Best Albums of 2013

QOTSA – …Like Clockwork
Best Coast – Fade Away (mini LP)
Kurt Vile – Walkin on a Pretty Daze
Throwing Muses – Purgatory/Paradise
Yo La Tengo – Fade
My Bloody Valentine – MBV
NIN – Hesitation Marks
Dean Wareham – Emancipated Hearts (mini LP)
Arctic Monkeys – AM
Primal Scream – More Light

Honorable Mention
Iggy and the Stooges – Ready to Die (Though not great, I really enjoyed this LP)
Palma Violets – 180
Bad Religion – The True North

For the record, the best thing I heard this year was Pylon's first LP, which a friend of mine turned me onto. That is the one LP that got me through this shitty, shitty year.

walkonby wrote:
im waiting for the "fucking worst albums of 2013 list"

At the top of my list is Vampire Weekend. I just don't get that band. They're one band that make me feel really, really old. And I'm not that old (yet).

bearman wrote:

walkonby wrote:
im waiting for the "fucking worst albums of 2013 list"

At the top of my list is Vampire Weekend. I just don't get that band. They're one band that make me feel really, really old. And I'm not that old (yet).

#1 on rolling stone's end of year album list… whatever that means

bearman wrote:


For the record, the best thing I heard this year was Pylon's first LP, which a friend of mine turned me onto. That is the one LP that got me through this shitty, shitty year.

I hear that… for me it was the hellacopters…. fuckin' livid i missed imperial state electric at dc9 ..biggest rock show fuckup of the year…i will be ruing it for many years until Nicke comes back which might be a long ways away..

hutch wrote:

bearman wrote:

walkonby wrote:
im waiting for the "fucking worst albums of 2013 list"

At the top of my list is Vampire Weekend. I just don't get that band. They're one band that make me feel really, really old. And I'm not that old (yet).

#1 on rolling stone's end of year album list… whatever that means

?He looks harmless but he does represent the magazine that trashed ?Layla,? broke up Cream, ripped every album Led Zeppelin ever made. Don?t forget the rules man. This little shit is the enemy. He writes what he sees.?although it would be cool to be on the cover.?

bearman wrote:

hutch wrote:

bearman wrote:

walkonby wrote:
im waiting for the "fucking worst albums of 2013 list"

At the top of my list is Vampire Weekend. I just don't get that band. They're one band that make me feel really, really old. And I'm not that old (yet).

#1 on rolling stone's end of year album list… whatever that means

?He looks harmless but he does represent the magazine that trashed ?Layla,? broke up Cream, ripped every album Led Zeppelin ever made. Don?t forget the rules man. This little shit is the enemy. He writes what he sees.?although it would be cool to be on the cover.?

Led Zeppelin and the album "Layla" kind of suck. I guess I liked them when I was in High School I should have thought about what I would I like in 30 years because it is kind of embarrassing to think at one point I thought they were good.  Maybe I should read Rolling Stone magazine before making my opinions.

Vampire Weekend almost triggers an ASMR reaction in me. It's all smooth vocals and instrumentation and well-constructed songs that makes my skin benignly prickle. They're never going to be a band that I whole-heartedly love, and I can hear how people would find them boring, but I play all three of their records here and there.

i feel the biggest disappointment of 2013 . . . from a band i love . . . was pearl jams new one.

I was extremely disappointed in the follow-ups by the bands that made my #1 albums in 2006 and 2012: The Knife and Capsule.

Capsule was the biggest disappointment, as Stereo Worxxx is a techno-pop album that I'll be listening to for years, and the new one is just waaaaay too Kid @ for me. I kind of admire what the Knife did but that doesn't mean I like it. I really miss the 'Deeps Cuts' days.

everytime i listen to shaking the habitual . . . i think of how much you hate it.  then i listen to it again.

atomic wrote:


Led Zeppelin and the album "Layla" kind of suck. I guess I liked them when I was in High School I should have thought about what I would I like in 30 years because it is kind of embarrassing to think at one point I thought they were good.  Maybe I should read Rolling Stone magazine before making my opinions.

Go ahead.  Read "Rolling Stone" and believe everything they think is cool.  Then you'll become the anti-Brian Wallace.

I'm not defending the Zep but "Wearing and Tearing" is one of the four best songs ever to fuck to.

And you're all wrong (except for Bearman).  The album of the year was "The New Black":

http://www.nme.com/news/arctic-monkeys/74216


Brian

In no partucular order…..

Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
Kacey Musgraves - Same Trailer Different Park
The National -  Trouble Will Find Me
Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience Extended
Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City
Disclosure - Settle
Avril Lavigne - S/T
Lorde - Pure Heroine
Sky Ferreira ?Night Time My Time?
Phoenix - Bankrupt!
Eminem - Marshall Mathers LP 2
Miley Cyrus - Bangerz

Britney's album has only been out for a week so I haven't given it a solid listen yet.

Anna Calvi - "One Breath"
Basia Bulat - "Tall Tall Shadow"
Thao & the Get Down Stay Down - "We the Common"
Jacco Gardner - "Cabinet of Curiosities"
Cass Mccombs - "Big Wheel and others"
Ezra Furman - "Day of the Dog"
Tim Hecker - "Virgins"
Juana Molina - "Wed 21"
Cloud Control - "Dream Cave"
Chris Forsyth - "Solar Motel"
The Knife - "Shaking the Habitual"
My Bloody Valentine - "mbv"
Disclosure - "Settle"
The Field - "Cupid's Head"
James Blake - "Overgrown"
Gesaffelstein - "Aleph"
Autre Ne Veut - "Anxiety"
Rhye - "Woman"
Gary Numan - "Splinter"
Danny Brown - "Old"

may as well start with albums that I may actually be listening to in 20 years:

10 reissues:

arthur lee/love - black beauty (my main man)
pil - 1st issue (that 9:30 show was in my top 5)
molly drake (nick's mum)
beta band - the regal years (almost saw them @ bull run w/radiohead, anyone?)
sly & the family stone - higher (then cynthia is my woman!)
lee perry - super ape (beautiful packaging - deserves a grammy, or something)
fleetwood mac - rumours 3 disc (gotten @ target for $5 - now I understand why everyone had a copy - it's that great)
nick drake rsd comp w/fake cut-out hole, poster, etc.
tindersticks - across 6 leap years (not technically a reissue, but the songs are vintage - thank you seth for bringing them to town a few years back)
miles davis - jazz track (side 1 totally improvised in a French studio, side 2 w/the kind of blue band)
wings - over America (why did I trade this vinyl?)

10 new 2013 releases (briefly - getting tired/old):

howe gelb - the coincidentalist (references to my grad school day haunts in tucson, az)
david bowie - the next day (been with him since 'diamond dogs' - still my all-time)
bill callahan - dream river (flutes!)
jonathan wilson - fanfare (play 'spot the influence' and they are probably actually playing)
jacco gardner - cabinet of curiosities (is that a bit of 'forever changes'?)
nick cave - push the sky away/live @ kcrw (cheating, so what?)
arcade fire - reflector (waiting for a decent venue…)
john grant - pale green ghosts (my old keyboard, the roland juno 106 is all over that)
laura mvula - sing to the moon (the future of soul/r&b - for grown-ups)

honorable mention:
janelle monae - electric lady (the future of soul/r&b for the rest of us - wow show @ Lincoln theatre)

I think that 2013 was a good year for music.
Not sure if there are many '20 years later' albums, but I really enjoyed hearing these releases (and seeing some of them on tour)

6 Feet Below the Moon -King Krulel
Tape Deck Heart - Frank Turner
Idle No More - King Khan and the Shrines
Elecrtic Manland - Sat. Nite Duets
Love Club - Lorde
Days Are Gone - Haim
Night Time, My Time - Sky Ferriera
Elephant Stone - Elephant Stone
Places by Lou Doillon
Pure Heroine by Lorde
Us Alone - Hayden
Bankrupt - Phoenix

Honorable mention due to heavy rotation from 2012
An Awesome Wave by alt-J
Bear Creek by Brandi Carlile
Lex Hives by The Hives
Ghost by Sky Ferreira
Meat & Bone by Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

Disclosure "Settle"
QOTSA "…Like Clockwork"
Danny Brown "Old"
Action Bronson "Saab Stories"
Drake "Nothing Was The Same"
Juicy J "Stay Trippy"
Daft Punk "Random Access Memories"
Arctic Monkeys "AM"
Devendra Banhart "Mala"
MIA "Matangi"
Kanye West "Yeezus"

Yada wrote:
When you all create your lists, do you consider only choosing albums that you think you'll listen to in XXX amount of years from today?

I could possibly come up with a "best" list of 20 or so albums from this year, however, I bet only a handful of them I'll be listening to in 2022.

930 Forum Best of 2003 Lists

The Wrens is the only one I listen to with regularity 10 years on.  I have a few of the Idlewild and Joe Strummer tracks on playlists.  The other albums I probably haven't listened to in 3-4 years.

ggw wrote:

Yada wrote:
When you all create your lists, do you consider only choosing albums that you think you'll listen to in XXX amount of years from today?

I could possibly come up with a "best" list of 20 or so albums from this year, however, I bet only a handful of them I'll be listening to in 2022.

930 Forum Best of 2003 Lists

The Wrens is the only one I listen to with regularity 10 years on.  I have a few of the Idlewild and Joe Strummer tracks on playlists.  The other albums I probably haven't listened to in 3-4 years.

The WOXY list is on that thread is a trip.
"#3 Coldplay A Rush Of Blood To The Head"
"#6 Evanescence Fallen"
the very last is "# 97 Queens Of The Stone Age Songs For The Deaf"

ovlov ? am
The Courtneys ? The Courtneys
Roomrunner ? Ideal Cities
Wing Dam ? Thick Phase / No Splash
Pharmakon ? Abandon
CRIM3S ? Stay Ugly
Exit Calm ? The Future Isn?t What It Used To Be
Spell Hound ? Guerrilla
Locrian - Return To Annihilation
Secret Mountains ? Rainer
Veronica Falls ? Waiting For Something To Happen
The Stargazer Lilies ? We Are The Dreamers
Chelsea Light Moving ? Chelsea Light Moving
Kal Marks ? LIFE IS MURDER
Paint Branch ? I Wanna Live
Purple ? Salvation
Double Dagger ? 333
Raindeer ? Tattoo
Wolf Eyes ? No Answer: Lower Floors
Weekend ? Jinx
Weekends ? New Humans
Krill ? Lucky Leaves
Palehound ? Bent Nail
DJ Dog Dick ? The Life Stains
Potty Mouth ? Hell Bent
BAMBARA ? DREAMVIOLENCE
The Polyphonic Spree ? Yes, It?s True
Sebadoh ? Defend Yourself
Moon Mirror ? Transference
PERFECT PUSSY ? I have lost all desire for feeling
Dungeonesse ? Dungeonesse
LTTLE PHNX ? D?Esprit Luvrs
∆AIMON ? Aaimon
Kiernan Paradise ? Loss
Gatekeeper ? Young Chronos
Scott Russell ? A Guide to Rational Living Volume One
ABDU ALI ? Push+Slay
THAT WAS THEN THIS IS NOW ? THAT WAS THEN THIS IS NOW
The Snails ? Worth The Wait

Kvelertak "Meir"
Roomrunner "Ideal Cities"
Queens of The Stone Age "…Like Clockwork"
Run The Jewels s/t
Clutch "Earth Rocker"
Windhand "Soma"
Lumbar "First and Last Days of Unwelcome"
Monster Magnet "Last Patrol"
Red Fang "Whales and Leeches"
Admiral Browning "Give No Quarter"
The Dillinger Escape Plan "One of Us is The Killer"
Locrian "Return to Annihilation"
Kylesa "Ultraviolet"
Palms s/t
Deafheaven "Sunbather"
Uncle Acid & The Dead Beats "Mind Control"
Cough / Windhand split "Reflection of The Negative"
KEN Mode "Entrench"
Bosnian Rainbows s/t
Arbouretum "Coming Out of The Fog"
Cult of Luna "Vertikal"
Big Business "Battlefields Forever"
The Flying Eyes "Lowlands"
All Pigs Must Die "Nothing Violates This Nature"
Nine Inch Nails "Hesitation Marks"