{"id":598,"date":"2013-12-15T22:34:11","date_gmt":"2013-12-16T03:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/greatapes.ca\/blog\/?p=598"},"modified":"2013-12-15T22:34:11","modified_gmt":"2013-12-16T03:34:11","slug":"the-best-music-i-heard-in-the-year-2013-of-our-lord","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/greatapes.ca\/blog\/2013\/12\/the-best-music-i-heard-in-the-year-2013-of-our-lord\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Music I Heard In The Year 2013 Of Our Lord"},"content":{"rendered":"

This year was a really good year for music so I expanded my best-of list to 15.\u00a0 I left off some good albums here, but these are the ones I feel most strongly about recommending.\u00a0 I think music reviews generally are nonsense so I’m not going to bother trying to review these albums.\u00a0 I’m just going to say a few words about what I think about them and then link to a song that you should check out if you’re interested.<\/p>\n

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Wait, hold on a second.\u00a0 Maybe about ten years ago there was a phrase that people would often use on music message boards to try to indicate what other bands an artist was similar to.\u00a0 It was kind of a way to transcend genres a bit by being more specific about what a band’s influences and peers were.\u00a0 The phrase was “Rocks If You Like”, usually shortened to RIYL.\u00a0 Unfortunately the phrase became a bit of a joke because, I mean, it sounds ridiculous.\u00a0 Well friend, as it happens I don’t mind looking ridiculous, so I’m going to help you all out by throwing a RIYL out for all of these albums.<\/p>\n

15. Pelican – Forever Becoming<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pelican claim to be a punk rock band even though everyone calls them a metal band and there isn’t really anything punk about their sound.\u00a0 Indeed, some of the songs here almost sound like they could be by Isis but for the very clear lead guitars.\u00a0 They’ve been playing a very tuneful brand of instrumetal (yeah, I just made that up, I don’t care that a Google search might say otherwise, you owe me royalties if you use it) over the course of several albums now.\u00a0 Unlike a lot of instrumetal though their songs aren’t especially dense nor are they particularly technically proficient.\u00a0 There’s a lot of space in their music and oh god I’ve started using one of those meaningless music review clich\u00e9s, abort abort abort.<\/p>\n

RIYL: Birds that can hold an ungodly volume of fish in their beak, my taste in music<\/p>\n

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14. Colin Stetson – New History Warfare, Vol. 3<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pretty weird album, but I like some pretty weird music, especially when it’s put out by Montreal label Constellation.\u00a0 I am contractually obliged to tell you that Stetson plays saxophone in a very unusual manner that is made possible by his mastery of circular breathing.\u00a0 The music doesn’t really sound anything like saxophone though; most of these songs are more similar to drone.\u00a0 Oh, and Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon sings on a few tracks.\u00a0 I don’t like Bon Iver but Justin Vernon sings on two of the albums on this list.\u00a0 That’s a fact that I thought would be useful to you.<\/p>\n

RIYL: Third volumes, my taste in music<\/p>\n

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13. Volcano Choir – Repave<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh hey Justin Vernon, I was just talking about you.\u00a0 So Volcano Choir is Justin Vernon’s side project.\u00a0 They write atmospheric indie rock sort of stuff.\u00a0 I dunno, listen to the track below.\u00a0 I guarantee that it will make you go check out the rest of the album unless you’re not really interested in doing that.<\/p>\n

RIYL: When streets get torn up and you can’t get anywhere you want to go because they’re putting down new asphalt, my taste in music<\/p>\n

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12. Nine Inch Nails – Hesitation Marks<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s Nine Inch Nails.\u00a0 If you haven’t listened to it you probably aren’t going to.\u00a0 But, you know, it’s good, so listen to it.<\/p>\n

RIYL: Things that most people stopped being into in the 90s, my taste in music<\/p>\n

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11. Vattnet Viskar – Sky Swallower<\/strong><\/p>\n

Just as a warning to people who don’t like music that is awesome, this list is going to get pretty metal heavy from this point out.\u00a0 Vattnet Viskar are a black metal band, and while the album definitely has its moments where everything is blasting at maximum volume, these guys understand the importance of dynamics.\u00a0 A number of songs have long mid-tempo sections with clear riffs and patient drumming, and some of the songs even move into Isis-ish mellow atmospherics.\u00a0 Really good stuff all around.<\/p>\n

RIYL: Band names that don’t lend themselves to puns, my taste in music<\/p>\n