Friday 20 December 2013

New Artists for 2014

The one part of list-making season that looks forward to the future.

We're not tipping all of these artists for success in 2014, we're just saying you'd do well to keep an eye on them. Some are clearly lining themselves up for a big year, others have just piqued our curiosity with an exciting mixtape or series of tracks. Some of these acts have already 'broken' on one level, and in those cases, we reckon they're poised to become much bigger names very soon.

This list hasn't been carefully assembled like some taste-making exercise. We're throwing ourselves behind these artists only in the sense that we love the music they've already put out, and we're waiting excitedly to see what they do next. Who cares about where they'll be in twelve months time? Right now, it's worth flicking through and seeing if anything grabs you. From noise punk to psych-pop, from shoegaze to avant hip-hop, we've got you covered. Part Two is right here when you're ready.


PUP
Quite simply, the band we're most excited to follow this coming year. Their self-titled debut album was released in Canada in October, picking up a bunch of ace reviews. Reservoir came in at #12 on our Tracks of 2013 list - we said it sounds like Japandroids meets The Jesus Lizard, and if that's not enough, it also had one of the year's most awesome music videos. Canada's best new band aren't staying put for long though - the album's getting wider distribution before PUP set out on their first UK tour in February, playing in London and Cambridge as well as a bunch of other cities. Why not head to one and see what all the fuss is about?


Temples
Temples have been around for a while now, but they're only just getting around to putting out an album - 'Sun Structures' is out in February, followed up by a tour lasting until the end of March. Tame Impala comparison are inevitable, but they sound more like that band being blinded by the sunlight after finally escaping the rabbit hole. Like Tame Impala, Temples' summery psych-pop (of which Mesmerise is the newest taster) will surely come into its own during festival season.




The Underachievers
AK and Issa Gold are the two young MCs who make up Brooklyn's The Underachievers. Part of the Beast Coast collective, along with Pro Era and Flatbush Zombies, they released their incredible debut mixtape 'Indigoism' back at the start of the year. With 'Lords of Flatbush' they showed they could do bangers over Lex Luger's harder production. Now signed to Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder label, their debut album proper, 'The Cellar Door', is expected to drop soon. We'll probably see a return to the third-eye gazing lyrics and psychedelic beats that served them so well when they first emerged.

Future Brown
Future Brown is Fatima Al Qadiri, Nguzunguzu and J-Cush. The former two have released some excellent EPs on the Fade to Mind label, and the latter has been compiling great footwork albums on his Lit City Trax label. The pooling of these talents adds up to one exciting production teamTogether, they've already been working closely with UK grime artists from Ruff Sqwad and Roll Deep. R&B star-in-the-making Kelela is tipped to appear on their forthcoming debut album, as well as upcoming Chicago MC Tink. Basically, some of the most exciting underground voices are joining forces, and we can't wait to see what the results are.




Perfect Pussy
Already difficult to ignore with a name like that, Perfect Pussy are picking up a reputation for their blistering live shows. Until you can get yourself to one, you'll have to make do with their first set of demos - four songs simply named I-IV, each one as raw and visceral as the last. The vocals manage to convey something, anything, despite being trapped in a clogged plughole of distorted guitars. There's beauty to be found here though - some of the passages on III even read as 'pretty' if you listen enough times. A bunch of American sites seem to be giving Perfect Pussy a huge push, so hopefully we'll be hearing more soon.

Blessa
Blessa sound a lot like a less regal Slowdive, or Ride without the bombast. That is to say, they mix shoegaze textures with classic indie-pop songwriting. Not that this is a remotely original template - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are just one of many fine exponents in recent years - but Blessa do it better than most, and with a surging energy so often absent from this kind of music. Between Times is their remarkably confident debut single.



Lil Bibby
Lil Bibby is managing to stand out in a crowded Chicago rap scene. Bridging the gap between Chance the Rapper's colourful acid rap and the harder drill scene (Chief Keef, King Louie), Bibby is blessed with a throaty voice that makes him sound a good deal older than his 19 years. It's street music, for sure (don't be fooled by that Drake co-sign), but street music that sounds equally at home over militaristic Young Chop production as it does over classic soul samples. Grab the 'Free Crack' mixtape and don't be surprised to see Bibby, and Chicago hip-hop, growing even bigger in 2014.

Empress Of
The solo project of Lorely Rodriguez, the first thing that captivates you about Empress Of is Rodriguez's voice. The handful of tracks that have been released sound a bit like Mercury Rev, or what Cocteau Twins might have been making with the technology available in 2014. Don't Tell Me is the pick of the bunch so far.




Evian Christ
Fresh off production credits on Kanye's I'm In It, and now newly signed to his G.O.O.D. Music label, Evian Christ might be the next UK producer to follow Hudson Mohawke to (relative) stardom. The 'Waterfall' EP will be the first project since the 'Kings and Them' mixtape, a collection of anonymous YouTube uploads that had bloggers everywhere going crazy. New track Salt Carousel shows a vast new expansive sound, crisp and clear without sacrificing the darkness that characterised his early tracks. It's a straight banger, especially with that laser-sharp bass and sped-up chatter.




clipping
The most abrasive hip-hop release this year didn't come from Death Grips. clipping's 'midcity' mixtape (all lower case) seemed to emerge from the darkest corners of the deep web. The beats are a tangled forest of static interference, breaking glass and glitching equipment. There's very little mid-range to speak of. Parts of it are genuinely difficult to listen to, but it's an incredible experience, especially on headphones. The actual rapping is less experimental, and Sub Pop obviously saw some kind of commercial potential - having already had avant hip-hop success with Shabazz Palaces, they've signed clipping to the label. Let's hope this new platform doesn't force them to compromise their sound.

Parlour
Already championed by Drowned in Sound's editor as his favourite new band, Parlour have been impressing London with a bunch of shows over the past couple of months. Devil's Eyes sounds a bit like Stereolab by way of Pure X, incorporating a motorik chug in the middle section, and we love it. Excited to see what their next move might be, but the balance and restraint displayed on this track suggests the band aren't going to rush anything.




Angel Haze
Maybe the biggest name on this list, Angel Haze is set to get even bigger when her album 'Dirty Gold' drops. It was originally meant to come out in a few months, but the rapper leaked it herself a few days ago as part of a label dispute, and the release date has been brought forward to the end of the month. Cynical marketing ploy? Unlikely, if Angel's no-bullshit rapping style translates to her approach to industry machinations. Refresh yourself with Werkin' Girls, and have a listen to new stomper A Tribe Called Red below.



Friday 13 December 2013

Mixtape Sifter: 2013 Edition

The purpose of this column is to try and highlight some of the artists who released great stuff this year, but maybe didn't get their dues for whatever reason - patchy mixtapes, low work rate, or just quietly toiling away in relative obscurity.

If you've seen our Best 30 Tracks of 2013, then you'll already have been subjected to some of the year's finest hip-hop - classics from Kanye, Pusha T and A$AP Rocky to name just a few. Consider this an extended playlist then, showcasing a bunch of rappers who might be on their way to the top tier themselves. We know our #1 ranked artist and best newcomer, Chance the Rapper, certainly is (and no, his Bieber collaboration did not make the list).

We've managed to narrow this one down to 30 tracks as well - one per artist, bar guest appearances and a couple of exceptions near the top. Most of them are drawn from mixtapes (so if you like what you hear then head over to Datpiff), but there's also a couple of slept-on album cuts (notably from Wu-Tang affiliates) and some one-offs that never made it onto a project. You can blame sample clearances for those. The whole year is covered, all the way back to January. The Busta Rhymes mixtape even dropped yesterday, so you can't say we don't keep you up to date!

Trends may becomes obvious as you listen through. Suffice to say that Atlanta in particular had a banner year, with New York and Chicago not far behind. We should probably try and forget that hyperbolic Vice article proclaiming the coming of the Third Golden Age, but that said, this list shows there was definitely some fantastic hip-hop this year.

Right, that's enough rubbish from me. Hope you find something you like.


30) Le1f - Spa Day
28) 100s - My Activator
26) Black Hippy - U.O.E.N.O. Remix
24) Rich Homie Quan - Type of Way
23) Young Scooter - Colombia
22) Killah Priest - New Reality
21) Lil Bibby - Water

NY rapper Le1f came back with two fine mixtapes this year, with 'Fly Zone' the better by an inch. Hopefully his mic talent and openness about his sexuality will go some way towards addressing homophobic attitudes in hip-hop. Harry Fraud continues his immaculate series of producer credits with beats for Chinx Drugz and Curren$y, who put together an all-star cast for 10 Bricks. Black Hippy teamed up for some bars over U.O.E.N.O, Childish Major's beat-of-the-year contender. Rich Homie Quan and Young Scooter broke out of Atlanta with these two monsters, while Lil Bibby was one of many artists this year showing that Chicago has more to offer than just nihilistic drill.



19) Czarface - Savagely Attack (Esoteric, Inspectah Deck & Ghostface Killah)
18) Lil Durk - Dis Ain't What U Want
16) Rockie Fresh - Superman OG
15) Gunplay - Pyrex
11) Action Bronson - Contemporary Man

Talking of Chicago, both Lil Durk and Tree broke out a bit further this year, Danny Brown showing up on No Faces for a typically unhinged verse. Inspectah Deck teamed up with 7l & Esoteric to tide us over until that new Wu-Tang album, with Action Bronson representing Queens and the newest generation of New York talent. Both Gunplay and Jose Guapo's manic delivery almost gave us a heart attack, while Rockie Fresh rolled with that cool after-hours vibe. Oh, and the obligatory millionth mention of Kendrick stealing the show (and the rap game) on Big Sean's Control.



10) Young Thug - Picacho (feat. Maceo)
9) Migos - Versace
7) Roach Gigz - Don't Forget the Gigz
6) The Underachievers - The Mahdi
5) Run the Jewels - Banana Clipper (Killer Mike, El-P & Big Boi)
4) Danny Brown - ODB
3) Action Bronson - Strictly 4 My Jeeps
2) Main Attrakionz - Summa Time
1) Chance the Rapper - Good Ass Intro / Juice

Young Scooter and Migos kicking us off again with a pair of Atlanta bangers. Versace has to be the year's most addictive track. Freddie Gibbs previewed some tracks off his upcoming collaboration with Madlib, but One Eighty Seven was his finest hour. We're going to give a joint 'Beat of the Year' to Don't Forget the Gigz and Summa Time - those floaty synths had us coming back every time we really needed to relax, with that saxaphone-led Underachievers track not far behind. Run the Jewels - a classic new pairing with true veteran power, Big Boi showing up to help out his old pal Killer Mike. Danny Brown at #4 with a killer psychedelic track that didn't even make it onto his album. Action Bronson at #3, showing off his new hook-writing ability over a hard-hitting Harry Fraud beat. Finally, the year's breakout star, Chance the Rapper. His Acid Rap mixtape felt more like a fully-realised album, and was host to some of the year's best lyricism. So good, we had to pick two tracks off it.


Wednesday 11 December 2013

Best Tracks of 2013: Our Top 3

3) Kanye West - New Slaves

The first time I heard New Slaves was probably the same way as many others - watching a YouTube clip of one of Kanye's series of projections around the world - just his face blown up on the sides of buildings, mouthing the words, his blackness accentuated. It was a real Event, in the way precious little can aspire to be in an era of click-bait and low attention spans. I honestly wasn't sure what to make of the song at first. The production was initially off-putting - an austere bass synth assault where other hip-hop tracks would have the drums. But Kanye's delivery has that raw 'one-take' intensity to it, and the lyrics kept me coming back until the point where I realised how crucial the beat was to my enjoyment of the song.

The first verse details how racism is endemic to consumer culture - as a black man, Kanye's been on the receiving end, whether broke or filthy rich. Money can buy you expensive clothes, but it can't necessarily break you into the fashion industry. Ultimately though, whatever colour, we're all slaves to materialism ("Used to only be n*iggas, now everybody playing / Spending everything on Alexander Wang, new slaves").

Kanye thinks the second verse of New Slaves is "the best rap verse of all time in the history of music. Period." This is only a ludicrous statement if you're hung up on technical skill - after all, he rhymes "I see the blood on the leaves" with itself three times. What he says, though - well, no other artist with his level of fame and exposure is making a statement anywhere near as bold as this. Kanye goes after the fashion industry, the news media and the prison-industrial complex, all before threatening to screw the wives of all those rich white CEOs living in the Hamptons. What the fuck they gon' say now. A beat of silence.

Then, at the end, the song blossoms into life like the first flower emerging from a charred battlefield. Kanye turns on the Auto-Tune and Frank Ocean turns up for a spot of crooning. It's one of a handful of genuinely beautiful moments nestled within an album of relentless sonic provocation. A brief chance to take stock of everything you've just heard, before you're plunged into the darkness once again.



2) Kanye West - Bound 2

A lot has been written about Bound 2, and with good reason - like little else released this year it demands compulsive replays, over and over again. It sticks in your head. It's insanely quotable (personal favourite: "Rock Forever 21 but just turned thirty"). It's a welcome moment of light and levity at the end of a challenging album. It's a cheeky nod to Kanye's old production technique of using pitched-up soul samples, yet weirdly heavy on the treble. It might just be his best song ever.

The meme-ready video that we got recently was really just the icing on the cake. Deliberately baiting notions of good taste, we see Kanye getting steamy with his 'home movie' wife against a landscape that looks like a computer screensaver. Crucially, this all takes place while riding a motorcycle down an empty highway, just one of a number of symbolic subversions of white American masculinity. See also: Kanye's lumberjack shirt, and those clips of running horses bringing to mind the land of Marlboro Country, as well as Richard Prince's clever appropriations revealing just how meticulously constructed that advertising language really was.

Bound 2 feels messily constructed, its parts initially failing to synthesise. The lyrics are easily criticised by hip-hop purists who care that Kanye rhymes 'reputation' with itself four times, and the video is seemingly a joke for those internet bores who whine that Kim's hair is blowing in the opposite direction to the wind. Both the sampled hook, "Bound to falling in love", and Charlie Wilson's soulful bridge stand in stark contrast to Kanye's talk of screwing in the bathroom. Ultimately though, Bound 2 is a fine tribute to monogamy and true love, albeit an unusual one. But what else would we expect from Yeezy at this point?



1) Glass Candy - Warm in the Winter

Italians Do It Better are my favourite label in the world right now. The uncompromising quality of all their releases, their stylish aesthetic, their willingness to engage with their fans - all masterminded by label head Johnny Jewel, whose in-depth interviews might be the most eloquent ruminations on music that you've read this year. Johnny produces pretty much every release on the label, as well as being a member of at least four IDIB projects - most notably Chromatics and Glass Candy.

Warm in the Winter was first released as a single back in 2011 - imagine my joy when a free copy got tucked into one of my mail orders from the IDIB site and, having never heard the song, it turned out to be even better than the stuff I'd actually purchased. This year, a slightly different edit became the first track on the label's new compilation 'After Dark 2', where it shone yet again amongst a whole roster of talent.

The song's sheer danceability lies in its bubbling synths and steady bass pulses, but its real power comes from Ida No's cheerleader exhortations ("We love you! You're beautiful!"), and the lyrics - a simple, nonspecific, utterly universal declaration of love. Malleable to your thoughts, versatile to however you're feeling. "Love is in the air", comes the repeated mantra, but it can be Ida's love, or yours, or it can belong to everyone in the room.

Halfway through, Ida starts talking. She's talking to everybody who's ever listened to the song, and everyone who will discover it in the future, but at that moment it always feels like she's just talking to you. Nothing else exists for a minute, and you've never felt more at ease, but so giddy at the same time. The synths start to tower up and spiral around each other, until the drums finally come back in, and you dance out the last two minutes with a huge smile on your face. Complete ecstasy.

Best Tracks of 2013: 10-4

Right, down to the Top 10. These are the tracks that we loved most this year, from returning veterans (Superchunk, MBV, Suede) to artists arguably operating at the peak of their powers (Kanye, Arcade Fire), and a very exciting newcomer (um, hi Kelela!)

They're all brilliant in their own way, but our Number One this year is something truly special - that rare song that, when it's playing, takes complete control of your head, body and heart. Even on an album bursting with should've-been hits, it still stands head and shoulders above the rest. It's no hyperbole to declare it a modern classic. Read on and enjoy.


10) Kelela - Bank Head

Bank Head first surfaced on a Night Slugs compilation, and then as the lead track on Fade to Mind producer Kingdom's 'Vertical XL' EP. In both contexts it stood out as an obvious highlight - a bold new idea of what R&B could be in 2013. Kelela's voice is a thing of wonder, light and ethereal, but somehow very grounded and tangible. She imbues the song's main refrain of "I need to let it out" with real power.

Kingdom's sparse, eerie production fits Kelela well - in her own words, a perfect pairing of "scary and comforting, jolting and easy." The track hits hard, but seems more suited to bedroom contemplation than dancefloors. It demands repeat plays. We predict great heights for both Kelela and the rest of the L.A. based Fade to Mind crew. Grab the whole of Kelela's mixtape 'Cut 4 Me' right here.



9) My Bloody Valentine - Only Tomorrow

'm b v' was dismissed by many before they'd even heard it - how could the band ever hope to better 'Loveless'? The answer - by experimenting with jungle beats and punishing repetition in the album's latter stages. Well, they didn't better it, but the result was a brave, slightly uneven album with incredible depth. This second track, though, seemed like a concession to those who were hoping for a straight facsimile of the shoegaze textures that first elevated My Bloody Valentine to the status of indie gods, just with extra guitar crunch. Like the album cover, Only Tomorrow may have appeared simple at first, but it revealed its hidden details with careful listening. With three minutes to go, it chances upon one of those riffs that you'd gladly let run forever as a locked groove.



8) Gunplay - Bible on the Dash

We're still waiting for his debut proper, but Gunplay kept the stove hot in 2013 with a couple of decent mixtapes. 'Acquitted' was the best one, ending with Bible on the Dash, a song so good that Gunplay had already used it as the closing track on '601 & Snort'. The angle here is nice and direct - the temptation to employ violent means is often too much, so always make sure to roll with the Bible. When people talk about Gunplay, they usually focus on his deranged flow or his even wilder run-ins with the law. He rarely gets enough credit for his technical ability - check this internal rhyme scheme in the second verse: "I asked the pastor, what's the fastest way to heaven for a bastard with a tarnished past, give me your honest answer." It might look pretty good on paper, but Gunplay's mad cadence makes this one great. Oh, and the beat slams hard.



7) Superchunk - Low F

Dinosaur Jr. are often held up as the example of a band who reformed, only to surprise everyone by cranking out albums just as good as their early classics. Superchunk may be the only band from that era whose new work is, dare I say it, even better. Not that the new album steers far from their classic indie rock template - the fidelity might be a little better now, but Low F ticks all the boxes for a Superchunk anthem - infectious riffs, a great solo, and Mac's urgent vocals. The lyrics are there, but they matter little, especially in the song's triumphant mid-section. That might be the real difference between the two eras of Superchunk - they know they've got nothing to prove now, but they're having a blast doing it anyway.



6) Wavves - Sail to the Sun

So simple - loud verse, even louder chorus, repeat, all played at breakneck speed. Weezer wish they still wrote songs this good. Nathan Williams' bratty pop-punk outfit refuses to grow up yet again, and long may they remain in a state of perpetual adolescence. No wonder Wavves provided me with one of my best gig moments this year - rarely has a moshpit been so much fun. That the song includes the repeated lyric, "We'll die just the way we live, in a grave", is just another excuse to lie back and get high while we have the time.



5) Arcade Fire - Reflektor

'Reflektor' was far from a dud, but for the first time it saw Arcade Fire using excess against their strengths, rather than supporting them. The title track was the main exception - even more so than Get Lucky, it felt like a satisfying and surprising conclusion to a dull teaser campaign. Just like our Number One for this year (more on that in a second), Reflektor was a disco epic for the ages that transcended periodising labels. Musically it saw Arcade Fire scaling new heights - the horn blasts in the chorus, the carnival bass-line, and especially that spiky little riff that sounded like strobe lights bouncing off a mirrorball.

It could all have come across as overly serious, crushed under the weight of its own self-importance, but the winks to camera (the too-long groovy outro, the papier-mache heads in the video, David fucking Bowie's briefest of cameo appearances) saved it from that particular fate. Win's urgent delivery meant that the Arcade Fire of 'Funeral' was never too far away, but this was the sound of a band looking squarely into the future.



4) Suede - Barriers

That Suede managed to power back onto the gig circuit was good news - that they released a reunion album as good as 'Bloodsports' was honestly something of a surprise. Front-to-back it's easily on a par with their three early '90s classics. Barriers was our first taster, and it was classic Suede through and through. Stately and commanding, with those familiar trebly guitars and Brett Anderson's voice still cribbing from Bowie's nasal tones. Anderson's gift for scene-setting remains intact ("Aniseed kisses and lipstick traces, lemonade sipped in Belgian rooms"), but most importantly, Barriers has a chorus that stands out even in the catalogue of a band known for writing epic and memorable choruses: "Will they love you, the way, the way I loved you? We jumped over the barriers." Maybe the most unexpected return to form this year, but certainly the most welcome.



Enjoyed those? Click through to read our Top 3 Tracks of 2013...

Monday 9 December 2013

Best Tracks of 2013: 20-11

20) Yuck - Middle Sea

Yuck's first album without ex-frontman Daniel Blumberg was a more sedate affair, trading in the distortion and feedback squalls for a new set of '90s influences - namely Teenage Fanclub and Silver Jews. Middle Sea was the exception - more polished than anything on the debut (check the trumpets!), it still has that rugged energy that was missing from the rest of the new album, and a great riff to boot.



19) Phoenix - Entertainment

Yet another case of a brilliant track that outshone its parent album, Entertainment may not be Phoenix's best single, but it's certainly their most epic. Lurching out of the traps, the drums thunder away under that indelible Eastern-tinged keyboard hook, before everything pulls back and goes all widescreen. The final build is perfectly judged, just before Thomas Mars lets loose a final "I'd rather be alone", and the hook gets one more chance to shine. A wonderfully constructed pop song.



18) Pond - Giant Tortoise

In a similar fashion to Entertainment, Pond waste absolutely no time in revealing their trump card here - a wind tunnel full of reverb and FX pedals. Except the second time round it's preceded by a wordless chorus that consists of a searing riff that sounds like a deranged mosquito. Sure, the Flaming Lips-esque verses are pretty cool, but they're just padding for the year's best air guitar moment. Pond share members with Tame Impala, and while almost matching that band for studio wizardry, they're a hell of a lot more fun to listen to.



17) Pusha T - Numbers on the Boards

For all Kanye's talk this year about minimalism and Le Corbusier lamps, his new production philosophy was never so perfectly realised as it was on this gem of a beat. Rapping over a one-note bass riff and some strategically placed cowbell, Pusha T delivers solid coke-slinging rhymes that show just why his star's been on the rise again these past few years: "I might sell a brick on my birthday / 36 years of doing dirt like it's Earth Day." Veterans like Jay-Z might be falling off, but Pusha's career renaissance is very welcome indeed.



16) Sleigh Bells - Bitter Rivals

Sometimes when you have a winning formula, it's best to stick to it. On Bitter Rivals, Sleigh Bells tweak their successful template ever so slightly - the headbanging distortion moments derive even more power from being placed between sparse finger-click choruses, and for once, the song feels more like a song proper rather than just an excuse for thrusting the EQ into the red. When the bass comes in though, it's game over.



15) Miley Cyrus - We Can't Stop

The One Where the beat elevates Mike WiLL Made It to producer superstardom, or The One Where Miley finally sheds the Hannah Montana image and manages to offend large swathes of American society with a song about being young, fearless and hedonistic. Miley's year may ultimately have been marked by controversy (sometimes tame, sometimes very deservedly), but the obvious enjoyment she took in baiting her critics also fuelled the sheer dumb fun that this song delivered in spades.



14) Chvrches - The Mother We Share

First released as a single towards the end of last year, The Mother We Share turned up on Chvrches' debut album this summer, complete with a brand new video. If you got turned off by The Knife's move towards industrial-electro agitprop, this one should have hit all your pleasure centres. Bouncy synths, a rudimentary drum machine, and Lauren Mayberry singing over her own auto-tuned backing vocals. The final chorus soars like nothing else.



13) A$AP Rocky - 1 Train (feat. Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada$$, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Action Bronson & Big K.R.I.T.)

The year's most epic posse cut. Many digital column inches have been dedicated to debating who executed the best verse. We'll give it to Big K.R.I.T., rounding the thing off in true Southern style, but Joey's verse in particular showed that the young rapper could easily stand with this heavyweight group ("Just got back to the block from a 6 o'clock with Jigga / and I'm thinking bout singing to the Roc, but my n*ggas on the block still assigned to the rocks").

Oh, and we shouldn't forget that Hit-Boy beat - less showy than his star productions for Kendrick and Kanye, it gets the job done perfectly well, the string section adding to the sense of the occasion.



12) PUP - Reservoir

One of the year's best new bands, PUP haven't got that much attention in the UK yet, but are getting a lot of love in their home country of Canada. Expect all that to change when they play a couple of shows over here in February. Reservoir shows off their gnarled guitar attack very well, coming over like Japandroids meets The Jesus Lizard, complete with shouted gang vocals and a chorus guaranteed to incite sweaty moshpits. Got any more like this, Canada? Grab this one as a free download over at their Bandcamp.



11) Kanye West - Blood on the Leaves

Honestly, we had to limit the number of Kanye songs in this list to three, otherwise most of 'Yeezus' would probably have made it on. Get ready for the next two when the Top 10 goes up, but for now, enjoy this performance of Blood on the Leaves on Jools Holland. Kanye's TV performances were some of the highlights of the year - that is, until he started appearing on US radio every morning. 

Blood on the Leaves appropriates Nina Simone's version of Strange Fruit, and pitches it against Kanye's own auto-tuned vocals and a monstrous TNGHT beat that became the centrepiece of 'Yeezus', and a live force to be reckoned with. Kanye courted a lot of controversy by sampling such a famous cry against social injustice for a song about groupies and MDMA. Unravelling its politics here would be too much of a task, but we need to recognise that it's clearly not done out of disrespect. It stands as another complicated gesture on an bold album that isn't afraid to deal with racial politics, and somehow, against the odds, manages to keep something of the original spirit alive.



Click through for tracks 10-4...

Best Tracks of 2013: 30-21

Welcome to Sequel to Your Life. Maybe we can get the introductions out of the way later - for now, we're running down the best music of 2013. Next week will see lists of our favourite albums and mixtapes, as well as some other miscellaneous stuff, but let's kick things off with our Top 30 Tracks.


30) Schoolboy Q - Collard Greens (feat. Kendrick Lamar)

Just enough to make up for the absence of Q's forthcoming album 'Oxymoron', Collard Greens pulled the double duty stunt of heightening anticipation for its release and reminding us that Kendrick is equally at home on party jams as on the serious stuff. Both rappers are in top form, and if Kendrick just edges it, it's only because he knows he's up against formidable competition. 2014 could easily be Schoolboy Q's for the taking.



29) Cut Copy - Free Your Mind

The Australian band's fourth album got unfairly average reviews across the board (here's looking at you, Pitchfork), and the title track is ample evidence of why it deserved better. Inspired by Britain's acid house Summer of Love, this one is all gleeful piano chords and sky-gazing lyrics. Deserved to soundtrack sunny barbecues all across the country.




28) HAIM - The Wire

The endless Fleetwood Mac comparisons can stop right now - shoved into the spotlight this year, the three sisters have grown into their own as a band, destroying festival slots all summer long. Performing their best song, The Wire, with infectious enthusiasm on SNL the other week, HAIM drew a line under why they've absolutely owned 2013, proving Este's high school voice coach wrong as a bonus.



27) Chromatics - Cherry

Quietly released towards the end of last year as a free download, Cherry ended up occupying a crucial place on 'After Dark 2', the Italians Do It Better label sampler that played host to some astonishingly good tracks. The best of three Chromatics cuts here, Cherry built on the nocturnal panorama that was 'Kill for Love' by elevating the pop factor and making the synths sound like a full string section. Check the accompanying Alberto Rossini video for some cool visuals, and watch out for the song being sampled on a certain Schoolboy Q album next year...



26) Ab-Soul - Christopher DRONEr

In a year when Schoolboy Q's much-hyped 'Oxymoron' was perpetually delayed, and Kendrick Lamar's output was confined to guest verses of wildly varying quality, Black Hippy's most underrated member quietly released one of his finest tracks yet. Ab-Soul darts between excitement and paranoia over Willie B's church peal beat, even jacking some Kanye flow for the finale.



25) Appaloosa - Fill the Blanks

One of the surprise standout tracks on 'After Dark 2', Fill the Blanks is also the most unashamedly POP! hit on this incredible label sampler. The cooing vocals, reminiscent of Nico with a mouth full of sticky toffee, might prove divisive, but if you're usually on board with producer Johnny Jewel's romantic visions then this'll be like catnip. That the song feels so awkwardly stitched together just adds to its endearingly naive appeal.



24) Disclosure - White Noise (feat. AlunaGeorge)

After Get Lucky, this was British summertime's most ubiquitous song, a permanent presence in clubs and huge festival tents, beloved by bloggers and Radio 1 alike. The Lawrence brothers' debut album was hardly lacking in top singles, but this was the best of the bunch, and sure to be the most enduring.



23) Suede - It Starts and Ends with You

When Suede reformed to start playing gigs again a few years back, Brett Anderson said that the band would only ever record a new album if he thought it could compete with their best material. Astonishingly, 'Bloodsports' was a triumph - easily the best Suede album since 'Coming Up'. It Starts and Ends with You shows that the band have lost none of their bite since the Nineties, and (whisper it), their ability to write a great chorus might even have improved. Absolutely stuffed with juicy hooks.



22) Icona Pop - I Love It

OK, you got me - this one was actually released all the way back in May 2012, but the song finally became a hit this year, albeit very belatedly. Its inclusion in an episode of 'Girls' admittedly helped matters no end, but the fact is that this is one of the catchiest songs of the last few years. Crashing your car into a bridge never sounded so liberating, and when this came on the radio you had to be careful not to do the same.




21) Caveman - In the City

Caveman's self-titled second album failed to set the world alight, which was a shame - it showed a marked improvement on the debut, and showcased a sound that, if not wholly original, certainly does much to stand out from the pack. In the City is the highlight, sounding like a more rustic version of MGMT or Yeasayer. The melodies are particularly reminiscent of The Shins, but driven instead by pillow-soft synths and an airy chorus that seems to hang suspended above the treetops.



Click through for tracks 20-11...