Finally, it’s time for the annual playlist that caps off my countdown. Rather than do a ranking of favorite songs, I choose to compile what I think is a good representation for the year in music, all on an 80 minute CD-R. Per the norm, plenty of my favorite songs couldn’t find their way on here due to length, or production techniques of the track, so in some cases I’ve got songs on here that aren’t even my favorite from its respective album.
Other notes: I managed to squeeze 20 tracks onto this years mix, same as last year. This is a very top 25 heavy playlist, as only two songs show up from albums outside my top 25. Those songs being The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die’s “Gig Life” and Tegan and Sara’s “Closer” from their very nice album Heartthrob, my #35 album of the year, which is the lowest ranked album to find a song on my playlist in 2013. Of the remaining tracks, 10 come from albums in my #11-#25 range, and 8 from albums in my top 10. The only top 10 albums that don’t have a representative on my mix are Sunbather and Reflektor. As always, the order of the Mixtape is not a ranking, but rather an order based on how the song appears on its respective album.
Below, you’ll see the tracklist, and after the jump you can listen to every track if you so choose. I’ve also created Rdio and Spotify playlists, the latter of which is embedded below. (Note, “new you” isn’t available on either service.) There’s also my Amazon.com list which has my entire top 25 albums of the year, nice and neat in a one page form (and access to my all my lists since 2001). And last but not least, this is the 6th straight year Amy Boyd has stepped up to provide me my album art. She actually spent part of her birthday working on this, but that’s why she gets paid the big bucks. (Disclaimer: there are no bucks being transferred, much less big ones.)
2013 was a great year for music, and a very tough act to follow. Let’s see what you got, 2014.
1) “Closer” – Tegan and Sara :: Heartthrob
2) “You & I” – Local Natives :: Hummingbird
3) “The Mother We Share” – Chvrches :: The Bones of What You Believe
4) “KV Crimes” – Kurt Vile :: Wakin On a Pretty Daze
5) “Backyard Skulls” – Frightened Rabbit :: Pedestrian Verse
6) “Counting” – Autre Ne Veut :: Anxiety
7) “Song for Zula” – Phosphorescent :: Muchacho
8) “Borrowed Time” – Parquet Courts:: Light Up Gold
9) “Royals” – Lorde :: Pure Heroine
10) “Step” – Vampire Weekend :: Modern Vampires of the City
11) “The Wire” – Haim :: Days Are Gone
12) “Byegone” – Volcano Choir :: Repave
13) “Sea of Love” – The National :: Trouble Will Find Me
14) “Dropla” – Youth Lagoon :: Wondrous Bughouse
15) “new you” – My Bloody Valentine :: m b v
16) “Hold On, We’re Going Home” – Drake :: Nothing Was The Same
17) “Avocado, Baby” – Los Campesinos! :: No Blues
18) “She Will” – Savages :: Silence Yourself
19) “Gig Life” – The World Is A Beautiful Place… :: Whenever, If Ever
20) “Doin’ It Right” – Daft Punk :: Random Access Memories
The Countdown can now begin with my 15 albums that make up #11 through #25. There’s really no logic governing which albums I chose to do a write up for here. I didn’t want to write something about all of them, but felt like a few deserved a little blurb.
#25) Parquet Courts – Light Up Gold
Initially self-released in 2012, Light Up Gold was picked up by New York based label What’s Your Rupture? and rereleased in 2013 to rather great critical praise, so yeah technically a reissue, but barely, so I’m breaking my own rules here. This is the proper debut for the Brooklyn-based quartet and it’s an infectious group of clever punk-rock songs. 15 tracks are crammed on to this LP, and fly by at 34 minutes. The style is youthful, yet smart, garage band rock sung with a loose and free exuberance that’s about as self-assured a debut as you’ll find.
[“Stoned and Starving” – Light Up Gold]
#24) Drake – Nothing Was The Same
#23) The Flaming Lips – The Terror
#22) Volcano Choir – Repave
The second album from the Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) side project is a much more straightforward release eschewing the spacey atmospherics of Volcano Choir’s debut, and it’s all the better for it. Not to say Unmap didn’t have its moments, or was even failure, far from it. It was an avenue for Vernon, along with collaborators Collections of Colonies of Bees, to experiment with the ethereal and create a unique listening experience. However, Repave is much more accessible and consists of gorgeous songs more in line with the Vernon repertoire that could easily fit on his most recent Bon Iver effort, most notably back to back tracks “Comrade” and “Byegone”. This is an album that acts as an expansion of the Bon Iver sound, which is what many fans hoped for when this project was announced.
[“Comrade” – Repave]
#21) Laura Marling – Once I Was An Eagle
#20) Okkervil River – The Silver Gymnasium
No stranger to concept albums, Okkervil River returns to the craft with their seventh album and ATO debut, The Silver Gymnasium, which was inspired by frontman Will Scheff’s hometown of Meriden, New Hampshire. Taking place in the 80’s, this album is a nostalgic look at adolescence during that era and an ominous, yet reverent take on youthful naivety transitioning to cynical adulthood. Scheff captures the time and place perfectly with songs that while not quite displaying the manic energy of previous albums, in some ways are as smart and well written as anything in the band’s catalog.
[“Down Down The Deep River” – The Silver Gymnasium]
#19) Deerhunter – Monomania
#18) Los Campesinos! – No Blues
#17) Kanye West – Yeezus
#16) Kurt Vile – Wakin On A Pretty Daze
#15) Autre Ne Veut – Anxiety
Autre Ne Veut is the stage name of Brooklyn musician Arthur Ashin, an artist so private, largely thanks to a social anxiety disorder, that he didn’t even reveal his identity until two years after his 2010 debut album. His appropriately titled follow up, Anxiety, is an emotional juggernaut, yet refuses to let its heaviness get in the way of some damn good alt-R&B songs. These are accessible and immediate tunes making the album an enjoyable and rewarding listen thanks in no small part to the opening two tracks, each respectively song of the year contenders. Trying to decide if I prefer “Play By Play” and its explosive chorus or the dark, yet catchy, anxiousness of “Counting” more is a debate just not worth having when they’re both done this well.
[“Play By Play” – Anxiety]
#14) My Bloody Valentine – m b v
#13) Savages – Silence Yourself
In a year for very successful female pop debuts, consider Savages the antithesis of all those groups, not in success, but in sound. Silence Yourself isn’t marketable polished pop, but rather loud abrasive post-punk done in such a forceful way to create a refreshing listen full of genuine angst and intensity. Savages is a female quartet from London, whose debut album was one of the more highly anticipated releases of 2013, thanks in part to their song “Husbands” which emerged in the summer of 2012. “Husbands” appears on Silence Yourself, but it’s “She Will” that emerges as the best track here displaying the confidence and swagger of these girls.
So now the countdown can begin with the 15 albums that make up #11 through #25. The only albums you’ll see a little blurb for here are the albums that fall in this range that I’ve yet to do a write up for on the blog. For the rest of the albums, you can click on the band name to link to the post where they were mentioned.
#25) Wolf Parade – Expo 86
The third release (and possibly last) from the Montreal group still doesn’t quite reach the heights of their wonderful 2005 debut, but Expo 86 does get back to what made that album so good, while ridding themselves of the over-ambition and 2008’s decent, but disappointing At Mount Zoomer. Spencer Krug is one of my favorite indie rock artists, and I always liked his stuff more than co-founder Dan Boeckner, however, on this album Boeckner is the star, although the album’s best moment does come from Krug in “What Did My Lover Say? (It Always Had To Go This Way)”.
[“What Did My Lover Say? (It Always Had To Go This Way)” – Expo 86]
#24) The Tallest Man on Earth – The Wild Hunt
It’s pretty much impossible to listen to The Tallest Man on Earth (aka, Kristian Matsson) and not get a Dylan-esque vibe. It’s a comparison that has followed Matsson to this point in his career, and certainly won’t stop if he continues down the path of The Wild Hunt, the 2nd full-length album from the Swedish singer-songwriter. Mattson’s folk is masterfully done and incredibly soulful and heartfelt in not only the music, but especially the lyrics.
[“The Wild Hunt” – The Wild Hunt]
#23) The Besnard Lakes – The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night
Montreal’s The Besnard Lakes follow up their breakout 2007 release, The Besnard Lakes are The Dark Horse, by picking up right where they left off with another set of eerie post-rock tracks that do nothing but validate the brilliance of this quartet. The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night is more of the atmospheric physchadelic rock that made Dark Horse so intriguing, and while many bands try to accomplish this sound, few are able to with such majesty. It’s a beautiful album, creating numerous soundscapes, while not sacrificing melody.
[“Albatross” – The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night]
#22) Vampire Weekend – Contra
Released all the way back in January, it’s easy to overlook Contra, Vampire Weekend’s 2nd full-length album, as one of the bigger releases of the year. Following up their very successful and highly hyped debut album was no easy task, and while I don’t think Contra pops quite as well as their debut, it does accentuate all the tendencies that made their debut a “love it, or hate it” release. And I respect the hell out of that. Contra is Vampire Weekend putting their feet to the gas pedal and emphasizing all their eccentricities to the max, and not taking the time to look back at what people are saying…because they just don’t care.
#20) Frightened Rabbit – The Winter of Mixed Drinks
Frightened Rabbit’s 2008 release, The Midnight Organ Fight, was so immensely emotional that trying to follow it up would be no easy task. The Winter of Mixed Drinks only comes up slightly short of Organ Fight‘s granduer due to a more arena rock and polished sound rather than the raw folksiness that added to Organ Fight‘s charm. That’s not to say this album isn’t still packed with emotionally devastating ballads, because it most certainly is, thanks in large part to the vulnerability found in the Scottish vocals. As long as those vocals continue to find their way to the forefront, and these guys continue to write some impressive personal tunes, I don’t see there ever being too big of a drop off from album to album.
[“Swim Until You Can’t See Land” – The Winter of Mixed Drinks]
Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg is the latest prodigy Sub Pop records is hoping to strike gold with. Well, if the 19 year old’s self-titled debut album as Avi Buffalo is any indication, they may have done just that. Based in Long Beach, Avi Buffalo combines the west coast sound with the northwest indie rock sound seen in many of his current and former labelmates. Lyrically, Avi writes about what you expect every 19 year old to write about: sex. So there’s still some growing up to do there, but the earnestness and confidence in his lyrics can not be denied. There is a sweetness to this music that makes it very likable, but the songwriting techniques for a group of teenagers is the most impressive thing.
#13) Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Anyone that knows me, knows that I’m not a rap/hip-hop guy. At all. However, in the last couple years I have given into opening my mind a bit to the genre. So, the fact that I have a rap album this high, should show you just how much I think of it. Everyone knows about Kanye. We all know how self-absorbed and narcissistic he is, as well as pretty much any other synonym for self-indulgent you can come up with. But honestly, it’s something he’s embraced and it’s become part of his songwriting, to the point of being self-deprecating. That feeling is captured perfectly on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in some of the most deeply personal artwork you’re going to find as all of the experiences he’s gone through in the last couple years come forward in cathartic effect. Oh, and the album consists of some very fine hip-hop songs as well.
[“Dark Fantasy” – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy]
#12) Jónsi – Go
The debut album from Sigur Rós frontman Jónsi starts off with a series of bleeps and bloops on song “Go Do” before fading into the more majestic soundscape and vocals you’d come to expect from the Icelandic artist. It’s barely one minute in and your ears have already been given a treat unlike anything else you will hear this year. The Nico Muhly arrangements only add to the gigantic scope of Jónsi’s music, while Jónsi’s naivety and sweetness make this an exhilarating listen. At times Go is as vibrant and emotionally stirring as the best work of Sigur Rós and makes their “indefinite hiatus” a little bit easier to deal with.
I’m not planning on having another post until I unveil my Albums of the Year list in early January, so for my last post of 2009, I figured I’d close the year out by a little Holiday playlist consisting of a few songs from my collection that (sorta) have something to do with Christmas* and New Year’s. Happy Holidays!
Posted by Hawkins 
A Round of Sound 