CHANGSTAR: Audiophile Headphone Reviews and Early 90s Style BBS
Lobby => Music and Recordings => Topic started by: burnspbesq on December 25, 2013, 09:07:36 PM
-
Well, somebody had to get this started.
CW is that 2013 was a great year for new music. It certainly was in the genres that I listen to.
These are in no particular order, except for the first two, which stand head and shoulders above everything else I heard this year.
Jason Isbell, "Southeastern." The best singer-songwriter album in years. If I gave out the Grammys, "Elephant" would be song of the year.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/burnspbesq/southeastern_zps4cdb4b49.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/burnspbesq/media/southeastern_zps4cdb4b49.jpg.html)
The Wayne Shorter Quartet, "Without a Net." Well into his 80s, Wayne is still writing and playing amazing music. Someday, an orchestration of "Pegasus" will be part of the standard symphonic repetoire.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/burnspbesq/withoutanet_zps6811fab3.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/burnspbesq/media/withoutanet_zps6811fab3.jpg.html)
And here are a bunch of others.
Dunedin Consort and Players, John Butt cond., "The Passion According to St. John"
Miles Davis, "The Miles Davis Quintet Live in Europe 1969 (Bootleg Collection vol. 2)'
Robbie Fulks, "Gone Away Backward"
Sarah Jarosz, "Build Me Up from Bones"
Aaron Diehl, "The Bespoke Man's Narrative"
Ashley Monroe, "Like a Rose"
Aoife O'Donovan, "Fossils"
Solas, "Shamrock City"
Fred Hersch & Julian Lage, "Free Flying"
Chris Thile, "Bach Sonatas and Partitas, vol. 1"
Amos Lee, "Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song"
Bill Frisell, "Big Sur"
Allison Miller's Boom Tic Boom, "No Morphine, No Lilies"
Ben Goldberg, "Subatomic Particle Homesick Blues"
Pavel Haas Quartet, "Schubert String Quartets"
Quatuor Ebene, "Mendelssohn String Quartets"
Cecile McLorin Salvant, "WomanChild"
Dido, "Girl Who Got Away"
Della Mae, "This World Oft Can Be"
Bryce Dessner and Kronos Quartet, "Aheym"
The National, "Trouble Will Find Me"
Vampire Weekend, "Modern Vampires of the City"
Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell, "Old Yellow Moon"
Danish National Symphony, Christoph Poppen cond., "Before Heaven, Before Earth: Eichberg Symphonies 1 & 2"
Gretchen Parlato, "Live in NYC"
Hilary Hahn, "In 27 Pieces: The Hilary Hahn Encores"
John Scofield, "Uberjam Deux"
Lage Lund, Will Vinson & Orlando LeFleming, "The OWL Trio"
Lee Ranaldo & the Dust, "Last Night on Earth"
Pat Metheny, "Tap: John Zorn's Book of Angels vol. 20"
Rudresh Mahanthappa, "Gamak"
Son Volt, "Honky Tonk"
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Vasily Petrenko cond., "Shostakovich Symphony No. 4"
Tired Pony, "The Ghost of the Mountain"
Toad the Wet Sprocket, "New Constellation"
Tomasz Stanko New York Quartet, "Wislawa"
Stefano Bollani & Hamilton de Holanda, "O Que Sera"
-
CW is that 2013 was a great year for new music.
Conventional Wisdom every December is that the year past was a great year for new music. ;)
Captain Hindsight rarely agrees with Conventional Wisdom.
Having said that, I will check out Jason Isbell at the earliest opportunity (when company leaves).
I do have Without A Net... I enjoyed it... but would find myself playing "Adam's Apple" or "Juju" more often...
NP - Ladies of the Canyon (a few days ago I ended up using Laurel since the 405 was a parking lot, and it reminded me of this.)
-
Here is my list:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/626954/the-diary-entries-of-a-little-girl-in-her-30s-part-2/20265#post_10114920
Whew.
-
Note: there is nothing implied by this question - it is an honest question.
If you had 65 Favorite Recordings of 2013, then how many recordings were left off the Favorite Recordings of 2013 ?
-
Note: there is nothing implied by this question - it is an honest question.
If you had 65 Favorite Recordings of 2013, then how many recordings were left off the Favorite Recordings of 2013 ?
A lot.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/626954/the-diary-entries-of-a-little-girl-in-her-30s-part-2/18555#post_9816974
-
Cool. That's an interesting list. I was not even aware there was a new Numan.
You should have a weekly radio show on Shoutcast or Live365 or something.
-
I do have Without A Net... I enjoyed it... but would find myself playing "Adam's Apple" or "Juju" more often...
That's sort of an odd statement considering those albums are over 40 years old in a thread about 2013. I love Adam's Apple and JuJu, but find myself playing Night Dreamer or Speak No Evil more. Does an artist have to release his best album ever for an album to be praiseworthy?
I do think this group that Wayne Shorter is playing with is his best in decades though. And they are fucking fantastic live. Bay Area guys here should make it a point to see them in SF in March.
-
Oh and nice list MF. I'm terrible at these because I don't keep track of what I listen to throughout the year and have to go back and research what was actually released. Will report back at some point though.
-
I do have Without A Net... I enjoyed it... but would find myself playing "Adam's Apple" or "Juju" more often...
That's sort of an odd statement considering those albums are over 40 years old in a thread about 2013. I love Adam's Apple and JuJu, but find myself playing Night Dreamer or Speak No Evil more. Does an artist have to release his best album ever for an album to be praiseworthy?
I do think this group that Wayne Shorter is playing with is his best in decades though. And they are fucking fantastic live. Bay Area guys here should make it a point to see them in SF in March.
Thanks, that's actually a possibility, I'll have to see what the dates are.
Shorter is one of my favorite artists.... but at a certain point I discovered that collecting and auditioning the lesser albums of my favorite artists and genres, were keeping me from discovering the supremely great albums of other artists and genres.
So someone who listened to, say, mostly 4AD and Interscope artists, and collected those artists entire catalog, might never even hear any Shorter albums at all...
-
Here is my list:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/626954/the-diary-entries-of-a-little-girl-in-her-30s-part-2/20265#post_10114920
Whew.
So, is this in order of preference ? ( I.E. is 01. DJ Koze - Amygdala your favorite of 2013 ? )
-
Oh and nice list MF. I'm terrible at these because I don't keep track of what I listen to throughout the year and have to go back and research what was actually released. Will report back at some point though.
If you use iTunes, there's an easy workaround. Create a new smart playlist with the criterion "year = 2013."
-
Awesome list @MF and Burnsy! Some great ideas on stuff to check out, thanks.
I wanted to throw out a few stand outs for me, not necessarily the best of the year and in no particular order:
John Grant - Pale Green Ghost
Grant's open disclosure is almost uncomfortable at times, but even in the depths of his despair the music is captivating.
(http://www.contactmusic.com/images/content/john-grant-pale-green-ghosts.jpg)
DRENGE - DRENGE
Ruthless rock'n'roll with an edge. This two piece rocks.
(http://nme.assets.ipccdn.co.uk/images/gallery/2013Drenge_album_packshot600G080813.jpg)
Hevig Molledstad Trio - All of them Witches
Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen is simply amazing. This is Jazz that I can't get enough of. Possibly not as strong as Shoot! it's still a great example of Hevig's heavy style.
(http://www.runegrammofon.com/sitefiles/site10/shop/rcd-2141-hedvig-mollestad-trio-all-of-them-witches-cd_19_2013-02-14-15-12-56.jpg)
Suner McKane - Slect Visual History
Fantastic moody album recommended by @Rythm Devils.
(http://f0.bcbits.com/img/a0402300571_2.jpg)
Lorde - Pure Heroine
I tend to shy away from stuff that has gone main stream popular, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit that this one got a ton of listening time form me in 2013. It was my go to disk in the car.
(http://cdn4.pitchfork.com/albums/19807/homepage_large.f2072684.jpg)
Savages - Silence Yourself
Brilliant riffs and a great energy keep me coming back to this one.
(http://cdn2.pitchfork.com/albums/19171/homepage_large.903733f6.jpg)
Bombino - Nomad
This guy is crazy good on the guitar.
(http://www.nonesuch.com/files/imagecache/section-albums-coverart/albums/coverart/bombino-nomad-rev.jpg)
Blood Orange - Cupid Deluxe
This guy gets whats hot and does it right.
(http://nme.assets.ipccdn.co.uk/images/gallery/2013BloodOrange_CupidDelux181113.jpg)
And a few others that have been mentioned, or get mentioned a lot anyway...
Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires of the City
Waxahatchee - Cerulean Salt
The National - Trouble Will Find Me
Earl Sweatshirt - Doris
-
@MF - Out of the 65 - which (if any) are largely or wholly instrumental ?
(Nothing implied by that - just would be interested in knowing, thanks.)
-
@MF - Out of the 65 - which (if any) are largely or wholly instrumental ?
(Nothing implied by that - just would be interested in knowing, thanks.)
65. My Bloody Valentine - m. b. v
Shoegazer with murmured vocals mainly used as effect.
64. Lubomyr Melnyk - Corollaries
Experimental piano compositions
58. Miles - Faint Hearted
Electronic soundscapes
53. Drexciya - Journey Of The Deep Sea Dweller IV
Early detroit style techno
51. Forest Swords - Engravings
Field recordings / electronic compositions
47. Ulrich Schnauss & Mark Peters - Tomorrow Is Another Day
Electronic and instrumental compositions
35. Hammock - Oblivion Hymns
Heavy ambient dronescapes
23. Stygian Stride - Stygian Stride
Vintage synthesizer compositions
21. Life Coach - Alphawaves
Krautrock - with little to no vocals
10. Omar Souleyman - Wenu Wenu
Syrian folk with processed effects -- some vocals in Arabic
05. Moan - Think About Forgotten Days
Guitar drones
-
@MF - Out of the 65 - which (if any) are largely or wholly instrumental ?
(Nothing implied by that - just would be interested in knowing, thanks.)
10. Omar Souleyman - Wenu Wenu
Syrian folk with processed effects -- some vocals in Arabic
Thanks for making this instrumental list.
I am sampling from both this list and the main list of 65 in numerical order.
Currently listening to the Omar Souleyman, which is interesting in several ways.
First is that if you spoke Arabic, you would not have put it on the instrumental list. (Because it has just as many lyrics as most every other album.) But since (presumably) you don't speak Arabic, then you approach the songs as music, where the voice is just another instrument. Actually, this is how I approach all music. Some of this comes from listening to a lot of stuff like early R.E.M. which was like listening to Souleyman - even though Peter Stipe was singing in English. :) But largely it comes from being a person who is oriented towards the non-verbal. So, I've never cared much about the lyrics. And most lyrics I encountered growing up were always been "baby baby oh baby" and other similarly profound stuff. Ultimately, I've always found that musicians never have anything more to say - in terms of a verbal message - than Plato or Shakespeare (and usually much less).
So, I always listen to all music with English lyrics as if I don't understand English. If it passes that test, then I will look at the lyrics sheet (Of course there are a few exceptions to this.)
Note that everyone approaches art - such as music - from their own perspective - there is no "right" or "wrong" - the above is just where I come from.
Someone elsewhere on this site mentioned Pitchfork. A classic example of the exact opposite from the above. You have to be a "wordsmith" to write reviews for that site. Such as person is automatically oriented first towards the lyrics - and then maybe they notice that there are other instruments. That is why you see "Vampire Weekend" on their lists. I can't imagine anyone liking that album if they did not understand English.
------
Second is that the Souleyman album reminds me of 1990s "Bhangra" which was the South Asian movement to combine traditional sounds and rhythms with modern electronic dance music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR5vdhBe_Zo
-
Same here Ken. I've never cared much for lyrics in my music. Except I think I do it more subconsciously.
I probably couldn't even recognize the lyrics to my favorite music if it was written down in front of me. Needs to be with the rest of the music to be interpreted by my feeble brain.
-
Alrighty. Bit late to this thread but trying to address such a topic is always difficult. I had initially pegged this year as a disappointing one for new music, but there was a period during and after my travels mid year where I missed out on a tonne of new releases. I've gone through the best new music thread to unearth some gems and suspect I may be going through a backlog for some time.
These albums are my standouts. They evoke distinct moments, places, people and experiences from the past year.
Rudimental - Home
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ec/Rudimental_Home.jpg)
Love love love the sassy, sexy female vocalists belting it out on this album.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M97vR2V4vTs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRcRhWErjjo
Disclosure - Settle
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/dd/Disclosure_Settle.jpg)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93ASUImTedo
London Grammar - If You Wait
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f9/London_Grammar_-_If_You_Wait.png)
Oh Hannah. You slay me. Every. Damn. Time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5XRdOwGb6Q
Arctic Monkeys - AM
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/04/Arctic_Monkeys_-_AM.png)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpOSxM0rNPM
Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4d/Vampire_Weekend_-_Modern_Vampires_of_the_City.png)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mDxcDjg9P4
Lorde - Pure Heroine
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fe/Lorde_Pure_Heroine.png)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRfpZm7Sja8
Phosphorescent - Muchacho
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a6/Muchacho_album_cover.jpg)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3PHDLMAacY
Blood Orange - Cupid Deluxe
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5d/Blood_Orange_Cupid_Deluxe_album_cover.jpg)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9gKVduzVEA