Daniel's 2013 in Review

My Very Favorite Albums of A.D. 2013

20. Mikal Cronin - MCII

MCII is a starkly straightforward guitar album. It won’t make you think. It won’t make you wince. It’s not going to rearrange your definition of rock and roll. It won’t change you. But it will make you want to take a walk. It might get you looking out a window for longer than you even realize. I woke up the other day with a tune in my head. It was early in the morning, earlier than I normally get up at least. It killed me for about 20 minutes (including a failed attempt at googling fragments of lyrics). Then, I realized it was “Weight,” the first track from this record. I sat down in a chair with some headphones and put it on. 40 minutes later the album was over, and I had barely moved at all. It’s been a while since I’ve started a day so fresh. Mikal Cronin’s music is so god-damned everyday, but it’s the most spectacular kind of everyday I can picture, a no-holds barred assault of perfectly timed pop-music cheap shots that will wind you (the crowd goes wild!) and make you feel proud to be everyday human you are. 

Artist of the Day: These New Puritans

Okay maybe it’s because I’m one of those useless music dweebs who’s, like, worried about the future of rock and stuff, but the most exciting thing for me about Field of Reeds, the latest outing by London-based art-rockers These New Puritans, is what comes next. TV’s golden number is 100. The rare show that reaches the 100 episode mark has earned its place in the cannon. If you’re asking me, music’s number is four, but the algorithm isn’t so simple. A degree of subjectivity must be applied, along with that testy and oft overused descriptor: great. One great album can, by itself, alter the course of rock’s evolution, but may just be lightning in a bottle. Four great albums means a great band. The Velvet Underground, Dylan, Talking Heads, the ‘Mats, the Stones, the Beatles, Sonic Youth — these are the pillars of rock, and they’ve all done it. These New Puritans have one more to go.