A Round of Sound

#5) Haim – Days Are Gone [Columbia; released 9/30/2013]

“Because I’m sorry what I did, but it came naturally.”

“The Wire”

Perhaps the year’s most addictive album belongs to Haim, the trio of sisters hailing from Los Angeles whose brand of pop is played with such spirit and sincerity that it’s impossible not to be wrapped up in its genuine enthusiasm. Often, when a girl rock/pop group is introduced, there’s an expectation of jaded angst, and I certainly wasn’t expecting something so polished and mature, but these girls are having fun and aren’t afraid to show it these 11 not-a-clunker-in-the-bunch pop songs, played with a spunky arrogance evident in their live shows and day to day escapades. Frequently compared to Fleetwood Mac, there are clear 90’s soft rock and R&B influences that come to the forefront that I liken more to an Amy Grant, most notably on tracks “If I Could Change Your Mind” and “Honey & I” which follow possibly the best trio of songs to open an album all year long. When they do venture out in different directions like on “My Song 5” and its disjointed beats, the results are no less stunning. But what’s most impressive about these ladies, in addition to showing excellent songwriting prowess, is that even with their influences all over their sleeves, the songs have a distinct Haim flavor brimming with confidence making Days Are Gone the year’s best and most auspicious debut.

[“Falling” – Days Are Gone]

#4) The National – Trouble Will Find Me [4AD; released 5/21/2013]

“I am secretly in love with everyone who I grew up with.”

“Demons”

Consistency isn’t exactly considered a sexy quality when it comes to a band’s discography and rarely moves the needle from release to release, which is what makes The National’s steady stream of excellent albums such an impressive, but overlooked, feat. What The National do so well is create songs with elaborate structures and production techniques all contained in an easily accessible package. Here we have Trouble Will Find Me, as Nationally as The National get, but perhaps their most refined record with complex time signatures and subtle tweaks – the harmonica on “Sea of Love” is possibly my favorite moment of any song in 2013 – and a production value that is quickly making Aaron Dessner one of the most sought after producers in indie rock. Yet this is all stuff that can go completely unnoticed and have no effect on the casual listener enamored by the powerfully warm anthems and all their majesty. This is largely why The National’s albums are considered such growers, as the nuances rise to the surface upon repeated listens to allow for a deeper appreciation. With Trouble Will Find Me, the Brooklyn five-piece has released their 4^th straight stone-cold classic album, as relatable and fixated on life’s mundanities as anything in their repertoire, but in no way routine in and of itself.

[“Demons” – Trouble Will Find Me]

#3) Deafheaven – Sunbather [Deathwish; released 6/11/2013]

“I want to dream.”

“Dream House”

Not in a thousand years would I have thought a metal album would ever crack my Top Albums list, but here we are. Deafheaven is a black metal band from San Francisco featuring all the shrieking and double bass pedals one would expect from the genre, and it’s perhaps the most immediately striking and visceral album released in 2013. The vocals are of course the most polarizing part of any black metal band, but Deafheaven does a nice job with the mix by blending George Clarke’s vocals quite well with the backing music so they’re not too overwhelming, while still managing to come across passionate. Though it’s musically where Sunbather truly shines, by fusing metal, post-rock, hardcore and shoegaze all into a mind-blowing end product that most importantly gets the listener to feel something, anything, about life. Each song is a journey, but none better than album opener and song of the year contender “Dream House”, a 9-minute masterpiece featuring Explosions in the Sky type musicianship paired with Clarke’s screams that build to a breathtaking climax shocking in how moving it is. With many of Deafheaven’s metal peers, the music is so dense that all’s to be done after listening is to close yourself off and contemplate life, whereas with Sunbather, you want to press repeat and go live it.

[“Dream House” – Sunbather]

#2) Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City [XL; released 5/14/2013]

“Though we live on the US Dollar, you and me, we got our own sense of time.”

“Hannah Hunt”

It may seem simple, but there is actually a pretty involved process for making this list. The most basic thing I do, of course, is to listen to every single album again starting sometime around Thanksgiving. In listening to each album, I keep a running playlist in iTunes of the best songs of the year. When it came time to spin Modern Vampires of the City, Vampire Weekend’s third – and best – album, it took every part of me to not just grab the whole damn album and drop it in that playlist. No album in 2013 has the amount of pure pop bliss displayed in Modern Vampires – and considering Days Are Gone, that’s quite impressive. But this album is so much more, with an added depth that hasn’t really ever been present on Vampire Weekend albums, at least not in as cohesive and thoughtful of a manner.

I’ve always thought Vampire Weekend was underrated in the lyrics department, perhaps off-putting to some in their cleverness, so it’s no surprise to me to see the songwriting abilities of Ezra Koenig finally grab the listener in ways previous albums just couldn’t quite do. Paired with Koenig’s vocals is the music of Rostam Batmanglij, who’s the real star of the show with songs as sophisticated as anything in the New York quartet’s catalog, which is saying something considering the group has been one of the torchbearers for sophisticated chamber pop since their inception. Supposedly, this album wraps up the trilogy that was the band’s first three releases, so it’ll be interesting to see what the future holds, but with songs as expertly crafted as these, Vampire Weekend has earned our trust.

[“Unbelievers” – Modern Vampires of the City]

#1) Phosphorescent – Muchacho [Dead Oceans; released 3/19/2013]

“Then I saw love disfigure me into something I am not recognizing.”

“Song for Zula”

You’ve heard the story before: guy loses girl, retreats into solitude, and emerges with a cathartic release that results in an accomplished album of profound proportions. Such is the story of Matthew Houck, the Brooklyn by-way-of Georgia by-way-of Alabama singer/songwriter who with Muchacho has released the best album of his career, an impassioned juggernaut which will go down as 2013’s lyrical masterpiece and for me, album of the year. But there’s more to this story than just getting over a breakup. After a grueling tour in support of 2010’s Here’s to Taking Easy, Houck returned to New York hoping to recharge only to find he was being evicted from his recording space and in a relationship beyond repair. Houck withdrew, debating his future as Phosphorescent, and retreated to Mexico for a sabbatical of sorts. So much of Muchacho is inspired by those events, not only in lyrics but also the backing music which is at times folk, at times alt-country, and at times southwest americana, but never not gorgeous.

I shouldn’t get ahead of myself though, because nothing about this album can be said without first mentioning the stunning track “Song for Zula”, which while not the album opener, thanks to bookends “Sun Arise (An Invocation, An Introduction)” and “Sun Arising (A Koan, An Exit)”, serves as the best introduction to what Houck is doing with Muchacho. The honesty and heartbreak is palpable on “Song for Zula”, which despite having no real chorus doesn’t merely plod along, but rather is a beautifully crafted song with flavors of Tom Petty at his peak. It’s my song of the year, as chill inducing as anything I heard in 2013, with its staggering imagery and wounded lead performance.

 From there the album moves on to more upbeat and immediate tracks like “Ride On / Right On” and “A Charm / A Blade” which despite their subject matter convey a little bit of hope and joy with their spontaneous hoots and hollers, a welcome sight for an album that could be considered too bleak and sorrowful. Throughout all the tracks, Houck employs pedal steel, strings, piano, and horns to give a Mexican-cantina sound, as Houck likes to put it, all with a tinge of experimentation which is a testament to the songcraft on display here. But plenty of artists have the ability to create music this enjoyable, though very few have the heart to take it to transcendent levels, which is why it all comes back to “Song for Zula”, a track so magnificent and resonant that it elevates everything around it to heights few albums can ever hope to achieve.

[“Song for Zula” – Muchacho]