(December 21, 2013) It is always fun at the end of each year to celebrate the best of that year. And 2013 had a lot of great music. And so we've gathered our music critics to each pick their favorites, which we've assembled below. And our Publisher and Music Editor are each giving their own special honors to the best of the best.
The toughest part of this is limiting the choices, but here are the selections from Chris Rizik (CR), L. Michael Gipson (LMG), Melody Charles (MC), Peggy Oliver (PO) J Matthew Cobb (JMC) and Howard Dukes (HD). Also, each album cover is a link to our review of the album. These are uniformly releases with which you can't go wrong -- or so our critics say. Looking for a Christmas gift for a music lover? Then spend some time with these winners.
(December 21, 2013) It is always fun at the end of each year to celebrate the best of that year. And 2013 had a lot of great music. And so we've gathered our music critics to each pick their favorites, which we've assembled below. And our Publisher and Music Editor are each giving their own special honors to the best of the best.
The toughest part of this is limiting the choices, but here are the selections from Chris Rizik (CR), L. Michael Gipson (LMG), Melody Charles (MC), Peggy Oliver (PO) J Matthew Cobb (JMC) and Howard Dukes (HD). Also, each album cover is a link to our review of the album. These are uniformly releases with which you can't go wrong -- or so our critics say. Looking for a Christmas gift for a music lover? Then spend some time with these winners.
ARTIST OF THE YEAR:
Publisher's Pick: Aloe Blacc -- His ubiquitous single, “I Need A Dollar,” was a quiet breakthrough three years ago, and Aloe Blacc spent 2013 setting himself up to be the musical star for 2014. His current Wake Me Up EP and upcoming album, Lift Your Spirit, show his vision as an artist playing to his own drumbeat, defying easy categorizations as rock or R&B. And with his #1 hit “Wake Me Up” on the radio and future hits “Ticking Bomb” and “I’m The Man” already rocking video game and headphone commercials, he has created a sound so immediate and engaging, we are all welcome passengers on his musical ride.
Editor’s Pick: The Foreign Exchange -- North Carolina swag meeting European Soul has been a staple since 2006 and an international branding behemoth since the release of their classic, Leave It All Behind, with its Grammy-nominated “DayKeeper” smash single. Since that time, the band has become a label and their guest performers, roster mates. Accordingly, The Foreign Exchange releases have become events, for many in both the independent and mainstream world, each hotly debated and discussed as to whether they meet or exceed the bar left behind by LIAB. This year they exceeded it. Rapper/singer Phonte Coleman and producer/composer Nicolay Rook outdid themselves with three label releases under the +FE banner, including The Reworks remixes of +FE hits and rarities featuring production by 4Hero, ?uestlove, Tall Black Guy, and James Poyser’s Randy Watson Experience was a double-disc of pure house and soul exhilaration; the much anticipated Zo! ManMade oozed enough jazzy soul to make you think it spiritually made; and the elegant Love in Flying Colors mined the best elements of Authenticity, Connected and LIAB for a flight that felt like home.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR:
PUBLISHER'S PICK Chrisette Michele: Better -- Her 2010 release, Let Freedom Reign, left critics and her fans wondering if Chrisette Michele would reach the promise of her first two albums. With Better, the 31 year old chanteuse answers a resounding “yes.” With a nod to old school but a sound and attitude that is pure 2013, she delivered an album hip enough to get the nod from teens but with the kind of assured, sensual vocal performance that screamed classic. Perhaps no other album this year captured as well all the best aspects of its lead artist. Better is an artistic triumph by one of the great singers of her generation.
Editor’s Pick – Amel Larrieux’s Ice Cream Everyday - Many artists aren’t testing their limits 20 years into the game, but an always experimenting Amel Larrieux has been striving to get at something in her music since the release of her 2001 solo debut, Infinite Possibilities. Previously releases like Bravebird, Morning, and even her cover album, Lovely Standards, all tried to get there, but cohesion, restraint, and discipline were sometimes lacking. Not so with Ice Cream Everyday. Here everything fell beautifully into place, from the start of “Afraid” to the end of “Danger 2.” Finally, a project tight enough that the songs felt suitably structured to follow and savor, but loose and deconstructed enough for the artist to play around with a multitude of musical ideas on an epic canvas of influences and sounds. It’s not every day an artist achieves their creative goal, but when they do, I bet it feels a little bit like Ice Cream Everyday.
Our Critics Pick The Best Albums of 2013
HONORABLE MENTION:
Ascendant: Illuminate: Blue |
Josephine - Portrait |
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We know these picks will have SoulTrackers talking. So be sure to comment below to let us know what we did right and what we missed!
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