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 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

The Best Albums of 2013 so far

So far, so good... In the first half of 2013 we've heard several albums that will certainly be among the top releases of the year come December and at least one, The Knife's "Shaking The Habitual", that stands out as a clear favorite for "Album of the Year".

The Swedish brother & sister electro duo have returned after seven years with a monster, double album that sounds like nothing else around, capable of reaching the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. The rush of excitement created by tracks like "Full of Fire" or "A Tooth For An Eye" is contradicted by the confusing drone of "Old Dreams Waiting to Be Realized" at the end of disc 1, only to be seduced again by the mystery of "Raging Lung" that starts disc 2. The roller-coaster ride continues all the way to the end of this stunning 96-minute trip that asks you to question everything you think you know and leaves no place for a middle ground; you'll either love it or hate it and the list that follows makes it clear where we stand.

Here are C.M.C.'s Top 40 Albums for the first half of the year based on what we've listened to the most up 'till now, in a list that avoids ranking (too early for this sort of decisions) but it's certainly not in alphabetical order:

Top 40 Albums (January - June 2013)

• Shaking The Habitual - THE KNIFE 
• M B V - MY BLOODY VALENTINE 
• More Light - PRIMAL SCREAM 
• Silence Yourself - SAVAGES 
• We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors Of Peace And Magic - FOXYGEN 
• Waiting For Something To Happen - VERONICA FALLS 
• Indigo Meadow - THE BLACK ANGELS 
• Mosquito - YEAH YEAH YEAHS 
• Trouble Will Find Me - THE NATIONAL 
• Inform - Educate - Entertain - PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING 
• Re-Mit - THE FALL 
• Push The Sky Away - NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS 
• Holy Fire - FOALS 
• Images Du Futur - SUUNS 
• Wakin’ On A Pretty Daze - KURT VILE 
• Chelsea Light Moving - CHELSEA LIGHT MOVING 
• English Little League - GUIDED BY VOICES 
• The Terror - THE FLAMING LIPS 
• Fade - YO LA TENGO 
• Ghost On Ghost - IRON AND WINE 
• Muchacho - PHOSPHORESCENT 
• ...Like Clockwork - QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE 
• Modern Vampires Of The City - VAMPIRE WEEKEND 
• Out Of View - THE HISTORY OF APPLE PIE 
• New Moon - THE MEN 
• Vanishing Point - MUDHONEY 
• FIDLAR - FIDLAR 
• You're Nothing - ICEAGE 
• Coming Out Of The Fog - ARBOURETUM 
• Almanac - WIDOWSPEAK 
• Comedown Machine - THE STROKES 
• Specter At The Feast - BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE 
• Wash The Sins Not Only The Face - ESBEN AND THE WITCH 
• Change Becomes Us - WIRE 
• Rat Farm - MEAT PUPPETS 
• One Track Mind - PSYCHIC ILLS 
• You Owe Me Nothing But Love - COMANECHI 
• The New Life - GIRLS NAMES 
• The Invisible Way - LOW 
• Hard Coming Down - GUN OUTFIT

And here's a favorite tracks playlist to go along with it... best enjoyed under the shade, somewhere by the sea:

Listening Habits 03-05.13

It’s been a while since the last time we published lists with our current favorite albums and songs, which means that this time you’re getting two in one: two extra long lists in one post covering the period from mid-March to mid-June.

Of course, June is the time of year that almost everyone in the habit of making music lists is preparing the traditional mid-year "Best Of". We’re currently in the process of tracking down the records that have escaped our attention so far, and in a couple of weeks we’ll get back to you on this subject with another two, extra long lists. Happy times for all of us, list-loving nerds! Meanwhile, here are the records that have monopolized the record, CD and mp3 players of Cool Music Central for the last three months: 

Top 25 Albums

1.   Shaking The Habitual - THE KNIFE
2.   Silence Yourself - SAVAGES
3.   Mosquito - YEAH YEAH YEAHS
4.   Indigo Meadow - THE BLACK ANGELS
5.   Inform - Educate - Entertain - PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING
6.   Re-Mit - THE FALL
7.   Light Up Gold - PARQUET COURTS
8.   Images Du Futur - SUUNS
9.   English Little League - GUIDED BY VOICES
10. Chelsea Light Moving - CHELSEA LIGHT MOVING
11. The Terror - THE FLAMING LIPS
12. Muchacho - PHOSPHORESCENT
13. New Moon - THE MEN
14. FIDLAR - FIDLAR
15. You're Nothing - ICEAGE
16. Comedown Machine - THE STROKES
17. Specter At The Feast - BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB
18. Change Becomes Us - WIRE
19. Rat Farm - MEAT PUPPETS
20. One Track Mind - PSYCHIC ILLS
21. You Owe Me Nothing But Love - COMANECHI
22. The New Life - GIRLS NAMES
23. Allah-Las - ALLAH-LAS
24. The Invisible Way - LOW
25. Sub Pop 1000 - VARIOUS ARTISTS

Top 30 Tracks

1.   Sacrilege - YEAH YEAH YEAHS
2.   She Will - SAVAGES
3.   Jetplane - THE FALL
4.   Animal X - NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS
5.   In Another Way - MY BLOODY VALENTINE
6.   A Tooth For An Eye - THE KNIFE
7.   Don’t Play With Guns - THE BLACK ANGELS
8.   No Destruction - FOXYGEN
9.   Waiting For Something To Happen - VERONICA FALLS
10. Careers In Combat - PARQUET COURTS
11. Signal 30 - PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING
12. In The City - ANIKA
13. Song For Zula - PHOSPHORESCENT
14. Just Make It Stop - LOW
15. Noble Insect - GUIDED BY VOICES
16. Magic Bullet - WIRE
17. 2020 - SUUNS
18. 50/50 - THE STROKES
19. Teenage Disease - BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB
20. The Seeds - THE MEN
21. White On White - FIDLAR
22. Alighted - CHELSEA LIGHT MOVING
23. Paul's Not Home - GIBBY HAYNES
24. Original One - MEAT PUPPETS
25. This Time I Got A Reason - FUZZ
26. Don’t You Forget It - ALLAH-LAS
27. One More Time - PSYCHIC ILLS
28. Hypnotic Regression - GIRLS NAMES
29. Ecstasy - ICEAGE
30. Patsy - COMANECHI

The Hit List: April 2013

The already long list of April's fine new releases just got longer with yesterday's Record Store Day goodies. Time, then, for a new Hit List including some of our current favorite tracks and, among them, three Record Store Day 2013 releases that stand out:

Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Animal X

The one Record Store Day 2013 release that I currently own, the 7" picture disc of Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds' new single "Animal X", which, surprisingly, was available in Athens' record shops a week earlier than the rest of the world. The track was recorded in France during the recording sessions for "Push The Sky Away" and it's not on the album, although it's definitely one of the best Bad Seeds tracks of the year.

The Fall - Sir William Wray

Fall fans rejoice! Album number 30, titled "Re-Mit", is on its way and "Sir William Wray" was released as a 7" single on Record Store Day to whet our appetite. The single also includes "Hittite Man", another track from the forthcoming album (both are alternate versions on this release), plus the exclusive "Jetplane", a very good reason to try to track down this limited edition single.

A Place To Bury Strangers - Don't Burn the Fires

A Place To Bury Strangers have released a special EP full of Dead Moon covers for Record Store Day 2013 titled "Strange Moon". "Don't Burn the Fires" is the track that opens the record and if you'd like to find out more about Dead Moon, I would recommend to start with the Sub Pop compilation "Echoes of the Past", which I've been listening to again this week thanks to the APTBS release.

Our April Hit List closes with three excellent singles taken from our current favorite new albums, "Mosquito" by Yeah Yeah Yeahs, "Shaking The Habitual" by The Knife and The Black Angels' "Indigo Meadow". More about them soon...

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Sacrilege
 

The Knife - A Tooth for an Eye

The Black Angels - Don't Play With Guns

New Releases: January 2013

Today we’re all listening to "m b v", My Bloody Valentine’s first new album in 22 years, but while we do that, let’s take a moment to look at the most interesting releases of January '13, including Yo La Tengo’s thirteenth full-length (and 9th since MBV’s "Loveless"!), Foxygen’s awesome sophomore work (see also here) and two singles certain to be among 2013’s best, Factory Floor’s "Fall Back" (more here) and The Knife’s amazing comeback after seven years with "Full of Fire" (yet another killer track in the first month of the year). I think 2013 has started pretty well!

Albums

YO LA TENGO - Fade
FOXYGEN - We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic
WIDOWSPEAK - Almanac
ESBEN AND THE WITCH - Wash The Sins Not Only The Face
THE JOY FORMIDABLE - Wolf's Law
THE HISTORY OF APPLE PIE - Out Of View
CALIFORNIA X - California X
FIDLAR - FIDLAR
PERE UBU - Lady From Shanghai
RETRIBUTION GOSPEL CHOIR - 3
ARBOURETUM - Coming Out of the Fog
LOCAL NATIVES - Hummingbird
EVERYTHING EVERYTHING - Arc
TORO Y MOI - Anything In Return
A$AP ROCKY - LONG.LIVE.A$AP
PANTHA DU PRINCE AND THE BELL LABORATORY - Elements Of Light
INDIANS - Somewhere Else
DUCKTAILS - The Flower Lane
DUTCH UNCLES - Out Of Touch In The Wild
CHRISTOPHER OWENS - Lysandre
THE RUBY SUNS - Christopher
HOLOPAW - Academy Songs, Volume I
VILLAGERS - {Awayland}
WOODEN WAND - Blood Oaths of the New Blues
L. PIERRE - The Island Come True
I AM KLOOT - Let It All In
FALTY DL - Handcourage
ULRICH SCHNAUSS - A Long Way To Fall
SHUGO TOKUMARU - In Focus?
SERAFINA STEER - The Moths Are Real
BROADCAST - Berberian Sound Studio
FOUR TET - 0181
NEW ORDER - Lost Sirens

Singles & EPs

THE KNIFE - Full of Fire
FACTORY FLOOR - Fall Back
VERONICA FALLS - Teenage
THE MEN - Electric / Water Babies
GUIDED BY VOICES - Down By The Racetrack EP
THE STROKES - One Way Trigger
PULP - After You
BAT FOR LASHES - A Wall
DAUGHTER - Still
THE HISTORY OF APPLE PIE - See You
BLOOD RED SHOES - Water EP
DEAP VALLY - Lies
YOU SAY PARTY - Friend
KENDRICK LAMAR - Backseat Freestyle
JEREMY GREENSPAN / LAURIE SPIEGEL - Drums&Drums&Drums / Sirius Shake
FUZZ - This Time I Got a Reason
BO NINGEN & SAVAGES - Nichjyou
SHUGO TOKUMARU - Katachi
FRIGHTENED RABBIT - Woodpile
TIM BURGESS - The Doors Of Then
JESSIE WARE - Sweet Talk
ROOTS MANUVA - Banana Skank EP
THE CHILD OF LOV - Give Me
PEACE - Wraith
THEME PARK - Tonight
THE FAMILY RAIN - Trust Me I’m A Genius
LAw - Oddysey

The Knife - Full of Fire

Killer Tracks: Fever Ray vs. The Knife

Karin Dreijer Andersson, the singer of outlandish Swedish electro duo The Knife, is about to release her debut solo album under the name Fever Ray. "When I grow up", the second single off the album, is one of those rare tracks that is simply impossible to comprehend initially and yet something compells you to go back to it again and again. After two or three listens I still couldn't make up my mind if I liked it or not, but after a while it was impossible not to admit that I was simply hooked. Dark and beautifully irrational like the best of David Lynch's films, the song is accompanied by a similarly haunting video. Repeated watching is advised:

A good opportunity to remember another highlight of Karin's unique musical output, the track "We share our mother's health" - one of the best singles of 2006. It is taken from The Knife's last album so far, "Silent shout":

Link: http://feverray.com/