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First of all, let's start with the obvious. Was this a good year for music? Yes, but it should have been much better. On one hand, this year was loaded with very good albums from pretty much every genre. Lots of new faces emerged onto the scene with a bang and began feeding off that oh-so-coveted blog hype (Haim, Jai Paul, and Chance the Rapper all come to mind here). Old veterans found a late career renaissance out of nowhere (Bowie is the obvious example, but Gorguts, Black Sabbath, Wire, and Depeche Mode all released what many consider to be strong comeback albums this year). Pretty much every major pop artist released an album this year (I don't want to research the accuracy of this, but it really seemed that way). Genres clashed more than ever. Yeezus dirtied his sound up and Daft Punk turned their gaze back to the light rock/funk/disco of the late 70's/early 80's, while Stellar Om Source incorporated punishing bass into her drone-y synth washes. Everyone was trying something new out, and regardless of the result, it felt like THEY WERE TRYING. In a sense, this should probably be one of the greatest, most influential years in music in recent memory.
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First of all, let's start with the obvious. Was this a good year for music? Yes, but it should have been much better. On one hand, this year was loaded with very good albums from pretty much every genre. Lots of new faces emerged onto the scene with a bang and began feeding off that oh-so-coveted blog hype (Haim, Jai Paul, and Chance the Rapper all come to mind here). Old veterans found a late career renaissance out of nowhere (Bowie is the obvious example, but Gorguts, Black Sabbath, Wire, and Depeche Mode all released what many consider to be strong comeback albums this year). Pretty much every major pop artist released an album this year (I don't want to research the accuracy of this, but it really seemed that way). Genres clashed more than ever. Yeezus dirtied his sound up and Daft Punk turned their gaze back to the light rock/funk/disco of the late 70's/early 80's, while Stellar Om Source incorporated punishing bass into her drone-y synth washes. Everyone was trying something new out, and regardless of the result, it felt like THEY WERE TRYING. In a sense, this should probably be one of the greatest, most influential years in music in recent memory.
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But while this was an exciting year for music, and there were some really cool albums, I feel like there was a lack of truly GREAT albums. It's especially hard when the most acclaimed albums of the year (Kanye, Vampire Weekend, Arcade Fire, Daft Punk) were all albums I was either not interested in, was disappointed by, or outright hated. I really see few of this year's consensus list-toppers holding up in the years to come.
But while this was an exciting year for music, and there were some really cool albums, I feel like there was a lack of truly GREAT albums. It's especially hard when the most acclaimed albums of the year (Kanye, Vampire Weekend, Arcade Fire, Daft Punk) were all albums I was either not interested in, was disappointed by, or outright hated. I really see few of this year's consensus list-toppers holding up in the years to come.
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It's also hard to balance out the fact that this year laid the groundwork for some truly groundbreaking stuff with the fact that I was supremely let down by dozens of releases this year. This was supposed to be my personal year of musical ecstasy. This was the year that Boards of Canada, The Knife, Daft Punk, Queens of the Stone Age, The Flaming Lips, Future of the Left, Boris, Paavoharju, Prurient, Melt Banana, My Bloody Valentine, Barn Owl, Moderat, Major Lazer, Church of Misery, Doomriders, Ken Mode, Steve Moore, Kvelertak, Kylesa, Man... or Astroman?, Oneohtrix Point Never, Kavinsky, Pantha du Prince, Quasimoto, Deltron 3030, Shit and Shine, Grouper, Queen Elephantine, The Body and Ellen Allien ALL RELEASED ALBUMS THIS YEAR. Coupled with the excellent newcomers that popped up this year, and I should be in fucking Heaven right now. But, despite several of these artists making some incredible music this year, just as many were crushingly disappointing.
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There was a lot to be excited about though. First of all, this was a massive year for rap. If you were a mainstream fan, you have what most are considering the overall Album of the Year in 'Yeezus', as well as big releases from Jay-Z, Eminem and Drake. If you like your rap indie-kid friendly, Kid Cudi, Childish Gambino, Chance the Rapper, and Earl Sweatshirt dropped massively acclaimed albums. If you dig on trap... well, this couldn't be more your year (TRAP LORD SWAG BITCHES!). Even old school devotees got a ton of surprises, with Tony Touch's 'Return of the 50 MCs' project, as well as comeback efforts from Inspectah Deck (as 1/3 of Czarface), Deltron 3030, and RA the Rugged Man. Le1f and Zebra Katz among others helped to bring the gay rap scene to a wider audience (I can't bring myself to refer to it as a 'coming out party'). But most interestingly, it seems like decades into the genre, experimental outsider elements have officially taken root in rap's often rote aesthetic. The rap world was not defined so notably by the mainstream/underground dichotomy it has become known for over nearly the past two decades. 'Yeezus' is the obvious example, but both sides of the coin are crossing party lines as it were to keep fresh and relevant (with perhaps RA the Rugged Man being the lone exception). Chance the Rapper and The Underachievers brought the rap world into the hallucinogenic age, KA and YC the Cynic made sparce, dark records that are rarely seen in the rap game, and Lil' B continued to... Lil' B. Rap hasn't been this intriguing since the early 90's, and yes I know the weight those words carry, but I firmly believe it.
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There was a lot to be excited about though. First of all, this was a massive year for rap. If you were a mainstream fan, you have what most are considering the overall Album of the Year in 'Yeezus', as well as big releases from Jay-Z, Eminem and Drake. If you like your rap indie-kid friendly, Kid Cudi, Childish Gambino, Chance the Rapper, and Earl Sweatshirt dropped massively acclaimed albums. If you dig on trap... well, this couldn't be more your year (TRAP LORD SWAG BITCHES!). Even old school devotees got a ton of surprises, with Tony Touch's 'Return of the 50 MCs' project, as well as comeback efforts from Inspectah Deck (as 1/3 of Czarface), Deltron 3030, and RA the Rugged Man. Le1f and Zebra Katz among others helped to bring the gay rap scene to a wider audience (I can't bring myself to refer to it as a 'coming out party'). But most interestingly, it seems like decades into the genre, experimental outsider elements have officially taken root in rap's often rote aesthetic. The rap world was not defined so notably by the mainstream/underground dichotomy it has become known for over nearly the past two decades. 'Yeezus' is the obvious example, but both sides of the coin are crossing party lines as it were to keep fresh and relevant (with perhaps RA the Rugged Man being the lone exception). Chance the Rapper and The Underachievers brought the rap world into the hallucinogenic age, KA and YC the Cynic made sparce, dark records that are rarely seen in the rap game, and Lil' B continued to... Lil' B. Rap hasn't been this intriguing since the early 90's, and yes I know the weight those words carry, but I firmly believe it.
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It's been discussed on elsewhere already (Stereogum is where I first saw this discussed), but it's important to note that metal saw a shift from the black/doom/ambient massive epic releases of the past several years to the more straightforward realm of death metal. It seems a bit jarring at first blush considering how thoroughly bands like Nachtmystium, Wolves in the Throne Room, Mastodon, and any number of P4K friendly metal acts have legitimately been killing it this last half decade, but in retrospect, the signs were there for anyone willing to notice (NOTE: I wasn't apparently).
It's been discussed on elsewhere already (Stereogum is where I first saw this discussed), but it's important to note that metal saw a shift from the black/doom/ambient massive epic releases of the past several years to the more straightforward realm of death metal. It seems a bit jarring at first blush considering how thoroughly bands like Nachtmystium, Wolves in the Throne Room, Mastodon, and any number of P4K friendly metal acts have legitimately been killing it this last half decade, but in retrospect, the signs were there for anyone willing to notice (NOTE: I wasn't apparently).
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Hardcore metal dudes have had what I can only imagine as a hard time over the past decade. On one hand, the genre has undoubtedly increased in viability and popularity since it's relegation to the musical ghettos of the 90's. But on the other hand, it's come at the expense of what many of these fans would call 'metal'. It starts with bands like Neurosis and Red Sparrowes on one side and bands like Converge and Pig Destroyer on the other. Then you see Boris, WitTR, Russian Circles, and others hacking at the fringes of what a metal dude would classify as it's kin. Soon 'metal' becomes a catch-all term with loose signifiers that could mean anyone from Exodus to Botanist. Then Liturgy happens, and the old guard finally raises their middle fingers in protest and gets to work on bringing their form of brutal back in a massive way.
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It also helped that the 'hipster metal' genre had begun a steady descent into self-indulgent seppuku due to a critical lack of editing. I'm not going to pretend like I am some kind of death metal purist taking a proverbial victory lap. I am not ashamed by my love of many of those bands I listed above, and I really didn't have my eye on bands like Gorguts, Autopsy, or Carcass. But even though I'm not the hugest death metal fan out there, and I didn't love all the releases this thunderous renaissance of sorts has provided, I give them credit for cutting the fucking fat. This year's outcropping of metal releases had more goddamn shoe leather than a cobbler shop.
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It also helped that the 'hipster metal' genre had begun a steady descent into self-indulgent seppuku due to a critical lack of editing. I'm not going to pretend like I am some kind of death metal purist taking a proverbial victory lap. I am not ashamed by my love of many of those bands I listed above, and I really didn't have my eye on bands like Gorguts, Autopsy, or Carcass. But even though I'm not the hugest death metal fan out there, and I didn't love all the releases this thunderous renaissance of sorts has provided, I give them credit for cutting the fucking fat. This year's outcropping of metal releases had more goddamn shoe leather than a cobbler shop.
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This year also saw a lot of names from the drone-y cassette culture from the mid-00's make a radical shift to commercial viability. This isn't a new thing, as Bethany from Pocahaunted made the leap with her group Best Coast, Grimes making the leap into icy (if disjointed) synth-pop, and Prurient's 2011 release 'Bermuda Drain' was an almost dance-y affair (NOTE: 'Bermuda Drain' was my Album of the Year that year to give you some completely unrelated backstory), but this year saw a massive amount of those artists integrate... umm... general listenability into their sound. It could be as simple as Plankton Wat cleaning up their sound quality to Robedoor using drums (and not in a noisy, dissonant manner) to Stellar Om Source going full four on the floor on people. It all makes me excited for when Racoo-oo-oon drops their album of trap rap in 2014.
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This year also saw a lot of names from the drone-y cassette culture from the mid-00's make a radical shift to commercial viability. This isn't a new thing, as Bethany from Pocahaunted made the leap with her group Best Coast, Grimes making the leap into icy (if disjointed) synth-pop, and Prurient's 2011 release 'Bermuda Drain' was an almost dance-y affair (NOTE: 'Bermuda Drain' was my Album of the Year that year to give you some completely unrelated backstory), but this year saw a massive amount of those artists integrate... umm... general listenability into their sound. It could be as simple as Plankton Wat cleaning up their sound quality to Robedoor using drums (and not in a noisy, dissonant manner) to Stellar Om Source going full four on the floor on people. It all makes me excited for when Racoo-oo-oon drops their album of trap rap in 2014.
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As for the rest of my stray observations, I still could care less about indie folk/'rock'. I'm sure there was some kind of seminal indie release that will be touted by a guy in tortoise shell glasses and 7 scarves from this year that will be prominently featured in Zach Braff's bullshit Kickstarter movie, but I'm not aware that it happened as of now. If you don't know, and I'm going out on a VERY small limb here and saying you don't, I hate what indie rock has become. It's not because I think it's effete, flouncy, masturbatory bullshit (which it certainly is), but because it's soulless garbage touting itself as enlightened introspection. Look, I certainly love my fair share of shameless, money grabbing dreck, but at least it's honest about it's intentions and not THE MOST BORING MUSIC EVER MADE. Nick Drake shakes his head at Bon Iver from the grave.
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As for the rest of my stray observations, I still could care less about indie folk/'rock'. I'm sure there was some kind of seminal indie release that will be touted by a guy in tortoise shell glasses and 7 scarves from this year that will be prominently featured in Zach Braff's bullshit Kickstarter movie, but I'm not aware that it happened as of now. If you don't know, and I'm going out on a VERY small limb here and saying you don't, I hate what indie rock has become. It's not because I think it's effete, flouncy, masturbatory bullshit (which it certainly is), but because it's soulless garbage touting itself as enlightened introspection. Look, I certainly love my fair share of shameless, money grabbing dreck, but at least it's honest about it's intentions and not THE MOST BORING MUSIC EVER MADE. Nick Drake shakes his head at Bon Iver from the grave.
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Despite a lot of experimentation and stylistic shifts for several artists this year, a lot of people kept in their lane, killing it as they do. Thee Oh Sees and Ty Segall aren't going to switch much up on you from album to album, but few artists are as consistently stellar (and prolific) as they are. Clutch and Melt Banana also didn't do much in regards to switching up their sound, but both came back into prominence this year simply by doing what they do better than they have in years. You don't always have to fuck up your sound. If you're in the pocket, then roll with it.
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Despite a lot of experimentation and stylistic shifts for several artists this year, a lot of people kept in their lane, killing it as they do. Thee Oh Sees and Ty Segall aren't going to switch much up on you from album to album, but few artists are as consistently stellar (and prolific) as they are. Clutch and Melt Banana also didn't do much in regards to switching up their sound, but both came back into prominence this year simply by doing what they do better than they have in years. You don't always have to fuck up your sound. If you're in the pocket, then roll with it.
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I was a bit disappointed with the slight return of several giants of the long forgotten world of IDM. Autechre, Boards of Canada, and m-ziq all released albums this year, and all showed why these once incredibly vital groups faded so quickly. Of the three, Autechre comes out looking the best, but his album is two hours of what Autechre has done for the past two decades, which sounds more and more dated as time passes. Traditional Electronic music in general was a rough scene this year, with a few notable exceptions (Disclosure, Tim Hecker and Jon Hopkins come to mind). Over the past decade, most electronic music has either pushed itself to the fringe (as is the case with The Knife) or been subsumed into more commercially viable genres like pop and rap. It reminds me a bit of what happened to R&B after their big late 90's boom. Dudes like Ginuwine, Brian McKnight, R. Kelly, et al. were a dime a dozen and wildly popular. Now, R&B is just fodder for club track hooks or dour, experimental ruminations. Frank Ocean and The Weeknd are the obvious examples, but even R. Kelly had to transform into some kind of chimeric amalgam of gonzo storyteller/sexual deviant to survive the cull (Although, to be fair, I'm sure it was really more due to the trial, but you get my meaning).
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I was a bit disappointed with the slight return of several giants of the long forgotten world of IDM. Autechre, Boards of Canada, and m-ziq all released albums this year, and all showed why these once incredibly vital groups faded so quickly. Of the three, Autechre comes out looking the best, but his album is two hours of what Autechre has done for the past two decades, which sounds more and more dated as time passes. Traditional Electronic music in general was a rough scene this year, with a few notable exceptions (Disclosure, Tim Hecker and Jon Hopkins come to mind). Over the past decade, most electronic music has either pushed itself to the fringe (as is the case with The Knife) or been subsumed into more commercially viable genres like pop and rap. It reminds me a bit of what happened to R&B after their big late 90's boom. Dudes like Ginuwine, Brian McKnight, R. Kelly, et al. were a dime a dozen and wildly popular. Now, R&B is just fodder for club track hooks or dour, experimental ruminations. Frank Ocean and The Weeknd are the obvious examples, but even R. Kelly had to transform into some kind of chimeric amalgam of gonzo storyteller/sexual deviant to survive the cull (Although, to be fair, I'm sure it was really more due to the trial, but you get my meaning).
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The ever churning machine that is pop also saw an influx of actually interesting lifeblood into its STEELY, UNFORGIVING VEINS (NOTE: I don't actually hate pop). Lorde was blasted from every lady friend I know's car stereo since her EP and subsequent LP dropped, but there were tons of passable songs from artists like Sky Ferreira, Major Lazer, Charli XCX, and Chvrches that kept indie-pop fans satisfied this year. JT, Gaga, Beyoncé, Miley, and the rest of the usual cast of characters dropped records to maintain quota or whatever. I'm sure they're fine simulacrum of album-type musical arrangements. (NOTE AGAIN: I don't hate pop. I'm just disappointed in most pop stars' lack of being Janelle Monae).
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The ever churning machine that is pop also saw an influx of actually interesting lifeblood into its STEELY, UNFORGIVING VEINS (NOTE: I don't actually hate pop). Lorde was blasted from every lady friend I know's car stereo since her EP and subsequent LP dropped, but there were tons of passable songs from artists like Sky Ferreira, Major Lazer, Charli XCX, and Chvrches that kept indie-pop fans satisfied this year. JT, Gaga, Beyoncé, Miley, and the rest of the usual cast of characters dropped records to maintain quota or whatever. I'm sure they're fine simulacrum of album-type musical arrangements. (NOTE AGAIN: I don't hate pop. I'm just disappointed in most pop stars' lack of being Janelle Monae).
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Robin Thicke happened.
Also, everyone wanted to have Pharell sing on their record this year for some unknown goddamn reason.
Also also, I like that Ariana Grande song. I'd like it a lot more if Mac Miller were nowhere near it. He makes Kreayshawn look like fucking Nas.
Robin Thicke happened.
Also, everyone wanted to have Pharell sing on their record this year for some unknown goddamn reason.
Also also, I like that Ariana Grande song. I'd like it a lot more if Mac Miller were nowhere near it. He makes Kreayshawn look like fucking Nas.
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That's about all I can think to talk about.
Coming up this Friday, EMERALD MIASMA'S TOP 75 ALBUMS OF 2013 + HEART STOPPERS FOR PARTY STARTERS MIX! GET HYPE!
Coming up this Friday, EMERALD MIASMA'S TOP 75 ALBUMS OF 2013 + HEART STOPPERS FOR PARTY STARTERS MIX! GET HYPE!
