UK group Yard Act will soon follow up their fantastic debut album, The Overload, with Where’s My Utopia? in early March. They’ve released a couple singles so far, but while we wait for the whole thing, here’s frontman and trench coat aficionado James Smith with his Top 10 Albums of 2013.
Smiths’s list includes Danny Brown and JPEGMAFIA, Young Fathers, Water From Your Eyes, Tirzah, and more. Check out his list and commentary below.
YARD ACT’S JAMES SMITH – TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2023
1. James Holden – Imagine This Is a High Dimensional Space of All Possibilities
(better than the inheritors, can’t believe I’m saying that.)
2. Danny Brown and JPEGMAFIA – SCARING THE HOES
(bullshit JPEG made this on a 404. My album of the year.)
3. CMAT – Crazymad, For Me
(best songwriting on any record i heard this year.)
4. Murkage Dave – The City Needs… Part Deux
(continues to forge a unique and humble path of great pop music, somehow flying under the radar.)
5. Danny Brown – Quaranta
(a visionary that always sounds playful even when he’s getting dark)
6. Young Fathers – Heavy Heavy
(best live band of the year, very important band, great record too.)
7. Water From Your Eyes – Everyone’s Crushed
(really good postmodern pop music, excited to see where they go next.)
8. John Carroll Kirby – Blowout
(silly music by a clever man.)
9. Tirzah – Trip9love
(I was compelled to keep returning to this record, I find it haunting, sometimes confusing.)
10. Gorillaz – Cracker Island
(tight and fun pop record shot through with that trademark Albarn melancholy, i ran to this record alot. Silent Running is a top 5 all time Gorillaz tune for me.)
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Yard Act are currently in Asia but will be back in North America in the spring for a West Coast tour. All dates:
Yard Act – 2023/2024 Tour Dates
Tue. Dec. 5 – Osaka, JP @ Shangri-la
Thu. Dec. 7 – Tokyo, JP @ Club Quattro
Wed. Mar. 13 – Norwich, UK @ The Nick Rayns LCR (UEA)
Thu. Mar. 14 – Nottingham, UK @ Rock City
Fri. Mar. 15 – Glasgow, UK @ O2 Academy
Sat. Mar. 16 – Manchester, UK @ O2 Apollo
Sun. Mar. 17 – Newcastle, UK @ Northumbria University
Tue. Mar. 19 – Belfast, UK @ Mandela Hall
Wed. Mar. 20 – Dublin, IE @ Vicar Street
Fri. Mar. 22 – Liverpool, UK @ Invisible Wind Factory
Sat. Mar. 23 – Bristol, UK @ O2 Academy
Mon. Mar. 25 – Brighton, UK @ The Dome
Wed. Mar. 27 – London, UK @ Eventim Apollo
Thu. Apr. 4 – Nantes, FR @ Stereolux
Fri. Apr. 5 – Paris, FR @ Cabaret Sauvage
Sat. Apr. 6 – Bordeaux, FR @ Rock School Barbey
Mon. Apr. 8 – Lisbon, PT @ LAV
Tue. Apr. 9 – Madrid, ES @ Mon
Thu. Apr. 11 – Barcelona, ES @ La 2
Fri. Apr. 12 – Lyon, FR @ Le Transbordeur
Sat. Apr. 13 – Bologna, IT @ Locomotiv Club
Sun. Apr. 14 – Milan, IT @ Santeria Toscana 31
Tue. Apr. 16 – Zurich, CH @ Mascotte
Wed. Apr. 17 – Munich, DE @ Muffathalle
Thu. Apr. 18 – Berlin, DE @ Festsaal Kreuzberg
Sat. Apr. 20 – Stockholm, SE @ Slaktkyrkan
Wed. Apr. 24 – Hamburg, DE @ Uebel & Gefährlich
Thu. Apr. 25 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Main Hall
Fri. Apr. 26 – Nijmegen, NL @ Doornroosje
Sat. Apr. 27 – Cologne, DE @ Kantine
Sun. Apr. 28 – Brussels, BE @ Les Nuits Botanique
Thu. May 30 – Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up Tavern
Fri. May 31 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent Theater
Sat. Jun. 1 – Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy and Harrietʼs
Mon. Jun. 3 – Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst Atrium
Tue. Jun. 4 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
Thu. Jun. 6 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
Fri. Jun. 7 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre
Sat. Jun. 8 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
Sat. Aug. 3 – Leeds, UK @ Millenium Square
