So I don't just like rap music. Along with Wu-Tang Clan, Cities Aviv and Odd Future, Japandroids, Sonic Youth and Bloc Party are also some of my favorite musical artists of all time. So at the moment, I feel inclined to write about something outside of rap music.
2012 was a great year for indie rock. With excellent records by Japandroids, Metz, The Men, DIIV, Wild Nothing, Grimes, Frankie Rose, Royal Headache, Titus Andronicus and Cloud Nothings (whew!), I became increasingly nervous for the albums that would come out in 2013. But the five records listed below have proved that 2013 may be able to top the amazing 2012.
The Men - New Moon
The Men work their way through twelve songs of punk energy ("The Brass", "Supermoon"), country twang ("Bird Song", "The Seeds", "Open the Door") steel lap and harmonica ("Half Angel Half Light", "Without a Face") and Neil Young meets Dinosaur Jr. fuzz ("I Saw Her Face", "Electric"). New Moon is another evolution for The Men, and they've already confirmed that they have another album recorded, so I'm excited to see where they go next.
Foxygen - We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic
Foxygen may be influenced by bands of the past like The Stones, The Velvets and The Beatles. But through the duration of their excellent We Are The 21st Century... they make it clear that they're making music of their own. When listening to anything by Foxygen, you don't think of who the song sounds like until it's over.
Front man Sam France may seem like the driving force of We Are the 21st Century... especially when he stretches his voice out across songs such as "Oh Yeah" and the title track, but Jonathan Rado and the rest of the band provides stellar instrumentation on songs like the driving "On Blue Mountain" and the trippy "Oh No 2". Foxygen have confessed to not listening to any new bands, and where some may say this is a pretentious statement, it makes sense. They don't let the surrounding bands influence them, allowing them to make excellent, and original music of their own.
Iceage - You're Nothing
Danish punks Iceage are similar to Foxygen, because both bands synthesize decades of music into their own. Though, whereas Foxygen draw from classic rock, Iceage draws from early 70s NYC punk, British post punk and dark Californian punk and wrap them in shoegazey, no-wave guitar hooks, and loud and messy bass lines and drum fills.
You're Nothing is definitely a step up from New Brigade in lyricism and musicality. Frontman Elias Rønnenfelt's lyrics are displayed more at the forefront on this album, and he recalls the late Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, in both subject matter and delivery. The rest of the band has also improved considerably, providing melodic hooks on songs such as "Wounded Hearts" and "In Haze" and adding piano to the album highlight "Morals". You're Nothing is definitely a catchier affair than it's predecessor, and by listening to "Ecstasy" the second time through, you'll be screaming "PRESSURE! PRESSURE! oh God no" along with Rønnenfelt.
Youth Lagoon - Wondrous Bughouse
From the opening instrumental "Through Mind and Back" and the follow up "Mute", with all of it's electronics and delayed guitars, you can tell Trevor Powers is not interested in making The Year of Hibernation II. The Year of Hibernation reveled in intimacy, with Powers singing in a near whisper at times about childhood stories and nostalgia, but Wondrous Bughouse is notably more expansive in instrumentation and lyricism than its predecessor.
Powers employs much more electronics and effects, making the music almost sound like Animal Collective, especially on the song "Dropla" where strange noises pop up all over the place and beautiful piano on "Raspberry Cane". Powers is also looking more out than in on this record, wondering about death, God and the metaphysical world as a whole. These heavy subjects seem like they may be hard to pull off from the guy who sang about finding snakes in his backyard, but Powers pulls it off quite well. The Year of Hibernation was a record that could only be made at a certain place in time for Powers, so I think it's safe to say he won't repeat on other albums. So I feel that we should be content with what he's pulled off considerably well on Wondrous Bughouse.
My Bloody Valentine - m b v
Even though this event (yes, this release is classified as an event) happened at the beginning of February, this will probably be remembered for years to come. That on the night of February 2nd, a new album from My Bloody Valentine, who hadn't released anything for 22 years, suddenly appeared on the internet and it was available for purchase. So naturally I bought it.
My Bloody Valentine are the god fathers of shoegaze, and they've been silent since they're perfect album Loveless, released in the early 90's. m b v isn't better than Loveless but it's still nothing short of amazing. It also shows some musical growth, with the organ led "Is This and Yes" and the insanely layered closing track, "Wonder 2".
I've let this record set in for the past couple months, to make sure that it didn't sound as good as it did because of the hype surrounding it. And it's survived the test. With the countless shoegaze bands that have come and gone after My Bloody Valentine, Loveless still felt like a timeless peace of work and no doubt m b v will be the same. I can't wait for their next album.
Records to Look for in 2013
Milk Music - Cruise Your Illusion, Release Date: April 2nd
Wavves - Afraid of Heights, Release Date: March 26th
Merchandise - Total Nite, Release Date: Sometime this Spring
The National - Title TBA, Release Date: Sometime this May
Cloud Nothings - Title TBA, Release Date: Sometime this Fall
Deerhunter - Title and release date TBA
Foxygen - We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic
Foxygen may be influenced by bands of the past like The Stones, The Velvets and The Beatles. But through the duration of their excellent We Are The 21st Century... they make it clear that they're making music of their own. When listening to anything by Foxygen, you don't think of who the song sounds like until it's over.
Front man Sam France may seem like the driving force of We Are the 21st Century... especially when he stretches his voice out across songs such as "Oh Yeah" and the title track, but Jonathan Rado and the rest of the band provides stellar instrumentation on songs like the driving "On Blue Mountain" and the trippy "Oh No 2". Foxygen have confessed to not listening to any new bands, and where some may say this is a pretentious statement, it makes sense. They don't let the surrounding bands influence them, allowing them to make excellent, and original music of their own.
Iceage - You're Nothing
Danish punks Iceage are similar to Foxygen, because both bands synthesize decades of music into their own. Though, whereas Foxygen draw from classic rock, Iceage draws from early 70s NYC punk, British post punk and dark Californian punk and wrap them in shoegazey, no-wave guitar hooks, and loud and messy bass lines and drum fills.You're Nothing is definitely a step up from New Brigade in lyricism and musicality. Frontman Elias Rønnenfelt's lyrics are displayed more at the forefront on this album, and he recalls the late Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, in both subject matter and delivery. The rest of the band has also improved considerably, providing melodic hooks on songs such as "Wounded Hearts" and "In Haze" and adding piano to the album highlight "Morals". You're Nothing is definitely a catchier affair than it's predecessor, and by listening to "Ecstasy" the second time through, you'll be screaming "PRESSURE! PRESSURE! oh God no" along with Rønnenfelt.
Youth Lagoon - Wondrous Bughouse
From the opening instrumental "Through Mind and Back" and the follow up "Mute", with all of it's electronics and delayed guitars, you can tell Trevor Powers is not interested in making The Year of Hibernation II. The Year of Hibernation reveled in intimacy, with Powers singing in a near whisper at times about childhood stories and nostalgia, but Wondrous Bughouse is notably more expansive in instrumentation and lyricism than its predecessor.Powers employs much more electronics and effects, making the music almost sound like Animal Collective, especially on the song "Dropla" where strange noises pop up all over the place and beautiful piano on "Raspberry Cane". Powers is also looking more out than in on this record, wondering about death, God and the metaphysical world as a whole. These heavy subjects seem like they may be hard to pull off from the guy who sang about finding snakes in his backyard, but Powers pulls it off quite well. The Year of Hibernation was a record that could only be made at a certain place in time for Powers, so I think it's safe to say he won't repeat on other albums. So I feel that we should be content with what he's pulled off considerably well on Wondrous Bughouse.
My Bloody Valentine - m b v
Even though this event (yes, this release is classified as an event) happened at the beginning of February, this will probably be remembered for years to come. That on the night of February 2nd, a new album from My Bloody Valentine, who hadn't released anything for 22 years, suddenly appeared on the internet and it was available for purchase. So naturally I bought it.My Bloody Valentine are the god fathers of shoegaze, and they've been silent since they're perfect album Loveless, released in the early 90's. m b v isn't better than Loveless but it's still nothing short of amazing. It also shows some musical growth, with the organ led "Is This and Yes" and the insanely layered closing track, "Wonder 2".
I've let this record set in for the past couple months, to make sure that it didn't sound as good as it did because of the hype surrounding it. And it's survived the test. With the countless shoegaze bands that have come and gone after My Bloody Valentine, Loveless still felt like a timeless peace of work and no doubt m b v will be the same. I can't wait for their next album.
Records to Look for in 2013
Milk Music - Cruise Your Illusion, Release Date: April 2nd
Wavves - Afraid of Heights, Release Date: March 26th
Merchandise - Total Nite, Release Date: Sometime this Spring
The National - Title TBA, Release Date: Sometime this May
Cloud Nothings - Title TBA, Release Date: Sometime this Fall
Deerhunter - Title and release date TBA
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