Top 5 electronic albums of 2013

Reviews by Chris Dart, Jesse Kinos-Goodin, Nicolle Weeks

1. Tim Hecker, Virgins

 

Tim Hecker’s Virgins is a lot of things, but an easy, passive listening experience is not one of them. Hit play, put on headphones and Hecker’s earthy electronic production permeates your head, forcing you to listen completely free from other distractions. Even if you don’t give in right away, over the course of 12 songs and 48 minutes, Hecker will fill your head with such a lush, cinematic soundscape that you won’t have much choice. Synths vibrate and soar, sounds fade between left and right ear drums, and mysterious noises are introduced as quickly as they disappear. His songs can be uplifting, moody or violent, sometimes all at the same time, and together it is nothing short of breathtaking. This is music at its utmost ambient. — Jesse Kinos-Goodin

LISTEN

audio Tim Hecker

Virgins

Tracklist

Streaming until Jan. 19

2. Daft Punk, Random Access Memories

 

Random Access Memories begins as if a reigning champ is about to enter the boxing ring; 20 seconds of power chords and spacey synths build upward in pure Rocky fashion, but just before the music peaks, it cuts out completely, making way for an '80s funk groove led by Chic’s Nile Rodgers on guitar and a vocoder voice singing, “Let the music in tonight, just turn on the music.” Such is the experience of Daft Punk’s fourth studio album, a smooth, virtuosic and funk-fuelled love letter to the disco era and analog music (electronic instruments were limited to drum machines, synths and said vocoder), as well as the esteemed French electronic duo’s most critically and commercially successful album to date. Lead singles “Get Lucky” and “Lose Yourself to Dance,” both benefitting from the charm of Pharrell Williams on vocals and Rodgers’s unmistakable guitar, became ubiquitous hits this year (more so with the former), but they are far from the only hits on an album that gets better with each listen. — JKG

3. Thundercat, Apocalypse
Thundercat is one of the many genre-bending musicians signed to Flying Lotus’s esteemed Brainfeeder label, and as a bass guitarist he’s played on Erykah Badu’s New Amerykah, FlyLo’s Cosmogramma, as well as with thrash metal band Suicidal Tendencies. If you were to take Thundercat’s wide-ranging influences and create a Venn diagram, his solo material would be right there in the centre, where electronic, funk, soul, jazz and even some of those rapid thrash bass lines overlap. Apocalypse is the second solo album from Thundercat, co-produced by FlyLo, and is a virtuosic but totally accessible exploration of what electronic music is capable of, from instrumentals that are ambient (“Seven”) or moody (“The Life Aquatic”), to falsetto-voiced R&B (“Tron Song”) and funk that sounds straight from George Clinton (“Oh Sheit it’s X”). — JKG

4. M.I.A., Matangi

Matangi, the fourth album from M.I.A., is hard to listen to end to end. Generally, a statement like that would be an insult, but in this case it’s just a fact, and quite possibly a compliment. Matangi is a pounding, intentionally abrasive record that beats you into submission with a relentless array of harsh, slightly asynchronous beats, lets you have a breather with something a little bit less intense, like “Exodus,” then starts in again. What’s weird is, as hard as Matangi hits, it's so compelling that it keeps you coming back for more. — Chris Dart

5. Major Lazer, Free the Universe

This star-studded Diplo project features tens of music industry veterans and newbies — Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig, Peaches, Haim’s Danielle Haim, Santogold, Bruno Mars, Ms. Dynamite and Shaggy (!) to name a few. And it works. The album is a punch-you-in-the-throat, get-you-moving ode to all things electronic. Diplo’s skills shine through in this pastiche of, well, everything ever. Soaring through musical eras like a magical carpet on speed (“Jet Blue Jet”) and then giving you the antidote (“Get Free”), Major Lazer confuses you (“Reach for the Stars”), brings you back in (“Bubble Butt”) and pushes you out of the club onto the brightly lit street in a blinking haze of WTF. — Nicolle Weeks