50. Queens of the Stone Age - "If I Had a Tail"Queens of the Stone Age are one of those prolific American rock bands of the 21st Century that easily put their name among the likes of many legendary rock outfits of the 00's. But like all untouchable rockstar-status quality artists, their relevance usually diminishes like an hourglass as the years go by. The Killers may be headlining Lollapalooza music festival, but for new material, no one can recall a single later than "When You Were Young". However, QOTSA come out of nowhere in 2013 and release one of their best records to date. The record's set of songs contains that smooth, sleek, sexy, and dark rock ballad material you could ever imagine of what QOTSA sounds like now. "If I Had a Tail" was a perfect example of this, including one of the years best dance-rock songs with one of the most powerful choruses of 2013. Who knows what Josh Homme & co. will go next, but let's rejoice for ...Like Clockwork together now.
49. Touche Amore - "Non Fiction"Earlier this year, I went to a show in Iowa City with some of the biggest names in hardcore/post-hardcore currently. My main reason to go was to see Code Orange Kids, whom I was satisfied with the performance. Touche Amore was the next band to play, and then Defeater. I can't really explain why, but I was really urked by Touche Amore's performance, and left before they even finished. Maybe it had something to do with the annoying ass post-scene kids screaming and throwing punches during the set. Since then, I stopped listening to the band. However, I thought I would entertain myself and listen to their new 2013 release Is Survived By just for shits and giggles. There were neither shits, nor giggles. I was genuinely impressed with the maturity and advancement in song-writing capabilities that the LA band showcased with their latest effort. When I got to the track "Non Fiction", I was entranced. Yes, TA goes through a very tiredly exercised approach in this track with some predictable and generic lyrics, but it all just feels too genuine to ignore. And it's because of this realization that I also came to terms with this. This is how Touche Amore is too, in general: familiar, but yet too emotionally demanding to pass as trite.
48. Pity Sex - "Wind-Up"When I look back on this year, one specific phenomenon stood out for me. The "blurred lines" (heh heh) between emo music and indie music as genres grew and grew. Pitchfork reviewed Dads, Japandroids are still surfing the wave of success of their last year release while still being deemed an "Indie" rock band, and articles from blog sites like Spin and Buzzfeed surface everywhere about an apparent "Midwest Emo Revival" that has already spent years in the making. A lot of emo fans of the true form really don't know how to handle this. As for me? I'm excited. I'm excited that this amazing and supportive music scene is finally getting some national recognition. Pity Sex's "Wind-Up" was a prime example of how easy it really is to cross that barrier. Listeners who are familiar with the band's earlier material are satisfied to see they are still angsty as ever, while Indie listeners are also satisfied by the Pains of Being Pure at Heart pop mentality and guitar tones you wouldn't hear far from a Hum record. Would it be safe to say that Pity Sex broke free into the more "mainstream" indie music community? As of now it's really hard to tell, but keep an eye out for this band, as they may be the first to do so.
47. Iceage - "Ecstacy"This track is a beast of true form. It starts with nauseating and directionless guitar tones hovering in front of you, and then seconds later, disco-from-hell fueled drums relentlessly enter to take the song down a very steep hill with the brakes out. As the listener, you feel like you're eavesdropping on the band's vocalist Elias Ronnenfelt pacing back and forth and having a fueled argument with himself. "Ecstacy" is the soundtrack to enduring hellish amounts of anxiety and then losing yourself to the hope of the blissful moment of release. Iceage impeccably portray this very dark place through the music of the track. As Elias screams "Pressure! Pressure! Oh god no!" you can't help but empathetically fill yourself with anxiety, and the violent yet looming musicality of the song really puts you in that position. This was my first introduction to the band's work, and with the feverish chills I feel from listening to the track, "Ecstacy" will keep me begging for more.
Not too long ago, electronic artist Nicholas Jaar and multi-instrumentalist Dave Harrington came together to create one of 2013's best duo performance. The band released their first proper album Psychic with critical acclaim across the board, and they completely deserved it. A standout moment on the atmospherically dark world of Psychic was "The Only Shrine I've Seen" which stands at about eight minutes long and slowly transforms its shape with each second. One segment flows graciously into the next while hardly ever looking back. With moments in this piece that contain guitar work that puts Nile Rodger's fidgety fret handling on this year's international hit "Get Lucky" to shame, Darkside embrace the unknown and explore soundscapes of different worlds with "The Only Shrine I've Seen", and it's just simply stunning.
45. Speedy Ortiz - "MKVI"Speedy Ortiz really came out of nowhere this year and snuck up and bit us all in the asses, in a good way. On the surface, it is really easy to look over this band, but to me Speedy made a statement with their 2013 release that must not be ignored. The incredible ending track "MKVI" showcases everything that separated Speedy Ortiz with the rest of the crowd. Major Arcana was a release I was told to check out a while back this year and haven't gotten around to it until just a few days ago. And damn, I'm really glad I did. Fuzz driven, half grunge half pop, and 90's confused, Speedy Ortiz create a sound so many bands have tried to create before but have failed. Sadie Dupuis, pissed yet determined, sings the line "Medicate me, now I'm something, cause I've got nothing." and it's hard not to think that this is what Liz Phair's pretend high school grunge band would sound similar to. Speedy's sound doesn't live in the 90's, it breathes a fresh breath of air into its recycled ideologies, and it's totally bad ass.
One of the most talked about rock bands of 2013, Savages entered this year with sight so determined it's scary. They quickly became the go to all girl punk band to end all girl punk bands. Nothing off of Silence Yourself, however, was as strikingly bad ass in terms of embracing their female roots as "She Will". Singer Jehnny Beth creates a character similar to Rae in Black Snake Moan. Overcome with desire and lust, the character must learn not to soil love and passion, and someone or something will be "forcing the slut out". Silence Yourself reached number 13 on the UK Albums Chart. This is proof that big rock bands still exist and still can shake up unprepared listeners, which coming from an all female punk group in 2013, a year with plenty of focus on gender equality, is a pretty hefty feat. And did I mention how instantly classic that guitar line in the beginning is?
43. Phoenix - "Entertainment"It's kind of hard to believe the road that french indie legends Phoenix took to finally be in the position they're in now. They cranked out solid album after solid album, until they became a household name with the release of their outstanding single "1901" that somehow everyone instantly knew the words too (even if they were singing gibberish). With their release of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, it was really difficult to extrapolate where their next release will take them. The insane amount of hype didn't really help their position either. But when they released Bankrupt!'s first single "Entertainment", I didn't quite know how to receive it. However, with time and patience and many many listens, the song came together full circle with the sounds and production of a million bucks, and the exuberance of an adrenaline junkie. "Entertainment" is a song that truly sounds bigger than our planet, and it is a song that will stay that way for a long time.
42. Rustie - "Triadzz"If you haven't been living under a rock, you'd know that the 2010's are all about EDM, or electronic dance music. With pop culture phenomenons associated with EDM breaking into the mainstream, like dubstep or popping-a-molly-and-sweating, this movement of electric dance music becomes a sizeable wave that engulfs the ears of attention deficit teenagers who live for the bass drop. But with this, it becomes really easy to blend in with the rest. But if you think all bleeps and bloops sound the same, I reckon you take a listen to Rustie. He's a Scottish electronic music producer and he adds a signature to his music that is undeniably Rustie-esque. "Triadzz" is a banger of a track that never lets up, with the sweetest ear candy of synths and beats that demand the best MC's to take a turn with their meanest freestyle (particularly the beat at the very end, seriously someone needs to sample this). Rustie is easily one of the most underrated producers out there right now, but let's hope 2014 brings the credit he's deserved.
41. Janelle Monae - "Electric Lady (ft. Solange)"Earlier this year, R&B pop diva Janelle Monae performed on Late Night with David Letterman, which the host graciously called Ms. Monae the "hardest working woman in show business." Today, it seems nearly impossible to be at the top for female pop idols. But even when some of these female pop idols do completely horrendous acts on a televised program for attention, it's really sad when you realize these are the most successful musicians in that category. Thankfully, Janelle Monae keeps it classy like always and releases Electric Lady, a 19 song epic R&B concept album you initially would think came from the year 2113. The self titled track encapsulates everything to love about this amazing woman, and when you try to dissect the true wonder and fantastical universe that Monae creates within all her works, you really do realize that she is without doubt the hardest working woman in show business.
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