Best New Artists 2013

Look, it's not that I'm without any self awareness.  I know that nobody cares what an old man living in Atlanta, Georgia of all places thinks are the Best New Artists of 2013, but the closing days of the year are traditionally when everyone posts their "Best Of'" lists, and I don't want to miss out on the fun just because my opinion's irrelevant.  And as it turns out, all of my "Best New Artists" of 2013 are women, or at least female-fronted bands.  2013, it seems, was The Year of the Woman, at least in music.

I was temped to try and write something clever about each band, but then decided to just let the music speak for itself and let you, the reader, construct your own narrative.

So here they are, my picks for BNA13, presented in alphabetical order:

Chvrches (Scotland)

Courtney Barnett (Australia)

Lucius (New York)

My bubba (Iceland)

Pure Bathing Culture (Portland)

Savages (London)

Summer Cannibals (Portland)

Torres (New York)

Women's Work (Atlanta)

Wild Ones (Portland)

The Coathangers' Christmas Show, The Earl, 12-25-2013

It wouldn't be Christmas without a performance by Atlanta's The Coathangers, now, would it? The Earl provided not only that, but a showcase of four bands total, all for a low, low cover charge of $5.  Merry Christmas, indeed.

Douglas' Street Team, featuring members of The Black Lips, opened the evening with their first-ever performance, playing a fun set of stripped-down, retro garage rock.  

Del Venicci was up next, exploring the territory between dream-pop and shoegaze.

The third performance of the night was a loud set by Atlanta punkers GHB (formerly The Get High Boys).

The Coathangers headlined.

The set highlight for me was a near-perfect rendition of their song Adderall, with Julia Kugel's backing vocals clearly audible and right on note, but then, I'm partial to that song anyway. 

Just Like Christmas

Sa Sa Samoa

Lightning strikes twice:  KEXP, who first discovered Of Monsters and Men in Reykjavik, have now discovered Iceland's My bubba (formerly My bubba & Mi).

However, My bubba bring up the very pertinent question: are all Icelandic women crazy hot like them, or are they hot crazy like Bjork?

Anyway, along with London's Savages and Australia's Courtney Barnett, they're certainly another contender for Best New Artist of 2013 (apparently, the Year of The Woman).

RIP Yusef Lateef

The world just got a little less interesting with the passing today of jazzman extraordinaire Yusef Lateef.  I bought his 1972 album The Gentle Giant back around 1975 and played it frequently for several years, and listening to it again after all these years, I'm amazed to realize how much it's influenced my musical tastes to this day.

RIP Gentle Giant.  You've given us so much and asked for so little in return.  You will be missed.

Yusef Lateef (born William Emanuel Huddleston, October 9, 1920 - December 23, 2013) was an American Grammy Award-winning jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, educator and a spokesman for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community after his conversion to the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam in 1950.  Although Lateef's main instruments were the tenor saxophone and flute, he also played oboe and bassoon, both rare in jazz, and also used a number of world music instruments, notably the bamboo flute, shanai, shofar, Xun, arghul, sarewa, and koto. He is known for his innovative blending of jazz with "Eastern" music.

Little Tybee

Little Tybee's Josh Martin, having shown us the mechanisms of his new guitar technique, now provides us a solo performance of the technique's possibilities.

Summer Cannibals

Summer Cannibals at Dante's; MFNW, Sept. 3, 2013

Portland's Summer Cannibals are releasing their next EP, Make You Better, in a limited edition of 100 cassette tapes. Good luck finding that one if you're not at their January 9 release party at The Doug Fir, and good luck trying to find something to play it on even if you do manage to snag a copy.

Here's the title cut: