CHIRP DJ writesCHIRP Radio Best of 2013: JimK

Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its members’ top albums of 2013. Our next list is from DJ JimK.

• Glenn Jones – My Garden State (Thrill Jockey)
  BUY: Reckless / Permanent / Insound / iTunes / eMusic
  
  If you are a serious music fan, you know certain passages of certain songs to avoid in public because they make tears fall out of your head. This album has several of those for me. No lyrics needed, just instrumental American Primitivist beauty.
• Savages – Silence Yourself (Matador)
  BUY: Reckless / Permanent / Insound / iTunes / eMusic
  
  I'm sure I won't be lonesome including this one. Their first show was in London/2012, they were quickly discovered by Sigur Ros' manager, and the hype began to seep across the ocean early this year. Watching them absolutely kill it in broad daylight at Pitchfork dispelled my Anglo-skepticism. It remains to be seen what will happen to the band when/if one of them smiles....
• Superchunk – I Hate Music (Merge)
  BUY: Reckless / Permanent / Insound / iTunes / eMusic
  
  Lotsa comeback albums by bands from my college days that I heard about but missed the first time around. This is one of the best examples of the trend. Sure wish I'd have caught these Chapel Hillians back in the '90s at Lounge Ax.
• Nicole Mitchell's Ice Crystal – Aquarius (Delmark)
  BUY: Reckless / Permanent / Insound / iTunes / eMusic
  
  Veteran local jazz flautist's album was good enough to remove Will Ferrell & Jethro Tull from the front spot in my brain when somebody says, “flautist.” Impressive because there was a lot of solder on THAT hard wiring.
• The Shivas – Whiteout (K)
  BUY: Reckless / Permanent / Insound / iTunes / eMusic
  
  Great psych-surf from Portland, OR. You can hear the beach in there, but the party's been going on for long enough to get a little creepy & the reverb has been turned up past ten. Lux Interior is writhing in his grave to this.
• Happy Chichester – Torchwood Loop (PopFly)
  BUY: Reckless / Permanent / Insound / iTunes / eMusic
  
  The guy's been around since the '80s, a member of punk/funksters Royal Crescent Mob, front man of Howlin' Maggie, original member of Greg Dulli's Twilight Singers, and a touring multi-instrumentalist for RJD2. Stepping out for his second solo turn on his own PopFly label, Happy shows off songwriting skills to match the instrumental chops that keep him in demand among his peers.
• Dessa – Parts of Speech (INgrooves)
  BUY: Reckless / Permanent / Insound / iTunes / eMusic
  
  She's been collaborating with & releasing music through Minneapolis' Doomtree collective since 2005, when she emerged from the Twin Cities' poetry slam scene. Dessa sings more than raps, most of the lyrics are about failing relationships....kinda bleak, but they're put so well you wonder how she got into your head. The beats & melodies that Lazerbeak adds sure don't hurt.
• Parquet Courts – Light Up Gold (What's Your Rupture?)
  BUY: Reckless / Permanent / Insound / iTunes / eMusic
  
  An east coast, literate, slacker, indierock band. Pavement + a better sense of humor. “Stoned & Starving” is one of my favorite songs of the year.
• The Bronx – IV (ATO)
  BUY: Reckless / Permanent / Insound / iTunes / eMusic
  
  Brawny, compressed, metallic punk rock. If this is your first listen to The Bronx (as it was mine), it will make you want to dig up all of their previous stuff.
• Endless Boogie – Long Island (No Quarter)
  BUY: Reckless / Permanent / Insound / iTunes / eMusic
  
  These guys sound like ZZ Top's beard on cough syrup. And they chose the right name....the boogies are long form.

Honorable Mentions

• La Luz - It's Alive (Hardly Art)
  GRMLN - Empire (Carpark)
  Earring - Nunn Ones (Manic Static)
  Cheyenne Mize - Among The Grey (Yep Roc)