My Top 25 Albums Of 2013
My 25 favorite albums of 2013. Plenty of great albums didn't make the cut, so don't be mad ;) |
| 25 |  | Typhoon (USA-OR)
White Lighter
A lifetime captured in 45 minutes of emotional indie folk from the pressures of growing up to finding one's place in the world. Additionally, the band contrasts reflective lyrics with grand-scale instrumentation that is colorful and riveting. It amazes me that this has been so overlooked, but I guess this band truly is Portland's best kept secret.
Genre: Indie Folk
Favorite Track: Hunger and Thirst |
| 24 |  | Cult of Luna
Vertikal
Genre: Sludge Metal
Favorite Track: Vicarious Redemption |
| 23 |  | f(x)
Pink Tape
Colorful, lovable, and quirky k-pop with masterful production and stunning hooks.
Genre: Pop
Favorite Track: 시그널 (Signal) |
| 22 |  | Autechre
Exai
Genre: Electronic
Favorite Track: 1 1 is |
| 21 |  | Daft Punk
Random Access Memories
Genre: Electronic/Disco
Favorite Track: Instant Crush |
| 20 |  | Iceage
You're Nothing
The Danish punk rock outfit improves upon an already robust sound from their first
album with the same force that makes them so infectious.
Genre: Punk/Post-Punk
Favorite Track: In Haze |
| 19 |  | Foxygen
We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors...
Genre: Psychedelic Pop
Favorite Track: Shuggie |
| 18 |  | of Montreal
Lousy With Sylvianbriar
Kevin Barnes and the band strip down their sound to something focused and
personal, allowing their songwriting ability to shine.
Genre: Indie Pop
Favorite Track: Obsidian Currents |
| 17 |  | Bonobo
The North Borders
Smooth, immersive, and gorgeous electronic textures coalesce under a colorful canopy of melodies.
Genre: Electronic
Favorite Track: Transits |
| 16 |  | Boards of Canada
Tomorrow's Harvest
The unparalleled electronic virtuosos serve another vast soundscape with considerable detail and personality.
Genre: Electronic
Favorite Track: Nothing Is Real |
| 15 |  | Chelsea Wolfe
Pain Is Beauty
The mystical singer/songwriter pulls together her most sonically diverse album to date, incorporating elements of dark wave, electronics, shoegaze, noise rock, and drone atop her introspective gothic rock and folk style… not to mention her gorgeous voice.
Genre: Gothic Rock
Favorite Track: They'll Clap When You're Gone |
| 14 |  | The Dillinger Escape Plan
One of Us Is the Killer
A ferocious, aggressive, and rhythmically complex record that instills tension and
paranoia while managing to be incredibly memorable.
Genre: Metal/Hardcore
Favorite Track: Prancer |
| 13 |  | Queens of the Stone Age
...Like Clockwork
Josh Homme and company return with their best album since their Rated R/Songs
for the Deaf peak.
Genre: Alternative Rock
Favorite Track: I Sat by the Ocean |
| 12 |  | The Haxan Cloak
Excavation
The definition of darkness. Excavation is creepy to the point where every square
inch of the music crawls under the listener's skin. Thus, the atmosphere it presents
delves deep into the underground world. Yet despite the shadows it casts, there's a
strange sense of hope at the end. It's some of the most unique electronic music
you'll hear.
Genre: Electronic
Favorite Track: Miste |
| 11 |  | Agnes Obel
Aventine
A soothing and classical take on songwriting with lush piano, string arrangements, and one of the most angelic voices you'll hear in 2013.
Genre: Folk/Modern Classical
Favorite Track: The Curse |
| 10 |  | Beyonce
Beyonce
The seminal pop queen comes out of nowhere with a fantastic, nocturnal, and liberating album.
Genre: Pop
Favorite Track: Partition |
| 9 |  | Kurt Vile
Wakin on a Pretty Daze
Kurt delivers a solid and spacious rock album with a sweet tinge of haze and
psychedelia. With longer song structures, he manages to make every second of the
music incredibly interesting and enormously catchy. And it all seems so effortless.
Genre: Indie Rock
Favorite Track: Was All Talk |
| 8 |  | Danny Brown
Old
Danny proves himself yet again to be one of the most versatile rappers in the
game, and though I prefer the more introspective first half, I always get a kick out
of the volatility of his character.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Favorite Track: The Return |
| 7 |  | Paramore
Paramore
An eclectic pop rock masterpiece and a refreshing change of pace that sets the band up for an ever-evolving future.
Genre: Alternative Rock
Favorite Track: Last Hope |
| 6 |  | Jon Hopkins
Immunity
Visceral, gritty, and ragged electronic album that speaks enormous volumes to Hopkins's dexterity as a producer.
Genre: Electronic
Favorite Track: Open Eye Signal |
| 5 |  | Deafheaven
Sunbather
A gargantuan album that melds elements of black metal, post-rock, and shoegaze
in a cathartic, intense musical experience about those who are constantly tantalized by their deepest desires. George Clarke's screams are far from sinister; in fact they are incredibly vulnerable. He just wants to dream. Though many black metal purists turn their noses up at this album, it's hard to argue that moments like the last two minutes of the title track are some of the most uplifting sounds heard in
modern metal.
Genre: Black Metal/Shoegaze
Favorite Track: Sunbather |
| 4 |  | The Knife
Shaking the Habitual
Though it may not be the duo's magnum opus (see Silent Shout) this album is
easily The Knife's most ambitious and iconoclastic album. It's a twisted ride that
explores some of the most unsettling aspects of sound while tackling important political issues and never failing to stick in one's mind like a parasite.
Genre: Electronic
Favorite Track: A Tooth for an Eye |
| 3 |  | Altar of Plagues
Teethed Glory and Injury
A gritty, dense black metal album with masterful touches of industrial effects and electronics to give it a sense of unrelenting rigidity.
Genre: Black Metal
Favorite Track: Scald Scar of Water |
| 2 |  | Kayo Dot
Hubardo
Another gargantuan, eclectic collision of avant-garde, progressive metal, post-rock, death metal, jazz, black metal, chamber music, and much much more from compositional genius Toby Driver.
Genre: Progressive Metal
Favorite Track: And He Built Him a Boat |
| 1 |  | Oneohtrix Point Never
R Plus Seven
One of the best and most progressive producers of our lifetime comes through with another album full of sonic world-building and unfettered ambition that dissects, from an abstract angle, our relationship with technology.
Genre: Electronic
Favorite Track: Chrome Country |
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