My Favorite Albums of 2013

In this record, Bill Callahan is more direct and approachable than ever. The songs are sweet and pensive, and his band, odd though it is (bass and drums, yes, but with prominent electric guitar and omnipresent flute), works incredibly well.

Cousin to one of my favorites of last year, Opossom’s Electric Hawaii, II is a darker take from the same summery place. It’s psychedelic and warm, and full of fuzzy 9th chords interspersed with pseudo-classical riffs.

This record marks a departure from Smith Western’s previous record, which is a grand thing to hear; how long could a group keep making the most sugary of pop music? Here, they keep their pop sensibilities, but veer off into a more psychedelic soundscape.

Muchacho chugs along reassuringly, its odd, echoey country licks occasionally pierced by hippie sing-alongs (à la Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes).

Images du Futur is creepy, dark, and lisping, punctuated by gorgeous vocal and guitar harmonies. It strikes a delicate balance between aggression and palatability, and ends up being completely engrossing.

Poliça is like the soundtrack to a nighttime scene in a movie with copious amounts of neon lighting. Their two drummers, deep live bass, plethora of keyboards, and a stylishly auto-tuned female vocalist come together to make them just the right amount of cool.

CocoRosie vacillates between beautiful operatic- and gollum-esque voices, pianos and prepared electronics, beatboxing club music to the soundtrack of a LARP. The push and pull of their music is palpable.

Drones, acoustic guitars, glitched out drum noises, and synthesizers that slowly warble in and out of tune give this record a quiet, and sometimes disorienting feeling. But her beautiful voice and harmonies tie everything together, and make this record great.

The Blow can do anything from art-rock, to monologuing, to sounding downright confrontational. But here, on their 9th album (depending on how you count), they’ve hit their stride in pop music. Perhaps that’s why they titled it The Blow.

Why are jam bands so disappointing to listen to, but when Yo La Tengo does it, it somehow end up being ok? It’s a paradox of the universe, but one that I’m happy to let slide. Fade is full of indie jams, some of which are almost twee at points, but are always fun.