Seraphina Lotkhamnga on December 18th, 2013

0

Although Buzz Bands LA spends a lot of energy following local artists, my year-end album list is a general one. (EPs are a different story.) In comparison to last year’s list, 2013’s lineup seems to be dominated by artists from across the pond – with a handful of L.A.-based artists making the cut.

Check out my favorite 25 albums of 2013, with my thoughts on the Top 10, and some honorable mentions after No. 1:

10. The National, ”˜Trouble Will Find Me” (4AD)

Although quite somber, a sound the National has perfected with Matt Berninger’s heavy tenor, “Trouble Will Find Me” picks up right where “High Violet” left off. There isn’t much progression here, but it’s the quintet’s powerful self-awareness that carries and makes this record so beautiful. [Listen.]

||| Previously: “Graceless,” live at the Greek Theatre, “Demons,” “Sea of Love”

09. Laura Mvula, “Sing to the Moon” (Sony)

R&B-soul singer Laura Mvula may have lost the Mercury Prize to James Blake, but her album “Sing to the Moon” is a million times more uplifting than the dark soundscapes Blake warbles in. With warm vocal tones that are almost a throwback to Carpenters, rich harmonies and Mvula’s peculiar pop sensibilities rise from compositions full of twinkling harps and celesta like the scent of fresh-out-of-the oven cookies. Mvula is not a diva, but she’s certainly got gumption and style. [Listen.]

08. Haim, “Days Are Gone”(Columbia)

With only an EP out, Haim quickly gained supporters near and far. So when they finally released the long-awaited debut “Days Are Gone,” these sister proved they were worth the hype. With newer songs like “Falling, “The Wire” and the Fleetwood Mac-like “Honey & I,” fans got to focus on something more than Este’s bass face. [Listen.]

||| Previously: Treasure Island Music Festival gallery, live at the Fonda, “The Wire,” “Falling”

07. Disclosure, “Settle” (Universal Island)

Young brothers Guy and Howard Lawrence, ages 22 and 19 respectively, may have released “Settle” after Calvin Harris and David Guetta both released major collaboration albums the previous year. But what the Lawrence brothers have done as Disclosure is make a dance album that is a cut above. Bringing intelligence back into dance-pop, even the tracks without guest vocalists stimulate and never come off as trite. Although having Sam Smith, AlunaGeorge, Eliza Doolittle, Jessie Ware and London Grammar help out with those hooks certainly didn’t hurt. [Listen.]

||| Previously: Treasure Island Music Festival gallery

06. London Grammar, “If You Wait” (Metal & Dust/Columbia)

Like the Daughter album (which also begins its title with the hypothetical “If”), London Grammar’s debut full-length “If You Wait” is a swirl of catharsis. Hannah Reid’s smokey vocals cut right to the bone even when suspended in minimal arrangements that haven’t been done as well since the heydays of Portishead. Whereas the xx’s ballads were on the verge of becoming stale toast, London Grammar has got them beat with melodrama done right. [Listen.]

||| Previously: Live at the Troubadour, live at Bardot, “Strong,” “Wasting My Young Years,” “Hey Now”

05. Jagwar Ma, “Howlin” (Mom + Pop)

If you’ve missed the days of baggy music, Australia’s Jagwar Ma’s spin on the late ’80s-early ’90s British dance-oriented rock genre might have coerced you to get sweaty in a music club again. With songs like “The Throw,” “Come Save Me” and “Man I Need” all echoing the Stone Roses, the Happy Mondays and Oasis, this debut was a no-brainer. [Listen.]

||| Previously: Live at the Echo, “The Throw,” “Come Save Me,” “Man I Need”

04. Body Parts, “Fire Dream” (Father/Daughter)

“When you’re on the top of a mountain / When you’re on the verge of death,” belts Body Parts frontman Ryder Bach in opening track “Desperation.” It’s one of the most unlikely phrases to have stuck in your head throughout the day but with its deep bass lines and gorgeous harmonies, it’s one of the many songs on “Fire Dream” that have won me over in a very short period of time. From the ponderous R&B tune “People” to the funky “Unavoidable Things,” this debut is one of the funnest releases of the year. [Listen.]

||| Previously: “Desperation,” video,  Chinatown Moon Festival gallery, “People,” Skirball Center’s “Into the Night” gallery, “Unavoidable Things,” Echo Park Rising gallery, “Rest While You Sleep,”

03. Daughter, “If You Leave” (Glassnote)

When Elena Tonra sings “And if you’re in love with someone/then you’re one of the lucky ones/’cause most of us are bitter over someone” on “Youth,” it’s hard not to feel the pain that aches deep within her soul. Although it isn’t the most cheerful album of the year, the bold nature in which Tonra and co. strip themselves bare with bleak lyrics but intensify with lush layers of ethereal shoegaze is utterly captivating.  [Listen.]

||| Previously: Live at the Troubadour, “Run”

02. Mikal Cronin, “MCII” (Merge)

Blistering guitar solos, soaring pop melodies and jangly arrangements made Mikal Cronin’s sophomore effort an immediate winner. The first five tracks alone make you want to pogo in your living room. With every track on “MCII” easily deemed a wildly psychedelic power-pop anthem, Cronin himself might find it hard to top this one. [Listen.]

||| Previously: Live at FYF Fest, live at the Echo, “Change”

01. Arctic Monkeys, “AM” (Domino)

If Arctic Monkeys fans were surprised by the “poppier” elements on previous release “Suck It And See,” then the Brit-rock quartet must have really thrown people for a loop when they released “AM.” A bombastic combination of hip hop and ’70s hard rock influences, Arctic Monkeys certainly took a risk with a good amount of falsetto and large, gritty beats here. The sonic shift, however, has yielded an album chock full of fantastic results. Opening track “Do I Wanna Know?” drips with sensual soul elements as do the album’s other singles “One For the Road,” “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?” and “R U Mine?” The same energy from the band who brought you “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not” is still there. These guys just decided to turn it around and reach for something that ended up being deliciously sinister, sexy and thrilling. [Listen.]

||| Previously: Live at the Wiltern, “Do I Wanna Know?” video

Nos. 11-25:

11. Rhye, “Woman” (Polydor)
12. Laura Marling, “Once I Was an Eagle” (Ribbon Music)
13. AlunaGeorge, “Body Music” (Vagrant)
14. The Neighbourhood, “I Love You.” (Columbia)
15. Dungeonesse, “Dungeonesse” (Secretly Canadian)
16. IO Echo, “Ministry of Love” (IAMSOUND)
17. Kurt Vile, “Walkin’ On a Pretty Daze” (Matador)
18. Fonda, “Sell Your Memories” (self-released)
19. Savages, “Silence Yourself” (Matador)
20. Superhumanoids, “Exhibitionists” (Innovative Leisure)
21. Phosphorescent, “Muchacho” (Dead Oceans)
22. Quadron, “Avalanche” (Vested in Culture)
23. Daft Punk, “Random Access Memories” (Daft Life/Columbia)
24. Jenny O., “Automechanic” (Holy Trinity)
25. PAPA, “Tender Madness” (Loma Vista)

Honorable Mention:

My Bloody Valentine, “m b v”
Parquet Courts, “Light Up Gold”
Har Mar Superstar, “Bye Bye 17”
Lianne La Havas, “Is Your Love Big Enough?”
Speedy Ortiz, “Major Arcana”
Diane Coffee, “My Friend Fish”
Gliss, “Langsom Dans”
Seven Saturdays, “Seven Saturdays”
Robert DeLong, “Global Concepts”
Skin Town, “The Room”
Western Lows, “Glacial”
LA Font, “Diving Man”