By Jason Motz
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @musicmerc

About the time that I replaced an interest in Marvel Comic books for books of Jim Morrison’s poetry, and a fresh batch of new cassettes was all I sought in my stocking, Christmas became the most anticipated day of the year for new music and books. As I inch ever closer to my fortieth Christmas (Lord almighty, 40!?) this continues to be the case. I tell my family, no, I do not need anything. But if they insist, well, socks will do. Oh, and the latest boxed edition of 11 remastered CDs by (insert artist here) with a fantastically lavish book and luminous packaging of material I know by heart. But apart from that, I’m good.

Maybe it’s gauche, but the truth is there are few things I am passionate about as buying music and books. And between the gifts that come my way, the hurlyburly of Black Friday’s month-long sales, the now dwindling circus sideshow that is Boxing Day hysteria, and online bargains that would make a Scot squeal, I find myself again, as with every Christmas, re-armed with musical munitions and literary ordinance. I’d buy a book and record a day if economics, living space and a certain common law partner would allow it. So, here is a peek at what Santa and his elves left under my tree this year. Judge me not on my crass consumerism, but my refined taste.

1. The Velvet Underground, White Light/White Heat 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition

Seven songs of proto-skronk in both stereo and mono versions. Garage rock of a most particular age and texture. Buoyed by new mixes, sessional outtakes and an oft-bootleged performance, this is manna for anyone under the sway of the almighty Velvets. For the person who is undaunted by multiple versions of ‘The Gift’, this 3-disc anniversary edition is nothing if not a fitting tribute for one of the poorest-selling long-players to ever influence a zeitgeist.

2. David Bowie Is, by Victoria Broackes and Geoffrey Marsh

A boffo tribute to Bowie’s trousers and skirts, this is more than another rehash of the songs of Ziggy Stardust and the long line of successors whom Bowie has paraded around as. This is a celebration of the visual, textile Bowie, the fashionista Bowie, the Bowie that Iman was no doubt first attracted to. As much a chronicle of blush and rouge as it is a tribute to the sonics of The Thin White Duke, this is a must for those Bowie fans primping for a new addition to their coffee table display.

3. Morrissey, Autobiography by Morrissey, Penguin

The much-anticipated memoir of the Post-Punk answer to Oscar Wilde. Will it prove to be as maniaclly good and award-winning as Dylan’s Chronicles or a befuddling miasma like Neil Young’s Waging Heavy Peace? No doubt it will delight with deliciously droll Mozisms. Surely there will be much baying and bitching about assorted besuited scoundrels, rancorous castigations of former band mates, the fetishizing of Manchester’s sepulchral streets and scathing rebukes to the bestiary of modern celebrity occultism slopped on these Penguin-published pages. Oh, let the dinner bell ring already.

4. Scott Walker, Scott 3

I have long been intrigued by the curt visage and velvet brogue of Scott Walker, and this LP (pressed devotionally in 2008 by 4 Men With Beards) is a handsome endeavor. My education begins, post haste. There is a mythic weight to this record, a depth of feel to the music, and an alien foreboding in the lyrics (and lyricism of Mr. Walker’s voice) that reminds me again why I cannot listen to Eddie Vedder. 21st century society has not caught up to Mr. Walker.

5. Tunji Oyelana, A Nigerian Retrospective 1971-79

I went in to a store on Boxing Day looking for a vinyl edition of Willis Earl Beal but wound up with this left-field delight instead. A triple album of old-school African funk? How could I resist? Its heft of weight and skull-shaking funk brilliance has me radiant with delirium. The brain trust of Soundway Records have birthed the new, refined template for archival retrospectives. A must, by God, an absolute must!

6. The Legendary Studio One Records, Original Classic Recordings 1963-80, By Various artists, Soul Jazz Records

The Studio One compilations are treasures in any format but these vinyl pressings, more yellow than Big Bird after a bad curry, are smartly packaged with insightful liners. And every slice here, from Horace Andy to The Skatalites, Ernest Ranglin to Freddy Mckay, is a thick dollop of proper reggae. Kudos to Soul Jazz Records for their continued excellence! (I’ll gladly review any package you care to send me.)

7. Jazz Covers vol. 1 and 2, by Joaquin Paulo, Ed. Julius Wiedemann, Taschen

As well as being pound for pound the heaviest book set in my collection (the equivalent of an Encyclopdia Britannica that has consumed a full adult rhino, give or take a metric ton), this book is an explosion of unique and rare covers from all eras of jazz.Coltrane is there, so is Billie. There’s Bud Shank, Johnny Lytle and The Elmo Hope Trio. I look forward to the day when next my back fails me, or the winter flu places me in enforced recuperation for a few days, so that I can take the time to fondle each of the luxurious 400-plus pages of this lurid and sophisticated, uptown and low down, cool and modal pictorial to that greatest of all American inventions.

Compiled by the editors of Vivoscene

Shane Abram Nelken
Singer-songrwriter

You might think this survey would not be very difficult, but it is nearly impossible. Not because I couldn’t decide on anything but because I basically live the life of a joyless shut-in and feel utterly disconnected to most current music/movies, etc. Having said that, and being that I’m a fan and friend of the good folks at Vivoscene I shall try to submit something. — Shane Abram Nelken

What are your favourite albums of 2013?
I liked Late Riser by the Abramson Singers, Devoted, the music of Robert and Clara Schumann by Sarah Hagen, but mostly I just listened to older music in 2013: Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Mahalia Jackson, Ray Price, and the Everly Brothers.

What are your favourite films of 2013?
I liked Amore by Michael Haneke, I also liked the surreal-y entertaining Escape From Tomorrow by Randy Moore as well as The Master by P.T.Anderson.

What was your favourite live performance from 2013?
The VSO celebration of Stravinsky. 100th anniversary of ‘The Rite of Spring’, also on the program was ‘The Firebird Suite’ and music from the ballet Petrouchka.

What’s an album from 2013 that everyone should know about? Your War Is At Home by Shane Abram Nelken. Buy it. The purchase is bound to please at least one of us.

What’s a song from 2013 that you adored?
‘I’m Waiting Here’ David Lynch and Lykke Li ( I don’t know about ‘adored’ but I love both of these artists so to hear them together was great).

What’s a song/single from 2013 that made you nauseous?
If I start to write about the singles/songs that make me nauseous I will cover this laptop in my own ‘sick’ and be unable to continue with the survey

What musical artist or band really grabbed your attention this year and why?
Lou Reed. He has always held my attention but losing him in 2013 really forced everyone to step back and appreciate the enormous wealth of inspiration he left for us.

Watch David Lynch and Lykke Li’s ‘I’m Waiting Here’

DAVID WARD
Singer-songwriter

Top Gig: Downtown stage opening weekend of the Vancouver International Jazz Festival.

Top Read: East of Eden by John Steinbeck.

Top Interview: I had the chance to interview a lot of fascinating, passionate individuals this year. A few of my favourites have been Martin Mills (head of UK Independent Label Group, Beggars Group), Soweto Kinch (mercury prize nominated jazz/hip hop artist), Gregory Porter (soul/jazz singer), Stewart Parsons (creator of Get it Loud in Libraries). I urge people to check out what these individuals are doing.

Top Album: impossible to say at the moment but I love Reflektor by Arcade Fire and Anna Calvi One Breath.

Top Podcast: Gilles Peterson Worldwide – show on Bobby Womack

Top Radio live show: Gregory Porter at Performance Works. So much heart. So much soul.

Top film : Just saw Captain Philips. Tom Hanks turns in a stunning performance. Also caught Metropolis for the first time. Incredible to see how much arts and culture that film has influenced.

Watch the video for Arcade Fire’s ‘Reflektor’

Kristy-Lee Audette
Synthcake

What are your favourite albums of 2013?
Rykka (Peak Performance 2013 winner), her album Kodiak is pretty stellar. And she puts on a fantastic show. Lorde‘s Pure Heroine. She’s this crazy articulate teenager from New Zealand, and she’s a total weirdo. Two thumbs up. Surprise, surprise I’m a big David Bowie fan, so his The Next Day has to be on this list. For those chill quiet times, James Blake‘s Overgrown is transcendental, and for the gyrating, pointing at the sky and fist pumping times, Thundercat‘s Apocalypse is pretty mind blowing.
But to be perfectly honest I spent most of the year listening to old Queen albums.

What are your favourite films of 2013?

I lack the attention span for most movies these days, so I watch a lot of cartoons: Season 17 of South Park is out and largely co-written by Bill Hader, one of the funniest people ever. 2013 was also the year of the last Futurama episode. They’ve been cancelled once again, but this hasn’t stopped them before and I hope it doesn’t stop them now. I’m optimistic that Netflix with save them. Also Arrested Development Season 4. These three shows are like my Holy Trinity.

What was your favourite live performance from 2013?

Ponderosa. This was a festival in Rock Creek outside of Osoyoos, it was the inaugural year for the festival and it was a frickin’ riot. Bend Sinister‘s set was my favourite, they’re unbelievable musicians and put on a killer show. They released a video for ‘Hot Blooded Man’ from the live footage of their set, and I can be spotted in a few shots having a really good time.

What’s an album from 2013 that everyone should know about?

Okay, so I’m a bit biased, I recorded trumpet on this album, but Ben Everyman‘s Deprecado is really sweet for a couple of reasons: 1. The music itself; honest, good story-telling folk music with a sense of humour. 2. It comes with an illustrated “choose your own adventure” book.

What’s a song from 2013 that you adored?

I grew up watching Much Music, almost exclusively, so music videos still play a big part in my appreciation of a single. And Beyoncé‘s ‘Bow Down / I Been On’ is visually stunning, and the music is really interesting and creative for pop standards. I’m also a huge Renaissance nerd so it plays on my love of Renaissance fashion and decor pretty hard.

What’s a song/single from 2013 that made you nauseous?

Probably Britney Spears‘ ‘Work B**ch’. Yes I do realize the cliche of ripping on Britney, but this song, coupled with it’s irrelevant and banal music video, actually makes me sick to my stomach. She’s a terrible dancer these days, and they need to stop letting her/making her dance. And seriously, if MY mom ever did anything like this, I’d be so bummed. You’re a mom now, Britney. A mom.

What musical artist or band really grabbed your attention this year and why?

Mark Mills; He’s based out of Alberta, and he puts on one hell of a show. His album, Love Yourself, came out this past year, and it’s him with a drum machine, synths, and guitars, which he all does himself. For his live show, he’s got a lot of it on a backing track, but will bust out the guitar occasionally, but it’s his stage presence and dance moves that will send you to another planet of pure joy and amazement. It’s something that must be seen to be understood.

Watch Bend Sinister’s ‘Hot Blooded Man’

Geoff Howe
Singer-songwriter, producer

1. Queens of the Stone Age – …Like Clockwork
2. David Bowie – The Next Day
3. Haim – Days Are Gone
4. Paul McCartney – New
5. Sky Ferreira - Night Time, My Time
6. Daft Punk – Random Access Memories
7. Phoenix - Bankrupt!
8. Neko Case – The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You
9. Kanye West – Yeezus
10. Artic Monkeys – AM
11. Katy Perry – Prism
12. Miley Cyrus – Bangerz
13. VV Brown – Samson and Delilah
14. Charles Bradley – Victim of Love
15. Fall Out Boy – Save Rock and Roll

Watch the video for Sky Ferreira’s ‘Night Time, My Time’

Elsa Gebremichael,
We Were Lovers

What are your favourite albums of 2013?
Daft Punk – Random Access Memories, Young Galaxy – Ultramarine, Blood Orange – Cupid Deluxe, and Haim – Days Are Gone.

What are your favourite films of 2013? Django Unchained, Mud, Gravity, and Rush.

What was your favourite live performance from 2013?

I think that would be a tie between Shooting Guns album release show at Amigos in Saskatoon and Austra live at Amigos.

What’s an album from 2013 that everyone should know about?

It was actually around the end of last year but it was Renny Wilson, a super talent fella out of Edmonton. I really really dig his album Sugarglider and think everyone should check it out.

What musical artist or band really grabbed your attention this year and why?

Hannah Georgas has been on our radar since we shared the stage with her and Tegan & Sara a couple years ago. After releasing her self-titled album at the end of last year, it wasn’t until this year that we’ve been giving a lot spins and really appreciating it. It’s well written and an all around diverse and lovely album.

Watch the video for Renny Wilson’s ‘Could’ve It Been Me?’

Naomi Kavka
Musician-singer

What are your favourite albums of 2013?

I listened to a whole lot of local bands here in Newfoundland,but most of the albums I listened to this year were total guilty pleasures likes Daft Punk‘s new album, and Yeezus by Kanye West… please don’t judge. I also got into Deertick in a big way, they just released the album Negativity this year. And Iggy Azalea really impressed me at first too, though she managed to water down pretty quickly with her last single. For classical nerds like me, you have to check out Memorial University Professors Nancy Dahn and Tim Steeves, who perform as Duo Concertante. They released an incredibly ambitious album this year, recording every one of Beethoven’s published Sonatas for Violin and Piano. They’re fantastic performers who made their Carnegie Hall Debut this year, and are also my favourite live performance of 2013.

What are your favourite films of 2013?

I really enjoyed The Place Beyond the Pines. Spring Breakers made a huge impression on me definitely not what I was expecting. In terms of strictly eye candy, Star Trek: Into Darkness was fun, though I still think they could tone down the lens flare. For documentaries, I was really deeply affected by Blackfish.

What’s an album from 2013 that everyone should know about?

There’s a great band here in St. John’s called Green & Gold, and they released an album this fall that is fantastic called The Body Knows. They’re doing really great right now, came back from a tour of eastern Canada this fall, and opened for Zeus last week. I’m really hoping they’ll make it out west soon.

What’s a song from 2013 that you adored?

‘Bound 2′ if only for the mock video (by James Franco and Seth Rogen) made about it. I didn’t actually like the song that much.

What’s a song/single from 2013 that made you nauseous?

I’m sure everyone is going to say this, but ‘Blurred Lines’ is definitely up there. Or ‘Don’t You Worry Child’ by Swedish House Mafia. Blechh!

What’s a film from 2013 that everyone should see?

I’m going to have to say Blackfish. It painted a pretty stark (see: realistic) picture of the relationship human beings have with animals they hold captive. I was always creeped out by Sea World-type places, so I hope that anyone who previously held a more glossy happy opinion will have it shattered by that film.

Are there any filmmakers whose films you anticipate and why?

I’m really excited about The Wolf of Wall Street because I have a real soft spot for Scorsese. I haven’t had a chance to see it yet though. So far I have heard really good things, so I’m looking forward to finally watching it.

Watch Duo Contertante perform Beethoven’s Sonata No.9 Op. 47 “Kreutzer”

Peter Gardner
Hawk and Steel

I’ll be the first to admit I’ve gotten terrible about seeking out new music. Which, as a musician trying to convince people to listen to my new music, is I admit, kind of bad form. But as more and more of the modern pop music zeitgeist grows further away from things I “get”, my desire to go hunting for greatness is smaller and smaller. More often than not, I discover, or rediscover a band, that has a catalogue of a dozen albums, and I’ll just delve into their history and that will be more of what I listen to a year.

Nick Ferrio And His Feelings – Half The Time

Nick Ferrio is from Peterborough, Ontario, and to me writes the perfect kind of country leaning music. A nod to the traditional, and a nod to the more modern “alt” country, his songs are something to latch on to, without the perhaps funnies of what, say, Daniel Romano is doing. This two song 7 inch, released on the very cool 7th Fire Records, was produced by Blue Rodeo’s Greg Keeler. It’s two songs are rich, memorable, and damn good.

Daniel Romano – Come Cry With Me

Enough has been written about how Daniel Romano came from punk rock-rooted Attack In Black and is now playing very, very traditional country music. It’s convincing enough that my Mom, a long time country fan didn’t believe me when I showed her the record and that it was released this year. And it’s easy to do. With Romano clad in a Nudie Suit on the cover, and pedal steel weeping throughout, it’s a record that sounds right out of the Waylon Jennings, George Jones era. While at times, almost goofy (‘Chicken Bill’) the record is a true testament that a genre so now far from what it was in it’s prime, can still be honoured by people who are putting art over profit.

Zachary Lucky – The Ballad Of Losing You

The 2013 Canadian country triple threat ends with Zachary Lucky. A king of the road (this guy plays more shows a year than just about anyone I know) has been flirting with country for years in his quiet, mid-tempo folk songs. Fially he’s gone full over, writing a record so full of heartache that they stick with you long after the first listen. It’s also worth mentioning, Pedal Steel player Aaron Goldstein played on this album and the two others mentioned so far. The guy’s a wizard!

The Darcy’s – Warring

I will never understand The Darcy’s success. Or, should I say, the small amount they’ve had. With the complexity of a Radiohead, the ambient perfection of Talk Talk, and vocals reminiscent of TV On The Radio, why this band hasn’t become gigantic in this country boggles my mind. Add the Canadian-cool element of being on Arts & Crafts, it becomes even more perplexing. The follow up to their incredible album Aja, a complete reinvention of Steeley Dan‘s record of the same name, Warring finds the band moving slightly more to pop dynamics, but still keeping the complexity at the core.

Chris Ho – City Of Dust

You can throw a stick and hit five hundred and forty two folk singers in Victoria BC. Just try it one time. So to stand out in that mass of sad people in vests and string instruments, is an accomplishment. Chris has crafted a masterwork of folk-pop songs, that are both catchy, and powerful. Having seen Ho preform live more times than I can count, the songs have grown into themselves even more.

Five others that I listened to a lot

The National – Trouble Will Find Me
Charles Bradley – Victim Of Love
Sam Weber – Shadows In The Road
Jim James – Regions of Light and Sound of God
Stornoway – Tales from Terra Firma

Watch Daniel Romano perform ‘A New Love(Can Be Found)’

prOphecy sun
Interdisciplinary performance artist

What are your favourite albums of 2013?

Aerosol Constellations: http://www.notype.com/drones/bio.e/aerosolconstellation_/
Spell: Lull:http://www.notype.com/drones/cat.e/pan_072/
prOphecy sun: Sleep Fever :http://www.notype.com/drones/cat.e/pan_075/
The Courtneys: http://thecourtneys.bandcamp.com
Gel Nails: The Smell of Detritus

What are your favourite films of 2013?

Star Trek: Into Darkness
Gravity
12 Years a Slave
Her

What’s an album from 2013 that everyone should know about?

prOphecy sun: Sleep Fever. Made while pregnant and sleeping in an intense haze. One track features my unborn child’s heartbeat.

What do you predict, for yourself in 2014? What does the year hold in store?

Getting a residency somewhere cool and making some new videos. A new solo album…another baby?

Watch the trailer for ‘Her’

Jay Arner
Singer-songwriter

2013 was a memorably surreal year in music for me. I “WENT SOLO” and “GOT SIGNED”; my standing rocketed from hopelessly obscure to regular obscure. I participated in the internet-based music scene! It feels a little like a links-manufacturing competiton where we all get steamrolled by Daft Punk. But the sliver of attention you get is nice, and I’d rather work on music than anything else, just trying to make better songs in my weird website nooks. And the touring!!!!!!!! It was fun. Anyway. All this business resulted in very little exposure to music outside my circle of friends. Which is no matter, as it seems like new artists with the assets to force their way into my attention don’t necessarily have the best music behind them. (Has it always been like that?) I don’t mean to generalize. Taste is weird and writing about art like it’s objective is ridiculous. Here are some things I liked this year:

Bobby Draino – Brain Drain
If you like mid-fi acid house recorded through a space echo, that’s what this is.

Aaron Read – Even Rats Can Feel The Sun
I haven’t really heard Sonic Youth but this is what I imagine they’d sound like if I liked them.

New Vaders – Dynamic Traxx Vol. 1
I included New Vaders in my CBC year-end list– I’m getting asked to write a lot of these, it’s weird– and they called it “New Vader.” This is completely unacceptable and I’m here to set the record straight.

Mount Eerie – Pre-Human Ideas
Phil “Don’t Call Me Mr. E” Elverum rerecords his recent output as MIDI preset demos. Solid in concept and execution.

Monomyth - King Does This Not Please You? (Behold the Power)
My favourite EP of the year. Monomyth please make an LP.

Also, things I’ll probably like when I hear them:
Beyoncé – Beyoncé
Pusha T - My Name Is My Name
The Flaming Lips – The Terror
Nicholas Krgovich – Who Cares?

Watch Monomyth perform ’10,000′

2013 will stand out to me forever as one of the most absorbing, heartbreaking, and breathless years at the cinema in some time. My only disclaimer is that the following lineup doesn’t contain any non-fiction films (my 10 Best Documentaries of 2013 list is still being compiled). That said, please enjoy what is represented here, and it’s my hope that at least a few of these films will be new discoveries for you, and that notion has me terribly delighted.

10.Berberian Sound Studio


The second film from British writer/director Peter Strickland (Katalin Varga) is a psychological thriller deeply indebted to 1970s Italian horror films (there’s always room for giallo!). Berberian Sound Studio, which was released in North America in 2013, has held my fascination for months and since seeing it I admit I’m hard-pressed to name another film quite like it. 
Toby Jones is perfectly cast as the befuddled foley artist, Gilderoy, whose sanity, very early on, is thrown into question when he is hired to assist the post-production sound design of an off-kilter horror film, The Equestrian Vortex. Fans of Argento (Suspiria, at least in atmosphere, not body count, is evoked), Bergman (see Persona), De Palma (plot elements of Blow Out ), and Lynch (Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive must have been influences) will rejoice as Strickland strives to satisfy many a cinematic sadist, and I say this affectionately. While Strickland’s carefully assembled film wakens memories of those films I just mentioned, this film is altogether it’s own beast. Where Berberian really excels is at its atmosphere of menace, gloom, and macabre malaise. It’s disjointed and dream-like evolution is as brilliant as it is confounding. Certainly one of the most stylish, subversive, and satisfying surprises of the year, it also clearly announces Strickland as a masterly filmmaker worth following. Astonishing.

9.Escape From Tomorrow

Dark, iconoclastic, cheerfully violent, astonishingly amoral, the Disney dystopia in this anti-materialist and ultra-ingenious (especially considering its low budget) odyssey is as awesome as it is audacious.
Filmed largely in guerrilla fashion, Randy Moore‘s cantankerous film is an instant cult classic.
Escape From Tomorrow could almost be interpreted as one man’s anxiety dream, a strange amalgam of art film, horror, paranoiac thriller, farce, and family road trip; it’s a refreshing, and at times repulsive, rundown. Jim White (a courageous Roy Abramsohn) is a middle-aged mess at the end of a family vacay with a wife who hates him, and kids who resent him at best, in a Walt Disney World gone wrong. As the day unravels, a strange cat flu escapes, Lolita-like temptations persist, ghoulish phantoms flout about, decapitations occur on rickety rides, and conspiracies coalesce (or seem to). It’s an erratic and unstable environment, entertaining and unruly all at once, with a malicious, perhaps misguided sense of play. Tomorrow is a strange specter, a brave remark, and a lively scare all in one fun Ferris wheel.

8.This Is The End

There wasn’t a film that had me doubled-over in laughter, sides screaming, eyes watering, more than Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen‘s audacious apocalyptic comedy, This Is The End. The anarchic energy, rapid-fire self-deprecating dialogue, and often-campy, arrested-adolescence adult relationships summoned the screwball comedies of yesterday (seriously, Howard Hawks and Preston Sturges, if raunchier, would delight in this picture). The cast, a comical cornucopia, is an accomplishment itself, everyone committed to playing cartoon versions of themselves, lampooning their celebrity status and mocking their eccentric pretensions perfectly (Jay Baruchel, James Franco, and Craig Robinson are standouts amongst standouts). This Is The End also features a rich roster of cameos playing overblown versions of themselves (Channing Tatum, and Michael Cera among the most memorable), and the largely improvised ribbing and derision demands multiple viewings. To paraphrase T.S. Eliot, this is the way the world ends, not with a bang, with a snicker.

7.Like Father, Like Son

A tear-jerking and cathartic film about family, fatherhood, and making the right choices, Like Father, Like Son shames most contemporary Hollywood films with its radius and surprising originality. Thoroughly delightful, Hirokazu Koreeda‘s playful and poignant family drama focuses on two families in Tokyo who discover that their six-year-old sons were accidentally switched at birth. Little of what follows between the two households is foreseeable. The patriarchs of the families (brilliantly brought to life by Masaharu Fukuyama and Lily Franky) drive most of the narrative, but this is an ensemble piece, with bravura performances all around, including the children.
By the finish of Like Father, Like Son (which deservedly won the Jury Prize at Cannes), tears of joy and admission have been wept, and wiped away, and maybe even a few of us reached out to our old man, just to let him know we’re doing okay.


6.Frances Ha

Noah Baumbach‘s delectable comedy-drama, co-written with his star, Greta Gerwig, is a self-conscious charmer. Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale, Greenberg), it’s fair to say, may never make another film to match the comic appeal of this one, for Frances Ha, in all its black-and-white glory, seizes the very spirit of the Nouvelle Vague. The youthful dissenter, Frances Halladay (a genius Gerwig) even takes a brief trip to Paris to underscore her Left Bank leanings, as an adrift twenty something, her two temporary male roommates also alludes to a little Jules et Jim jest. It’s vibrancy and natty New York milieu also adds to its up-to-the-minute exuberance.
Frances, a shortsighted but sincere woman, is hard to take at times, but her flaws make her fascinating, and relatable. Who hasn’t embarrassed themselves or kicked themselves for their bad behaviour? We all have and Francis Ha, when not freely diverting us, allows us to laugh at our younger wide-eyed selves.

5.Ain’t Them Bodies Saints

Teeming with visual poetry both pragmatic and romantic, David Lowery‘s achingly radiant Ain’t Them Bodies Saints (even it’s title conjures heartache) is a cinematic marvel. Set in the 1970s, Saints is a colossal cascade of emblematic imagery enclosed in a deceptively smooth tale of an outlaw (a cool and compelling Casey Affleck) on the run, and looking to reconvene with his lover (a radiant Rooney Mara) and daughter. Dogged by the law, some strong-willed lawbreakers, and inescapable adversity, Lowery has given us an old school objet d’art in the fashion of the New Hollywood of the 60s and 70s (Malick’s Days of Heaven, Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde, and Altman’s Thieves Like Us especially).
Cinematographer Bradford Young uses a lyrical pictorialism to create a mythical, magical, hyper-realized yet natural seeming world. Lowery’s script has willful and deliberate disparities that add to the strange yet ingenious thrill of it all. For the attentive viewer and for those who like to get lost in the unfolding of a fine-spun fiction full of grace, this is your picture.

4.Blue Jasmine

Woody Allen‘s late career renaissance continues with Blue Jasmine, a startling and weighty offering. Buoyed by Cate Blanchett‘s brilliant performance and Allen’s strong script, Blue Jasmine works as a compendium of all of Allen’s strengths: wit, danger, cracking dialogue, an all-star cast, shining cinematography, and a surprising amount of sass.
Much has already been made of Blanchett’s turn as the titular Jeanette “Jasmine” Francis, a heroine unlike any other in Allen’s considerable canon. Oh, there are similarities in her WASP-like pedigree to previous NYC socialite protagonists, but never with such tenacity, ferocity, and psychopathy. And yes, Blanchett’s about to be bombarded with awards soon, befittingly. Bolstered by a topnotch cast (Andrew Dice Clay and Bobby Cannavale in particular), vivid colours and opulent camerawork (Javier Aguirresarobe’s San Francisco stuns), Blue Jasmine is a coercive and confrontational revelation.


3.A Field In England

In recent years very few filmmakers have demanded my attention as much as Ben Wheatley, who’s as exciting and unpredictable as they come (the ending of his brilliant, genre-defying Kill List will forever haunt my dreams). Wheatley’s latest, A Field in England, is a frightening and funny piece of perfection that shows more daring and originality than a dozen Hollywood blockbusters.
Starting with a brilliantly literate script by frequent Wheatley collaborator Amy Jump (also his wife), magnificent monochromatic visuals from cinematographer Laurie Rose (another Wheatley regular), and a first-rate cast, A Field in England is a shimmering, sinister gem.
Set in the 17th Century during a civil war skirmish we’re nimbly acquainted with a peanut gallery of deserters that includes Whitehead (Reece Shearsmith, inspired) and O’Neill (a maniacally intense Michael Smiley). The ensuing humour (high and low with fervour), pithy barbs, black magic, philosophizing, psilocybin-induced sunshine, and creeping catastrophe reach rapid sublimity. Often unsettling, England nonetheless features many pleasures including a lengthy psychedelic disaster —it absolutely astonishes—, and a comical castration, all done with experimental abandon but with the skill and savvy of a savant. A Field in England is one of the most imaginative, absorbing and astonishing films of the year.

2.Soft In The Head

Nathan Silver, I’m happy to report, is the American indie heir to John Cassavetes, a lion of low-budget ingenuity, steadily constructing a formative body of brilliant work. Soft in the Head, his third feature (breathlessly following 2012′s delightful Exit Elena) introduces a sensational Sheila Etxeberría as Natalia, a loopy yet lovable young New York woman in a ticklish spot. Newly single, she’s suddenly homeless and in the middle of a bender. Natalia’s wanderings will soon entrap her bff, Hannah (a hilarious Melanie J. Scheiner), Hannah’s schlep of a brother, Nathan (a comically clueless Carl Kranz), and an ill-fated philanthropist named Maury (Ed Ryan, who somehow channels Bud Cort and Seymour Cassel with added shine). Riffing on Dostoyevsky’s The Idiot and somehow drawing a crowd of the curious to rival John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces, Soft in the Head is full of strange surprises, improvised incidents, and turns both droll and dramatic.
Contained almost entirely in confidant close-ups (and as a result Etxeberria’s magnetism, mistaken or not, is made certain), Silver’s camera-vérité approach eschews art house affectation while maintaining honesty and imagination. This film works as a comedic drama, rich in laughter and a bit of gloom, suggesting that Silver will soon ascend. Soft in the Head absolutely is some kind of masterpiece.

1. Upstream Color

Shane Carruth‘s inspired sci-fi follow-up to 2004′s Primer (itself a pocket-sized pearl), Upstream Color, is my favourite, not to be forgotten, film of 2013. It’s an otherworldly experience that had me ecstatic and frequently fighting tears of joy and wonder when not wholly hypnotized by its visual versification and bold narrative. On the surface Upstream Color might sound peculiar and unnecessary as its premise could potentially be mistaken for pretentious experimental odds and ends, but it works best as a bridge between Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 and early Terrence Malick, in the best possible way.
Amy Seimetz shines as Alex, our put upon protagonist who finds herself brainwashed into emptying her bank account by a thief (Thiago Martins) who uses a combination of drugs, parasites, and bizarre hypnologic neuro-linguistic-type programming to dupe her. Alex eventually regains herself and learns she’s not the only one whose been manipulated in this way to similar dubious ends. Drawn to Jeff (played by Carruth), the two are similarly uncertain of what they lost through their mind-meddling ordeal but, as their lives spiral and entwine, the film, like an amorous Möbius strip, outshines itself, and it’s heart reaches a crescendo. The artistry on hand is wondrous; with sequences of such aching, ingenious elegance, I really wonder how Carruth even dreamt it up (for it really is the stuff of dreams). Not just 2013′s finest film, second to none, it ranks high as one of the most transformative and spellbinding cinematic experiences I’ve ever had. Only Carruth’s second film and already he has a pièce de résistance. Prepare to be blown away.

Honourable Mentions

Longing For The Rain, Tian-yi Yang’s feature fictional debut (she’s made many documentaries) about a housewife haunted by a phantom lover, was an amorous and hallucinatory high point. Kelly Reichardt’s Night Moves continues her meditative, slow cinema approach, and is a worthy follow up to her marvellous revisionist Western from 2010, Meek’s Cutoff. Harmony Korine‘s Spring Breakers took me by complete surprise with this neon-lit delusion that takes empty contemporary American ennui and fashions a run-down but delicious rainbow. Steve McQueen‘s 12 Years a Slave offers America a slavery exploitation-exposés so scathing only outsiders could make it. It’s power and paroxysm is rivalled only perhaps by McQueen’s 2008 masterpiece, Hunger. Martin Scorsese also chimed in with the mad howl that was The Wolf of Wall Street, his best film in years. Last, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention my excitement for Spike Jonze‘s Electric Dreams-sounding genuflection, Her and Jim Jarmusch‘s vampire yarn, Only Lovers Left Alive.

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By Shane Scott-Travis

Last but not least, our resident film guru pipes in with some more music picks for 2013. Here are Shane Scott-Travis’s nods for the year’s best tunes.

1. Foxygen – We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic
A stunning psych-rock debut that’s easy to get psyched about.

2. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – II
UMO deserve a wider audience as this startling LP proves.

3. The Knife – Shaking the Habitual
Supernatural seeming Swedish electronic duo continues to bedevil and dazzle.

4. Boards of Canada –Tomorrow’s Harvest
In turns hypnotic, spacey, creepy, and sublime.

5. Shane Abram Nelken – Your War is at Home
The Awkward Stage frontman’s solo release is witty, wise, wonderful.

6. Ty Segall – Sleeper
Prolific wunderkind shows no signs of losing his edge.

7. FIDLAR – FIDLAR
LA skatepunk stoners are brash brats full of energetic urgency.

8. We Were Lovers – Pyramids
Synth-pop duo delights in disco as well as detonating dancefloors.

9. Scout Niblett – It’s Up To Emma
Scout’s reflective, lo-fi languishing has never been so bright.

10. Yo La Tengo – Fade
YLT’s fifteenth album is one of their most earnest efforts.

Honourable Mentions:

Arcade Fire – Reflektor
Lives up to the hype.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Allelujah! Don’t Bend Ascend
GY!BE release another thrilling LP of droning dirges.

Hayden – Us Alone
Criminally under-appreciated artist makes another gem record.

Mark Kozelek & Jimmy LaValle – Perils From the Sea
Brilliant pairing of Sun Kil Moon‘s gloom with LaValle’s ambient electronica.

My Bloody Valentine – MBV
Kevin Shields finally follows through proving there’s love after Loveless.

By Shane Scott-Travis
Email [email protected]
Twitter @ShaneScotttravis

Vivoscene rating 4.5 stars out of 5 stars

Everyone seems to have an opinion about Martin Scorsese‘s lascivious and exhilarating new film, The Wolf of Wall Street, and most of the hostility, I’ve noticed, is coming from people who haven’t seen it.

Courting this sort of controversy is nothing new for Scorsese (The Last Temptation of Christ was one of the most reviled films of the 80s, for instance), and it’s my discerned feeling that, top to bottom, Wolf is his best film in twenty years – probably his best overall work since 1990′s Goodfellas. Sure, the film pops with explicit sexual shenanigans and libertine drug use, but I found more to be outraged by in Casino or The Departed. As for the cries of misogyny (Marty has heard this recrimination in the past), in a film inundated with endless cynicism and avarice, it’s more apt to describe the film as being misanthropic and, ultimately, antisocial. Most of the women in Wolf are sharper than the men anyhow.

The Wolf of Wall Street is a pitch-black comedy that chronicles the rise, fall, and rebirth of real-life New York stockbroker Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio in his fifth and finest collaboration with Scorsese) during the late 80s and early 90s. Based on Belfort’s memoirs, it’s obvious right off the bat as DiCaprio talks directly into the camera, that this is a somewhat biased, altogether lecherous, and unreliable narrator whose greed is matched only by his grandstanding. As Belfort, DiCaprio gives one of his best-ever performances; that such a nasty, bellicose d-bag such as he can be so engrossing (and just plain gross) is a testament to DiCaprio’s technique.

Belfort begins at the bottom but soon cheats, swindles, and sneaks his way into the big leagues with his brokerage firm and cadre of money-worshipping accomplices: there’s Donnie Azoff (a genius Jonah Hill in what should net him another Oscar nomination), Nicky “Rugrat” Koskoff (a perfectly cast P.J. Byrne) and more Quaaludes and coke then you can conceptualize.

The more successful Belfort and his buddies become the more Sodom and Gomorrah things get, convening a new wife for Belfort in the form of Naomi Lapaglia (Margot Robbie, magnificent), and attracting the attention of FBI Agent Patrick Denham (Kyle Chandler, excellent). Wolf is a fast-paced, feverish run, like a Sunday drive with Roger Vadim or Tinto Brass.

Scorsese, aided by Terence Winter’s immense script (at 179 minutes, it does, at times, feel overlong), creates an irreverent yet vibrant work. Scorsese’s longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker also deserves accolades for her inventiveness, for Wolf bays and bounds with ingenuity and grace during even some of the most bad-mannered moments. Similarly, there are sequences, such as an early scene with DiCaprio and his mentor, Mark Hanna (a shockingly shipshape Matthew McConaughey) and several with Jonah Hill that feel improvised and instinctive, even echoing the ad-lib Joe Pesci “what’s so funny about me?” bit from Goodfellas.

And perhaps this implication shows a forgivable flaw in Wolf’s workout: that Marty is self-referencing his similarly paced and provocative gangster opus, Goodfellas. I wouldn’t go so far as to say he’s ripping himself off (this film has it’s own incendiary designs), but Marty’s certainly riffing on his past output, like any other artist would. That it’s a film teeming with nudity, f-bombs (most of which delivered radiantly by Rob Reiner, another casting coup as DiCaprio’s dad), endless drugs, and populated wholly by reprobates is why the old-fashioned and uptight Philistines won’t like it. Most of these characters lack a moral compass or any kind of scruple, while the narrative is contrarily good-natured (perhaps it shouldn’t be?), and comical. All told, The Wolf of Wall Street is an elated and unruly howl.

Preview the trailer for The Wolf of Wall Street here.

Venue: SubCulture, 45 Bleecker Street New York, NY check out the website here for all upcoming shows
When: January 16, 2014 at 7:30 pm
Cost: $15/advance $18/at the door
Tickets: here

Having impressed international audiences and the press (see the Vivoscene review of Broken Hearts & Madmen) with their highly refined, dynamic performances, the Gryphon Trio has firmly established itself as one of the world’s preeminent piano trios. With a repertoire that ranges from the traditional to the contemporary and from European classicism to modern-day multimedia, the Gryphons are committed to redefining chamber music for the 21st century.

Pushing the boundaries of chamber music, the Trio has commissioned and premiered over seventy-five new works from established and emerging composers around the world, and has collaborated on special projects with clarinetist James Campbell, actor Colin Fox, choreographer David Earle, and a host of jazz luminaries at Lula Lounge, Toronto’s leading venue for jazz and world music. Their most ambitious undertaking to date is a groundbreaking multimedia production of composer Christos Hatzis’s epic work Constantinople, scored for mezzo-soprano, Middle Eastern singer, violin, cello, piano, and electronic audiovisual media, which they have brought to audiences across North America and at the Royal Opera House in London.

Gryphon cellist Roman Borys is in his fifth season as Artistic Director of the Ottawa’s Chamberfest, the largest festival of chamber music in North America, where the Trio has been a mainstay since the festival’s inception in 1994. Annalee Patipatanakoon and Jamie Parker serve as the OCMS’s Artistic Advisors.

The ensemble-in-residence at Music Toronto for ten years, the Gryphon Trio tours extensively throughout North America and Europe. The group’s flagship educational project Listen Up! launched in the 2010-11 season in Almonte, Ontario. Created by the Trio in collaboration with composer Andrew Staniland and music educator Rob Kapilow, Listen Up! involves an entire school in the creation of a new work for choir and piano trio. The project continued in the communities of Hamilton and Midland, Ontario, in 2011-12 and will travel to Ottawa, Ontario and Winnipeg, Manitoba in coming seasons.

The Trio’s fifteen celebrated recordings are an encyclopedia of works by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Dvorak, Lalo, Shostakovich, and Piazzolla. Their most recent recording of piano trios by Ludwig van Beethoven was acknowledged with a 2011 Juno Award from Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences in the Best Classical Album: Solo and Chamber Music category. This was the Trio’s second Juno Award, having previously won for their 2004 release Canadian Premieres, featuring new works by leading Canadian composers.

Deeply committed to the education of the next generations of audiences and performers alike, the Gryphons take time out of their busy touring schedule to conduct masterclasses and workshops at universities and conservatories across North America, and are Ensemble-in-Residence at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music and Trinity College. In addition to Listen Up!, the Trio’s educational initiatives include a series of in-depth lecture performances with composer Gary Kulesha that examine the art of chamber music through the centuries, and the Young Composers Program in Toronto’s Claude Watson Arts Program at Earl Haig Public School.

Watch: ‘Alleluia’

photo from Soft In The Head

To anyone who has experienced the religious-like awe and extravagance, at twenty-four frames a second, that cinema can sometimes lavish upon us, I offer this appraisal, from a diverse cross-section of North American filmmakers. One of the boons of writing about film, attending festivals, and spending so much time in magical movie houses, beyond the ecstasies of entertainment, and the resonate shock waves that cinema can spark, is the opportunity to meet and get acquainted with some of the architects behind the movies I imbibe.

So, suffice it to say I was pretty stoked at some of the luminaries who agreed to participate in the writing of this piece and share candidly some of their personal favourites (and contrariwise, their not so favourite) films of the year. Since 2013 gave us an especially strong, stirring, and propelling time at the multiplexes, with such startling variety and verve, I was keen to come up with a string of questions to run past such skilled talents. First up are my queries followed in turn by the contributors. So get comfortable and join me as we journey deeper into movies…

The Questions:

1) What are your five (or close to five) favourite films of 2013?
2) What actor and/or actress really made a big impression with you this year?
3) Was there a filmmaker that really grabbed your attention in 2013?
4) Who’s your favourite cinematographer these days? Did they have any recommendable film/TV projects from this or a recent year?
5) 2013 was a big year for “event” films and blockbusters with seemingly unlimited budgets. This trend doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon. Are you drawn in to these types of films?
6) What’s a film from this year that more people should see?
7) For myself, I always anticipate films from the likes of Jim Jarmusch, Kelly Reichardt, Lars von Trier, and others. Is there a filmmaker whose work you anticipate? Did they have a film out this year?
8) Populist cinema, particularly in recent times, has been obsessed with reboots and remakes. What do you think of this trend?
9) Cinematically speaking, what were some of the highlights for you from 2013? For instance, highlights for me include the comedic hysterical high of seeing Jonah Hill’s exorcism in This is the End, Sheila Etxeberría’s hilariously uncomfortable dinner scene and close-ups in Soft in the Head, the chilling final shot (no spoilers) in Bobcat Goldthwait’s Willow Creek, Bradford Young’s fluid lensing and brilliant cinematography in Ain’t Them Bodies Saints and Cate Blanchett’s performance throughout Blue Jasmine. All standout to me as vivid, memorable highlights in a strong year of film. With those examples in mind, what, for you, stood out as memorable movie highlights?
10) Looking ahead to 2014, what does the future hold for cinema? Are there projects of your own, or of your peers, or others, that you’re looking forward to? Please elaborate.

Note: Not all filmmakers chose to answer all questions, which was fine with us. We regard our questions as starting points for their informed ruminations.
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Christopher Jason Bell

photo from Old Dog

Christopher Jason Bell is a former critic for the Indiewire blog The Playlist. He’s now finishing up his first feature, The Winds That Scatter (trailer: https://vimeo.com/71906587), and his last short film, Bridges, can be seen here.

1) Old Dog, Post Tenebras Lux, Beyond The Hills,The Act Of Killing, and Berberian Sound Studio.
All were not only incredibly exciting theatre experiences but all so unlike anything I’ve seen before. Old Dog was really astonishing. Director Pema Tseden’s compositions are remarkable and the film moves like it’s made by Jia Zhangke or Tsai Ming-liang.

2) I think indies (along with documentaries and, vaguely put, “foreign films”) need a great deal of cheer-leading to even wade in these waters. That said, I’m generally wary of the immense praise slathered over certain works/figures in the US micro-indie community. I try to watch everything regardless, but I admittedly view most of those films with extreme scrutiny, for better or worse (likely worse). And here I’ll say this: Amy Seimetz really blew me away in Upstream Color. She’s an unquestionably strong presence and carries the film confidently.


3) Filmmakers Ahmed Khawaja, Aaron Schimberg, Zach Weintraub and Daniel Carbone all got me this year. Khawaja (KWAK, numerous other “video diaries”) makes personal documentaries ala Caveh Zahedi, all intimate glimpses at a man and the unwilling participants that surround him. His worldview is unique, though, and like Zahedi, he quite often finds ways to elevate the material into something much more substantial. Carbone shot his cerebral, contemplative debut, Hide Your Smiling Faces, in New Jersey, my home state, and managed to convince me that we were brothers. All joking aside, it’s a really confident film, and he’s maybe a more intimate and sincere version of Haneke or Seidl. Weintraub’s You Make Me Feel So Young centred on uncertainty and alienation within a relationship, and to much success—his patient, long takes lend immense weight to the main character’s inner turmoil. And finally, Schimberg’s Go Down Death is one of the strangest films ever, and then the last fifteen minutes happen. Some call him Lynch, some say Madden, but sooner than later you’ll just be saying Schimberg.


5) Those blockbusters can do action set-pieces well, but the majority of the time they are CGI-fests that I can’t get invested in. And, uh, they usually have super heroes. That said, sometimes they veer into pretty unique territory: self-awareness, atypical structure, biting satire, etc. You can get a better feel for these movies after they leave theatres and you can view them without all of the hype or harshness. I don’t mind their presence, but I do wish that their profits would go into nurturing smaller stand-alone projects.


6) Old Dog. Supremely slept-on. This director is a future Cannes winner, guaranteed.


7) Yes, there were a couple this year that really delivered more than I expected them to, particularly Peter Strickland with Berberian Sound Studio. Strickland had an incredibly brave debut with Katalin Varga, taking a small crew to Hungary and shooting outside his native language, the funds mostly from his own savings account. He was to do the same process for Berberian, but the success of his previous project opened the doors to something a bit bigger. His second effort is something wildly different, a psycho-horror that functions as both an homage to giallo and an avant garde experimental narrative. There’s also Faust, a movie that seems like it was made in 70s/80s Soviet Russia and only recently unearthed.


8) I don’t think remakes are inherently bad. You never know. Covers happen in music and theatre does this constantly. I do find it questionable to take something like The Evil Dead, which grew to be a rather peculiar, batshit series of films, and remake it into a by-the-numbers horror film. That kind of thinking—to use the property and change it into something incredibly different yet unimaginative—is just wrong.


9) Memorable moments of 2013: The goofy, thrilling sequence of Arnold Schwarzenegger sneaking up on someone in a car in The Last Stand, the Homunculus from Faust (and when an extra bafflingly appears just to help the title character look up a woman’s dress), the sports match in Post Tenebras Lux, the castration scene in A Field In England, the last fifteen minutes in Go Down Death, the last shot in Beyond The Hills, the super-cinematic moments of Laurence Anyways including thousands of leaves swirling around Fred, and pretty much every frame of Old Dog. And tons more I’m sure.

10)
 The future is promising! My first feature, The Winds That Scatter, will play somewhere next year, and that makes me happy. I hope to finally see a movie by my friend Josephine Decker and I am also very excited about Nathan Silver’s annual movie, whatever it may be. I’m not sure who else is shooting (and I’m also not sure who is shooting secretly or what), but my talented buddy Tyler Rubenfeld is directing his first feature Wake Me When I Leave, that my regular DP is shooting, and that should be great. I’ve also seen Nandan Rao’s next film, Hawaiian Punch, and it’s fantastic — curious to see what others think of it. Lately I’ve been helping with the first iteration of the Collinsville Film Festival which is ran by my old school chum Jonathan Napolitano. He’s very passionate and I can’t wait to see what we can do in his cozy art town. I also helped produce his latest short documentary, The Annawan Times, (trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzFIyVhrxMk) so keep a looksee for that. Finally, my comrade-in-arms Alex Megaro has a new short that will be doing the festival rounds soon called The Pious Man, the trailer you can check out here (trailer: https://vimeo.com/48447178). It’s a “doozy.”

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Blair Dykes

photo from Gangster Squad

Blair Dykes is a Vancouver, BC-based indie filmmaker (his award-winning sci-fi short, Riboflavin, is a must see! – watch it here), musician (his band, Public Domain, was recently featured in Vivoscene here), and most recently, a new dad. Between changing diapers and plotting his next short film, Dykes enthusiastically agreed to answer my questions and share some recent cinematic spectacles (I was going to make a pun here about Dykes’ spectacles but trust me, it’s for the best I didn’t).

1) I foolishly squandered my time at the cinema this year on big, dumb blockbusters, each more disappointing than the last. I would not dignify any of them with the term ‘favourite’ but they are, in order, from tolerable to atrocious:

Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby: Amazing how a film can so faithfully adapt its source material – word for word dialogue transcription and inclusion of nearly every scene from the book – and yet be completely and utterly devoid of any of the dramatic heft and thematic relevance that made the original story a classic. This movie is basically just another excuse for Baz Luhrmann to stage overly elaborate dance numbers, juxtapose contemporary music with period costume settings, and fawn over Leo DiCaprio (who, it should be said, still manages to do a commendable job treading water amidst this sea of over-stimulating schmaltz and eye candy. But will someone please hurry up and wish upon a star so that Tobey Maguire can finally turn into a real boy and we can be spared anymore of the most wooden acting in the world from this wannabe Pinocchio?).

Ruben Fleischer’s (Who?) Gangster Squad: Maybe, if you’d never, ever, seen a movie before, ever, then this utterly pedantic and hammy tale of cowboys and, um, gangsters, might seem remotely exciting. With 98% of the cast phoning it in, Sean Penn’s overcompensates by smouldering with rage and frothing at the mouth in every scene. Or maybe that’s just his way of venting frustration over how utterly vapid the script is?

Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium: Blomkamp’s first feature, District 9, was a wholly compelling and original, if slightly flawed, film. With Elysium, he refines his craft and produces this, an utterly flawed, wholly unoriginal film, with a few marginally interesting ideas. Relying on clichés to carry all character and story development, Blomkamp is free to make pretty, pretty CGI pictures, and succeeds in creating a movie that reeks as badly as the Mexico City garbage dump he forced his crew to shoot in.

2) Despite my snide comments above, I’m consistently impressed by actors – including the likes of DiCaprio, Sean Penn, and Matt Damon – who give 110% in every scene, and find ways to emote their asses off, regardless of the story, or lack thereof, that they’re participating in. These are people who are really holding up their end of the bargain in the filmmaking game, working hard the craft of trying to make fantasy real – which may not be the most commendable skill but, when they subject themselves to months of physical training, careful cultivation of various accents and speech patterns, and/or hours of prosthetic application, you have to admire their conviction.

3) All three filmmakers listed above, for all the wrong reasons.

4) I would honestly have to say that Roger Deakins is my favourite cinematographer, not just for the remarkable images he gets, but for his uncanny ability to pick interesting projects. However, since he has finally, and justifiably, gotten the recognition he deserves, that benchmark of quality in project selection may be slipping a bit – and I’ve lost track of what his latest films are. He did a great job on the last Bond movie, though.

5) I have no idea why I’m drawn to these miserable excuses for movies. Probably because I’m too lazy to seek out, actively, the really great art and entertainment that exists in cinema today – online, in foreign countries, and in truly ‘independent’ productions – which is exactly how Hollywood wants it. By continually bombarding us with the sound and fury of big budget car chases, explosions, and cleavage, they obscure (and oppress) the fact that there are any alternatives out there, justifying their own incestuous multi-million dollar investments and kickbacks.

6) Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Verena Paravel’s documentary Leviathan. Produced by the Sensory Ethnography Lab at Harvard University, using multiple embedded cameras on actual sea trawlers, the film depicts the casual horror and hallucinatory beauty of commercial deep-sea fishing. Though relevant for its commentary on man vs. environment issues, the film’s real, radical significance is the passive abstraction of its production and presentation, challenging many of the notions of what a film can be.

7) I still always anticipate the new Coen Brothers films. In a career that spans nearly 30 years now (!), they have consistently produced some of the quirkiest and most compelling films that exist on the border between ‘indie’ and ‘mainstream.’ And, in the years following their triumphant success with No Country For Old Men, they may not have produced any of their best work, but they seem to have even greater license to do whatever the hell they want, so I’m as curious to see Inside Llewyn Davis as anything they’ve done previously.

Also, a filmmaker whose work I gave up anticipating for the ‘few and far between’ factor is Spike Jonze (plus I just really didn’t dig the ponderous, adult contemporary re-imagining of Where The Wild Things Are,), but hearing that he’s got a new film squeaking into theatres just in time for Award Nomination season, ostensibly about the relationship between a man and his operating system, has got my interest piqued.

9) Well, I’d say the immersive, deconstructing experience of Leviathan.

10) Well, before we completely write off 2013, I should say that there’s a spate of late in the year films that I’m still hoping to see, that may redeem my faith in so-called ‘populist’ cinema. The aforementioned Coen Brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis, Spike Jonze’s Her, as well as David O. Russell’s American Hustle, and, so help me, Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street. Am I setting myself up for disappointment? Probably. Will any of these movies be remotely half decent? I’ll settle for even one out of four.

And, with any luck, I’ll be participating in TelefilmCanada’s Micro-budget First Features program in 2014, so that’ll I’ll have my own movie to get raked over the coals by smug, self-satisfied armchair critics this time next year.
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Terry Mialkowsky

photo from Spring Breakers

Currently based out of Toronto, Ontario, Terry Mialkowsky (The Land of the Yodeling Mushroom People) is a busybody indie filmmaker, a new father, and a movie buff. Since I’ve known Mialkowsky, dating back to the late 90s when we worked together on the Fox TV series Millennium we’ve always swapped recommendations and had deep, insightful discussions on cinema. I was delighted to pin Terry down, albeit briefly, to shake out some answers and hear a little bit about his forthcoming projects.

1) SickFuckPeople – heartbreaking doc which humanizes people who are stuck in impossible positions after making some terrible decisions, having started off in a shitty position to begin with.
Spring Breakers – a brilliant “fuck you!” to snobby cinephiles
The Master – Hard to watch. Gets better with age.

5) Some of the earliest movie memories I have are watching the David Lean epics on television. The age of the “Maxi-Series” event programs like Winds of War, Thorn Birds, et cetera, made a popcorn munching telephile out of me. Today’s blockbuster epics aspire to that level of spectacle, and occasionally do, but are often bogged down in cynical bombast. Case in point, the glut of Young Adult franchise startups. Pretty faces and bloated VFX budgets can’t compete with a great story, beautifully told. The Hobbit trilogy threatens to join this list, due to the blatant cash grab antics of stretching Tolkien’s shortest book out into nine hours. Please.

7) I have always been a follower of David Lynch and Guy Maddin. Lynch has sidelined his cinema career to concentrate on meditation and music. Good on him. Maddin is blowing up into the darling of the art scene, and his last film, Keyhole was a bland work, that depended too much on his past miracles. I know it was just a speed bump. I am very interested in seeing Nymphomaniac, but with an infant, I’m not sure how I can take four hours to watch it in the cinema.

8) Enough without the remakes. Lazy. Boring.

10) Wolf Cop won the Cinecoup Accelerator $1 Million prize. Made by my cronies in Regina, this should be a shot across the bow in regards to how film might be made in the coming years. A new model used by exciting new filmmakers.

Shameless plug – a TV show I’m directing will be airing on MTV Canada next summer – Grand Benders (seasons one and two are already playing).

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Mark Schwab

photo from To The Wonder

San Jose-based filmmaker and teacher, Mark Schwab, for as long as I’ve known him (we met in film school back in ’97) has been going to movies, thinking about movies, imagining his own movies, in general, just been enthusiastic about his love of movies. A busy fellow, usually with numerous projects in various states of production, I knew I could coax him into jabbering about 2013′s fine and illustrious crop of films. I was right, and Schwab, as ever, had lots to say.

1) Blue Jasmine – Brilliant Woody Allen film absolutely skewering the 1% culture in America. A perfect snapshot of post-2010 “values” and flawlessly acted.

Blue is the Warmest Colour – Shockingly intimate portrait of two girls going through the ups and downs of being in love with each other over an approx 10 year period. Don’t let the foreign language, (you won’t even need the subtitles, it’s that well-acted and directed), the 3-hour running time (it’s that well-paced) or the graphic lesbian sex scenes (they are not exploitative and absolutely essential to the characters’ motivations) keep you away from this year’s Palm D’Or winner.

Spring Breakers – Harmony Korine roars back after the impenetrable (but still fascinating) Trash Humpers with his most commercial film to date – and I mean that as a compliment. His tale of three college girls getting into way more than they bargained for in the middle of Florida’s “Spring Break Culture” proved to all the naysayers that Korine can actually direct a narrative movie. But even better, he still kept absolutely true to his vision as a filmmaker (especially when James Franco gives head to a gun – quite well I might add). And that is one hell of an accomplishment, only rarely achieved.

John Dies at the End - Good to see Phantasm director Don Coscarelli bring a touch of coherence to his usual batshit crazy. This movie is gory, totally weird and willing to do anything to keep you entertained. Just do a few shots, have some friends over and get freaky with this movie. The less you know going into it, the better.

To the Wonder – Terrence Malick continues his renaissance with an absolutely lovely love story about a woman from Paris uprooted by a potential suitor (Ben Affleck) with her young daughter to the expansive plains of Oklahoma. This film feels like a beautiful vivid dream with every shot worthy of being a landscape painting. This was supposedly the last film Roger Ebert saw before he died and I can’t imagine a better film to go out on.

2) Adele Exarchopoulos, Lea Seydoux, and James Franco.

3) Dennis Cretton – because the dude made I Am Not a Hipster which got him the clout to make Short Term 12. He’s an inspiration to many indie filmmakers proving that you can make a real low-budget feature which can launch your career into a higher orbit.

4) Anthony Dod Mantle – Antichrist and 127 Days.

5) I’m actually turned off by most of those films. The heavy reliance on CGI means that my eyes inherently aware of just how fake everything is. It’s such flat image really and then it just becomes a video game. Nothing but one action set piece after another with absolutely no storytelling.

6) To the Wonder – even if you don’t like it, I guarantee the images will stay with you.

7) Harmony Korine and Gregg Araki. Korine had Spring Breakers and Araki’s new film White Bird in a Blizzard, comes out in 2014.

8) I certainly understand it. It’s purely about money and profit. There are no more risks to be taken by studios – they want a built-in audience and that’s what reboots and remakes give you.

9) The three girls in Spring Breakers dancing around James Franco’s backyard piano fronting the beach while that Brittney Spears song played. So bizarre and entrancing.

10) The future is totally up in the air right now. No one knows where the other shoe will drop as far as how movies are going to be distributed or how the studios will deal with the piracy issue. All I know for sure is the current paradigm the studios are following is NOT sustainable.

As for me, I hope to have two feature length documentaries coming out in 2014 – The Ambassador of God and Beyond the White Board. Ambassador profiles the late Brother Anthony Penera who called himself God’s Ambassador to inspire humanity to higher awareness. White Board is a documentary on education where, finally, we get to hear from actual public school teachers about what education is ACTUALLY like in the U.S. No administrators, no politicians, no students, and no silly animations or recreations. Just teachers informing us and providing solutions. It’s time to listen to the real experts who are living and working on the front lines of public education. Updates can be found here: www.ditrfilms.com
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Nathan Silver

photo from Leviathan

Nathan Silver graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts in 2005. Since then, he has written and directed four short films and four feature films: The Blind (2009), Exit Elena (2012), Soft in the Head (2013), and Untitled (2014). His films have played festivals around the world, including Edinburgh, Vienna, Slamdance, Sarasota, Woodstock, Torino, and BAFICI. Recently, Filmmaker Magazine named him “one of the most interesting emerging directors in U.S. indie film.” Silver’s stunning Soft in the Head, was, to my mind, one of 2013′s biggest surprises (it ranks high in my Top 10 Best Films of 2013, forthcoming), and his appearance and subsequent screenings at this year’s Vancouver International Film Festival was an energizing high-point that, for me, renewed my faith in low-budget indie filmmaking.

1) Leviathan by Lucien Castaing-Taylor and VérénaParavel (renewed every nerve and fibre in my weary film-going body)
Act of Killing by Joshua Oppenheimer (a grotesque accomplishment)
See You Next Tuesday by Drew Tobia (another grotesque accomplishment)
Old Man by Leah Shore (a short film that rattled my head)
The Unspeakable Act by Dan Sallitt (elegant as it is strange with a gorgeous performance by Tallie Medel)

2) Eleanore Pienta in See You Next Tuesday. A great comic disturbance.

6) See You Next Tuesday. No idea why this isn’t a bigger deal. It’s high camp, high tragedy, and hilarious as hell.

8) Everything is niche at this point, even populist cinema. I guess the studios think they can get more old-fashioned asses in the seats if they serve up something recognizable, but I don’t pay attention. The industry’s pathetic at this point because they know the game’s up. I only seek out the corners that interest me. I’m doing a lot of catching up. Too many old movies I’d rather see. Too many old trends to think about.

9) Everything about Leviathan. The retching scene in Act of Killing. The therapy scenes in The Unspeakable Act. The wallpaper in See You Next Tuesday.

10) I’m finishing up a feature about a home for pregnant teenagers that I look forward to lobbing on the world. I saw a rough cut of Summer of Blood by Onur Tukel, which I loved – a great comedy horror mash-up. Josephine Decker’s two films: Butter on the Latch and Thou Wast Mild and Lovely. Alex Ross Perry’s Listen Up Philip. I’m sure there are others I’m forgetting…

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Vivoscene rating 4 stars out of 5 stars

Make no mistake, American Hustle is a full-bore American masterpiece and perhaps writer/director David O Russell‘s most entertaining film to date, which says a lot, coming from the varied virtuoso behind Three Kings, I ♥ Huckabees, and last year’s mainstream but nonetheless solid Silver Linings Playbook. As far as tragicomedies go, this crime caper, set in the late 1970s, is a head-spinning, delightfully dizzying do, with a dream cast led by Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, and Jennifer Lawrence. Uniformly strong, this largely ensemble piece also benefits from unexpected appearances by the likes of Louis C.K., Robert DeNiro, and Elisabeth Röhm, amongst others, with everyone given vibrant and responsive perpetuity throughout. And if the performances weren’t enough of a draw, Linus Sandgren’s grainy, lawfully recherché lensing adds a depth and honesty to this tale of corruption and chicanery.

Russell, in cahoots with screenwriter Eric Warren Singer (The International), focuses on the FBI’s Abscam sting of corrupt public officials in the late 70s and the early 80s. Loosely based off actual events, Russell and Singer weave a swift narrative, using such over-used crutches as multi-voiceovers, and frayed flashbacks in confidant, and restorative ways. With some of the free-wheeling abandon first externalized by the great François Truffaut (particularly his jewel, Jules et Jim, whose spirit is frequently echoed and appraised), and, intermittently, Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas (minus most of the violence and f-bombs), American Hustle is, without a doubt, one of the most entertaining and affecting films of the year.

FBI Agent Richie DiMaso (Cooper) forces the flashy, smooth-talking con man Irving Rosenfeld (Bale) and his lambent lover and co-conspirator Lady Edith Greensly (Adams) into nailing the honourable but corrupt mayor of Camden, New Jersey, one Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner), thus beginning a miasma of back-stabbing, bullshitting, and dishonesty that spirals seemingly out of control. It’s an exhilarating steeplechase that packs off-balance ambushes and brazen discoveries continually. Truthfully, the plot, at times overwhelms in slapdash fashion, but it’s so fun, with such genuine and autoschediastic acting (the showdown between Adams and Lawrence feels improvised and is a riveting blend of humour and horror), that it’s easy to forgive any lapses in logic. Its spirit is one of extremes, and maybe overkill, but it’s inspiring, quotable, and overrun with the joys of cinema.

Perhaps best described as an action comedy, Russell sets the tone instantly with the caption: “Some of this actually happened.” With his ever-roving, always interesting, seldom sedate camera (honestly, so many directors overdo camera movement, Russell’s, while never resting, never tapers, either), pulls us into a breathless zig-zagging song and dance. The 70s chic aesthetic adds authenticity and allure, as does its soundtrack (warranting another Scorsese comparison in its effective, at times ironical use), at times feeling like an artifact from that era, newly discovered, wanting and deserving of our attention. Certain to be on a lot of Best Of lists, American Hustle is Russell’s showpiece, and one of the year’s most enjoyable and impressive films.

Recommended.

Watch the trailer for American Hustle:

Some surprising returns to form, one delightful collaboration and the emergence of major talent signalled a very good year indeed for music dominated by the letter B: Bowie, Boz, Billie Joe and Beal. Modesty should forbid that I mention my own moniker and connect it in any way with listening choices, but searching for poetic connections of any sort seems to have framed my critical faculties throughout the years, so there you go. Let’s start with the highlight of the year.

1. Nobody Knows by Willis Earl Beal

One terrific singer with a strong side and a tender side, a poetic turn and a street beat, all wrapped up in a very cool back story about his Chicago roots and his penchant for the lyrics and hipster attitude of Tom Waits. This is music at a soulful and accomplished level, with no trace of rap, hip hop or electronica. Okay, so I am biased towards the greatness of Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, but throw all of that in with a desire to write like Waits and come off sounding like you made a record out of artistic necessity: well, we’ve waited for this guy a long time and he’s here. Beal’s the deal, folks, so get this record.

2. The Next Day by David Bowie

Forty years on Bowie regains relevance with an unexpected and welcome return to form. Strong songwriting, polished production and music as compelling as anything he’s ever done dominate The Next Day. Sounds a lot like David Byrne and Talking Heads to me, and that’s a good thing. Come to think of it, maybe it’s Byrne that sounds like Bowie. The 70s wasn’t all shit, and not every 70s artist has turned into an old fart version of himself. Yes, the musical ideas are updated and this record has a 21st century vibe to it from beginning to end, but Bowie’s characteristically fierce intelligence and musical charisma shine through every track. If only Arcade Fire could be forced to listen to this album every day for the next year or two – their next record might actually justify their unreasonable hype.

3. Memphis by Boz Scaggs

Another marvellous return to form after a few questionable excursions Boz made into the classic American songbook. Though well-intentioned and exquisitely performed, his But Beautiful album was just too slow for words, and this guy is meant for soulful blues and rock. I’m a longtime fan of artists who take a walk on the wild side into unfamiliar artistic territories, but I welcome W.R. Scaggs back to such exciting material as ‘Mixed-Up, Shook-Up Girl’ and ‘Cadillac Walk’ as well as his delicious takes on ‘Rainy Night in Georgia’ and ‘Corinna, Corinna’. The most underrated guitar player, singer and songwriter around.

4. Foreverly by Billie Joe + Norah

This album is a beautiful recreation by Norah Jones and Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day)of the classic recording by The Everly Brothers entitled Songs My Daddy Taught Me. Who’d a thunk a punk rocker could harmonize like this? Frankly, Billie Joe and Norah pull this off better than could be anticipated. There are no two guys existing, did exist, or will exist, that will ever sing as well as Don and Phil, but Norah and Billie Joe combine for a sweet and tender duo that approaches some of what the Everlys could do to your heart. And most of these cuts are updated in arrangements, so they swing a little harder and appeal more to contemporary audiences than the admittedly downbeat pacing of the originals. But after all, most of these ballads were ancient affairs that told of murder, infidelity, and early death by heartbreak. A lovely record with limited appeal, Foreverly is a wonderful tribute to the greatest pop duo in the history of music.

5. Wise Up Ghost by Elvis Costello and The Roots

A record more to be admired than loved, Wise Up Ghost still makes for compelling listening. Once more, a return to form by an undeniably major talent who for this listener has been sidetracked for some time. This may be even more a Roots album than a Costello one, and that may explain its musical coherence and emphasis on production values. Which brings to mind the splendid work of co-producers Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson and Steven Mandel.To these ears Costello benefits enormously from working with other, and this album stood out for me as Collaboration of the Year.

6. Live from KCRW by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds

No other songwriter in the world could, or would, write a song called “Higgs Boson Blues”. (“I’m going down to Geneva, baby, gonna teach it to you”) and tie it into a vision of Robert Johnson and Lucifer. The most intelligent songwriter alive today, bar none (although Richard Thompson comes a close second). Tell you what, I’d trade in a few hundred records to see this guy live, because if anything his performances outshine his records and leave the unconvinced truly converted, and the converted truly transported. Black humour in long moody suites of songs that are essential listening for thinking person’s rock. Nick Cave is the only artist who should be on this list twice: his earlier album from 2013 called Push The Sky Away is an amazing record as well, but go for this live one. This is what The National might be someday if they grow up. Cave’s conviction and his vocal authenticity crush all comers.

7. Brooklyn Babylon by Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society

One of the foremost jazz composers in the world, Argue has created a multi-media masterpiece that draws on pastoral influences, improvisational creation, and slowly evolving cinematic progressions. His much-heralded debut back in 2009 with Infernal Machines created high expectations that are more than realized in this modern masterpiece. If you truly want to step outside your everyday musical experience, check out this record. It is a transforming and sublime work of the imagination made real and cuts across all tastes and all generations.

8. No Beginning No End by Jose James

Yes, he has been called the jazz singer for the hip hop generation. An avowed lover of jazz giant John Coltrane and soul legend Marvin Gaye, Jose James will awaken your ears to the delights of contemporary vocal that goes as far with experimentation as Coltrane but with the restless intimacy of Marvin Gaye himself. One delicious record, and one great singer who is also the composer of most of the songs on the album. I’ve cast aside Al Jarreau, forgotten King Pleasure and have no problem wondering what to do when this record is over. Play, repeat, listen, play, repeat, listen.

9. For the Love of Abbey by Marc Cary

The renowned New York jazz pianist Marc Cary was for some years the accompanist of the noted singer and composer Abbey Lincoln, and this album explores her material in loving tribute. This is romantic, sophisticated and highly listenable solo piano that makes you wonder what all the fuss about Keith Jarrett and wanna-bes like George Winston was all about. Cary’s keyboard felicity is inspiring, and these songs are gorgeously presented in inventive and memorable arrangements.

10.Fourth Corner by Trixie Whitley

Daughter of famed guitarist Chris Whitley, Trixie is probably best known as lead singer of Daniel Lanois’ group Black Dub, but here she stretches out on her own with scintillating results. What a voice she has – bluesy, erotic, rocked-out, forceful and intimate, sometimes all at once. There is probably no better young female blues singer on the scene today than Ms. Whitley. This is one intense record, and should be in the hands of every music lover, regardless of genre preference. Listen to the second track “Never Enough” and you’ll tell yourself, there is no such thing as enough of Trixie. Susan Tedeschi, Bonnie Raitt, move over, this here’s the new kid in town.

My 20 Favourite Albums of 2013

20. M.I.A, Matangi

Initially, M.I.A.’s latest seemed undercooked. But after a few weeks, its inner strengths have come into sharper focus. Lesson to be learned? Never underestimate M.I.A.

19. My Bloody Valentine, MBV
What surely is the Hipster equivalent to Chinese Democracy, the long, long, long-overdue follow-up to the great shoegaze classic Loveless, MVB was worth the prolonged gestation.

18. Death Grips, Government Plates
Aggressive and bold, Death Grips was the most prolific act this year, giving both their record label and fans fits with leaked albums and no-showing for gigs. We can forgive them their indulgences for making such focused, furious noise as Government Plates.

17. El-P and Killer Mike, Run the Jewels
The hip-hop super duo of Killer Mike and El-P resulted in one of the briefest albums of the year. But of course, length isn’t everything. It’s how you use it. And the 32 minutes of Run the Jewels featured some breathtaking flow and stellar production.

16. Elvis Costello and The Roots, Wise Up Ghost
Between them, Costello and The Roots have collaborated with every living musician and producer known to man. Finally, they knock boots together in what is a fine return to form for each. Funky, bluesy, and spooky, the best late-night LP of 2013. The album cover promises follow-up volumes but that could just be a classic Costello tease. If not, then volume two will be a much anticipated platter.

15. Phoenix, Entertainment!
The French purveyors of sophisticated power pop might have regressed from the mega-hit Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. That or they just make it seem so effortless. Either way, Entertainment! was one of the most consistent delights in 2013.

14. Daft Punk, Random Access Memory Finally, the robotic grooves of electronica’s masked duo, the slinky sexuality of Chic and the urbane rhumba of Giorgio Moroder conglomerate in the year’s most relentless dance album.

13. Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Push the Sky Away
A sparse and murderously good outing by Cave and his merry men of The Bad Seeds. Turns out Cave is a seer – On ‘Higgs Boson Blues’ he painted a version of hell staring Miley Cyrus long before all the ‘Wrecking Ball’ and twerking bullshit. Eeery.

12. Neko Case, The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You
Just when it appears Case has peaked, she confounds. This time out she is in reflection mode, getting all grown up on us; but this is a wrenching and beautiful album. It’s another feather in her already well-plumaged cap.

11. Paul McCartney, New
Pure power pop from Macca. What else needs to be said? Stop comparing his albums to The Beatles and Wings of yore. McCartney has been in scintillating form this past decade and New may well be a new measuring stick of his craftsmanship and song chops.

10. The 1975, The 1975
If anyone on this list has the hallmarks of being the next IT band it’s The 1975. They have the look, the hooks and the sound to take over the role currently enjoyed by The Killers. Not that this matters. What does matter is the white-hot sexuality of tunes like ‘Chocolate’.

9. Arctic Monkeys, AM

Finally, the Arctic Monkeys have fulfilled the promise of their early albums. As infectious and groove-heavy as anything else this year, the Monkeys take the upper hand with smartass sharp lyrics and an attitude that’s been missing in rock for too long. On AM, they out-Stroke even The Strokes .

8. Gold & Youth, Beyond Wilderness
From the outset, Gold & Youth‘s debut album felt like a lost masterpiece of 1980s synth-pop nirvana. Music that slides into any season, it cooled in the spring and summer and will breathe frosty elegance all winter long.

7. Franz Ferdinand, Right Thoughts Right Words Right Actions

The Hipster Hype band of 2004, Franz Ferdinand have grown into a fine ensemble. This album is as close to a tribute to the Stiff Records-era as you can get without crying “reverential tribute to a fault”.

6. Mazzy Star, Seasons of Your Day

Another group that returned from exile, Mazzy Star’s return was a more acoustic and organic affair, but it still rages like a hushed brook on a stillborn Sunday in August. It’s as though the past 17 years of silence never actually happened.

5. Jay Arner, Jay Arner
2013 was a good year for Vancouver artists, and for Mint Records stud Jay Arner, he has come out on top (in my books at least) as this city’s best musical representative. He has the gift for hooks that would make Robert Pollard tremble and the vulnerability of Nick Drake. All of which combines into a pretty package of devastatingly grand pop music.

4. Lorde, Pure Heroine
New Zealand’s greatest export since, uh, forever, Lorde proved to be the anti-Cyrus of Pop: nuanced, mature, minimalist and soulful. She may be an MTV sensation and her ubiquitous breakout hit, ‘Royals’, may lead people to dismiss her as a one-note kid, but Pure Heroine is strong stuff. No doubt, one of the single greatest debut albums I have ever heard.

3. Willis Earl Beal, Nobody Knows.

Where did this album come from? Haunting does not begin to describe either the voice or the vibe of Willis Earl Beal. Nobdoy Knows. is a street-wise blend of vintage blues, retro soul and modern beats, with a phraseology that is part Robert Johnson and part Bob Dylan. He is an enigma I don’t wish to solve anytime soon.

2. Janelle Monáe, The Electric Lady

Monáe’s audacious 2010 debut could not have been easy to trump. And if The Electric Lady falls ever so short of The Archandroid, so what? Like picking between Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions or Fullfillinness First Finale. Either way you go, you’re listening to funky, inspired genius.

1. David Bowie, The Next Day
From the moment David Bowie returned from exile, it was clear to these ears that this was the musical event of the year. Repeated listens took me from one end of spring to the other with no sign of fatigue. Anyone who is as big of a fan of Bowie’s work since 2000 will tell you that this has been his most misunderstood and underrated period. Full of more personal and human emotion than the classic Bowie years, The Next Day is at once the most direct album Bowie has produced, and one of the more eclectically arranged. Dazzling with brilliance, beguiling and intriguing, there was no other album I listened to more often and with such over-the-moon joy, than The Next Day.

Honourable Mentions:

Anna von Hausswolff, Ceremony

David Murray, Be My Monster Love

The Pixies, EP 1

Trixie Whitley, Fourth Corner

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Sacrilage

The Year in Singles By Artists Not Previously Mentioned:

1. ‘Do You Want a Man?’, The Vaccines
2. ‘Like I’m Apart’, A$AP Rocky featuring Florence Welch
3. ‘Slowly Through the Night’, David Ward
4. ‘Ruby’, Louise Burns
5. ‘Whalesong’, Yamantaka//Sonic Titan
6. ‘Strong’, London Grammar
7. ‘Year of the Glad’, Marnie Stern
8. ‘Breakfast Can Wait’, Prince
9. ‘No One Knows Nothing Anymore’, Billy Bragg
10.’The Last to Die’, Pet Shop Boys