2013: Albums
THE HITS
One Direction “Midnight Memories” 5
Artic Monkeys “AM” 6
Bastille “Bad Blood” 7
Taylor Swift “1989” 7
This was the album that supposedly solidified her gradual shift from fringe-country-artist to mainstream pop star. You might also argue that whereas her previous 2 albums had propelled her to worldwide wide superstardom, this one solidified her stature. Working backwards from the present, my favourite Swift album was 2019’s “Lover” which I gave a 7 (all the rest have been 6s). This was is packed with punchy pop specimens, each one very strong as a stand alone piece, but the collective presentation works well. Although it might be lacking an heartfelt heart-churning ballad to really complete the picture, the balance is fairly strong, from upbeat light pop, to slower/heavier, to more atmospheric offerings. The final quarter tails off a little in quality, although the last track is a pretty strong closer. So, this think this is my new favourite. 7
Rudimental “Home” 7
Passenger “All The Little Lights” 7
Rihanna “Unapologetic” 7
This was interesting – it started hard-hitting and edgy but despite great tracks like the hit single “Diamonds” it was nothing remarkable. Then the 2nd half gets a bit creative with tracks like “Love Without Tragedy/Mother Mary” & “Get It Over With” and plays around with different genres with tracks like “No Love Allowed”. Although you could argue the album loses direction and becomes incoherent later on giving a sense if inconsistency...... I think this playing around pushes it a mark up from what I would otherwise have given it. 7
THE ALTERNATIVES
Gabrielle Aplin “English Rain” 6
Actually my initial research failed me here because, peaking at #2 in the UK charts, I’d say it was a hit. Wouldn’t you? Its ok. There are a few brilliant tracks on here though. Her cover of Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s “The Power Of Love”, which was a #1 hit single was very good, and “Please Don’t Say You Love Me” is class-classic song-writing. 6
Steven Wilson “The Raven That Refused To Dong (And Other Stories)” 6
Nice to hear more modern progressive rock than the mass I used to love, listen to and study as a post-graduate. Its good. Although, I don’t think is particularly adds anything to the genre’s discourse. It borrows a lot from the classic progressive rock giants. 6
Mop Mop “Isle Of Magic” 7
This was really fun. Its like jazz has originated on a tropical island, complete with steel drums, marimbas, castanets, bongos etc. Its focus is the rhythmic drive more that instrumental virtuosity. 7
Oneohtrix Point Never “R Plus Seven” 7
Cloud Control “Dream Cave” 7
Bat For Lashes “The Haunted Man” 8
I loved the 1st 2 Bat For Lashes albums but haven’t heard any since. This one doesn’t strike me quite in the way the others did but it’s still an amazing piece of work. There's a balances of cinematic baroque synth-pop and sparser arrangements. There’s great contrast. “Lilies” has heavy bass synths and a cinematic backdrop. “Laura” is essentially a piano ballad. “All Your Gold” is percussion-driven with striped back verses but booming thickly textured choruses. “Deep Sea Diver” is like a dark lullaby that gives a brilliant closing to the album that leaves you simultaneously comforted and disturbed. 8
2013 Conclusions:
I'll keep the conclusion here very straightforward. In my although we will still need to keep going back to really conclude this............ in my opinion, the quality of pop music took a real turn for the worse after this year. The difference between 2013 and 2014 is fairly significant. Then between 2014 and 2015 is even more significant and by 2016 we are in a very different league compared to 2013. It seems too coincidental to be that 2014 is the year when streaming data was introduced to the charts. Why should this make a difference? Because gradually, as people's consumption of pop music changed, so did the way it needed to be marketed. It became less about visuals, identities, and quality of music, and more about chasing algorithms.
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