Part Robyn, Part Annie, Part M83. Fully entertaining.
9. The Knife - Shaking The Habitual
The thing with The Knife in the '10s is they aren't interested in conventions. Everything is created to force the listener to dwell in a position of no return. You have to take the fullest journey and try and come out in one piece. No mean feat. But if you do then you'll find great treats on the back end almost as punchy as the initial 1-2.
8. Disclosure - Settle
These guys are not necessarily boundary pushing in the classical sense of the meaning. But the sheer CONFIDENCE on display here ensures this ends up as one of the most flat out enjoyable listens of 2013.
7. Youth Lagoon - Wondrous Bughouse
Widescreen wondrousness. Maybe not as consistent as others on the list but at the moment it's peaks shine brighter.
6. Fuck Buttons - Slow Focus
Ok. Ok. So placing albums in numerical order is stupid. But. When going back to listen to the 60-70 albums that I really enjoyed this year, Slow Focus still felt like my favourite dance/electronic record. Which then means...it's just outside the top 5!
Days off, rarer than fool's gold. A delay a mosey on the beak of a songbird etc etc.
Let's hit the road!
20. Sigur Ros - Isjaki
It's been something of a comeback year for the Ros, which is a strange thing to say considering the volume of their output hasn't exactly waned. The issue i've had with the last few LPs is that many of the band's songs have been a sole idea stretched out to some hollow end point. While there have been positives, momentum has often been curtailed due to a certain insouciant meandering. So a return to form. Check out the transition from Chorus 1 to 2 for evidence. Reminds me of the 'Gong' days.
19. Kanye West - Blood On The Leaves
This shouldn't work. A relationship tale on a political backdrop? It's bracingly honest which helps no end but that it fits between the lyrically smash-mouth 'I'm In It' and half-sister 'Guilt Trip' allows 'BOTL' to rise to the podium as the emotive fulcrum of 'Yeezus'. No mean feat for such an abrasive, confrontational merry-go-round.
18. Youth Lagoon - Mute
There's an almost agnostic sparkle to this ambitious tune by Youth Lagoon. It's an interesting turn of musical trends that the best songs on the search for some sort of spiritual synchronization have avoided the altruistic sermons of yesteryear and now aim for a middle ground, the no man's land we dwell in for joyless swathes of time. Not many of us are able to portray such a reverential juxtaposition.
17. M.I.A - Bring The Noise
M.I.A (Mark III) has covered a lot of bases in her relatively short spanned career (LP wise). Since Galang, I've always found her most enjoyable when she brings a pop sensibility to her songwriting toolbox. She brings it here, just as with last year's bumper single 'Bad Girls'. Fab video to boot.
16. Arcade Fire - Afterlife
The African shuffle is undeniable after a few listens here. Really the patented Arcade Fire trick now. Take an upbeat build up ahead of steam rhythm section layer with synths/syncopated percussive elements and then layer with Win/Regine narratives on something heartbreaking. A triumph.
15. Haim - Falling
Can't wait to see this threesome live in March. Those Fleetwood Mac/ Stevie Nicks comparisons were a little distracting when 'Don't Save Me' was released. But the energy and vivality of everything these girls do is undeniable, and this is just one of many pop pearls on their debut album 'Days Are Gone'. I'll take Este's bass face over 100's of listless NME indie types any day of the week.
14. My Bloody Valentine - wonder 2
The best song of the year with '2' on the end of it. (editor note: stop with the tongue in cheek comments). It's seems we've had this new album 'mbv' for years and thats a testament to its quality. When it came out though, fresh download and all, 'wonder 2' was the polemic track which went against the comfort of what came before it. Part cacophony, part 21st century shoegaze. It's the song that still jolts as much as any else released this year.
13. James Blake - Retrograde
I wouldn't say I was indifferent to the new James Blake album but this was so clearly the highest of highs, all other tracks seem subservient to this small wonder. It's not as mysterious or offsetting as anything on 'James Blake' but it rivals 'Limit to Your Love' in that it holds its soul sensibility very much on its sleeve as wild flowers bloom amongst and beyond its hymnal motifs.
12. Daft Punk - Giorgio by Moroder
9 minutes and 5 seconds of showing off, pyrotechnics, autiobiography and uncontrollable release. Dance!
11. Janelle Monae - Primetime
Absolutely love Janelle. She's one of those narratively speaking innovative artists out there hand in hand with Erykah Badu who rather neatly appears on Monae's new LP in the jammin' 'Q.U.E.E.N.'. This is my favourite of her singles though. One of the ballads of the year and my pick simply because while before she had the songs and the words she now has the emotion also. Hopefully B.I.G. sales will follow soon enough.
