Best albums of 2013

TheHumanComa · Post by **TheHumanComa** » Sat Dec 07, 2013 1:33 am

post your list or someone else's here.
Stereogum's top fifty albums

Paste's top fifty.

My list coming later... don't think i'll have more than a top ten. No way i even listened to 50 albums from this year.

Scottie · Post by **Scottie** » Sat Dec 07, 2013 1:51 am

I'm not clicking through 50 pages on Stereogum (which is actually about 800 pages of server requests, seriously, when you count all the Facefuck embeds). Those slideshows piss me off; I'll just assume that I've never heard of any of those acts. Pretty safe bet.

The Paste list is interesting. And well constructed.

I picked up very few of those albums. Three, by quick count. One that I did get was Frightened Rabbit. And the only reason I ever heard of them was because DaveInSeattle saw them in Australia and posted about it here so I checked out their stuff.

Frankly, I'm looking forward to Coma's list. 'Tis that time of the year, after all.

TheHumanComa · Post by **TheHumanComa** » Sat Dec 07, 2013 2:03 am

My top ten based on most listened to this year (via last.fm)

The National - Trouble will find me
Kurt Vile - Wakin on a pretty daze
Kopecky Family Band - Kids Raising Kids
Tegan and Sara - Heartthrob
Mark Kozelek & Jimmy Lavalle - Perils from the sea
Waxahatchee - Cerulean Salt
Phosphorescent - Muchacho
Haim - Days are gone
Matt Pond - The lives inside the lines of your hands.
Foxygen - We are the 21st century ambassadors of peace & magic

I'll make another list later with albums i actually think are my ten favourite. Having tegan and sara at number 4 is kind of embarrassing, it was a good album, but it was way to pop for me, or at least i thought it was, apparently i listened to it a lot.

TheHumanComa · Post by **TheHumanComa** » Sat Dec 07, 2013 2:07 am

Here's stereogum's list without the hassle -
1. Kanye West - Yeezus
2. Deafheaven - Sunbather
3. Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City
4. Disclosure - Settle
5. My Bloody Valentine - m b v
6. Sky Ferreira - Night Time, My Time
7. Danny Brown - OLD
8. HAIM - Days Are Gone
9. Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
10. Arcade Fire - Reflektor
11. Volcano Choir - Repave
12. Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels
13. Kurt Vile - Wakin on a Pretty Daze
14. Savages - Silence Yourself
15. Kvelertak - Meir
16. Waxahatchee - Cerulean Salt
17. Windhand - Soma
18. Chance The Rapper - Acid Rap
19. Tegan and Sara - Heartthrob
20. Blood Orange - Cupid Deluxe
21. CHVRCHES - The Bones of What You Believe
22. Superchunk - I Hate Music
23. Deerhunter - Monomania
24. Bill Callahan - Dream River
25. Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks
26. Migos - Young Rich Niggas
27. The National - Trouble Will Find Me
28. Drake - Nothing Was the Same
29. Phoenix - Bankrupt!
30. Oneohtrix Point Never - R Plus Seven
31. Speedy Ortiz - Major Arcana
32. Iceage - You're Nothing
33. The Field - Cupid's Head
34. Yuck - Glow & Behold
35. Gorguts - Colored Sands
36. Julia Holter - Loud City Song
37. Forest Swords - Engravings
38. The Knife - Shaking the Habitual
39. Pure Bathing Culture - Moon Tides
40. Pharmakon - Abandon
41. Janelle Monáe - The Electric Lady
42. Autre Ne Veut - Anxiety
43. Cassie - RockaByeBaby
44. A$AP Ferg - Trap Lord
45. Youth Lagoon - Wondrous Bughouse
46. Yo La Tengo - Fade
47. A$AP Rocky - LongLiveA$AP
48. Carcass - Surgical Steel
49. Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience
50. Phosphorescent - Muchacho

Scottie · Post by **Scottie** » Sat Dec 07, 2013 2:18 am

Thanks, Coma. If this was twenty years ago I'd use that list to make a compilation tape on a TDK SA-90. I'll YouTubia pick and choose to give your list in particular a listen.

But I can't deal with Kanye West. No way. And probably not Justin Timberlake either.

Very difficult to find radio in the Vancouver-Victoria-Seattle area that plays bands like Phosphorescent, The National, etc. At least not with decent reception. It's all classic rock, oldies, light rock or country, all clogged up with CanCon.

TheHumanComa · Post by **TheHumanComa** » Sat Dec 07, 2013 2:27 am

Scottie wrote:Thanks, Coma. If this was twenty years ago I'd use that list to make a compilation tape on a TDK SA-90. I'll YouTubia pick and choose to give your list in particular a listen.

But I can't deal with Kanye West. No way. And probably not Justin Timberlake either.

Very difficult to find radio in the Vancouver-Victoria-Seattle area that plays bands like Phosphorescent, The National, etc. At least not with decent reception. It's all classic rock, oldies, light rock or country, all clogged up with CanCon.

Yeah, i'm not a big fan of that stuff either but i did download the kanye and drake albums to see what all the fuss was about. I've noticed these top fifty lists including more and more rap and R&B over the years, i download everything but. Also a lot of hardcore death metal is making the lists as well. Norway seems to be pumping out a lot of it these days and apparently people are into it.

TheHumanComa · Post by **TheHumanComa** » Sat Dec 07, 2013 2:41 am

Scottie wrote: Very difficult to find radio in the Vancouver-Victoria-Seattle area that plays bands like Phosphorescent, The National, etc. At least not with decent reception. It's all classic rock, oldies, light rock or country, all clogged up with CanCon.

montreal is the same. i listen to cbc radio 2 when it's not playing classical music or kexp from Seattle on the internet if i'm not playing my own music at work. Can't remember who introduced me to KEXP years ago, it was either Dave or Rush, but it is an amazing channel to listen too.

Scottie · Post by **Scottie** » Sat Dec 07, 2013 3:07 am

I'm surprised rap is still any sort of force in the marketplace. It's failed to evolve significantly, if at all, in twenty years. The thug rappers took routes like Ice-T and moved on or just grew old and put their feet up on their cash for the most part. The second generation offered little innovation and is endlessly parroting the first. Whenever I hear MC Fresh SomeGuyYouNeverHeardOf it's the same tired worn-out cliches; I fuck bitches, I fuck money, I fuck cars. Unlike disco, which virtually disappeared overnight when punk kicked its polyester ass to the curb, nothing came along to displace rap. And the only strong force out there now, discounting country, seems to be autotuned shit by pop kiddies with two dozen dancers behind them as distractions to the fact that there is no substance whatsoever. You don't want to sit down and read the lyrics to any of that crap, you'd end up going on a shotgun rampage.

Any change with rap is akin to the glacial indiscernible change of country. If there's a difference between country today and country twenty years ago, I'm not hearing it. Each of those genres has become far too comfortable to be anything but cookie cutter. Together rap and country define complacency.

I'd welcome a new age of R&B. Modern versions of Smokey Robinson, Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Luther Vandross. Y'know? People who could actually sing? Wrote their own songs. And music played by musicians. But more of a post-R&B. Or, more accurately, a neo-R&B. This dreadful drought in which the music world is mired has gone on for quite a long time, too long. One is hard pressed to think of a similar era of stagnation. The years leading up to the 50s might be a good example. The upside there was that after twenty years of relative stagnation rock'n'roll was born and jazz took a massive leap forward. A smaller lull led to the psychedelic 60s scene; 70s progressive rock was born in similar fashion. Military involvement in Vietnam spawned a generation of music; Iraqistan spawned fuck all. Nobody picked up a guitar in protest this time, they posted disposable lazy slactivism on social media sites. Yet we've emerged from creative dormancy before and so we will again.

Society will get over this musical writer's block. So don't worry, we won't be stuck in this uninspiring rut forever (although at times it may seem that we will be); this too shall pass.

These days whenever I hear some mindless dreck on the radio or television all I can think of is George Orwell's 1984 and that prole Irish washer woman. Know the scene I am referring to? It's brilliant and was so damn accurate a reading of the future by Orwell. She sings:

It was only an 'opeless fancy,
It passed like an Ipril dye

. . . and the protagonist, Winston Smith, is struck by it. Because it was written by a machine. Yet here she was, this washer woman, breathing soul and life into it.

So there's hope.

That French Guy · Post by **That French Guy** » Sat Dec 07, 2013 5:44 am

Perfect, I needed some ideas for my Christmas gift list. Off to deezer ! Thanks, 'Coma

howard · Post by **howard** » Sat Dec 07, 2013 10:20 am

I've heard of Tegan and Sara. But probably because they are lesbian sisters. And I've heard of Kurt Weill--perhaps this kid is a relative?

Yo La Tengo? Cool, I've heard of those guys.

Scottie wrote:Thanks, Coma. If this was twenty years ago I'd use that list to make a compilation tape on a TDK SA-90.

Maxell, bitch. Maxell mf gold.

Actually, I finally conceded there was no damn difference, at least on my entry level grad student system (Sansui SC-2000; I still have one of these decks!), I just checked which was on sale at Crazy Eddie's when I needed a box of a dozen.

howard · Post by **howard** » Sat Dec 07, 2013 10:43 am

Scottie wrote:I'd welcome a new age of R&B.

Yep. I see the strong reaction to singles such as the Black Keys' Lonley Boy, or Daft Punk's Get Lucky (i just recently learned my old buddy Nile Rodgers had his talented hands in that one--hey Nile, I liked this rhythm just as much when Joe Tex called it Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman)), and I think this might be a harbinger. We probably need the boomers to die off, or at least move into nursing homes before such a new age blossoms.

There was such a drought period before. It was called the mid-70s. Stadium Rock>>>Peter Frampton and late stage Fleetwood Mac>>>horrendous pop music*>>>Disco. Didn't last long; we were saved by Iggy, The New York Dolls, The Ramones and all that was to follow. But yeah, that was a blink of the eye compared to the time in which we are mired today.

My favorite album of the year:

*It was bad. I'll stack it against the worst that Beiber or One Direction can toss up. A small example, which I always cite when returning to this conversation: WFMU Worst Song Contest for 1974!

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Sun Dec 08, 2013 4:48 am

Most overrated albums (sorry it's a slide show Scottie, but a quick loading one at least.)

Tom 1860 · Post by **Tom 1860** » Sun Dec 08, 2013 10:57 am

My knowledge of music is shockingly poor!

If you had taken no.1, 9, 25 and 49 out of that list, I honestly would not have been able to tell you which was listed first, Artist or album name.

Scottie · Post by **Scottie** » Sun Dec 08, 2013 1:10 pm

Rush2112 wrote:Most overrated albums (sorry it's a slide show Scottie, but a quick loading one at least.)

Wasn't me and I forget who complained about clickthru slideshows first. Chedda? sancarlos? If I had rass' Swamprecall I'd know that in a heartbeat. Maybe it was rass?

And Howard, that WFMU list is pure elevator to Hell.

Life Is A Rock But The Radio Rolled Me, as bad as it is, structurally it may be the ur-rap track.

As terrible as some of those songs are, at least people like Helen Reddy, John Denver, Manilow, Chapin, et al, could actually sing. Some tremendously well. And they could sing not only in the studio but in performance.

You can't compare bad songs from the 70s with beebershit. He has no actual talent. He cannot, not even remotely, actually sing. And I'm not exaggerating. He was an act at the Juno Awards one year (Canadian Grammy) and had to perform live without autotune, without lip-syncing, and it was spectacularly bad. Not even close to on key. Voice breaking all over the place. Embarrassingly terrible. As in "getting insult-laughed off of an American Idiot audition by the snaggletoof wankerbitch that runs that show" bad. He has no talent whatsoever. And that's the frustrating thing. The old axiom was that true talent will rise to the top. Not anymore. Tone deaf pre-teens that look like lesbians will rise to the top.

howard · Post by **howard** » Sun Dec 08, 2013 6:17 pm

I complained about slideshows. But I think I piled on someone else's complaint. And, I complain about lots of stuff.

Those you name are solid talents, but their entries on this list are among the worst songs of their careers. Paul Anka another one. And whatever you may think of Cher, did she ever do a more terrible song than Half Breed?

Yes, my senior year of high school was wondrous, as my dad's car had an AM radio and nothing else for sounds. All that shit is lasered deep in my brain. Memories; Like the corners of my mind; misty water-colour memories; Of the way we were!

TheHumanComa · Post by **TheHumanComa** » Sun Dec 08, 2013 7:00 pm

SPIN's Top 50 Albums of 2013
50. Drake - Nothing Was the Same
49. Queens of the Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork
48. Body/Head - Coming Apart
47. Neko Case - The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, the More I Love You
46. Pusha T - My Name is My Name
45. Superchunk - I Hate Music
44. William Tyler - Impossbile Truth
43. Death Grips - Government Plates
42. James Holden - The Inheritors
41. Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Vol. 3: To See More Light
40. Bill Callahan - Dream River
39. My Bloody Valentine - m b v
38. Janelle Monae - The Electric Lady
37. Arcade Fire - Reflektor
36. Kelela - Cut 4 Me
35. Ashley Monroe- Like A Rose
34. Kvelertak - Meir
33. Laura Marling - Once I Was an Eagle
32. Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience
31. Earl Sweatshirt - Doris
30. 2 Chainz - B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time
29. Rudimental - Home
28. Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP 2
27. Migos - Young Rich Niggas
26. Rhye - Woman
25. Caitlin Rose - The Stand-In
24. DJ Rashad - I Don't Give a Fuck EP
23. Oneohtrix Point Never - R Plus Seven
22. Deafheaven - Sunbather
21. Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels
20. Waxahatchee - Cerulean Salt
19. Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
18. Mikal Cronin - MCII
17. Kacey Musgraves - Same Trailer Different Park
16. Omar Souleyman - Wenu Wenu
15. Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks
14. The Haxan Cloak - Excavation
13. Tegan and Sara - Heartthrob
12. Danny Brown - Old
11. M.I.A. - Matangi
10. Kurt Vile - Wakin on a Pretty Daze
9. The Knife - Shaking the Habitual
8. Ka - The Night's Gambit
7. Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest
6. Tim Hecker - Virgins
5. Disclosure - Settle
4. Haim - Days Are Gone
3. Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires in the City
2. Chance the Rapper - Acid Rap
1. Kanye West - Yeezus

I really don't get the Kanye love. It's not a horrible album but it definitely is not the best album of the year.

Scottie · Post by **Scottie** » Mon Dec 09, 2013 2:03 am

TheHumanComa wrote:I really don't get the Kanye love. It's not a horrible album but it definitely is not the best album of the year.

It's senseless rubbish. Unless you enjoy a relative moron telling you how much of a genius he is. But it's fame, not talent. He's on one of those celebretard Real Housewives reality shows, right? Hence the record sales. Far too many people confuse fame and/or wealth with intelligence and/or talent. Mostly because the majority of humans are flat-out idiots.

And . . . Drake. Never heard of Drake until last month when the Raptors announced something to do with him. Never heard one of his "songs" until a few minutes ago on YouTube where he's "acting" as an employee at a Shoppers Drug Mart. Didn't know he's Canadian. Didn't know he's half White and Jewish. Or was on Degrassi. Or was born rich and privileged. But all that just makes him rapping about how tough he had it as a kid that much more laughable. And "niggas be fucking this, niggas be fucking that" just looks like so much bullshit on him. Or anybody. Isn't the world getting tired of that parroted shtick yet? Sheesh. Bitches be ho's still isn't worn out?

"Drake" . . . it sounds so much like, and so fittingly like, "dreck".

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Mon Dec 09, 2013 10:52 am

howard wrote:
Scottie wrote:Thanks, Coma. If this was twenty years ago I'd use that list to make a compilation tape on a TDK SA-90.
Maxell, bitch. Maxell mf gold.

Was talking to a friend the other day about the craft of making a mixtape. I just think having to listen to the music and ruminating over what to play next, and what was in the collection that would take up that last 2 minutes and 15 seconds that was left on side A. Damn I miss those days.

Picked up a very nice Denon cassette player a few months ago, been slowly making my way through mixes of yesteryear. Funny to hear the little skits that we put between selections, and the tunes I've forgotten about.

howard · Post by **howard** » Mon Dec 09, 2013 11:30 am

Rush2112 wrote:Funny to hear the little skits that we put between selections…

Yeah, it is probably a good thing me and my crew did not have smartphones and youtube at that age. Our nonsense is far less embarrassing on old cassette tapes.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Mon Dec 09, 2013 11:42 am

Scottie wrote:
TheHumanComa wrote:I really don't get the Kanye love. It's not a horrible album but it definitely is not the best album of the year.
It's senseless rubbish. Unless you enjoy a relative moron telling you how much of a genius he is. But it's fame, not talent. He's on one of those celebretard Real Housewives reality shows, right? Hence the record sales. Far too many people confuse fame and/or wealth with intelligence and/or talent. Mostly because the majority of humans are flat-out idiots.

And . . . Drake. Never heard of Drake until last month when the Raptors announced something to do with him. Never heard one of his "songs" until a few minutes ago on YouTube where he's "acting" as an employee at a Shoppers Drug Mart. Didn't know he's Canadian. Didn't know he's half White and Jewish. Or was on Degrassi. Or was born rich and privileged. But all that just makes him rapping about how tough he had it as a kid that much more laughable. And "niggas be fucking this, niggas be fucking that" just looks like so much bullshit on him. Or anybody. Isn't the world getting tired of that parroted shtick yet? Sheesh. Bitches be ho's still isn't worn out?

"Drake" . . . it sounds so much like, and so fittingly like, "dreck".

I've never heard a Drake song, well I probably have without realizing who the singer is, but he came off like a really cool, grounded guy on the Men in Blazers podcast. Apparently he is very into the EPL and befriended many footie players. Good for him. And don't knock Kanye's intellect, he he went to College! He certainly thinks he is a lot more intelligent than he is, and it is rather annoying. I'll admit to liking his first two albums, but haven't really listened to anything else after that because he completely turns me off with his personality and arrogance. I listened to his new single because of the Franco/Rogen hilarious parody, and it was truly fuckawful. The lyrics were laughably awful, and I found it unlistenable.

I wanna fuck you hard on the sink, After that, give you something to drink, Step back, can't get spunk on the mink

Hey, you remember where we first met?
Okay, I don't remember where we first met
But hey, admitting is the first step
And hey, you know ain't nobody perfect

Wow, Shakespeare ain't got nuthin' on his nigga! Imma let you discuss your top albums now.

I thought I was getting educated on new music thanks to the Spins thread, and a huge thanks to Bapo! for sharing some outstanding newer music with me, but damn. I know far less than half of those acts, and half the ones I do know, I only recognize the name, and couldn't even tell you what type of music they play.

As for music sucking, I sometimes wonder if it is just that I am old and don't get what the kids are listening to, but then I think truly good music would transcend all age groups, because it is good. If only the kids like it, it doesn't have staying power, and most fans probably just like it because they think they have to in order to be cool or fit in.

Post by **brian** » Tue Dec 10, 2013 11:32 am

I decided to actually go ahead and rank my Top 10 of 2013 in order.

1) Jason Isbell - Southeastern
2) Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City
3) Phosphorescent - Muchacho
4) Frightened Rabbit - Pedestrian Verse
5) The National - Trouble Will Find Me
6) Volcano Choir - Repave
7) The Head and The Heart - Let’s Be Still
8) CHVRCHES - The Bones of What You Believe
9) The Knife - Shaking The Habitual
10) Boards of Canada - Tomorrow’s Harvest

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Tue Dec 10, 2013 12:39 pm

brian wrote:I decided to actually go ahead and rank my Top 10 of 2013 in order.

1) Jason Isbell - Southeastern
2) Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City
3) Phosphorescent - Muchacho
4) Frightened Rabbit - Pedestrian Verse
5) The National - Trouble Will Find Me
6) Volcano Choir - Repave
7) The Head and The Heart - Let’s Be Still
8) CHVRCHES - The Bones of What You Believe
9) The Knife - Shaking The Habitual
10) Boards of Canada - Tomorrow’s Harvest

I'll have to check out those on your list that I haven't listened to.

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Tue Dec 10, 2013 1:42 pm

brian wrote:I decided to actually go ahead and rank my Top 10 of 2013 in order.

1) Jason Isbell - Southeastern
2) Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City
3) Phosphorescent - Muchacho
4) Frightened Rabbit - Pedestrian Verse
5) The National - Trouble Will Find Me
6) Volcano Choir - Repave
7) The Head and The Heart - Let’s Be Still
8) CHVRCHES - The Bones of What You Believe
9) The Knife - Shaking The Habitual
10) Boards of Canada - Tomorrow’s Harvest

We will share at least 4 in the top 10. I'm making one last one thru of all the albums in contention before making mine.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Tue Dec 10, 2013 3:38 pm

Yeezus and Drake, but no Jay Z? If these people who create these lists want to go full retard, you can't leave out Hova. I didn't even pirate Drake's album because I can't stand him and the other 2 were "meh" at best.

Then A$AP Ferg and A$AP Rocky? Eyeroll. And putting 2Chainz anywhere on a best of list means you have no fucking idea what you are talking about. At least they didn't put Trinidad James on there though.

Honestly, of all rap albums I listened to the most this year, it was Lil Dicky's "So Hard." That guy is pretty awesome.

Post by **Shirley** » Wed Dec 11, 2013 10:10 am

howard wrote:There was such a drought period before. It was called the mid-70s. Stadium Rock>>>Peter Frampton and late stage Fleetwood Mac>>>horrendous pop music*>>>Disco. Didn't last long; we were saved by Iggy, The New York Dolls, The Ramones and all that was to follow. But yeah, that was a blink of the eye compared to the time in which we are mired today.

Unfortunately, that renaissance didn't last long. Music was pretty damn awful from about '84 - '92.

I think a big part of the problem today is that the mechanisms for finding music are so different and difficult. The days of finding interesting stuff on the radio are pretty much long gone. Massive corporate ownership of stations has resulted in the same 5-10 stations playing the same 50 songs in every city in the country.

MTV simply doesn't play music any more.

On the other hand, the Internet is a great source of all sorts of music - WAY more than was ever available before. However, finding your way through the massive choice is extremely difficult. It's like walking into a Super Walmart and trying to find the five items you need - although you don't really know what you're looking for, the aisles are poorly labeled and little is organized.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Wed Dec 11, 2013 10:22 am

Shirley wrote:
howard wrote:There was such a drought period before. It was called the mid-70s. Stadium Rock>>>Peter Frampton and late stage Fleetwood Mac>>>horrendous pop music*>>>Disco. Didn't last long; we were saved by Iggy, The New York Dolls, The Ramones and all that was to follow. But yeah, that was a blink of the eye compared to the time in which we are mired today.
Unfortunately, that renaissance didn't last long. Music was pretty damn awful from about '84 - '92.

I think a big part of the problem today is that the mechanisms for finding music are so different and difficult. The days of finding interesting stuff on the radio are pretty much long gone. Massive corporate ownership of stations has resulted in the same 5-10 stations playing the same 50 songs in every city in the country.

MTV simply doesn't play music any more.

On the other hand, the Internet is a great source of all sorts of music - WAY more than was ever available before. However, finding your way through the massive choice is extremely difficult. It's like walking into a Super Walmart and trying to find the five items you need - although you don't really know what you're looking for, the aisles are poorly labeled and little is organized.

I just use the Swamp and Bapo! as my guides. Very limited scope, but I don't get to listen to music that much anyways.

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Wed Dec 11, 2013 10:25 am

Johnnie wrote:Yeezus and Drake, but no Jay Z? If these people who create these lists want to go full retard, you can't leave out Hova. I didn't even pirate Drake's album because I can't stand him and the other 2 were "meh" at best.

Then A$AP Ferg and A$AP Rocky? Eyeroll. And putting 2Chainz anywhere on a best of list means you have no fucking idea what you are talking about. At least they didn't put Trinidad James on there though.

Honestly, of all rap albums I listened to the most this year, it was Lil Dicky's "So Hard." That guy is pretty awesome.

Ghostface Killah's drop this year was nice.

Scottie · Post by **Scottie** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 6:14 pm

Fantastic.

‘You are as misguided as they come’: Police chief takes Kanye West to task for comparing rapping to war in scathing open letter

“Your line of thinking is part of the problem in the world today, which include entertainers thinking they are something more than just entertainers,” Oliver writes.

Oh, so true.

TheHumanComa · Post by **TheHumanComa** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 8:38 pm

The Grammy nominations reflect how bad the music industry is run. They just pick familiar or popular names that happened to release an album that year. Rolling Stones, Kings of Leon, Cee Lo? Kings of Leon's best album was their first one, where were the Grammy's before "use somebody? Their new album blows. Sure it has a few good songs but the album as a whole is shit. Cee Lo? He had an album this year? I thought he just bought dumb clothes. Rolling Stones? they have a new song? Most of the categories are "Pop" and i think they should just stick with that. Sure The National, Neko Case, Nine Inch Nails, and other worthy artists made the cut, but they call them alternative. And What in the hell is Tradional Pop? Stuff that used to be pop?

DaveInSeattle · Post by **DaveInSeattle** » Sat Dec 14, 2013 12:32 pm

Here's the top 10 I submitted to KEXP:

Savages - I Am Here (Pop Noire)

Parquet Courts - Light Up Gold (What's Your Rupture?)

Frightened Rabbit - Pedestrian Verse (Canvasback)

Neko Case - The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You (Anti-)

Jagwar Ma - Howlin (Mom + Pop)

Superchunk - I Hate Music (Merge)

Phosphorescent - Muchacho (Dead Oceans)

Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City (XL)

Daft Punk - Random Access Memories (Daft Life/Columbia)

Mikal Cronin - MCii (Merge)

And as soon as I hit send, I remembered a few others that I'd forgotten, like The National "Trouble will find me" and Chance The Rapper "Acid Rap".

TheHumanComa · Post by **TheHumanComa** » Tue Dec 17, 2013 12:25 am

DaveInSeattle wrote:Here's the top 10 I submitted to KEXP:

Savages - I Am Here (Pop Noire)

Parquet Courts - Light Up Gold (What's Your Rupture?)

Frightened Rabbit - Pedestrian Verse (Canvasback)

Neko Case - The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You (Anti-)

Jagwar Ma - Howlin (Mom + Pop)

Superchunk - I Hate Music (Merge)

Phosphorescent - Muchacho (Dead Oceans)

Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City (XL)

Daft Punk - Random Access Memories (Daft Life/Columbia)

Mikal Cronin - MCii (Merge)

And as soon as I hit send, I remembered a few others that I'd forgotten, like The National "Trouble will find me" and Chance The Rapper "Acid Rap".

nice list. Neko case and savages made my longer list. I didn't know superchunk had a new cd until a couple weeks ago, last memory i have of superchunk is going on a field trip to old montreal when i was in grade 10 almost 20 years ago. I thought they broke up.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Tue Dec 17, 2013 9:29 am

Love the Charles Bradley - a damn fine album.

I am an old fart who mainly buys reissues and compilations of fairly obscure stuff (not meant to sound as pretentious as it seems).

My favourite album of new material this year was from the Souljazz Orchestra, a group of guys from Ottawa who play scorching Afrobeat and funk.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Tue Dec 17, 2013 4:19 pm

Pruitt wrote:Love the Charles Bradley - a damn fine album.

I am an old fart who mainly buys reissues and compilations of fairly obscure stuff (not meant to sound as pretentious as it seems).

My favourite album of new material this year was from the Souljazz Orchestra, a group of guys from Ottawa who play scorching Afrobeat and funk.

That was released in 2012. Jeez.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Tue Dec 17, 2013 4:59 pm

Rush2112 wrote:
Pruitt wrote:Love the Charles Bradley - a damn fine album.

I am an old fart who mainly buys reissues and compilations of fairly obscure stuff (not meant to sound as pretentious as it seems).

My favourite album of new material this year was from the Souljazz Orchestra, a group of guys from Ottawa who play scorching Afrobeat and funk.

That was released in 2012. Jeez.

Can't stop living in the past.

Pathetically, I think I probably only bought a couple of albums of all new material this year.

So my best of list would look like this:

1) Wooden Shjips - Back To Land

2) The Stranglers - Giants

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Tue Dec 17, 2013 5:17 pm

Pruitt wrote:
Can't stop living in the past.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Tue Dec 17, 2013 6:08 pm

This is pretty funky (though I am not really a phan of Phish 3.0)

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Tue Dec 17, 2013 8:26 pm

Rush2112 wrote:This is pretty funky (though I am not really a phan of Phish 3.0)

What are the cutoffs for the various versions of Phish? I could form an educated guess, but I was just curious. I really haven't listened to Phish much from about 2000 on. Camp Oswego was a turning point for me. When I do listen to live shows, I inevitably stick in my zone (1993-1998). Listening to the compilation and loving it! A nice jazzy funkiness to this Weekapaugh. This is definitely getting listened to while writing reports at work. I need music to occupy the procrastinating part of my brain, otherwise I end up in the Swamp, and lyrics usually distract me if it is a song I need to sing along with in my head.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Tue Dec 17, 2013 9:46 pm

Phish I 1988-2000
Phish II 2000-2004
Phish III 2008-

TheHumanComa · Post by **TheHumanComa** » Thu Dec 19, 2013 5:40 pm

Vice's Worst 50 albums of 2013

Pretty funny stuff. I disagree with some of them, like The National, I don't have any kids but I still like them.

And Vice's top 50

TheHumanComa · Post by **TheHumanComa** » Thu Dec 19, 2013 10:02 pm

Ok here's my real top ten for this year. Yes, Tegan and Sara still made the list. Consider it my guilty pleasure.

TheHumanComa's Top Ten Albums of 2013

#1 - The National - Trouble Will find Me
#2 - Kurt Vile - Wakin on a Pretty Daze
#3 - Kopecky Family Band - Kids raising Kids
#4 - Haim - Days are Gone
#5 - Arcade Fire - Reflektor
#6 - Phosphorescent - Muchacho
#7- Mark Kozelek & Jimmy Lavalle - Perils From The Sea
#8 - Matt Pond - The Lives Inside The Lines In Your Hand
#9 - Tegan and Sara - Heartthrob
#10 - Waxahatchee - Cerulean Salt