ADM 2013: The 1st quarter report
We're three months into 2013: it's time for our regular first look back at the most critically-acclaimed music so far this year
It's safe to say that whether it was 2013, 2003 or 2023,
comeback albums from artists as significant as My Bloody Valentine
and David Bowie were always going to feature large in the critical
landscape (and in the case of the former it may well be 2023 before
their next studio output).
And you would probably also be quite happy to place a large wager
on anything from Nick Cave (with or without his Bad Seeds) and John
Grant attracting serious acclaim.
That quartet aside, if the top 10 highest-rated albums from the
first quarter are anything to go by, 2013 is shaping up to be a
year of fresh faces and interesting new talent.
There are four debuts in there, from Matthew E.White, Parquet
Courts, California X and Hookworms. Add to that a sophomore release
from Villagers which confirms a relatively new name as a major
artist, and one completely unexpected appearance (how else to
describe a collection of 2008 outtakes from drone folk artist Liz
Harris aka Grouper), and you have a list which is brimming with
intrigue.
That sense of novelty grows as you go down the rankings, studded
as it is with promising new names such as Torres, Maxmillion
Dunbar, Lapalux, Daughter, Doldrums and so on.
As for whether 2013 will be the year of alt.folk, indie R&B or
whatever, it's way too early to say, but with Parquet Courts,
California X, Hookworms, Nick Cave and of course MBV all in the top
10, you certainly couldn't describe it as a quiet place to be.
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - -
- - -
8.7
My Bloody Valentine
mbv
mbv leaves all other post-rock experimentalists looking like
trivial dilettantes. If jet engines could sing, these would be
their hymns.
Independent on Sunday
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - -
- - -
8.5
John Grant
Pale Green Ghosts
This is undoubtedly one of the best albums of the year and after
so many thwarted attempts, the world is finally Grant's for the
taking.
music OMH
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - -
- - -
8.3
Matthew E. White
Big Inner
A genuinely great artist might have arrived almost out of the
blue
The Guardian
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - -
- - -
8.1
David Bowie
The Next Day
This is a triumphant, almost defiant, return. Innovative, dark,
bold and creative, it's an album only David Bowie could make.
BBC
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - -
- - -
8.1
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds
Push The Sky Away
They still sound as vital, charged, atmospheric and bursting
with forward momentum as they did in 1983.
Loud & Quiet
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - -
- - -
8.0
Parquet Courts
Light Up Gold
A debut that's both instantly addictive and lastingly rewarding:
a smart, snappy concoction of worldly wisdom and garage-rock
gratification.
The Guardian
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - -
- - -
8.0
Villagers
{Awayland}
The first 'must-have' album of 2013 - mesmerising, from
beginning to end.
Entertinment.ie
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - -
- - -
8.0
California X
California X
It might be as modern as loincloth, but 'California X' is surely
a future classic.
The Fly
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - -
- - -
7.9
Grouper
The Man Who Died In His Boat
This is music that challenges and provokes. It may require a bit
of effort to 'get' Grouper, but it's worth it. And as this record
illustrates, even her cast-offs are stunningly good.
Drowned In Sound
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - -
- - -
7.9
Hookworms
Pearl Mystic
A staggering debut. Hookworms are a band quite unlike anything
the UK has produced for years.
music OMH
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - -
- - -
And the next 40
11. Autechre Exai
12. Dawn Richard Golden Heart
13. Yo La Tengo Fade
14. Phosphorescent Muchacho
15. Torres Torres
16. Suuns Images Du Futur
17. Maxmillion Dunbar House Of Woo
18. Kvalertak Meir
19. Hey Colossus Cuckoo Live Life Like
Cuckoo
20. Mountins Centralia
21. Pissed Jeans Honeys
22. Lapalux Nostalchic
23. Daughter If You Leave
24. The Pictish Trail Secret Soundz Vol. 2
25. Ashley Monroe Like A Rose
26. Iceage You're Nothing
27. Unknown Moryal Orchestra II
28. Doldrums Lesser Evil
29. KEN Mode Entrench
30. Rick Redbeard No Selfish Heart
31. Alasdair Roberts & Friends A Wonder
Working Stone
32. Night Beds Country Sleep
33. Emmylou Harris £ Rodney Crowell Old Yellow
Moon
34. Rhye Woman
35. Dutch Uncles Out Of Touch In The Wild
36. Caitlin Rose The Stand-In
37. Frightened Rabbit Pedestrian Verse
38. Foals Holy Fire
39. Autre Ne Veut Anxiety
40. Waxahatchee Cerulean Salt
41. Low The Invisible Way
42. Local Natives Hummingbird
43. Everything Everything Arc
44. Broadcast Berberian Sound Studio
45. Edwyn Collins Understated
46. The Flaming Lips The Terror
47. Steve Mason Monkey Minds In The Devil's
Time
48. Marnie Stern The Chroncles Of Marnia
49. Tegan And Sera Heartthrob
50. FIDLAR FIDLAR