2013 Album Capsules (with Twitter Restricted Length)


Allah-Las - I Had It All / Every Girl 7" (2013): 82. Both songs are great but the B-side is a stone classic, godhead garage nugget.


The Ar-Kaics - She Does Those Things to Me (2013): 68. Reverent to 60s garage nuggets but lacks the weird factor that made those standout.


Bitch Prefect - Adelaide 7" (2013): 58. Both songs are fine but either would have been a low-point on their previous album.


Neko Case - The Worse Things Get...(2013): 77. Case writing with emotional clarity rather than metaphor which limits her playfulness & color


Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Push the Sky Away (2013): 83. Cave doing mostly lovely ballads but with his typical underlining dread. Essential


Chelsea Light Moving - S/T (2013): 61. Moore clearly didn't lose the Sonic Youth sound in the divorce but this is second rate SY at best.


Chvrches - The Bones of What You Believe (2013): 42. I guess people must be starving for synth pop or something? This is not very memorable.


Mikal Cronin - MCII (2013): 75. Now veering more towards power pop and away from more aggressive garage rock debut. Very strong melodies.


Daft Punk - Random Access Memories (2013): 79. Or, a collection of everything Daft Punk loves. Should end with a bus to free milk & cookies.


Deerhunter - Monomania (2013): 63. A rare inessential Deerhunter record. Feels overly fussed with and much too reliant on strange effects.


FIDLAR - S/T (2013): 77. Less punk than their EPs & live shows but that fits snugly into the theory that they are actually The Replacements....and this is their SORRY MA, with their LET IT BE presumably not far off.


Foxygen - We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic (2013): 80. Freewheeling approximation of 60s pop from the kids these days.


Eleanor Friedberger - Personal Record (2013): 76. Her most conventional record by a wide margin but still warm, poppy and very well written.


Jacco Gardner - Cabinet of Curiosities (2013): 76. Beautifully executed psychedelic pop that has ingested the spirit of Syd Barrett.


Haim - Days Are Gone (2013): 54. Probably hits the spot for those who wish Dirty Projectors were less weird, but I like my pop weird.


My Bloody Valentine - M B V (2013): 62. Seems to pick up where LOVELESS left off, but no one will be worshiping this in 20 years.


The National - Trouble Will Find Me (2013): 60. Perpetually stuck in sad cafe days, quietly wallowing in depression. Fame must suck.


Nobunny - Secret Songs (2013): 80. Time to start taking this rabbit-masked punk seriously? Another delirious, genre-spanning pop classic.


Thee Oh Sees - Floating Coffin (2013): 84. A band on fire. Third great album in as many years and their sound is expanding with each release

Thee Oh Sees - Moon Sick EP (2013): 78. Lighter outtakes from FLOATING COFFIN with brief detour into baroque pop (complete with harpsichord)


Ty Segall - Sleeper (2013): 72. Impressed as I am with Segall new acoustic side, I wish he'd mixed it up a bit more. It's a little one note.


Tijuana Panthers - Semi Sweet (2013): 68. Very thin production takes the pep out of several excellent, road-tested tracks. Feels like a comp


Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City (2013): 74. Uncommon example of a band growing more interesting as their popularity increases.


Kurt Vile - Wakin on a Pretty Daze (2013): 75. Title is accurate. Music to listen to while drinking your morning coffee and spacing out.


Kanye West - Yeezus (2013): 82. The musical equivalent to the feeling I get when I watch IRREVERSIBLE. Urgent, unpleasant and brilliant.


Yo La Tengo - Fade (2013): 65. Pleasant and especially good background music but not really compelling, catchy or strange enough to stick.