Friday Roundup.

Joe Sullivan-Schlock Star. 2014 has the year of Michigan power pop, with quality releases from The Legal Matters and their constituent members (Chris Richards, Andy Klingensmith). The latest in the pipeline might be the best yet, as Saginaw's Joe Sullivan (with major help from The Legal Matters' Andy Reed) gives us the highly catchy and highly infectious Schlock Star. Opening with the Beach Boys-influenced "Conspiracy Radio", Sullivan displays his pop chops right away, and the "ba-da-da" chorus of "Nurse Tracy" will stick in your head. Elsewhere, the bubblegum pop of "Okinawa Girl" stands side-by-side with the Paul Simon pop of "Sean Patric's Balloon" and the pensive "Look at Me Now", which reminds me of one of Reed's crafty compositions. Star Wars fanatics will enjoy the album closer, "Victims of the Sarlaac", but you don't need to know the difference between Jabba the Hutt or Pizza the Hutt to find it enjoyable. Right now, this is a Bandcamp-only release, but you can get the CD or the mp3s.

Bandcamp



Willodean-Willodean. One of my favorite discs of 2005, and really of the previous decade, was Randy & The Bloody Lovelies' Lift, which featured piano pop of the highest order with a sophistication not often seen in the genre. The "Randy" in question here was Randy Wooten, who also supplied the husky, pack-a-day vocals that added to the atmosphere. Wooten then dropped off the radar, and there was no followup to Lift. So I was quite pleased to see Wooten resurface with Willodean, teaming up with Eric Holden and Dan Barrett with the latter providing vocals in the same raspy manner as Wooten and the former on upright bass. The result is a soulful melange of pop and Americana with a bit less piano than Lift but a worthy listen nonetheless. From the laid-back vibe of "Pieces" to the late-night cabaret feel of "Ghost Town" to the pop-with-pedal steel of "Oh Darkness", there's a nice mix of sub-genres here. But the real fun to be had here is the catchy "Julie Drinks With Demons", which will have any Bloody Lovelies fan grinning from ear to ear.

CD Baby | iTunes

California pop day.

Linus of Hollywood-Something Good. Back with his first album of new material since 2006's Triangle, Kevin Dotson a/k/a Linus of Hollywood is back with the same winning combination of classic pop and power pop that made him a force in the power pop community in the first half of the last decade. The buoyant, driving 1-2 punch of "Caught Up in a Feeling" and "Ready for Something Good" will get your toes tapping right off the bat, the McCartney-esque "A Girl That I Like" is very easy on the ears, and "I Don't Wanna Go Home if You're Not There" makes for a great power ballad. Linus even throws in a faithful cover of the Kiss classic "Beth", while the overall quality of the album heeds the admonition of one of the disc's catcher tracks, "Don't F**k it Up". One of the year's best.

Bandcamp | iTunes



Jeff Larson-Close Circle. Having reviewed the previous five releases of this wonderfully consistent folk-rocker, it's getting hard for me to say something new about him, so how about this? Close Circle might be the best and most assured of his recent releases. For those just tuning in, Larson's music is the epitome of laid-back, melodic mellow SoCal rock and reflected in the fact that he's a confidant of and collaborator with Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell, better known as America. After opening with the beautifully understated "Rescue", the disc clicks into gear with the excellent "Following the Echoes". Other standouts include the Jeffrey Foskett-backed "Goodbye Ocean Street Beaches" and "Rain Soaked Cloud", which features the America boys on backing vocals.

CD Baby | iTunes | Kool Kat

NOTE: Kool Kat is also releasing a CD-R of last year's download-only Larson EP Leaves for those who want a physical disc.

Friday Roundup.

Bubble Gum Orchestra-Beyond Time. Michael Hildebrandt, a/k/a Bubble Gum Orchestra, returns again with Beyond Time, another collection of ELO-inspired tunes. Just as last year's The Discovery was a riff on ELO's Discovery, this follow-up takes its cue from ELO's Discovery followup, Time (I'm guessing the next BGO released will be some variation of Secret Messages). Anyway, I probably don't need to tell you that if you're an ELO fanatic this album is a must, from the rocking "23rd Century Woman" (which goes beyond ELO to borrow the guitar riff from Foreigner's "Long, Long Way from Home") to the futuristic "I'm in Love With a Robot" (BGO's nod to ELO's "Yours Truly, 2095") to the catchy "Return 2 4 Ever". But the quintessential BGO track is "ELO Forever", the lyrics to which are primarily comprised of ELO song titles (example: "Mr. Blue Sky met his Sweet Talkin' Woman/they fell in love and their hearts Turned to Stone"), the best track of its kind since Bob Dylan used Springsteen song titles to write the Traveling Wilburys' "Tweeter & the Monkey Man".

CD Baby | iTunes

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Peter Buzzelle-Sea of White EP. Boston's Peter Buzzelle is a classic power popper who released a pair of fine discs in 2010 and 2011 but were overlooked on this site. I can't ignore him any longer, though, thanks to his outstanding new EP that's the first power pop disc I've heard with the subject of marrying and marriage as its concept. Opener "I'm Gonna Know You" might be the best power ballad I've heard in years, with a swelling, catchy chorus, while "Til Death Do Us Part" and "Happiness and Misery" are a couple of excellent Posies/Matthew Sweet-styled rockers, and "Our Life is the Song" closes things out in hooky fashion. This might be the best EP of 2014 to date, and I'd daresay you'll like it some much you'll want to marry it.

CD Baby | iTunes

Midweek Roundup.

Edward O'Connell-Vanishing Act. Edward O'Connell's Our Little Secret was the power pop find of 2010, an assured debut arriving out of nowhere to claim the #3 slot on my year-end list. Four years later he's released the followup, and it strides confidently in the footsteps of its predecessor. If you missed out on the debut in 2010 or (less likely) forgot about it, O'Connell specializes in Nick Lowe/Tom Petty/Elvis Costello pop'n'roll and Vanishing Act is another 12 tracks of quality. This becomes immediately apparent with the opener "My Dumb Luck", an Elvis C-style track with an effortless melody that aging rock critics would be writing about with reverence had it come out in 1979. "Lonely Crowd" is another winner with a chorus backed by driving, Petty-like guitar, and "What Have You Done?" is a mini-masterpiece with a transcendent middle-eight (or bridge). Elsewhere, fiddle and pedal steel make "I'm the Man" a nice, country-tinged track and the minor key of "Yesterday's World" gives it an early 80s Squeeze/Smithereens feel. As with the debut, it's almost folly to single out individual tracks as every one of them has something to offer. Speaking of offers, Kool Kat has this disc exclusively before its official release date next week, and they're offering to throw in Our Little Secret with each purchase. Even if you already have the debut, take this deal and give a copy of it to a friend who appreciates good music.

Kool Kat | CD Baby | iTunes



The Paul and John-Inner Sunset. While an obvious Beatles reference, The Paul and John are also the first names of Paul Myers and John Moremen who have teamed up to give us a fine debut EP that, yes, owes a bit to the more famous Paul and John but has other influences as well. Many of you may know Moremen from his solo records and his time as guitarist for The Orange Peels, and Myers was the man behind the Toronto power pop group The Gravelberrys as well as an author of biographies of Todd Rundgren and Long John Baldry. Thankfully the record lives up to their respective CVs. After the 20-second McCartneyesque "Inner Sunrise", we segue into the wonderful "Everything Comes Together", a glorious acoustic guitar-based track that reminds me of The Autumn Defense at their poppiest with some Byrdsian jangle throw in. "Long Way Back" rocks a bit harder and makes good use of the principals' harmonies, and the title track with its stacatto beat and British Invasion melody sounds like the soundtrack to a parade down Carnaby Street. An excellent debut and a nice companion piece to the Edward O'Connell disc reviewed above.

Friday Roundup.

Mike Barnett-Everybody Gets to Dream. Mike Barnett has been entertaining us for the last several years with his brand of George Harrison/Traveling Wilburys-style pop/rock, and on his latest he finds a kindred spirit in producer Salim Nourallah, whose Hit Parade was my favorite album of 2012 and was itself a Beatlesque tour de force. Nourallah applies his sonic flourishes to Barnett's heretofore low-fi sound and the result is Barnett's best album to date. Opener "Who Loves You Blue?" is a nod to Harrison himself, both in the title and with Barnett's use of slide guitar, "I Could Fall" and "Late at Night" benefit from the Nourallah production with some jaunty keyboard use, while the title track is one of Barnett's most contemplative and sublime tracks. There isn't a bad track here, and the lovely piece of chamber pop "To You" closes things out with a smile on your face. Don't miss out on this one.

CD Baby | iTunes



Marble Party-Plush Up. Marble Party is a San Francisco band with a power pop sound that's both modern and retro. The driving lid-lifter "Afterglow" aligns them with the Weezers of the world, "About Her" channels Squeeze and the extraordinary "Song from the Coast" with its tinges of psychedelia recalls The Beatles by way of The Red Button. Never afraid to genre-hop, they turn to country rock to fine results on "Stuck in the Middle", complete with steel guitar, and close things out with the piano-based Jellyfish-esque "Prove Me Wrong". Showing a clever mastery of various power pop styles, Marble Party is one of my favorite finds of 2014 to date.

CD Baby | iTunes

Power pop on Amazon Prime.

Last week Amazon added a music streaming component to their Prime membership program. For those who already subscribe to a service like Spotify or Rdio or Beats, Prime Music is nothing impressive, given it contains about 5-10% of the number of tracks offered by those services. But for those like me who already have an Amazon Prime membership but don't subscribe to one of the established services, it's a nice add-on that you're not paying extra for.

But what makes it a little tough to use is that there's no real good way to find out which artists/albums/songs it carries without checking them individually to see if they can be added to your Prime library. So in that spirit, and to help out those who have Prime and are power pop fans, I've compiled a list of power pop that I've found available for streaming on the service. By no means is this list exhaustive, and there are some quirks in that sometimes full albums are available but in other instances only certain songs from an album is available. Anywhere, here's what I have so far in the realm of contemporary power pop with some other notables included. If you know of some others, please mention them in the comments.

Apples in Stereo - most of their catalog prior to their two most recent releases. Includes the #1 Hits Explosion comp.
Army Navy - S/T and The Last Place
BC Camplight - most of Hide, Run Away
Ben Folds/Ben Folds Five - Rockin' the Suburbs, Whatever and Ever Amen, The Sound of the Life of the Mind, Live, most of the Best Imitation comp.
Big Star - Third/Sister Lovers
Bill Lloyd - Boy King of Tokyo the only full album, but lots of tracks from others
Bleu - A Watched Pot + several from Besides
Brendan Benson - You Were Right, What Kind of Love
Butch Walker - Butch Walker & The Black Widows
Cheap Trick - Greatest Hits, Dream Police, In Color, Heaven Tonight, The Latest
Cliff Hillis - Better Living Through Compression
Cotton Mather - The Big Picture, several tracks from Kon Tiki
Curtains for You - several tracks from two most recent albums
David Mead - Dudes, Almost and Always, Live at Schuba's (2006)
Electric Soft Parade - The Human Body EP, several from Holes in the Wall and The American Adventure
Everybody Else - S/T debut and Wanderlust
The Exploding Hearts - Guitar Romantic, Shattered
The Format - Interventions & Lullabies
Fountains of Wayne - Sky Full of Holes
fun. - Some Nights, Aim & Ignite
Future Clouds and Radar - S/T
Geoff Smith - Gravity
Gigolo Aunts - several tracks
Household Names - Picture in My Head, several other tracks
Jack's Mannequin - Everything in Transit
Jason Karaban - most of Shift
Jeff Larson - Room for Summer
Jeff Lynne - Armchair Theatre
Jeremy Messersmith - The Reluctant Graveyard, The Silver City
Jet - Get Born
Jim Boggia - Fidelity is the Enemy
Josh Fix - This Town is Starting to Make Me Angry, most of Free at Last
Ken Stringfellow - Touched
Kyle Vincent - most of Where You Are
L.E.O. - most of Alpacas Orgling
Locksley - S/T
The Meadows - assorted tracks
Mike Ruekberg - Acrimony & Cheese
Mike Viola - Electro de Perfecto, Acoustic de Perfecto
The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers
The Red Button - She's About to Cross My Mind, As Far as Yesterday Goes
Rick Altizer - various tracks
Seth Swirsky - Watercolor Day
The Silver Seas - Chateau Revenge, Alaska, High Society
Sloan - Navy Blues, One Chord to Another, Twice Removed, various other tracks
Smash Palace - Fast Long Loud, most of Do it Again, others
The Spongetones - Number Nine, many others including most of Always Carry On comp
Steven Wright-Mark - My Plastic World, Pop Motel, Sideshow Freak
Title Tracks - In Blank, It Was Easy
Todd Herfindal - Right Here Now, most of Collective, others
Wanderlust - Record Time
Wiretree - Bouldin, Get Up

Friday Roundup.

The Legal Matters-The Legal Matters. Some of my favorite power pop over the last decade has come from the Detroit area, be it Chris Richards or Andy Reed (solo and as An American Underdog) or Nick Piunti. So it's great to see them team up as the "supergroup" The Legal Matters. Richards, Reed and Keith Klingensmith make up the core of the group, with Piunti adding some of his fine guitar work. The results are as you'd expect: one power pop gem after another, from Richards shining on the opener "Rite of Spring" (pure midtempo melodic bliss) to Reed on the George Harrisonesque "Have You Changed Your Mind?" to the three-part harmony of the ballad "Mary Anne". Often supergroups turn out to be a disappointment, but these guys are at the very least the sum of their parts and definite year-end list contenders.

CD Baby | iTunes



Andy Kentler-No Love Lost. Andy Kentler hails from Down Under and before No Love Lost had one solo album to his name in 2004, so he isn't exactly a household name in the power pop community. But after coming across this album, maybe he should be. His music is a fusion of Tom Petty, The Kinks and Big Star and there are plenty of standout tracks here. "Gettin' on Home" opens the album in Petty style, tough and melodic. "Big Hits & Misses" is brash, radio-ready power pop with a big hooky chorus, and "Marnie & Stan" tells the story of a couple of the run in rocking fashion (with "ooh-la-la-la" backing vocals). Kentler saves the best for the latter part of the album, with "Walk Out on Me" pure power pop in the vein of the aforementioned Chris Richards, and the catchy "Nobody's Fool" closing things out.

CD Baby | iTunes

Quick notes on new stuff.

New Hot Nun single! Jeff Shelton and the guys (including the legendary Nash T. Habit) are back with a new single by way of follow-up to last year's rocking good album. This one's called "A Little Too" and can be found on Bandcamp.

Bandcamp



Jay Gonzalez-The Bitter Suite. When he's working his main gig playing keyboards for Drive-By Truckers, Jay Gonzalez plays power pop on the side as we saw with 2012's Mess of Happiness. Inspired by Abbey Road, Jay's put together a 13-minute song medley called The Bitter Suite, which he wants to release on vinyl. Hence his Kickstarter project which is about 2/3 of the way to its goal. Support his muse, readers of Absolute Powerpop, and check out the video below:

Memorial Day Weekend Roundup.

The Squires of the Subterrain-S/T. Christopher Earl and friends are back with another trippy release of psych-pop. Unlike their previous release (Sandbox) which applied their psych-pop to Beach Boys-styled tunes, their self-titled latest finds them trading 60s California for 60s London, with Merseypop delights like "History" and "This Charming Place" and the so-goofy-you-know-what-it-sounds-like-by-the-title "Private Gherkin's Psychedelic Silly Mustache Band". Other highlights include the near-jangly (for them) "Attitude and Altitude", and the piano-based, Beatlesque "If Memory Served". But the real treat here is "From Getting High (to a Higher Power)", which manages to encapsulate the pop styles of the big 3 Bs of the era (Beatles, Beach Boys, Byrds) in one track. This just might be their best album to date.

CD Baby | iTunes

High on Stress-Leaving MPLS. We've been following these Minneapolis rockers from almost the beginning in the middle part of the last decade, so it's sad to hear that Leaving MPLS is the last batch of their Replacements-meet-early-Wilco songcraft. But at least Nick Leet & Co. go out on a high note. "Windy City Endings" (with a chorus reminiscent of the 'Mats "I'll Be You") is a great, tuneful rocker, while "Gimme Truth" might be the closest they've come to a classic power ballad. And the wonderful country-folk-rock of the title track captures their spirit perfectly, ensuring we'll miss them down the line.

CD Baby

Weekend Roundup.

The Metal Babies-Ghostly. Taking their name from a classic Teenage Fanclub track, this Australian band follows up the promise of their 2012 debut EP with a fine full-length. And despite their name, this isn't a TF tribute band but instead a combination of power pop styles from jangle to roots rock. Having said that, opener "Spat" could easily pass for a TF track with its melancholy mid-tempo melody and chiming guitars. It's followed up by the aptly-titled "Great", which is a top-drawer jangle-rock number which starts off smooth and rocks out in the end. Elsewhere, highlights included the lovely "Make a Start", the Replacements-rock of "Explanations" (clocking in at 1:01) and the title track, and the Pernice Brothers-esque "All a Waste of Time". An impressive effort from these guys, and this one should end up comfortably in the top half of my year-end list.

CD Baby | iTunes



Dropkick-Homeward. Speaking of bands influenced by Teenage Fanclub, the prolific Scottish band Dropkick return with their annual/biennial release, and Homeward is a fine addition to the canon of brothers Andrew & Alastair Taylor. They don't reinvent the wheel here, so it's safe to say that if you enjoyed any of their previous releases, you'll want this one. Opener "Come Home" has a lovely, laid-back feel that would have been right at home on the latest Autumn Defense album, "Halfway Round Again" jangles like there's no tomorrow, and "Jump Start" boasts a great chorus and organ-based hook. The album closes with the pretty ballad "Carry Me Home", a tune which would make Mark Olson and Gary Louris proud. Already looking forward to the next one in a year or so.

Bandcampwith Vinyl & CD options

Friday Roundup.

The Die Youngs-Nothing's Broken. Denny Smith's been supplying a lot of the music I've written about on the pages over the last several years, either through his roots-rockin' band The Great Affairs or his harder-rockin' band fORMER. Through that time, he's collected a fair number of tunes that didn't make the albums for one band or the other, and had some other songs kicking around, so why not create a third project? Teaming up with fellow Nashvillian Kenny Wright, Smith gives an album that may not be as cohesive as his other releases, but in my book 13 quality tunes are cohesion enough. So you get some fine Butch Walker-styled "hard power pop" in "As Fine as You Are" and "Dirty on the Stereo", rootsier moments like "Some Things Never Change" and "Crawl", and straight up power pop in "That's My Girl" and the title track. The common denominator here is Smith's radio-friendly sound, even if in this case we're talking about different radio formats.

CD Baby | iTunes

Phonograph (UK)-Phonograph Vol.1. Phonograph (I added the "UK" to their name since there's an American alt-country/roots rock band I'm fond of with the same name) is a 4-piece out of London who've made an auspicious debut that David Bash sent in my direction. They have a timeless sound that recalls many of the leading power pop touchstones, and "She Knows It" opens things in grand fashion, a Big Star-influenced number that's quite catchy, while the Beatlesque, midtempo "Waiting for the Sun" and it's "la da da da" chorus make for an instant earworm. Speaking of Beatlesque, "Don't You Bring Me Down" has a real Merseyside 1965 sound and "Fading into You" would fit nicely on one of Badfinger's first few albums. This is probably the most accomplished "classic power pop" debut since Cirrone a few years ago, and could be a year-end best-of contender. Right now, it's download-only from Bandcamp, and you'll have to convert pounds to dollars if you're in the USA, but it's worth it.

Bandcamp

Weekend Roundup.

The Sleepwalkers-Lost My Mind in Stereo. The SLeepwalkers are Ian Olvera & company, whose last two records came out as The Ian Olvera Band, and then Ian Olvera & The Sleepwalkers. Along with the subtle shift in band names, there's been a subtle shift in their sound as well. Where once it was Jayhawks-meet-Tom-Petty, now it leans more to the Petty side of things with some slight nods to pop-punk not unlike Archie Powell & The Exports. Opener "My Best Wasn't Good Enough" advertises this change, rocking with attitude and melody, as does the frenetic "Come Around". Other standouts include the rocking and catchy "Talking Out of Turn" and the laid-back nod to their earlier sound in "Chicago". Top-notch stuff with a Saturday night feel to it.

Bandcamp



Static in Verona-Everything You Knew Before You Knew Everything. Also returning to our pages is Rob Merz and his Static in Verona projecc, following up his 2012 EP Some Things You Knew with this appropriately-titled release. Here Merz delves further in dream-pop, opening with the densely melodic "Bitter Branches" and following that with the percussion-heavy, vaguely electronic "Rosemary (Bury Me)" which still sports the hooks. There are still some nods to traditional power pop here, courtesy of "Roman Candle", but the sound here is summed up by the majestic "Friendly Fires" and its pop-friendly soundscapes. If you want to hear something a bit different that the usual power pop, but from an artist we know has the melodic bonafides, this one's a good investment.

CD Baby } iTunes

Midweek Roundup.

Goodman-Isn't it Sad. NYC's Goodman is back with his second full-length, following up last year's What We Want. Isn't it Sad is another collection of tuneful indie pop, with the standouts being the power-popping title track, the midtempo "I'll Live Without Your Love", and the 80s-influenced "Like What They Like". A must for fans of AC Newman and Robert Pollard.

Bandcamp only



Evil Arrows-EPs 1 & 2. Evil Arrows is the latest project from Bryan Scary, well-known to readers of this site and the power pop community in general. His early releases were tuneful but suffered from a bit of ADD, but he later dialed it down and now with Evil Arrows he's honed his craft and put out an engaging pair of EPs with more apparently to come. We'll take these first two, released within about a month or so of each other, as one album. From EP1, "Romancer" finds Scary in playful mode, with a rollicking tune festooned with a lot of "la la la"s, "Silver Bird" has a Jellyfish vibe to it with its baroque piano parts, and "The Lovers" reminds me of Queen. On EP2, things take a turn for the cheeky with the frantic "Last Living Doll" and "Putting My Heart on the Pyre" recalling Scary's early work, while "Shadow Lovers" channels the early 70s glam rock of Sweet and Gary Glitter. It's great to have some more Scary power pop again.

iTunes (EP1) | iTunes (EP2)




The Orange Opera-Land of Tall. The Orange Opera is led by Kevin Hambrick, who has written hundred of songs over the years and was even featured in a documentary about being a musician in Fort Wayne, Indiana. His experience shows in his intricate popcraft, which fits in thematically with the two artists featured above as piano-based indie pop. Opener "Coy" is clever and catchy, somewhere in between Ben Folds and The Format, and "Happy" fits that bill as well. And don't miss "We Were Laughing", which is McCartney's "Nineteen Hundred & Eight Five" meets Jellyfish.

CD Baby | iTunes

Weekend Roundup.

Greg-Ieronimo-Bipolar Love. About once a week, I sift through the latest releases on CD Baby. It's a somewhat painstaking process that takes a couple of hours, and as the saying goes you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find a prince. But coming across debuts as tight and power popping like Greg Ieronimo's debut EP, Bipolar Love, makes the whole enterprise worth it. Ieronimo's crunchy power pop comes in somewhere between Cheap Trick and vintage Weezer, as you'll hear once you click on "Roller Coaster Ride" below. The more jaunty yet rocking "Catch Me" has a hint of Jellyfish to it, as does the more acoustic guitar-based "Lucky Day". There's not a bad track among the seven featured here - "Home" recalls Foo Fighters in power pop mode, and "Goodbye Love" is a Beatlesque treat. One of the best debuts I've heard in months, if not years, Bipolar Love will be extremely tough to dislodge from my top of my 2014 year-end EP list.

CD Baby | iTunes



Damp-Damp. Damp is a guy named Ryan from Oregon (that's about all the biographical information I could glean) who makes some highly melodic indie pop on his debut album. Although it's primarily piano-based, Damp's music is more Shins or Ben Kweller than Ben Folds as demonstrated by opening duo of "Time" and "What's to Come from What Has Been", a pair of gorgeous tracks. Although these two tracks might lead you to believe he's a bit earnest and straightforward, there's plenty of playfulness on display here as well, from the almost-vaudeville piano of "Ye Ol' Bitch" to the baroque pop of "What's Wrong, Oh So Wrong" to the (actual) blues of "Cherry Pickin' Blues" to the catchy-yet-kazoo backed "I'm Thinking of You". This a an audacious, fun debut that also makes my panning for gold on CD Baby worth it.

CD Baby | iTunes | Official site (w/a few full-length tracks)

Weekend Roundup.

The Mike Benign Compulsion-Here's How it Works. Our favorite Milwaukee power-poppers are back with their third - and best - album to date. Benign & Co. perfect their Squeeze/Elvis Costello-styled pop with tracks like "Mrs. Kean" (which has a bit of Ray Davies to it), the stomping "Haley Daley" and the minor chords of "No Dumb Luck". Plus, to make the Elvis C comparison complete Benign throws in a track called "Imperial Bedroom" which would make the man himself proud. You won't find this one on CD (unless you burn one yourself), it's digital download and vinyl-only. That's just how it works.

CD Baby | iTunes | Bandcamp



Ed Woltil-Paper Boats. Ed Woltil has been a mainstay of Tampa Bay area power pop scene, most recently as one-half of The Ditchflowers, who turned in a couple of top-notch albums over the last 5-6 years. This time around Woltil goes for a bit more intimate, laid-back sound on his solo excursion, not unlike label mate Steve Robinson. So while you may not dance to these tunes, their craft is impeccable from the beguiling opener "Algebra" and its catchy chorus to the lovely "In Plain Sight" to the lightly bluesy "Someone Else's Life". This is grown-up pop for fans of artists like David Mead, Josh Rouse and Neil Finn, but how many teens are reading this anyway?

CD Baby | iTunes



Gen Pop-Waiting for Disaster. Guess it's Wisconsin day at Absolute Powerpop, since in additional to Mike Benign these pop/rockers hail from the Cheese State as well. Their debut disc is warm and catchy with a hint of The Lemonheads and The Gin Blossoms' style of 90s power pop. Opener "Warm Sun" will draw you in while the quirky "You Scare Me" will bring Weezer to mind. Meanwhile the standout here is "Top of the World", a midtempo number that sounds like it could have been a hit for somebody about 20 years ago. A promising debut that you can name your price for on Bandcamp.

CD Baby } Bandcamp | iTunes

Two Four for Tuesday, 2/18/14

To make up for no new posts last week, I'll double the usual two featured discs with a quick look at four:

Shake Some Action!-Catch the Sun. James Hall is back again with another collection of top-drawer jangle-pop with Catch the Sun, his fifth full-length as Shake Some Action!. "Colors Exploding" is just as groovy as its title implies,
"Wait for the Summer" is the kind of 60s/70s power pop that Hall does best, and "Moonlight Mind" jangles so hard it would make Roger McGuinn jealous. You know what you're getting with an SSA album, and you're getting more of it this time around.

CD Baby | iTunes



The Rationales-Dream of Fire EP. Also back with new material are The Rationales, who bring us a strong 5-track EP this time around. As before, they offer up a mix of power pop and Americana with leadoff track "Drunk All the Time" a great Tom Petty-esque raver with a memorable chorus and the Replacements-styled "Last Words" the standouts here.

CD Baby | ITunes



Ryan VanDordrecht-Beast of Love. Upon the release of his debut EP in 2009 I wrote the usual "can't wait for the full length" comment, and lo and behold five years later here it is. This Portland musician specializes in tuneful pop/rock with a touch of Americana and the top tracks here are the anthemic Jayhawks/Gin Blossoms-like "Great American Life", the jangly "Wild Ones" and the 70s-styled rocker "You Got a Hold on Me". Good stuff here.

CD Baby | iTunes



Preston Cochran-Waiting for the Day. This is the third album for Virginia's Preston Cochran, but the first that caught my ear. Cochran has a slick yet tuneful adult-contemporary sound that brings the likes of Matt Nathanson and Graham Colton to mind. My favorites here are the laid-back "Shoes in the Sun", the melodic title track, and the midtempo gem "Footnotes", which reminds me of Josh Rouse. A bit more "pop" than "power pop", but definitely worth a listen.

CD Baby | iTunes

Two for Thursday, 2/6/14

The Autumn Defense-Fifth. The Autumn Defense is somewhat of a "bigger" band than I usually feature on this site, being a side project of Wilco's John Stirratt and Pat Sansone. Nevertheless their last release, 2010's Once Around, topped my year-end list and Fifth will be a strong contender for this year's as well. On their first three albums, they couldn't decide whether to be Bread or the Gary Louris-led version of The Jayhawks and they finally synthesized that difference on Once Around. Fifth continues that trend with a strong stylistic voice that will appeal to power poppers and country rockers alike. "None of This Will Matter" might be quintessential AD track, with its pop sensibility, easy melody and swelling chorus. The same applies to "I Can See Your Face" as well, while "I Want You Back" finds them in Pernice Brothers chamber-pop territory. And they really hit their stride on the piano-backed "Calling Your Name" which has a hint of the Beatlesque about it, and the jangly "Things on My Mind". Kool Kat is offering up on a deal on this with 2 bonus discs, so check it out.

Kool Kat | iTunes




Finest Grain-Can't Control It. I had the previous album from this Indianapolis band in my iTunes library but it didn't motivate me enough to write about it. That's changed with their latest, a real step forward that's a catchy and crunchy collection of "heartland power pop". The infectious "Back to You" opens things up, recalling The Gin Blossoms and The BoDeans, while the rollicking title track and "Again and Again" bring The Old 97s to mind. Other standouts include the near-ballad "Smile" and the wonderful "Hands are Tied", which recalls Big Star's janglier moments. It's always nice when a band you kind of like puts out an album you really like, and Finest Grain has done it here.

CD Baby | iTunes

I don't have an embed, but you can listen to whole thing here.

Weekend Roundup.

Bubble Gum Orchestra-The Discovery. A 2013 release I missed was the latest from Michael Hildebrandt, a/k/a Bubble Gum Orchestra. As there haven't been any hints of Bleu and Mike Viola reconstituting L.E.O., this is where you'll have to get your fix of new "ELO" music. As on his previous releases, Hildebrandt is anything but subtle with his ELO homages and the title of this disc alone indicates that. So it wouldn't be a surprise that the best track on the disc is an "Evil Woman"-styled proto-disco/rock track called "Evil, Evil Girl". Other treats include ihe jaunty "Lovely Days, Lovely Nights", which has a hint of "Mr. Blue Sky" about it; the frenetic "There Goes My Baby", and the catchy "Until You Say Go". Fun stuff, and since Jeff Lynne isn't going to be walking through that door anytime soon, a must for ELO fans.

CD Baby | iTunes

Sell Music online at ReverbNation.com

Baby Scream-Greatest Failures. Juan Pablo Mazzola has had enough releases as Baby Scream to warrant his first-ever compilation, which he's self-deprecatingly titled Greatest Failures. While they may be "failures" from a commercial perspective, there's no failure of quality here and for those who have until now been immune to the charms of his Lennon-esque musical stylings this is a great opportunity to catch up. Thanks to Bandcamp, you can visit (or re-visit) all these tracks yourself, but if you want to know my favorites they're the languid "Mars", the sneering rocker "Every Day (I Die a Little Bit)", the gentle and melodic "The Riots", and the twisty "Nicole". How does the old song go? "I scream, you scream, we all scream for Baby Scream".

Bandcamp | iTunes

David Bash's Best of 2013, Part 2.

Here are the remainder of the 2013 lists from David Bash. All comments are his:

III. Top 2 Compilations-Single Artist

1. The Grip Weeds-Inner Grooves (Rare And Under-Released Tracks) (Ground Up)
2. Ben Jones-Retrospective: A Collection (Self-Released)

IV. Top 5 Compilations-Various Artists

1. International Pop Overthrow Vol. 16 (Pop Geek Heaven)
2. Christmas Without Cancer (Vandalay)
3. Sweet Relief 3: Love Is Everywhere (Jam)
4. Power Pop Planet Volume Two: 30 Bands, 30 Smiles (Pop Geek Heaven)
5. Pop Garden Radio Presents The Rock On The Road Show Season 4 (Pop Garden Radio)

V. Top 4 Tribute Discs

1. Drink A Toast To Innocence: A Tribute To Lite Rock (Self-Released)
2. The Records Tribute: Starry Eyed (Zero Hour)
3. Skrang: Sounds Like Bobby Sutliff (Cool Dog)
4.. Pop Garden Radio Presents: Legacy/A Tribute To Rick Nelson Vol. 1 (Pop Garden Radio)

VI. Biggest Disappointment

Fitz And The Tantrums-More Than Just A Dream (Elektra)

VII. 2014 Releases I’ve Heard And Am Excited About (In Alphabetical Order)

Note: some of these have been available for download in 2013, but a little birdie told me that these will be released as physical product in 2014…so that’s why they’re in this category. I’m always going to favor physical product, and so if there’s a physical release, that’s the year in which they will be ranked. I want to do my part, small as it is, to keep the physical release alive and well. 

The Belltower-Day Breakaway
Adrian Bourgeois-Pop/Art
The Cry-Dangerous Games
The Fast Camels-Dead Rooms And Battery Dreams
Peter Fedofsky-False Ties and Nice Hoods
Jimmy Haber-New Bondi Hippies
The Hot Place-The Language Of Birds
The Len Price Three-Nobody Knows
The Brothers Restaino-Have Issues
Valley Lodge-Use Your Weapons

Reissue Categories

For this category, at least one of the following criteria must be met for the album to qualify:

a. those that are on CD for the first time
b. those that had been previously issued, but are now out of print or difficult to find
c. those in whose current issue have lots of bonus tracks, or some other unique feature
d. those reissued on LP where they never had been
e. those which were previously unreleased but are “old” enough to where they should be considered reissues.

A CD or LP which contains exclusively previously unrelesed material which is not from current times is still considered a “reissue” in my ranking structure.

With the above in mind, while quality is the major factor in determining the rankings, other factors such as number and type of bonus tracks, liner notes, sound quality, etc…do come into play.

I. Top 50 Proper Albums

1. XTC-Nonsuch: The Surround Sound Series (Ape House)
2. Chilliwack-Lights From The Valley (Mushroom)
3. The Mamas & The Papas-The Mamas & The Papas (Sundazed)
4. Abba-Ring Ring: Deluxe Edition (Polar)
5. Tee Set-Emotion: The Album, The Rarities (Pseudonym)
6. Tears For Fears-The Hurting: Deluxe Edition (Universal)
7. Los Brincos-Contrabando (El)
8. Ian McNabb-Truth And Beauty (Cherry Red)
9. The Vogues-Sings The Good Old Songs And Other Hits (WEA International)
10. The Serendipity Singers-Love Is A State Of Mind: Deluxe Stereo/Mono Edition (Now Sounds)
11. The Sugar Shoppe-The Sugar Shoppe (Now Sounds)
12. Dave Edmunds-Subtle As A Flying Mallet: Expanded Edition (RPM)
13. The Supremes-Sing Holland, Dozier, Holland (Culture Factory)
14. Small Faces-There Are But Four Small Faces (Varese Sarabande)
15. Bananarama-Bananarama (Rhino/Edsel)
16. Chilliwack-Dreams, Dreams, Dreams (Mushroom)
17. The Mamas & The Papas-Deliver (Sundazed)
18. The Alan Parsons Project-I Robot (Legacy)
19. The Boys-Alternative Chartbusters (Fire)
20. Family-Bandstand (Snapper)
21. The Kinks-Muswell Hillbillies: Deluxe Edition (Universal)
22. Reggie King-Looking For A Dream (Circle)
23. We All Together-We All Together (Repsychled)
24. Nektar-Down To Earth (Purple Pyramid)
25. R.E.M.-Green: Deluxe Edition (Rhino)
26. Sandie Shaw-Reviewing The Situation (Salvo)
27. Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera-Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera (Grapefruit)
28. The Seeds-A Web Of Sound (Ace/Big Beat)
29. The Association-The Association: Deluxe Expanded Edition (Now Sounds)
30. FM-Black Noise (Esoteric)
31. The Gods-Genesis (Esoteric)
32. Hep Stars-It’s Been A Long, Long Time: Expanded Edition (RPM)
33. Richard Barone-Cool Blue Halo (Digsin)
34. The Seeds-Future (Ace/Big Beat)
35. The Primitives-Lovely (Cherry Red)
36. Bananarama-Deep Sea Skiving (Rhino/Edsel)
37. The Flaming Ember-Westbound # 9 (Solid)
38. The Boys-The Boys (Fire)
39. The Blue Aeroplanes-Beatsongs: Deluxe (Cherry Red)
40. Spirogyra-Bells, Boots, and Shambles (Esoteric)
41. The Gods-To Samuel A Son (Esoteric)
42. The Seeds-The Seeds (Ace/Big Beat)
43. Doris-Did You Give The World Some Love Today Baby (RPM)
44. The Bongos-Phantom Train (Jem)
45. Fairfield Ski-Fairfield Ski (Guerssen)
46. Kenny O’Dell-Beautiful People (Real Gone Music/Varese Sarabande)
47. The Headboys-The Lost Album (Pop Detective)
48. Sly & The Family Stone-There’s A Riot Goin’ On (Sony)
49. Barclay James Harvest-Turn Of The Tide (Esoteric)
50. Alan Munson-Good Morning World (Guerssen)

II. Top 10 Two-Fers, Three-Fers, Four-Fers, and Five-Fers: Proper Albums

1. Paul Revere & The Raiders-Something Has Happened! 1967-1969 (Raven)
2. Badfinger-Badfinger/Wish You Were Here/In Concert At The BBC 1972-3 (Edsel)
3. Greenfield & Cook-Greenfield & Cook/Second Album (Universal)
4. Paul Revere & The Raiders-Evolution To Revolution: 5 Classic Albums (Raven)
5. The Bee Gees-The Festival Albums Collection 1965-67 (Festival)
6. The Strawberry Alarm Clock-Incense And Peppermints/Wake Up…It’s Tomorrow (Tune In)
7. Little Anthony & The Imperials-On A New Street/Hold On (Soul Music)
8. The Swimming Pool Q’s-The A&M Years 1984-1986: The Swimming Pool Q’s/Blue Tomorrow (Bar None)
9. Lake-Lake/Lake II/Paradise Island (BGO)
10. Tommy James and The Shondells-Hanky Panky/It’s Only Love/I Think We’re Alone Now (BGO)

III. Top 25 Compilations, Single Artist

1. Michael Fennelly-Love Can Change Everything: Demos 1967-1972 (Sundazed)
2. The Beatles-On Air: Live At The BBC 2 (Capitol Universal)
3. The Beatles-Live At The BBC (Capitol Universal)
4. Pete Ham-Keyhole Street: Demos 1966-67 (Without You Music)
5. Big Star-Nothing Can Hurt Me (Omnivore)
6. Pezband-Dangerous People: Unreleased Tracks and Demos 1979 (Air Mail)
7. Del Shannon-The Complete UK Singles (and More) 1961-1966 (Ace)
8. The Three O’Clock-The Hidden World Revealed (Omnivore)
9. The Stained Glass-A Scene In-Between 1965-1967 (Big Beat)
10. Giorgio Moroder-Schlagermoroder Vol. 1: 1966-1975 (Repertoire)
11. The Paley Brothers-The Complete Recordings (Real Gone Music)
12. The Fourmyula-Inside The Hutt: New Zealand’s Pop/Psych Kingpins 1968-1969 (RPM)
13. The Aardvarks-Sinker, Line & Hook: The Anthology 1987-1999 (Cherry Red)
14. The Bee Gees-Morning Of My Life: The Best Of 1965-66 (Festival)
15. Neal Ford & The Fanatics-Good Men (Big Beat)
16. Jellyfish-Radio Jellyfish: Live Radio Broadcasts 1993 (Omnivore)
17. The Fleur De Lys-You’ve Got To Earn It (Acid Jazz)
18. Tim Andrews-Something About Suburbia: The Sixties Sounds (RPM)
19. The Primitives-Everything’s Shining Bright: The Lazy Recordings 1985-1987 (Cherry Red)
20. Honey LTD.-The Complete LHI Recordings (Light In The Attic)
21. John’s Children-A Strange Affair: The Sixties Recordings (Grapefruit)
22. Tandyn Almer-Along Comes Tandyn (Sundazed)
23. Lynsey De Paul-Sugar and Beyond: Anthology 1972-1974 (RPM)
24. Ruthann Friedman-Windy: A Ruthann Friedman Songbook (Now Sounds)
25. Athenor-Flashback (Guerssen)

IV. Top 15 Compilations, Various Artists

1. Mixed Up Minds, Part Seven: Obscure Rock & Pop From The British Isles 1969-1974 (Particles)
2. Book A Trip 2: More Psych Pop Sounds Of Capitol Records (Now Sounds)
3. Power Pop Prime Volume Three: 2000-2001 (Pop Geek Heaven)
4. Era Northern Soul (Kent)
5. Pop Muzik: The Stories Of 70s Pop (Universal)
6. Fading Yellow-Volume Fifteen: Sunshowers U.S./Canadian Pop Psych & Other Delights (Flower Machine)
7. Alice In Wonderland: The Great Lost Southern Popsike Trip (Charly)
8. Piccadilly Sunshine Part Fourteen: British Pop Psych And Other Flavours 1965-1969 (Particles)
9. Piccadilly Sunshine Part Fifteen: British Pop Psych And Other Flavours 1967-1971 (Particles)
10. Born To Be Together: The Songs Of Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil (Ace)
11. 94 Baker Street Revisited: Poptastic Sounds From The Apple Era 1967-1968 (RPM)
12. Sophisticated Boom Boom!-The Shadow Morton Story (Ace)
13. Mixed Up Minds, Part Six: Obscure Rock & Pop From The British Isles 1971-1974 (Particles)
14. Piccadilly Sunshine Part Thirteen: British Pop Psych And Other Flavours 1967-1970 (Particles)
15. Piccadilly Sunshine Part Sixteen: British Pop Psych And Other Flavours 1966-1972 (Particles)

V. Top 25 Box Sets: Single Artist

1. The Beach Boys-Made In California: 1962-2012 (Capitol)
2. The Moody Blues-Timeless Flight (Universal)
3. Sparks-New Music For Amnesiacs: The Ultimate Collection (Lil’ Beethoven)
4. Nilsson-The RCA Albums Collection (Sony Music)
5. Four Tops-50th Anniversary: The Singles Collection 1964-1972 (Hip-O-Select)
6. Yes-The Studio Albums 1969-1987 (Warner Music)
7. Sly and The Family Stone-Higher! (Sony)
8. Fleetwood Mac-Rumours (Warner Bros.)
9. The Monkees-Present (Rhino)
10. The Shadows-The Early Years Expanded Edition: Their Complete Studio Recordings 1959-1966 (Parlophone)
11. The Zombies-In Stereo (Repertoire)
12. Scott Walker-Scott: The Collection 1967-1970 (Universal)
13. Family-Once Upon A Time (Snapper)
14. *Fleetwood Mac: 1969-1972 (Rhino)
15. Showaddywaddy-The Complete Studio Recordings 1973-1988 (Edsel)
16. Donovan-Breezes of Patchouli: His Studio Recordings 1966-1969 (EMI)
17. The Who-Tommy: Superdeluxe (Universal)
18. Marc Bolan at The BBC: Radio Sessions and Broadcasts 1967-1977 (Universal)
19. Van Morrison-Moondance: Deluxe Edition (Rhino)
20. Leo Sayer-The Complete Studio Recordings 1971-2006 (Edsel)
21. Duane Allman-Skydog: The Duane Allman Retrospective (Universal)
22. Stephen Stills-Carry On (Rhino)
23. Paul McCartney and Wings-Wings Over America: Superdeluxe (Hear Music)
24. Elvis Presley-Elvis At Stax: Deluxe Edition (Legacy)
25. Be Bop Deluxe-At The BBC 1974-1978 (Parlophone)

VI. Top 10 Box Sets: Various Artists

1. Lee Hazlewood Industries-There’s A Dream I’ve Been Saving 1966-1971 (Light In The Attic)
2. The Sound Of Young America: The Complete Motown Singles Vol. 12 A 1972 (Hip-O-Select)
3. The Sound Of Young America: The Complete Motown Singles Vol. 12 B 1972 (Hip-O-Select)
4. The Millennium-At Last (Sony Japan)***
5. Oh Yes We Can Love: A History Of Glam Rock (Universal)
6. Love, Poetry and Revolution: A Journey Through The British Psychedelic and Underground Scene 1966 to 1972 (Grapefruit)
7. Scared To Get Happy: A Story Of Indie-Pop 1980-1989 (Cherry Red)
8. Cooler Than Ice-Arctic Records and The Rise Of Philly Soul (Jamie/Guyden)
9. Los Nuggetz-‘60s Garage & Psych From Latin America (Rockbeat)
10. Looking Good-75 Femme Mod Soul Nuggets (RPM)

***was released in Japan only in Sept. 2012, but I decided to rank it in 2013 because nobody I know, including me, had been aware of it until 2013. I know it doesn’t look like a various artists box, but it includes all the solo issues by various members of The Millennium.

VII. Top 5 Reissue Labels

1. Ace/Big Beat
2. Now Sounds
3. Particles
4. Hip-O-Select
5. RPM

David Bash's Best of 2013.

Once again we're happy to bring you the Best-of-2013 lists from David Bash, Mr. International Pop Overthrow. Today I'll run his top album and EP lists, and tomorrow (or Monday) I'll post his miscellaneous lists. As always, as comprehensive as I think I am, I can't hold a candle to David as I see numerous releases that passed me by this year, and so like many of you I have a lot of discovery ahead of me. I'll turn it over to David now, with this prefatory comments that I wholeheartedly agree with regarding late-year releases:

Those marked with an * are LP-only releases, those with a **are download-only.

I. Top 100 Albums

As always, I listened to a lot of albums this year, and there were significantly more than 100 which I thought were quality discs. I could have extended this list to 200 and still liked what I’ve heard, but after 100 I decided to stop as I had a difficult time distinguishing between, e.g. 101 and 110. Anyway, if you released an album this year and it’s not on my list, it certainly doesn’t mean I didn’t think it was good. 

There may be a handful of albums on this list which appear to be from 2012, or in fact were “released” at the tail end of last year. As anal as I am in making my lists, I also feel the need to be sensible about this issue, and rank these albums in 2013. As it is with most indie releases, it takes a few months for awareness to be created, and if I don’t follow what sense dictates, I am left with two alternatives, neither of which are viable to me:

a. I wait until June of a given year to post my list of the best of the previous year, when nobody cares anymore.
b. These albums simply never get ranked, which would be a damn shame.

So, I choose to do it this way. If you want to scream bloody murder that some of my fave albums of 2013 were “released” in late 2012 (“released” is in quotes, because often that means a download on the artist’s bandcamp page), then by all means, get your jollys. Me, I’m going to do what makes sense.

1. Mothboxer-Three (Self-Released)
2. Ben Jones & The Rifle Volunteers-Shangri La (Rifle Tone)
3. Nick Piunti-13 In My Head (Self-Released)
4. The Maureens-The Maureens (Self-Released)
5. The Grapes Of Wrath-High Road (Aporia)
6. Lee And The Lovedaddies-Lee And The Lovedaddies (Self-Released) *
7. The Resonars-Crummy Desert Sound (Burger) *
8. Neighbours-Prime Numbers (Get Hip)
9. Shake Some Action!-Full Fathom Five (Sattelite 451)
10. Alfa 9-Gone To Ground (Blow Up)
11. The Nines-The Nines (TAS Gold)
12. Glenn Case-Throw Money (Self-Released)
13. Wiretree-Get Up (Self-Released)
14. Miles Kane-Don’t Forget Who You Are (Sony)
15. Phenomenal Cat-Postcards From The British Empire (Self-Released)
16. Greg Pope-Pop Motion Animation (Octoberville)
17. Liar’s Club-Come And Go (Charlatan)
18. Surf School Dropouts-Summer Is A State Of Mind (Sunny Day) *
19. Eureka Machines-Remain In Hope (Wrath)
20. Ulysses-Kill You Again (Black Glove)
21. Agony Aunts-Big Cinnamon (Mystery Lawn Music)
22. The Cherry Bluestorms-Bad Penny Opera (Roundhouse)
23. Groovy Uncle featuring Suzi Chunk-One Vowel Away From The Truth (Trouserphonic)
24. Mikal Cronin-MC II (Merge)
25. The Sun Sawed In ½-Elephants Into Swans (Self-Released)
26. King Washington-The Overload (Self-Released)
27. The Connection-Let It Rock! (King Yum)
28. Brendan Benson-You Were Right (Readymade)
29. The Most-Auto Destructive Art (CopaseDisques)
30. Eric Barao-Eric Barao (Self-Released)
31. The Popdogs-Cool Cats For Pop Dogs (Self-Released)
32. Radio Days-Get Some Action (Rock Indiana)
33. Adam Marsland-The Owl And The Full Moon (Karma Frog)
34. London Egg-If It Takes Forever (Self-Released)
35. Michael Mazzarella-Love In Laureltide Green (Angelica)
36. The Bottle Kids-Such A Thrill (Kool Kat)
37. Vegas With Randolph-Rings Around The Sun (Caged Giant)
38. Dynamo Bliss-Poplar Music (Self-Released)
39. The Cherry Drops-Everything’s Groovy (Musick)
40. Jacco Gardner-Cabinet Of Curiosities (Trouble In Mind)
41.Stephen Lawrenson-Obscuriosity (Kool Kat)
42. Harper Simon-Division Street (PIAS)
43. The Orange Peels-Sun Moon (Mystery Lawn)
44. The Playmates-Soul Cookin’ (Green River)
45. Wyatt Funderburk-Novel And Profane (JollyRonnie)
46. Phil Angotti-Life And Rhymes (ouR House)
47. Lisa Mychols-Above, Beyond & In Between (Vandalay)
48. Paul Bertolino-Where The Buildings Hit The Sky (Self-Released)
49. Raymond Meade-Fables And Follies (Self-Released)
50. Schnauser-Where Business Meets Fashion (Self-Released)
51. Maxi Dunn-Edmund & Leo (Dabooboo)
52. Scissors & The Cuts-3 July (Trashy Creatures)
53. Gleeson-Gleeson II (Almost There)
54. Andy Klingensmith-Pictures Of (Futureman) **
55. The Mergers-Monkey See Monkey Do! (Soundflat)
56. David Brookings-The Maze (Byar)
57. Laurie Biagini-Sanctuary Of Sound (Self-Released)
58. Colleen Green-Sock In To Me (Hardly Art)
59. 8x8-Azalia’s Room (Self-Released)
60. Dana Countryman-Pop! The Incredible, Fantastic Retro Pop World Of… (Self-Released)
61. The Yum Yums-…Play Good Music (Screaming Apple) *
62. The Histrionics-Cannon (Self-Released)
63. Third Of Never-Downrising (Jam)
64. John LT-Suburban Superstar (Mother West)
65. Secret Friend-Time Machine (Odd Tunes)
66. Jackdaw4-Dissecticide (Too Many Robots)
67. Bubblegum Orchestra-The Discovery (Out Of This World)
68. Of Montreal-Lousy With Sylvianbriar (Polyvinylrecords)
69. Chris Degnore and The Black Drops-Cinema (Self-Released)
70. The Junior League-You Should Be Happy (Greenleaves)
71. Corin Ashley-New Lion Terraces (Murray Hill)
72. Sugar Stems-Can’t Wait (Screaming Apple) *
73. Smith Westerns-Soft Will (Mom & Pop)
74. The Temponauts-The Canticle Of The Temponauts (Other Eyes)
75. The Bye Bye Blackbirds-We Need The Rain (Self-Released)
76. Tudor Lodge-Stay (Cast Iron)
77. The Tor Guides-Lots Of The Pops! Volume 1: Caught In A Sweet Refrain (Digit)
78. Adam Daniel-Pop Baby (Self-Released)
79. Andrea Perry-Four (Self-Released)
80. Beachwood Sparks-Desert Skies (Alive)
81. Paul McCartney-New (Concord)
82. Fonda-Sell Your Memories (Minty Fresh)
83. Beady Eye-Be (Sony)
84. The 88-Fortune Teller (Self-Released)
85. The Beat Rats-Have Mersey! (Cavern/Kool Kat)
86. Magic Eight Ball-Sorry We’re Late But We’re Worth The Wait (Magic Cat)
87. The American Professionals-We Make It Our Business (Charlie In The Box)
88. Et Tu Brucé-Suburban Sunshine (Worldwide)
89. Joe Symes & The Loving Kind-Joe Symes & The Loving Kind (Truly Independent)
90. Esa Linna-This Is Who I Am (Teosto)
91. Richard X. Heyman-Richard X. Heyman (Turn-Up)
92. The Bamboo Trading Co.-The Bamboo Trading Co. (Self-Released)
93. The Contrast-A Sinister Flick (Angel Air)
94. Nektar-Time Machine (Purple Pyramid)
95. Goodfellows-The Name Of These Girls (Self-Released)
96. Blue Cartoon-Are You Getting On? (Aardvark)
97. JoDee Purkeypile-Messenger (Self-Released)
98. NRWY-Negatives (Self-Released) *
99. Mount Pressmore-Enjoy (Self-Released)
100. Pete MacLeod-Rolling Stone (359 Music)

II. Top 5 EPs

Disclaimer alert: I’m not a big fan of EPs, as they always seem to leave me wanting more. For this reason, I never seek them out the way I do full-length albums, and 2013 was no exception. At the end of 2012 I promised myself that I would more actively seek out EPs, but unfortunately I didn’t. For this reason, I’m limited to a Top 5 that I particularly enjoyed, but please don’t take this list as an end-all be-all; there are plenty of other fine EPs out there!

1. The Junipers-Euphonious Trolley (Self-Released) **
2. honeychain-Futura (Self-Released)
3. The Well Wishers-Dunwoody (That Was My Skull)
4. The Head-Girls & The Yukon (Self-Released)
5. The Real Numbers-1 2 3 4 5 (Self-Released)