Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Top 10 Concerts of 2013

Okay, first of all, I acknowledge right up front that there's 12 shows in my list of Top 10 Concerts of 2013, but that's the kind of year it was.  While 2013 might have been merely so-so in its recorded output, the live shows this year were outstanding.  So without further ado, here are my choices of the best live shows of the year, presented in chronological order:

January 25 - Yo La Tengo & Calexico, Buckhead Theater


Not my first show of the year, but still a nice, early show in the year to get 2013 rolling.  After all this time, this was my first time seeing Yo La Tengo live, and I wasn't disappointed in the least.

February 23 - Unknown Mortal Orchestra & Foxygen, 529


This was a big year for UMO, who released a great album that made my Top 10.  I saw them three times this year, and this wasn't even their best show - that would be their incendiary performance during MFNW at Branx.  But this was still a fine performance, though, and what really put it into the Top 10 category was their opener, Foxygen, who suffered all sorts of major and minor calamities, mishaps, and internal strife this year, but still were able to deliver a thoroughly entertaining show to the packed house at 529.

August 31 - !!!, Bumbershoot (Seattle)


It's easy to slip into sensory overload at a three-day festival like Bumbershoot, and both get carried away in the excitement of the event over a so-so performance by a so-so band, as well as get so glazed over that you completely overlook an outstanding set by a great band.   !!! added some real excitement to the first day of Bumbershoot, and when I saw them the next week at MFNW, they confirmed that they really were that good - it wasn't all just festival overstimulation after all.   

September 6 - Radiation City, Mississippi Studios (Portland)


I also saw Radiation City several times this year - at The Earl back in June and then twice during MFNW. Although their performance at the totally radical Marmoset party left little to be desired, they really shined at Mississippi Studios during the OPB party and gave the best performance I've heard by them yet, all sweetness, harmony, and pop ecstasy - if you need proof, the entire set is posted on the OPB web site.

September 14 - Little 5 Fest


September 21 - Okkervil River & Torres, Variety Playhouse


Okkervil River's been around for a while now and I've enjoyed their records over the years, but like To La Tengo, it wasn't until this year that I finally got around to seeing them perform live. But mark my words - I will not purposely miss another live show by them again.  The evening was heightened by Torres, who was totally new to me, performing a spellbinding opening set. 

October 7 - Junip, Terminal West


As hypnotic and mesmerizing as an evening of gently psychedelic electronic folk-rock can get without the actual use of hallucinogens.  Wow, just wow!

October 9 - Savages, Vinyl


I don't have any photos to share of this show due to the band's strict no photography, cell-phone, or other mindless distraction policy, and since I was at the very front of the stage mere feet away from frontperson Jehnny Beth, I abided by their rules.  As promoter Alex Weiss tweeted after the show, "Just when I thought that it couldn't get any more intense, they brought it to another level entirely. Definitely one of the best shows I've ever seen. If you ever get a chance to see this band live, do it. That is all."  Transcendent post-punk from London.

October 26 - Neutral Milk Hotel, The Tabernacle


Another show with a pretty strict, "no pictures" policy, but I managed to snag a few that got posted on line. It's not like this comeback tour didn't have any hype surrounding it and it's not like the expectations weren't sky high, but they not only met those expectations, they elevated the breathtaking show into the pure realm of high art. 

November 2 - Thee Oh Sees, Terminal West


The best live band in the business proved once again why they're the best at what they do.  If you were there, you'd understand, and if you understood, you were there.  With great openers OBN III and The Blind Shake, the evening was a showcase for the state of 2013 punk, but no one whips a crowd up into more of a frenzy than John Dwyer and company.  Let's hope the rumors of their demise remain just rumors.

November 18 - Colin Meloy & Eleanor Friedberger, Variety Playhouse


Two master singer-songwriters, both unique in their idiosyncratic ways, gave the audience a totally charming set of songs and stories.  Added bonus points for Kinks covers. I still haven't had the chance to see The Decemberists perform, but between a composite of frontman Meloy's set and the October show by backing members Black Prairie (which very nearly made the Top 10 list - it came down to an elimination bout between this set and theirs), I feel like I can approximate the experience.   

December 11 - Joseph Arthur, Eddie's Attic


I said it before and  I'll say it again - why this man isn't a major star is beyond me.  He released one of the best records of the year, The Ballad of Boogie Christ, and I saw him perform at Criminal Records (where he briefly worked back in the 90s) during L5Fest with just a drummer and then at Eddie's Attic with bassist Mike Mills (REM), and both times he's rendered me speechless. And man, can he play guitar!  Let's hope that Mills' box office appeal brings Arthur some of the recognition he deserves.  

Monday, December 30, 2013

Broncho



I was going to include Can't Get Past The Lips by Oklahoma punksters Broncho in my list of Top 10 albums of 2013 until I realized that it got released in 2011.  January 2011.  Practically 2010.

Imagine that - an old man at least three years behind the times. . .

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Top 10 Albums of 2013

I'm well aware that nobody cares what an old man thinks the best albums released in 2013 are - I'm not exactly any band's target audience or some sort of taste-maker - but 'tis the season for year-end lists and all that, so here I go anyway.  It may be self-indulgent, but it's certainly better than listing other people's favorite songs, n'est-ce pas?

All things taken into consideration, 2013 wasn't really all that great a year for album releases in my humble opinion, which isn't to say it was a bad year for music, it's just that so much amazing material was released the past couple of years and many bands spent much of this year still touring behind those previous releases. Some other bands put out some perfectly fine new albums this year that sounded perfectly in keeping with their prior output - no loss of quality at all, but didn't break any new ground or otherwise become the singular recording by which the bands will come to be identified by, which is fine - a band doesn't have to and shouldn't redefine itself with every new album, but those status quo releases, while still quite good, weren't satisfying enough to make a Top 10 list.  Or at least my Top 10 list.

It was a great year for concerts, so I'm not saying the year was without its merits, it's just that you might not know it from the recorded output.  Still, having said all that, there still were several great releases, both from new artists (Savages, Courtney Barnett) and established masters (Yo La Tengo, Joseph Arthur), and much in between.  

So here's my Top 10 list, presented in alphabetical order (it's really impossible for me to say any one of these is better or worse than any other).  It's a pretty predictable list and I don't think there's any surprises here, but here you go anyway:

C Is For Courtney Barnett - A Sea of Split Peas




F Is For Foxygen - We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors




J Is For Joseph Arthur - The Ballad of Boogie Christ




L Is For Local Natives - Hummingbird




M (or O) Is For of Montreal - Lousy with Sylvianbriar



P Is For Parquet Courts - Light Up Gold



P Is Also For Pickwick - Can't Talk Medicine




S Is For Savages - Silence Yourself


U Is For Unknown Mortal Orchestra - II



Y Is For Yo La Tengo - Fade



Hope you enjoy, and please don't be offended if I left out your favorite - it's not that I didn't like it, it's probably that I just forgot to include it! 

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Best Songs of 2013



As for the best songs of 2013, far be it from me to try and pick them.  My favorites change day to day, mood to mood, and I'm psychologically and emotionally incapable of singling out the individual "best" songs of the year and saying, "Here, these songs are better than those songs."

So instead I'll leave it up to the KEXP Seattle DJs, who know a thing or two about music, to pick out the favorites.  Above is a podcast of DJ Kevin Cole's "Greatest F'ing Songs" of 2013. Cole's picks, and the tracklist to his podcast, are:
  1. John Grant - GMF 
  2. Phosphorescent - Song For Zula
  3. Sin Fang - Look At The Light
  4. Thee Oh Sees - I Come From The Mountain 
  5. Mind Spiders - Inside You 
  6. Parquet Courts - Borrowed Time 
  7. Lucius - Turn It Around 
  8. The Dirtbombs - Jump And Shout 
  9. Cloud Cult - Good Friend 
  10. Courtney Barnett - History Eraser 
  11. Foxygen - No Destruction 
  12. Volcano Choir - Byegone 
  13. Laura Marling - Where Can I Go?
  14. Julianna Barwick - One Half
I've got no quarrels with that list, but if your taste runs more to blues and traditional American roots rock, here's DJ Greg Vandy's "favorite things" from 2013, which includes some bona fide rockers, some blues, some folk, and even a few murder ballads:


  1. Preservation Hall Jazz Band - That's It!
  2. Courtney Barnett - Avant Gardener
  3. Case Studies - Driving East, and Through Her
  4. Parquet Courts - Stoned and Starving
  5. La Luz - Morning High
  6. Foxygen - No Destruction
  7. The Foghorns - Ain't I A Man
  8. Banditos - Lone Gone, Anyway
  9. The Crow Quill Night Owls - On The Road Again
  10. Deer Tick - In Our Time
  11. Los Colognes - My Doorway's Open
  12. Andrew Combs - Emily
  13. Cass McCombs - There Can Be Only One
  14. Laura Marling - Master Hunter
  15. Phosphorescent - Muchacho's Tune
  16. Valerie June - Twisted & Twined
  17. Luke Winslow King - Ella Speed
  18. Kacy & Clayton - Henry Martin
  19. The Deep Dark Woods - A Voice Is Calling
  20. The Moondoggies - One More Chance

Friday, December 27, 2013

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)

Thursday, December 26, 2013

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.