I recognize that music preferences are as subjective as they come, and I also understand that when someone asks "what kind of music do you like?" I am supposed to answer with a genre rather than a band. Even though it is often difficult for us to answer that question with a genre--the dreaded "I like all kinds of music but mostly country" comes to mind--the asker wants a genre because it allows a certain picture to emerge.
Well, here are some thoughts:
1) I believe in liking a genre because it does say a lot about us. Not enough, but a lot.
2) I don't believe in hating a genre because that says even more about us. If you hate, say, house music, you probably haven't heard the best of house music. Same goes for country or trance.
3) I believe in liking certain bands more than others. It is okay to list music according to what you perceive as good better best.
4) The best way to list is usually according to genre. So that is what I will do.
More thoughts:
I live in Kuwait, where there is very little to do. I have often criticized people that can't find things to do in their hometown, but in Kuwait it is especially true. A simple activity, like riding your bike, must take into account the lack of sidewalks, the lack of anything resembling a bike lane, the lack of entries onto curbs, the lack of driving awareness, the traffic, and so on. Other simple things, like walking in a pretty area, must take into account that there are very few "pretty areas": parks are mostly non-existent, campuses are small, the desert has little to no vegetation nor vertical variation, the back roads are littered with trash, and so on. You are probably thinking that this makes Kuwait the most undesirable place in the world, and I suppose you could be right, but there are people and they are good, so it is not bad to live here. Visiting for fun is probably not the best thing unless you are visiting for people only.
I bring all of this up about Kuwait because it helps explain why I consumed so much music this year. If I lived in Durango, Colorado, like my brother does, I imagine I wouldn't consume nearly as much music because I would spend my extra time going to the library, doing yardwork, hiking and camping, riding my bike, and stuff like that. There just wouldn't be the time nor the inclination to consume as much music (even if music makes all those activities better). If I lived in Durango, or Iowa for that matter, this list would be much less honest and comprehensive. I should mention that I think music is the best kind of art that humans have or will ever produce.
So I am actually qualified to give you a list of what I consider to be the best music of 2013. All of these albums came out during the year 2013, and if they didn't, I am confused. I am influenced only by my own ears, so there are a few albums that everyone liked, like James Blake's Overgrown, that I thought was good, but it was not the best album of its genre (whatever that is), and it didn't live up to its one brilliant song, "Retrograde," which is probably the best song of the year.
Here (links to a full song from the album is just below):
Country:
Brandy Clark, 12 Stories: All country albums should be titled "12 Stories," because country succeeds best when it tells its stories economically. She nails the country turns of phrase with lines like "What'll keep me out of heaven/ Will take me there tonight" or "I put on lipstick/ I planted roses/ Painted the bathroom/ You never noticed/ I felt the first chill of October/ All while you were hungover." That is some perfect country. And the album is really pretty. I would give this award to Kasey Musgraves Same Trailer Different Park, but I felt like Brandy Clark achieved what Musgraves might if she were to mature some more. Anyway, a great country album. By the way, when country gets into the hallowed territory of soft rock, it gets terrible, which is true, and that is why people too often say they don't like country. Soft rock should be done the way Rhye did it this year with Woman. Or the way Sade always does it. Anyway, country's forays into other genres often don't turn out well, and that is a lot of country on the radio.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf3X1yxckZE
Pop:
With very good pop albums like Sara Bareilles's The Blessed Unrest, which is fine, and Lorde's Pure Heroine, which is fantastic, I am going to go with HAIM's Days Are Gone, which is the funnest album with the dumbest lyrics. Fun with dumb lyrics is exactly what I want in my pop. I also want really ingenious hooks, traditional verse chorus, great sound and production, and initial appeal. The song "Falling" is so perfect in its pop construction that it should be studied next to Backstreet Boys's "I Want It That Way" as the way to write a pop song. "I Want It That Way" stands the test of time and space.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIjVpRAXK18
Contemporary Classical:
Caleb Burhans's Evensong shows a composer dipping his foot everywhere in classical and getting it just right. It is strange how varied and rich this album is: sacred choral music, atonal jazz, minimalism, band music. It is worth owning just to get a sense of how varied and interesting classical has been in the last 100 years, but it also has a signature style to all of it. Very important big thoughts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPH17an2Axo
Classical remade:
Rachmaninoff's Vespers by the Latvian Radio Choir is remade into a clear rich sound by the Latvian Radio Choir. If you find his Vespers as gorgeous as I do, I think this is the best recording of it. Aaaaahhhhllll Niiiiiiiiiiiight Vigieeeeeeeeeel. That is my rendition of the Latvian Radio Choir.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjRt-o0XwZ4
Dance music:
Jon Hopkins's Immunity might be my album of the year. It is such a complete work of dance music, and listening to it from beginning to end is such a fulfilling experience that I guess I do think it is the album of the year, meant to be consumed as an album. It is exactly one hour long, and it chronicles a night out, and it ends perfectly. I drove to this album the most this year, which means I associate it with people doing horrifying things that imperil my life on the road. So this album is like an extreme sport to me now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q04ILDXe3QE
Alternative:
The name of this genre has always been stupid, but oh well. The winner here is Volcano Choir's Repave, which would have gotten a lot more attention if its lead singer were not Justin Vernon. Because of that, everyone automatically assumes this is a "side project" of Bon Iver and underplays how good this album really is from start to finish. I really liked the National's Trouble Will Find Me too. Neko Case's was 50% good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4dZbJHT7_4
Electronic:
This is tough since I should include Moderat and Boards of Canada here, but I think I have to go with Washed Out's Paracosm, which was totally overlooked when it came out. It captures a vibe just right, which is what electronic music should always do, and I think it does it even better than Boards of Canada's Tomorrow's Harvest. Electronic music is for sissies and soundfreaks, but I like it for its emphasis on tone, both emotional and musical.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJILRWBKnQ4
Ambient:
Mountains, Centralia: After the disappointing Air Museum, this album seemed to capture what Mountains can do well--a mixture of acoustic and electronic sounds that coalesce in strange and surprising soundscapes. Have you ever tried to write a review of an ambient album without using "soundscapes." That is a real question--I ask everyone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_R2X73gveE
Non-genre great albums:
Sarah Neufeld, Hero Brother. Great solo violin album
Nils Frahm, Spaces. A live album by the post-rock pianist
Tim Hecker, Virgins. Soundscapes
With apologies:
I didn't listen to enough rap or hip hop to state anything, mainly because I have kids around and I get shy about the words and dirty deeds. People say the Kanye West was good, but I found the song I heard so distasteful that I couldn't get around to listening to the rest. And I liked his last one a lot. I heard a Chance the Rapper track that I liked and an Earl Sweatshirt track that was okay.
Well, here are some thoughts:
1) I believe in liking a genre because it does say a lot about us. Not enough, but a lot.
2) I don't believe in hating a genre because that says even more about us. If you hate, say, house music, you probably haven't heard the best of house music. Same goes for country or trance.
3) I believe in liking certain bands more than others. It is okay to list music according to what you perceive as good better best.
4) The best way to list is usually according to genre. So that is what I will do.
More thoughts:
I live in Kuwait, where there is very little to do. I have often criticized people that can't find things to do in their hometown, but in Kuwait it is especially true. A simple activity, like riding your bike, must take into account the lack of sidewalks, the lack of anything resembling a bike lane, the lack of entries onto curbs, the lack of driving awareness, the traffic, and so on. Other simple things, like walking in a pretty area, must take into account that there are very few "pretty areas": parks are mostly non-existent, campuses are small, the desert has little to no vegetation nor vertical variation, the back roads are littered with trash, and so on. You are probably thinking that this makes Kuwait the most undesirable place in the world, and I suppose you could be right, but there are people and they are good, so it is not bad to live here. Visiting for fun is probably not the best thing unless you are visiting for people only.
I bring all of this up about Kuwait because it helps explain why I consumed so much music this year. If I lived in Durango, Colorado, like my brother does, I imagine I wouldn't consume nearly as much music because I would spend my extra time going to the library, doing yardwork, hiking and camping, riding my bike, and stuff like that. There just wouldn't be the time nor the inclination to consume as much music (even if music makes all those activities better). If I lived in Durango, or Iowa for that matter, this list would be much less honest and comprehensive. I should mention that I think music is the best kind of art that humans have or will ever produce.
So I am actually qualified to give you a list of what I consider to be the best music of 2013. All of these albums came out during the year 2013, and if they didn't, I am confused. I am influenced only by my own ears, so there are a few albums that everyone liked, like James Blake's Overgrown, that I thought was good, but it was not the best album of its genre (whatever that is), and it didn't live up to its one brilliant song, "Retrograde," which is probably the best song of the year.
Here (links to a full song from the album is just below):
Country:
Brandy Clark, 12 Stories: All country albums should be titled "12 Stories," because country succeeds best when it tells its stories economically. She nails the country turns of phrase with lines like "What'll keep me out of heaven/ Will take me there tonight" or "I put on lipstick/ I planted roses/ Painted the bathroom/ You never noticed/ I felt the first chill of October/ All while you were hungover." That is some perfect country. And the album is really pretty. I would give this award to Kasey Musgraves Same Trailer Different Park, but I felt like Brandy Clark achieved what Musgraves might if she were to mature some more. Anyway, a great country album. By the way, when country gets into the hallowed territory of soft rock, it gets terrible, which is true, and that is why people too often say they don't like country. Soft rock should be done the way Rhye did it this year with Woman. Or the way Sade always does it. Anyway, country's forays into other genres often don't turn out well, and that is a lot of country on the radio.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf3X1yxckZE
Pop:
With very good pop albums like Sara Bareilles's The Blessed Unrest, which is fine, and Lorde's Pure Heroine, which is fantastic, I am going to go with HAIM's Days Are Gone, which is the funnest album with the dumbest lyrics. Fun with dumb lyrics is exactly what I want in my pop. I also want really ingenious hooks, traditional verse chorus, great sound and production, and initial appeal. The song "Falling" is so perfect in its pop construction that it should be studied next to Backstreet Boys's "I Want It That Way" as the way to write a pop song. "I Want It That Way" stands the test of time and space.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIjVpRAXK18
Contemporary Classical:
Caleb Burhans's Evensong shows a composer dipping his foot everywhere in classical and getting it just right. It is strange how varied and rich this album is: sacred choral music, atonal jazz, minimalism, band music. It is worth owning just to get a sense of how varied and interesting classical has been in the last 100 years, but it also has a signature style to all of it. Very important big thoughts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPH17an2Axo
Classical remade:
Rachmaninoff's Vespers by the Latvian Radio Choir is remade into a clear rich sound by the Latvian Radio Choir. If you find his Vespers as gorgeous as I do, I think this is the best recording of it. Aaaaahhhhllll Niiiiiiiiiiiight Vigieeeeeeeeeel. That is my rendition of the Latvian Radio Choir.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjRt-o0XwZ4
Dance music:
Jon Hopkins's Immunity might be my album of the year. It is such a complete work of dance music, and listening to it from beginning to end is such a fulfilling experience that I guess I do think it is the album of the year, meant to be consumed as an album. It is exactly one hour long, and it chronicles a night out, and it ends perfectly. I drove to this album the most this year, which means I associate it with people doing horrifying things that imperil my life on the road. So this album is like an extreme sport to me now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q04ILDXe3QE
Alternative:
The name of this genre has always been stupid, but oh well. The winner here is Volcano Choir's Repave, which would have gotten a lot more attention if its lead singer were not Justin Vernon. Because of that, everyone automatically assumes this is a "side project" of Bon Iver and underplays how good this album really is from start to finish. I really liked the National's Trouble Will Find Me too. Neko Case's was 50% good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4dZbJHT7_4
Electronic:
This is tough since I should include Moderat and Boards of Canada here, but I think I have to go with Washed Out's Paracosm, which was totally overlooked when it came out. It captures a vibe just right, which is what electronic music should always do, and I think it does it even better than Boards of Canada's Tomorrow's Harvest. Electronic music is for sissies and soundfreaks, but I like it for its emphasis on tone, both emotional and musical.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJILRWBKnQ4
Ambient:
Mountains, Centralia: After the disappointing Air Museum, this album seemed to capture what Mountains can do well--a mixture of acoustic and electronic sounds that coalesce in strange and surprising soundscapes. Have you ever tried to write a review of an ambient album without using "soundscapes." That is a real question--I ask everyone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_R2X73gveE
Non-genre great albums:
Sarah Neufeld, Hero Brother. Great solo violin album
Nils Frahm, Spaces. A live album by the post-rock pianist
Tim Hecker, Virgins. Soundscapes
With apologies:
I didn't listen to enough rap or hip hop to state anything, mainly because I have kids around and I get shy about the words and dirty deeds. People say the Kanye West was good, but I found the song I heard so distasteful that I couldn't get around to listening to the rest. And I liked his last one a lot. I heard a Chance the Rapper track that I liked and an Earl Sweatshirt track that was okay.
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