Amph 2013 - Album/s of the year

I think the fact that you not only know the Pink Dots but even bothered to list them under a notable album for this year makes you the coolest user on this forum. Dude. Seriously.

 

B . . . but . . . I was gonna do the best albums I heard this year!

 

I had to Rogue. Otherwise there'd be so much Juliet "music".

 

Wow! Another Pink Dots fan. That's awesome!

I've seen them a bunch of times live, first time during the "Maria Dimension" tour in the early '90s, last time a couple of months ago in the DNA Lounge in San Francisco for the "Gethsemane Option" tour. Live the stuff was great--on album, I thought it was a bit disappointing, but still really strong and still miles ahead of most other bands.

 

Ahhh I'm jealous!!! I'm too young to have caught them during their golden years.... I was lucky enough to catch their tour when plutonium blonde came out, but that's been it. I missed this past tour sadly Ka Spel in general I think is just a musical genius, even his "bad" work is still great compared to most musicians. Although this past LPD I haven't been able to get into yet, I think it's just going to take time to grow on me.

 

For absolutely zero street cred, here are the only two albums released this year that I can both think of at this very moment and am unable to stop playing constantly.

Haim -- Days Are Gone




Lorde -- Pure Heroine

 

So I guess I can't list London Calling? probably listened to that more than any other album this year.

Also, it pains me to say it, but I would nominate Reflektor as the buiggest disappointment/absolute piece of crap of the year. Well, except for the stuff Juliet listens to.

 

Lorde? Really? I don't get the appeal. I tried listening to her but I just don't think she's talented. She's as stupid as Miley Cyrus and a weak watered down pop version of Florence + TM.

 

the **** buttons album is great. i've also enjoyed the releases by kanye, eminem, danny brown, run the jewels, chance the rapper, arcade fire, paul mccartney, earl sweatshirt, arctic monkeys, lorde, the weeknd, boards of canada, baths, justin timberlake, chvrches, the national, and more i'm sure i'm forgetting. there are a ton more that i've only given cursory listens to that i want to explore more and a bunch i have yet to check out at all.

edit: i thought the rest of the lorde album was just ok, but "royals" is a great track.

 

Yeah, I tried listening to the rest of Pure Heroine and it wasn't much to write home about. I do like Royals.
Also lackluster: Britney Jean

I don't know what qualifies as Juliet music, but there's probably some of it on this list:

One Direction's new album, Midnight Memories, was their best album so far. Better Than Words has a really cute concept, the lyrics are titles of other songs. Happily is kind of a Mumfordy boy band vibe. Which I'm sure sounds like a living nightmare for many of you.
Janelle Monae - Electric Lady was great. I like Monae's aesthetic, I like that she does themey concept albums, and I loved the music video for Q.U.E.E.N.
Little Mix - Salute. I really, really hope girl groups are coming back.
A$AP Rocky - Long Live A$AP. Listened to the whole thing after hearing Wild For The Night too many times on the radio, turned out I like a lot of the tracks that didn't get radio play better. (Opposite of what happened with Get Lucky/Random Access Memories).

Also, not an album, but my song of the year is Bird Machine by DJ Snake. I spent probably a solid month listening to nothing else. Forced my friends to listen to it, so I could watch their facial expressions as they experienced it for the first time. This song is my gift to all of you.

 

This is probably my favorite off of her album:

 

The best Nine Inch Nails album this year is Welcome Oblivion by How to Destroy Angels, I think.

 

I know, okay? Obviously Flo Plus is way better, but they've not released an album this year. I just happen to like Pure Heroine. It's not great, I just like it. I'm sorry.

 

The new Daft Punk album is alright too I guess.

 

Oh, man. I almost forgot Heartthrob.

 

it almost made my list.

 

i forgot the r.a. the rugged man album, which is a huge oversight. i listened to that record as much as anything this year.

 

I'm disappointed Dani likes One Direction. Jesus Christ.

Some others this year:

Palms, Palms - Chino from deftones singing over a band made up of the rest of ISIS? Yes please - languid, dreamlike and epic.
Protest the Hero, Volition - Canadian progressive gods turn in an album with the usual combination of noodly guitars, technical riffs, and the odd female vocal line.
Megadeth, Super Collider - Ha, kidding. It's awful. Truly.
Ocoeur - Memento EP - I can't describe how much I love this guy's work. It's so goddamn beautiful and nuanced. Check it out on Soundcloud.

People have already mentioned Boards of Canada, so YES to that.

 

You can keep your disappointment.

 

I just expected better of you, is all. You rarely, if ever, fail so you understand that this is particularly significant.

 

I'm not gonna give you crap for your lack of street cred. I didn't like Heartthrob as much as some of their other albums, but I'll be damned if it doesn't have some killer pop tracks.



Same thing for that Haim album... that thing is a pure blast of '90s pop nostalgia and I love it.



Alright, now I need to compose another post to salvage my reputation...

 

Reflektor is not my favorite Arcade Fire album, but it's still my favorite album of 2013. This is the band at their most eclectic by far, and despite an ostensible lack of musical cohesion (something which makes their other albums so great), the whole thing still manages to feel so epic and so "Arcade Fire." Maybe it's the melancholy of the strings weeping in the reverb (now blended seamlessly with synthesizers), or all the bittersweet memories conjured up by Win's wavering vocals. It's impossible to choose a single representative track since the thing is so dynamic, but nobody can deny the appeal of this riff:



I've never been a particularly huge fan of Vampire Weekend, but Modern Vampires of the City is a pretty damn solid album. Give it a listen.



Another one I'm surprised I haven't heard much about, considering how accessible it is (IMO), is Evil Friends by Portugal. The Man. What's wrong with it? Is it too poppy? This one got a decent amount of play by me this year... it manages to be remarkably cohesive while having a ton of catchy tunes. Again, this is one to listen to in full, but here's a taste:



I was also pleasantly surprised by the QotSA release, and The Strokes' new album has a few really good tracks too:

 

Admittedly, I didn't find time to listen to very many new albums this year, but this is easily my favorite:



It brings together a lot of musical elements I enjoy (jazz, roots and dub reggae, trance, down-tempo, classical). Its tighter and more focused than their first album and I really think this is one of keyboardist Jamie Saft's better settings for his unique output. I particularly enjoy his use of leitmotif and also a repeated specific device whereby he builds musical tension and releases it with a trailing, diminishing piano figure.

 

Have you ever talked to her about music?

 

No, but I wouldn't take me seriously though.

But, **** One Direction.