Albums
of the year
2013
Every year I spend doing this list I say to myself “Why bother, no one reads all this”, and rightly so I guess? Why would anyone care what I think – and being so longwinded on top of it all? So every time I start this list I intend fully to simplify. But in the end, the complete opposite happens. And on top of it all I stress about getting it all done – over something most people don’t even read at all (are you even reading this?!) – even though I started working on this in late August, and now it’s the middle of November as I finally wrap it up. I guess it’s the excitement of sharing or something that drives me to do this? Or maybe I’m just bored. Who knows. I think it’s the former. Hopefully. And because I’m tired and actually have some other things to attend to – I am going to quote myself from last year for most of the rest of this introduction. Oh and one more thing I want to add before I get to quoting myself – my favorite songs of the year? Katy Perry’s ‘Roar’, Chvrches’ ‘Gun’ and My Bloody Valentine’s ‘New You’. What I wouldn’t give to hear MBV cover ‘Roar’, and even for Katy Perry to cover ‘New You’. That is potential brilliance right there, my friends. Ok …. quoting myself now … “So, here you go, my favorite albums of the year. I guess technically they are what I consider to be “the best”, but by saying that it means these then have to be put in some sort of order, and quantified some way. But I really can’t do that. Depending on the mood of the day, each one of these albums is “the best” at one time or another, so really out of all the albums I’ve listened to over the past year, these are my go to albums – my favorites – my “desert island discs” of sorts. I’ve shared one track from each album as well, songs that I think not only represent what is great about the entire album, but what may spark an interest in you to checking out the whole thing, because to me they are all worth your time and quite rewarding indeed. Enjoy with aloha, and as always, turn it WAY the hell up, and for crying out loud use headphones. Laptop speakers = death.”
16
Washed Out
Paracosm
A lot of people know Washed Out (essentially one person, who supposedly makes music “in his bedroom”, as the journos like to say) from a song called ‘Feel It All Around’ that ended up on his first EP, and is now the theme song for the fantastic skit show Portlandia. Since then he released his first full length Within and Without, which I included in my top albums of the year list for 2011 on the strength that it was a slow grower – that it took time to dig below the surface and feel the melodies and emotions that I thought he was trying to bring across. Knowing that one was a struggle, at first my expectations for a new one were very low. Mostly a “sure I’ll check it out but I really could care less” sort of feeling. Maybe going into this album with that attitude made this one stronger with the lower expectations, but it is without question a pleasant surprise, and frankly a much better record than his debut. No small feat, considering what one would consider a limited genre that he is working in. But I disagree, as he works in this world of the cinematic, and as where in the past he worked in the world of nostalgia, it seems here he wanted to bring a whole new universe to your visual imagination via a completely aural experience. Sure it’s still a world of beaches and care-free days, but it’s a gorgeous sense of vacation and holiday, instead of looking towards the past. Just look at the title, Paracosm, which according to the website Dictionary, is “a prolonged fantasy world invented by children” or Wikipedia’s definition of “a detailed imaginary world or fantasy world, involving humans and/or animals, or perhaps even fantasy or alien creations”. His melodies are brighter and production so lush and tropical with the sounds of waves and birds throughout, it’s truly a New World that Washed Out has discovered here (see ‘All I Know‘ above), a welcome and surprising direction in growth that bodes well for his musical future. Everything one may have liked about his music from the past is still here, but the outlook has changed, his environs have changed, all resulting in a brighter and more colorful album which stands as his best so far in his short and unexpected musical career.