Norman - Into the Eventyr
Hey Amigo! Records
Released: November 2013
Corvallis/Portland heroes Norman bring you a northwest-centric record in every sense of the word. They even released their own signature beer through Calapooia Brewing with this record.
Don't let the promotion blind you to the fact that this is a really solid rock album by a really rock solid band. This Norman album is a little more straight-up-rock than their past two, but singer Eric Nordby has already assured me there's more strangeness lurking in the minds of the Normans.
4. Landing - II
Landing - II
Vast Arc Hues Records
Released: August 2013
Landing won top spot on my best albums of 2012, and they're back for more with three different EPs in 2013. If this list were ten entries long, it might have three landing EPs on it. As it stands, I picked II-- a cassette-only tour release that follows the trajectory of their 2012 self-titled album. More beats, more drones, denser and more claustrophobic.
This is dance music on drugs or drug music on dancing. Either way, it's perfect.
3. The Builders and the Butchers - Western Medicine
The Builders and the Butchers - Western Medicine
Badman Recording Company
Released: June 2013
Another record that placed higher than I thought, simply because of replayability. This one keeps returning to the player. It's a perfect soundtrack for diggin' graves or driving across a lonely desert (only one of which I've actually done while listening to this album).
It's 60 minutes of relentless, single-minded death songs. Buy it now on CD or LP from Badman.
2. Low - The Invisible Way
Low - The Invisible Way
Sub Pop Records
Released: March 19, 2013
So, when a band is, of, ahem, a certain age.... Okay, so Low has been a band for 20 years. This album is their "All That You Can't Leave Behind". It's Low finding themselves comfortable in their own skins (for maybe the first time), embracing all that they are, forgetting about what they aren't, and making a record from their hearts.
This is a simple, beautiful, Low album. It's Low all grown-up, and after 20 years, that's not a bad thing. You can order it from Sub Pop. Or, it's probably in your record store.
1. Typhoon - White Lighter
OK. enough gushing. This album is (IMO) not quite up to the standards they set with Hunger and Thirst and A New Kind of House. I think the production is mostly to blame. There's more hardline compression on the sound, making it more difficult for small sounds to pop into and out of the audio picture. I realize pointing mics at 13 musicians and getting it to sound like anything is a miracle in itself, but it's one that they managed to capture on tape twice (with H&T and ANKOH). The recording on this album feels more forced and rushed, and it shows.
Oh well. still the best thing going, right?
1. Typhoon - White Lighter
Typhoon - White Lighter
Roll Call Records
Released: August 2013
Typhoon is probably the best band making music today. They're better than me. They're probably better than you. Once you get over that, the amazingness becomes easier to take in.
The scary thing is, these guys are from little ol' Salem, Oregon. They could be you and me. They are you and me. Their show at the loading dock of the Marion-Polk Food Share was one I'll remember forever. Yet, they're just a bunch of local kids doing the best they can.OK. enough gushing. This album is (IMO) not quite up to the standards they set with Hunger and Thirst and A New Kind of House. I think the production is mostly to blame. There's more hardline compression on the sound, making it more difficult for small sounds to pop into and out of the audio picture. I realize pointing mics at 13 musicians and getting it to sound like anything is a miracle in itself, but it's one that they managed to capture on tape twice (with H&T and ANKOH). The recording on this album feels more forced and rushed, and it shows.
Oh well. still the best thing going, right?
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