ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2013

still maintain that "Buzzcut Season" is a great song

most of the rest of the album is very of-a specific-moment/style and I really don't fault people for disliking it

Yeah emil.y, MB was a last-second addition for me, think I first heard it within 1 day of the deadline!

re: Fall Out Boy, they are still Fall Out Boy; good at what they do, only sporadically does that line up with something I really want to hear

re: Melt-Banana, one song in and this rules

still picking through the barwick album--this actually really appeals to the part of me that still likes sigur ros

part of me is going "oh here's where I should be looking to get my Battles itch scratched now that Battles themselves has become boring"

the Lorde album is a weird one for me. I voted for it, but would maybe reconsider if I could vote again. I like all the songs individually when I hear them, but I'm never particularly compelled to listen to this outside the context of my big new music playlist.

I like the Melt-Banana record, but after seeing them live I haven't been able to play it. They killed with both the new and old material, and the record only makes me want to hear the better live versions.

I really only ever listen to "Ribs"->"Buzzcut Season"->"Team" but I still voted for it

also the most surprising thing for me re: Melt-Banana is how delightful I'm finding the vocals

kind of wish Lorde sang like this, tbh

"Ribs" tempted me to give the thing another listen; that one really sounds like the apex of sad-teen alienation

the bill callahan song impressed me but left me cold if that makes sense? which is what smog did when i tried something by them over a decade ago, too. i like the gravitas. not in a place to appreciate the songcraft atm. have the leonard cohen comparisons proliferated throughout his career?

tried "buzzcut season" and i just find lorde's voice total wallpaper

still picking through the barwick album--this actually really appeals to the part of me that still likes sigur ros

ha, it was actually the lurch towards sigur-rosation that stopped me from fully embracing it tbh.

lorde album seemed ok to me. i get why people like it. that's about it.

"Ribs" tempted me to give the thing another listen; that one really sounds like the apex of sad-teen alienation

lorde always seems a bit too comfortable to me, i don't even get blankness/detachment from her voice let alone sadness

Melt-Banana have been doing their thing for a long time so if you're discovering them now you've got a good back catalog to explore (though Spotify has their albums split under Melt-Banana and Melt Banana FYI).

melt banana spilts?

played pure heroine non-stop for about a week and a half when it came out but hardly ever since

voted for it

"Buzzcut Season" specifically is about the arrangement for me, not how Lorde sounds singing it; all of those echoes/responses all over the place is just the apex of how the album's musical arrangements work.

Melt-Banana have been doing their thing for a long time so if you're discovering them now you've got a good back catalog to explore (though Spotify has their albums split under Melt-Banana and Melt Banana FYI).

They are definitely a band I know solely by name and not by output; at the time period when I would have been most likely to check them out, I was still listening to something like 90% dance music and just never made time/space to investigate

EZ, M-B are the best live band I've ever seen - it's kinda unfair on their studio material!

I like the Melt-Banana record, but after seeing them live I haven't been able to play it. They killed with both the new and old material, and the record only makes me want to hear the better live versions.

― EZ Snappin, Monday, January 27, 2014 12:42 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This has been my Melt Banana experience.

They need to step up their studio game.

a friend recommended the bill callahan very highly and said it was a career high so far so i've got it on my itunes and am relistening now and it sounds pretty good (agree the guitar is gorgeous) but his voice is unexciting to me and the lyrics don't have the same effect on me as they seem to on others

there's maybe half a good album on pure heroine. In general tho i am pro-lorde and interested to see what she is doing in 4-5 years.

Those who saw Lorde perform on the Grammys last night -- why does she look like she's 35?

bill callahan record is v pleasant but i have felt less and less drawn to it as time has passed, which was the opposite of what happened with me and apocalypse

xxxxp lex, strangely i can't recall many leonard cohen comparisons, but i've never been partial to cohen so i might have tuned any out that were made. but i also can't think of callahan being lauded for that kind of poetic songwriterliness either—more like he bores down into the quotidian in his language, and in his subjects, and brings out poetry in what seems like it doesn't have any in it. i dunno, maybe cohen's got that going on too, not knowing much about his work i kind of perceive it as more… studied, formally, in the way it sets up personas, addresses people, does things w/ tropes and observational details. (talking out of my ass here admittedly, maybe someday i will give up and just listen to cohen.)

callahan did cover 'so long, marianne' round the time of this album. of course he has always been a student of his art, so i kind of expect him to give everything he can its due, folky singer-songwriter-tradition-wise. would not be surprised if he learned a lot about how to draw in interest w/ his voice, tho.

EZ, this album IS them stepping up their studio game, hence the love

xp to fastnbulbous: it's the industry maaaaaaaaan

more like he bores down into the quotidian in his language, and in his subjects, and brings out poetry in what seems like it doesn't have any in it.

otm

I havent listened to (or thought about) Melt Banana in years. Spazz-rock has its place but its just not my bag anymore. The Bill Callaghan album was mediocre when I listened to it and Im a fan. Im not sure about this alt-country period of his. Ive only listened to it once tbf tho. I still havent listened to the Lorde album. Is there anything better than "royals" on it.

ok i'm on "spring" now and i think i'm starting to get it

checking out some of melt banana for the first time. I like what I hear, though it may be too harsh for me to listen to often, they're really going for it though. Reminds me a bit of Marnie Stern.

this is the first time i've heard melt banana since hearing them all the time on John Peel's radio show. Loving it. Seems they've toned down the grind and brought up the pop.

ppl who liked melt-banana should check out guerilla toss https://soundcloud.com/nnatapes/nna069-a1 not usually into spaz stuff but they make it really fun, esp on the funkier tracks

props to edward iii

http://i.imgur.com/EkHcpyh.png

72 THEE OH SEES Floating Coffin (282 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote)

Spotify

that album cover is ridiculously good

Think I have to admit that while this Melt Banana album is great and fun, I feel like I burnt out on Boredoms/Deerhoof/Battles type music a few years ago. This might be some sort of zenith for that style but at the same time it's not doing much that hasn't been done before. It just does it all a bit better.

love love love that thee ohsees album

gets a little inessential in the middle but the first 2 songs + the last 2 songs would make the best EP ever

I really need to check out that new Thee Oh Sees album, to me they have been a band that always sounds better on paper than in practice.

ty flopson for recs

that album cover is ridiculously good

it is?!

it is!

it is?

it's cool in a creepy way. Haven't really listened to them before, checking out a couple tunes, liking them well enough. Decent garage rock with some moments of excitement.

i love it

Thee Oh Sees is good fun, made my top 50. A bit higher on my list and along similar lines are Fuzz and Hidden Masters, which probably didn't make this rollout but are highly recommended.

i <3 Segall big time - but could just not get into the Fuzz

I found Floating Coffin ridiculously exciting for the first few tracks but I'm not sure it really sustained that momentum.

Of the ones I've not heard here I'm most interested in Melt Banana. Smog never did it for me (#teamoldham) so I'll probably give the Callaghan record a miss.