52 Weeks of New Released - 2013 (Introduction and Honorable Mentions Part 1)

At WMBR, we get a ton of new music week in and week out.  I try to keep up as best I can throughout the year.  If you can imagine, I typically get about 5-6 new Show Showy albums per week meanwhile the station gets 3-4x's that number in total so it gets a bit daunting to keep up with the wave of new releases.  

Nevertheless, these are the new releases which resonated with me throughout the year.  If you know the Show Show, you'll know these tend towards dance, electronic, new wavey, synth-driven tracks. I don't play the most popular, most indie, highest pitchfork rated, or most hyped music.  I look for a sound that's particular pleasing to me and play it.

I've been following the indie rock, and electronic music for awhile now.  My "awhile" may be wholly unimpressive to some.  However, I've been on independent community radio listening to a ton of music for the past decade plus in one shape or form. 

That being said, this list like every other list is arbitrary and totally subjective.  It's how I feel about a particular album today and will change tomorrow, a month from now, etc.  Please enjoy what I consider to the best releases of 2013.  First up, the honorable mentions part one (in no particular order).

Icona Pop - This Is...

What the hell happened to them after Manners (which was featured on a Kitsune compilation a few years)?  Manners was a great song.  This album is trite dance garbage.  Of course, we all liked "I Love It" till the 1,000th time we heard it on the radio. 

   
INVSN - Self-Entitled

Dennis Lyxzén, of Refused and the (International) Noise Conspiracy, goes back to his roots in this album.  Sounds like a cross between the Arcade Fire and Interpol in a post-punk style.   Not bad results, but nothing ground breaking here.

Lust for Youth - Growing Seeds

Modern goth-like experimental music.  The more dancey tracks sound like early New Order dragged through the mud, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Hands - Synesthesia

Grizzly Bear without the experimental edge.  Sometimes they jaunt into the spaced carved out by !!!, and other times try to dip their toes towards the synth-pop space.  "Brave Motion" is a stand out song, check it out below.
  

Delorean - Apar

The band Delorean and I have a running feud.  For some reason, people always tend to point me in the direction of this band, but I just can't get there.  They sound like a more experimental version of Cut Copy with more indie rock appeal.  If Phoenix and Stereolab are your thing, you'll probably like these guys.

Bastille - Bad Blood

People are loving Bastille.  They are selling out mid-sized venues across the country.  They sound like what would happen if you married an American Idol to an indie band and said go.  I'm biased against the heavy-handed male vocals, but you'll more than hear "Pompeii" in your favorite video montage for the next five years so enjoy!

Black Taxi - Chiaroscuro EP

I find it funny that their Wikipedia page (yes, I fact check on Wikipedia) mentions them as to be "considered one of New York City's premier live acts, and consistently sells out venues along the East Coast.".  They are a fun band who I'm sure is great live, but I'm personally not sold on the over emphasis on the vocals (like the band above).  The bias against heavy-handed male vocals continues!

 

bEEdEEgEE - Sum/One

Gang Gang Dance's Brian DeGraw bringing the weirdness out on this one.  It's got the Gang Gang Dance feel but pushes more towards the synth-driven dance album space.  If I had another couple chances to listen to this album it might have gotten more consideration (it just came out).  It's an album that grows on you the more you listen to it.

 
Depeche Mode - Delta Machine

Considering the abortions that 80's bands have been releasing lately, this is a nice change.  After Depeche Mode's 2009 release of Sounds of the Universe, this is a move in the right direction and more an attempt to change their sound to something a bit more contemporary.  It's male vocals heaviness gets a pass because it's fucking Depeche Mode people.

Summer Camp - Self-Entitled

This is a band that's going to have a tough time coming through in the Google era.  Especially with the fact that there's about a hundred bands named "Summer Camp".  This Summer Camp presents a pretty solid pop album.  Some songs have some soul like "Fresh", some are more indie inspired, and a couple are straaaaight cheese (see: "Everything has Changed").

More to come...