2013 in records so far

[lamradio]

My favorites so far have been

 

1. Dr. Dog - B-Room

2. Kurt Vile - Wakin' On A Pretty Daze 

3. Deerhunter - Monomania

4. Daniel Romano - Come Cry With Me

5. The National - Trouble Will Find Me (never really got into them before but this is a damn fine record)

 

That Jason Isbell album gets an honorable mention, but it didn't seem to have a very long shelf life for me. 

 

Only real disappointment this year has been "The Terror" by The Flaming Lips.  

[virtualreason]

Chvrches also have probably the best debut album of the year. Solid Scottish synth-pop where roughly 7 of the 12 songs sound like singles. Delicate but confident female vocals too 

[CortezTheKiller]

Mark Kozelek & Desertshore

Audition Tapes - T. Hardy Morris

Overseas

Trouble Will Find Me - The National

Sunsphere - The Dexateens

Stitches - Califone

[Vacant Horizon]

I second Audition Tapes. Everyone here needs to check it out. Endorsed by Patterson Hood.

[Kim Bodnia]

The wait is over! 

• Minor Alps, Get There is being released next Tuesday, October 29th.
• The Dream Syndicate 1982 EP, reissue out November 19, 2013.

[virtualreason]

Welp, Reflektor just shot to the top of my album of the year list. I listened to it 4 complete times in 30 hours; I've never done that with an album before.

[Muzzle of Dan]

Welp, Reflektor just shot to the top of my album of the year list. I listened to it 4 complete times in 30 hours; I've never done that with an album before.

I just got my vinyl copy in the mail this morning and it sounds sooooooo good.  Been listening to the album for a few days and I really enjoy it - more so with each repeated listen.  Love the Talking Heads/Punk Rock/Blondie vibe going on here.  Seeing them play at the Paladium on Halloween night!

Also - Corsicana Lemonade from White Denim is a great, great album.  Can't wait for the actual release so I can spin it over and over.

[lost highway]

Holy crap the new record by Bottomless Pit is amazing.  If you've ever heard of Silkworm, it's surviving members of that band.  Think Fugazi with subtle pop sensibilities and you're getting close.  Kind of some Neil young guitar moments too.

[PopTodd]

Second listen to this bad boy and I think that it has a shot at my top 5 of '13. Always loved the Auteurs and am ashamed that I've never investigated anything by Black Box Recorder (I really should) or any of his other solo work (ditto).

Seriously, how awesome is this, even in concept?

 

 

The darker, more nefarious cousin to Harry Nilsson's affable, animated acid trip The Point, Rock & Roll Animals findsLuke Haines (The Auteurs, Black Box Recorder, Baader-Meinhof) constructing a rock & roll fairy tale for adults and putting the finishing touches on his transition from capricious Brit-pop page boy to goateed, Dickensian agitator in an ice cream-white suit. The story follows a trio of typically idiosyncratic leads in Jimmy Pursey the fox, Gene Vincent the wise old cat, and a badger called Nick Lowe, as they battle a particularly ugly duck. Hijinks ensue, pop culture tropes are celebrated and skewed, and Haines, who opts for a decidedly more folksy approach than on previous offerings -- 2010’s self-explanatory Nine and a Half Psychedelic Meditations on British Wrestling of the 1970s and Early '80snotwithstanding -- can barely conceal his love and contempt for it all. That's right, there's a surprising amount of warmth here, something that has eluded the London provocateur in projects past. Standout cuts like "Magic Town," "Angel of the North," "The Birds... The Birds," and the kaleidoscopic title track, despite their slightly sinister Wicker Man-meets-Watership Down overtones, feel loved and nurtured rather than just expertly crafted, and then with great disdain tossed out the window like the contents of a Victorian bedpan. Even the deliriously absurd closer, "Rock 'n' Roll Animals in Space," which finds the author acting as both judge and jury ("please don’t get the old band back together"), filing away classic rock greats like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and The Soft Machine by their levels of righteousness ("TheStones without Brian Jones were not righteous, even though he was probably evil"), comes off as more tongue in cheek than flat-out malicious, even though it's pretty much spot on. That said, Haines is still a force of nature, more Uriah Heep than David Copperfield, and his sharp-tongued critiques, especially of his chosen field, though tempered with moments of sentimentality, remain as volatile as ever.

[jff]

Not really a so far since it hasn't come out yet, but I'm very excited for Cate Le Bon's new record, Mug Museum, which comes out next month.

[PopTodd]

Not really a so far since it hasn't come out yet, but I'm very excited for Cate Le Bon's new record, Mug Museum, which comes out next month.

100% agree!

Probably my most-anticipated at this point.

[Winston Legthigh]

I picked this up a couple days ago: Mutual Benefit.

 

It's lovely.

[jff]

100% agree!

Probably my most-anticipated at this point.

Did you preorder the bundle that comes with a homemade mug?

 

My most anticipated is the new Hospitality record, but it's not out untl January 2014 and there's not a thread for next year yet.

[PopTodd]

Did you preorder the bundle that comes with a homemade mug?

 

No. Didn't even see that.

I'll have to see just how much they want for that. (Probably too much.)

[jff]

No. Didn't even see that.

I'll have to see just how much they want for that. (Probably too much.)

The mugs were made by Cate and they're sold out.  They looked very nice.  I only odered the LP.   

 

 

 

http://wichitarecordings.11spot.com/cate-le-bon-mug-museum-bundle-pre-order-11-12.html

[choo-choo-charlie]

Glad to have discovered The Shouting Matches' record. I'll take this over Bon Iver any day.

[El Picador]

I know it was just released today, but Juana Molina's "Wed 21" has to be one of the best records I've heard all year.

[ditty]

I can't seem to stop listening to the following offerings by The Shouting Matches:

 

 

Loving their sound, thanks for the heads up!

[Scott Gyrrr]

I know it was just released today, but Juana Molina's "Wed 21" has to be one of the best records I've heard all year.

 

She seems like a very interesting artist. I must investigate further. Did you catch her episode on NPRs Alt Latino? 

[worldrecordplayer]

Welp, Reflektor just shot to the top of my album of the year list. I listened to it 4 complete times in 30 hours; I've never done that with an album before.

Whoa, Reflektor is sounding fantastic. Almost through my first listen, definitely has my attention. Can't say I've listened to a tremendous amount of 2013 releases, but this one shoots to the top of my chart.

[bigideas]

Welp, Reflektor just shot to the top of my album of the year list. I listened to it 4 complete times in 30 hours; I've never done that with an album before.

I bought the 2 CD version and it has a 10 minute ambient noise track in the negative (-) space of Track 1 - you know where you rewind and it's kinda frustrating because if you reach the end it just goes to the start of the normal Track 1.

 

So, if someone buys this digitally, do you still have a 10 minute pre track 1 ambient track? How does that work digitally? I know it doesn't seem to be listed anywhere. Not sure if it counts in the total CD time when you Stop the player either.

 

I'm interested in the Midlake, Perma and Moonface records. Still trying to find out the best price option on getting all of them.

[worldrecordplayer]

I bought the 2 CD version and it has a 10 minute ambient noise track in the negative (-) space of Track 1 - you know where you rewind and it's kinda frustrating because if you reach the end it just goes to the start of the normal Track 1.

 

So, if someone buys this digitally, do you still have a 10 minute pre track 1 ambient track? How does that work digitally? I know it doesn't seem to be listed anywhere. Not sure if it counts in the total CD time when you Stop the player either.

 

I'm interested in the Midlake, Perma and Moonface records. Still trying to find out the best price option on getting all of them.

Huh?  I have the 2 cd version, and I don't have that.

[El Picador]

She seems like a very interesting artist. I must investigate further. Did you catch her episode on NPRs Alt Latino? 

I did not. Just kinda stumbled upon her by chance a couple weeks ago. Loved the new record so I checked out all of her other five (or six) albums and none of them disappoint. But I particularly like her sound on the last three: Wed 21, Un Dia, and Son.

 

She's been a heavy contributor to the rotation while hanging out around the house and with headphones at work.

[lost highway]

Juana Molina is really cool.  I have enjoyed Son quite a bit, I'll have to check out her new one.  For those unfamiliar, Molina plays what is technically electronic music, but it sounds pretty organic.  There are a lot of tightly wound, tiny sounds, layered densely around her gentle but inscrutable Chileno spanish.  Totally unique in my music listening experience.

[El Picador]

From LastFM:

 

http://www.last.fm/music/Juana+Molina/+wiki

 

Juana Molina, born in 1962 in Buenos Aires, Argentina is one of the most original, imaginative and internationally embraced Argentine musicians recording today. She weaves together propulsive acoustic guitar strumming, clanging percussion, dreamy ambient keyboards and then spreads her ethereal voice over the whole blend. She produces the music on her own, using looping technology to layer the different elements on top of one another, creating whirling, hypnotic and often gorgeous musical tapestries.

.

.

.

 

The lyrics on her albums are sung in her native Spanish and are often accompanied by acoustic guitar, among other instruments. Her music features elements of ambient and electronica, and she is often compared by critics to Björk, Beth Orton, and Lisa Germano. She usually writes, mixes tracks and performs on her own.