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Top 10 Albums of 2013

December 24, 2013
Jake Craney
Latest posts by Jake Craney (see all)

 

 

Top 10 Albums of 2013

As a music-focused publication, we are obligated to provide you in December with as many “End of Year” lists as possible. Please check out our “Top Video Interviews of 2013” list HERE and stay tuned for our Staff End of Year Picks which will be up later this week. As a snack in between those meals, I’d like to offer my personal Top 10 Albums List for 2013.

 

10. Fitz & The Tantrums – More Than Just A Dream

This band stepped up and delivered one of the most fun albums to listen to this year. Excellent songwriting, vocals, and consistent hits from start to finish. I love their ability to write songs with pop-sensibilities and mass public appeal that somehow do not get stale after a few weeks. That combination of substance and mass appeal is not an easy combination to achieve.

Fitz & The Tantrums – “Last Raindrop”

 

9. Frightened Rabbit – Pedestrian Verse

If you haven’t heard of Frightened Rabbit, you better take notice. One of Scotland’s finest bands is one of the absolute best out there right now. Pedestrian Verse dives into the immense and the mundane, all the while keeping a constant pulse and identity. These boys have definitely hit their stride with this album.

Frightened Rabbit – “Late March, Death March”

 

8. HAIM – Days Are Gone

Genre-bending and alluring from start to finish. It’s indie-pop meets R&B style voice-inflection meets older influences a whole bunch of other welcome ingredients. These three sisters have created a distinct pop album that will set them up to be one of the biggest names in American music for years to come.

HAIM – “Falling”

 

7. The National – Trouble Will Find Me

One of the best bands making music today. Not much more needs to be said. TWFM is an album to sit and relax with. You need to be in a certain mood for it, but if you let it hit you, it damn near knocks you out.

 The National – “Graceless”

 

6. Shad – Flying Colours

My only hip-hop selection on the list this year; Shad is what hip-hop should be. Intelligent and meaningful lyrics that are cutting, witty, and created with purpose. This album has catchy radio-ready hits, intricate ballads, and even some spoken word poetry. Shad is one of the best lyricists in the game and puts many popular hip-hop icons to shame with this release. Best lyrics of the year, hands down.

Shad – “Fam Jam (Fe Sum Immigrins)”

 

5. Tommy & The High Pilots – Only Human

I hadn’t even heard of Tommy & The High Pilots at the beginning of the year. This is one of those pleasant surprises of my job. I came across these guys through a request I made for a completely different band and what I was treated to was an absolute gem. I gave one song a chance and was immediately hooked. To my delight, the entire album was magnificent. It’s indie-rock/pop at its best. Tommy Cantillon’s vocals are stirring and powerful, all the while fitting perfectly with the melodies and beats crafted by the band. These guys genuinely know how to write a compelling song. The closing stretch of “Somebody Make A Move,” “Innocent,” and “Painted Cave” is the best closing to an album I have heard in a long time.

Tommy & The High Pilots – “Outta My Head”

 

4. Arcade Fire – Reflektor

I can’t even believe I am ranking this at number 4. This double-album is incredible. It is vast and expansive, ebbing and flowing out of reflective and introspective verses and melodies into poignant and cathartic peaks. This is a layered and thought-provoking album…if you have the time. It’s well over an hour long and it makes no attempt to be a “radio-fan-attention-span” album with easily digestible hits. To those who have the time to let this sink in, they’ll reap the rewards. Reflektor is truly sublime in every way.

Arcade Fire – “Afterlife”

 

3. Portugal. The Man – Evil Friends

Not really sure what to say about this album other than it is damn near flawless. Every note, beat, line, it all works so well. Their decision to team up with Danger Mouse on production must have played a part in some chemistry equation that worked wonders. P.TM has cemented their place in today’s crowded music scene as one of the absolute best bands out there. Evil Friends is an amalgam of genres, styles, even vocals…it’s a schizo-whirlwind of an album that struck the right chord with me. It’s one of the rarest of albums (more-so than any other this year) that I don’t want to skip around to my favorite songs. Every time I put this album on, I want to listen from start to finish, no skipping. Love every track. That should tell you everything.

Portugal. The Man – “Modern Jesus”

 

2. The Wonder Years – The Greatest Generation

Where do I begin? I still list TWY as my favorite band, even though I have moved pretty far away from that musical sound in recent years. It just doesn’t seem to matter when these guys release an album. It all just hits me a certain way. The songwriting, emotion, honesty, and lyrics…those lyrics. Beginning with The Upsides, TWY has somehow mirrored many events and experiences in my life with every release. The Greatest Generation is no different. I found myself in awe of their newest effort. Whatever you’d like to call this genre of music, this album is the absolute pinnacle of it. It sounds hyperbolic, but each of the last three TWY albums have changed my life in a meaningful way. Doesn’t get much better than that from a band. “The Devil In My Bloodstream” does the best in encapsulating this album into one song. The closer “I Just Want To Sell Out My Funeral” is one of the finest songs TWY have crafted.

The Wonder Years – “The Devil In My Bloodstream”

 

1.  The 1975 – The 1975

So what’s better than what I’ve just described? I guess a breath of fresh air from across the pond. Anyone who came across The 1975’s EP’s throughout 2012 and early 2013 knew they were in for something special with the band’s first full-length. What we got was pop heaven mixed with enough sincerity, depth, and variety to keep us listening again and again. This is what pop music should be, and thanks to The 1975, this is now what pop music is. “Chocolate,” “The City,” “Sex,” “Girls,” “Settle Down,” the list goes on and on. These are pop gems with Matty Healy’s endearing accent guiding the way (even though they don’t much care for the ‘pop’ tag, and anyone lucky enough to see them live knows they bring the rock edge and intensity).

The album showcases honesty in songwriting that isn’t usually seen. Combine that with variety; songs like “Menswear,” “M.O.N.E.Y.” and closer “Is There Someone Who Can Watch You” and you have an expansive pop album that will be remembered and cherished for a long time. The 1975 have burst onto the scene with the crown jewel of 2013.

The 1975 – “Girls”

 

 

Other great albums from 2013 you should definitely check out

Shout Out Louds – Optica

Twenty One Pilots – Vessel

Cloud Cult – Love

Lydia – Devil

Tegan and Sara – Heartthrob

First Rate People – Everest

Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City

Polar Bear Club – Death Chorus

The Front Bottoms – Talon of the Hawk

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