Noisey's Best and Worst of 2013 - Fred Pessaro

Lists, as a rule, are fucking stupid. Year-end favorites are one person's journey and meant to spark controversy. I can't tell you how many times I have come back around to a record later and it meant something completely different than the first time. At the same time, discussion is important and anything that will prime a conversation towards discovery of a new record is something that I believe in.

Much like years prior, I went to as many as six shows a week, booking some myself, taking photos at others, but always trying to keep my ear open. The below list of records are an amalgamation of a crazy 2013, the beginning of which was spent delving deep into the worlds of metal and punk before I proudly joined on at my new home at Noisey.

So presented in no-order-whatsoever is are my favorite records of 2013 as of today. Hopefully you'll agree with some of it or, better yet, find something in here that you weren't familiar with and begin your own journey. Dig.

FAVORITE ALBUMS

Try to name one band that took 18 years off and returned with an album of absolute burners. I can only think of one: Carcass. In fact, these songs are better than the entries on their final record Swansong and, depending on who you're talking to, maybe the much revered Heartwork too. 2013's greatest achievement.

Listen To: "Unfit for Human Consumption"

Guitars like power tools, bulldozing rhythms and vocals that roar! Eleven years removed from their last entry, this LP of Japanese crust-punk with touches of metal is a worthy successor to Under the Ashes, featuring stellar songwriting and an unrelenting assault for the duration of its twenty-plus minutes. This shit is the hardest.

Listen To: "Nuclear Power Genocide"

Inter Arma -

In the tail end of 2012, I got an email from the guys in Inter Arma with a link to the tunes that would eventually become Sky Burial. On the strength of those tracks, which mixed grooves, black metal and southern stylings, I forwarded that record over to Relapse, who eventually signed the band and released one of my favorite albums of the year. I still love this record more than a year later.

Listen To: "Sky Burial"

Radioactivity -

The Marked Men is still Texas's best kept secret. The Denton punk crew released some of the most memorable melodic punk ever recorded, and Radioactivity bears a striking resemblance to those older releases (and some of its key personnel). Some of the catchiest tracks of 2013.

Listen To: "The Last"

Raspberry Bulbs -

Raspberry Bulbs is the line that connects Christian Death to Darkthrone. If deathpunk continued on its darkly ways, getting more and more extreme, eventually it might end up at the weird strand of goth, black metal and clean-tone punk rock on Deformed Worship. Sparse, shrouded in evil, and insanely good.

Listen To: "Lusty Climbing"

Tim Hecker -

Here's a little pillow talk for the ladies. For a short while, much like other ambient records, I used to sleep with Virgins on. After a few nights I noticed that I wasn't falling asleep right away, I was following along with the songs, something not so welcome at 3:30 a.m. on a Tuesday with work early the next morning. Virgins' experimental/ambient with orchestral touches, noise, and synth was just too interesting to be relegated to background music.

Listen To: "Virginal I"

Clandestine Blaze -

Probably the most traditional of all the picks here, Clandestine Blaze is raw, Finnish black metal out via Northern Heritage. No frills, Harmony of Struggle packs in nine new tracks and a whole lot of hatred into 39 minutes, making it one of CB's best releases in years. This and 2012's With Hearts Toward None by MGLA stayed in high rotation for me in 2013.

Listen To: "Wings of the Archangel"

Earl Sweatshirt -

Lyrics alone, Earl Sweatshirt's earnest and introspective wordplay is enough to make him one of the most interesting of his OFWGKTA team. Yet Earl's cadence, delivery, and songwriting on Doris drives that point home and the chunk-y yet sparse production, a rarity in the age of dominant 32nd-note 808 hi-hats, helps to keep his vocal as the centerpiece for the record.

Listen To: "Chum"

Destruction Unit -

Punk rock on the verge of collapse through layers of psychedelic noise, Arizona's DU are not only one of the best live bands in the US right now, but have a similarly interesting record. Don't miss Void either, it definitely has its moments.

Listen To: "Bumpy Road"

Swearin -

Goddamnit, this record is a virus. It's like a superbug made up of the best bits of Weezer, Julianna Hatfield, Dinosaur Jr, Pavement, and a zillion 90s bands. Surfing Strange isn't reinventing the wheel here, but if you like any of the previously mentioned then you cannot listen to this album just once.

Listen To: "Mermaid"

Windhand -

Dorothea's bluesy vocals and the Electric-Wizard-y doom got to me on their self-titled LP, and Windhand's SOMA is more of the same. No frills or fancy tricks… just good songwriting and memorable riffs.

Listen To: "Orchard"

OTHER GOOD 'UNS:

Giuda - Let's Do It Again

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Push the Sky Away

Vastum - Patricidal Lust

Beastmilk - Climax

Deafheaven - Sunbather

Gorguts - Colored Sands

Hoax - Hoax

The Haxan Cloak - Excavation

Magic Circle - Magic Circle

The Rival Mob - Mob Justice

Inquisition - Obscure Verses for the Multiverse

Power Trip - Manifest Decimation

Nervosas - Nervosas

Hard Skin - On the Balls / Why Do Birds Suddenly Appear

BEST LIVE SHOWS OF 2013:

Destruction Unit / Merchandise / Parquet Courts Bridge Show during SXSW 2013

Infest, Sleep, Melvins, Integrity, Revenge at Maryland Deathfest 2013

Carcass / Immolation at Saint Vitus 2013

Descendents / Chromatics / Judge / The Underachievers / Iron Age / many more at Fun Fun Fun Fest

Tragedy / Kromosom at Sidebar

Swans at Music Hall of Williamsburg

The Men / Merchandise / Total Control / Destruction Unit / Lower at Chaos in Tejas 2013

Framtid / Los Crudos / Criminal Damage / No Tolerance at Chaos in Tejas 2013

Manilla Road / Satan's Satyrs / Speedwolf at Chaos in Tejas 2013

Bolt Thrower anytime

Power Trip anytime

Midnight anytime

The Spits anytime

Thee Oh Sees anytime

Eyehategod anytime

RECORDS FROM 2012 AND BEYOND THAT I PLAYED TOO MUCH:

MGLA - With Hearts Toward None

Cock Sparrer - Shock Troops

Giuda - Racey Roller

Purple Snow - Forecasting the Minneapolis Sound

Fred Pessaro got that million dollar mmm mmm hmm. He did not include Yeezus in his list, doesnt give a fuck, and will probably get a lot of shit for it at @FredPessaro.