I’ve said it several times this past year and I will say it again –
2013 was the best year of music since 1967
I stand behind that statement 100%. Although many would cry about how nothing will compare to the good old days, years from now, everyone will see just what a monumental year of music it was. This was the year where some of our biggest modern bands released some of their biggest albums to date. Bands who had been out of the loop for a while made huge comebacks (Daft Punk, Queens of the Stone Age and Boards of Canada for starters).
The scope and variety of sound is immense in these times. Nothing is off limits and genres/labels are becoming more and more useless. I mean, what do you call The Flaming Lips‘ album, The Terror? How do you put that into a box? The audio technological revolution – which saw professional equipment come down to affordable prices – has stabilized for a few years now, which means more musicians have been able to fully utilize the tools at their disposal. It may not seem important at first glance but it truly is; when you don’t have to worry about which button to push, you can let the notes flow through you like water.
Sales have gone down so much that, with hardly any expectations of getting insanely rich, people have instead focused on the art of music creation. I do believe it is a problem and hope that albums sales will someday bounce back to early 2000s levels but at the same time, it acts as a kind of filter. You have to REALLY love making albums and performing in order to stay afloat in the industry. Perhaps Spotify will reach their level of members that will allow them to triple their payouts, as they have been saying. Maybe not. Who knows where its all going.
For now, it doesn’t matter. Our world is overflowing with life-changing music and we, the listeners, benefit the most. So here it is, the Top 50 Albums of 2013.
50.) Pelican – Forever Becoming
49.) Mikal Cronin – MC II
48.) Haim – Days Are Gone
47.) Cults – Static
46.) Carcass – Surgical Steel
45.) Ashley Monroe – Like a Rose
44.) Lady Gaga – Artpop
43.) Savages – Silence Yourself
42.) Pure Bathing Culture – Moon Tides
41.) A$AP Rocky – Long Live A$AP
40.) Sally Shapiro – Somewhere Else
39.) Foxygen – We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic
38.) Frightened Rabbit – Pedestrian Verse
37.) The 1975 – Self Titled
36.) Kavinsky – Outrun
35.) Au Revoir Simone – Move in Spectrums
34.) Fuck Buttons – Slow Focus
33.) Pusha T – My Name is My Name
32.) Iron and Wine – Ghost on Ghost
31.) Tegan and Sara – Heartthrob
30.) Darkside – Psychic
29.) James Blake – Overgrown
28.) Youth Lagoon – Wondrous Bughouse
27.) Jon Hopkins – Immunity
26.) Icona Pop – This Is…
25.) Washed Out – Paracosm
24.) Paul McCartney – New
23.) Iceage – You’re Nothing
22.) Ducktails – The Flower Lane
21.) Javelin – Hi Beams
20.) Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr – The Speed of Things
19.) The National – Trouble Will Find Me
18.) Oneohtrix Point Never – R Plus 7
17.) The Strokes – Come Down Machine
16.) Deafheaven – Sunbather
15.) Arcade Fire – Reflektor
14.) Paramore – Self Titled
13.) Queens of the Stone Age – Like Clockwork…
12.) Julianna Barwick – Nepenthe
11.) Neko Case – The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight…
10.) Phoenix – Bankrupt!
9.) Local Natives – Hummingbird
8.) Nine Inch Nails – Hesitation Marks
7.) Tim Hecker – Virgins
6.) Arctic Monkeys – AM
5.) Anamanaguchi – Endless Fantasy
4.) Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City
3.) Kanye West – Yeezus
2.) Flaming Lips – The Terror
1.) Daft Punk – Random Access Memories
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