Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.
Like I did last year, I chose to not post in my last week of work and use my top 10 list as my playlist.
It seems like every year, I think there's been no monumental album releases until I reflect back and try and choose a top 10. This year saw the best Jason Isbell album yet, probably the best She & Him volume so far, a new David Bowie LP and a bunch of other releases that made my 20.
Like lists past, these aren't necessarily the *best* albums of 2013, but certainly my personal favourites. A mixtape of one track from each of the top ten is again available for download.
It seems like every year, I think there's been no monumental album releases until I reflect back and try and choose a top 10. This year saw the best Jason Isbell album yet, probably the best She & Him volume so far, a new David Bowie LP and a bunch of other releases that made my 20.
Like lists past, these aren't necessarily the *best* albums of 2013, but certainly my personal favourites. A mixtape of one track from each of the top ten is again available for download.
Check it out:
Surprisingly just the 5th Stooges album, Ready To Die is just as raucously anarchic as anything they've made before with an added sly wink at the process of aging. The hilariously knowing title Ready To Dies says it all. There's Iggy on the front strapped in explosives with a cross-hairs on his heart. But hey, says the album, he's just a bloke who plays rock and roll for a living - and according to Job, "it doesn't pay shit!" Preoccupied with the same things as they were as teenagers - sex, death, money and drugs; this album has a great deal of energy for a bunch of old geezers.
Ever since I discovered Camera Obscura some time ago, I've been an avowed fan of Tracyanne Campbell's lyrics and voice and the band's melodies. 2009's My Maudlin Career is still on high rotation. This album was produced in Portland with Tucker Martine (The Decemberists, Neko Case, My Morning Jacket) and you can hear the difference in the sound. There is much more of an Americana gloss to the songs than we usually get from the Scottish group - even if Tracyanne's vocals still drip heavy with her Glasgow accent. The subjects of every song are familiarly grounded though: I Missed Your Party is an account of what the subject was up to instead of going to someone's party; New Year's Resolution is a kind of apology for a thawing relationship. The title track is a sorrowful lament to a lost lover met in California. This isn't my favourite Camera Obscura LP so far, but it's cracker.
I am a long-time, unashamed fan of The National. Their previous release, High Violet made my 2010 list. Trouble Will Find Me is a bit more subdued, but mostly more of the same. And more of the same is exactly what I wanted from The National. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Not that their sound hasn't changed at all, but Matt Berninger's voice and lyrical themes are so recognisably The National that they could never pretend to be anything else. For some highlights, Graceless kicks around with a swag of chaos interspersed with the odd fragile-sounding key riff, Pink Rabbits seems to threaten to be out of time but never quite is and Fireproof is an atmospheric and sweetly sad melody.
Another year, another great Josh Rouse release (two actually, when you count the soundtrack to Spanish film LA GRAN FAMILIA ESPAÑOLA). The Happiness Waltz is the like an anti Blood On The Tracks. It's sweet sounds and sweeter words about the joy of living, loving and being. Julie (Come Out Of The Rain) is a romantic musing on the beginning of a relationship. It's Good To Have You is about living with the love of your life and forgetting all else. Start A Family is a pretty shuffle about, you guessed it, starting a family. What Rouse has done is make an album about all that grown up stuff and each song celebrates the joy of it all. This is a theme far removed from the lost, lonely, uncertain alcoholics and depressed people of his 1972 or Nashville LPs.
6. Daft Punk - Random Access MemoriesThis album was obviously massive this year and, in terms of global popularity, will probably make number 1 on a lot of lists. It is an enjoyable listen, particularly for those of us who still dig funky disco riffs. I personally don't feel it lives up to the critical acclaim it received simply because it's just a nice bit of fun nostalgia and nothing at all new is going on here. No denying that it is a great listen though and deserves recognition for blowing up so large. Give Life Back To Music is a funky riff filled celebration. The massive hit Get Lucky is Nile Rodgers at his disco best with a groove and tons of repetition. Lose Yourself To Dance features Pharrell Williams' falsetto over the disco-est break since 1978.
5. Pearl Jam - Lightning Bolt
I've been waiting for a post No Code release from Pearl Jam to really grab me and none of them have. Lightning Bolt is the first release since the 90s that has made me consider myself a Pearl Jam fan. As soon as the opening track Getaway kicked in, PJ had my attention. Mind Your Manners kicked it up another notch again. It's got an energy that wouldn't be out of place on Vs, as does much of the album. Yet they're not afraid to end it with a slower, more contemplative track, Future Days. I hope Pearl Jam can keep this kind of quality coming for many years yet.
4. David Bowie - The Next DayI have to admit that I didn't expect another album from David Bowie this year, let alone one so good. Another set of songs from an old timer which have a hardened edge (with a world-weary energy) - I'm looking at you Stooges and Pearl Jam. The Stars (Are Out Tonight) is a definite highlight and would have been so even without the brilliantly creepy film clip starring Bowie and Tilda Swinton (quite fittingly "stars" out and about in the suburbs). The Next Day is loud and cranky like much of the album. The softer Where Are We Now? sounds like a mash-up of old and new Bowie tracks. I was highly surprised by the depth of this album. Obviously taking so long to get it out was worth it.
3. She & Him - Volume Three
There is something old world about She & Him. The good old world of class and sophistication and manners, not the bad old world of institutionalised racism, sexism and homophobia. Volume Three is probably the best of the Volumes so far. It's better because Deschanel and M. Ward's songwriting is evolving, maturing even; with more substance to the catchy 50s pop tunes. Never Wanted Your Love is a smart and wry attack on the cult of celebrity and the ever present tall poppy syndrome - something I think Deschanel knows all too well. I've Got Your Number Son is a bouncy warning not to try any bullshit on the narrator. Somebody Sweet To Talk To is a pretty little gem which is like whispered proclamations with a swinging chorus. The cover of Blondie's Sunday Girl is some great icing on a fantastic cake.
2. Charles Bradley - Victim Of Love
The first time I heard Strictly Reserved For You, I was blown away. Blown away by the authentic soul of the song and by Charles Bradley's voice. I went right out and got all the Bradley I could - which turned out to be two albums and a documentary. Charles Bradley was a James Brown impersonator who was virtually homeless until the release of his solo debut in 2011. This year's release Victim Of Love contains the aforementioned Strictly Reserved For You, the pleading Victim Of Love, the very funky Hurricane and the instrumental Dusty Blue featuring members of the Dap Kings. The whole LP is right at home at Daptone Records who have a host of other Funk and Soul acts such as Sharon Jones, the Menahan Street Band and The Sugarman 3. This is music for what ails you.
Southeastern could have made my number 1 spot on the strength of Elephant alone. That track is the most raw and immediate window into the final stages of terminal illness that I have ever heard sung to a guitar. Every other song on the album is just as honest and real. Jason Isbell is becoming one of the great all-time songwriters in a genre known for songs that aren't throwaway. Songs That She Sang In the Shower tells the tale of lost love and the way that music becomes inextricably entwined with people and situations. Relatively Easy is a cautionary tale about being grateful for our first world privilege. New South Wales takes a stab at the kind of things travelling musicians hate on the road (the price of cocaine and the bad tequila) in the Australian state, but pays homage to the landscape as the best place ever to 'sit and think'. Every song is a story of pure poetry and Jason Isbell's finest hour in a career full of fantastic songs from Outfit to Cigarettes and Wine.
Filling out my Top 20 were:
Filling out my Top 20 were:
- Neko Case - The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight,
The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You - Paul McCartney - New
- Beach Fossils - Clash The Truth
- Local Natives - Hummingbird
- Kacey Musgraves - Same Trailer Different Park
- Nick Cave - Push the Sky Away
- Elvis Costello & The Roots Wise Up Ghosts
- Justin Rutledge - Valleyheart
- Telekinesis - Dormarion
- Mavis Staples - One True Vine
2013 Mixtape Track List
Charles Bradley - Strictly Reserved For You
Josh Rouse - A Lot Like Magic
Josh Rouse - A Lot Like Magic
Pearl Jam - Mind Your Manners
Iggy & the Stooges - Job
David Bowie - The Stars (Are Out Tonight)
The National - Pink Rabbits
Daft Punk - Give Life Back To Music
Camera Obscura - I Missed Your Party
She & Him - I've Got Your Number Son
Jason Isbell - New South Wales
Iggy & the Stooges - Job
David Bowie - The Stars (Are Out Tonight)
The National - Pink Rabbits
Daft Punk - Give Life Back To Music
Camera Obscura - I Missed Your Party
She & Him - I've Got Your Number Son
Jason Isbell - New South Wales
Buon Natale. ¡Feliz Navidad. Frohe Weihnachten. С Рождеством. Merīkurisumasu. Maligayang Pasko. Joyeux Noël, Vrolijk kerstfeest
Be excellent to each other on the holidays. As always and forever: hasala malakim brothers and sisters.
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