Most enjoyed lps 0f 2013

What a year 2013 was for lps!  For a chap with my predilections, the release of a new Pastels record was always going to be the main event and so it transpired.  From the songs which peppered their live shows over the years, I knew with some surety that "Slow Summits" was not going to disappoint, a sense that was only heightened when Annabel Wright's gorgeous sleeve art was revealed early in the year.  And "Slow Summits" is something special: refined, reflective and detailed.  For a while I listened to little else besides.  In Glasgow, it felt as if everyone got wise to the brilliance of Ela Orleans at almost exactly the same time. Her terrific double-lp "Tumult In Clouds" (currently out of print but soon to be re-pressed on her own Parental Guidance Records) was actually released in mid-December 2012 but only came to my attention via a Monorail Records tweet in early 2013 so I've decided to make it eligible for my list.  From the list below, it would appear that Not Unloved had treble in mind with The Mantles, Dick Diver, Ginnels, The Prophet Hens and many more releasing exquisite, jangly guitar saturated lps.  2014 can't possibly be better can it?  We'll see...

1. The Pastels “Slow Summits” (Domino)
2. Amor de Dias “House At Sea” (Merge)
3. Mazzy Star “Seasons of Your Day” (Rhymes of an Hour)
4. Ela Orleans “Tumult In Clouds” (Clan Destine)
5. Golden Grrrls “s/t” (Night School / Slumberland)
6. Veronica Falls “Waiting For Something To Happen” (Bella Union / Slumberland)
7. The Rosy Crucifixion / The Wharves “split” (Soft Power)
8. The Mantles “Long Enough To Leave” (Slumberland)
9. Dream Boys “s/t” (Art Fag)
10. My Bloody Valentine “mbv” (mbv)
11. Jacco Gardner “Cabinet of Curiosities” (Trouble In Mind)
12. Dick Diver “Calendar Days“ (Chapter Music)
13. Ginnels “Plumes” (Tenorio Cotobade)
14. The Focus Group “The Elektrik Karousel” (Ghost Box)
15. Joanna Gruesome “Weird Sister” (Fortuna Pop / Slumberland)
16. The Prophet Hens “Popular People Do Popular People” (Fishrider)
17. Counter Intuits “s/t” (Pyramid Scheme)
18. The Liminanas “Costa Blanca” (Trouble In Mind)
19. Parquet Courts “Light Up Gold” (What’s Your Rupture?)
20. Reiko Kudo “Mikan” (Hiyotan)

(Click the titles to hear a song!)