Jackson Free Press

Hello readers. You might remember me from my time at the JFP as the writer of the bi-monthly column “The Key of G,” where I covered local and national music, as well as just musing about different topics related to music in general.

One of the things I liked to do was to make top 10 release lists at the end of the given year. While I did enjoy that, I always felt a little disingenuous, because I don’t listen to that much new music; I spend most of my time digging for and listening to old records. Hence, my top 10 lists would barely be made, as I squeezed in a few listens right at the end of the year to go with the few albums from artists that I always check for. Further, I never kept a running list, so my top 10 would have omissions, on top of my already poor sample size. (For instance, I somehow left Robert Glasper’s “Black Radio” off of last year’s list).

But this year has been different. I made it my mission to listen to as many new releases as possible, and to document them. What I have now is a list of 60 new albums that I have listened to and ranked in order. Mind you, this list is not meant to be definitive; there is a lot that I didn’t listen to for several reasons, mainly just because there isn’t enough time in the day to hear everything. I did listen to almost everything from artists that I am a fan of, which is something I have done a poor job of over the years. I also branched out to some artists I never was a fan of before, even though I knew who they were and ignored them on purpose. The results are fairly predictable. I also discovered some new artists I had never heard of at all, which was quite nice in most instances.

So, over the next several weeks, I am going to present you all with a ranked list of the 60 albums I listened to this year. Again, this list is not intended to be definitive at all; it is just a list of what I listened to, ranked solely by my opinions. I am sure there will be some disagreement and head scratching, but some of you might also see some new things that interest you that you go check out. And that’s what it’s all about anyway. Thanks for reading and indulging my opinions.

Click http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/weblogs/music/2013/nov/18/6o-new-albums-in-2013-60-51/">HERE for 60-51

Click http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/weblogs/music/2013/nov/25/60-new-albums-in-2013-50-41/">HERE for 50-41

40) Disclosure “Settle” If I were making a list of most impressive debut albums of 2013, “Settle” would probably be at the very top. These two guys, brothers from Surrey who are only 21 and 18 years old, came out swinging hard. Many reviewers have given “Settle” the title of best dance album of the year (or a close second to Daft Punk). In my estimation, this is what Daft Punk’s “Random Access Memories” should have sounded like (I know that’s not fair). But really, this album is pretty fantastic. It’s funky, definitely dancy, and poppy in a way that does not sound forced. So, you are probably asking, why is it at number 40? Well, while I like it, it lacks the weirdness I look for in EDM, and as I have said before, there are just too many vocals on it for my taste. The guest appearances by said vocalists are numerous, and it feels like they end up overshadowing the duo’s wonderful production for the majority of the record.

39) Bluetech “Dreaming Into Being” Bluetech (aka Evan Bartholomew) is one of my favorite downtempo producers ever. Actually calling him downtempo is a little misleading. While that is the genre that he does that I like the most, it is probably more accurate to call him a psybient producer, because of the wide array of styles he incorporates. (You’re going to have to Google all of this, I don’t have the time to explain it all. But be warned, you can quickly fall into the rabbit hole of electronic genres. It can be fun). “Dreaming Into Being” is Bluetech’s first deep ambient album in many years. Here is what he says about the album on his website: “This whole project was a complete journey for me into in my own dreaming practice, and an attempt to capture the hypnotic and somatic waves of consciousness that can occur in our closed eye reveries.” The album is as weird as the description makes it sound. For my taste, it lacks whatever it needs to hold my attention, mainly consistent beats. I haven’t gone to sleep to this on yet, but I would be willing to bet that it will be a cool experience.

38) Hieroglyphics “In the Kitchen” In my world, this Bay Area based hip hop crew ranks right up there with Wu Tang, Living Legends, and the Native Tongues. Hiero’s music does in fact kind of hearken back to the Native Tongues days, with a more West Coast take on the laid back, jazzy, and funk infused music and overall positive vibe in the lyrics. Their debut album, 1998’s “Third Eye Vision,” was probably in my top 5 played albums through the early 2000s. It is ridiculously good. The whole crew was into it; you could tell there was a lot of collaboration going on. By 2003, with “Full Circle,” you could tell the chemistry was off a little bit. And that is to be expected when the larger group is made up of numerous rappers with solo careers and other groups. “In the Kitchen” continues this trend, sadly. While it has some really great moments, a lot of it feels forced and for a lot of the record, it just doesn’t sound like a crew album at all. But I am very thankful that they are still putting out albums and touring. I just know that when I want to listen to Hieroglyphics (which I do all the time), I’ll be reaching for one of the older group albums or any of the half dozen or so solo and side group albums that have helped shape my understanding of music for years.

37) Deltron 3030 “Event II” Ah, Deltron 3030. The hip hop supergroup made up of Del tha Funkee Homosapien (from Hieroglyphics, the “great-granddaddy of Hieroglyphics, in fact), producer extraordinaire Dan the Automator, and turntable whiz Kid Koala. In 2000, these guys set the underground hip hop world on fire with the release of their self titled debut. As far as underground hype goes in the hip hop world, I don’t think I have ever witnessed so much anticipation for a record in my life. And then it came out. And it was way better than everyone expected. And everyone expected it to be an instant classic. It is one of those albums that a whole bunch of non-hip hop heads love; you get a lot of “I don’t like hip hop much, but I love Deltron, and Master P because I grew up listening to it.” The first album is a concept piece set in the year 3030 that finds the protagonist Deltron Zero fighting against the New World Order, where corporations run amok are suppressing human rights, including the right to hip hop. Deltron travels the universe to participate in a series of rap battles, eventually being crowned the Galactic Rhyme Federation Champion. He comes back to earth to celebrate, but has his memory wiped. The album is just perfect. The music is wonderful, the lyrics are serious and funny and full of nerdy sci-fi references. So I tell you all of this, because as you can imagine, the world has been waiting for a sequel that has been promised since 2004, when work on it began. And every year, the artists talked about it, saying that it was almost done. As we all kind of knew, but didn’t want to realize for real, the hold up was Del. The guy is a genius, but works at his own pace, which tends to be very slow. I can’t be mad about his process, because that is his thing, but 13 years is a long time. The result, as I hear it, is an album that sounds jumbled, like it was made for 13 years as a recurring afterthought. I mean, it’s good for the most part. Dan’s production is dark and triumphant at the same time and Del’s raps are suitable, but not perfect like one would think they would be after 13 years of tinkering. And I will listen to “Event II” from time to time, but never as much as the first record. And that might be the biggest problem with “Event II.” No matter how unfair it is, it will always be compared to the first one, which is a bona fide classic on all counts. It sucks that it is that way, but that is how it goes.

36) Pusha T “My Name is My Name” I was anticipating this album so much for three main reasons. First, I love Clipse, Pusha’s Virginia based duo with his brother. Second, I just love cocaine rap in general. I guess because of my affinity for Wu Tang’s Ghostface Killah, I love songs about procuring coke, selling it, and making money off it. Third, the song “Numbers on the Board” is probably my favorite song of the year. It goes so hard. So, when this album dropped finally, I was overly excited. Probably too excited. I amped it up in my brain, but forgot that at the end of the day Pusha T is a fairly mainstream artist, due in large part to his affiliation with the Neptunes. Because of that, the album trends on the overly poppy side and there are far too many guests: everyone from Kendrick Lamar and Young Jeezy (great), to Rick Ross (terrible) and Chris Brown (gross). And there is a song called “Let Me Love You,” featuring Kelly Rowland. I just can’t get behind that. When the album is hitting, it hits well and there are enough raw moments and great rapping on it to boost it up a little bit. But Pusha T is someone I wish was a little less popular, just so we could hear him tear up tracks without thinking about radio play.

35) Robert Glasper Experiment “Black Radio 2” Robert Glasper is absolutely amazing, quite possibly the preeminent jazz pianist of our time. “Black Radio 2” is the follow up to last year’s well-regarded “Black Radio” (it won the Grammy for best R album) and it picks up right where its predecessor left off. Both albums have a very marked neo-soul feel, which has gained him more listeners over the past couple of years. While I am a pretty big fan of Glasper’s, I tend to gravitate more toward his jazzier work, especially the things he does with his trio. It is difficult, really, to label “Black Radio 2” a jazz album. And that is fine, because Glasper has an immense musical wingspan; I would argue that he is just as proficient a producer as he is a pianist. “Black Radio 2” is chock full of guests, from Common and Bilal to Brandy, Jill Scott, and Norah Jones. It sounds really good, impeccable really, but I don’t have it ranked higher because the style is just not something I listen to that often. I am neo-soul fan, and a marginal new school R fan, but I just don’t listen to either too often. Again, this album is damn near perfect, it just doesn’t really contain what I am looking for in a repeat listen.

34) Bonobo “The North Borders” When done very well, downtempo music can conjure strong emotions, as well as soothe headaches from a night of too much partying. When done poorly, it can sound like easy listening music in an elevator to a very boring office meeting. “The North Borders” falls somewhere in between. Bonobo is another of my favorite downtempo artists, especially his 2010 release “Black Sands.” I have a couple of issues with this record, which isn’t bad, it just doesn’t stack with the many other electronic albums that rank ahead of it. For one, it almost sounds too comfortable. Bonobo has really figured out his steez and has gotten into a groove. It’s certainly a good groove, but it doesn’t help push his music forward very much. Secondly, the mix on the album leaves a little but to be desired. For instance, the guest spot from Erykah Badu goes from fantastic idea to head scratcher upon listen because of the way her vocals are buried in the track; it’s almost as though she isn’t even there. Well kind of. I’m being hyperbolic, but you get the point. These are just minor flaws and in reality this album could have easily been in the top 15 or 20, if there wasn’t just so much in the genre from this year that is just honestly a bit better.

33) Latyrx “The Second Album” This album shouldn’t be on the list; I didn’t hear it until a few days after I hit 60 (you’ll see how I handle this a little later in the list). Latyrx is another one of the greats from the late 90s/early 00s underground hip hop scene. Made up of Lateef the Truthspeaker and Lyrics Born, Latyrx burst onto the scene in 1997 with “Latyrx: The Album,” a record so weird yet somehow very conventional at the same time. Chief Excel (1/2 of Blackalicious) and DJ Shadow shared production duties with Lyrics Born and they created a spacey, funky, and trippy soundscape for Lateef’s boom bap bravado and Lyrics Born’s singsong-ish delivery. It is considered a classic in many circles. After the first album, both artists went on to other things: Lyrics Born has a fairly successful solo career, and Lateef has kept busy doing projects with fellow Quannum label mates. I was kind of taken by surprise when my brother texted me and asked if I had heard the new album, because I really didn’t know it was coming out, much less 16 years after their last project. I went into it hesitantly, mostly because I haven’t dug much of what Lyrics Born has done recently (he took kind of a electro-pop/love ballad turn on his more recent stuff). But I must say, I was pleasantly surprised, especially with the first half. The album does sound a bit scattered sometimes, and that is probably a direct result of the guys not working together as much. The first album sounded like it was made by two dudes who spent 2 years never leaving each other’s side. This one sounds like it was made by two old friends that just wanted to make some music. While it is fun to hear a couple of my favorites going back at it, and there are some keepers on here for sure, it just lacks any real inspiration, keeping it out of my favorites for the year.

32) Jay-Z “Magna Carta Holy Grail” I would like to say that I had a hard time ranking this album, but that would be untrue. I knew from the first time I heard it that it would be in the middle of the pack; it just depended on the number of albums I would listen to by the end of the year. And before I go any further, I need to confess one thing, and this might get my hip hop card pulled, but I have to say it: I do not think Jay-Z is the greatest rapper of all time. In fact, I wouldn’t put him in my top 5. There. I said it. Don’t get me wrong, the man is good. But I am tired of the hero worship of Jay-Z because I can’t reconcile in my head why it is perceived to be deserved. But that is not for me to decide. I like Jay and was looking forward to this album. And it is really good. I won’t say it is great. But it is really good. And there isn’t really anything I can say about this album that hasn’t already been said. Like most Jay-Z albums it gets better each time, especially if you listen intently to the lyrics and his wordplay, which is always on point. My real beef with this album is two fold. One the one hand, Jay-Z is not just a rapper anymore; he is a pop star with a side of mogul. His records are inherently made for a pop audience and as such sound like a pop record with hip hop leanings. On the other hand, and I am going to go on a personal rant real quick, there is way too much Justin Timberlake permeating this album. His guest spot opens the record and he has 4 writing credits. I must have missed a memo or was sick that day when it was decided that it was OK to work with a former member of N’Sync. Look, the kid is funny, he can sing, he does well with the ladier, but still, my 90s self just can’t let that slide. It is illogical I know, but it is what I firmly believe. But all of that being said, this is a really good work of pop art. Jay-Z isn’t some cornball pop-rapper. He is serious business and it translates well into the pop world. If I was a huge Jay-Z fan, I could see this easily being my favorite album of the year.

31) Kanye West “Yeezus” I hated Kanye West for the longest time; I thought he was real annoying the first time I heard him. That lasted for a while, then he dropped the whole “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people” at a Katrina telethon. I immediately reversed course and bought his first two albums and became a fan. Over the years I have become less and less of a fan, as I haven’t been able to get into anything else he has done. I fully respect him as an artist, but he just wasn’t making music that I really felt. I turned into one of those “I only like his first two albums” kind of annoying guy; even worse, I say things (and believe them) like “actually, I only like about half of each of the first two albums, so I would put them together into one decent album.” What a pretentious butthead. And the sad part, is I can see myself acting this way and I do nothing about it. But, I respect Kanye enough to always give a listen to his new releases each time, if only one. “Yeezus” has gotten several listens. It is really good. What I like about it is the experimentation. Where Jay-Z continues to tailor his sound and rethink new ways to play the pop game, Kanye always come with something different, really challenging the way a pop audience listens to music. Sometimes it can be horrible (“808s and Heartbreak,” in my opinion). But sometimes, it really works, like here on Yeezus. Kanye toys with house music, industrial music, EDM, boom bap beats, and everything in between. On top of that, he is one of the most complicated figures in the pop music world. Well, it depends on who you ask. I think he is complicated, but others just think he is full of it. I just happen to find a man interesting who speaks and the whole world listens and uses that voice to chastise materialism while rapping about yachts and Gucci. It is nuts on a level that I can’t comprehend, which makes him a genius if he is doing it intentionally, or a schizophrenic if he isn’t, which is still pretty great to watch. To get a good sense of where Kanye is at right now, check out the song “New Slaves.” Pretty powerful stuff with just the right amount of contradictions to create artistic tension. And contradiction is what hip hop is all about.