ACL 2013: Top Ten Rock, Post-Rock, Folk & Jazz

The last of our genre lists is filled with WOW moments: big crescendos, bold moves, instinctive collaborations, explosions of brass.  This is music for car stereos and open windows, music to lift the sullen heart and to make it race.

Kaboom Karavan ~ Hokus Fokus

An album by a frequent Kreng collaborator, mastered by Nils Frahm?  Forget dragons, locusts and blood, the apocalypse has officially arrived.  On a less important note, Frahm has just cemented his status as the Kevin Bacon of instrumental music.  Combine

Amiina ~ The Lighthouse Project

The four women of Amiina form one of music’s most endearing groups.  While they have played with Sigur Rós, they have formed a strong identity on their own, and their sound is distinctly theirs, a comforting blend of guitar, glockenspiel and strings that

Otto A Totland / Erik K Skodvin ~ Harmony from the past

Former Norwegian schoolmates Otto A Totland and Erik K Skodvin are described as having been both friends and enemies.  Of such complexity is inspiration often born.  In this case, the two formed the moodily intricate Deaf Center.  Sonic Pieces’ seven-inch  Harmony from the Past presents