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2013, best of 2013, music

Favorite Albums of 2013 (so far)

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We’re halfway through 2013 and it’s shaping up to be quite the year in music.

Highlights definitely include the return of My Bloody Valentine, Daft Punk, and David Bowie, along with some really fantastic debuts from Disclosure, Ex Cops, Little Green Cars, On An On, and Rhye.  But with high comes the low, and though I was super excited for new albums from The Knife and Phoenix, they were quite the letdown in my opinion.

These are simply in alphabetical order.  It’s hard enough to rank my top 10, i don’t want to do it more than once a year.  Enjoy all of these on Spotify, which i’ll continue to update throughout the rest of 2013.  And with some highly anticipated releases still on the horizon, including new albums from Porcelain Raft, Smith Westerns, and Elton John, i’m sure this list will evolve.

But enough babbling, enjoy my favorite albums of 2013 (so far) and please check back in December to see which (if any) make the cut for my top 10 of the year.

 

Autre Ne Veut//Anxiety

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Baths//Obsidian

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Buke & Gase//General Dome

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Camera Obscura//Desire Lines

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Christopher Owens//Lysandre

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CHVRCHES//Recover EP

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The City and Horses//Strange Range

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Daft Punk//Random Access Memories

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David Bowie//The Next Day

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Disclosure//Settle

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Eleanor Friedberger//Personal Record

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Evenings//Yore

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Ex Cops//True Hallucinations

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Gliss//Langsom Dans

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Guards//In Guards We Trust

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The Joy Formidable//Wolf’s Law

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Lady Lamb the Beekeeeper//Ripely Pine

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Little Green Cars//Absolute Zero

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Local Natives//Hummingbird

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The Mary Onettes//Hit the Waves

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The Men//New Moon

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My Bloody Valentine//m b v

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The National//Trouble Will Find Me

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Oberhofer//Notalgia EP

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On An On//Give In

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Rhye//Woman

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Saturday Looks Good To Me//One Kiss Ends It All

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Sigur Rós//Kveikur
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG2N7euPXuc
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Surfer Blood//Pythons

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Surrogate//Post-Heroic

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Telekinesis//Dormarion

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TRAILS AND WAYS//Trilingual EP

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Vampire Weekend//Modern Vampires of the City

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Yeah Yeah Yeahs//Mosquito

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Yo La Tengo//Fade

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Youth Lagoon//Wondrous Bughouse

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2013, music, on repeat

[on repeat] Porcelain Raft//Silent Speech EP

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Porcelain Raft (Mauro Remiddi) is hard at work on his follow up to 2012’s Strange Weekend, but in his spare time, he put together this excellent instrumental EP.  Remiddi describes the process below…

“In September, I started recording my new album and the first thing I decided to do was sell all of my instruments. I didn’t want this record to sound anything like Strange Weekend so, to avoid any temptation, I sold almost everything…and got few new things. Most importantly, I got a modular synth.

I was spending my days recording a new record in the studio, and at nights found myself jamming on the modular more and more, obsessively recording everything I was doing.
I remember reading the sentence “Language is often a defense” and wanting to follow it, like a game.

The result of these late night sessions is an instrumental EP called Silent Speech, I hope you enjoy it.”
x

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2012, best of 2012, music

Top 10 Albums of 2012

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Here you go, my top 10 albums of 2012.  I went back and forth on this up until the last minute.  But alas, there’s no going back now.  My picks are official and floating around the world wide web for everyone to scrutinize.  And speaking of scrutiny, I would love some feedback.  Do you agree/disagree with my picks?  What were your favorites this year?  Heck, what were your least favorites?  Leave a comment below and keep the conversation going.

[p.s. see how my final top 10 compared to my favorites back in June and July]

 

10. Sigur Rós//Valtari

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Scratched them off my concert bucket list this year and totally lived up to my expectations.  I have no idea what Jonsi and company are singing about and I really don’t care.  Beautiful music is beautiful music.  Period.

♩Sigur Ros – Ekki múkk
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9. Sleigh Bells//Reign of Terror

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I can’t get enough of this duo.  My favorite driving music.  Turn it up, roll down the windows, drive fast.  Noise pop at it’s best.

♩Sleigh Bells – Crush
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8. Exitmusic//Passage

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An amazing and emotionally charged record that I seem to enjoy more with every listen.  If Beach House were to team up with Sigur Rós, I imagine it would sound like this.

♩Exitmusic – White Noise [from Passage]
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7. Blackbird Blackbird//Boracay Planet

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If you haven’t already, you need to give Blackbird Blackbird a proper listen.  This guy is amazing and he just keeps getting better.  Boracay Planet is his best yet.

♩Blackbird Blackbird – It’s A War [from Boracay Planet]
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6. Kishi Bashi//151a

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This record makes me happy.  Smart lyrics, beautiful vocals, imaginative arrangements, and quite the impressive violin work.  Kishi Bashi’s debut album 151a is all of these things and more.  Kishi Bashi is my favorite new artist of 2012 and it’s no surprise he’s on so many year end lists.

♩Kishi Bashi – Bright Whites
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5. Crystal Castles//Crystal Castles (III)

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My favorite Crystal Castles release to date.  With every new track the Canadian experimental/electronic duo dropped, the more and more my excitement and anticipation grew.

♩Crystal Castles – Wrath of God
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4. Lost In The Trees//A Church That Fits Your Needs

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One of the most personal, and beautiful, records i’ve fallen in love with (probably since The Antlers’ Hospice in 2009).  Lead singer/guitarist based the record largely around his mother’s suicide, stating that — “I wanted to give my mother a space to become all the things I think she deserved to be and wanted to be, and all the beautiful things in her that didn’t quite shine while she was alive.”

♩Lost In The Trees – Golden Eyelids
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3. Porcelain Raft//Strange Weekend

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Mauro Remiddi, as Porcelain Raft, has crafted a dreamy and visceral sound unlike no other.  One of the most impressive debut albums since The xx’s xx in 2009.

♩Porcelain Raft – Drifting In And Out
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2. Beach House//Bloom

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Baltimore’s Beach House continue to set a high standard for dream pop with each and every release.  This year’s Bloom might be their best yet.  It’s definitely my personal favorite from the duo.

♩Beach House – On the Sea
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1. The xx//Coexist

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Easily my favorite album of the year.  Totally exceeded my expectations.  Like their debut, I can listen to this record, from start to finish, over and over again.

♩The xx – Try
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