Music in 2013: The 50 Greatest Albums (Part One)



With the aim of trying to get 2014 underway (or rather, the last few albums of 2013 anyway), this'll only be split into two parts: the first thirty, and the top twenty!


#50 - "Mosquito" - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
OK, so, brace yourselves because this first list of ten has some positively appalling artworks on display. The first is the 4th YYYs LP, and although far from the best it made enough of a pleasant listen to creep onto this list right here.


#49 - "Apocalypse" - Thundercat
Not nearly as ugly is Stephen Bruner's face, which adorns the front of his Thundercat project's second effort. It's been a pretty big year for him - worming his way onto the GTA 5 soundtrack and continued great work with Flying Lotus - and whilst this wasn't quite as wonderful as his debut it's a pretty groovy album nonetheless.


#48 - "Spreading Rumours" - Grouplove
There is a sneaking suspicion that this band are secretly a bit terrible but I'm quite happy to ignore that if they keep putting out lovely, enjoyable pop. (Fugly album cover #2, by the way).


#47 - "Heartthrob" - Tegan and Sara
I may have waxed lyrical over 'Closer' on more than one occasion, but the rest of the album was equally solid and boasts a host of fantastic pop tunes. Were 2013 a worse year, this would have charted higher.


#46 - "Wolf's Law" - The Joy Formidable
Another quiet year for the Welsh band, but a fine album off the back of it.


#45 - "MBV" - My Bloody Valentine
Not quite the miracle that everyone over on the Guardian comments section would have you believe, but still an interesting comeback after 22 years away. And I thought being a Bowie fan was trying until this year.


#44 - "Glow and Behold" - Yuck
Losing their frontman after the fantastic self-titled 2011 debut definitely hindered the band's progress a little bit, but thankfully they managed to cling onto enough remnants of their first album to construct a wonderful second.


#43 - "Melophobia" - Cage the Elephant
The album title might be a bit silly (ooh it means fear of music but they're a band!?!?!?!? XD) but at least the band are reliable enough to deliver pumping-up music.


#42 - "Free Your Mind" - Cut Copy
Look, there were a lot of bands who took a step down from their fine 2011 moments this year alright? But they weren't all that bad. Free Your Mind singlehandedly made everyone a Primal Scream fan all over again.


#41 - "Hummingbird" - Local Natives
This will tide me over quite nicely until the next Fleet Foxes record.

#40 - "Soft Will" - Smith Westerns
Perfectly lovely - would soundtrack a barbecue or beach party quite nicely. Just... not quite as good as Dye it Blonde.


#39 - "Wondrous Bughouse" - Youth Lagoon
A psychedelic trip from start to finish.


#38 - "One Breath" - Anna Calvi
Bolder, more confident and stronger songwriting than her selftitled debut.


#37 - "Days are Gone" - HAIM
A handful of excellent singles and some others that make me shrug a little bit and wonder what all the fuss was about. An ideal start for the sisters, though, and let's hope the future material is similarly strong from them.


#36 - "New" - Paul McCartney
Someone who doesn't really need to prove themselves in the future is Sir Macca, who made me sit up and think there might be something to his solo material after all.


#35 - "...Like Clockwork" - Queens of the Stone Age
By far their strongest effort in a decade or more - not that that's saying much.


#34 - "Ciara" - Ciara
It'd be nice if it didn't take an artist having to leave their label to make their career-best album. Oh well.


#33 - "Tales of Us" - Goldfrapp
This seemed to leave critics a little underwhelmed and I don't really understand why: it's incredibly hushed, sure, but the songwriting is astounding.


#32 - "This is... Icona Pop" - Icona Pop
A rework of their self-titled Swedish release from last year, Icona Pop briefly set the world alight this summer with their long overdue #1 single. The album inevitably tanked, but at least it was filled to the brim with solid tunes.


#31 - "Tomorrow's Harvest" - Boards of Canada
A track or two chopped off and it'd be perfect. As it stands: a little bit of a chore to listen to. But a lovely chore, like doing the hoovering.

#30 - "Silence Yourself" - Savages
The first half of the year was quite consumed with fervour towards making this "the album of the year" among music journalists and I'm quite happy that stopped; that's not to say this isn't an album that made me sit up and take notice, it's just not quite the gamechanger it was made out to be. Pretty powerful, though.


#29 - "Samson and Delilah" - V V Brown
I mentioned in my tracks countdown placing of The Apple at #4 how the total stylistic change threw me off at first but I'm so glad in retrospect that it happened: the happy-go-lucky debut was and still is a big bag of fun, but lacked a little in terms of substance. This more than compensated for that.


#28 - "Static" - Cults
Took the poppy tunefulness of their debut and etched it into a far more consistent, enjoyable listen.


#27 - "MCII" - Mikal Cronin
Can't really say much more for this album that the near-universal praise hasn't already done.


#26 - "Cupid Deluxe" - Blood Orange
I kinda feel like I'm shortchanging Dev Hynes here what with his recent personal tragedy I hope he recovers from it, because he's really improving with every project he undertakes recently.


#25 - "Paracosm" - Washed Out
Another year, another gorgeous Ernest Greene record.


#24 - "True Romance" - Charli XCX
A couple of total misfires, and the rest being quality pop? That'll be the ideal debut from Charli XCX then: she can improve (and she's already shown signs of it with the brilliant SuperLove since this was dropped), and I can't wait.


#23 - "AM" - Arctic Monkeys
Inevitably turned the UK press to mush on account of being just about the only British band finding success beyond their debut. It was a little bit embarrassing seeing all of these 10/10 reviews pop up, but the quality of the album managed to convince me slightly of its merit. Their finest since Favourite Worst Nightmare, for sure.


#22 - "Beyoncé" - Beyoncé
just going to drop this in my list totally unannounced


#21 - "Old" - Danny Brown
I berated Drake on the tracks-countdown for falling occasionally foul of the pointless attention-grabby debut, and I suppose I would be inconsistent if I didn't point out that, at times, Danny Brown is mildly irritating too. What he possesses that Drake doesn't, though, is music that leaves me a little awestruck.  

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