Musically, 2013 was a year that will not go down in history. Typically, there was plenty of hype ( the Jay-Z/Justin Timberlake tour, Lady Gaga's Artpop, this year's hot new band Imagine Dragons and The Rolling Stones' mini-tour ) but nothing that changed the game. It was all business as usual, which of course does not imply that it was a bad or boring year.
What made 2013 memorable were the smaller breakthroughs: the ascension of indie label Fueled by Ramen ( with fun. and Paramore on the bill ), the emergence of local Chance the Rapper, Robin Thicke's surprise "Blurred Lines" smash and the expensive failure of Artpop. It all indicates that the U.S. pop-music audience won't follow what the industry heads want them to no matter how hard they push.
If the national scene seemed blasé, in Chicago things were jumping so much that we couldn't notice or care. Yes, it was the worst of times for the city but, by far, the best of times for music here. In a nice, concise, two parts, here is the best ( and worst ) of what I witnessed this year.
Concerts of the year ( in order ):
1. ) A tie. Empire of the Sun @ Aragon Ballroom, 9/12. What can only be described as lunatic glam pop on an apocalyptic scale, Empire of the Sun's show was designed to overwhelm and conquer. With more lights, dancers, punch, costumes and action all served up to an addictive dance soundtrack, they made Gaga's flash look quaint.
Paramore@ UIC Pavilion, 11/24. Pure perfection. Never mind that Paramore had to shake off break-ups and the rigors of a tour that has taken them around the world three times in a year. When the band hit UIC, it had none of the exhausted raggedness that comes with the job. Hayley Williams' voice was as supple as new elastic, bandmates Jeremy Davis and Taylor York were as frisky as a bag of cats, and the show managed to be high tech, intimate and gargantuan all at the same time. Sure there was corn—the Niles West Choir jammed out with the band on "Ain't It Fun?"—but this edition of Paramore is clearly built to last.
2. ) Bombino @ Martyr's, 9/23. The diametric opposite of Empire of the Sun and Paramore's grand extravaganzas, this stripped-down showcase of Omara "Bombino" Moctar's North African psychedelic funk was not only brutal and seductive but explosively joyful.
3. ) The Patti Smith Band @ The Vic, 5/6. Smith's new Banga ( Columbia Records ) mapped her recent world travels but this show was largely a celebration of the woman as artist and cultural icon. It was no surprise that "People Got the Power" and "Rock and Roll N*****" sounded particularly potent.
4. ) James Blake@ The Riviera, 11/13. This was a solemn, chiming, ominous show-closer to a classical recital. If Blake's techno-balladry sounds canned on disc; however, in this live setting it grew warmer and revealed more tones and dimensions. This was the first show at this venue that I've attended where the audience actually listened intently.
5. ) Dropkick Murphy @ The Aragon Ballroom, 2/22. A big, loud, jolly blast of Irish hard rock transformed the Aragon into a rowdy fun house.
6. ) The Divine Fits @ A Taste of Randolph, 6/16. A positively delirious buffet of smart new angular rock was every bit as tasty as the band's A Thing Called Divine Fits ( Merge Records ).
7. ) The Joy Formidable @ A Taste of Randolph, 6/17. This is loud, fast and blunt rock 'n' roll from Wales; you can't convince me that "Ritzy" Bryan is not the jolliest woman on earth.
8. ) Nicholas Tremulis and Willie Nile @ City Winery, 3/26. A release show for the book/CD For the Baby Doll ( 52 Recordings Records ) which made the word "epic" a bit of an understatement. As if Tremulous and his band weren't stupendous enough, when Nile hit the stage he turned the show into a grand urban free for all of hard rock and roll.
9. ) Janelle Monae @ The Vic, 10/22. Monae's new The Electric Lady ( Atlantic Records ) may suffer for having too many flavors crammed into a limited space, but loose on stage she worked hard to prove that she was everything she wanted us to think she was.
10. ) Elton John @ The Allstate Arena, 12/01. Ok, ok I get it; Sir Elton ripping through "I'm Still Standing" in front of 18,500 people at the Allstate with a sliver of piss in his tone just three weeks after the hard-won marriage-equality victory in Illinois was no accident. Face it: Elton is not just the most well-known and powerful gay icon on the planet—he's a god.
Other notable stuff
Best Comeback: The Marvin Tate D-Settlement
Chicago's most original and pungent gutbucket funk/acid jazz/rock band never got the hoopla it deserved back in the day. A decade after disintegrating the band quietly got back together and started jamming in dive bars and in spaces like Elastic Arts. Even now, D-Settlement's music and insane shows are full of poetry, raw street energy, irony, and kinetic joy and its clear that there is no one else like them.
Runner-up: David Bowie
Best bands you never heard of:
1. ) Pittsburgh's Donora is a frightfully smart, danceable and articulate trio from Pittsburgh who makes addictive joyful pop so uncynical and pure that they seem otherworldly. This year's EP Play Nice ( Rostrum Records ) was just the tonic for this year's gloom.
2. ) Maston. A sly and witty sonic contradiction; California's Maston is all intricate parts with a wind-up gizmo heart and the vaporous whoosh of a silken breeze. Once you throw Frank Maston's reedy off-kilter vocals on top you have something so sublime, engaging, and addictive that it defies description. I listened to the debut, Shadows ( Trouble in Mind Records ) all year and drove myself mad.
3. ) Melk Belly. Chicago's Melk Belly is hardly smart, danceable, mechanized or cuddly, but entirely irresistible and fun. Between vocalist/guitartist Red Deli Cious' banshee wail, brothers Bart and Liam Winters slabs of guitar noise, and drummer James Wetzel's furious pummeling, the band makes abrasion downright cozy.
4. ) Richard Album. The band is loads of fun but the man is a nut. For those who like there entertainment to leap off the stage and writhe like some wild thing from the zoo at your feet then this is the bunch for you.
5. ) The Peekaboos. It's nerdy-surf-pop-bama-lama with all the fixings and then some. I couldn't tell you which was better: watching this action-packed band or dancing my ass off. ( It's impossible to do both at the same time. )
Best place to see bands you never heard of:
It's still the Empty Bottle. It says something that I saw all of the bands mentioned above there at various times throughout the year but I was only familiar with just one when I walked in the door. Empty Bottle is the place to see everything, including guitar wunderkind Johnny Young, shimmmering luscious pop like School Dance, arch angular art rock like Parenthetical Girls and all manner of queer expression too damn wild for Halsted Street ( Mykki Blanco, Diamond Rings, Baathhaus and J.D. Samson, who's there in January ).
Best comeback:
The Marvin Tate D-Settlement. Chicago's most idyosyncratic, odd, original and pungent gutbucket funk-acid-jazz-rock band never got the hoopla it deserved back in the day. A decade after disintegrating, the band quietly got back together this summer and started jamming again in dive bars and at spaces like Elastic Arts. Even now, D-Settlement's music and insane shows are full of poetry, street energy, irony and kinetic joy. And, no, even after all this time there is no one else like them anywhere.
Runner-Up: David Bowie
Best video:
"James Franco: Go Fuck Yourself." Technically, it's not a music video, except for the flowery symphonic soundtrack, but as a rip on vanity and male egotism the clip is like a classic dirty joke. Sure, it's obvious and you can see the punch line from a mile away but you can't deny that the "money shot" made Franco 2013's breakout hetero-queer star.
Best TV moment:
James Bond at the Oscars. Live music returned to the Oscars this year and though the line up was packed with big name talent [a ho-hum Norah Jones, a predictable Barbra Streisand, a torturous group performance from the cast of Les Miz ) the show was stolen by a double whammy from everyones favorite gentleman spy.
Adele's reading of "Skyfall" was melancholic, numbing and gripping but the surprise appearance of Dame Shirley Bassey encased in a form-fitting gold metallic full length gown and belting "Goldfinger" for all she was worth was a stunner. At 76, Bassey has still got it, but her appearance brought a touch of sadness. In the 50 years of 007 on film, Skyfall was the first in the series to win for best song and only the second score to be nominated ( which it did not win ). Worse, though the late Sir John Barry had won five Oscars for other scores, he never saw his highly celebrated work in the series nominated.
