V tomto prehľade sa Abby Pricesok, známa svojimi detailnými a osobnými ročnými rekapituláciami, delí o svoje hudobné posadnutosti z roku 2013. Po náročnom roku 2012, priniesol rok 2013 mnoho príjemných prekvapení, napriek výzvam.
After a colossally bad 2012, it was more like Lucky ‘13 for me this past year. Cublet and I did have a few challenges but, hey, life’s never perfect. Overall it was far more chuckles than cheerless even if the larger world outside our shell seemed crappier than ever: 2013 was truly The Year of the CREEP, with noxious newsworthy names not needing repeating. Abby poznamenáva zmenu aj v hudobnej produkcii:
In another reversal, while the two previous, personally challenging years were padded with a plethora of prime pop product, ‘13 produced far fewer standout CDs (including some sub-par follow-ups I’d been anticipating, see: Austra, Phoenix, etc.) Still, there were a handful of knockouts and a few more near KOs. Naopak, rok 2013 bol mimoriadne úspešný pre single:
Meanwhile, it was a full-on brilliant year for singles, with some even getting deserved widespread popularity (“good” and “widely popular” rarely intersecting over the past four decades IMO, at least on this side of the Atlantic anyway). Abby upozorňuje na rozsiahlu povahu jej rekapitulácií a spôsob, akým sa tento rok rozhodla prepojiť videá:
STANDARD WARNING: As always with my annual recaps, it’s looooong, so scanning, picking and choosing is probably the way too go. Also, since it takes forever to embed so many videos, I am instead simply linking titles to vids this year. So, here are 13 categories recapping audio-related obsessions from my ‘13 ….
Najlepšie albumy roka 2013
Tento zoznam predstavuje 13 najlepších albumov roka 2013, zoradených zostupne od ACE po 2. Autorka poznamenáva, že ACE a KING sú si veľmi blízke.
13 BEST ALBUMS FROM 13 In descending order from ACE to 2 … with ACE & KING pretty much a tie, but since I have to decide ….
ACE. The Weeknd Kiss Land
Abe Tesfaye’s commercial debut proper got a meh critical response vs his much lauded mixtapes, so I guess I’m in the minority in thinking that he’s actually upped his game with Kiss Land. I’ve been addicted to its narcotic, hypnotic blend of Michael Jackson-fronting-Massive Attack-during-their-Mezzanine-era-regency since its early fall release. Mind you, Michael never trilled lyrics like “I just love that you’re dead inside.” Perhaps he should have. This headphones-friendly sonic landscape of paranoia and 4am crisis-of-the-soul bleakness is furnished with distorted, crunchy beats contrasting Tesfaye’s plaintive falsetto, examining the teeth-grinding travails of pharmacological-and-phucking desperate living. It also dovetails with a highly welcome, recent wave of left-field divisions in contemporary r&b (see also: Janelle Monae, Kanye West, Laura Mvula, Solange, etc) that are becoming increasingly prominent after years of way too much slick, bland homogeneity. Although I don’t know if that PBR&B moniker is really gonna fly. “Tears In the Rain”.
KING. Kurt Vile Wakin On A Pretty Daze
If Kiss Land is a middle of the night bad meth come down, then Daze is a languid spliff and bottle of Corona on a breezily warm summer afternoon. Gorgeously insouciant yet self-assured, Vile raises the bar set by 2011’s Smoke Ring For My Halo with this this no-filler 69 minutes, populated by oft-lengthy tracks that incredibly don’t outstay their welcome. “Girl Called Alex”.
QUEEN. Phosphorescent Muchacho
Brooklyn-by-way-of-Alabama’s Matthew Houck delivered a stunner with Muchacho, replete with engaging material from start to finish, not least of which its compulsive single “Song For Zula” (see my choices for singles of the year). If you’ve ever wondered what it may have sounded like had Brian Eno produced Bob Dylan & The Band in the mid-‘70s, Muchacho provides a clue. “Ride On/Right On”.
JACK. John Grant Pale Green Ghosts
Songsmith Grant follows up his 2010 breakthrough, Queen of Denmark, with further word-clever meditations on the Fine Art of Self-Loathing (and hopefully moving past it), alternating the melodic ‘70s sound that marked Queen with an ‘80s electro vibe, cued from his clubbing youth. “Pale Green Ghosts”.
TEN. David Bowie The Next Day/The Next Day Extra
It was shock enough that Bowie returned from presumed retirement with an unfathomably-kept-under-wraps new album - never mind how good the result actually is. While “his best since Scary Monsters” sentiments were inevitably trundled out, this actually was his first album in 33 years that can truly sit at least somewhere at the same table as his classic 70s output (okay, this one and Heathen). However, a year-end deluxe edition with a bonus disc soured me somewhat on the original March release: to my ears, a wide swath of the best material was left off the official album. WTF??? Seriously, David, you really thought that “God Bless The Girl” wasn’t quite up to snuff? Glad it eventually came out anyway, and great to have him back. I’d recommend the Extra version, though, wherein you can make your own, improved track listing. (See more on David down the page) “The Next Day”.
The Remaining Deck
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9. Janelle Monae The Electric Lady
Monae follows up the genuinely stunning ArchAndroid with The Electric Lady aka the further adventures of droid Cindi Mayweather. While it matches its predecessor’s ambitions, it sometimes does so at the expense of the actual tunes, a quandary Disc 3 will hopefully redress. I’m betting she’ll pull it off and that she’s a talent for the long run. “Dance Apocalyptic” (on David Letterman).
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8. Daft Punk Random Access Memories
This long-gestating pean to ‘70s/’80s-style grooves saw the Parisian robots switching gears, parlaying their trademarked hooks via largely organic avenues with hardly a synth in sight. And it mostly works too, although Discovery still remains THE DP benchmark. Complaint: What the hell is Paul bloody Williams and his Phantom of the Opera-esque dreck doing on here, clogging up eight excruciating minutes in the middle of the disc? “Giorgio by Moroder” (featuring Giorgio Moroder).
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7. Arcade Fire Reflektor
This may be their Achtung Baby (my pick for U2’s most cats-pyjamas outing). With the overly earnest Suburbs as my least favourite AF release, this more electronic, left-turning follow up - with LCD Soundsytem’s James Murphy’s fingerprints all over it - is their best yet. “Awful Sound (Oh Eurydice)”.
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6. Lorde Pure Heroine
While the “Royals” single hit me instantly, the rest of the album was a bit of a grower, but grow it has with its gothy, beat-pop minimalism. Time will tell weather this is an early apex or Chapter One of an unfolding story for the old-before-her time New Zealand teen. “Ribs”.
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5. The Grapes of Wrath High Road
The reunion of the original Grapes trio turns out to be possibly the second finest overall disc in their catalogue, behind the ever-shimming perfection that was and remains their 1989 opus, Now and Again. A welcome return and return to form. “Take On the Day”.
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4. Lee Ranaldo and The Dust Last Night On Earth
Very much of a piece with the melodic, introspective rock of Between the Time and the Tides, Earth features even more delicate pieces, such as the harpsichord-driven “Late Descent #2,” alternating with material more representative of his killer live dynamic. (I saw Lee and the Dust play a superb show at the Horseshoe in Toronto last fall - see live gigs below - and will be writing about and posting vids from the gig once I catch up and have some technical issues dealt with respectively.) “Late Descent #2”.
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3. Laura Mvula Sing To the Moon
A flawed yet promising debut from UK soul songstress Mvula that’s hard to pigeonhole, usually a good sign in my book. Spare, rhythmic, and ethereal, it looks forward and backwards simultaneously. “Is There Anybody Out There?” (Live at The Tabernacle).
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2. The Flaming Lips The Terror
Someone’s been taking the brown acid. The Lips’ prankster carnival tumbles into the abyss with this icy chill of bad-trip exploration of ill will. The inverse/comedown of The Soft Bulletin’s/Yoshimi’s happy death songs. Wayne and the gang will not go gently into the night(mare), and bless their freaked out minds for it. “Look … The Sun Is Rising”.
Najlepšie single/skladby roka 2013
Zatiaľ čo rok 2013 nebol pre dlhohrajúce albumy až taký skvelý, pre single bol mimoriadny.
13 BEST SINGLES/TRACKS OF 13 While it was a so-so year for long players, it was a superb one for short subjects: lots of great singles from often good albums. And most of below were official singles rather than personally selected deep cuts.
Single roka (desaťročia?)
1. Daft Punk “Get Lucky” Resistance is futile for this soul-selling-worthy synthesis of Daft Punk and Chic. Nile Rodgers pulls out a “Good Times”-esque treat that’s still very much of a piece with the Daft Punk musical lineage, with Pharrell Williams taking it home. THE soundtrack to my spring and summer, my iPod playlist says that I’ve so far given this one 89 ear visits, and that doesn’t include spins of the physical CD. It’ll still be filling dancefloors when I’m in my grave. Perfect pop. Perfect dance music.
Russian Army - Get Lucky Cover ( Daft Punk)
Trio finalistov
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2. Lorde “Royals”
As with “Get Lucky,” this obscenely catchy piece of pop minimalism truly deserved the global success it received.
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3. Phosphorescent “Song for Zula”
A brooding, hypnotic opus that didn’t get the ubiquitous treatment meted out for “Get Lucky” and “Royals,” but it sure as hell deserved it in my book. This frail, hallucinatory lament opens by interpolating Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” and ascends from there. Sublime.
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4. David Bowie “Love Is Lost (Hello Steve Reich Mix by James Murphy for the DFA)”
One of The Next Day’s more middling tracks here utterly transformed by LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy into a whole new league. Without question, this is the version that should have been on the original album.
Zvyšok balíčka
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5. Kurt Vile “Wakin On A Pretty Day”
Nine-plus sublime minutes of Vile’s sleepy voice and slow chiming guitar.
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6. David Bowie “The Stars (Are Out Tonight)”
The type of catchy angular guitar pop that Bowie used to dish up effortlessly, and pulls off once again.
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7. Laura Mvula “Green Garden”
Cleverly recalling Nina Simone’s “See-Line Woman” and a terrific showcase for Mvula’s voice.
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8. Arcade Fire “Refkector”
This clubbier take on the AF sound had me hooked from the start - and David Bowie pops by for a line or two as well. Of lyrics, of course.
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9./10. Janelle Monae & Erykah Badu “Q.U.E.E.N.” / Janelle Monae & Prince “Give Em What They Love”
Can’t decide which one I like better, so here are the two highlights from The Electric Lady. The latter is the best thing Prince has been part of in a dog’s age.
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11. Beck “Sound and Vision”
James Murphy wasn’t the only one deconstructing David Bowie in 2013, as Beck started out the year with this truly audacious re-imagining of The Dame’s 1977 Low nugget - with 160+ musicians chipping in. I’m embedding the video for this one as it has to be seen as well as heard … appropriately. If you haven’t eyeballed this, trust me, it’s worth it.
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12. Akron/Family “Until the Morning”
Akron/Family give Phosphorescent’s “Song For Zula” a run for its money in this year’s Sweet Melancholy Sweepstakes with this number.
Najlepšie opätovne vydané/oneskorene vydané nahrávky roka 2013
Abby tiež vyzdvihuje významné opätovné a oneskorené vydania, ktoré obohatili hudobný svet v roku 2013.
BEST REISSUE/BELATEDLY ISSUED OF 13
The Velvet Underground White Light/White Heat (45th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)
For those who’ve heard of the Velvets as abrasive proto-punk noisniks only to be confused when confronted with the largely gentle folk-rockish introspection of the self title third disc or the snappy pop rock of Loaded, White Light/White Heat is the one you were expecting to hear. From the feedback freakout that is “I Heard Her Call My Name” to the ever-disturbing “Lady Godiva’s Operation” to 17+ marauding minutes of “Sister Ray” to the amphetamine rush of the title track and beyond, no amount of studio revarnishing will ever turn this into Easy Listening, and that’s part of its darling, corrosive charm. Still, it’s sounding better here than ever. Overseeing this deluxe edition is one of the last things Lou Reed did before his death this past autumn, with John Cale chipping in his personal, pristine recording of the group’s famous Gymnasium show bootleg. “I Heard Her Call My Name”.
Okrem toho autorka spomína aj vydanie od The Beatles:
I must also mention The Beatles’ iTunes-only release The Beatles Bootleg Recordings 1963. While it was fine to have another BBC volume this past year (I suppose it’s too obvious to ask for, say, a complete BBC box), this copyright-projection initiative - sold directly online to a niche Beatles sub-market - is far more interesting to me than the majority of the perpetually simple-minded and wrong-headed projects the Beatles Brain Trust tends to trundle out. While the group still command a mass audience, there are those of us who are far more interested in the art and process of the Beatles music rather than simply recycled no$talgia, and for that, Bootleg has plenty of revelations. I truly don’t need another damn hits compilation or pointless garbage like Love. Even if I already had some of this stuff on bootlegs, it’s nice to have it out there officially, in decidedly cleaner audio. More please.
Najlepšia kompilácia roka 2013
V kategórii kompilácií sa v roku 2013 vyzdvihuje jeden konkrétny počin:
BEST COMPILATION OF 13
Belle and Sebastian Third Eye Centre
While not quite stunner that was the Push Barman collection of singles and EPs, Third Eye Centre holds together as better than expected considering that it’s more of a hodgepodge. A nice stopgap en route to their next album proper. “Suicide Girl”.
Najlepšie hudobné filmy a dokumenty roka 2013
Abby sa venuje aj filmovým a dokumentárnym dielam, ktoré mali hudobnú tématiku a zanechali v nej silný dojem v roku 2013.
BEST MUSICAL SCREENS O’ 13
Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me
Nothing Can Hurt Me is an affecting recounting of Big Star’s story: one of the very best bands of the 1970s whose bad luck was every bit as staggering as their timeless music. From their shimmering Beatlesque proto-Power Pop beginnings with #1 Record through to the emotional and psychological disintegration captured musically on the years-ahead-of-its-time masterpiece Third/Sister Lovers (on my 15 LPs shortlist), this decidedly atypical Memphis band were hopelessly out of time and place and on the wrong label. But the music lives on as an enduring influence that continues to snowball with the decades. Acts from R.E.M. to Elliott Smith are unthinkable without them. The doc also made me pull out each of the three Big Star CDs and fall in love with them all over again. Nothing Can Hurt Me Trailer.
Medzi ďalšie obľúbené hudobné filmy patria:
Other celluloid tune-ish faves: I adored Good Ol’Freda - both the documentary and its subject, the fab, gear, and a heretofore tight-lipped secretary, fan club head and all-round inner circle lass for the pre- and post-fame Beatles. Across the pond, the New York City folk scene of the 1960s was the focus of two other music-related faves from last year: the Cohen brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis, a tone poem to squandered potential which nails a variety of music world templates I’ve met many times in my own way, and the documentary Greenwich Vil...
