Josh Markowitz 11/18/13 Comm110 2013 in Music The music industry once again found itself ruled by its

stars in 2013, so Elons WSOE staff and the music media weighed in on what was a special year for headliners. Kanye West, Arcade Fire and Daft Punk, stars in their respective genres, all released albums with a Metascore of 80 out of 100 or higher, and found themselves on multiple best album of the year lists, while fan favorites My Bloody Valentine, Neutral Milk Hotel and the Pixies all reunited/released new material for the first time in years this year. Unlike 2012, which saw artists like Frank Ocean, Kendrick Lamar and Tame Impala raise their profile, this year lacked breakout stars. Even so, there was plenty of music for fans to keep their headphones on for and enjoy. According to review aggregator Metacritic, the highest rated release of the year with at least 15 reviews was Sunbather, the second album of San Francisco metal band Deafhaven. While not a mainstream release, it was highly anticipated by many critics and certainly met/exceeded expectations with its Metascore of 92. In a perfect review, the A.V. Club described the album by saying the music isnt about making things as heavy as possible. Instead, its approach is akin to a painter understanding that much of arts beauty lies in the blank space on the canvas that makes the flashes of color that much more awe-inspiring. For more mainstream albums, French house stars Daft Punk released the most critically acclaimed work of the year. Their album, Random Access Memories, achieved a Metascore of

87 and was commended for incorporating a variety of styles and collaborators. WSOE Music Director Dan Konzman praised the album, saying It had some dancy, feel-good tracks and also some more contemplative ones to make this album a good listen in any context. While tracks like Get Lucky received major radio airplay, the strength of this album lies in its deeper cuts that provide depth to the album. Another electronic album that received high praise with a Metascore of 85 was Shaking the Habitual, by Swedish group The Knife. WSOE General Manager Michael Papich called it the best album of the year and said it took a lot of disparate, experimental sounds and turned it into a body of work that sounds very new and ambitious. The injection of fairly extreme politics throughout the album also added an element of danger and punch without weighing down the music or distracting the listener from the actual work. For hip-hop, it was a banner year as many major artists released new material. Jay-Z, Drake, Eminem and Lil Waynes albums had varying degrees of commercial success and critical reception, but it was newcomer Chance the Rapper whose Acid Rap album had the highest Metascore of the genre at 86. However, no album generated discussion among fans and critics like Kanye Wests sixth album, Yeezus. Released on the same day as another major album, J. Coles Born Sinner, Yeezus received high praise from critics, including a Metascore of 85 and a designation as Pitchforks highest rated album of the year, but prompted harsher responses from fans. While Yeezus may lack some of the lyrical quality of Wests early work, the production values remained high as he continued to incorporate an esoteric mix of samples. In particular, the sample of Nina Simones version of Strange Fruit on the track Blood on the Leaves showcased his talent as a producer and ability to push inferior lyrics to the background

with superior beats. WSOE Program Manager Jesse Scarborough summarized the album by saying it's remarkable that Kanye and [Rick] Rubin put together such a great album in the 15 days they had working together. The back story of the album is pretty crazy. Most of it was finished in the two weeks before it came out. As a result, it's raw, wild, and immature. Arcade Fires new album Reflektor provoked similar reactions to Yeezus. The indie rockers fourth album was a sprawling double-album with the majority of tracks running over five minutes. It was still a strong album yielding a Metascore of 80, but this was the lowest mark of the bands career and the songs did not captivate listeners as much as releases like the bands debut Funeral. In a review for Pitchfork, which rated it as the third-best album of the year, Lindsay Zoladz wrote Reflektors sound is lush and imaginative, but never in a way that suffocates you with the fumes of its polish. It's limber and loose, as though the songs were performed live. Even if the record did not quite live up to Arcade Fires lofty standards, it was still a very listenable album devoid of lowlights, just lacking great highlights. Overall, this was a solid year for the music industry as many stars pushed their careers in interesting new directions. Hopefully 2014 will sound just as good.