Best Shows of 2013: Rae Spoon at the Rickshaw Theatre, October 27

A frustrating tangle of miscommunication ended in one of the most surprisingly good shows I've seen. Based on a few songs, I thought Rae Spoon was an unadventurous electronic pop artist. There are plenty of electronic sounds on Spoon's latest album, My Prairie Home, and they are pretty adventurous for Spoon, but I was bright with glee to hear a majority of songs that leaned more towards drum-and-guitar indie pop. The Kingsgate Chorus, who joined Spoon for one of the night's final songs, made me wish I had the foresight to book off work that night. I still need to watch Chelsea McMullan's documentary My Prairie Home.

Full review at Vancouver Weekly.

Best Shows of 2013: Loretta Lynn at the Red Robinson Show Theatre, October 18

Given country legend Loretta Lynn’s age (81), she was probably at the top of my bucket list. She was everything I expected, from her glamourous dress to the way she talked, even to how early her show ended (at approx. 9:20, after fifty minutes).

Exhaustion forced Lynn to reschedule some shows halfway through her three-week tour. Considering her health (within the past two years, she had knee replacement surgery and was hospitalized with pneumonia), this not only could have been my last chance to see her, but it also could have been one of her last shows ever.

Full review at Vancouver Weekly.

Best Shows of 2013: The National at the PNE Amphitheatre, September 22

Photo credit: Kirk Chantraine

This was the National show I should have seen when they played the Orpheum a couple of years ago: front, nearly centre, nearly getting kicked in the face by a crowd-surfing Matt Berninger, bracing his legs while he stood on the guard rail. And the PNE's sound system wasn't as bad as I'd always heard it was. Seeing the National play some of my favourite songs ever was worth all the rain (it was an outdoor show) and my infuriating trek to the PNE; I was in such a bad mood due to the often incompetent transit system (and annoying fans) that I considered selling my ticket while I was in line.

Dark Dancing

"HOUSE DISCO FUNK TECHNO ITALO COSMIC". Add "minimal" to the list of descriptors. Everything on Feel My Bicep is good. I will always be delayed when it comes to electronic music.

Stating the Obvious: Cat Power - "Silver Stallion" (Live Highwaymen Cover)

Chan Marshall has one of the best voices I've ever heard. So gruff. So naked.

I just realized Cat Power probably isn't in my top fifty musicians, but I blog about her an awful lot.

Soft Side of Suppression Ring

For three years, I hesitated to check out Eddy Current Suppression Ring's albums besides Primary Colours because I feared that their other albums would not be as good. This summer, I finally took a risk and picked up Rush To Relax. Being so accustomed to ECSR's snotty, buzzing rock and anxiety-ridden lyrics, I still find it strange listening to Rush To Relax's "Gentleman", a love song:

Best Shows of 2013: The Sonics with the Vicious Cycles at the Rickshaw Theatre, September 20

The greatest rock 'n' roll band of all time, one of my top bucket list shows, and, as I expected, one of the best shows I ever saw (#5, behind the White Stripes twice, Les Savy Fav, and Japanther). Nardwuar the Human Serviette introduced the godfathers of garage rock with as much trivia about their history with Vancouver as one would expect from the music guru, which indirectly explained why Tacoma, Washington's the Sonics chose nearby Vancouver as the site of a one-off show.

The Sonics played allllllllll of their hits, but they really couldn't have done otherwise, given that all of their songs are hits, at least to me. Besides having been able to sing every word and having rocked so hard that my glasses flew onto the floor in the front row (surprisingly no damage), the best part of the night was when the Sonics announced that they'd just finished recording a new album in Seattle and promised another show soon.

I also have to praise openers the Vicious Cycles. Their greasy punkabilly left the audience lying in oil slicks, coughing up dust. I couldn't believe I'd never heard of the Vicious Cycles before, besides one mention from a friend during Khatsalano Fest a couple of months earlier.