Best Albums of 2013

It's back! My annual top albums of 2013 list! I've expanded my usual list of 10 to feature 12 albums. Enjoy...and feel free to comment below if you agree, disagree or just feel like voicing your opinion on some random topic.

#12 - Mutual Benefit - Love’s Crushing Diamond

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#11- Daft Punk - Random Access Memories

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#10- Autre Ne Veux - Anxiety

There’s nothing on this album that should work. Let’s list the things it has working against it. The artist is 30+ year old, Master Degree’d white guy from New York. Strike. This album is a throwback to 1990’s R&B. Strike two. The guy sings with the confidence of a Motown legend, but doesn’t quite have the voice to back it up. Strike three. So why does this album work? I have no idea...but it does and it's good.

     



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#9 - Foxygen - We are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic

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#8 - Pearl Jam - Lightening Bolt

It’s been 19 years since the release of the album Vitalogy which was Pearl Jam’s last good album until this year’s Lightening Bolt. And while I wish the band would have pushed a little further into the rawness and imperfections that made their early work great (see Parquet Courts), this latest album has some true gems in it. And it starts with the track Sirens which should go down as one of the best Pearl Jam lyrics ever written—a song that ponders how we all so gracefully move through life when it can slip through our fingers so instantaneously; and how it the people we love and cherish are what makes life truly meaningful.

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#7 - Jake Bugg - Jake Bugg/Shangri La

Releasing two albums this year, this young brit has the work ethic and talent to someday make incredible masterpiece albums.....once he learns how to fully craft his lyrics. Until that time, we can all enjoy the "early work."

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#6 - Boogarins - As Plantas Que Curam

This group is made up of a couple guys from the middle part of Brazil who like to channel great 60 psychedelic rock. Go ahead and read that again. It’s a small world after all. And lucky for all of us that we get access to this well-crafted songwriting. 

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#5 - Civil Wars - Civil Wars

The alternative folk band has the sort of countrified grit that is reminiscent of Johnny Cash. This album was released with swirling rumors of an eminent band break up. That friction shows in the songwriting and pays off by producing darker lyrics and tones.




















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#4 - Arcade Fire - Reflektor

Too often, we criticize bands for not stretching outside of their branded sound and experimenting with something new. Arcade Fire have proven that with this album, the risk of leaving a trademark sound can pay off—especially when you have a song-crafting guru like James Murphy producing your album.

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#3 - Waxahatchee - Cerulean Salt

A poetic, intimate and stripped down work from a talented voice—Katie Crutchfield takes you on visual journeys that keep you engaged. Reminiscent of early Liz Phair.

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#2 - Parquet Courts - Light Up Gold

Sometimes great rock music is sloppy and full of attitude—and these New York garage rockers have both. They're as cool as Larry Bird's 70's mustache.

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#1 - Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City

An excellent album with wonderfully smart and thoughtful lyrics, Vampire Weekend have released their best album to date. Whether it’s the track “Obvious Bicycle” with lyrics that plead with somebody to keep believing in their talent and dreams and stop accepting mediocre, thankless corporate paycheck-earner jobs or the Old Testament-referencing song “Ya Hey” that expresses aloud doubts about religion, the music tackles subjects in an honest, inquisitive and respectful way. But all that would be moot if not for the fact Rostam Batmanglij is a gifted musical composer who knows how to make really good pop music. In a world often plagued by an abundance of cynicism and sarcasm, VW stands out as a band that knows how to make earnest and smart cool again.




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 Most Overrated: 

Kanye West - Yeezus

 Best Single on an otherwise terrible album: 

Jay Z - Tom Ford

 Most Disappointing: 

Phoenix - Bankrupt!