so high that anything other than brilliance would be a let down. This is a good album, if it was released by a new band everyone would be lording it. As it is, it's slipped a bit under the radar. Sacrilege is superb.
28. Disclosure - Settle
Commercially a massive success but for me a bit of a disappointing considering the promise of the more garage influenced Eps. With the album they went straight for the mainstream with guest vocalists and a more straight up sound. Ignore the 2 hit singles (the slushy Latch and the annoying White Noise) and check out When A Fire Starts to Burn and the soulful defeated no more.
27. Mazzy Star - Season of Your Day
lovely stuff. Seems to be more of a country style on the guitar than I remembered their being, it suits them. Hope's vocals sound sensational as always.
26. Spectrals - Sob Story
Much better than that terribly bland first album. Vocally Louis is sounding on top form here, swooning woozy Yorkshire vocals. The style of the music has taken a more American rock n'roll 70's feel but with a clunky production sheen, it sounds nice but I do wish they'd head back to their amazing pre debut album 60's tape hiss sound.
25. Atoms for Peace - Amok
Thom Yorke and chums deliver the goods. Not as polished and consistent as Radiohead but you'd expect that from what is a side project. Not sure why Flea is around this most of the bass sounds like computer bass. Default is magnificent.
24. Jon Hopkins - Immunity
A great piece of production, perfectly straddling the gap between atmospheric post dubstep and modern house. It disapeers up it's own arse at times but when it's loud an on point it sounds brilliant.
23. Thee Oh Sees - Floating Coffin
A bit of a return to their more electric punky up in yer face sound after the weird acoustic psychedelia of Castlemania and the more melodic Putrifiers II. A real success too, they just can't seem to do any wrong.
22. Washed Out - Paracosm
Their first record was one of the highlights of 2011, this doesn't quite reach the same heights but it's still good stuff. Amazing blend of echoey soft synths and lovely washed out vocals. Probably more 'songy' than the first one.
21. Darkstar - News From Nowhere
All traces of their dubstep beginnings on hyperdub have now been removed, this is a very twee sounding, highly melodic record. The keyboard sounds are unusual and filled with interesting sound samples. Musically very similar sounding to Animal Collective.
20. Yo La Tengo - Fade
A really solid set of really laid back lovely Yo La Tengo songs, there's no moments here where they jam out songs for ages or change the flow of the album. Just 10 good Yo La Tengo tunes.
19. My Bloody Valentine - MBV
Still absolutely stunned that a follow up to an almost perfect album that has taken 20 odd years to materialise manages not to disappoint. MBV has some stunning songs on it, there's 2 or 3 songs that I can't get into but other than that it's a good album.
18. Deerhunter - Monomania
Monomania is a really cool change of direction, perfectly timed and well executed. They've always been fairly lo-fi but with spacier tones, Monomania has them allying it to a rawer scruffier rock style and it works really well, the first 2 songs show it off at it's best.
17. Earl Sweatshirt - Doris
The second properly decent odd future album after Tyler's Goblin. His rapping isn't quite as fresh as on his first few appearances but he's still mightily impressive and the beats are way more impressive than on the rushed album he released as a 16 year old.
16. Siruismo - Enthusiast
Playful electro, never taking itself too seriously whilst never losing sight of the point. A really impressive album, the title track is absolutely stunning, one of my favourite tunes of the year. There are 2 songs with cringey raps on them which need binning but other than that it's all good.
15. Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
It's easy to feel burned by the hype but Random Access Memories a really good album. I love how it's absolutely all over the place, it's a journey and it's full of surprises. The Julian Casablancas collaboration Instant Crush is superb as are the two disco numbers Get Lucky and Lose Yourself to Dance, Giorgo by Moroder could have been a disaster but it really works. The real highlight though is Touch which is absolutely stunning. I love this album in spite of it's sometimes unnecessary extravagance and I think Daft Punk needed to break the shackles and do something big and pompous.
14. Bonobo - The North Borders
A really polished album sitting on at the poppier more well produced end of atmospheric shuffling dance music. It combines the beats of Four Tet and the atmospherics and lush production of Boards of Canada.
13. Toro Y Moi - Anything in Return
Synthier than the first 2 albums, Anything in Return continues to see Toro Y Moi evolve their sound. Their are the occasional moments that feel excessively saccharin, Cake in particular is too much. But this is only a moment as in general this is a really smooth consistent album and is in keeping with their previous albums in that it has a rhythm section worth listening to.
12. Wavves - Afraid of Heights
Addictive album of full of superb guitar pop hooks. Think of a more stonerey version of Weezer. If I was 14 this would be top of the tree. It's way more polished that their last one which had a great rough charm but I don't find this a problem at all.
11. Fuck Buttons - Slow Focus
A stunning wide screen epic of an album. They're the MBV of the modern world, instead of using guitars though it's keyboards of all varieties. Slow Focus doesn't see them changing their sound much but it does feel like their most coherent album yet.
10. Gold Panda - Half of Where You Live
HOUSE
9. Moderat - II
Modeselktor and Apperat link up to produce a brilliant album. It's a perfect balance between techno, dubby sounds and pure pop R n B smoothness. The way it manages to combine styles whilst sounding incredibly together and focussed is superb. A lot of the songs have vocals too so it's a very accessible album to take in.
8. Kurt Vile - Walkin on a Pretty Daze
I absolutely love his voice, that stonerey sounding like you justr don't care but yet sounding amazing style just ticks all the boxes for me. A bit like Evan Dando before him. Walkin on a Pretty Daze managed to to showcase a lot of quite lengthy songs but yet never outstays it's welcome, probably as a result of some lovely airy production and lush tones. The over ten minute largely acoustic Goldtone is a case in point, insanely repetitive yet never giving you the urge to cut it short.
7. Foxygen - We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace
Such a fun album, the way they switch between influences is brilliant and at even times amusing in the way it's so open and unashamed. The 35 min time really suits them too, it's a brilliant blast from the past.
6. Primal Scream - More Light
Incredible the way the scream have pulled themselves back from the brink. Two bad albums in a row, followed by retrospective jaunts left them tottering on the brink but they've pulled it back beautifully. The opening 4 song salvo is something to behold and the run home from the hugely can inspired turn each other inside out onwards is very good. In between there are a few more average cuts but on the whole it's a massive success. There are sounds on this album that primal scream have never produced before in their 30 year (!!!) career.
5. Steve Mayson - Monkey in the Devils Times
Probably the most albumy album on here. In spite of it's 20 tracks it hardly feels like there's a properly weak song on there. Politically provocative and thoughtful Monkey in The Devils Times is an absolute triumph.
4. Arctic Monkeys - AM
If Humbug showed them expanding their sound trying to sound more serious, AM sees them trying to sound 'younger' whilst trying to keep that credibility they've rightly earned. I love it, the high Metronomy-esque backing vocals, the 'Alex Turner is back around town and he's pissed off' lyrics. I think it all sounds incredibly fresh and vibrant.
3. Parquet Courts - Light Up Gold
Probably my most listened to album of the year, it's nothing that's too out there. I reckon they're in the middle ground between The Strokes, Sonic Youth and The Modern Lovers (vocally anyway). There songs are so fucking catchy, nice and snappy too, 15 tracks and yet a total run time of just over 30 minutes.
2. Mount Kimbie - Cold Spring Less Youth
More of a live record than their first one - which whilst being excellent was more of a production exercise in making a big sound. Cold Spring Less Youth is a bright record in keeping with their electronic sound and wobbly sounding keyboards but involving more basslines which sound like they were played by a human, proper guitar licks, singing and (on 2 songs) a rapper. The results are quite superb.
1. Burial - Rival Dealer EP
Yeah it's an EP but it doesn't feel like one, even though it's only a 3 song EP the run time is close to 30 mins. I know it's a cliché to say that that tracks which clock in around 10 mins are a journey but never has it been more true to describe something as being like a journey that the Rival Dealer EP. There's a clear concept here, deliverance. It opens with the song Rival Dealer which itself has 3 fairly defined parts, The first 5 minutes are a brilliant ravey number with an awesome screamey synth a d n b paced beat and the usual burial sounding atmospherics which make him such a genius. The song then collapses on itself and turns nasty, frenetic bass thrusts and distorted vocal samples before at 7:30 pulling the plug and signing off for the final 3 mins with a beautiful ambient haze accompanied by some gorgeous vocal samples. So far so brilliant, the next number is Hiders which opens with a real WTF moment with glanging almost chrismassy sounding pop keyboards which chug along with accompanying vocal samples for a couple of minutes before it's second WTF moment, where the song crashes in with 80's sounding drums for 1 minute of pop perfection. Just as quickly it disappears off into spacey atmospherics again which give way to the EPs centre piece, the mind blowing Come Down to Us, a plodding 13 minute EPIC. The atmospherics tee'd up by Hiders eventually give way to a sitar and a beat which set off keyboards and a gorgeous vocal imploring something that I can't quite make out but that sounds positive and lovely. The song builds and builds, still at the same slow pace with vocal samples swirling around until the next real insane moment of the EP, when it pretty much trips over itself and into an goes into an 80's power ballad which manages thanks to Burials skill to sound like an ascension to heaven. Again it disappears into the atmosphere only to return and play itself out with a sample of an acceptance speech about being transgender by Lana Wachowski. It's an emotional end to an emotional journey, it's complete genius that he manages to shoehorn in so much sentiment into 28 minutes of electronic music. This from a supposedly dubstep producer it's quite remarkable. Total perfection.
To be honest the albums down from 12 to 2 are all interchangeable, really really good records but the real winner is that Burial EP, it's the only record i've felt truly passionate about this year.
Yeah, I know how you feel. Don't break down though!
I felt like killing someone.
