A ---------------------------------------------------------- And the thing these first four rekkids have all in common is they rock like a goddam *magicus*, ain't it? Eleven? Pshaw...these-all are *screaming* to be played back at volume level twelve. If you tied my dimpled ass to the railroad track, held a gun to my head and a knife to my throat, pointed a laserbeam at my crotch, and bade me to choice a winner from among, I'd probably rend a garment or two, and then select the Kristin Hersh joint. But, really, in my heartmind (not to mention my mindheart), it's a four-way tie. After I broke down and put a three-way tie at the top of *last year's* list, I suppose I could rightly be accused of having gone wishy-washy in my old age. But, dammit all, I spent a LOT of time throughout the year's seasons with each of these four here-named long-playing record albums, and I truly do love them all with more less equal muchness. Really, really loved this year in music -- even though it felt like I didn't spend nearly as much time listening as I would have liked. If your fave record isn't listed here, maybe I've simply not heard it yet! Lemme know what I've missed, won't you? Big Blood ~ Operate Spaceship Earth Properly --> Shit-howdy, remember when this was a *folk* band (albeit a pretty durned weird one)? They're full-on rawk/roll now, at least for this outing, and if you think they're to be fucked with, you might could gonna get your dimpled self pwwnned. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club ~ Wrong Creatures --> This was my lifeline in Bali. Amid the mightmare of dust, diesel, and caterwaul that is pedestrianic locomotion in Ubud, music was the only possible antidote, and it had to be LOUD. It seems to have a knack, this band, for putting out incredible recordings every-other time, with the in-between ones kinda sorta on the meh side. Luckily for me, this year's was of the thumb-up toggling -- I might otherwise have died dead of acute trafficitis and gotten buried right there in Ubud. No joke. Kristin Hersh ~ Possible Dust Clouds --> Every moment of every second of every song of this album is one of unvarnished aural bliss. From the basslines as fat as a sumo's midriff; to the driving, insistent guitar pyrotechnics; to the inventive percussion figures; to Hersh's always captivating vocals (apart from Dylan's, hers is possibly the most beguiling throat in rocker-roller history, it could well be wagered); it's a bubbling, eddying cauldron of sound which could only have hatched from deep within the womb of Planet Kristin. As for the lyrics, YOU try to picking a favourite from these candidates -- you'll be here all damned day, won't it? - You change your view to change your worldview - Sleeping with angels is no way to live - A nasal voice in the background / "Get away from me, get the hell away from me" - Hand to hand, you surfed all summer / Bloodstream sick with contraband / A perfect stranger's perfect - San Bernardino / Starlight burns your midnight sun - Your sleeping bag sprung a leak / And nobody cares but me - Weed, California / Lost in a sea of tube-top Lady Godivas / The sun and the road tipping over She was also responsible for my favourite album of 2013 -- the Throwing Muses' brilliant masterpiece of awesomeness, Purgatory/Paradise -- placing her very high on thee ol' artist-of-the-decade list. My god, why doesn't she just run for President, already? Judas Priest ~ Firepower --> My admiration for this achievement has buried the needle. Already having mounted a farewell tour for their previous, also great, record, they could have faded into the sunset with the adulation ringing in their ears. But even despite Tipton's Parkinson symptoms having got so bad that he's no longer able to tour, they went and hit a towering grand slam right out of the goddam stadium. The funny thing is, they couldn't have made this record thirty-five or forty years ago -- Halford's voice, while not as *impressive* as it was then, is now tinged with an emotional heft which could only have come with age. Meanwhile, the band's two newer members are even more powerfully impressive as the icons they replaced. Long may they reign! Johnny Marr ~ Call The Comet --> So close, honestly, to making it a five-way tie at the very top. But I didn't listen to this one quite as much as the others above (nor, in fact, the one below). Herman Dune ~ Santa Cruz Gold [Fully Loaded] + Sweet Thursday Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs ~ Clippety-Clop Lisa O'Neill ~ Heard A Long Gone Song Ray Lamontagne ~ Part Of The Light Mama Kin and Spender ~ Golden Magnetic Sidi Toure ~ Toubalbero Snow Patrol ~ Wildness [Deluxe] Family Of The Year ~ Goodbye Sunshine, Hello Night-Time The Ting-Tings ~ The Black Light + The Black Light [Manchester Version] Bird In The Belly ~ The Crowing Kurt Vile ~ Bottle It In The Moondoggies ~ A Love Sleeps Deep Baba Sissoko and Djana Sissoko ~ Fasiya J. Mascis ~ Elastic Days Stick In The Wheel ~ Follow Them True The War And Treaty ~ Healing Tide St. Paul & The Broken Bones ~ Young Sick Camelia Roma Di Luna ~ We Were Made To Forgive Juliana Hatfield ~ Sings Olivia Newton-John Ed Harcourt ~ Beyond The End Simone Felice ~ The Projector Gretchen Peters ~ Dancing With The Beast Eli "Paperboy" Reed ~ Meets High And Mighty Brass Band Brandi Carlile ~ By The Way, I Forgive You High Fidelity ~ Hills And Home Sarah Shook & The Disarmers ~ Years Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 ~ Black Times Jack River ~ Sugar Mountain King Dude ~ Music To Make War To Anna Calvi ~ Hunter Tom Morello ~ The Atlas Underground The Price Sisters ~ A Heart Never Knows The Damned ~ Evil Spirits Hilma Nikolaisen ~ Mjusic [h/t Stewart C. Russell] Angelique Kidjo ~ Remain In Light Buffalo Rose ~ The Soil And The Seed The Rheingans Sisters ~ Bright Field Miserable ~ Loverboy/Dog Days Snail Mail ~ Lush Santigold ~ I Don't Want Sons Of Kemet ~ Your Queen Is A Reptile Lola Kirke ~ Heart Head West Eric McFadden ~ Does AC/DC Israel Nash ~ Lifted Laura Gibson ~ Goners Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs ~ King Of Cowards The Coral ~ Move Through The Dawn [h/t Michael Keefe] Hinds ~ I Don't Run Cedric Burnside ~ Benton County Relic Ellen Starski ~ The Days When Peonies Prayed For The Ants Hillstomp ~ Monster Receiver [h/t Lobsterman Jones] Hamish Kilgour ~ Finklestein Loma ~ Loma Holly Golightly ~ Do The Get-Along The Hollands! ~ The Last Dance Ian Sweet ~ Crush Crusher Blackberries ~ Disturbia Loretta Lynn ~ Wouldn't It Be Great? Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba ~ Routes Lindi Ortega ~ Liberty Saint Seneca ~ Pillar Of Na Marissa Nadler ~ For My Crimes John Mellencamp ~ Other People's Stuff Father John Misty ~ God's Favourite Customer Lucero ~ Among The Ghosts Mirah ~ Understanding Lena Hall ~ Obsessed: David Bowie EP Jack River ~ Sugar Mountain Alice In Chains ~ Rainier Fog Liela Moss ~ My Name Is Safe In Your Mouth Brian Jonestown Massacre ~ Something Else My Baby ~ Mounaiki Damien Jurado ~ The Horizon Just Laughed The Furrow Collective ~ Fathoms The Men ~ Drift Eric Bachmann ~ No Recover Kate Tucker ~ Practical Sadness Honorable mentions (listed in the order I first heard them): B+ ----------------------------------------------------------- Typhoon ~ Offerings Gloria ~ Oidophon Echorama EP El Perro Del Mar ~ We Are History EP The Herbaliser ~ Bring Out The Sound Dead Meadow ~ The Nothing They Need Sundrifter ~ Visitations Sin Fang, Soley, and Orvar Smarason ~ Team Dreams Trembling Bells ~ Dungeness Albaitil Ashwai ~ Nuun Reverend Beat-Man & The New Wave ~ Blues Trash Trampled By Turtles ~ Life Is Good On The Open Road Django Django ~ Marble Skies Anton Barbeau ~ Natural Causes Dan Melchior ~ The Folksinger Tribali ~ Raba The Maggie Valley Band ~ The Hardest Thing Chris Forsyth ~ Rare Dreams Nicki Bluhm ~ To Rise You've Gotta Fall Screaming Females ~ All At Once Daniel Daniel ~ The Lonesome Hollow The Brothers Comatose ~ Ink, Dust, And Luck The Orange Peels ~ Trespassing Oiseux-Tempete ~ Tarab Hailu Mergia ~ Lala Belu Green Seagull ~ Scarlet Fever Gulp ~ All Good Wishes Marla and David Celia ~ Daydreamers Amanda Shires ~ To The Sunset Paul McCartney ~ Egypt Station Film School ~ Bright To Death Metric ~ Art Of Doubt Leon III ~ Leon III My Brightest Diamond ~ A Million And One Caroline Rose ~ Loner B -------------------------------------------------------------- Richmond Fontaine ~ Don't Skip Out On Me Alela Diane ~ Cusp Brigid Mae Power ~ The Two Worlds The Decemberists ~ I'll Be Your Girl + Traveling On The Swingrowers ~ Outside-In Barrence Whitfield & The Savages ~ Soul Flowers Of Titan Moby ~ Everything Was Beautiful And Nothing Hurt The Pandoras ~ Hey! It's The Pandoras Anbessa Orchestra ~ Negestat Thirty Seconds To Mars ~ America Big Blood and Thunder Crutch ~ Big Blood and Thunder Crutch Frank Turner ~ Be More Kind Sera Cahoone ~ The Flora String Sessions Jenni Ojibwe ~ Leaving This Town Marem Ladson ~ Marem Ladson Pitou ~ I Fall Asleep So Easily EP Mazzy Star ~ Still EP Wendy McNeil ~ Hunger Made You Brave Melody's Echo Chamber ~ Bon Voyage Ralph Wiggum ~ Tales From The Strip-Club EP Boy Azooga ~ One, Two, Kung-Fu! Adekunle Gold ~ About 30 Sarah McQuaid ~ If We Dig Any Deeper, It Could Get Dangerous Toure Kunda ~ Lambi Golo Underworld and Iggy Pop ~ Teatime Dub Encounters EP The Washboard Resonators ~ Scrub That Thing Jake Shimabukuro ~ The Greatest Day [Deluxe] Blue Velvet ~ In Event Of Moon Disaster Calvin Johnson ~ A Wonderful Beast Daniel T. ~ Heliotrope Tom Adams ~ Yes, Sleep Well Death John R. Miller ~ The Trouble You Follow Robin Bacior ~ Light It Moved Me Fantastic Negrito ~ Please Don't Be Dead B- ----------------------------------------------------------------- Kieran Kane and Rayna Gellert ~ The Ledges Cascadeur ~ Camera The Eels ~ The Deconstruction The Silver Dimes ~ Electrifying John Johanna ~ I'll Be Ready When The Great Day Comes John Zorn ~ Insurrection The Nels Cline 4 ~ Currents, Constellations Belly ~ Dove The Bones Of J.R. Jones ~ Ones To Keep Close Belle and Sebastian ~ How To Solve Our Human Problems Locks ~ Skeletal Blues Mt. Joy ~ Mt. Joy Hayley Heynderickx ~ I Need To Start A Garden Thomas Bartlett and Nico Muhly ~ Balinese Ceremonial Music Jake Skavhellen ~ The Ghost In Your Smile Emma Tricca ~ St. Peter Valley Queen ~ Supergiant Ty Segall & White Fence ~ Joy The Moonshine Brand ~ On The Waves Of Time Jim Lauderdale ~ Time Flies Felicita ~ Hej! Lola Kirke ~ Heart Head West Dengue Dengue Dengue ~ Semillero Shawn Colvin ~ The Starlighter Greg Laswell ~ Last Time Micah P. Hinson ~ When I Shoot At You With Arrows Krishna Das ~ Peace Of My Heart Timasniwen ~ Tikmawen Jeff Tweedy ~ Warm