Tweedy on Colbert

Say what you will about Jeff Tweedy, but you have to appreciate his taste in backup singers, especially when he brings Lucius on stage with him like he did on The Colbert Report last night.

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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

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)

Lucius and Hey Marseilles at The Earl, Atlanta, October 19, 2013

I hadn't been to The Earl since August 9, 2013 (T Hardy Morris and Roadkill Ghost Choir).  In the 10 weeks I'd been away, the club hung a metallic sign with the word Earl over the stage, but otherwise it's the same redoubtable venue.  Last night, I saw the Brooklyn band Lucius perform beneath the new sign. Seattle's Hey Marseilles opened.

Hey Marseilles are a folk-rock sextet, but sound almost like a mini-orchestra as they feature a string section (cello and violin), guitars (electric and acoustic), keys, accordion, and drums, giving their full-bodied songs a memorably rich texture. Prior to last night's show, I had been out for most of the day at the L5P Halloween Parade watching marchers in horror costumes and listening to punk, rockabilly, and garage rock, but after just a few bars of Hey Marseilles' soothing music, my attitude snapped into position to fully enjoy their set.  They're a band I've wanted to see for some time now (I missed them when they played Vinyl earlier this year), so I was glad to finally have the chance. 

Headliners Lucius are primarily the duo of Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig, two singers and keyboardists with near-identical haircuts and both wearing the same outfit.  Their specialty is harmony, and I don't think that we heard a single line of any song not sung by the two of them together in unison.  This is a good thing, as their harmonies, along with the quirky rhythmic structures of their songs, are what makes their danceable indie pop so intoxicating to hear.  

They have no drum kit but everyone contributes to percussion, even Jess and Holly, often giving their songs a tribal urgency.  The resulting songs mix everything from Americana to torch ballads to ESG-influenced disco-punk.  

For their encore, they played an acoustic song, unamplified, in the middle of the audience.

Lucius are touring in support of their first full-length record, Wildewoman, which dropped just last week.  Impress your friends and be among the first to own a copy!