Urban75 Album of the Year 2013 revisited

[Knotted]

Well let's see if this isn't a wash out. Push the Sky Away is a good one isn't it? I should listen to one of his at some point. Kanye West is totes cancelled now, he said what? Yeezus. The Wire says, NME says, Rolling Stone says, The Quietus says, Rate Your Music says and of course Urban 75 says.

Oh look! Tricot. Well I've found something to vote for.

Send me a list. With the format Artist - Album (or if necessary Performer [Composer] - Album). Any length of list is fine. Best at the top. No compilations, no EP's. Live albums are fine. Archival albums are also fine but it's release date not recording date that counts. Digital albums are fine. I will count DJ mixes if I wanna.

You have the rest of November.

 

[stavros]

Daft Punk, MBV, Run the Jewels, Yo La Tengo, Fuck Buttons, Autechre, Mogwai.

I'm not sure any of the above produced their best work in 2013, but damn good nonetheless.

 

[hitmouse]

I was going to say, at first glance it's a very strong year for hiphop, or at least for hiphop I listen to: Death Grips slightly past their best but Government Plates is still respectable, Sweatshirt with Doris - maybe his best work? I dunno, probably the album of his I know best anyway:

And the first RTJ album. And then the aforementioned Yeezus, which is fantastic, however you feel about Morrissye's subsequent career.

Also albums by Tyler and Childish Gambino but they're not very good. I dunno if MIA counts as hiphop, but Matangi definitely counts as a fucking great album:

 

[hitmouse]

Impressed Haiku Salut did so well in the original poll, the stripy top mafia was clearly a force to be reckoned with in them days.

 

[zahir]

Israel Nash - Rain Plains

 

[zahir]

Sturgill Simpson - High Top Mountain

 

[zahir]

Steve Earle - The Low Highway

 

[hitmouse]

Oh, and Migos are definitely hiphop as well:

 

[belboid]

I was right then and I'm still right now

26 The Ex & Brass Unbound - Enormous Door

The best album you haven’t heard this year. You can’t have heard it or it’d be higher. A work of genius, pure and simple. Once again, it’s the collaboration that brings out the underlying brilliance of The Ex. Ethiopian grooves, Swedish jazz and Dutch punk has never sounded so good. Go out and buy this record now.

 

[Spandex]

Little Boots - Nocturnes

I picked up this album because I liked the single Satellite, listened to it a few times and liked it - I put it as no.9 on my 2013 AOTY ballot - but it was heading towards the 'hey, I remember that, it's good' category that so many albums fall into after getting overtaken by other newer albums.

Then it went in a folder of child friendly CDs for a long drive with my kids and my daughter loved it. She kept asking for it. It became a thing that any longer drive we'd have to have it on. That year we got annual membership of a zoo in the countryside near us (I say zoo, they went for the big playground and soft play, suffering to glance at one of the depressed looking camels if I insisted we look at the animals) and every time we had to have this on for the drive. It became known as 'the zoo music'. Wherever we drove the cry "can we have the zoo music?" went up. It's probably become my most listened to album of all time.

Luckily, it bears repeated listens. Little Boots - dismissed by some as a bargain bin Kylie - had been DJing and bought some dancefloor dynamics to the album. It's produced by DFA’s Tim Goldsworthy, writing credits include Hercules and Love Affair’s Andy Butler, Bomb the Bass’ Pascal Gabriel & Simian Mobile Disco’s James Ford. Every note has been forced into my brain through repetition and I've come to love it.

 

[hitmouse]

There was a Waxahatchee record that year, unsurprisingly it was very good:

 

[hitmouse]

But ultimately there's only one record from that year worth a mention - Hard Skin's Why Do Birds Suddenly Appear?

Featuring a wide range of guest vocalists, finally bringing together Miki Berenyi, Joanna Newsom and Beckie from Chaos UK. Truly one of a kind.

 

[chilango]

Ooh.
Deafheaven's "Sunbather" came out that year. A new discovery for me.

My Bloody Valentine, obviously.

There's a Mazzy Star album that I should give another listen to.

Blackbird Raum put out "False Weavers" and similarly Days n Daze had an LP out. One of their better ones.

Bad Religion released an album (or maybe EP) of Christmas songs.

 

[chilango]

 

[hitmouse]

Blimey, I was going to get around to mentioning the Days n Daze one at some point, but I'd assumed that was one of the ridiculously niche ones that no-one else would ever vote for.
Apparently the first Fidlar album came out on January 1st, 2013:


Iceage's You're Nothing too:

 

[hitmouse]

Remember Shopping? I think they're still going, but remember how much everyone loved them in 2013?


And here's another record that everyone loved in 2013 - much like Kanye, I don't know what they've done since, but I'm sure they're still universally beloved:


And, while we're reminscing about hype bands of yesteryear, lest we forget:

 

[hitmouse]

First RTJ album is still fucking tremendous:

 

[hitmouse]

You can't vote for Sex Pit by Lumpy and the Dumpers cos it was definitely a single or EP rather than a proper album, but you should listen to it because it's great:

 

[AverageJoe]

Bumper year for Trent Reznor fans.

Hesitation Marks by NIN
Welcome To Oblivion by How To Destroy Angels

And is also on Sound City:Real To Reel which is the soundtrack to the movie by Dave Grohl about buying the mixing desk from Sound City Recording Studios and inviting people down to record cover versions. It's a really interesting film.

 

[stavros]

Tranklements by The Black Dog:

 

[DaveCinzano]

Need to have a good root around, but in the meantime:

CHVRCHES - ‘The Bones Of What You Believe’

 

[DaveCinzano]

Mekha - ‘Immersion’



Seriously, check it out, sort of post-dubstep, glitchy tech house on the wrong warfarin dosage

 

[DaveCinzano]

MS MR - ‘Secondhand Rapture’

 

[DaveCinzano]

Starforce - ‘Omniversal Oscillations’



(I'm sure hitmouse will be along to shit on my pleasure by of course you know they're massive nazising all over it)

 

[DaveCinzano]

Woodkid - ‘The Golden Age’

 

[Fozzie Bear]

This from one of 4Hero is 2013 and a lovely homage to - 1993?

 

[Spandex]

The Asphodells - Ruled by Passion, Destroyed by Lust

Up there with the best stuff Andrew Weatherall ever did. "A combination of echoing dubby effects with mesmerising electronic grooves and post-punk guitars." Still my no.1.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Also "Burn" by Sons of Kemet:



Banger. (Ignore the video though, wtf)

 

[Spandex]

La Femme - Psycho Tropical Berlin

One I didn't discover until later. French music collective make an excellent album of psych-rock/synth/surf/disco/classic French pop.

 

[Mattym]

Special Request- Soul Music