Honorable Mentions of 2013

Hey there! Well, the new year is on the horizon and while I've already posted my end of year lists, they're are a few tracks and albums that I would like to mention. These are songs and LPs that I thought were great, but didn't make the best of lists for the year. Enjoy!


Tracks

I couldn't say goodbye to the year without mentioning this track, it  has everything you need on a pop song. Why didn't it make the cut? Well... I forgot.

This song is easily on of the highlights from the latest KoL album. However, I felt this track was so great because it showcased everything I already love about the band and not a new and exciting sound, which was what I was looking for in my top 5 tracks.

Alright, if you've read my review for The 20/20 Experience you know that I targeted this track specifically for being sappy and overly produced... but it grew on me. While I wouldn't say it has become my favorite track off the LP, It is one of the best, most sincere love songs that pop music produced this year.

Not really a "popular" song, but a fun song nonetheless. "Yu" is the best track off of the new Mellowhigh release, and probably my favorite Odd Future single that doesn't feature Tyler or Earl.


Albums

Simply put, this is one of this years best rock albums and a complete surprise for me. If you'd like to know my full opinion, check out my review!

Hellogoodbye really pulled threw o their latest album. I thought that this band would go down as one of those mid 00's groups whose big single was the only noteworthy thing about them, and that they would be a guilty pleasure of mine. However, their sophomore LP and now, this latest album are enough to prove that HGB are worth revisiting.

Out of all the Odd Future related projects of this year, Wolf was easily the best. While it didn't make my top 10 best, it came darn close because this LP has grown on me a great deal since my initial, mostly positive review.

And finally, I simply couldn't forget to mention the latest Death Grips album, soundtrack... thing, Government Plates. It isn't a favorite of mine for the year, but it also didn't disappoint me. I found some of my favorite DG songs on here mixed in with some of my least favorite, which left me confused and a little uncomfortable... kind of like the first time I listened to Death Grips.


Welp, it's been a pretty great year for the musics and I can only hope that next year is just as good! I hope you all have a happy New Year and that all of those resolutions that you're making either become reality, or they fold early in the year so you don't feel too bad about it.

Top 10 Best Albums of 2013

2013 has been a pretty great year for music; we got to see a bunch of old bands put out stellar new material, and we also saw a lot of up and comers get their due as well with albums that I know I'll be spinning well into the new year. It was tough condensing the year into a top 10, but I think I narrowed it down to the best of my ability. So, without further adieu, here are my top 10 favorite LPs of 2013!

10. Danny Brown "Old"

XXX was an excellent mixtape and really put Danny Brown in the underground rap spotlight. With Old, Danny uses the dark/crazy album set-up with the first half finding Danny rapping about getting older and his place in the game and life in general; while the second half is one hyper, energy packed jam after another. I thought this LP was fantastic, maybe not as great as XXX, but that's mostly because that mixtape was my introduction to Danny.

9. Chance The Rapper "Acid Rain"

On this mixtape, Chance The Rapper really showed himself to be an exciting and eccentric voice in the world of hip hop. From song to song, Chance mixes influences and alternates between rapping and singing with ease. I'm excited to see what Chance has in store for 2014, especially if any of it is as memorable as songs like "Cocoa Butter Kisses".

8. Disclosure "Settle"

I didn't get a chance to do a full review for this album, which I still regret because this is simply one of the best and most memorable debuts I've heard in quite a while. It is also an incredibly tight, and consistent house-influenced pop LP, and that's no mean feat. I thoroughly enjoyed this LP for just how joyously dance-able nearly every track was, a true standout for the year.

7. Kurt Vile "Wakin' On A Pretty Daze"

Mixing influences from artists like Neil Young and the hazy reverb-laden production of his former band, The War On Drugs, Kurt Vile manged to put out the mellowest release of 2013, and seal me in as a fan of his music. I love the rich production and the sincerity of this album; as soon as the first track starts, I'm sucked into a warm feeling and don't leave until the final strums of "Goldtone" stop.

6. Pusha T "My Name Is My Name"

Pusha T did something this year that I didn't expect; he put out not only his best solo album yet, but also managed to blend poppier moments with his usual tough-as-nails bars with only a couple of them coming off as clunky (I didn't forget the track "Let Me Love You"). This album grew on me in a pretty big way and I'm able to say that it was truly one of this year's best.

5. Run the Jewels "Self-Titled"

Let me tell you something, put Killer Mike and El-P together and it's going to end up on a "best of list" somewhere, whether it's Pitchfork or my lowly little blog. It's impossible to deny the power of these two as MCs, and El-p's production? Forget about it. No other rap album this year pulled me in like this one did, and that says a lot, considering this year was actually a pretty decent year for rap LPs from guys who rap with as much technical ability as these two.

4. Arcade Fire "Reflektor"

Arcade Fire have gone from  awe-inspiring indie darlings to a Grammy award winning act who's latest LP has proven to be one of this year's most polarizing. Obviously, I sit on the side who thinks this LP is something great, but It didn't start that way. At first, I thought this record aimed to high and forgot to integrate a meaningful concept; however, on further listening, and digging deeper into the lyrics, I found that Reflektor was an Arcade Fire album unlike any other before it. Because for the first time, the band not only sang about overcoming whatever funk they're in, but they actually did, with songs that sleekly grooved their way across the near hour and a half this album lasts. This is a record about overcoming a technology obsessed world by using it to create music that feels both synthetic and natural.

3. Savages "Silence Yourself"

No other LP this year rocked as hard as Silence Yourself, and I'm not talking about volume. Savages have crafted an album with the soul of a classic Post-punk album, emphasis on punk, making all other attempts at this style of music seem paltry in comparison. The band not only creates layered, detailed songs with booming drums and catchy guitar rifts, but they also write lyrics that spit in the face of conformity. While yes, the band itself seems a little too wrapped-up with being a "serious" band, but that doesn't matter if the songs they make are as great as what's on this LP.

2. Daft Punk "Random Access Memories"

I was so excited to hear the new Daft Punk album, I listened to that 30 second sample for "Get Lucky" over and over, and even watched all of the videos featuring contributors to the LP in hopes that I'd hear a new snippet, or figure out what direction they were going in. In short, I wasn't disappointed. If you want to know the extent of my appreciation for this LP in detail, check out my review! But for now, I'll say that RAM is not only one of the best albums that 2013 has to offer, but it is also one of the best Daft Punk LPs, second only to Discovery.

1. Vampire Weekend "Modern Vampires of the City"

This LP came as a surprise to me, not because it was good, because lets face it, this is a Vampire Weekend LP, and at the very least, their LPs are good. No, this album surprised me with how drawn in I was to every part of it, something that their last LP didn't do. While I loved Contra  it just wasn't saying anything lyrically that captivated me like this LP does. MVotC is an incredibly human record, discussing relationships, death and God with complete sincerity, and a ton of wit  and charisma. I loved this album from the first time I heard it and that feeling only grew as the year went on. While it's not a perfect record, I was hard-pressed to find an LP this enthralling and wondrous.

Top 5 Most Disappointing Albums of 2013

2013 has been a fantastic year for music. There were comeback albums, career definers and plenty of unexpected gems. Unfortunately, this is not the list where I tell you about those albums, instead, this is the top 5 albums that disappointed me the most (whether or not I think the album is good or not). This isn't really a list of the worst albums of 2013, just a list of albums that failed to live up to my expectations. Enjoy!


5. Earl Sweatshirt "Doris"

I had really high hopes for this LP, and some of the tracks here did live up to the hype. I really enjoyed the three singles ("Hive" "Chum" and "Whoa") and deeper cuts like "Sunday" and "Burgundy" were great too. Sadly, the other two-thirds of the album is spotty and sometimes just plain boring. I still hold to the statement I made in my "Chum" track review, in that I'm still excited to see where Earl will go from here; I only hope it's a more rewarding listen than Doris was.


4. Drake "Nothing Was The Same"

Two years ago Drake dropped his sophomore LP, Take Care, and for the first time ever, I enjoyed not just one, but a good chunk of a Drake album. Going into 2013, Drake dropped some worthwhile singles, like "Just Hold On, We're Going Home" and "5 AM In Toronto", but the latter isn't on this LP and the former is dropped in the middle of an incredibly inconsistent tracklist, making it seem like too little, too late. The only other tracks I truly enjoyed were "Tuscan Leather" and "From Time"; otherwise, the rest of the songs here are either too melodramatic for their own good, or feature some of the most ill-fitting production I've heard on a Drake album. I don't really know if I'm a fan of Drake or not at this point, I guess I'll give Take Care a spin and see.


3. CHVRCHES "The Bones Of What You Believe" 

Ugh, this LP had so much potential to be one of the years best. From the moment I heard the track "The Mother We Share" I was super excited to hear more songs from this band, then I heard the track "Recover" and that feeling only grew... But this album was not what I was expecting. Now before I go on, it would probably be useful to know exactly what kind of LP I was looking for on TBOWYB, and it's pretty simple; I was looking for an album of colorful, upbeat and memorable electronic music that would finally put that overlong, over-hyped M83 album out of my head. But instead, I got an album of bland and forgettable tunes, with lyrics that were very hit or miss, and some poor choices where vocal performances are concerned (either the male singer needs to liven up, or just stop singing alone on tracks). I didn't want to dislike this LP, and I even revisit it from time to time, to see if maybe it will grow on me; sadly, that hasn't happened.


2. Blood Orange "Cupid DELUXE" 

Like CHVRCHES, this is an album that got a lot of positive buzz upon it's release, but also like CHVRCHES I found very little to like about it. The first two tracks aren't bad, but the album takes a nose dive and never recovers. The songs here are too reliant on 80's nostalgia too be anything more than music to reminisce to. But Cupid DELUXE can't even get that part right, thanks to boring instrumentals and weak singing on a vast majority of these tracks. I liked the singles that dropped from this album, and I really like the single "Dinner" that came out last year, but that track isn't here and what is here is spotty at best.

1. Kanye West "YEEZUS"

Ahh Yeezy, you have so much talent, but too much ego. Much like MBDTF, Yeezus suffers the most from Kanye's insistence that the most interesting thing about his music is the context that surrounds it. Also, the blatant bandwagon jumping on Yeezus is hard for me to ignore, not because Ye had decided to try this sound, but because he did it so poorly in comparison to a group like Death Grips or Clipping. I like moments from this LP, but I can't really say I can enjoy a single track all the way through without finding something that annoys or underwhelms me. In a year full of ambitious and career- defining LPs, Yeezus shows me that Kanye West doesn't feel the need to make his "ambitious" album an album that is also enjoyable to listen to.

Top 5 Pop Music Songs of 2013

Pop music is a pretty interesting part of our culture, it's fun, instantaneous and even ugly. Personally, I found myself listening to a lot more radio music this year (the workplace is a great way for that to happen) and actually enjoyed some of it! Here are my top 5 Pop songs of 2013.


5. Lady Gaga "Do What U Want"
I'm not the world's biggest Lady Gaga fan, but I will concede to the notion that, when she wants to, she can pen some of the best modern pop music around. "Do What U Want" is a sexy, pulsating tune with a refrain that sees Gaga telling the listener, or rather, the world; that they can do whatever they want with her body. On the flip side, they can't have here heart or her mind! It's not the most original song concept, but Gaga sings so passionately and R.Kelly is mildly amusing here as well.

4. Bruno Mars "Treasure"
Yes... I enjoyed a Bruno Mars song. Luckily, it was the funky, Michael Jackson soaked "Treasure", a track that I honestly didn't recognize as being a Bruno Mars song, or even a song of this decade. Which is about the highest form of complement that I can give this song... and that bass line.

3. Drake "Hold On, We're Going Home"
I only wish that Drake's latest LP was this consistently smooth and worthwhile. This track emphasizes everything I find enjoyable about Drake, even if the lyrics are fairly simplistic, but hey, it's a pop song! Also, this song probably has the most hilarious "serious" video I've seen all year.

2. Kanye West "Bound 2"
Speaking of both disappointing albums and videos that don't fit the mood of the song, at all! We have "Bound 2", one of the highlights from Yeezy's latest album. This track is one of those closers that makes your brain think that the previous 9 tracks weren't spotty as all get out, and actually leaves you feeling relatively satisfied. I love the sampling and the mid section vocal contribution, and I even enjoy Kanye's lyrics here as well.

1. Janelle Monae "Primetime" ft. Miguel
Every year has one, and 2013 has one of the finest I've heard in the past five years or so. I'm talking about the star-studded smooth duet, a staple in the R&B genre. Jonelle and Miguel do this concept justice with a song that feels propelled by true yearning, not lustful compulsion, and it's impossible to deny just how great these two sound singing together. I've played this song so many times, I probably should have listened to the rest of Jonelle's new LP... but nothing beats this song!