In alpha order:
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Push the Sky Away
Chvrches - The Bones of What You Believe
Neko Case - The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You
Elvis Costello & The Roots - Wise Up Ghost
Mikal Cronin - MCII
Valerie June - Pushing Against a Stone
The National - Trouble Will Find Me
Queens of the Stone Age - If I had a Tail
Savages - Silence Yourself
Simple Circuit - Simple Circuit
Sweet Talk - Flash of Light
Kurt Vile - Wakin on a Pretty Daze

Reissues:
Digable Planets - Blowout Comb
The Mountain Goats - All Hail West Texas
R.E.M. - Green
Townes Van Zandt - High, Low, and In Between
Scott Walker - The Collection 1967-1970

DC's Delights 2013:
Beats Antique - "Thousand Faces Act I"
Black Angels: Indigo Meadow
D33J - "Tide Songs" (cassette only)
Daedelus - "Drown Out"
Death Grips - "No Love Deep Web"
Express Rising - "Express Rising" 2013
Hawk and a Hacksaw - "You Have Already Gone to the Other World"
Jel - "Late Pass"
M.I.A. - "Matangi"
Pelican - "Forever Becoming"
Russian Circles - "Memorial"
Serengeti/Odd Nosdam - "Kenny Dennis LP"
Sleigh Bells - "Bitter Rivals"
Sole - "No Wising Up No Settling Down"
Why? "Golden Tickets"
Young Fathers - "Tape Two"

NEW TO ME:
Sysyphe - "Running Up That Hill"

In alpha order:
Broadcast - Berberian Sound Studio (OST)
Bill Callahan - Dream River
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Push the Sky Away
Chelsea Light Moving - S/T
Deerhunter - Monomania
Destruction Unit - Deep Trip
Ichi Ni San Shi - Slow Truth
Cate Le Bon - Mug Museum
William Oneyeabor - World Psychedelic Classics (Re-Issue)
Simple Circuit - S/T
Parquet Courts - Light Up Gold
Queens Of The Stone Age - Like Clockwork
Sweet Talk - Pick Up Lines
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - II
Vår - No One Dances Quite Like My Brothers
Wire - Change Becomes Us

IN MEMORY OF ELLIOTT CARTER (December 11, 1908 - November 5, 2012)

BACH: 6 Suites for Cello Solo. Pieter Wispelwey, cello. Evil Penguin Records Classic
EPRC 0012 (542500837754) (2 CDs and 1 bonus DVD).

Wispelwey's decision to adopt the Cothen pitch of A-natural equals 392 wavelengths per second
instead of the standard period pitch of 415 wps or the standard modern pitch of 440 wps led to
performances that seem to convey a timelessness imbued with ancient wisdom, an impression
further enhanced by the greater physicality required to negotiate those thickened strings, the
prominence of Wispelwey's finger work adding to the music's visceral impact.

BARBER: "An American Romantic" (choral works). Conspirare; Craig Hella Johnson, conductor.
Harmonia mundi HMU 807522 (09304675226) (SACD).

This recording is a wonderful memento of the astonishingly fine live performances of Barber's
choral music Conspirare gave last year--buy it either to relive whichever concert you attended or
to see what you missed, but buy it!

BIRTWISTLE: Complete String Quartets. Arditti Quartet. Aeon AECD 1217 (376005836017).

Though I already own the Arditti Quartet's recording of Birtwistle's 9 Movements for String
Quartet from a decade ago, his 2007 "String Quartet: The Tree of Strings" made too strong an
impression to exclude from this list, and I look forward to further encounters with it. Please can
we now have Birtwistle's Violin Concerto and a domestic release of his "Theseus Game"?

ELGAR/CARTER/BRUCH: Cello Concertos; Kol Nidre. Alisa Weilerstein, cello; Staatskapelle
Berlin; Daniel Barenboim, cond. Decca 02894782735.

It speaks volumes about Weilerstein's growth as a musician that she is the only cellist with whom
Daniel Barenboim has performed Elgar's Cello Concerto since the death of his late cellist wife
Jacqueline Du Pre, who remains the concerto's most revered exponent. As for the inclusion of
Elliott Carter's Cello Concerto between the Elgar and Bruch's Kol Nidre, Barenboim feels that
Carter in his last surge of productivity matched Mozart's knack for writing only the right notes--
remove even one note, and there is diminishment. Carter was a mere 93 when he composed
this concerto, and this is already its third recording in the last 7 years.

FAURE: Piano Quintets Nos. 1 & 2, Op. 89 and Op. 115. Eric Le Sage, piano; Ebene Quartet.
Alpha 602 (376001419602).

Faure's two beloved Piano Quartets, Op. 15 and Op. 45, have long been considered the greatest
of his chamber music masterpieces, yet the older I get the more convinced I am that Faure's
Piano Quintet No. 2 is his greatest chamber work, and Quintet No. 1 only gets better with age as
well. This recording provided me with new insights into works that more people likely would rank
more highly if they listened to them with the same frequency as the Quartets

NORGARD: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2; Spaces of Time. Peter Herresthal, violin; Stavanger
Symphony Orchestra; Rolf Gupta, cond. BIS 1872 (67575403716).

Per Norgard's 80th birthday (July 13th) has been celebrated with numerous CD releases,
yet though he is my favorite living composer I am ashamed to say that I have
fallen way behind in purchasing them all, so to only put one of them on this list is
downright shameful. I own every recording that has been made of both of these concertos,
and as with the Faure quintets they only get better with age, though the second
concerto will take you longer to assimilate.

RIHM: "Astralis" (choral works). RIAS Kamerchor; Hans-Christoph Radermann, cond.
Harmonia mundi HMC 902129 (314902021292).

The music of Wolfgang Rihm, who celebrated his 60th birthday this year (March 13th),
is at its most consistently communicative when it involves the human voice, the two
largest works on this CD, "Siebens Passions-Texte" and "Astralis", being no exception, the
latter including an unearthly cello and the occasional very discreet contributions of the
timpani.

"Vox Clamantis". Filia Sion; Jaan-Eik Tulve, cond. ECM 2244 (02894764499).

This impressive and beautiful ECM debut recording by the Estonian vocal ensemble Filia
Sion offers a wide variety of sources for medieval chant settings that had me under its
spell from the very first note to the very last--wish all my dreams were like this recording!
REISSUE OF THE YEAR

"Richter the Enigma" (documentary about pianist Sviatoslav Richter). Euroarts/idealeaudience
3073518 (88024273518) (2 DVDs).

Earlier in the year before this DVD was reissued, I watched this documentary on
YouTube over a month of Saturday lunch breaks, via a rather frustrating three or four
eleven-minute segments per Saturday, the picture more often than not lagging behind
the sound. Since the 1970's I have been in love with Richter's playing, yet I became so
fired up all over again that I went on a Richter CD buying spree to fill in gaps in my collection,
in addition to which I probably have listened to every Richter recording I already
own at least once since my viewing experience. (In the book companion to the documentary,
filmmaker Bruno Monsaingeon said that Richter was the only
pianist that every single one of his colleagues agreed was one of the greatest.)

Best heart-wrecking song
“Anything Made of Paper” -- Bill Carter from Unknown
“Elephant” -- Jason Isbell from Southeastern

Best heart-healing song
“Peace of Mind” -- Como Mamas from Get an Understanding
“We the Common” -- Thao & the Get Down Stay Down from We the Common

Best song title (also a great song)
“Don’t Let Me Die In Florida” – Patty Griffin from American Kid

Best Albums
Pick-up Lines -- Sweet Talk
We the Common -- Thao & the Get Down Stay Down
Ghost Go Blind – Ola Podrida
Run the Jewels – El P & Killer Mike

New album better than a 20-year-old band’s greatest hits collections
In Time – The Mavericks
Best old songs sounding new
Sunshine Boy: The Unheard Studio Sessions & Demos ’71/’72 – Townes Van Zandt

Best old songs sounding older
The Jazz Age -- Bryan Ferry Orchestra

Best in-store performances
Carrie Rodriguez (Jan. 22)
Bill Carter (Jan. 29)
Wood & Wire (Feb. 7)
American Sharks (Sep. 17)
Riders Against the Storm (Jul. 2)

Best new release week
February 5 (by a mile)