2013: The Year in (Music) Review

The top 12 albums of 2013, according to me. (Sorry. Couldn't stop at 10.)

12. Joanna Gruesome, "Weird Sister." While their name is a riff on the very different Joanna Newsom, their music has nothing to do with her, and though the name's jokey, the music's not.  What I love about them is the way they seamlessly alternate between super catchy melody lines sung in ear-pleasing octaves and cacophonous guitar shredfests. Favorite tracks include "Sugarcrush" and "Secret Surprise."

11. Vampire Weekend,  "Modern Vampires of the City." Hooky (without being trite) melodies, clever lyrics and thoughtful instrumentation makes this album instantly accessible yet something you'll keep with you for the long haul. Favorite tracks are "Step" and "Ya Hey."

10. Run The Jewels, "Run The Jewels." This is Killer Mike and El-P, putting their heads (and rap styles) together to great effect. The rhyme schemes are ambitious, their individual voices are powerful and memorable, but the thing that really makes it are the backing tracks by El-P. In a year full of solid hip-hop releases—notably Danny Brown and Pusha T—this one still manages to stand alone. Favorite track: "Sea Legs."

9. Fuck Buttons, "Slow Focus." This duo out of Bristol, England creates instrumental, electronic music that burns slowly but hotly. Repeated phrases with gradually building layers make for a meditative experience, though that's not to say it's relaxing by any means. I personally like to listen to this album while running, because you can really lose yourself in it. Favorite track: "The Red Wing."

8.  Savages, "Silence Yourself." This band's instrumental tightness is apparent from the get-go—they lock in on the opening track of this album and never relent. Singer Jehnny Beth, in contrast, sounds like her massive vibrato could easily throw her off the rails at any moment. Favorite track: "She Will."

7. Janelle Monae, "The Electric Lady." To me, this album has the cohesiveness, the emotional power, the range and the next-level funkiness of Stevie Wonder's "Innervisions." What it has that "Innervisions" doesn't is an over-arching conceptual hook—this album is the third in her "Metropolis" series in which she plays the role of fugitive android Cindi Mayweather. Favorite tracks are "Giving Em What They Love" and "Dance Apocalyptic."

6. M.I.A., "Matangi." A guilty pleasure, I realize. This album was way delayed because of label concerns over its overt positivity (which, I guess, feels "off-brand" for M.I.A.), but the final result felt no less bad-assy. Favorite tracks are "Bad Girls" (which was released well in advance of the album) and "Bring the Noise."

5. My Bloody Valentine, "mbv." After a lengthy (22-year!) hiatus, My Bloody Valentine pulled a Beyoncé (or, rather, Beyoncé pulled a them) by (a) releasing a surprise album, (b) limiting where you can find it (their website, yes, but iTunes and Spotify, no), and (c) charging an unheard-of-in-2013 price of $16 for it. It's every penny and more: gorgeous, expansive and wonderfully fuzzed-out. Favorite track: "only tomorrow."

4. Radiator Hospital, "Something Wild." Man, this guy's voice. It's exciting to hear a male-fronted band with a singer (Sam Cook-Parrott) who's actually concerned with the business of singing well. The songs on "Something Wild" range from power pop to pared-down ballad. In Sam's words, "I spend a lot of my time trying to escape. Into comics, records, movies. New worlds full of magic and wonder. The record is a tribute to those worlds. Favorite track: "Our Song."

3. Mutual Benefit, "Love's Crushing Diamond." Just plain lovely. While mostly centered around the efforts of songwriter/lead singer Jordan Lee, it's also about who else he brings to the table. The string section. Back-up singers. Guitarists. Hand drums. Random wind chimes. It feels very DIY, but in the best possible way. And refreshingly enough, it's so dang hopeful, in an authentic way. Favorite track: "Advanced Falconry."

2. Swearin', "Surfing Strange." After their first LP, I thought I had Swearin's number. Turns out, they had much more up their sleeves, including another singer. They alluded to some propensity for down-tempo, moodier stuff on their first album, but here, they embrace it. Doesn't mean there aren't rockers, though. Favorite tracks are "Dust In The Gold Sack" and "Echo Locate."

1. Speedy Ortiz, "Major Arcana." This album hits on all levels. Musically, it's amazingly not-straightforward—its guitar work surprises at every turn. Lyrically, it's full of just the right specifics, and in this department, it's certainly all killer/no filler. Vocally, it's got massive range—Sadie Dupuis can sound shaky and vulnerable or belty and self-assured. And overall, it's got the confidence of a much more well-established band. My favorite track is "No Below"—an ode for troubled middle-schoolers if there ever was one. As a Pavement fan, I've always enjoyed that band's more earnest numbers—sure, the clever stuff's dynamite, but in the rare instance when Malkmus' tongue wasn't so firmly planted in his cheek, he created some truly poignant stuff. And now Speedy Ortiz—who, incidentally, are also Pavement obsessed—bring the best of that tradition of 90s slacker rock to bear in the 2010s. And aren't we lucky that they do.

Thanks for reading and listening along in 2013.
*Cat