An Ear For An Era: 2013

Good Evening or Whenever You Read This.

Here is 2013. 2013 is here. Or then. Just a few short years ago I started this project and I'm still kind of doing it. I've been doing this for nearly 5 years now, and I'll hit 5 years before I'm done.

So I've been basing this, at least since the entries taking place in the 80s or 90s or so, on my experiences with the music and my life at the time. This year I was in high school and couldn't get enough ska. That year I had a bad breakup and that music helped me through it. Etcetera. My memories of 2013-2017, music-wise, have mostly just been this project and digging backward. So for 2013 and the rest of these, as I have warned, I am just going to give a quick overview of what I liked. Since in 2013 I was listening to 40s music and whatnot, I didn't spend much time with 2013 music. So I haven't heard enough of any of this. So I got to listen to it all one more time and now I get to write about it.

Oh, and here is what I wrote in 2013. Probably more insightful, as I gave it a little more thought then than I am now.

Life experiences: In 2013 I went to Ireland. That was fun. I remember finishing one year of this project on the plane and not writing about it until I got back. See, those are my music memories. We'll see if anything gets jogged as I list things out.

I was big on running in 2013, so that was a pretty cool coincidence that I used the word "jogged" up there. In 2013 there were more "breaks" between years since I had such short, week-long time frames between entries on this project. So I was able to incorporate some modern music into my jogging playlist. What did I like to run to?

Run The Jewels! The dream of a project between Killer Mike & El-P came to fruition! The first album is mostly just boast raps but man, it kicks!

The Lonely Island is always great for running. Especially that song with Robyn.

CHVRCHES. The Bones of What You Believe is a perfect example of great running pop music. It just feels so empowering and I feel like I can just go and go and go.

The sides of Danny Brown on display on the album Old are so insightful...I have gotten so used to his goofy persona in recent years that listening to this album where half of it is more serious stuff just blows my mind. Dude is brilliant.

M.I.A. had a very nice return to form with Matangi. I quite liked running to that album. Very catchy and feel-good.

And finally, the reason I wanted to have a section about running music is because !!! had that album THR!!!ER that was my favorite album for running. I like those guys a lot. The energy they have managed to continue to throw into everything they've done for so many years now is quite impressive. And the ultimate running song, if you were to ask me, and I wasn't at the time thinking about which Carly Rae Jepsen song to say, would be this one.

!!! "Even When the Water's Cold"

Another interesting trend I'm noticing here is that 2013 had a lot of big reunion/long-awaited releases.

Justin Timberlake, ooh! I think it had been a few years since that sexxyback or whatever came out and he had some new jams. The main thing about his The 20/20 Experience double album that was actually just two albums he put out that year was that there were lots of long songs. Like he was trying to be Stevie Wonder or something. Most of the songs are 6/7/8 minutes long. And one of the shorter songs was the 5.5 minute "Suit & Tie" featuring Jay-Z. It's a catchy number, though Jay-Z has been better.

David Bowie had a big comeback with The Next Day. I remember it coming out and everyone had thought he'd retired so it was a big deal. And it was a big deal because it was a fantastic album. I gave lots of songs three stars (I should probably revisit those ratings) but none above three. Which is my way of saying "it was really good but man, it will now forever be overshadowed by Blackstar!"

My Bloody Valentine finally released their new album and holy cow, what a record m b v was. Somehow it sounded newer and fresher than most anything else that came out from bands that formed in the last couple years, and this is a band formed in the early 80s following up its amazing 1991 album. But it exists, this album is great and I could listen to it always. And apparently they're "already" (in 2018) putting out more new music in the near future! Only 5 years!

My Bloody Valentine, "she found now"

Man or Astro-Man? was a surprise reunion to me. I never got to see them live in high school even though I really wanted to. Most of the time they played at the Starlight for 21+ shows. Then they stopped playing shows. But then I went to the Touch & Go Records anniversary festival in Chicago in 2006 I think, and they played a big reunion show there, so I was lucky enough to see them there. But I was still surprised when they put out actual new music. Defcon 5...4...3...2...1 brings back a lot of the instrumental surf rock they were known for, and went different directions than their previous last album that was pretty experimental. But they still were growing forward and D54321 is quite good. A few songs with vocals, lots of the MOAM sound I love in general though.

Remember the big deal of Daft Punk coming back? That was cool. "Get Lucky" was in my head for a while just listening to it again once. I do think the album as a whole was a little boring and overrated but you cannot get that song out of your head. Oh, you think you don't have it in your head? "We're up all night to get lucky." Now it's in your head for a week. You're welcome.

I was waiting for the new Deltron 3030 album for so long. I actively checked the wikipedia page for any updates I might have missed. Since like 2006. I didn't know if it would ever actually be an album, but in the big reunion year of course Event II finally came out. And it didn't disappoint! Even though my expectations were low due to my declining interest in Del's solo material, getting the gang back together was something special. Amusing, high quality, great production, all stuff that just made it a special album.


Other things of note that were just artists doing good things but not after a big reunion:

Deafheaven - Sunbather. Shoegaze, indie friendly or whatever, metal. I think metal purists hate it, probably because they brought a bunch of hipsters to their metal shows. And there's only enough room for one type of pretentious douchebag, thank you very much. But seriously, this album kicks. The passion, the intricacy, play it LOUD.

I have to talk about Kanye West. Yeezus was an interesting direction for the dude to go. I loved it in theory, merely liked it in practice. I liked the more political songs, I liked the sound of him rapping over industrial music, but wish he'd gone further. And I wish it wasn't praised as so original, since he was totally ripping of what Saul Williams had done in 2007 or so. And many others before him in the Def Jux crowd. But "Black Skinhead" is a great song.

The National continued to be fantastic. I really love this song. Listen to the words.

The National, "Pink Rabbits"

Savages were a great new addition to the world of music with Silence Yourself. Euro sounding post punk. I don't know if I have enough words to justify putting them in this section, so let me just spend some words saying simple things like they are awesome and you should get both of their albums right now. Ok, thank you!

Janelle Monae is still special. Has it really been this long since she put out a real new album? What gives? Someone wants to be a Hollywood star or something! Anyway, The Electric Lady was a great last note (so far) from one of the most creative forces in entertainment. A double album full of jams, including the last word I have in my collection from Prince, and that "Dance Apocalyptic" song, and so many great songs expanding on the Metropolis universe she began sharing way back when.

Neko Case is a MAN.

Other Things to Share Short Thoughts About:

• Nightmare Air's High in the Lasers was an interesting weird album that I got as part of a package deal. It was an odd one but I dug it.
• Bilal's A Love Surreal was very nice, good to hear him pushing some boundaries.
• Kacey Musgraves. Same Trailer Different Park. I remember seeing the digital album on Amazon all the time but not thinking twice. Then I think her more recent album came out to very good reviews so I checked out this older one and it is quite fantastic, it turns out. Not all contemporary country is bad!
• Micah Schnabel - I'm Dead, Serious. I saw this dude live playing with my friend's band and he had good songs so I got the album.
• Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. Push The Sky Away. A good dramatic album that only paves the way for his even more good more dramatic album he put out in 2016!
• Ducktails. The Flower Lane. Good album, too bad the guy turned out to be a pervert or something. I saw them in Brooklyn when I decided to track down a hipster show the one weekend I was in New York. They opened for Lower Dens, who were even better. But I did like Ducktails at the time.
• Nanobots was probably one of They Might Be Giants' better recent albums. 
• Deathfix was a pretty cool band. Their context of being a band of people that really liked 1973 music (or so, I forget and refuse to look it up) was enriched by this project because I always assumed the 70s sucked until '77 and then this project showing me how great 1972/1973ish was in some certain glam/art-rock circles. They also have a highly amusing song called "Dali's House" where they just say random things about random famous people.
• Yo La Tengo. Fade. Just gotta bring it up. Not as many long songs as I'm accustomed to on YLT albums but still quite catchy and enjoyable.
• The Men were still quite good and New Moon was a good one that saw them branching out a bit into sounds hinted at on their previous album. yeah yeah.
• Acid Rap!
• Colin Stetson's New History Warfare Vol. 3: To See More Light was interesting in that he had Justin Vernon on a bunch of tracks. Still prefer the Laurie Anderson collabs though!
• PLVS VLTRA! Toko from Enon! I got that album on cassette with my bandcamp order since it was the same price or so!
• I was slightly disappointed in Prisoner of Conscious by Talib Kweli because it was teased for so long as a grand statement about his position as an author and when it finally came out it just seemed cheap and small. To me, at least.
• She & Him. Vol. 3 was nice, seemed like they were embracing some of the originality and catchiness they are capable of. Seemed like something of a step forward which was refreshing after Vol. 2 (which was also very nice but just seemed like another collection like Vol. 1)
• Is Shaking The Habitual the final album by The Knife? Very good album, I made the mistake of putting it on my running mix. Not super upbeat. 
• Future Bible Heroes. Interesting project for Stephin Merritt to bring back at this time (come on, I want a modern day 6ths album please!). But in the end, it doesn't really matter which project we're talking about. It's going to have a couple great songs and Partygoing is no exception. "Drink Nothing But Champagne" is an anthem like none other, and "Keep Your Children in a Coma" is still highly amusing, even as I prepare for my own son to enter this world.
• The Ex collaborated with Brass Unbound for an album called Enormous Door. Some pre-existing songs, some were new (to me at least), and the takes on things were so unique and I love how inventive The Ex has been for like 40 years now. The brassed-up Konono No. 2 is so great.
• Similarly, Elvis Costello's album with The Roots just offered fresh new takes on some of the different things EC has done over the years. Re-contextualizing snippets of lyrics to give them new meanings, or emphasis, or whatever. And the random new song that wasn't particularly wild still managed to get itself on the level of many of my favorite Elvis Costello songs. It's called "Tripwire." Look it up.
• Like PLVS VLTRA, Crooks on Tape was the other Enon offshoot that is just so great, So much of what I love about Enon is present here on their album Fingerprint. 
• Sundowner! Neon Fiction!
• Preservation Hall Jazz Band put out an album of originals!
• Arcade Fire. Reflektor was maybe a tad overrated but now that they've bombed with their new album I feel bad. Reflektor was a grower though. I still need to hear that new one.

What's Next?

After 2013 comes 2014. Which means great albums by The Roots, D'Angelo, Budos Band, Open Mike Eagle, ANOTHER John Schmersal project (Vertical Scratchers), Shellac, a Weezer album I actually got (though I'm not sure I'll write about it), The Bruce Lee Band, The Lawrence Arms, Tune-Yards, the triumphant return of Braid, Ex Hex, more RTJ, TVOTR, Against Me!, and another classic from Weird Al! (Is this the latest Weird Al album? Is this the last time I get to say this in this??)

2013 in Music: An Outsider's Opinion

Is that title ok? Is it pretentious? I'd like to think not. I'm not saying I was above it all, I was just outside of it all. Doing this thing I've been doing on this blog I was much less invested in the music of this year than I have in years past. It will be funny when I finally reach 2013 in that other project, because the memory will be that I was focusing on older music at the time.

Not that I can consider myself a huge outsider. While I was less invested than usual, I still got a lot of music and tried to listen to it when it made sense to. In between years and whatnot. There was a lot of music I was looking forward to this year, and I couldn't just leave it alone. I just only have a few listens through of each of the albums I took seriously. And have less than the last few.

But yeah, anticipation. That has to be the theme of this year. Highly anticipated releases in some ways or others. Strange that many favorites were surprises.

I'm going to take a cue from last year and not try to rank anything. I'm just going to write about whatever I feel like sharing an opinion about. And the top top releases, I'll put stars in front of them showing my enthusiasm. But there were some overrated things I also want to write about. And other things I'm sure. Enjoy!

In Alphabetical Order Because I Am Serious About Not Ranking Things:

• ***Arcade Fire starts with an A! Early hype was "Arcade Fire is recording with James Murphy!!" Then there was the whole shrouded in mystery thing. And then a TV blitz. And it was just too much. Funny thing about this record. I love it in spite of all of that. I need to hear it more but I quite enjoy it. And I've complained in the past about them showing too much ambition, trying to make big statements and such (particularly on Neon Bible) when they were so young, and I so appreciated The Suburbs because they were taking a step back in that department. But here, they shot for the stars. And the results are fantastic. It takes a couple listens (honestly I didn't really like any of the songs the first time I heard any of them on their various TV appearances), but now songs like "Joan of Arc" and "Here Comes The Night Time" have pulled me in, and I discover more joy in this each time I put it on.
• ***Crooks On Tape just snuck up on me with their debut album Fingerprint. I've been a John Schmersal fan for a while now. After I discovered Brainiac in my early college years I was obsessed with his very own blend of delightful weirdness and undeniable catchiness. Enon became one of my "top 3" bands for the longest time past that, and they kind of mysteriously stopped doing things, and I tried to watch for any new Schmersal projects but didn't hear about anything. Until a week before this album dropped. It is almost everything I love about Enon! A wide variety, a respectable amount of experimentation and weirdness, and the catchiness. Oh, the catchiness. I have a new band to try to get my friends to love as much as I do!
• **David Bowie managed to make a giant comeback without much hype about it. I need to give it even more time than I did, but I do quite like all of the material from the original album, bonus tracks, and bonus EP. That James Murphy remix for "Love is Lost" on the bonus EP is epic and I don't take that word lightly. But it's everything you would want from a combination of Bowie and Murphy.
• *Deltron 3030 put out Event 2. Now there's a release with a buildup. The first album came out in 2000 and I first started hearing about the sequel being worked on in 2006. That means the time it was hyped for for me personally (I know the artists didn't spend all this time building it up, I just got very excited when I heard about it and kept trying to find more information) was longer than the time between the original release and the start of the hype. As the release date approached and I didn't hear much from Koala or Automator and I got less and less interested in Del's solo material, I started dreading this. I worried it would suck, my expectations dropped considerably, but I still knew I had to get it. And I was just relieved that it was good! I guess the critics didn't care enough about it when it came time to make year end lists, but damnit if Automator didn't create some more catchy beats here! And the David Cross/Amber Tamblyn skits are mildly entertaining even after quite a few listens. And all the guests bring it and Del brings it and nothing will ever meet that original Deltron album but this is a very worthy successor.
• *Elvis Costello working with The Roots? Do You Want More??! Get Happy! This one was an odd one, this Wise Up Ghost. Again, highly anticipated for me, as Elvis Costello is my #1 all time #1. And The Roots are The Roots! And for as restless as the chameleon Mr Costello is musically, it felt like he was treading water on the last couple albums. So ?uestlove was just the one to shake things up. Things never live up to expectations but still, this is a good shake up of some old Costello lyrics and new context and yet another dynamite ballad from the master, "Tripwire."
• ***Janelle Monae is The Electric Lady. She got considerably more popular this year, didn't she? That "alternative reality pop music" I spoke of a couple years ago may be coming to fruition. I don't know if this album quite measures up to The Archandroid in consistency, but its bangers are as hot as the bangers of its predecessor. It's just so damned front loaded. Hook 'em with the hook, hold 'em with the heartbreak and love ballads. She makes it work but I just preferred the ballads of old a little more. Might be the lack of commitment on my part though.
• Ok, everybody putting Yeezus on the top of their list makes me feel like this year was subpar or something. I was so excited for this after seeing him on Saturday Night Live, because it was (one of?) the biggest stars in pop music doing something abrasive and angry and anti-commercial and using his talent for good. But then I got the album and it just fell short for me. And the more I listened to it the more I wanted to just listen to Saul Willams' Trent Reznor produced album from a few years ago. Something with an actual message and not just bitching. Something with anger instead of hate. Something with the passion I thought I heard when I first heard those first couple songs.
• ****My Bloody Valentine killed it with their first album in forever (making it highly anticipated) and its surprise release (undercutting any building anticipation that would have formed). This cuts to my soul, man! Like Radiohead. And it beats "chillwave" at its own game by bringing a rock-oriented version of that atmosphere (that mbv had been integral in creating in the first place all those years ago). I don't know how to write about this but this might be #1 if I were keeping track.
• ***Not only do The National grow on me when I listen to an album over and over, but they grow on me with every album they release. The odd time signatures on this one, the chorus about being the television version of someone with a broken heart, I keep liking every album of theirs a bit more than its predecessor. Not sure if that's just me...
• ***And Okkervil River continues to be underrated forever as they just up and put out another masterpiece this year and nobody seems to remember it come year-end time. I mean, it's fine, I appreciate that I can see them at places like The Marquis instead of having to pay for The Fillmore.
• Another highly anticipated one was Talib Kweli's Prisoner of Conscious. When I first heard about it it seemed like it was going to be a very personal album for him, a grand statement that would push him to a new level. There were even a couple albums that came out before that, so I figured he was saving something for PoC. But then it just came out without fanfare and something about it just isn't what I hoped for.
• **Weird, this Yo La Tengo album doesn't have any songs over 10 minutes! Not even over 7 minutes! What we get is the usual YLT catchiness and diversity and they even sneak some of that feel-goodness that only they ever really accomplish for me, usually over the course of an epic long track. In this case it's over some short pop songs, but it still works.

I have less to say about these but still something:

• !!! THR!!!ER They have some good beats here, and this album served as the soundtrack to many runs this year very effectively. Highly energetic, singing about sweating, other catchiness. Pitchfork complained about the lack of huge builds and drops a la "Intensified" from their first album, and sure, those would have pushed this over the top, but this album shows a maturity and songwriting craft that was very conspicuously absent from their older material.
• Aceyalone's Leanin' On Slick was kind of a sequel to The Lonely Ones, one of my favorite random hip hop experiments. But this one felt like it should have come before The Lonely Ones, because it was less of a stretch from his "normal" material.
• Bilal. I wanted to love A Love Surreal but instead I merely like it. There's plenty to like on this record and he continues to be quite underrated.
• I like the idea of the Daft Punk album and it took me longer than it should have to get over "Get Lucky."
• Danny Brown...yeah I got it because it was cheap and I think I like it but I didn't have time to listen to it enough to form a strong opinion of it. Maybe it will be spoken of highly when the ol' EfaE catches up to 2013...
• Death Grips put out another free album in case people forgot about a true bombastic/abrasive/angry hip hop artist in the wake of Yeezus...
• The Ex & Brass Unbound. Enormous Door. What else can The Ex do these days? Bring in a brass band! It's a killer combination.
• How about that Justin Timberlake? Fun guy.
• Man or Astro-Man made a triumphant return as well this year! Defcon 5...4...3...2...1 is that same old band that's been consistently awesome with every release.
• Hey everyone! Neko Case is still amazing! Bonus points for the cover of the "other" Nico!
• of Montreal in a song format must leave less of an impression on me than their wild and crazy concepts, but I still like that they did what they did with this one.
• I dug that Phosphorescent one, it reminded me of what I like about Fleet Foxes.
• The Pixies have to have their name on something from this century, and something without Kim. I kind of dig that "Indie Cindy" song but for the most part this new EP sounds just like a Frank Black solo album. But what else are they supposed to sound like at this point? 
• Run The Jewels. El-P and Killer Mike just having a good time. Yes please.
• I feel like She & Him have reached a new level of confidence and swagger with Volume 3. I like it.

I admit I missed the boat on...

• Savages. That was on my list all year and I never did get it. I know, it was the best.
• Vampire Weekend. I'm ok with Pitchfork calling it album of the year if only because I'm sick of seeing Kanye top every list. I used to have something against them but I think I'd actually like their new material now.
• Where CHVRCHES as great as people have been saying?
• Disclosure?
• Who are all these young whippersnappers?

I'll be back in a bit with something older than me.