Thrill Jockey

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.

Raging solos, Bonham-esque beats, and white-robe canvases in Life Coach’s “Fireball” video

Life Coach: AlphawavesLife Coach: Alphawaves (Thrill Jockey, 4/16/13)

Also the title of Phil Manley’s first solo album, Life Coach is now a (mostly instrumental) rock duo comprised of the Trans Am / The Fucking Champs guitarist and former Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore.

The duo’s first album, out today, features a helluva jam as its lead single, as Manley lays down a wicked groove that’s topped by a raging rock solo from Isaiah Mitchell (Howlin’ Rain, Golden Void). Meanwhile, Theodore — a distinctive drummer in his own right — calls to mind John Bonham (Led Zeppelin) and John Stanier (Battles, Tomahawk, ex-Helmet) with his propulsive beats. Enjoy the live-action video as projected landscapes paint the boys’ white-robe canvases.

Black Pus

Stop-motion stick-figure killing spree: Black Pus and the “1000 Years” video

Black Pus: All My RelationsBlack Pus: All My Relations (Thrill Jockey, 3/19/13)

Lightning Bolt drummer/vocalist Brian Chippendale has released solo material as Black Pus since 2006, first via self-released CDs (with a foundation in experimental jazz) and then via Load Records and now Thrill Jockey (with a poppier formula).

His video for “1000 Years” isn’t of the hyper-colored variety of his and Lightning Bolt’s album art, but it’s entertaining in an entirely different way, with more than 1000 pages of digitized flip-book sketches from Chippendale’s childhood. Watch as our protagonist fights through hordes of bad guys with little more than a trusty sword and a million arrows.

Dan Friel

A neon-soaked, window-rattling synth banger in Dan Friel’s “Thumper” video

Dan Friel: Total FolkloreDan Friel: Total Folklore (Thrill Jockey, 2/19/13)

Today sees the release of Dan Friel’s Total Folklore, a soundtrack to the urban environment that’s “halfway between overwhelming noise rock and video-game chiptunes.”

The video for “Thumper,” a melodic yet overblown synth tune that cranks the bass, finds Friel at an electronic workstation, headbanging and hunched over the controls while a big screen delivers trippy neon visuals.