The 55 Best Albums of 2013 (34-44)

Part 2 of our countdown of the best albums of this year.  Don't like our choices?  Then it's your turn to vote.  Send me your 20 best albums of the year.  We're compiling a best of list from our fans.  Can't wait to see what you loved this year...there were a lot of great releases for sure.

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Here are the 55 Best Albums of 2013 (34-44):

34.  Waxahatchee - Cerulean Salt
35.  Grouplove - Spreading Rumors
36.  David Bowie - The Next Day
37.  Jason Isbell - Southeastern
38.  My Bloody Valentine - m b v
39.  Atoms For Peace - Amok
40.  The Civil Wars - The Civil Wars
41.  Kaskade - Atmosphere
42.  The Head and The Heart - Let's Be Still
43.  Dawes - Stories Don't End
44.  Mac Miller - Watching Movies With The Sound Off

Buy these albums and more...now!!

The 11 Best Songs By Dawes

March Madness is the ultimate war of attrition.  And may be the perfect analogy to the music industry.  You have everything:  from one-hit wonders to legends, from big city brawlers to country kids, from the unknown to the everybody knows.  There's no guarantees in the tournament, the big name powerhouse can lose to the upstart podunk school making their big dance debut (Florida Gulf Coast vs. Georgetown).  But to win it all...you have to last.  You have to keep going.  You may have one memorable game and for a mid-major like Harvard that may be enough.  Or reaching the Final Four for Witchita State.  But to win it all and become a champion, you have to beat everyone in your path.  There are no second chances...and like in pro-sports, there's no coming back next year.  This is your only chance.  Music at least you get second chances...and sometimes sticking around is the best way to be heard.  Dawes may be the best band to win the war of musical attrition.  They get better with every release and with folk rock hitting its stride...they may be hitting theirs at just the right time.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Dawes:

1. If I Wanted Someone (Nothing Is Wrong)
2. Time Spent In Los Angeles (Nothing Is Wrong)
3. That Western Skyline (North Hills)
4. Coming Back To A Man (Nothing Is Wrong)
5. God Rest My Soul (North Hills)
6. The Way You Laugh (Nothing Is Wrong)
7. My Girl To Me (North Hills)
8. Fire Away (Nothing Is Wrong) 
9. Rest Easy (Daytrotter Session)
10. When You Call My Name (North Hills)
11. All My Failures (Suitcase EP)

Buy Dawes new album, Stories Don't End...now!

The 55 Best Albums of 2011 (12-22)

No song was more infectious this year than Foster the People's Pumped up Kids.  What started as a catchy indie rock diddy took off and became an international hit rocketing up the Billboard charts and propelling rock album sales.  Most people still don't know the song is about a school shooting.  Maybe that why despite its popular success, it's still retained its indie cred.  Hopefully this is a sign that there's still a place for rock music on the charts...or maybe it's opening the floodgates for a rock music revival.  One can only hope.

Send in your BEST OF LISTS!!!  I want your top 20 albums of the year...or as many as you would like to send.  Just stick them in the comment section or email them to me.  I will compile a list by New Year's and share it with you all.

Here are the 55 Best Songs of 2011 (12-22):

12.       War on Drugs - Slave Ambient (Baby Missiles)

13.       Bright Eyes - The People's Key

14.       Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math

15.       Middle Brother - Middle Brother (Portland)

16.       Wye Oak - Civilian

17.       Jeff the Brotherhood - We Are Champions

18.       Foster The People - Torches

19.       Jay-Z & Kanye West - Watch The Throne

20.       Jason Isbell - Here We Rest

21.    VHS or Beta - Diamonds and Death

22.    Dawes - Nothing Is Wrong

Buy these albums and more from 2011...all for under $5...for a limited time!!!

The Unknown: Middle Brother - Live at the Paradise

With a slower music week, I decided to go back and hit a couple of releases from the past few weeks I may have missed.  First up is Deer Tick's new album out about two weeks ago.  When Middle Brother's new album came out a few weeks ago, I did a list for Deer Tick.  Now with a new Deer Tick album I figured it's only fair to do a Middle Brother post.  With only one album...can't do a best of...so I hope this concert is a decent substitute.

I am always intrigued by how bands with one album decide what songs to play in concert.  Why not just play their album from beginning to end?  What's the point of mixing it up in a different order?  Shouldn't the tracklist of songs on the album be the best order for the songs?  If not, then why put out the album with the songs in that order?  It's like watching a movie out of sequence on DVD versus the way it was shown in the theaters.  That would just be weird...yet with music that's normal.

Here is Middle Brother - Live at the Paradise March 3, 2011:

1.  Blue Eyes 
2.  Mom and Dad
3.  Thanks For Nothing
4.  Someday
5.  Daydreaming
6.  Blood and Guts
7.  Theater
8.  Me Me Me 
9.  Wilderness 
10.  Million Dollar Bill 
11.  Middle Brother
12.  Portland
13.  Twist and Shout

Buy Deer Tick's new album, Divine Providence, now!!

The Unknown: Dawes - Daytrotter Sessions

Def Leppard have said that they are considering not releasing albums anymore.  That the album format is dead.  But I think dead is a harsh term.  The album is just hibernating.  For the moment, everyone is into singles.  The single works better in the digital era.  But this week Apple joined the cloud revolution which could change everything all over again.  The cloud could create a whole new world where you're not limited to space (although you are now) and new listening environments are created.  The single was dead when albums took over in the 70s, 80s, 90s...and now have made a huge comeback.  If anything is sure about the music industry is that nothing is certain.  Remember 8-tracks?  Mini-discs?  Cassettes?  CDs?  MP3s may actually be the next dead format.  So who knows what lies ahead?

Getting an album is like getting access to a fictional world created by a band.  Albums create an ambiance that cannot be duplicated by a single.  We need them.  And the bands need them.  They will be back.

Here is Dawes Daytrotter sessions (May 6, 2009):

1.  When My Time Comes
2.  That Western Skyline
3.  Love Is All I Am
4.  If You Let Me Be Your Anchor

Buy Dawes new album, Nothing Is Wrong...now!!