Thursday, July 11, 2013

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:


Wednesday, July 03, 2013

New Releases: June 2013

Round up of the most interesting albums and singles released in June:

Albums


QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE - ....Like Clockwork
ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER - Personal Record
CAMERA OBSCURA - Desire Lines
THESE NEW PURITANS - Field of Reeds
JAGWAR MA - Howlin
PROTOMARTYR - No Passion All Technique
THE MANTLES - Long Enough to Leave
SMITH WESTERNS - Soft Will
SURFER BLOOD - Pythons
AUSTRA - Olympia
KANYE WEST - Yeezus
ZOMBY - With Love
DISCLOSURE - Settle
JON HOPKINS - Immunity
GOLD PANDA - Half Of Where You Live
BOARDS OF CANADA - Tomorrow’s Harvest
SIGUR ROS - Kveikur
JULIAN COPE - Revolutionary Suicide
MILES KANE - Don't Forget Who You Are
GHOST OUTFIT - I Want You To Destroy Me
DEAP VALLY - Sistrionix
WAMPIRE - Curiosity
ROGUE WAVE - Nightingale Floors
BIG DEAL - June Gloom
SPECTRALS - Sob Story
LUST FOR YOUTH - Perfect View
JOHN VANDERSLICE - Dagger Beach
MARK MULCAHY - Dear Mark J. Mulcahy, I Love You
MICK HARVEY - FOUR (Acts of Love)
KID CONGO AND THE PINK MONKEY BIRDS - Haunted Head
MAN OR ASTROMAN? - Defcon 5...4...3...2...1

Singles & EPs

FOALS - Late Night
GOAT - Stonegoat / Dreambuilding
KIM DEAL - Hot Shot / Likkie More
SEBADOH - Secret EP
WOLF ALICE - Bros
TEMPLES - Colours To Life
DEAP VALLY - Baby I Call Hell
PEACE - Lovesick
EDITORS - A Ton Of Love
BEADY EYE - Second Bite of the Apple
THE WYTCHES - Beehive Queen
SAY LOU LOU - Julian
TEEN - Carolina EP
MAN OR ASTROMAN? - Analog Series Volume 3
ZOUNDS - Ancient Briton / Sick of Work

And here's a brand new track by New Zealand indie legends The Chills - Martin Phillipps celebrated his 50th birthday yesterday by unleashing "Molten Gold", one of the band's first new songs in nearly a decade: