JD Swerzenski's Top 10 and Friends

1. Kanye West - Yeezus

Why even deny it? No album was this anticipated, this shocking, this abrasive, this quotable. And I cranked no other record this loud or this often.

2. Of Montreal - Lousy With Sylvianbriar

Maybe I like this record because I'm just so goddamn glad Kevin Barnes stopped making bat-shit crazy electro-art-funk records any more (apologies to the Paralytic Stalks apologists.) But then Lousy in Sylvianbriar also is just, well, lousy with incredibly written songs, the kind that remind me why I loved this band so much to begin with. 

3. Danny Brown - Old

Yes, I know I have Yeezus higher on the list. But I'll still stake the claim that Old is unequivically the best hip-hop record of 2013 (Yeezus sort of occupies its own sonic stratosphere.) I mostly knew Mr. Brown through last year's XXX, a concept album about doing Molly and eating pussy every three minutes. But who knew the dude had range? Old employs his signature codeine-soaked yelp, but Brown also shifts to a street thug bark, and sometimes a reflective croon. Plus he wrangled up some killer producers to 

soundtrack these many moods of Danny Brown, all somehow manages to be both wide-ranging and streamlined.

4. Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City

Of all the fellow indie-rock royalty that came up short this year--Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Arcade Fire, The National, etc--thankfully somebody came through big in 2013. MVOTC certainly is a step towards a more mature, serious sound for the band, and I do admit to missing some of the peppier (preppier?) fun of the first two albums. But I like this new look, especially MVOTC's damn-near perfect first half. 

5. Disclosure - Settle

I won't call Settle a record that defined my tastes in 2013 or anything. But I also can't ignore the fact that I listened to it upwards of 20 times (it's a killer running soundtrack.) The tempos rarely glide below dance floor throb, and the hooks are often just as relentless. I probably couldn't name a single track (other than the Jessie Ware featuring "Confess To Me"), but that's a strength unto itself. Settle is a straight shot of dancefloor dopamine: direct, potent and damn fun to get down to.

6. Earl Sweatshirt - Doris

 
Earl has seemed more than a little reluctant since being ostensibly 'found' (read: returning from Samoan boarding school) last year. And that carries onto Doris, his first release since his mythos building, teenage effort Earl. What makes this record so engaging is that he confronts this confusion, trying to reintroduce the real Earl, or at least something beyond a Free Earl t-shirt campaign. And he absolutely kills it in the process, injecting byzantine rhyme structures, multi-layered entendres and cutting personal confessions all subtly delivered in his woozy flow.

7. Daft Punk - Random Access Memories

I won't get too much milage out of this comparison, but RAM was in many ways the Avatar of 2013: obscene in budget, even bigger in delayed anticipation, and marked by its share of flaws. The robots didn't quite gross a billion on the project, but the record was a rare blockbuster success in a year strewn with big letdowns. And rightly so. Beyond "Get Lucky" RAM is filled to the brim with killer tracks, all of which managed to broaden their palate beyond dance floor jams while still retaining the pop instincts that made them legends in the first place.  

8. Janelle Monae - The Electric 

Lady Janelle Monae wanted perfect on this record, and like so many perfectionists before her striving for the sublime, she didn't quite hit the mark. But Sweet Robot Jesus, Electric Lady does have it's fair share of highlights. The best of the bunch all include guests: Prince on "Give 'Em What They Love," Erykah Badu on "Q.U.E.E.N." and especially Miguel on "Primetime." And like some of the great soul and funk howlers that have clearly guided her, Janelle has built some of these songs for live performance;  "Sally Ride" and the title track really only came alive for me after watching her tear into them onstage. 

9. Mikal Cronin - MCII

I first caught Cronin at SXSW a few years ago. A lot of that show's attention came from his having recruited long-time collaborator Ty Segall as his bassist, but I don't think anyone left doubting who the star of the show was. MCII feels then like a culmination, a long road to recognition that pulls together all Cronin's best qualities into one hugely enjoyable effort. There are at least three bona-fide singles that where he not a scraggly dude signed to Merge, could have had a place on the pop charts. The rest of the record is just as stacked with the sort of heavens-reaching indie-pop goodness that was in all too short supply in 2013. 

10. Julia Holter - Loud City Song

To paraphrase Charles Mingus, there's really no greater trick in music than making the complex seem simple. That's really the achievement of Loud City Song: how it manages to pull pure pop catchiness out of esoteric classical techniques like ostinato horn lines, palindrome song structure and chamber arrangements. 

Best Tracks:

1. Kanye West - Black Skinhead

2. Janelle Monae (feat. Prince) - Givin Em What They Love

3. Fuzz - Sleigh Ride

4. Toro Y Moi - Say That

5. Youth Lagoon - Mute

Best Guest Verses:

1. Kendrick Lamar - Control

2. Frank Ocean - Sunday

3. King Krule - You Took Your Time

4. Rick Ross - FuckWitMeUKnowIGotIt

5. Kendrick Lamar - Collard Greens

Top Comps

1. Sly & the Family Stone - Higher!

2. Townes Van Zandt - The Early Years

3. Miles Davis - Live in Europe '69

4. King Tuff - Was Dead

5. The Beta Band: The Regal Years

Guilty Pleasure Pop Songs:

1. Lorde - Royals

2. Migos - Hannah Montana/Versace

3. Justin Timberlake - Mirrors

4. Bruno Mars - Locked Out of Heaven

5. Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball

Best New Band Names:

1. Diarrhea Planet

2. Joanna Gruesome

3. Perfect Pussy  

4. Dads

5. The History of Apple Pie

Great Albums We All Totally Forgot About:

1. Youth Lagoon - Wondrous Bughouse

2. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - II

3. Yo La Tengo - Fade

4. Foxygen - We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic

5. Dr. Dog - B-Room

 
JD is some guy who keeps talking to us and sending us these lists. He also used to work here.