My Top 90 Albums of 2013

Christopher Owens

It was a robust year for music (as always). There is barely enough time to listen to all these albums, let alone many of the all-time great discs. 

There is lots to choose from here. But if you are a fan of hook-laden pop/rock music, don't hesitate to start with dropping everything you're doing right now and go buy the top 10 on this list. Then you can make your way to discovering 11 through 90.

Yuck, when they still had Daniel Blumberg

Much like my list of 2011's Top 70 Albums, Girls beats out Yuck for the top spot. This time, it's Girls' lead singer Christopher Owens' underrated solo album at #1 (made even more personally amazing after being blown away by his intimate show at the 9:30 Club). But Yuck gets some laughs too, because their album is at #2, which is incredible considering former leader Daniel Blumberg's breakway solo debut by his new band Hebronix clocks in at #3.

To listen to lots of highlights from this list, check out my free Spotify Best of 2013 list.

90. My Bloody Valentine – mbv

89. Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band – Take Me to the Land of Hell

88. Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark – English Electric

87. Steve Martin and Edie Brickell – Love Has Come For You

86. Adam Ant – Wonderful

85. Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP2

84. Kanye West - Yeezus

83. Deerhunter - Monomania

82. Fonda – Sell Your Memories

81. 18^th Dye – Amorine Queen

80. Tennis – Small Sound

79. MGMT - MGMT

78. Lee Ranaldo and the Dust – Last Night on Earth

77. Jason Isbell - Southeastern

76. Johnny Marr – The Messenger

75. British Sea Power – Machineries of Joy

74. Empire Of the Sun – Ice On the Dune

73. Rogue Wave – Nightingale Floors
72. The Olms – The Olms

71. The Little Ones – The Dawn Sang Along

70. Dean Wareham – Emancipated Hearts

69. Jack Johnson – From Here to Now to You

68. Elf Power – Sunlight on the Moon

67. The Boy Least Likely To – The Great Perhaps

66. Treetop Flyers – The Mountain Moves

65. Mandolin Orange – This Side of Jordan

64. The Paranoid Style – The Purposes of Music In General

63. Pop Levi – Never Never Love

62. Big Dipper – Crashes on the Platinum Planet

61. Jimi Hendrix – People, Hell & Angels

60. Dent May – Warm Blanket

59. Ducktails – The Flower Lane

58. Ra Ra Riot – Beta Love

57. Thao – Know Better Learn Faster

56. Robyn Hitchcock – Love From London

55. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

54. Islands – Ski Mask

53. Jim James – Regions of Light and Sound

52. Father John Misty – Fear Fun

51. Taken By Trees – Other Worlds

50. Grouplove – Spreading Rumours

49. Lorde – Pure Heroine

48. Darlings – Perfect Trip/Warma

47. The Strokes – Comedown Machine

46. Minor Alps – Get There

45. Kings of Leon – Mechanical Bull

44. Belle & Sebastian – The Third Eye Centre

43. Snoop Lion - Reincarnated

42. Free Energy – Love Sign

41. Kurt Vile – Wakin On a Pretty Daze

40. David Bowie – The Next Day Extra

39. Yo La Tengo – Fade

38. Eternal Summers – Correct Behavior

37. Tegan & Sara – Closer

36. Haim – Days Are Gone

35. The Coup – Pick a Bigger Weapon

34. Sebadoh – Defend Yourself

33. Weinland – Los Processaur

32. Mikal Cronin – MCII

31. Eleanor Friedberger – Personal Record

30. Surfer Blood – Pythons

29. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – Split/Fly By Wire

28. Robert Pollard – Honey Locust Honky Tonk

27. Camera Obscura – Desire Lines

26. Daft Punk – Random Access Memories

25. Iron & Wine – Ghost On Ghost

24. Jacobites – Old Scarlett

23. The Polyphonic Spree – Yes, It’s True.

22. Arcade Fire - Reflektor

21. Superchunk – I Hate Music

20. Of Montreal – Lousy With Sylvianbriar

19. Mazes – Ores & Minerals

18. Palmyra Delran – You Are What You Absorb

17. Jamaica – No Problem

16. Dead Stars – High Gain

15. Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion – Wassaic Way

14. Okkervil River – The Silver Gymnasium

13. The Blank Tapes – Vacation

12. Phoenix – Bankrupt!

11. The Postelles - … And It Shook Me

10. San Cisco – The Awkward EP

09. The Babies – Our House on the Hill

08. The Virgins – Strike Gently

07. The Replacements – Songs For Slim

06. Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City

05. Paul McCartney - NEW

04. Parquet Courts – Light Up Gold

03. Hebronix – Unreal

02. Yuck – Glow and Behold
01. Christopher Owens - Lysandre

Yuck Rocks. Black Cat Sound Guys Don't Rock.

Good friend Fran Chung wrote up the following review for the entertaining Yuck show the other night at the Black Cat in D.C. I'm just republishing his excellent take (which I completely agree with, and which appeared with this photo and others in DCist) rather than wallow through my own mixed emotions of seeing the show on the same night I got in my first car accident in decades (I'm fine, it wasn't my fault, and our Honda Fit didn't fare too badly). Despite that unfortunate distraction, I still give the show **** out of ***** stars. It was not as good as their recorded work, but I'm chalking that up mostly to the fact that the Black Cat sound engineers seem to be getting worse and worse every show I see there.

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The label "1990s revivalists" follows Yuck around inexorably, sometimes an epithet, often a term of endearment, always an apt descriptor for their retro-leaning indie-rock sound. At the Black Cat on Wednesday night, the London-based four-piece wore it as a badge of honor, putting their own youthful spin on familiar tropes from the 20th-century's musically fecund final decade.

On the set-opening "The Base of a Dream is Empty", the guitars of Daniel Blumberg and Max Bloom trailed feedback before the band built up a creamy wall of sound that instantly called My Bloody Valentine to mind. A few songs later, Blumberg affected a J Mascis-like drawl during "The Wall", while "Suicide Policeman" came off as a strummy, mid-tempo ballad reminiscent of early Belle & Sebastian, complete with tender boy-girl harmonies. Bassist Mariko Doi took a lead-vocal turn on the appropriately-titled "Georgia", which sounded like it could have been a lost outtake from one of Yo La Tengo's classic early-'90s albums.

At the heart of the set came "Get Away", Yuck's finest song, and the one that best crystallizes their highly referential, yet distinctly appealing musical aesthetic. Bloom's bright lead guitar melodies sliced through the fuzzed-out mix on top of a throbbing, Pixies-esque bassline that propelled the song forward until Blumberg launched it into the stratosphere with his soaringly anthemic Sparklehorse-meets-Weezer hook. "Summer sun says get out more," Blumberg sang, "I need you, I want you, but I can't get this feeling off my mind." These were trite, jejune sentiments that have been expressed in a thousand tunes, but rarely with as much infectious verve.

By the end of their brisk, hour-long performance, Yuck had run through much of their self-titled debut LP, adding the bonus cut "Soothe Me" and the B-side "Milkshake". As the band capped their set with another Kevin Shields homage, "Rubber", it seemed fair to wonder what the quartet could do for a second act. As fertile a trove of musical resources as the '90s are, surely they are not inexhaustible, and one hopes the band's next record will explore some different territories. For now, though, it's probably best to just go along and enjoy the nostalgic ride.

Music Reviews In 3 Words or Less: Volume 22

A sampling of what I've been listening to lately:

Yuck - Yuck (2011)
Best '90s-indie now
Touchstones: Dinosaur Jr. meets Teenage Fanclub
***** out of ***** stars

Velocity Girl - Simpatico (1994)
Melodic, bubblegrunging SilverSpring-ers
Touchstones: R.E.M. meets Juliana Hatfield
****1/2 out of ***** stars

World Party - Goodbye Jumbo (1990)
Psychedelic undergrad fave
Touchstones: The Beatles meet XTC
****1/2 out of ***** stars



Urge Overkill - Rock & Roll Submarine (2011)
'90s swagger remains
Touchstones: Frank Black meets Cheap Trick
***** out of ***** stars

Ween - The Mollusk (1997)
Bubbly, outrageous prog-pop
Touchstones: Meat Puppets meet King Missile
*** out of ***** stars

Bedroom Recordings: 60s Soft Rock Surfer Girl

I've been in a holding pattern for a little while on writing music. And I rarely play other people's songs. So I thought I'd push myself to learn some good cover tunes to play this summer around the campfire.

First up: "Surfer Girl" by The Beach Boys. This was one of my favorite songs to sing at bedtime to Jackson when he was a baby. My version is nowhere near as good as the music of my two favorite new bands of the moment, Telekinesis and Yuck. And it certainly is a little embarrassing in light of the perfect and un-improvable Brian Wilson-led version.

But you've gotta start somewhere ...