Top Albums of 2013

Here is the second to last review of some of the PlayNetwork music team’s top albums of 2013.  Stay tuned for the last review tomorrow!  Enjoy.

milk-carton-kids-ash-and-claymilk carton   

Artist: Milk Carton Kids

Album: The Ash and Clay

Label:   Anti Records

http://www.themilkcartonkids.com/?page=media

What I love most about the Milk Carton Kids is the simplicity of their approach and the haunting beauty of their songs. What I love almost as much about them is their carefully crafted live act and stage personas. That might not be strictly applicable when selecting your favorite studio-recorded album of the year, but once you’ve experienced the duo in a live setting their personality and charisma cannot be separated from their music. To cheaply convey the aesthetic of the Milk Carton Kids to the uninitiated, they could be simply pegged as Simon & Garfunkel harmonies with Dave Rawlings (Gillian Welch’s musical partner) style guitar playing. Which you might expect to just be some lofty hyperbole, but the thing is those harmonies are actually on par with the legendary Art and Paul, and Kenneth Pattingale could sit-in for Dave Rawlings on guitar any day. The fact that two guys with a pair of acoustic guitars standing around a single condenser mic can make such powerful music is a testament to their authenticity and rare talent.

-Gabriel Marowitz, Associate Music Supervisor