Top 89 Staff Picks: Jon Schober, Local/Music Assistant
by Jon Schober
December 02, 2013
Songs
1 Savages - Husbands
2 CHVRCHES - Lies
3 Arcade Fire - Reflektor
4 Blood Orange - Uncle Ace
5 The Preatures - Is This How You Feel?
6 Darkside - Paper Trails
7 Kurt Vile - Never Run Away
8 Twin Peaks - Irene
9 Sky Ferreira - 24 Hours
10 Little Daylight - Glitter and Gold
Top Albums
1. CHVRCHES - The Bones Of What You Believe
2. Still Corners - Strange Pleasures
3. Ex Cops - True Hallucinations
4. Twin Peaks - Sunken
5. Savages - Silence Yourself
6. Sky Ferreira - Night Time, My Time
7. Adam Green and Binki Shapiro - Adam Green and Binki Shapiro
8. My Bloody Valentine - m b v
9. Arcade Fire - Reflektor
10. Cheatahs - Extended Plays
Synopsis of year:
This was the year when banjos and folk anthems made their way out and pop made its comeback. There were countless pop hits this year from both indie and mainstream acts, and these songs dominated the charts. I found myself listening to KDWB more regularly and legitimately enjoying the music I was hearing. The fun part was hearing how different artists deconstructed the electronic genre to make it their own. From Lorde's uber-minimal production, to Icona Pop's blown-out style and CHVRCHES' throwback to the '80s, there were plenty of options to peruse even though all of these bands were using the same instruments to craft their sound. And one doesn't have to look any further than the major music blogs on the web to confirm that 75% of the talent they write about are mostly obscure electronic musicians from across the globe.
2013 also made one thing very apparent: we now truly operate in the land of "the single." There were few albums this year that I heard all the way through because I spent so much time listening to singles. "Husbands" by Savages is a good example -- I'm not sure I cared too much about the final product because the strength of that lead track was so overpowering. Nor did I care to invest much time in listening to how the rest of the record panned out.
Listener consumption also now trends towards playing and buying singles, much like it was in the mid-20th century. Our attention spans are shorter, and the popularity of an artist can be made or broken by a crossover song in their catalogue. Whether or not the artist has the chops to create that crossover hit is something much harder to foresee. Who would have thought "Ho Hey" last year, a pretty so-so song with lots of clapping and shouts, would take the band from the Entry to the Target Center in less than a year?