James Murphy has his hands all over it, and the LCD Soundsystem veteran offers something unique to it, as does David Bowie, who offers a few lines on the title track. It is a different album, certainly – it features far longer, more ambitious songs than what came before. People feared they would cater to their new fans rather than their old, but on Reflektor these fears are alleviated. There were a lot of worries about Arcade Fire’s next album after the enormous commercial success of The Suburbs, winning a Grammy (to much outrage) and generally making thousands more fans. A truly unique record to come out of the pair of them, and there looks to be a lot of promise in their coupling. At times they can be uplifting, even rocky – ‘Paper Trails’ has hints of The Velvet Underground to it – and at others they can be ethereal and atmospheric.
DAFT PUNK RANDOM ACCESS MEMORIES ANTHONY FANTANO FULL
On their full length debut, Psychic, the mix of Harrington’s guitar and Jaar’s synthesisers along with vocals provided by the both of them result in a wonderful collection of downtempo tunes. 88%ĭave Harrington and Nicholas Jaar combined to create something spectacular in Darkside. The band’s youthful vigour combined with a feeling of being trapped and a desire to find meaning in the world exemplifies the punk/post-punk movement in Denmark and is the ultimate record of disenchanted 2010s youth. You’re Nothing has a consistency to it New Brigade lacked, with great songs throughout an album less than 25 minutes long. Iceage have a wonderful ability to tease their listeners but never quite give in to convention, always staying fresh and original. Their production is cleaner, their claustrophobic punk sound more refined and mature. Iceage’s second full length avoids all the pitfalls of the sophomore album, and does everything it should. But for now, these are my top ten of 2013. In a few years’ time, I may well look back on this list and wonder why I included/didn’t include some things. Take everything I say, as ever, with a large grain of salt, as I don’t believe my opinion to be objective or final in any way. Every single one, shortlist included, is worthy of a lot of love and attention. From punk to gloomy electronica, hip hop to neo-psychedelica, these ten albums are a diverse collection of fantastic music released this year. Ten albums chosen from a shortlist of thirty (one of which was in the ‘disappointments’ section) representing the very best of the year, in my humble opinion. What we can expect from next year will have to wait, but for now, here’s a rundown of the best albums, tracks, and biggest disappointments of 2013.Īs always, here is my scoring system, for reference. With the increasing commercial success of less commercial artists and the apparent ‘retirement’ of everyone’s favourite teenage pop star, things are looking up for 2014. Artists have burst onto the scene with superb debuts others that have been around for a while have finally made a genuine impact.
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