My Favorite Albums of 2013 (11-20)

I know it's 2014 now, but I'm gonna focus on 2013 for just a couple days more. If you missed albums 21-30, you can find them here. As of this moment, a bunch of these albums can be downloaded over at Amazon for only $5, so check that out if you're looking to buy any of them. Otherwise, it's on with the list!

20) Telekinesis - Dormarion

Dormarion is the fourth full-length album released by Michael Benjamin Lerner under the name Telekinesis. By now, the Seattle native has figured out how to mix indie rock and power pop to craft songs that beg to be sung along with. The album opener "Power Lines" lulls you into thinking your speakers somehow got turned down somehow before cranking up the noise a little over a minute in. Additional fun fact: if Wikipedia is to be believed, his dad voiced Fox McCloud in Star Fox 64 game.


19) Wooden Wand - Blood Oaths of the New Blues

I wrote about Wooden Wand in my first post of 2013. As I said then, this is just a really nice americana/folk/country album. The track "Outsider Blues" shows off James Jackson Toth's knack for storytelling/song writing and is one of my favorite songs of the year.

18) Bastille - Bad Blood

Bastille are an English indie rock band that first came to my attention when I saw they had a song named "Laura Palmer" (a character from the show Twin Peaks). Their synth-heavy debut, Bad Blood, is filled with catchy, anthemic songs. "Laura Palmer," "Pompeii," "Icarus," and "Flaws" are some of my favorite tracks.


17) CHVRCHES - The Bones of What You Believe

Number 17 is another synth-heavy band releasing their debut LP. CHVRCHES (pronounced churches) had garnered a good deal of buzz by releasing a couple tracks before this album. Fortunately, The Bones Of What You Believe does not disappoint. "The Mother We Share" and "Recover" are both exceptional songs that were released before the album, but the band has surrounded them with plenty of other enjoyable tracks. This is a band that I imagine we'll be hearing a lot more in the future.


16) Los Campesinos! - No Blues

The enthusiastic Welsh band Los Campesinos! released their 5th full length album in 2013. Time has not sapped any of their energy as No Blues is packed full of songs just bursting at the seams. The band could come off as too cute (they refer to themselves as all having the last name Campesinos!) if their songs weren't so catchy and fun.


15) Local Natives - Hummingbird

This sophomore album from Local Natives is much more dreamy and atmospheric sounding than their debut. The lyrics are largely inspired by the departure of a band member and the passing of a mother of one of the members. These two different forms of loss may have led to a less sunny sounding record than their debut, but it certainly didn't affect the quality of their music.

14) Jason Isbell - Southeastern

How the work of Jason Isbell has slipped past me to this point in my life is beyond me. My new year's resolution may have to be to better familiarize myself with his previous solo output and his work with the Drive-By Truckers because Southeastern was an album that grew on me more and more each time I heard it. The album was recorded after a stint in rehab, and Isbell's twangy guitar perfectly backs emotionally powerful lyrics about his recent sobriety. In the process of writing this, I moved the album four spots up my list. If I revisited this list in another few days it may move up even higher.


13) Har Mar Superstar - Bye Bye 17

I guess this is the "What have I been doing?" section of the list. Despite having released several records and hailing from my home state of Minnesota, I didn't know the music of Har Mar Superstar until checking out Bye Bye 17. It turns out I've been missing out. Sean Tillman may not look the part, but this album is full of really wonderful soul/r&b/pop gems. Make sure to check out "Lady You Shot Me" and "Prisoner."

12) Volcano Choir - Repave

Repave is a gorgeous sophomore album from Volcano Choir (a collaboration between Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and members of the post-rock band Collections of Colonies of Bees). The rest of the band has done a wonderful job surrounding Vernon's voice with sparse guitar, piano, and drums throughout most of the album. Repave didn't click with me right away, but sitting here and just letting the sound wash over me now seems pretty perfect.

11) The Shouting Matches - Grownass Man

Justin Vernon may not be giving us new Bon Iver music anytime soon, but he's sure giving us a lot of other really good stuff. The Shouting Matches is a blues-rock trio consisting of Wisconsin natives Vernon,  Phil Cook (of Megafaun), and Brian Moen (of Peter Wolf Crier). The album is really enjoyable and if you've ever been curious what Vernon sounds like not singing in his falsetto, this record answers that question.




Here's a song from each of the albums so you can get a taste for yourself.



Tomorrow I'll post my top 10 favorite albums from what was a very strong year for music.

This week in music (week of 1/8/2013)

I haven't done one of these posts in a while, and this week's is a bit late, but there was a new album and several other things I wanted to mention, so better late than never.

New release of the week - Blood Oaths of the New Blues by Wooden Wand

I took a couple weeks off from listening to new music after burning myself out at the end of last year. The first album of 2013 that I listened to was "Blood Oaths of the New Blues" by Wooden Wand (aka James Jackson Toth), and it was a great way to get back into things. A ton of stuff I loved came out last year and if Wooden Wand is an omen for whats to come, 2013 should be a treat as well.

I'm not familiar with any of Wooden Wand's previous material (and apparently there is a lot of it), but this album mixes americana, folk, and country with rock and blues elements. Right away you know this isn't your typical record. The album opener, "No Bed for Beatle Wand / Days This Long" kicks off at almost 12 minutes long and plays for more than three minutes before the vocals join. In this day and age of short attention spans and instant gratification it takes a lot of confidence in what you're doing to start an album like that. Once the lyrics do come in, he sings "Nothing's for certain, but I know a girl who's perfectly worth waiting for," summing up the wait for his vocals at the same time. The second track, "Outsider Blues" chronicles a trip to a blues festival with a woman named Christie and is a true lyrical treat. "Jhonn Balance," the second to last on the album is another favorite, but the album isn't really meant to be listened to in single form. Here's a track to get a taste of the album, but I highly recommend just playing the whole thing on Spotify (or whatever your preferred method is) and then repeating that process over and over until 2013 gives us our next gem of a release.



If you want to check out Wooden Wand further, here are some links:

Band website
Facebook
Twitter
Album on Amazon

Miscellaneous Links, News, and Notes

* Local Natives released another new track, and based on that and the strength of their last album, I'm really looking forward to their next album.



* Telekinesis (aka Michael Benjamin Lerner) also released a new track this past week. Like Local Natives, I'm really excited for his album Dormarion to come out (due 4/2).

* Father John Misty, who released one of my favorite albums of last year, may have already been part of one of my favorite live performances of 2013. This (NSFW) version of R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly" is just wonderful.

My Top 40 Albums of the Year (21-40)

Well school really got the better of me these last few weeks, but I'm back with some end of the year round-ups. I've got a top 40 albums list planned that will be broken into 4 parts over the next 4 days and then some other miscellanea the first day of the new year if all goes to plan.

This is the first year I've had this blog, but I've actually posted end of the year lists before over on last.fm (2008, 2009, 2010). Those lists are a good reminder that these end of the year lists are completely subjective and a product of a specific time. If I remade this list a year later (or even a month later), it would probably be fairly different. This is just meant to be a snapshot of how I feel about the year's releases as 2011 winds to a close. So with that out of the way, enjoy! (And let me know in the comments which albums you think I've left out or just if you want to chat about some of the ones that are on there).

Also, I should note that this is a great time to bolster your music collections. 18 of the 20 albums on this list are currently available for $5 or less over at Amazon, so go check some of them out.

40) Carlos Forster - Family Trees
This was the debut album by one of M. Ward's friends. M. Ward also produced the album, which isn't a surprise when you listen to it.

39) The Horrible Crowes - Elsie
This is a side project of the lead singer of The Gaslight Anthem. It didn't catch me as much as their last two albums did, but it is a good listen.

38) Beirut - The Rip Tide
This is the 3rd album by Zach Condon, who apparently is younger than me.

37) Memphis - Here Comes A City
Memphis will probably sound familiar to anyone who likes the band Stars. One of the two members, Torquil Campbell is also one of the Stars singers. This album could have been placed higher. I always come away thinking I really enjoyed it when I finish listening.

36) North Highlands - Wild One
I admit to not knowing much about this band or album. I only gave it a couple listens, but it came across as really catchy when I did. It is one I'll return to in the new year, which could send it moving up or down this list.

35) Los Campesinos! - Hello Sadness
Hello Sadness is the follow-up to the similarly well-titled Romance is Boring from last year. Their albums have some infectious energy that make listening to them a fun experience.

34) The Vaccines - What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?
This is my favorite album title of the year due to the fact that it is their debut album. "If You Wanna" and "Norgaard" are two infectiously catchy songs among my favorites of the year, but the album as a whole dragged a little too much to be placed higher.

33) Blink-182 - Neighborhoods
I actually haven't listened to this album more than a couple times, but it seemed enjoyable when I did. Maybe I'm still just giving them some good will for how much I loved their last release, their self-titled album back in 2003.

32) Okkervil River - I Am Very Far
As has been the case for most of their releases, I enjoy it, but I don't find myself craving it ever.

31) Dawes - Nothing Is Wrong
Early in the year I discovered Middle Brother, a band composed of members from Dawes, Delta Spirit and Deer Tick. This led me go back and listen to those originating bands. Dawes may be my favorite of the bunch, but none of them have quite lived up to that initial excitement I got listening to the new Middle Brother record.

30) Tennis - Cape Dory
Tennis is a husband/wife duo that according to Wikipedia met while studying philosophy in college. I knew there was a reason I liked them.

29) I Build Collapsible Mountains - The Spectator & The Act
This is the indie folk solo project of a Scottish musician who got his start in a post-rock band called The Gothenburg Address. He also put out a really good self-titled EP this year.

28) The Black Keys - El Camino
I just bought this album about a week ago. My initial impression is that I don't like it as much as Rubber Factory, their only album I am super familiar with, but it is enjoyable nonetheless and may grow on me more.

27) Destroyer - Kaputt
This album has one of the more unique sounds I heard this year, blending indie pop with jazz. The saxophone gets a bum rap in popular music, but Destroyer did their darnedest with this album to change that. For that, I commend them.

26) Jamaica - No Problem
Jamaica is actually a French band. This is a good upbeat electronic/indie pop or indie rock album. There are some pretty catchy tunes on here.

25) Laura Marling - A Creature I Don't Know
Ideally I would have talked about Laura Marling in a post already. I was unfamiliar with her until I saw her open for M. Ward a few weeks ago, but she really won me over by being charming and delightful on stage and playing some really good songs.

24) The Head And The Heart - The Head And The Heart
The Head And The Heart is an indie folk band from Seattle. Technically they originally released this album two years ago, but it just got a national release through Sub Pop this year, which is the first I'm hearing it, so it goes on the list.

23) The Kills - Blood Pressures
I've enjoyed The Kills before, but I think this is the first album that I enjoyed the whole way through.

22) Kathryn Calder - Bright And Vivid
Kathryn Calder is a member of The New Pornographers, and apparently she released an album last year too, but this is my first exposure to her. I was sold on her from the very first song on this album. I'm not sure what it was, but it really kept my attention.

21) Telekinesis - 12 Desperate Straight Lines
If I redo this list in a month or two, this album may end up 10 places higher. After every listen I come away thinking just how great and catchy and well-crafted the album is, but for some reason it still isn't one that I find myself going back to over and over and over again, so for now it is stuck on the outside of the top 20 looking in. Fun Wikipedia fact: Telekinesis is apparently the brainchild of one guy from Seattle but on tour he is joined by Cody Votolato, younger brother of Rocky Votolato (an old favorite of mine).


Congrats to anyone that made it all the way through that! Here are a few videos of some of my favorite songs from this part of the list.

A great regretful break-up song by The Vaccines.


Dawes performing a live version of album closer "A Little Bit of Everything" for Minneapolis radio station, 89.3 The Current.


And a song from Telekinesis, the top band on this part of the list:


Come back tomorrow for albums 11-20.