Ken's Best Albums of 2013: #6: Speedy Ortiz - Major Arcana

If you miss 90s alternative (the fuzzed out guitars, the loud/quiet/loud verses, the noise of it all), then you need to check out Speedy Ortiz. There's a huge 90s revival going on right now musically, and Speedy Ortiz are hitting it much better than anyone else. Earlier this year I compared their sound to "Liz Phair [forming] a supergroup with members of Pavement and Dinosaur Jr," and I stand by that completely. It has all the noise and crunch of 80s Dino Jr with the quirk and fun of Pavement. Plus, it's fun. "Tiger Tank" was the single that pulled me in, but as time goes on I keep getting sucked more and more into the poppier tracks like "Hitch." "Hitch" drops a little of Dino Jr's noise, keeps the Pavement, but adds the more melodic elements of Belly. In a lesser year musically, this could have been #1. I might just be holding back a bit in case they have a horrific sophomore slump.

We'll know how their second album turns out sooner than later since Real Hair comes out February 11. In the meantime, listen to Major Arcana below.

Ken's Best Albums of 2013: #7: Deltron 3030 - Event II

The most overhyped album of the year is also the most overlooked. Thirteen years after Deltron 3030 came out, Deltron 3030 released their long awaited follow up, Event II, this year. Deltron 3030 was set more than 1000 years in the future, and in 2000 it truly sounded like the future of hip hop. Once Del the Funky Homosapien, Kid Koala, and Dan the Automator were finally able to release a follow up, there was no way it could live up to thirteen years of anticipation. 

Is Event II as good as Deltron 3030? No. But that doesn't mean it's a bad album. As time goes on, Event II will be considered much better than people are currently giving it credit for. Let's not forget In Utero was once considered a disappointing follow up to Nevermind. If you dismissed it earlier this year, I urge you to listen again. Sure, the skits featuring David Cross and The Lonely Island could have been skipped, but they got Zack de la Rocha back in a recording studio. That alone is a musical milestone.

Head over to Deltron's official website for more info and any tour information. You can also listen to Event II in its entirety below.

Jeff's Best of the Rest of 2013

As we look back at the end of this calendar year, it's important to note a lot of the other things that came out musically that don't make the standard top 10. Among the albums I really loved this year that didn't quite make the top ten, in no particular order:

* Valerie June - Pushing Against a Stone
* Fitz and the Tantrums - More Than Just a Dream
* !!! - Thr!!!er
* CHVRCHES - The Bones of What You Believe
* St. Lucia - When the Night

* Deltron 3030 - Event II
* Matt Pond - The Lives Inside the Lines in Your Hand
* Sarah Jarosz - Build Me Up From Bones
* The Dismemberment Plan - Uncanney Valley
* Janelle Monae - The Electric Lady
* Ra Ra Riot - Beta Love
* Pillowfight - Pillowfight
* Volcano Choir - Repave
* Tristen - Caves

* Deap Vally - Sistronix
* Jay-Z - Magna Carta... Holy Grail
* How to Destroy Angels - Welcome Oblivion
* Icona Pop - This Is... Icona Pop
* Kanye West - Yeezus
* Rhye - Woman
* Caitlin Rose - The Stand-In
* MS MR - Secondhand Rapture
* AlunaGeorge - Body Music
* Savages - Silence Yourself


There were also a great number of solid songs that came out this year. Over at Fruitless Pursuits, a pop culture blog I contribute to, I did a year-end recap called "The Unheard 13," songs that you might not have had an opportunity to hear this year. Regular readers of this blog might already know some of these songs, but maybe not. As for this year, I have a Spotify playlist of my favorite songs of 2013 that I recommend, I have also embedded it below. It's probably the only playlist that has A$AP Rocky and Aoife O'Donovan on the same page.


Here's to another great year of music in 2013, and a new year that's even better!

Christmas Song of the Year: Bunny's A Swine - "All I Want for Christmas is Lowered Expectations"

Christmas music is pretty terrible. It tends to either be overly heartfelt songs by Mariah Carey or Josh Groban, or punked up novelty versions of Christmas standards. This year even saw Bad Religion release a Christmas album, which was... yeah. Anyway, out of Northampton, MA comes my favorite Christmas song of the year from Bunny's A Swine. "All I Want for Christmas is Lowered Expectations" features Bunny's A Swine adopting a slightly more folky sound while singing about how much better Christmas would be if their loved ones would be happy with burnt CDs, dollar bin DVDs, and text message greetings. Between verses the band members have an ongoing conversation about the song, with drummer Dustin not quite getting the idea, a la Joey in Anthrax's "I'm the Man." 

"All I Want for Christmas is Lowered Expectations" is available for free on Bunny's A Swine's Bandcamp page. You can also head over to their website for even more information.

Ken's Best Albums of 2013: #8: Tristen - Caves

I'll admit it: I didn't really like Tristen's Caves when it was first released. I discovered Tristen opening up for Justin Townes Earle last year and was completely blown away. I even wrote about her in a hysterical, blubbering way for my previous blog. Her previous album, Charlatans At the Garden Gate was more of alt-pop country. It had all the hooks and catchy songs of pop country, but you'd never confuse her with Taylor Swift.

Then Caves came out. Tristen dropped almost all of the twang and replaced it with synthesizers. Upbeat, synth laden pop just isn't my thing and I was quick to dismiss the entire album. A couple days later I went back just to listen to "No One's Gonna Know," the album's lead track. I kept surprising myself with how much I liked, and then loved that one song. And then I kept going back, listening to more and more of the album. I started to realize that the songs I dismissed as kiddie stuff on first listen were actually Tristen's most mature work yet. Hidden within all the polish and keyboards were the same country folk murder ballads I loved about Tristen. Sometimes being a music snob comes back to bite me in the ass.

Make sure to head over to Tristen's website for more information and tour dates. You can stream the entire album Caves below.

Jeff's Best Albums of 2013: #1: Lissie - Back to Forever

If an artist releases two albums, and they're both your favorite albums of their respective release years, there's a chance that they might be your favorite recording artist, right?

I don't know how I tripped up on Lissie back in 2010 when Catching a Tiger came out, but I know that my wife was really, really tired of hearing a number of the songs over and over again. She put out a covers EP a couple years ago, but it seemingly took forever for the newest album to come out, and it was worth the wait.

The album leads off stronger than her first album and doesn't really stop. "Shameless" is a mid-tempo rocker about fame, "Mountaintop Removal" a solid-but-misguided protest song, "Further Away (Romance Police)" feels like a time warp into the 1980s. So many interesting sounds from start to finish create a really strong, cohesive album from start to finish.

Long and short? Lissie really shouldn't be this good. Her cover versions are excellent, her original songs all memorable and can serve as any type of earworm you need, and it's absolutely the best album I've heard all year long. I hope you love it, too, you can find out and stream it below:

Ken's Best of 2013: #9: Jason Isbell - Southeastern

I've been a fan of Jason Isbell ever since he days with the Drive-By Truckers. As much as I enjoyed his solo work, there was always a little something missing from each album. I had assumed it was having the more rocking songs by Mike Cooley or Patterson Hood to break up the more laid back down tempo songs Isbell tends to write. Southeastern proved me wrong. I wish I could put my finger on exactly what it was, but it doesn't really matter since Isbell found it himself.

Southeastern had the potential to be a complete nightmare. It's his first album newly sober and the first after his marriage to Amanda Shires (who also performs on the album). It's kind of a running joke that artists lose their edge after sobriety, and it also tends to be true. Plus, being happy doesn't tend to lead to great art, either. Southeastern breaks both those rules by being Isbell's greatest work ever. Not just as a solo artist: Ever. He's found inspiration in both sobriety ("Super 8") and marriage ("Traveling Alone"), which might be a first for both of those life events. Amanda Shires joins him on many songs and adds the absolute perfect element. Maybe she's what was missing. Or maybe it was happiness. Maybe my own maturity is finally drawing me to stable artists instead of tortured ones. 

For more information on Jason Isbell, head on over to his website. He also has an extensive tour coming up in the New Year. He was a stand out performer at a stacked 2013 Newport Folk Fest (my review is here), so I implore you to go out when he comes to your town. You can also stream Southeastern below.

Jeff's Best Albums of 2013: #2: Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside - Untamed Beast

My #2 album of the year is Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside's Untamed Beast. Ken saw them live earlier this fall, and he's pretty much the reason why I'm a fan.

With that said, a confession: the debut album, Dirty Radio? Really uneven for me. "Danger" was off the charts awesome, but it didn't hold up so well for me. Part of it is because the whole jazzy/blues thing is not always my cup of tea, so my expectations for her new album were not terribly high.

The album works really well for me in part because a lot of the blues parts are put in the backseat in favor of a more rockin' point of view. It results in a moodier album with a lot of attitude, and, frankly, a lot of sexuality oozing out of every pore. It means more mid-tempo songs like "She Told Me" have a significant purpose while sexy rockers like "Lip Boy" or "Do Me Right" are equal parts fun and frolicky. It's really well-crafted, and doesn't suffer from any sort of sophomore slump at all. Sadly, we learned this week that this incarnation of Sallie Ford music has broken apart, so, while we'll hear more from Sallie Ford and her apparent all-girl group next year, this is the last we'll hear of the Sound Outside.

You can stream the album below:

First Listen: New Releases for December 17

Only one release of note:

Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside - Summer EP: Man, Sallie Ford loves singing about sex. I'm not sure if these are new songs or outtakes from the excellent Untamed Beast, but this EP has three excellent songs sandwiched between a fun instrumental and another decent effort, something that is rare for an indie EP period. "Lips N Hips" in particular has been stuck in my head for two days running now.

Ken's Best Albums of 2013: #10: The Dead Milkmen - "Welcome to Undertown"

I probably would have ranked this higher on the list, but it's supposed to be albums and this is a three song single, so #10 it is! Instead of following up 2011's unbelievably great The King in Yellow with another album, the Dead Milkmen opted to release four 7" singles throughout 2012 and 2013. The most recent, "Welcome to Undertown," is my favorite of the batch.

The beauty of the Dead Milkmen's return to recording is how well the songs hold up when compared to their previous work. A lot of punk/alternative bands' new material sticks out completely during a live show. Back in April when I saw the Dead Milkmen, I completely forgot that "William Bloat" wasn't on one of their classic albums. Their new material is just that good. The single "Welcome to Undertown" is written from the perspective of an angry gun owner and fits right in with their classic gun themed anthems ("Right Wing Pigeons," "If I Had a Gun," etc.). It always seems bizarre to me that a band can sing about political issues 25-30 years ago and then sing about the same issues now, but I digress. "The Sun Turns Our Patio Into a Lifeless Hell" might just be the angriest song about middle age of all time. It also has a killer noisy guitar solo you wouldn't normally associate with the Milkmen. It's odd that this particular release is all Rodney Anonymous without a Dean Clean song. That's more of an observation than a complaint. 

For more information on the Dead Milkmen, head over to their website. You can stream "Welcome to Undertown" below via Soundcloud.