Hey guys. How’s it join’?
WHAT?
WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU CHANGE “GOIN'” to “JOIN'” STUPID AUTO-CORRECT!?
Sorry, where was I?
I trust your work-weeks passed without issue. Mine is just beginning, so please don’t rub it in, it hurts (that’s what she said). Alas, on Wednesday I promised I would post my Top 10 Records of 2013 (So Far) list. I’ve stalled for as long as I possibly can. Now is the time to either put up or shut up. So, on with the show, right?
The purpose of this list — in concert with the one posted Wednesday — is to give you guys an idea of what I’ve been listening to most during the first six months of the year. It should also be a good indication as to which records are in the running for the title of BEST ALBUM OF THE YEAR, which — if you’ve never read this blog before — is something I post every December. Sometimes there’s a lot of upheaval in the top ten between June and December, and sometimes they stay nearly identical. Who knows how it’ll go this year.
Here we go!
The Top Ten Albums Of 2013 (Jan – Jun)
10. Benoit Pioulard – Hymnal (Kranky) – I’ve been on a HUGE Benoit Pioulard kick for the past several months. I was in the mood to listen to Precis (2006, Kranky) and suddenly it opened the floodgates and I’ve been listening to SOMETHING of Pioulard’s on an almost daily basis. For me, the best part about his oeuvre is its consistency. A lot of critics might feel like the musician is treading the same ground over and over again without injecting anything new to his sound, but I don’t find this to be true at all. Part of the reason I love these records is because I dig the late-night bedroom home-recording vibe, and I’m happy to hear as much of it as he’s willing to make. I say keep going, don’t change your sound just because others say to, clearly this is one that works. And it works brilliantly, I might add. [Listen to “Hawkeye”]
09. Implodes – Recurring Dream (Kranky) – Guys…the folks at Kranky records aren’t fucking around this year! Between Pan-American, Implodes, Benoit Pioulard, and Grouper…they’re responsible for releasing four of my 15 favorite albums of the year so far. Implodes’ last LP, Black Earth, was the 36th best album of 2011 in my opinion, and this one is even better. Blanketed in droning white noise, these songs are tasked with cutting through the muck and mire, and what transpires is nothing short of remarkable. The searing, kosmiche guitar leads, the murky drumming, the distant vocals, the sum of Recurring Dream’s parts is both haunting and memorable. [Listen to “Necronomics”]
08. The Men – New Moon (Sacred Bones) – The first time I heard New Moon my impression was, “This sounds like Gin Blossoms but noisier and heavier.” Probably because the first two tracks, “Open The Door” and “Half Angel Half Light” sound nothing like the first two tracks on last year’s Open Your Heart. But as you listen again and again, certain tracks start to stick out as exceptional. “I Saw Her Face” with its four minutes of chugging and plodding bursting into 45-seconds of cathartic noise is one example. The fuzz/garage number “I See No One” might just be my favorite track of 2013. It’s way, way poppier than Open Your Heart, but this is not a bad thing. At all.
07. My Bloody Valentine – m b v (mbv) – I’m not going to lie, I was one of the skeptics. At first I thought about just ignoring the new My Bloody Valentine album, but as soon as it hit the Internet friends started asking me if I’d heard it yet. So I caved. And, within minutes, my foot was firmly entrenched in my mouth. I’ve since listened to it countless times, mostly late at night while writing, but it also works for sunny day runs outside, long drives across town, it’s pretty incredible how it feels like the proper continuation to Loveless, and even more incredible that Kevin Shields and co. were able to achieve such an affect after TWENTY-TWO YEARS. I mean…holy shit…right?
06. Jasper TX – An Index Of Failure (Handmade Birds) – It feels like it’s been a really long time since Jasper TX has appeared on a year-end list of mine. What was the last one, Black Sheep in 2008? Did I cave and put Black Sun Transmissions on the 2011 list just because I felt like Dag hadn’t received enough love that year? Either way, An Index Of Failure is a remarkable record, as good as any of his output going back to A Darkness and (my personal favorite) I’ll Be Long Gone Before My Light Reaches You. Perhaps because it was “born from remnants of old failures, song fragments, ambitious attempts…” going back perhaps seven or more years. According to the label’s website, this is to be the final Jasper TX album, and if it is I hope Dag knows he’s put something really special out to cap an amazing career.
05. Umberto – Confrontations (Not Not Fun) – When the first copy of this album came into the store I kept playing it over and over again, and finally one of my co-workers stopped me and asked, “Is it YOU that keeps playing this!? You like this!? This doesn’t sound like ANYTHING you listen to!” And, well, yeah, I like it. I more than like it. I love Umberto! And Confrontations sounds like the best of Moroder combined with top-notch Italian horror film scores. I guess From The Grave was a little more subdued than Confrontations? Not AS dance-y? But there’s nothing wrong with music to groove to, right guys!? We all secretly dance around our rooms like little flowers swaying in a cool spring breeze listening to Chromatics and Nite Jewel, right? RIGHT!?
04. Grouper – The Man Who Died In His Boat (Kranky) – Is The Man Who Died In His Boat the best Grouper record since Cover The Windows And The Walls? Or is it merely THE BEST GROUPER RECORD YET!? I don’t know. I guess I’m undecided. I also really like Wide. Fuck, I own a lot of Grouper records. All of ’em, actually, except for Way Their Crept. I’ve even got all the stupid 45s she put out with Pumice and City Center and all that shit. When is enough Grouper enough? “NEVER” is the correct answer, I suppose. By the way, I’m not telling you what this record sounds like specifically because I’ve committed so many words to describing the beauty of Liz Harris (and her music!) for the past seven or eight years I don’t think I’m going to be saying anything new by describing what this one sounds like. Just take my word for it. It’s awesome. Get it now. [Listen to “Living Room”]
03. A Story Of Rats – Vastness & The Inverse (Translinguistic Other) – Here’s what I said about this album last month: An Ian recommendation, which is about as solid/trustworthy a recommendation as I can receive. The metal albums he typically recommendations I listen to can be hit-or-miss, but when he prefaces the suggestion by saying he’s confident I’ll like it, he’s mostly right. So it went with A Story Of Rats, which I’ve been WEARING OUT lately I’ve listened to it so much. Two tracks, two sides, each one 17+ minutes worth of blacker-than-black dirge-y doom metal. I’ve always been partial to the buried melodies and endless rumble/fuzz of heavy artists like The Angelic Process, Nadja, or Bell Witch (one of the best records of last year was their LP called Longing). This record hits all those aspects I love about doom/drone metal. Listen hard enough and you can discern a melody. Listen while performing some mundane task and you’re more likely to hear the inherent (but most-assuredly not overt) dreaminess. Each listen I’m hearing something else. And that might be the highest praise I can pay an album.
02. Haxan Cloak – Excavation (Tri Angle) – Ian described this one for me as “like Ben Frost,” which is about as loud as a ringing endorsement can be. Apparently this is a huge departure for them, as their last few records featured a lot of acoustic guitars and kind of a psychedelic folk vibe to them. Now they’re sounding more like — if I can borrow the vernacular of Aquarius Records — “slo-mo soul, dubbed out, minimal electronic murk.” If that doesn’t sell you on this album, nothing will. And, yeah, the first couple tracks sound like dead ringers for compositions you might find on a Ben Frost album. Which, again, means it’s really, really good.
01. Deafheaven – Sunbather (Deathwish) – Not gonna lie, I’ve been listening to this a shocking amount since I picked it up at the Deafheaven/Boris shows a few weeks ago. And before that I was listening to Roads To Judah a lot, but this one is way, way better. It’s just about as perfect a combination of metal and post-rock one could hope to achieve. There’s elements of USBM like Weakling or Wolves In The Throne Room, but when the guitars aren’t in-the-red blistering, the clean tones wouldn’t sound out of place on a Mogwai or Godspeed record. Hell, there were parts of “Dream House” I thought sounded like vintage ’90s alterna-rock, specifically Hum. It’s a somewhat-shocking but phenomenal transformation that has occurred in Deafheaven’s sound between their last full-length and this one. Sunbather might just be the work of a band catching lightning in a bottle, but if they continue to release albums of equally high-quality, Deafheaven are going to appear a lot more on these (and plenty of other!) lists for years to come.
