Top Albums 2013

The self-described “mutation from the irradiated California wasteland” returns in fine style after a six-year interlude. One of my fondest memories of QOTSA is watching them play at the Shelter in Detroit – literally a basement dive – in support of Songs for the Deaf. Part of the reason they so handily dismantled the place (in a good way) was Dave Grohl’s aggressive presence on drums, so I was pumped to learn that Grohl appears on …like Clockwork, splitting drumming duties with Joey Castillo. That being said, this latest effort is so polished I wasn’t sure about it at first.

The album is supported by twisted apocalyptic imagery, a loose collection of gruesome stories taking place in a lawless near future. This series of videos forms a short film on which the songs drape quite nicely. “If I Had A Tail” is a pulsing anthem perfectly embodied by its protagonist’s middle finger, but it’s precise rather than chaotic. And my favorite, “I Appear Missing,” is an arresting waking dream of being broken and forgotten.

If there’s anything I like, it’s a band that can wink at grimness, combine it with a solid beat and liberal use of synth, and make you want to dance. Which is why I listened to “While I’m Alive” ten times in a row when I first discovered it. Is it possible to feel wistful while also wanting to jam it out? Miracle Mile is full of this re-appropriation. It also doesn’t hurt that their basslines are great.

Upon being introduced to Boards of Canada, a college room mate said: “I feel like I’m inside a nature documentary.” I laughed, but there’s a kernel of truth to his assertion thanks to BoC’s patient approach to their songs. I still think about that room mate when I listen to BoC, and frankly Tomorrow’s Harvest would make a good soundtrack to a documentary about the crumbling of society.

“Jacquard Causeway” is bleak and scattered, evoking a spiderweb of abandoned overpasses. “Nothing is Real” captures the emptiness of coping with a world that can’t sustain us. Even the washed-out cover art, featuring a hazy and translucent San Francisco skyline, hints at the transience of both human presence and interference on the planet.

Just when “New Seeds” suggests an optimistic end to the story, the two closing songs snatch it away. I mean… the title of the last song translates to ‘seeds of death’… in Russian.

It’s basically the opposite of Tomorrow’s Harvest. It’s like voyaging inside a computer, it has that bubbling optimism and playfulness – there’s a song called “My Nunk“.

When I was growing up, imagining what the future would be like, it was people wearing visors whose function wasn’t immediately clear, piloting ultra-fast shuttles between looming arcologies, and listening to this music.

“Farewell Frenchman” is a perfect cross-section of the elements that put Monolith in the top tier of electronic music: layers and structure that make it more than just a beat, synth solos, and interesting sounds I haven’t heard before. “Taffynek” sounds like Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Next Generation. “Airbrite” is the sonic incarnation of a frenetic dogfight on the limb of Saturn. I only wish there was more than one album of this stuff.

More consistent and less atmospheric than Thom Yorke’s Eraser but pared back from his work with Radiohead, Amok combines the best elements of both with a warm electronic texture (with bonus improvisational dancing).

Maybe less common in the era of one-off digital downloads, I do recall a time when I’d get an album on the strength of one song, and then be disappointed that the rest of the album was not like that song. This album is the counterpoint to that experience, because it’s like listening to “Black Swan” from Eraser, but for the whole album, which I’m totally OK with since that was such a great song.

There’s something about “Reverse Running” in particular that resonates with me. It’s like when it’s dark and threatening to rain, but it holds off just long enough for you to finish what you were doing and then you can watch the downpour, safe inside. Another favorite, “Stuck Together Pieces” is a great example of what the strange lineup can do.

Speaking of albums you might get after hearing one song, “Giorgio by Moroder” is it when it comes to Random Access Memories. I think most people generally agree the album is good, if a little cheesy at times. But when Giorgio talks about the sound of the future while enmeshed in an electronic homage, it just feels good, like a legacy proving itself. I feel the rest of the album is centered on this idea, that electronic music is more than a repetitive beat, that like all music it draws on what came before but has a unique ability to look ahead as well. Anyway, for anything worth doing, it’s worth “Doin’ it Right.”