Top 30 Albums of 2013

Happy 2014 everyone! We start the New Year with the list of our 30 favorite albums of 2013, chosen among approximately 160 full-length releases we’ve listened to in the past year.

You may have already caught a sneak peak of the top of our CD pile here (yes, it’s still a prerequisite for me to have an object in my hands before considering a record for inclusion in my list - old habits die hard), but now it’s time to cut through the chase and properly unveil the albums that we’ll remember the most from 2013:

All three albums at the top of our list were equally deserving of the title "Album of the Year". In the end, the honor went to Factory Floor for delivering a perfect 53-minute electro-dance odyssey, perhaps the album that New Order should have made right after "Blue Monday". This doesn’t mean that Factory Floor are stuck to the music of a particular decade; influences from different genres and eras creep into the mix and go through the Factory's creative process. The end product is simply amazing - the music of the future has finally arrived! (Click here to see our October review.)

"Shaking the Habitual", the epic double album with which The Knife have made their comeback after seven years, sounds like nothing else around. Whatever the influences of the brother-sister electro duo, they have truly turned them into a sound completely their own, a very rare feat indeed. It’s true that sometimes their music journey took them into strange realms outside of listenable song territory (on the 20-minute drone of "Old Dreams Waiting to Be Realized" for instance), but unquestionably there was plenty to be excited and inspired about (the trailblazing "Full Of Fire", our Single of the Year, for example)  in one of the most adventurous albums released in recent years (click here for our full review.)

The Top 3 is completed with "Silence Yourself", the stunning debut album by Savages. The four girls have delivered the best guitar record of the year, taking inspiration from post-punk’s glorious past and injecting it with a passion and fury all their own. I think we can expect even greater things from them in the near future. (Check out here our live review of the band's record release gig at London's Rough Trade Shops in May.)

Here’s the complete list of Cool Music Central’s Top 30 Albums of 2013:

Top 30 Albums of 2013

1.   Factory Floor - FACTORY FLOOR

 

2.   Shaking the habitual - THE KNIFE

3.   Silence yourself - SAVAGES

4.   More light - PRIMAL SCREAM

5.   M B V - MY BLOODY VALENTINE

6.   Loud city song - JULIA HOLTER

7.   We are the 21st century ambassadors of peace and magic - FOXYGEN

8.   Waiting for something to happen - VERONICA FALLS

9.   Indigo meadow - THE BLACK ANGELS

10. Reflektor - ARCADE FIRE

11. Purgatory / Paradise - THROWING MUSES
12. Push the sky away - NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS
13. One breath - ANNA CALVI
14. Interiors - GLASSER
15. Inform - Educate - Entertain - PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING
16. Slow focus - FUCK BUTTONS
17. AM - ARCTIC MONKEYS
18. Mosquito - YEAH YEAH YEAHS
19. Light up gold - PARQUET COURTS
20. Cerulean salt - WAXAHATCHEE
21. Major Arcana - SPEEDY ORTIZ
22. Static - CULTS
23. Shulamith - POLIÇA
24. Holy fire - FOALS
25. Re-Mit - THE FALL
26. I hate music - SUPERCHUNK
27. The double EP: A sea of split peas - COURTNEY BARNETT
28. Trouble will find me - THE NATIONAL
29. Dream river - BILL CALLAHAN
30. Seasons of your day - MAZZY STAR

Click here for the rest of our Albums of the Year (#31 to #60) and here for the debuts, as well as the sophomore and comeback records of the year.

You can also check out our Top 50 Singles of 2013 here.

Last but not least, a farewell to Benjamin Curtis of School of Seven Bells and Secret Machines who sadly passed away at the end of the year - here's an old favorite of ours, "Prince of Peace", a song we introduced to our Killer Tracks Hall of Fame back in January of 2009:

School of Seven Bells - Prince of Peace

Top Albums of 2013: 31 - 60

We’re sending off 2013 and welcoming the New Year the best way we know how: with the list of our favorite albums of the past twelve months.

As always, the objective of this list is to give an honest and, certainly, subjective opinion on the records that stood out the most among the many that we’ve listened to in the year. Of course, as I always like to point out when presenting this first version of the year-end list, the process of discovering music never stops. This means that if we were to revisit this list a few months from now, the selection could be different. However, what makes the December version special is the fact that it gives an accurate picture of the new music we’ve been listening and enjoying the most during the year.

So, after a reminder that compilations, EPs and reissues are not included in our list, let’s take a look at the albums that comprise the lower half of our Top 60 selection of the year plus a few more that also deserve a mention. All good stuff, without a doubt, that just didn’t fit in the one record bag we’re allowed on the trip to 2013’s desert island:

Top 60 Albums of 2013: 31 - 60

31. Defend yourself - SEBADOH
32. Run fast - THE JULIE RUIN
33. MCII - MIKAL CRONIN
34. Right thoughts right words right action - FRANZ FERDINAND
35. Personal record - ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER
36. Wakin on a pretty daze - KURT VILE
37. Last night on earth - LEE RANALDO AND THE DUST
38. Chelsea Light Moving - CHELSEA LIGHT MOVING
39. Fade - YO LA TENGO
40. Back to land - WOODEN SHJIPS
41. Images du futur - SUUNS
42. Matangi - M.I.A.
43. MGMT - MGMT
44. Cruise your illusion - MILK MUSIC
45. The argument - GRANT HART
46. Muchacho - PHOSPHORESCENT
47. Ghost on ghost - IRON AND WINE
48. Nature noir - CRYSTAL STILTS
49. English little league - GUIDED BY VOICES
50. Modern vampires of the city - VAMPIRE WEEKEND
51. Yeezus - KANYE WEST
52. Bitter rivals - SLEIGH BELLS
53. Strange pleasures - STILL CORNERS
54. Herein wild - FRANKIE ROSE
55. The worst things get, the harder I fight, the harder I fight, the more I love you - NEKO CASE
56. Coming out of the fog - ARBOURETUM
57. Almanac - WIDOWSPEAK
58. Monomania - DEERHUNTER
59. The terror - THE FLAMING LIPS
60. ...Like clockwork - QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE

Also recommended: Comedown machine - THE STROKES, Specter at the feast - BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB, Run The Jewels - RUN THE JEWELS, FIDLAR - FIDLAR, You're nothing - ICEAGE, Girls like us - PINS, Wash the sins not only the face - ESBEN AND THE WITCH, Desire lines - CAMERA OBSCURA, One track mind - PSYCHIC ILLS, New moon - THE MEN, Vanishing point - MUDHONEY, Change becomes us - WIRE, An object - NO AGE, Out of view - THE HISTORY OF APPLE PIE, The new life - GIRLS NAMES, You owe me nothing but love - COMANECHI, Rat farm - MEAT PUPPETS, The invisible way - LOW, Excavation - THE HAXAN CLOAK, The bones of what you believe - CHVRCHES, Body music - ALUNAGEORGE, Olympia - AUSTRA, Hard coming down - GUN OUTFIT, Am I vertical? - THE CALLAS, A long walk - TANGO WITH LIONS, At home - KEEP SHELLY IN ATHENS.

The "final" version of this list, with all the new discoveries that will undoubtedly come along in the next few months (with the help of the many other lists out there), will be posted in Cool Music Database, the place for all our year-end lists from the '80s and beyond.

Stay tuned for Cool Music Central's Top 30 Albums of 2013 in our first post of the New Year...

And to bid farewell to 2013, here's our last jam of the year, the track "The Desert Babbler" off Iron & Wine's LP "Ghost on Ghost", the #47 of our list, a great song to listen to on New Year's Eve:

Iron & Wine - The Desert Babbler

Top 50 Singles of 2013

After revealing our favorite debut, sophomore and comeback albums of the year in the previous post, it’s finally time to proceed to the main course of our 2013 review - the lists of our top singles and albums.

We’ll begin today with the Top 50 Singles of the Year and between December 30 and January 2 we’ll unveil in two parts the albums that made it in the Top 60.

Before checking out our favorite singles for 2013, let me remind you the rules of this game:

1) All tracks included here were either released as singles in some shape or form (digital or physical) in the past 12 months or offered as free mp3s. This means that we’re excluding album tracks from this list, but you can easily find out all our favorites by checking out our Listening Habits posts of the year here.

 2) Only one track from each artist or group is included in the Top 50 for a greater variety in the final selection.

Time to start the music! These are Cool Music Central's Top 50 Singles of 2013:

Top 50 Singles of 2013

1.   Full Of Fire - THE KNIFE
2.   Fall Back - FACTORY FLOOR
3.   Sacrilege - YEAH YEAH YEAHS
4.   San Francisco - FOXYGEN
5.   Jubilee Street - NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS
6.   Javelin Unlanding - BILL CALLAHAN
7.   She Will - SAVAGES
8.   Eliza - ANNA CALVI
9.   Teenage - VERONICA FALLS
10. Avant Gardener - COURTNEY BARNETT
11. Stare At The Sun - ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER (mp3)
12. Don’t Play With Guns - THE BLACK ANGELS (mp3)
13. Reflektor - ARCADE FIRE
14. My Number - FOALS
15. High Road - CULTS
16. Coast To Coast - WAXAHATCHEE (mp3)
17. Oh Come On - THE JULIE RUIN (mp3)
18. Tiger Tank - SPEEDY ORTIZ (mp3)
19. Song For Zula - PHOSPHORESCENT
20. In The Green Wild - JULIA HOLTER
21. Don’t Swallow The Cap - THE NATIONAL
22. Just Make It Stop - LOW (mp3)
23. I Will - SEBADOH
24. Borrowed Time - PARQUET COURTS (mp3)
25. Chain My Name - POLIÇA
26. 2013 - PRIMAL SCREAM
27. Do I Wanna Know? - ARCTIC MONKEYS
28. Ohm - YO LA TENGO
29. Noble Insect - GUIDED BY VOICES
30. Sir William Wray / Jetplane / Hittite Man - THE FALL
31. Paul's Not Home - GIBBY HAYNES
32. Man - NEKO CASE (mp3)
33. Diane Young - VAMPIRE WEEKEND
34. My God Is The Sun - QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
35. Bitter Rivals - SLEIGH BELLS
36. Black Skinhead - KANYE WEST
37. Brainfreeze - FUCK BUTTONS
38. Signal 30 - PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING
39. Design - GLASSER
40. Right Action - FRANZ FERDINAND
41. Do It Again - CAMERA OBSCURA
42. Sticks & Stones - CRYSTAL STILTS
43. Back To Land - WOODEN SHJIPS (mp3)
44. Wakin On A Pretty Day - KURT VILE (mp3)
45. California - MAZZY STAR
46. Fear Of My Identity / Who Have I Become - BEST COAST
47. See You - THE HISTORY OF APPLE PIE
48. This Time I Got A Reason - FUZZ
49. All The Time - THE STROKES
50. Let The Day Begin - BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB

mp3s via kexp blog, stereogum and sub pop

Game of Lists 2013: Debuts, sophomores and comebacks

The last week of the year is here, which means it's time to officially declare the start of our Game of Lists for 2013!

As usual, one of our year-end lists is dedicated to the Debuts of the Year, but since we feel that 2013 was also notable for its strong sophomore efforts and its long-overdue, impressive comebacks, we decided to give props to these records as well by compiling separate lists for them. Let's start with the newcomers first:

Top 10 Debut Albums of 2013

You cannot really say that Factory Floor are newcomers as they have been releasing singles since 2008 and they even have a mini-LP under their belt, but this year's self-titled record on DFA was their first full-length release and as such it qualifies as a debut album. And what a debut album that was... 

Perhaps the fans of the band's early noise experiments didn't get exactly what they have been waiting for, but those who were turned on to Factory Floor by their more recent, relentless dance-floor adventures, namely the 2011 singles "(R E A L L O V E)" and "Two Different Ways", they certainly got their money's worth and then some. Repetition never sounded this good...

The other debut of 2013 that already deserves the term "classic" is "Silence Yourself" by Savages.

The London-based quartet's record is rightfully present on every list with a fondness for guitars this year as its urgency and passion was contagious, while its explosive music channeled the spirit of the era that birthed post-punk. A truly remarkable beginning from a band that convinces it is capable for much more.

Here are the Top 10 debuts of 2013:

1.   Factory Floor - FACTORY FLOOR

2.   Silence Yourself - SAVAGES

3.   Inform - Educate - Entertain - PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING

4.   Light Up Gold - PARQUET COURTS



5.   Major Arcana - SPEEDY ORTIZ



6.   The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas - COURTNEY BARNETT



7.   Cruise Your Illusion - MILK MUSIC



8.   FIDLAR - FIDLAR

9.   Girls Like Us - PINS



10. Out of View - THE HISTORY OF APPLE PIE

Top 10 Sophomore Albums of 2013

And here are the difficult, sophomore efforts that stood out this year for us, proving that those debuts we were going on about in previous years were no flukes. Some of them were overlooked in other lists as they were deemed too similar to the first efforts, but I feel it is rather unrealistic to expect leaps and bounds from one record to the next. Once in a long while it does happen, but bands like Nirvana don't come along too often. You shouldn't hold that against someone, especially when they are able to give you an album that has so many of the qualities you were admiring before.

Nevertheless, the album at the top of the sophomore list is certainly a great leap forward for the band that made it. Foxygen's "We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors Of Peace And Magic" was certainly a magical album, one that was able to conjure so many musical memories from the past and recreate them in a totally unique and original manner. Amazingly talented musical thieves beyond any doubt...

Here are the Top 10 sophomore efforts of 2013:

1.   We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors Of Peace And Magic - FOXYGEN
2.   Waiting For Something To Happen - VERONICA FALLS
3.   One Breath - ANNA CALVI
4.   Interiors - GLASSER
5.   Cerulean Salt - WAXAHATCHEE
6.   Static - CULTS
7.   Shulamith - POLIÇA
8.   Images Du Futur - SUUNS
9.   Strange Pleasures - STILL CORNERS
10. Almanac - WIDOWSPEAK

Top 5 Comebacks of 2013

And last, but no least, in a year full of remarkable comebacks, here are the five that pleased us the most, presented not in order of preference but by how many years it's been since their previous full-length effort:

1. M B V - MY BLOODY VALENTINE (22 years)
2. Seasons of your day - MAZZY STAR (17 years)
3. Defend yourself - SEBADOH (14 years)
4. Purgatory / Paradise - THROWING MUSES (10 years)
5. Shaking the habitual - THE KNIFE (7 years)

Three lists, 25 albums for the beginning of our Game of Lists 2013. Are all of these records going to be in our final Top 60? Who's going to make it in the prestigious Top 10? Find out the answers to these questions (and many more you didn't know you had) in our final posts of the year...

Merry Xmas!

Foxygen - No Destruction

Blouse, live @ Six D.O.G.S (Athens, December 16, 2013)

Just before we start posting our various year-end lists, here’s a look at Blouse’s first ever gig in Athens, our last live report for 2013.

The Portland, Oregon, band’s Greek live debut was the last date on its December European tour and took place just a day after the Dum Dum Girls’ concert in the city, the band that they will be touring with next year (and which we spotted in the audience on this night).

Blouse presented tracks from both their albums, the more electronic-leaning self-titled debut from 2011 and the more guitar-friendly new one, "Imperium". Regardless of what instruments take the upper hand in each track, it’s Charlie Hilton’s soft, melodic voice that lures the listener in and captivates attention. It’s the type of singing that would fit perfectly at the heart of a shoegaze guitar storm, but Blouse’s sound tends to lean more towards the new wave and synthpop darkness of the early '80s, defined by driving bass lines and metronomic drum rhythms that propel the atmospheric guitar or synth-based melodies.

Blouse’s thoroughly enjoyable hour-long set included the following songs: Imperium, Eyesight, They Always Fly Away, Firestarter, In a Glass, Fountain in Rewind, 1000 Years, No Shelter, Time Travel, White, Arrested, Into Black, Videotapes. Encore: Shadow 

Check out below Blouse performing "In a Glass" for their fans in Athens:

Blouse - In a Glass (live @ 6 DOGS, Dec. 16, 2013)

And since this was the year’s final gig for us, here is the reel of our live highlights for 2013, including performances by Metz, The Twilight Sad, Paul Banks, Psychic Ills, The Men, The Soft Moon, Anika, Prince Rama, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Savages, Swans, Girls Names, Fucked Up, Death Grips, Light Asylum, Allah Las, The Last Drive, The Dream Syndicate, Parquet Courts, Beach Fossils, Iceage, Esben and the Witch, Still Corners, A Place To Bury Strangers, The Black Angels, Dum Dum Girls and Blouse - a pretty good line-up, methinks. Enjoy 2 hours of live music from Athens and London through Cool Music Central's lenses:

2013 Live: The Gigs of the Year