Top 40 Albums of 2013 (1-20)

(Check out 40-21 HERE)

As I came to my conclusive final ordering of albums, I couldn’t help but feel like my list differed from the norm. You’ll find familiar faces like Arcade Fire and Vampire Weekend, but many of the albums that ended up surfacing near the top are absent from all the major lists I’ve perused in the past few weeks.  Does this mean I’m out of touch or that I’ve become such an outsider that I can’t connect with the mainstream? I hope not. Those albums you find on this list that you’ve never seen included on other lists are not my attempt at being different, rather, they are albums that fell through the cracks by the major outlets and deserve a listen from anyone who still appreciates “the album” as a work of art. The BDWPS.com mission statement of “guiding you down the path less traveled” is truer than ever in 2013.

Bill Callahan “Dream River”

Bill Callahan

Dream River

[Drag City; 2013]

Rating: 7.7

If Bill Callahan were a painter, he would be Pablo Picasso.  Besides the obvious presumption that Callahan has never been called an asshole, the connection can be found in the span of their respective work.  While many musicians find a definitive sound and make a career out of it, Callahan is a constantly changing songwriting machine.  Like Picasso, Callahan has gone through various stages, refusing to languish in mediocrity.

Callahan’s early 4-track forays were much like Picasso’s early days as a painter – flawed yet promising.  As his Smog sound developed on albums like Wild Love and Knock Knock, he reached his “blue” period (stark subject matter presented in through distorted, bluesy melodies). Solo album Woke On a Whaleheart would be Callahan’s “rose” period (warm and adventurous soul music), Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle would be his Neo-classical album (drawing inspiration from ancient cultures and their totems, not to mention the heavy use of classical strings), and Apocalypse would be his surrealistic album (an unpredictable and jarring presentation of The End).