Emeritus
Reviews 137 Approval 96%
Soundoffs 410 News Articles 76 Band Edits + Tags 52 Album Edits 67
Album Ratings 55 Objectivity 22%
Last Active 03-19-22 9:25 pm Joined 12-06-09
Review Comments 10,767
| My Favorites From 2013
2013 started off slowly for me, but damn did it get crazy in the last
two months! I've found myself pleased with a few metal albums
(surely better than 2012, I'll tell you that much,) but for the most part
I'm finding myself more and more drawn to electronic and indie. My
goal for this year was to dive deeper into metal, and to familiarize
myself more with what I've always considered to be my niche. But the
more I tell myself to do it, the less interested I become. So the best of
2013 for me is a mixture of the familiar and the recommendations you
guys probably gave me at some point! This year's been awesome, and
I'm excited to see what great releases are around the corner. | 20 | | Olafur Arnalds For Now I Am Winter
Post-rock composer Olafur Arnalds experiments with vocals, and it works way
better than you'd probably think. 3.5 / 5 | 19 | | Stolas Living Creatures
Solid post-hardcore right here with friends in the right places. These guys just
need a charismatic vocalist to propel them to the success they deserve. 3.6 / 5 | 18 | | Ghostface Killah Twelve Reasons to Die
I dunno, I did expect to like this one more. The production is stellar, and makes
me want to make a thousand jokes about how Tarantino should at least do
something with the album. Maybe Ghostface's flow will grow on me at some
point, but I'm not really counting on it. 3.7 / 5 | 17 | | Foals Holy Fire
I was hoping for this album to be more consistent, but if the highlights are killer
then what's the problem? I'll be rocking "My Number" until the band's next
release, and I have no complaints. 3.7 / 5 | 16 | | Mice Parade Candela
A lovely blend of shoegaze and indie. I'm surprised this album hasn't gotten
more recognition around these parts. 3.7 / 5 | 15 | | K Sera Collisions & Near Misses
Nah, the album doesn't feel too original, but that doesn't make it any less
catchy. Casey Crescenzo approves of it, too! 3.8 / 5 | 14 | | TTNG 13.0.0.0.0
TTNG makes its most spacious record yet, in order to give new singer Henry
Tremain room to work with. There are some infectious jams here, and I
appreciate them much more after seeing them live. 3.8 / 5 | 13 | | Bonobo The North Borders
Bonobo goes low-key here, and it suits him well. I just can't get enough of
"Cirrus," although the rest of the album is just as great. 3.8 / 5 | 12 | | Baths Obsidian
Obsidian is the dark, grimy and ugly counterpart to Cerulean, and it works a lot
better than one would expect. 3.9 / 5 | 11 | | Kurt Vile Wakin on a Pretty Daze
The simplest of records, which is probably why it's so enjoyable. 4 / 5 | 10 | | Omnium Gatherum Beyond
It's all about the atmosphere on this melodic death metal release, and that fact
leads to Omnium Gatherum's most satisfying release yet. 4 / 5 | 9 | | Gold Panda Trust
I really dig the low-key direction Gold Panda took with this one-- and this is
coming from the guy that thought "Vanilla Minus" was easily the best track on
Lucky Shiner. 4 / 5 | 8 | | Suuns Images du Futur
Weird as hell, and catchy as hell. 4.1 / 5 | 7 | | Tera Melos X'ed Out
Tera Melos aren't the weird-ass instrumental band they used to be, and this stab
at surfer-pop-rock-whatever shows it. X'ed Out is a culmination of the attempts
at innovation found on Patagonian Rats-- it's about damned time they got to this
point.. 4.1 / 5 | 6 | | And So I Watch You From Afar All Hail Bright Futures
The craziest post-rock group around gets even crazier, and I'm all ears. 4.1 / 5 | 5 | | Colin Stetson New History Warfare Vol. 3: To See More Light
Nothing drastically new, but is that a problem? 4.1 / 5 | 4 | | The Dillinger Escape Plan One of Us Is the Killer
It's raw, it's messy and it's certainly not perfect. But hell, Dillinger still knows
how to blow us away from one album to the next. The production's fantastic, the
songs bring an insane amount of variety, and Greg Puciato sounds better than he
ever has. 4.1 / 5 | 3 | | James Blake Overgrown
Color me impressed. James Blake's debut was too scattershot for me, but this
release is remarkably consistent-- each song is equally potent, while bringing
something new to the table. The album is as intimate as Blakes' previous works
have wanted to be, and it's a thrill to hear the evolution that the musician's
taken part in. 4.3 / 5 | 2 | | Justin Timberlake The 20/20 Experience
What can I say -- all the best things about pop music, presented in a stunningly
ambitious way. I particularly love the production here, even though Timberlake
gives a great vocal performance throughout. 4.5 / 5 | 1 | | Scale the Summit The Migration
I suppose I'm a progressive metal junkie at heart-- at the same time, though,
how metal is this release? on The Migration, Scale the Summit continues to defy
the ultra-specific genre tags placed upon them, and I love them for it. 4.5 / 5 | |
Yuli
05.10.13 | "You should edit the list to get that final artwork in there, Jacob!"
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm... | Drummerboy123
05.10.13 | Sweet ass list. We have very similar tastes. | Yuli
05.10.13 | I mean, you're Chad Smith (a.k.a. Will Ferrell,) so I'm not surprised! ;]
Haha thanks though, man. I have noticed that we like similar styles of music. Are you primarily into metal? | Aids
05.10.13 | heeeey someone else liked that Suuns album, huzzah! | theacademy
05.10.13 | i havent gotten 1 yet
perhaps i should | Yuli
05.10.13 | Academy, #1 hasn't leaked quite yet. You'll only get it from me if you also pay my mortgage for the next three months.
And Aids, yeah it was really good man! I enjoyed it a lot, but I need to check it out more for sure. | Ecnalzen
05.10.13 | 2 and 3 are pretty great. Haven't heard the rest, but 6 sounds cool. | luci
05.10.13 | shouldn't have posted this list before hearing the new national record!
2 and 3 are in my top 5. cool list. | Aids
05.10.13 | still gotta get that Scale the Summit album cause I liked the last one | Yuli
05.10.13 | Lucidity, I'm not too sure I'll enjoy the new National record. High Violet was maybe a 2.5-3 for me-- it had a couple of highlights for sure, but felt too dreary for me. Glad you like the list =] | Aids
05.10.13 | pffff if you thought High Violet was too dreary stay far far away from the new album | Calc
05.10.13 | didn't know 6 was post-rock. anyway YOU should listen to shugo tokumaru's latest. Its beyond catchy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-WM-x__BOk | climactic
05.10.13 | damn omaha you loooooove the .1 rating increments | Yuli
05.10.13 | Thanks calc, I'll check it out tonight =]
and Climactic-- random numbers just lodge themselves in my head, and surprise surprise they all happen to be .1 increments!! | Maniac!
05.11.13 | Where's Laura Stevenson, you scumsucking son of a bitch? | Artuma
05.11.13 | this year for me:
1. TWFM
2. Wheel
they are not on the list so this sucks yeah | Maniac!
05.11.13 | I asked you a question, motherfucker. | Maniac!
05.11.13 | ANSWER ME YOU SHIT-EATING, FAUX-PROG-LISTENING, PANCAKE-LOVING PRICK. | Insurrection
05.11.13 | cant wait for 1 to leak hnng
4 should be 1 anyway cause tdep | DamnVanne
05.11.13 | I will suck yo dik if u give me The Migration | Yuli
05.11.13 | HEY BRANDON, I LISTENED TO TWO AND A HALF SONGS FROM IT AND DIDN'T CARE FOR IT. < / 3 | Ecnalzen
05.11.13 | What's wrong with loving pancakes? | JokineAugustus
05.11.13 | Damn. I've barely heard any of these. Knowing me, I'll listen to these in 2014. | clercqie
05.11.13 | Still have to hear new Olafur Arnalds, but I can't find the time with all the other super releases coming out. It's crazy.
Yay for 11 and 13! | greg84
05.11.13 | I only like one album from this list, and it's easy to guess which one. | Calc
05.11.13 | well whatd you think? | Maniac!
05.11.13 | "HEY BRANDON, I LISTENED TO TWO AND A HALF SONGS FROM IT AND DIDN'T CARE FOR IT. < / 3"
I'm never having pancakes with you again, you piece of shit. | Havey
05.11.13 | e
X
ai | DamnVanne
05.11.13 | I acquired 6 yesterday and it is indeed pretty savage | Irving
05.11.13 | 2013 rules, agreed - especially when taken in contrast to the uber-boring 2012. | ILJ
05.11.13 | sweet list, i'll check out some of the stuff on here that I haven't already.
i found the new TTNG ridiculously boring though | ILJ
05.11.13 | oh wait there's no Laura on here and you listened to some of it?
list sucks 0/10
but seriously you're missing out | Calc
05.11.13 | "I acquired 6 yesterday and it is indeed pretty savage"
lol | oubli
05.11.13 | Checking out a lot of this, thank you | PistolPete
05.12.13 | There have been some sick albums already but it's got a ways to go if it's going to match 2012 | Sunn177
05.12.13 | waiting to get a physically copy of #4 before I hear it but I know it's gonna slay. | Yuli
05.12.13 | Calc-- I enjoy this song overall, thanks for sharing it. However, I'm not sure how much of this style of music I
could dig. | aok
05.13.13 | @13 - bonobo's always been low key dear | Yuli
05.13.13 | Eh, what else Ive heard from Bonobo hasn't been | Calc
05.13.13 | glad you liked it lol
its literally the most inoffensive music ive ever heard its awesome | Eclecticist
05.14.13 | uh where the hell is the new altar of plagues | Aids
05.14.13 | which Bonobo album struck you as "high key"? he's pretty much "downtempo" in a nutshell. | aok
05.15.13 | aww i checked sputnik all day to see what jacob had to say to that and he didn't come online =/ | Necrotica
05.15.13 | Where's Hinder? | Yuli
05.15.13 | Sorry you wasted your day, Andy!
I dunno guys, I REMEMBER MORE NOT-LOW-KEY PARTS FROM BLACK SANDS but i guess my one listen misinformed me
I will pay the proper Paypal account for the damages I've caused | aok
05.16.13 | itsok i was at work so i got paid to waste my day heh | Yuli
05.16.13 | Ooh, lucky! I'll make sure to create more lists to keep you amused, buddy. | Kman418
05.16.13 | full of hell man |
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