Best Albums of 2013

Lets hear em.

a few of mine…

parquetcourts - light up gold
dj koze - amygdala
mikal cronin - MCII
the national - trouble will find me
QOTSA - …like clockwork
baths - obsidian
jessie ware - devotion
autre ne veut - anxiety
danny brown - old
classixx - hanging gardens
washed out - parcosm
ejecta - dominae
diarrhea planet - i'm rich beyond your wildest dreams
jagwar ma - howlin

a few years back, HoyaSaxa posted a link to this wonderful blog that lists all the music blog spotify playlists.  Consider it a cheat-sheet :D

atoms for peace   amok
david bowie   the next day
devendra banhart   mala  (took me awhile to fall for this)
marnie stern   chronicles of marnia
wavves   afraid of heights  (top three album of year)
the knife   shaking the habitual  (top three album of the year)
vampire weekend   modern vampires of the city
daft punk   random access memories
tricky  false idols
pet shop boys   electric
icona pop   this is . . . icona pop
deletron 3030   event 11
paul mccartney   new
mia   matangi
lady gaga   artpop
miley cyrus  bangerz
omar souleyman   wenu  wenu
yoko ono plastic band   take me to the land of hell
glen cambell   see you there
black sabbath  13
death grips   no love deep web  (top three album of the year) 

yay! list time

Thought 2013 was a great year for music - tons of good and eclectic stuff out there - Steve I loved the jessie ware album as well

1. Jagwar Ma 'Howlin' (so much fun to listen to, brought me back to the summer of 1992 living in Germany)
2. The Spook of the Thirteenth Lock "The Brutal Here and Now' (Pogues meet Thin Lizzy meet Metallica meet Yes meet Elbow - stunning, hugely ambitious stuff)
3. The (London) Suede 'Bloodsports' (Didn't listen to or like them much first time around. A rare and notable example of a band coming back better and stronger)
4. Little Green Cars 'Absolute Zero' (Mumford meets Lumineers with a slightly bigger sound. Irelands finest - oh and they're kinda sorta my relatives)
5. The Virgin Marys 'King of Conflict' (uncompromising, balls to the wall rock n roll, saw them at DC9 with approx 24 people in attendance - y'all missed out)
6. Fidlar 'Fidlar' (snotty, aggressive, infectious, joyful, bratty punk rock - thank you Relaxer for turning me on to these guys)
7. Neko Case 'The More etc etc' (beautiful return to form, epic beautiful soundscapes and possibly the saddest song ever written in 'Nearly Midnight, Honolulu')
8. Deathfix 'Deathfix' (wonderful 70s and psychedelia influenced album by former Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty)
9. Jessie Ware 'Devotion' (not the kind of thing I would normally listen to but this worked for me on so many levels)
10. Billy Bragg 'Tooth and Nail' (another welcome return to form, Billy moved to Nashville and rediscovered his songwriting soul, while embracing a slightly more overt country sound - he wears it well)

Honorable mentions

Lianne La Havas
Daughter
Phosphoescent
David Bowie
Daughter
The History of Apple Pie
First Aid kit
She and Him
Eleanor Friedberger
Ex Cops
London Grammar
Jason Isbell
Villagers
Eels
the Young Evils
Portugal the Man
Bleached
Bleeding Rainbow
Shovels and Rope
Radkey ****** amazing
The Orwells
Dan Croll
QOTSA
Yo La Tengo
Johnny Marr

Biggest Disappointment

Future of the Left - I'm a huge huge fan dating all the way back to McLusky (thanks markie) but this was a piece of shit

Pretty sure Shovels and Rope and First Aid Kit are both 2012. Talk about two albums I like that I'm not allowed to play in the house.

I'll have my list at the end of the year. Jason Isbell, Bill Callahan, Josh Ritter, and Robbie Fulks will all likely be in my top 10.

James wrote:


I'll have my list at the end of the year. Jason Isbell, Bill Callahan, Josh Ritter, and Robbie Fulks will all likely be in my top 10.

thanks for the pre-announcement…we await with baited breath… talk about an exciting bunch of guys..

Let me guess, you had to go in to work on a snow day? Or you're stuck home with the kids on a snow day when you'd rather be out record shopping?

hutch wrote:

James wrote:


I'll have my list at the end of the year. Jason Isbell, Bill Callahan, Josh Ritter, and Robbie Fulks will all likely be in my top 10.

thanks for the pre-announcement…we await with baited breath… talk about an exciting bunch of guys..

Looking out my window at the snow…listening to some Osibisa on the turntable…kids running around…

not too shabby


I got my record shopping in yesterday…

Mikal Cronin - II
Parquet Courts - Light Up gold (released in 2012, didn't hear it until the spring)
QOTSA - ….like CLockwork
Diarrhea Planet - I'm Rich Beyond Your Wildest Dreams
Wavves - Afraid of Heights
Fidlar s/t
Carcass - Surgical Steel
Weekend Nachos - Still
Gary Numan - Splinter
Kurt Vile - Walkin on a Pretty Daze
My Bloody Valentine - mbv

Non-albums:

Creative Adult - Bulls in the Yard
Dads - Pretty Good
Devalued - Plagues (another 2013 discovery of a late 2012 release)

Biggest disapoointment: Uncle Acid - Mind Control.  It's ok but hardly the follow up their debut deserved.

Death Grips' No Love Deep Web, Jessie Ware, and FIDLAR are 2012

Pretty much in order

No Joy ?Wait to Pleasure?
Perfume ?Level 3?
MBV
Kanye West ?Yeezus?
Kurt Vile ?Wakin on a Pretty Daze?
Charli XCX ?True Romance?
California x
Mikal Cronin ?MCII?
Fuzz - Fuzz
Sky Ferreira ?Night Time My Time?
Everything Everything
Diarrhea Planet ?I?m Rich??
Demon Queen ?Exorcise Tape?
Haim ?Days Are Gone?
Action Bronson ?Blue Chips 2?
Tricot ?THE?
Gucci Mane ?Lean?

maybe people are listing bands they discovered in 2013?

I think Jessie Ware's album was released in early 2013 in the US.
The UK version was released in 2012.

The Orwells and First Aid Kit definitely albums from 2012.

bekessler wrote:
Death Grips' No Love Deep Web, Jessie Ware, and FIDLAR are 2012

Robbie Fulks is not banned? haha.. I can understand First Aid Kit…boy they're irritating.

James wrote:
Pretty sure Shovels and Rope and First Aid Kit are both 2012. Talk about two albums I like that I'm not allowed to play in the house.

I'll have my list at the end of the year. Jason Isbell, Bill Callahan, Josh Ritter, and Robbie Fulks will all likely be in my top 10.

never heard of this mikal Cronin guy, but I bet he's a pitchfork favorite, based on him appearing on multiple lists posted here.

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.

James wrote:
never heard of this mikal Cronin guy, but I bet he's a pitchfork favorite, based on him appearing on multiple lists posted here.

It's garage-y power pop that rocks and sounds good.

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.

Ehh, that's kind of the way it always is if you consume a lot of music year after year. I keep a running MSWord document and when a particular record really stands out as something I'm listening to a lot, I put it on the list. Then when I saw this thread, I just pulled out the list, put them in order of how I feel about them and there you go.

One nice thing about having a document is that I now have 'Best Of' docs going back to 2005. For the most part, whatever I put at #1 and #2 are still records I love a lot, and usually those listed at #7 have faded from memory, though there are lots of exceptions.

I can guarantee that I will be listening to my #2 pick, Perfume's Level 3, for years because it's great exercise music. And I think I'll still love No Joy in 10 years because it's a great album and I like pretty much every track on it.

Relaxer 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.

Ehh, that's kind of the way it always is if you consume a lot of music year after year. I keep a running MSWord document and when a particular record really stands out as something I'm listening to a lot, I put it on the list. Then when I saw this thread, I just pulled out the list, put them in order of how I feel about them and there you go.

One nice thing about having a document is that I now have 'Best Of' docs going back to 2005. For the most part, whatever I put at #1 and #2 are still records I love a lot, and usually those listed at #7 have faded from memory, though there are lots of exceptions.

I can guarantee that I will be listening to my #2 pick, Perfume's Level 3, for years because it's great exercise music. And I think I'll still love No Joy in 10 years because it's a great album and I like pretty much every track on it.

Relaxer is the thinking man's music listener…

James wrote:
never heard of this mikal Cronin guy, but I bet he's a pitchfork favorite, based on him appearing on multiple lists posted here.

Or maybe he's awesome and you're missing out?

I stopped listening to Janelle Monae about a month after she made my 2010 list.

That could be true.

StoneTheCrow wrote:

James wrote:
never heard of this mikal Cronin guy, but I bet he's a pitchfork favorite, based on him appearing on multiple lists posted here.

Or maybe he's awesome and you're missing out?