The Top 20 Albums of 2013, in a pretty picture format. As a bonus, below we have 5 glaring omissions, 6 solid records that got dropped because of the bands’ respective prior successes (seriously), and one mystery band. For the full write-ups, which are as entertaining as they are coherent (i.e., moderately so, at best), check out segments #17-20, #13-16, #9-12, #5-8, and #1-4. And for those folks who visit this website primarily for the fashion, art, and “hotties” posts, don’t worry – we’ve got a few of each pending for next week!
Glaring Omissions
If I had made this list in, say, mid-January, rather than getting antsy when everyone else started posting their “Best of” lists and scrambling in my excitement to create my own, the following five albums would have forced me to make to upgrade from a Top 20 to a Top 25 (since I can’t imagine undertaking the daunting task of displacing any of the albums I have listed now). On the bright side, the reason I love stalking other people’s favorites is that it tips me off on bands I’ve overlooked during the prior 12 months, or reminds me of albums I haven’t given enough attention, including particularly:
1. Jaga Jazzist - Live With Britten Sinfonia
Inexplicably, I’ll go on binges where I spend the day listening to a whole bunch of Jaga Jazzist’s songs from a scattered variety of their myriad albums, but I don’t actually own any. And, full disclosure, I still haven’t purchased this one. [Addendum: Nevermind. I couldn’t resist. I’m going to bankrupt myself. But at least I’ll have a good soundtrack to accompany my creditors’ phone calls.] That said, they are a remarkable (and ever-changing) collective of musicians and deserve to be better known, so I’m happy for an excuse to mention them here. The orchestral collaboration is captivating; check it:
2. Ihsahn – Das Seelenbrechen
A particularly bizarre oversight given how obsessed I am with my #2 AOTY pick, Leprous. “Bizarre,” as in that it’s strange that I didn’t embrace it until the end of the year, although one reviewer did an especially awesome job explaining why “bizarre” could rightly apply to the album itself as well:
Every time he does the album thing it’s always, “Oh Ihsahn, what unbelievably radical anti-trad thing won’t you do?” and then he defies even that expectation, and so Ihsahn is not merely a metal musician, but metal itself. If you cut Ihsahn he would bleed the light from a world in which everything is awesome and no one is a dickhead longhair on the internet with terrible and loud elitist opinions.
Anyway, Das Seelenbrechen motivated me to go through his back catalog, and I’m connecting even more with some his earlier albums. I’ve got his 2010 release After streaming right now, and given that it heavily features Shining saxophonist Jorgen Munkeby, it’s basically my sonic dream come true.
3. Mandroid Echostar – Citadels
Only discovered them because a couple of bands I love started posting links to their stuff on facebook. My newsfeed has become the modern equivalent of 1980s tape trading, which is pretty much the only reason I still maintain a personal account. If you want to download the mp3 for these guys, it appears to be exclusive to their bandcamp page (hard copy CDs are available via amazon and other outlets, not sure about the vinyl status). It’s kind of like a proggy, more up-tempo version of Viking/folk metal, I suppose. It’s cool!
WTF is wrong with me? This is a pretty egregious omission, one that clearly ought to have been on the official list. It’s a hell of an album from a consistently fantastic band. I’ve been streaming it at work, but for some reason I never got around to buying it (and thus I had to strike it as a contender for the rankings). For the record, I’m rectifying that immediately, particularly since I seem to like it more after every listen. I probably ought to make a trip out to Australia to catch them live as well, right? Right.
5. Gorguts – Colored Sands
Fifteen years ago they (well, Luc Lemay anyway) released Obscura. That is a mind-f*ck. Full disclosure: I never managed to stream the album the whole way through, until seeing it on countless “Best of” lists finally incentivized me to carve out the time. I’m glad I did (and wish I’d pulled my head out of my ass way earlier on this one) – it’s so badass! And something about the holiday season (WAR ON CHRISTMAS!) makes well-crafted death metal especially appealing.
* * *
Surprising Omissions
The following bands are regular fixtures on this site that all got hosed on the Top 20 list for one primary reason: for each, I connect more strongly with an earlier release – or in the case of KSE (As Daylight Dies, Alive or Just Breathing, The End of Heartache) and Dream Theater (Images & Words, Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, Octavarium… can I just post a link to their whole dang catalog?) several earlier releases – and in a year of so much exceptional new music, I used my partiality to their previous albums as an excuse to cut them from this year’s rankings. I’m sure they’re all devastated and questioning the continued viability of their musical careers as a result. Right. Anyway, these are all solid albums, worthwhile purchases for fans of the respective bands or their general style of music, such that they deserve acknowledgment here:
1. Killswitch Engage – Disarm the Descent
2. Revocation – Revocation
3. Volbeat – Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies
4. Stone Sour – House of Gold & Bones (Part 2)
5. Black Sabbath – 13
6. Dream Theater – Dream Theater
You’ll note that quite a few of the above appeared on the midyear two-part segment for the Best of 2013 (So Far), so click on those links for more shenanigans.
* * *
Mystery Band: We Were Viper Pilots
Who are these guys?! They don’t seem to have any internet presence beyond what I describe below, and the path by which I discovered them (clicking through the bandcamp vortex) offers no insight. I thought their EP “Progeny” was pretty cool, though, and since they’re from Dallas I went ahead and purchased the download (support local/upcoming bands, especially if they’re instrumental progressive metal, etc. etc., you know my deal). Anyway, their bandcamp page is now defunct, so the earlier purchase is the only reason I still have access to the album at all. They do have a soundcloud page for another album, “Alive and Aware,” which I’m listening to for the first time now (and it’s also good stuff!). Check it out here (while you can). You cheeky sons o’ guns, all of this has created a mystery that I’m determined to solve!
* * *
And that, my friends, is my 2013 music experience in a nutshell! Or, 6 nutshells. Six gigantic nutshells. With nutshells for prior year album discoveries, new bands, shows and festivals, music-related books, my own music “stuff,” and on and on, separated out into different piles.
I’m returning to my ginger roots today (goodbye, my beautiful purple hair!), so expect a bunch of attractive redheaded guys and girls, plus some adorable redhead children, next week. Thanks for reading!
