My Top 20 Albums of 2013

I've had a change of heart.  Originally, I said I wasn't going to rank my Top 20 albums for 2013, because Fugazzi Grand III : My Top 500 Albums of All Time, is coming January 1st.  But it could all end tomorrow, and the rankings for the Top 500 could change slightly, as that list has many constantly moving parts.  If you look back at my Top 1000 Songs from 2010, that changes daily as well.

But before we get to the Top 20, here are 6 albums that I never got a chance to listen to in 2013.  Now that I have more time, money, etc, that will change soon ...

The last  Elton John record I really loved was Made in England.  Elton goes back to his roots and recorded this entire album with just piano, bass and drums.  Home Again is one of his best songs in years, and I can't wait to dive from "The Diving Board".








This recording came out of Elvis Costello and The Roots jamming after a Late Night with Jimmy Fallon taping about a year ago.  What I've heard so far, I like.  The only disappointed is that there is no Black Thought, so it's almost as if The Roots are just the backing band for this Elvis Costello project.

I've seen the Melodic live, I've spent 8 hours in a car with them, we've shared Mexican food, I love their EP, I heard them on Reign, I saw them on Last Call with Carson Daly, but I haven't had a chance to listen to "Effra Parade" yet.   Soon, I tell ya.  Soon!

To use a wrestling term, I will always "mark out" for Paul McCartney recordings.  I saw him live at Miller Park this summer, but he didn't play anything new from his latest album, "New".  Very much looking forward to sitting down with this one.

Say it ain't so!  Yes, The Civil Wars are on "hiatus", so who knows if this is the last record we'll get from them.  I hope not.  I haven't heard anything from this album yet, but if it's anything like "Barton Hollow", I will not be disappointed.

Mason Jennings' album "Boneclouds" was one of my favorites from 2006, and I'm excited to see that his new album, "Always Been" was just released a week ago.  Mason is a fantastic singer-songwriter, and has a pretty awesome mother in law.  Hi Margie !








But wait !  There's more !!  I know you want to get to the Top 20.  We all do.  But before we do, I want to share 14 other albums that I love from 2013.  These are much more than honorable mentions.  Of the hundreds of albums I've taken the time to stream and/or buy this year, these are the best of the best of the best of the rest, in alphabetical order ...

I was late to lunch on this.  Was probably the last person on earth to hear "Blurred Lines", and the first time I heard it performed, it was with Jimmy Fallon and The Roots, and they were using classroom instruments.  That got me curious.  Fun record.

I don't remember how I stumbled upon this, but as I get older, I've really started to embrace jazz more.  Dave Brubeck's "Take Five" is still my favorite instrumental album.

When you compare "English Little League" to the other GBV albums that have been released recently, maybe this isn't as good, but if you compare it to a lot of the stuff that's out there, I still enjoy sitting down to a Pollard recording.  This is the most proficient songwriter of our time.  That is fact.  Some great songs on this long player.

Nick Korth made me aware of this Justin Vernon project.  The first Bon Iver record is still my favorite album that came from my years subscribing to Paste.  No falsetto vocals, here.  Would like to see these guys live.

When this first came out, I wore it out for a couple of weeks.  I still like it, but I think I ended up overplaying it.  Then I started to hear "Safe and Sound" in ads.  I still like it, but I think I was saying "album of the year" at one point.   Peaked too early ...

The beauty of social media.  The author of Ear to the Ground asked me to check out James Crawford.  I did.  He's awesome.  This has been keeping me company in the car for a few months.

What a voice, and quite a charming recording.  At just under 25 minutes long, I can pretty much listen to this 4 times to and from work, and believe me, I have ...

Very enjoyable recording by Dietrich Gosser.  It's called "Oh To Begin!" and for what it's worth, my favorite album art of 2013.

I still can't listen to The Fiery Furnaces' "Blueberry Boat" all the way through, but "Bitter Tea" and "Widow City" are favorites of mine. This is Eleanor Friedberger's latest solo album, and is more than just a good summer record.

I discovered The Riverside on NoiseTrade earlier this year.  I understand they are recording their follow up to their self titled debut, and I can't wait to hear it.  I still think about Diana Gruber everyday.

Another album that I wore out when it came out.  I think I discovered them on Fallon.  Still enjoy the vibe here ...

Don't be fooled by this album not making the Top 20.  I listen to it quite often.  The reason it didn't make the top 20 is musically, there's not much here.  It's not bad, but the attraction here is clearly Charles Bradley's vocals.  I'm curious to see what's next ...

James Tristan Redding turned me on to this duo.  I was familiar with M Ward's solo stuff, and we've all seen Elf.  Charming, good Saturday afternoon listening ...

I was really excited about Eels trilogy when I heard the idea.  Hombre Lobo was great.  End Times was good.  Tomorrow Morning was ... not.  So with each album worse than the one that came before it, I was entering this pool with my toes, instead of diving in.  I like it enough to make this blog post, but not enough to make the Top 20.







I hope you enjoyed the appetizer.  Here is the main course.  My top 20 albums of 2013 ...


20.  "Floating Coffin" by Thee Oh Sees

Jill, do you remember what you said about this band when you heard them?  Check out newgazzi Vol 3 to jog your memory.  I was introduced to this band for the first time this year, but I cannot wait to hear their old stuff.

19. "The Olms" by The Olms

I guess I'm a sucker for Pete Yorn's side-project albums that clock in under 30 minutes.  I bought his collaborative album with Scarlett Johannsson a few years back, and I really enjoy this efford with J.D. King.

18.  "Ghost on Ghost" by Iron & Wine

Definitely like this better than "Kiss Each Other Clean", but was really hoping this would contend for my album of the year.  It's pleasant, very well done, and to make the same comparison I made earlier with GBV, much better than a lot of what is out there.  The stand out track is "Baby Center Stage".  Definitely worth checking out ...

17.  "Dysnomia" by Dawn of Midi

Really, the only thing keeping this album from a top 5 appearance on this list is that I heard it for the first time just a few months ago.  I'm still getting to know it.  It's an instrumental record of piano, bass and drums, but I refuse to put a label on it.  You just have to hear it ...  Dawn of Midi's "Dysnomia"

16.  "Soft Will" by Smith Westerns

This will be a band that I'm hopefully listening to for a long, long time.  "Dye it Blonde" is one of my favorite recordings of the past few years, and their follow up, "Soft Will", did not disappoint.  This is pop music for people who say they don't like pop music.

15.  "Amok" by Atoms for Peace

I have a love/hate relationship with Thom Yorke.  For the most part, I really can't say that I'm a big Radiohead fan.  Yeah, I recognize that OK Computer is great, and I do enjoy The Bends. But that's all I've really embraced, and I really didn't connect with his solo album.  So I was hesitant to give this a try.  Well thank goodness I had 44 and a half minutes to kill earlier this year.  This album is really good, and I can easily say I enjoy it more than either of the Radiohead records I've mentioned here.  A great piece of art ...

14.  "Bigfoot" by Cayucas

6 of the next 14 artists on this list were all featured on newgazzi Vol 4, which has become my favorite newgazzi playlist of the past 9 months.  Cayucas is another band that I heard for the first time this year, and have played the hell out of this for the past 6 months, and love it as much today as I did the first time I heard it.  I've become big fans of these guys ...

13.  "Dormarion" by Telekinesis

The brainchild of Michael Benjamin Lerner, Telekinesis is appointment record listening.  Pick up all three of their albums, but start with this one !  Even if Todd Kemper doesn't like it.

12.  "The Features" by The Featuers

I became familiar with The Features when they were included on an mPlayer sampler a few years back.    Their self-titled release in 2013 is a great album, and "This Disorder" has become one of the most played tracks on my iPod this year.  Saw them at Summerfest, and I'm looking forward to what this band has in store for the future.

11.  "Trouble Will Find Me" by The National

When I saw The National live a few years back, I was underwhelmed.  But their recordings are incredible, and this is no exception.  I will give them another chance live, but damnit, you have to play more than one song from Alligator!

10.  "The Golden Age" by Woodkid

Yoann Lemoine is known more for his work in video music production, working with such artists as Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Katy Perry and Lana Del Rey.  But after hearing this, there is no mistaking that he can make great music as well.  And here's a moment of honesty.  I've created dirty lyrics for "Run Boy Run", and try to emulate his singing voice in the shower, singing said dirty lyrics.

9.  "Water in a Whale" by Jillette Johnson

Another artist I discovered on NoiseTrade, Jillette Johnson's EP "Whiskey and Frosting" featured 5 songs from her upcoming album "Water in a Whale".  It's really all I listened to for about two weeks.  Incredible vocals.  Haunting piano.  This is an amazing record.  Not much more I can say, other than you must hear it.

8.  "The Lone Bellow" by The Lone Bellow

The musicianship on this record is outstanding.  The harmonies are fantastic.  There aren't enough big, descriptive words to shower this band with.  I discovered The Lone Bellow on the very last mPlayer sampler I downloaded in January, right before the newgazzi playlists started.  This will definitely not be the last time this band is featured on this blog.

7.  "Here We Go" by Emily Forst

Yes, this album came out in November 2012.  But last year's list (which came out 52 weeks ago today) featured my favorite albums from Nov 2011 through Oct 2012, so this qualifies under my rules.  I've seen Emily play a handful of shows, and I'm blown away by the emotion she puts into her performances.  The first time I saw her play, she played two songs from Jeff Buckley's "Grace" record, which you may or may not know is the album my daughter is named after, so yeah, I kind of like it.  Emily was featured on newgazzi Vol 1, and her debut album is a joy to listen to, especially now that I've heard Emily explain the origin of some of these songs at her shows.  The world is a better place for having Emily Forst and her music in it.

6.  "Sound City - Real to Reel" ... the soundtrack to Dave Grohl's documentary film Sound City

The documentary is a must see, and the music that came from it is just as good.  Dave Grohl collaborates with a number of notable musicians to celebrate the history of Sound City Studios, which officially closed in May of 2011.  Some notable records that were recorded at Sound City were the impossible to find on CD "Buckingham Nicks" record, Elton John's "Caribou", Fleetwood Mac's self-titled album, a bunch of Tom Petty's albums and Weezer's "Pinkerton", just to name a few.  The album was recorded on the famous Neve console, and the stand out tracks are "You Can't Fix This" with Stevie Nicks, "Cut Me Some Slack", which reunites all the living members of Nirvana along with some guy named Paul (McCartney) and "Mantra" with Joshua Homme and Trent Reznor.

5.  "Scott & Rivers" by Scott & Rivers

Musically, this is best Weezer album since "Maladroit".   But it's not a Weezer album.  This is a side project of Rivers Cuomo and Scott Murphy of the band Allister.  It's got all the crunchy guitars you expect from a Rivers Cuomo recording, and most of it is sung in Japanese.  Hey, if Weezer is going to stick to doing cruises and covering songs for Disney movies, this is the next best thing to a proper Weezer album.

4.  "How I Knew Her" by Nataly Dawn

I've said it a ton over the past few years.  This is my favorite voice in popular music today.  I could listen to Nataly Dawn sing the phone book all day.  This album is pure joy, her covers are incredible, and her live shows are great.  I'm excited about what Pomplamoose is currently doing, but I will be first in line for Nataly's solo releases from this day forward.  Check her out on newgazzi Vols 1 and 9, and run to your local record shop and demand this album !

3.  "This Is How I Let You Down" by The Franklin Electric

Jon Matte and Co. have written and recorded a masterpiece.  I found this band one night around 2:00 in the morning.  I couldn't sleep, and I was looking for a couple of songs for newgazzi Vol 6.  I found this album, and liked it so much, I believe I had to bump an artist from the playlist, because I wanted to feature two of their songs (Uninvited (Storm) and This Is How I Let You Down).  The band has re-recorded three of the songs from the record with orchestral arrangements, and will be unveiling one of those a month between now and the beginning of the new year.  Please give your time to this band, and check out this album.

2.  "Home as in Houston" by The Get Togethers

I'm going to get out of the way for a minute, and let the band tell you their story ...

The year of 2007 with all of its tragic happenings launched a brokenhearted Bethany Gray on a quest to document the events of that year, the most horrifying year of her life. This may seem melodramatic, but what doesn’t to a 17 year old girl?

After escaping a tumultuous childhood, Bethany faced an entirely new stomach-gnawing heartbreak. In 2007 she had an affair with a teacher, a woman, at her own high school.   This soul-sucking, life-depleting teenage cataclysm sent Bethany spiraling down. The police reports, private investigations and courtroom hearings rolled on through the following months, suffocating her hope for survival. She graduated early to avoid additional trauma and moved to Austin, Texas, where a tiny seed was planted – The Get Togethers (though at the time, she had only her sadness and a head full of melodies). It was there she conceived the concept album Home as in Houston to record the story of 2007. This album, which would take over five years to develop, was the very thing that allowed her to let go of that tragedy so many years ago.

A head-on collision car accident at 70 mph led Bethany to her fate. After relocating to Houston to recuperate from the injuries, a few unsuspecting visitors took her by surprise. Her best friend was there accompanied by traveling musicians from Nashville. Nursing a broken collarbone and pumped full of painkillers, Bethany watched the person that would change everything walk into the room – Daniel Frazier.

They were fast friends and six short months later Daniel traveled the 900 miles to Bethany’s doorstep on a rescue mission. They packed up her entire life and booked it back to Nashville. While Houston had always been home, Nashville was the newness she could never find in Austin. Upon arriving in this tremendous city, she met the other two people that would realign the stars forever—Kayce Grossman and Andrew Frazier (life long friend and younger brother to Daniel). These Nashville natives brought life and hope back into this Houston heartbreak.

In the spring of 2011 she began work on Home as in Houston. By the time summer hit she’d made nearly no progress and realized what was missing: Daniel Frazier (on guitar), Kayce Grossman (on drums) and Andrew Frazier (on bass). Having grown up together, playing music since their early teens, these guys had a real distinctiveness about them that would complete The Get Togethers.

That August, they officially formed the band, aiming to finish the long-time dream of Home as in Houston, which was finally released February 12, 2013. What started out as unparalleled friendships transformed into the band we now know as The Get Togethers. They are memoir enthusiasts making homemade music.

A must listen ... thank you for your story, and your music!

1.  "Walking Into Brooklyn" by James Tristan Redding

Whether this man sells 100 or 20,000,000 copies of this record, this will forever be my favorite record of 2013.  The tears I shed as I type this come from the same source as the tears produced when I saw my daughter read for the first time, or when I witnessed my niece graduate high school with honors.  You've made it, James.  Goddamnit, you've made it, and I could not be prouder of you.  You are my brother, and your words and music inspire me.  Thank you for walking into brooklyn earlier this year, and thank you for "Walking Into Brooklyn", my album of the year.    James is also the featured artist for newgazzi Vol 10, which will be unveiled on Friday, November 29th.