ALARM's 51 Favorite Albums of 2013

ALARM’s 51 Favorite Albums of 2013

Saving the best for last, we’ve chosen our 51 favorite albums of 2013, pulled from the acclaimed and the unsung — some of the best as well as most boundary-pushing releases from rock and beyond.

P.O.S

P.O.S gets weird with goats, fire-eaters, and contortionists in “Weird Friends” video

P.O.S: We Don't Even Live HereP.O.S: We Don’t Even Live Here (Rhymesayers, 10/23/12)

Rapper, rock musician, and Doomtree co-founder P.O.S may be suffering from issues with his kidneys, but that doesn’t stop him from raising a little hell. In the video for “Weird Friends (We Don’t Even Live Here)” off his 2012 album We Don’t Even Live Here, the rapper takes the conceptual title to heart.

The video exhibits goats, fire-eaters, contortionists, and more cavorting in what may be an abandoned asylum, while Stefon narrates the whole thing over a beat by Housemeister in his energetic punk style.

ALARM's 50 Favorite Songs of 2012

ALARM’s 50 (+5) Favorite Songs of 2012

Last month ALARM presented its 50 favorite albums of 2012, an eclectic, rock-heavy selection of discs that were in steady rotation in our downtown-Chicago premises. Now, to give some love to tunes that were left out, we have our 50 (+5) favorite songs of last year — singles, B-sides, EP standouts, soundtrack cuts, and more.

ALARM's 50 Favorite Albums of 2012

ALARM’s 50 Favorite Albums of 2012

Another year, another torrential downpour of albums across our desks. As always, we encountered way too much amazing music, from Meshuggah to The Mars Volta, Converge, Killer Mike, P.O.S, and many more.

P.O.S

Interview: P.O.S throws an anarchist dance party

This interview appears in ALARM #40. Subscribe here to get your copy!

[Ed. note: ALARM contributing writer Bobby Markos was improperly uncredited in print. We sincerely regret the error.]

POS: We Don't Even Live HereP.O.S: We Don’t Even Live Here (Rhymesayers, 10/23/12)

“Fuck Your Stuff”

P.O.S: “Fuck Your Stuff”

With an ear for diversity and a mind for critical thought, Stefon Alexander — better known as rapper P.O.S — has maintained operations as a multi-instrumentalist by day and rap artist by night. The early-30-something is a man whose DIY/punk upbringing aligns him more with Ian MacKaye than Kanye West, and that’s reflected in his many and assorted rock-band roles, including his current gig as keyboardist/vocalist for Marijuana Deathsquads.

But no matter the project, Alexander continues to reinvent himself with each release. His latest as P.O.S, We Don’t Even Live Here, is a testament to his 360-degree perspective of both music and the world we live in. Here he discusses what has changed in his life as well as the new album’s danceable vibe and anti-capitalist theme.