Top Ten Albums of 2013 - 5 through 1

Here are the top five.  A quick note, the top three were interchangeable in order for a long time.  It was very close.

5. Franz Ferdinand - Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action - I didn't realize it had been four years since their last album and eight years since You Could Have It So Much Better. They make fun, cheeky (I can't think of a better word for it) music.  This album is a return to their roots.







4. Laura Marling - Once I Was an Eagle - Another year, another great Laura Marling album. It is not an easy listen.  She moves the melody around, she moves the rhythm around.  It is an unusual album for me to like, but I do.  I always find her music beautiful and haunting.








3. Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City - I listened to the single, Diane Young, for a month before I realized it was a play on words. I originally wrote these guys off as doing a cheap imitation of Graceland on their first album.  I didn't want to like Contra, but I did.  I felt they had done everything they could with that album.  I was pleased to see that they have developed their own style of pop music that blends multiple instruments and exotic rhythms. I am looking forward to the next album.



2. Frank Turner - Tape Deck Heart - Frank Turner has issues, lots of them.  And he has created a piano driven sound to convey all of them.  You would think the album would be really dark, but he has a humorous way of presenting things.  Don't dwell on the lyrics, enjoy the spirit that he sings them with and wish him well as he moves forward.






1. Steve Martin/Edie Brickell - Love Has Come For You - I heard about this album and my first thought was vanity project.  Steve Martin does an album with his friend's (Paul Simon) wife.  Two people who don't need the money or something to do.  Then I heard the first single on Letterman.  Martin has an angular way of playing banjo that is very clever.  Edie Brickell brings a southern (okay, maybe Texan) warmth to the songs that is very inviting.  I found myself coming back to this album over and over throughout the summer and every time it made me smile.

Top Ten Albums of 2013 - 10 through 6

10. Goldfrapp - Tales of Us - They have moved away from their dance oriented electronic music to a lovely, quieter album that I think suits Alison Goldfrapp's voice better.

9. Willie Nile - American Ride - I try to avoid Springsteen retreads, but this has some snap to it that is missing in the originator's current work.  The work it really reminds me of is the under appreciated Mink DeVille album, Coup de Grace. This is a new album in a very specific genre and I enjoyed it.







8. Camera Obscura - Desire Lines - They make an album and I love it.  I hear the single early in the year and instantly recognized it as them.  I chased down the album and I enjoy it as much as the last two.  There is nothing new here, just light, breezy pop music that is very refreshing.








7. Jake Bugg - Shangri La - His first album had some good songs, but it had a world weary feel to it that didn't match his youth.  This album seems to fit him better.  He went to Malibu and recorded with Rick Rubin.  They used Elvis Costello's drummer, Pete Thomas, and he really drives the songs.  I thought this was just another kid from England with a Noel Gallagher haircut that had a fascination with American roots music, but now I think he has a future.

6. Public Service Broadcasting - Inform, Educate, Entertain - If you would have told me at the start of the year, that I would like an album where the artists played music and used public service announcement recordings as the lyrics, I would have said it wasn't possible.  Here it is.  From the moment I heard Signal 30 I was hooked.  The surprising part is it works (think about it, it is the opposite of rap music).  I doubt their next album will be as interesting, but I enjoyed this one.

Introduction to This Year's Top 10 Albums

As I mentioned in my playlist post, it was a hard year for me to find albums that I liked.  I eventually came up with a list, but I am not as excited about it as I have been in the past.  I think it is a function of where I was listening to most of my music (in the car, at work), as I seem to listen to albums when I am sitting around at home.

Here are the honorable mentions for this year:


Robin Thicke - Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke, Daft Punk, Arcade Fire and Justin Timberlake all made albums that sounded like dance music from 1979.  Of those, I thought Robin Thicke's was the best.  I didn't see that coming.

Pet Shop Boys - Electric - This year was a big year for acts that have been in the business a long time to issue new material.  David Bowie, Suede, Johnny Marr, Elvis Costello and the Pet Shop Boys all put new material out. I like the Pet Shop Boys album the best.  There was nothing new on any of these albums, but they all showed the high level of skill that they have when making new music.

Janelle Monáe - The Electric Lady - I get it.  She is in the middle of a trilogy about how android/robots are taking over society.  The music is so good that she needs to write songs about real people.  The robot thing just doesn't connect.

Arctic Monkeys - AM - A really well made album.  If you like desert/stoner rock this album is for you.  I just got tired of it once I got past the hits.  I am waiting for the next Shadow Puppets album.

2013 Playlist

Every year seems to have a theme to it, this year it appears to be the return of the single.  I liked lots of songs, but very few albums really grabbed my attention.  I spent the majority of the year listening to playlists as opposed to albums.

This is reflected in this year's list.  It is exceptionally long at 28 songs, 1:40 in length.  It is almost exactly the length of the drive from my house to my parent's house in Bellingham.

The one large influence to this year's list was our trip to Scotland where I heard Kodaline, The 1975, and Frank Turner all week while we were there.

Here are links to the lists on Rdio and Spotify:

Rdio LIst
Spotify List

Here is the list.  As always, it is in the order I like to listen to it, not the order of my favorite songs.

Song - Artist - Album

Signal 30 - Public Service Broadcasting - Signal 30 EP
Diane Young - Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City
Tell Me - Veronica Falls - Waiting for Something to Happen
Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High? - Arctic Monkeys - AM
Woke Up In A Police Car - Oblivians - Desperation
Step Up for the Cool Cats - Palma Violets - 180
Royals - Lorde - Pure Heroine
High Hopes - Kodaline - High 
Chocolate - The 1975 - Music For Cars EP
Suit & Tie - Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience [Deluxe Edition]
Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke/Pharrell Williams - Blurred Lines
Story of My Life - One Direction - Midnight Memories
Recovery - Frank Turner - Tape Deck Heart
Q.U.E.E.N. [feat. Erykah Badu] - Janelle Monáe - The Electric Lady
Lightning Bolt - Jake Bugg - Jake Bugg
This Is Our Time - Willie Nile - American Ride
Sacrilege - Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Mosquito
GMF - John Grant - Pale Green Ghosts
The Stars (Are Out Tonight) - David Bowie - The Next Day
It Starts and Ends With You - The London Suede - Bloodsports
Upstarts - Johnny Marr - Johnny Marr - Upstarts
Eliza - Anna Calvi - One Breath
Bury My Bones - Pure Love - Anthems
When You Get To Asheville - Steve Martin/Edie Brickell - Love Has Come For You
Pompeii - Bastille - Pompeii
I Wanna Know - Best Coast - Fade Away
Do It Again - Camera Obscura - Desire Lines
Right Action - Franz Ferdinand - Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action

Notes:

1. Lightning Bolt  probably should have been a 2012 song, but, I didn't hear it until this summer.  I included it because it was interchangeable with a couple of songs on this year's Shangri La album and I like it better as a song.
2. I was aware of Macklemore/Ryan Lewis' album - The Heist last year, making it a 2012 album.  I really came around to liking a number of the songs on the album, but in my mind it was a 2012 release.  
3. The same thing happened with Madness' Oui Oui Si Si Ja Ja Da Da.  I just heard it too late to include it.