Sound Obsession

I've said it before and I'll say it again - 2013 was an epic year in music and the finest in recent memory.  Those who know me best won't be surprised by my top pick, but the rest of my list might be unexpected.  In 2013, after years of bashful flirtation, I dove headlong into "metal" without pause or irony.  There was an abundance of excellent metal albums this year - many recorded and produced by an always rock-solid Kurt Ballou (of hardcore punk heroes Converge, and proprietor of GodCity Studio in Salem, Massachusetts).  Otherwise, 2013 continued a trend of "retro" with contemporary artists continuing to referencing the sounds of the 70's, 80's and 90's - even some former heroes from those decades made solid comebacks.  These are my favorite albums of the year.*  Enjoy. . . .                1.  Queens of the Stone Age: ...Like Clockwork (9/10) "Risk nothing, get nothing" claimed   Queens of t...

My Bloody Valentine:   mbv Label:  self released Released:  February 2, 2013 7/10 There's a reason why I named this blog what I did.  I'm obsessed with music.  To a fault.  I troll the web and the music trades inhaling information like a junky.  When's that new album dropping?  Is there a single I can hear now?  Two-second audio snippet?  Yes please!   In the months and weeks before release-date, anticipation grows and expectations soar.  I'm downright spoiled  by the scraps, and the magic of "New Music Tuesday" I knew as a teenager inevitably whittles away .   I'm rarely surprised by a new music release anymore. Not so with My Bloody Valentine's  mbv , an album released independently by the band, 22 years after their last, online, by surprise, on a Saturday night in February.   Who does that ?  The magic was back and, serendipitously, I happened to be home that Saturday...