In less than 20 words, here are my top 10 albums of 2013.

1. The Knife- Shaking The Habitual
The Knife rarely lets me down. Great, mind-melting companion listening with Tropic of Cancer and DVA Damas.

2. Darkside – Psychic
Futuristic blues with an electronic backbone from the coolest kids on the block, Nicholas Jaar and Dave Harrington.

3. Boards of Canada – Tomorrow’s Harvest
Breathtaking. Ahhsome. Beautiful. Lovely. Demands repeated listens in the dark, during a long drive, in the kitchen, in the living room…you get the idea!

4. The Asphodells - Ruled By Passion, Destroyed By Lust…

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But, first a few random bits

Biggest Bummer of 2011
Not being able to attend “Wax Trax! Records Retrospectacle: 33 1/3 Year Anniversary” with Front 242, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, Revolting Cocks et al. and getting laid off :(

Best Show of 2011
Portishead

Best Interview of 2011
My Interview with Ozzy

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Best Music Video

Joy Division: "Transmission" (Playmobil Version)
http://youtu.be/_UQmY57qrfw[

…and my top albums of 2011 in no particular order http://cbsradio.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/402964_10150447592152686_598522685_8782032_1846640665_n.jpg

Emika: Emika
Love, love the post-punk, minimal-techno and bass influences on this record. A dizzying debut masterpiece from a truly talented artist.


Andy…

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Remember The Ting Tings? The Manchester duo who quickly rose to fame back in 2008 with their sassy debut album We Started Nothing. The record had such a maddeningly unique sound that Apple snagged the song “Shut Up And Let Me Go” for one of their Apple/iPod adverts. Now the pair is back, and are getting their “Hands” dirty again with a new album amongst other “tings.”

Comprised of Katie White (singer) and Jules De Martino (drums), San Francisco’s Live 105 caught up with the Ting Tings for a quick chat about their colorful success through Apple, the…

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Our friends at Last.fm/Discover booked the NYC indie-rockers We Are Scientists in for a session and let’s just say their studio live performance doesn’t stray from the norm. But once Keith Murray and Chris Cain sat down for the chat, it turned into the Keith & Chris show!

As an added bonus, for those of you familiar with the homemade music video to their second single “Nice Guys” showing the two busting some brutal skateboarding accidents around town, we couldn’t help but ask the two to share with us the top 5 popular skating grounds for us to do…

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If it’s hard to believe Bay Area punk vets Green Day and AFI have now been at it for over two decades, it shouldn’t be surprising that they’re still keeping things punk especially in their hometown. On Saturday, Green Day‘s front-man Billy Joe Armstrong told a sold-out crowd at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, Ca; “A lot of effin a**holes from the Bay Area, they split and go to a *hithole called Hollywood.” “Well I’m effin staying in Oakland, baby.”

Our friends at Live 105 caught up with drummer Tre’ Cool of Green Day and lead-singer Davey Havok…

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Canadian duo Tegan and Sara have released a video to "On Directing," one of our favorite cuts from their sixth studio album Sainthood, produced by Death Cab For Cutie's Christopher Walla (who also produced "The Con") as well as Howard Redekopp (who produced 2004's "So Jealous").

The video is pretty low-fi showing the twins side by side surrounded by lots of colorful lights with Sara Quinn belting heartfelt lyrics "I know it turns you off when I get talking like a teen" that only Katy Perry wished she came up with first for her "Teenage Dream."

Watch…

7/30 - wolf parade - fox
8/14 - outsidelands
8/28 - Chemical Bros - Fox
9/6 - Panda Bear - Fox
9/20 - Charlatans - Bimbos
10/7 - Klaxons - GAMH
10/16 - Treasure Island fest
10/17 - Hot Chip - warfield
10/18 - Interpol - Fox
10/19 - Foals - San Jose
10/29 - of Montreal - Warfield
10/30 - GorillaZ - Oracle
11/2 - Gary Numan - Fillmore
12/3 - 12/6 - 12/8 - Roger Waters - San Jose

(work in progress)

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Prepare to be immediately smitten by the husky, breathy voice and confessional lyrics of Martina Topley Bird, the female vocalist who accompanied trip-hop pioneer, Tricky on his first four albums in the mid '90s. Since then, Martina has been recording under her own name mixing elements of soul, blues, dance, and rock to fashion a moody sound that's all her own . She’s worked with everyone from Danger Mouse who produced her sophomore effort, The Blue God and most recently with Damon Albarn of the Gorillaz who produced and released Martina’s latest album Some Place Simple on his…

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Extreme, wild, entertaining, epic, provocative, edgy, original, zany, amazing, and the list goes on and on. These are just some of best words i can come up with to describe Lady Gaga's music video for "Telephone" featuring Beyonce. True to it's expectation, the video is nothing but "kick-ass!"

The video clocks in at nine-and-a-half minutes long and feels like a Quentin-Tarintino mini-movie where the first three minutes are made up of Gaga in a stylized all women prison. There's some pretty risque scenes where Gaga wears barley nothing as well as a Beyonce showing a potty-mouthed side…

Lightspeed Champion
Hynes trades his alt-rock leanings for orchestral pop elements on "LIS!NTMY." Drawing inspiration from musical theatre, "Life is Sweet…" plays like an updated Bowie.

Field Music (Measure)
Psych and power pop join art rock in Field Music's musical rock tumbler. And, the resulting rock is a gem. How will you measure this 20/21-track opus?

Peter Gabriel "Scratch My Back"
This is Peter Gabriel's first studio release since 2002's "Up." The latest album of covers features songs from Radiohead, David Bowie, and Arcade Fire.

Massive Attack
After a seven-year hiatus, the legendary duo returns with “Heligoland,” featuring an all-star…