First off, just getting this list down to 20 was a challenge. So many notable records didn't make the cut for whatever reason: While Shaking the Habitual sparked many conversations about gender equality, its cold nature meant it rarely got more than a couple spins in the months after its release; Ghost BC’s Infestissumam was the best bubblegum metal record of the year, though its hooks started to dull after a while. Mysterious collective Sandwell District delivered the best mixtape of 2013 with their dark, intense contribution to the Fabric series, but I decided against including compilations. Saves the Day’s self-titled album isn't exactly a return to form, but it’s catchy as hell and marks a decided improvement after 4 mostly unlistenable records. Superchunk continue their return as an active band with I Hate Music, and Noisem & Carcass released the best thrash records of the year, despite the latter being old enough to father the former. Much of the list came down to my listening habits: I can’t really play punk or hardcore at work, so I focus mostly on ambient instrumental music (exceptions must be made though)
In no particular order:
Dawn of Midi – Dysnomia
This is the sound in my head when I envision “contemporary jazz”: combining disparate genres (in this case, minimal techno) with the knowledge and skill of jazz performers. Miles Davis tried it with funk and was ridiculed, and fusion has so many bad connotations that it’s best to put that label to rest. Here we have repetitive melodies played on real acoustic instruments, where real people interact in developing simple ideas into interwoven paths in a way that can’t be duplicated digitally.
CHVRCHES – The Bones of What You Believe
It’s been decades since stadium synth pop had its day in the sun, but the crisscrossing synths of Iain Cook & Martin Doherty with Lauren Mayberry’s Scottish lilt foreshadow a return to the days when Human League were chart toppers. Every nook and cranny of this record is filled with shiny melodies and sparkling rhythms, layered in a way that rewards repeated listens. While “The Mother We Share” garnered the big blog boosts, but stay for “Gun”, “Lies”, “Science/Visions”... the whole thing really.
Autre Ne Veut – Anxiety
2013 was a great year for people who started listening to music at the time Boys II Men released their record-breaking II. Arthur Ashin’s voice is a joy to behold, all studied nuance and hints of gospel. I’m convinced this record would be just as good a capella; not as a diss to the backing tracks, but his voice carries so much weight that it only requires the most minimal of supports.
Joel RL Phelps & The Downer Trio – Gala
Phelps’ last record came out nine years ago and spent a good chunk of its running time focusing on the futility of the war in the Middle East, a war that is still going on as the band reconvened for the follow-up. Gala doesn’t share its predecessors’ anti-war venom, though they are still meditating on mistakes, regret and death. Their sound hasn’t changed much since Customs; the record is split between jagged, bass-driven post-punk, hazy mid-tempo rockers, and small acoustic pieces. A record from them is rare, and their ability to enclose an ever-developing melody in perfect harmony remains undiminished.
Laurel Halo – Chance of Rain
While her debut full length explored the limits of the unprocessed human voice, Halo’s follow up focuses on hardware synthesizers that slip in and out of time, suggesting a future world where the organic and technological are becoming harder to distinguish. The title is a good way of describing the gray, foreboding music here, which takes its cues from techno but tears it apart to show the squishing beast underneath.
Tim Hecker – Virgins
In his first foray with an ensemble, the gritty homemade ambient music of Tim Hecker recalls the hypnotic phases of Steve Reich and Mike Oldfield; there’s always been a violence to his work, but aggressive performances & the creeping horror of the cover art tie the record to a claustrophobic world where the real and unreal are interchangeable. While his symphonies of feedback & static were never sunny, this development of the stunned silences on 2011’s perfect Ravedeath, 1972 is a welcome continuation of his sound.
The Field – Cupid’s Head
This has been a great year for nominally experimental electronic acts to change up their sound a little; Tim Hecker added actual muscle & sweat into his ambient explorations, and Axel Willner tweaked his warm, melodic take on pulsing Berlin techno. Looping State of Mind was a retread, but only in the best sense, buffing & shining his trademark sound after the detour of Yesterday and Today. There’s more going on in the mix and it requires a bit more attention, but the addition of a little anxiety in his usually lush palette is a welcome change.
Deafheaven – Sunbather
It took way too long for a band to combine the tremolo-picked intensity of black metal with the melodies of the Cure and blurred aesthetic of shoegaze, but this San Francisco duo perfected it on their second full-length. The screaming vocals remain, but they act as a good textural counterpoint to the rest of the band, which has filed the sharp edges down just enough to be memorable but still brutal.
My Bloody Valentine – mbv
Stop focusing on the fact that 22 years have passed since Loveless. Forget that the band dropped the record Radiohead-style, with no lead-up, on an unsuspecting world. Instead, focus on how it will probably take another 22 years for listeners to unravel everything hidden in m b v, a record thick with synths that sound like guitars, guitars that sound like synths, and songs that fold back on themselves before turning themselves inside out.
Rashad Becker – Traditional Music of Notional Species Vol. 1
Don’t let the studious title fool you; legendary mastering engineer Rashad Becker’s debut full length is a wild beast of otherworldly sounds, much more Notional than Traditional. Rhythm and timbre are at play as unidentifiable tones succumb to enveloping static, like nameless beasts crawling across an alien landscape.
Dan Friel – Total Folklore
There’s this unmade music in my head, where all the elements are as beautifully balanced as a classic painting: dissonance and harmony, catchy melodies and jackhammer rhythms. This former Parts and Labor members combines major key harmonies and overloaded electronics with a DIY style that shows the perfect balance between disparate textures while remaining instantly catchy.
Thundercat – Apocalypse
The bass virtuoso’s excellent second record reminds me of what Squarepusher attempted to do on the Shobaleader One record, namely combine hyperactive bass with soul-inflected melodies and the futuristic funk of 80’s pop. Thundercat succeeds because he never lets the programming get in the way of the song, and his melodious voice stretches & compresses around the springy tunes.
Pusha T – My Name is My Name
Everyone loves a villain, and this Clipse member’s first solo non-mixtape is seething with the menace of dealing drugs, eradicating enemies, and dealing with the fallout of crime. Pusha has never been one to hide his age, and it would be a cop out to say his obsession with early 90s rap signifiers didn't strike a chord with rap fans in their 30s. Above all, his rhymes fall into place among bare-bones beats that show what Kanye is capable of when he’s not being self-conscious.
Tiger Village – I-III
This solo effort out of Cleveland released three tapes in 2013, each one brimming with 8-bit melodies, dark noise, and ambient textures. The magic is in how the elements flow seamlessly into one another without the whiplash expected in such tonal shifts. The programmed beats and melodies are surprisingly elastic and organic, showing a mastery of finding the warmth in hardware and software.
Boards of Canada – Tomorrow’s Harvest
After years in the wilderness, Boards of Canada return with a tapestry of hidden vocals, ghostly melodies and creeping beats so layered and complicated that it has its own wiki. The title alludes to a post-apocalyptic landscape and the music reflects a blasted, sun-bleached world where rusted technology and humanity have their final battle.
Autechre – Exai
More than 20 years in the game and still exploring the limits of technology, this double disc effort combines the lessons the duo learned in their noisy early ‘00s records with the slippery melodies of their ‘90s work. It’s a lot to take in, but Autechre see it more as a gift and so should you; if you like what they do, here’s a ton of it to sift through.
Bill Callahan – Dream River
Dream River finds Bill Callahan in a place where, dare I say, he’s almost comfortable. He’s released records just different enough over the last 20 years to make each one an event for his fervent followers of his skewed look at modern American life. It unfolds as a piece, echoing the creator’s love of listening to records all the way through, and it’s most rewarding to experience as a whole.
Cex – Prosperity
He may not get the blog attention that acts as the modern measurement of popularity, but Rjyan Kidwell has been prolific as ever in recent years. This digital-only release is a collection of tracks as opposed to his usual conceptual framework, but his recent collage-style technique has created tracks that ebb and flow like proper songs built up from a techno foundation, while remaining memorable the whole way through.
Co La – Moody Coup
Tightly-spun guitar duo Ecstatic Sunshine split into Dustin Wong and Matthew Papich, whose full length as Co La splatters barely recognizable samples across tracks that refuse standard organization while retaining the overdriven attack of his former band. Papich has a steady hand that keeps the tracks stuffed yet uncluttered, starting out small before sprawling out in dayglo colors. There’s an air of menace that, like the cover, is affecting while remaining inscrutable.
Pan•American– Cloud Room Glass Room
Former Labradford guitarist Mark Nelson’s Pan•American project hasn't strayed too far from minimal, staticy dub in the last 15 years, but the addition of percussionist Steven Hess has added another dimension to a project that treats each sound equally. Hess practically paints over the middle section of noisy “Laurel South” with tinny drum n bass rhythms, and “Virginia Waveform” acts like a call-and-response between Hess’s drums and Nelson’s static drone.
