Yo are we still doing bestof2013 lists?

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Postby otters~1 » 2013.12.11 (20:56)

I'm down to do albums and possible singles but I probably only will if you people pledge to do them as well. Looking at Yahoozy, gloomp, orstz, etc. Who's in? EDIT LIST COPIED OVER FROM HUBSKI, FUCK YR FORMATTING

+Albums+

1. Daft Punk - *Random Access Memories.* My god. Come on. It's such a rare thing that an album so completely fulfills expectations while simultaneously redefining everything we think we know about the modern state of a genre ... that has to be rewarded and it would be even if RAM wasn't *also* filled with the best tracks of 2013. Had this more or less penciled in since it came out.

2. Shad - *Flying Colours.* All over the place, a total revelation, smart, funny, sad. Hip hop. What I wish Donald Glover did, what I think everyone should've been talking about when they were worshiping Chance the Rapper.

3. Robert Delong - *Just Movement.* Best live experience of the year, probably. "We call that progress/But it's just movement." Dance yrself dirty.

4. Anamanaguchi - *Endless Fantasy.* The internet's soundtrack.

5. The National - *Trouble Will Find Me.* The latest addition to my list, because although the National have now made four world-class albums in a row, each one caught me by surprise for some reason. I'll make the same mistake in 2016.

6. Sol - *Eyes Open EP.* This wasn't going to not make it on here. Probably not better than his 2012 album, but it has the telling advantage of being from this calendar year. Hip hop so self-aware it's going to start replicating itself soon.

7. Sigur Ros - *Kveikur.* I may enjoy his more than I've enjoyed any other Sigur Ros album, somehow. Realized that today and couldn't believe it. The [AllMusic reviewer](http://www.allmusic.com/album/kveikur-mw0002525327) pretty much has this one pegged.

8. The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die - *Whenever If Ever.* Great synthesis of styles. Some emo, not too much, or at least it's lost in the haze.

9. Vampire Weekend - *Modern Vampires of the City.* Enjoyed much more than any previous VW album, pretty much earned its place on various year end lists.

10. Run the Jewels - *Run the Jewels.* El-P and Killer Mike.

11. FIDLAR - *FIDLAR.* Criminally overlooked, maybe because it came out 361 days ago. Surf punk, yelling, drugs.

12. The Front Bottoms - *Talon of the Hawk.* In my opinion most exciting indie outfit we've got right now. Probably not as good as their first album, but their first album was for the ages.

13. Typhoon - *White Lighter.* Portland, there are a dozen of them, but White Lighter rises above that stigma.

14. Darkside - *Psychic.*

15. Atlas Genius - *When It Was Now.* Considered at least 13 albums for this last spot, including some I didn't get enough time to really judge, like Ka's thing and the Arctic Monkeys from a few months ago. Thundercat and Jagwar Ma both made albums that could be here. Honorable mention section germinated from this indecision.

Honorable Mention: Bombino - *Nomad.* Thundercat - *Apocalypse.* Jagwar Ma - *Howlin'.* The Flaming Lips - *The Terror.* Burial - *Rival Dealer EP.* James Blake - *Overgrown.* Ka - *The Night's Gambit.* The Arctic Monkeys - *AM.* Pusha T - *My Name Is My Name.* Buke and Gase - *General Dome.* Holograms - *Forever*. Autre Ne Veut - *Anxiety.* David Bowie - *The Next Day*. Kanye West - *Yeezus*.

And so many more. I probably listened to about 65 albums these past couple weeks but I still missed a lot of good material, especially a lot of NPR's international-centric list. I also haven't yet heard the new albums from old standbys like Los Campesinos!, QotSA, Local Natives, The Men ... skipped the Toro Y Moi for now but I bet I'd love it. Couldn't fit Streetlight Manifesto's *The Hands That Thieve*, or the new Beach Fossils, or a handful of albums @ButterflyEffect@ mentioned in his list. Cold War Kids has a 2013 album that I vaguely remember enjoying. Tim Hecker. Etc. So it's not a complete list but I think it's a pretty good one.

I left out *Because the Internet* from sheer confusion.

-----------

+Tracks+

The best three songs of the year were all on the Daft Punk album, no that's not fair; it's only somewhat accurate. [Instant Crush](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9BK3xcRH1g) combined two of my favorite things perfectly. Best song Casablancas has ever been a part of? Surely not. Meanwhile, [Giorgio by Moroder](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m4ZkEqQrn0) was overlooked, the synth, the orchestral fusion, the way the song mirrors the narrative.

[He Say She Say](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDZZ9VWSpZ4), from Shad, is one of the most moving and well-constructed hip hop tracks I've ever heard. Remember Nujabes? The torch is being carried.

[The Stars Are Out Tonight](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdU3OPxLq7s) needs no introduction. Off the new Bowie. Weird and wild. @thenewgreen@ I promised to shout-out to you for this post and right here seems appropriate.

[New Slaves](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SoKFycTmVU). Kanye. The electric performance on SNL. I admit this song has something other songs this year just didn't have. I'm not sure what to think about the whole album, but New Slaves by itself is an anthem. It'll be around for a long fucking time loved or hated.

[Modern Jesus](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8e1sSNsf44) from Portugal. The Man. Probably the best non-Shad, non-Daft Punk song of the year even though the album that surrounded it wasn't too great. Chorus of the decade.

[Song for Zula](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPxQYhGpdvg) off of *Muchacho* by Phosphorescent.

[Cigarette Daydreams](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuFb2iRhM7M), the wonderful closing track of Cage the Elephant's new album.

[Brennisteinn](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc6zXSdYXm8), the most explosive song from Kveikur.

[Everything Is Embarrassing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEamE0MYPkg), off of Sky Ferreira's album. Surprise!
Last edited by otters~1 on 2013.12.27 (10:07), edited 1 time in total.
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Postby unoriginal name » 2013.12.11 (20:57)

yeah ofc although i'm so out of the loop ;--;;

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Postby Rose » 2013.12.11 (21:59)

This year has kinda sucked in my opinion. I only have an "elite four" of sorts of albums from this year. Clicking on the pics will take you to their rym pages.

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#4 Deafheaven - Sunbather

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#3 Gris - À L'âme Enflammée, L'äme Constellée...

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#2 The Green Violinist - More Thrill & Never Ending Blessing

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#1 Progenie Terrestre Pura - U.M.A.


Other than The Green Violinist, all are black metal. TGV is prog rock with gothic rock influences.
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Postby M4xwell » 2013.12.11 (22:07)

Got rather odd choices for favourite albums due to the fact that this year dwindled in wellness...

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For Jazz (My #3)

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For Rock. (My #2)

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Oneohtrix Point Never - R Plus Seven would be for 'Electronic' and my #1.
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Postby 乳头的早餐谷物 » 2013.12.12 (01:46)

Yeah, I'm doing singles and/or tracks. My album list would be pretty meaningless.
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Postby M4xwell » 2013.12.12 (02:09)

muscℴvar wrote:Yeah, I'm doing singles and/or tracks. My album list would be pretty meaningless.
Obviously because we know it'll win.
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Postby Vyacheslav » 2013.12.12 (02:30)

listening to music is too mainstream
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Postby xwd » 2013.12.12 (04:38)

I haven't been going out of my way to listen to 2013 music, except for Ubiktune and 8bitpeoples (RIP Pause), but here are my favorites so far from this year:

aivi & surasshu - The Black Box
Anamanaguchi - Endless Fantasy
Doomcloud - The Masquerade
Bonobo - The North Borders

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Postby Universezero » 2013.12.13 (05:11)

I can't tell if these are bestof2013 lists or favouritesof2013 lists.
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Postby Losttortuga » 2013.12.13 (07:01)

There isn't objectively best music you neenerhead.
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Postby Universezero » 2013.12.13 (10:02)

I never said there was. Since when wasn't the best of an objectively good thing not determined by population averages? (eg, metacritic ratings)
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Postby Losttortuga » 2013.12.15 (00:10)

Oh, I see. I think I would rather see what individual people like.

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Postby Donfuy » 2013.12.15 (02:26)

Yeah, I have list going. This time I decided to do it differently, and have no size limit on the tracks list. Just created a playlist for all of those songs that really are fuckin great.
I'll be posting them on http://thenewestsans.tumblr.com from today on. Like, 2-3 songs per day. At the end of the year I'll post the list and stuff and go crazy and do shit like a spotify playlist and all kinds of different playlists and stuff.

Not sure if I'm gonna do an album list yet.
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Postby  yahoozy » 2013.12.15 (03:21)


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Postby Sunset » 2013.12.15 (23:00)

Fetch by Melt-Banana, ...Like Clockwork by QotSA, Spiderbait by Spiderbait, and Light-Up Gold by Parquet Courts are by far my favorites from this year

edit: unnecessary quotations between Fetch

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Postby otters~1 » 2013.12.16 (00:50)

thundercat was really good anamana was ++ jury's still out on qotsa
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Postby Seneschal » 2013.12.16 (14:08)

I'll produce an album list at some point (have been racing through releases from this year that I'd missed recently now that I'm on holiday and have nothing better to do) so hopefully I might have a fairly comprehensive list soonish.

Will also do a list of tracks at some point, obviously. It does seem like this year in particular has been all over the place when it comes to stuff to check in on, most of the stuff in this thread are things I hadn't even heard of, let alone considered listening to. Also, I know I'm not much better in trying to get a list finished before the end of the year, but I find it amusing how so many publications/people started list making as soon as November was over, as if December doesn't count (fyi my favourite album of 2011, undun, was released in December that year and was ignored by virtually everyone). I wonder how many reviewers are scrambling to incorporate latecomers like Beyonce or Burial into their year end shenanigans...

EDIT: 2014 looks like it might be a repeat of 2011 for me: St. Vincent and The Roots are both set to release albums, and mathematically we're due for another Fleet Foxes album, so yay.

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Postby 乳头的早餐谷物 » 2013.12.16 (17:46)

Songs! As always, I've made absolutely no effort to stay on top of new releases and so I could never call this a "best of", just my favourites of what I've heard this year. I did little write-ups because fuck you.

1. SIGUR RÓS Ísjaki
As a straightforward pop song from a band not known for such, you could say Ísjaki is similar to Hoppípolla—but Ísjaki shits all over Hoppípolla (with all due respect to that lovely and popular number). It's a perfect dream pop song with a gorgeous chorus and swooning, scraping strings. Though it doesn't exhibit the intensity that most of the other tracks on Kveikur do, Ísjaki does exemplify what made this Sigur Rós's best album in a decade: a sense of immediacy. And, of course, another of the album's most notable traits is here in full force: the foregrounding of the percussion. Magnificent.
Another great track from Sigur Rós's Kveikur which also conveniently has a video: Brennisteinn. Again, the percussion: fucking fantastic.

2. ANAMANAGUCHI Space Wax America
Anamanaguchi covered a lot of ground with their 80 minute epic Endless Fantasy, but this track is my favourite. It's nothing special, really, just classic Anamanaguchi: guitars and drums rock and pulse waves sing. And there's a Weezer reference. That's all I need to be happy.
Another nice track from Anamanaguchi's Endless Fantasy which even has a real video and everything: Meow. No video but still cool: John Hughes, Pastel Flags, U n ME, et al.

3. ARCADE FIRE Porno
There have always been those disco elements in the Arcade Fire's music—how many times does a four-on-the-floor beat make an appearance on their debut?*—and as if there was ever any doubt, Sprawl II made it explicit. That their latest album went further in that direction should have come as no surprise, and songs like Reflektor and especially Afterlife are fairly logical continuations of that sound.
But Porno? I didn't see this one coming. It doesn't sound like the Arcade Fire: no real strings, or drums, barely any guitar; the track's built on a simple drum machine pattern accented with finger clicks, synth bass stabs, and above all, a synth that just keeps going wub-wub-wub (LFO: not just for dubstep anymore); I'm not going to speculate to the extent of the co-producer's involvement, but this is certainly sounds more like LCD Soundsystem than anything else on the album. But it is the Arcade Fire, through and through. I guess the reason I chose this as one of my favourite tracks is because it's one of those songs that seems so simple and repetitive and kind of opaque as to why it works, but damn does it work.
Actually, no, I know exactly why I chose it: the subtle bitcrushing effect on Win's vocal (2:41, "before the line is lost"). Genius.
* My quick count says five times: Tunnels, Power Out, Crown of Love, Haïti, Rebellion.
Other great tracks from the Arcade Fire's Reflektor: Reflektor and It's Never Over (Hey Orpheus). Afterlife is also quite good (so are We Exist and Flashbulb Eyes, but they don't have videos).

4. 椎名林檎 いろはにほへと
Shiina Ringo released a new single this year! Of course it was going to make the list. (If you're not already familiar, you really should check out her work, regardless of whatever dismissive attitude you might have towards my Japanese shit.) Conveniently, it's a good song. It takes an expectedly unexpected detour in the middle part.
Other worthwhile songs by Shiina Ringo this year, only these ones are collaborations: 熱愛発覚中 with producer Nakata Yasutaka of Capsule, Perfume, and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu fame; and 殺し屋危機一髪 with SOIL&“PIMP”SESSIONS, a swinging jazz band with a great if inscrutable name.

5. スマイレージ 新しい私になれ!
Fifth best song of the year? I doubt it. But Atarashii Watashi ni Nare! does it for me. When it comes to this kind of pop music, the reasons for why a particularly song clicks for me are too intangible to really explain. The melodies and the chords just work. But I can highlight a couple of elements: the chromatically descending breakdowns before the pre-chorus. Nice. And the little synth bits between bars of the chorus (another synth going wub-wub-wub, though this one does actually have a brief flirtation with dubstep). Ii desu ne?
Another song written by Tsunku this year that features a chromatically descending melody: ヨロピク ピクヨロ! Some might call it laziness, but I like that there's such a sense of personality in his work that you can identify the sorts of things he's been into lately.

6. AIVI & SURASSHU Here's How
From the lovely chiptune/piano combo album The Black Box, Here's How is a straightforward jazz track with a blues riff. And that's how I like them.
Other Aivi & Surasshu loveliness: a cover of the Katamari Damacy song Lonely Rolling Star which I think surpasses the original. It's probably better than Here's How, come to think of it...

7. JUICE=JUICE 五月雨美女がさ乱れる
I think I've written quite enough about J-pop for one night (see below). Suffice to say this one rocks somewhat the fuck out. And there's brass. It's almost good enough to distract you from the group's name.
Another song from the group with an unbelievably stupid name even by Hello! Project standards: イジワルしないで 抱きしめてよ. That groove is legit.

8. モーニング娘。 ブレインストーミング
After spending years in the doldrums, Morning Musume have been on the ascendancy for the last year or two, and while Brainstorming isn't a perfect song, it is the perfect song for the current era of the group. It's solid and yet not at all complacent. It keeps you on your toes, which is always a very good thing with pop music. Above all, it exudes confidence.
Continuing on from trends established in the previous few singles, lots of different short sections are stuffed into the one song with almost audacious abandon. Indeed, on a few occasions it seems to make deliberate reference to those previous singles (or maybe Tsunku, also the producer and composer for this group, really is lazy). It also continues the trend of doing a modern electropop song with production that actually sounds the part, which used to be a huge weak point for the group. There's a bit of brostep and complextro (a term I use while still refusing to acknowledge its legitimacy) in there, but not enough to ruin the song—on the contrary, it works well.
I like the restraint with which Oda Sakura, the newest and perhaps/almost certainly the most vocally talented member of the group, is used. Aside from allowing for a rather good line distribution amongst all the other members, it heightens the effect of her two main solo lines leading into the chorus, which sound amazing and are the highlights of the song. A more capricious personal highlight is the end of Sato Masaki's solo line, both for her delivery and for the general cadence of it as sung in the typical syllabic J-pop fashion as "ZA-N-NE-N-NA-TAI-PU". You can never have too much of that syllabic N.
Other pretty good songs by Morning Musume this year: pretty much all of them. Maybe I'm biased. Particularly notable is the most recent double A-side single わがまま気のまま愛のジョウーク/愛の軍団 (if the choreography counted for this list, Wagamama Ki no Mama Ai no Joke—the first one—would be #1 purely on account of the slapping), the B-side 哀愁ロマンティック (which is both a good electropop song and a duet featuring my two favourite members, so you can't lose), and the yet-to-be-officially-released What is LOVE? which combines the heavy electro feel Morning Musume has been pursuing recently with swing. And A B C D E-cha E-chaしたい. And トキメクトキメケ. And 私のでっかい花. Yeah, I might be a little biased.

9. KOZA MOSTRA & AGATHON IAKOVIDIS Alcohol Is Free
Part of a great song is capturing the zeitgeist—that's my excuse for this inclusion, anyway—and the title alone should be enough to tell you that Alcohol Is Free was the perfect song for Greece at Eurovision this year. It's the perfect song for the whole continent, really, and it should have won the contest (fuck Denmark). The fusion of ska punk with traditional Greek rebetiko actually works, and it does the job of diluting the ska punk element so the song doesn't suck like ska punk usually does. Could have done with more bouzouki, but then, what couldn't?
Other listenable Eurovision entries from this year: L'Enfer Et Moi (great mood), O Mie (great chorus), Who See (it should be terrible, and it is, and yet it isn't—there's a conviction to it that makes it work).

10. MY BLOODY VALENTINE only tomorrow
Hypnotic. And when your guitar sounds like this, you can take as much time as you like to make an album.
Well, maybe not twenty years. That shit's ridiculous, Kevin.
Another great My Bloody Valentine song: You Made Me Realise (if they don't have to be timely, why should I?).
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Postby Seneschal » 2013.12.26 (15:55)

Since the beginning of the month I've had a completely reversal: where I once thought that 2013 was a disappointing year for music, I've now decided that it's been pretty excellent. Anyway, here's my favourite songs from this year. I started with a shortlist of about 40 and have cut it down to 15 to prevent is from just being a wall of text. Also limited myself to one per artist because I like making myself cry. Songs in alphabetical order by artist:

Bill Callahan - Seagull
Bill Callahan has such a lovely voice, it's hypnotic. Plus, the way that guitar comes in at 3:02 is probably my favourite musical moment of 2013.

Chance the Rapper - Acid Rain
That downward spiralling guitar riff is just gorgeous. It's a melancholy but very pretty song, made all the better by the fact that Chance's mannerisms, which wouldn't have gelled well on such a downbeat track, have been pared down considerably.

Childish Gambino - Telegraph Ave. ("Oakland" by Lloyd)
All of Donald Glover's music has been exceedingly well produced in the past but Because the Internet really took it to a new level. This is another beautiful sounding hip-hop track, with Gambino proving that he can sing at least as well as he can rap. The transition from fictional radio singer 'Lloyd' to Glover's first real hook is just great and the chorus gets stuck in your head for days.

Elvis Costello & The Roots - Cinco Minutos Con Vos
Only some of the songs produced by this collaboration really worked, but this was the best of the bunch. A slinky, Latin-flavoured duet between Costello and Marisol 'La Marisoul' Hernandez (thanks, wikipedia) with some orchestral backing and the typically excellent Roots providing the beat.

Daft Punk - Touch (feat. Paul Williams)
I love all these songs pretty much equally, hence why I've only ranked them alphabetically. That said, this would probably be my number one pick if I'd gone down that route, even though I'm not at all sure I like the fake out near the end. Just a heavenly track with probably the best lyrics of any Daft Punk song to date. More, please.

Goldfrapp - Jo
The best opening track on any album this year (apart from maaaybe Tet Lek Schrimpf below). Absolutely gorgeous piano sample, and the way her voice comes in for the second chorus at about 3:45 is just an astoundingly beautiful moment in a song full of them. Just don't ask me what the words are.

HAIM - Falling
Could have picked "Don't Save Me" or "The Wire" just as easily, since all of HAIM's singles are great. HAIM sound like a modern day Fleetwood Mac: very catchy soft rock/pop that's just really fun to listen to.

John Wizards - Tet Lek Schrempf
There isn't really any way I can describe this one. Just listen to the song from beginning to end and you'll understand.

Laura Marling - Saved These Words
Had to pick one song from this album so I chose this one. It just brings the album to such a joyful close, and the way it recalls the more aggressive guitar playing of the opening few tracks is a really neat feature.

Janelle Monáe - Ghetto Woman
The funkiest song of the year, without a doubt. Very reminiscent of Stevie Wonder without sounding too derivative. Killer guitar part, too.

Laura Mvula - Is There Anybody Out There?
A very slow-moving song with a lush, stately chorus that finishes in decidedly uncertain territory as Mvula repeats the titular question into the void, sounding very unsure of whether she's going to get an answer. I dunno, there's something I just find courageous about ending the track in such an ambiguous and bleak fashion.

Prefab Sprout - Billy
Really catchy. McAloon's voice sounds as great as ever and apparently he played all the instruments on the album (!), which logically must include the great harmonica part in this song.

St. Vincent - Birth in Reverse
Annie Clark is my favourite musician so this was always going to make the list.

Justin Timberlake - Tunnel Vision
Dithered over whether to select this over "Mirrors", but its amazingly dense and propulsive production won me over.

Vampire Weekend - Diane Young
The perfect combination of the ridiculously catchiness that was a hallmark of their first album and the mature and clever lyricism of Modern Vampires of the City.
Last edited by Seneschal on 2013.12.28 (20:22), edited 3 times in total.

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Postby otters~1 » 2013.12.27 (10:05)

here's my list copied over from a different forum

+Albums+

1. Daft Punk - *Random Access Memories.* My god. Come on. It's such a rare thing that an album so completely fulfills expectations while simultaneously redefining everything we think we know about the modern state of a genre ... that has to be rewarded and it would be even if RAM wasn't *also* filled with the best tracks of 2013. Had this more or less penciled in since it came out.

2. Shad - *Flying Colours.* All over the place, a total revelation, smart, funny, sad. Hip hop. What I wish Donald Glover did, what I think everyone should've been talking about when they were worshiping Chance the Rapper.

3. Robert Delong - *Just Movement.* Best live experience of the year, probably. "We call that progress/But it's just movement." Dance yrself dirty.

4. Anamanaguchi - *Endless Fantasy.* The internet's soundtrack.

5. The National - *Trouble Will Find Me.* The latest addition to my list, because although the National have now made four world-class albums in a row, each one caught me by surprise for some reason. I'll make the same mistake in 2016.

6. Sol - *Eyes Open EP.* This wasn't going to not make it on here. Probably not better than his 2012 album, but it has the telling advantage of being from this calendar year. Hip hop so self-aware it's going to start replicating itself soon.

7. Sigur Ros - *Kveikur.* I may enjoy his more than I've enjoyed any other Sigur Ros album, somehow. Realized that today and couldn't believe it. The [AllMusic reviewer](http://www.allmusic.com/album/kveikur-mw0002525327) pretty much has this one pegged.

8. The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die - *Whenever If Ever.* Great synthesis of styles. Some emo, not too much, or at least it's lost in the haze.

9. Vampire Weekend - *Modern Vampires of the City.* Enjoyed much more than any previous VW album, pretty much earned its place on various year end lists.

10. Run the Jewels - *Run the Jewels.* El-P and Killer Mike.

11. FIDLAR - *FIDLAR.* Criminally overlooked, maybe because it came out 361 days ago. Surf punk, yelling, drugs.

12. The Front Bottoms - *Talon of the Hawk.* In my opinion most exciting indie outfit we've got right now. Probably not as good as their first album, but their first album was for the ages.

13. Typhoon - *White Lighter.* Portland, there are a dozen of them, but White Lighter rises above that stigma.

14. Darkside - *Psychic.*

15. Atlas Genius - *When It Was Now.* Considered at least 13 albums for this last spot, including some I didn't get enough time to really judge, like Ka's thing and the Arctic Monkeys from a few months ago. Thundercat and Jagwar Ma both made albums that could be here. Honorable mention section germinated from this indecision.

Honorable Mention: Bombino - *Nomad.* Thundercat - *Apocalypse.* Jagwar Ma - *Howlin'.* The Flaming Lips - *The Terror.* Burial - *Rival Dealer EP.* James Blake - *Overgrown.* Ka - *The Night's Gambit.* The Arctic Monkeys - *AM.* Pusha T - *My Name Is My Name.* Buke and Gase - *General Dome.* Holograms - *Forever*. Autre Ne Veut - *Anxiety.* David Bowie - *The Next Day*. Kanye West - *Yeezus*.

And so many more. I probably listened to about 65 albums these past couple weeks but I still missed a lot of good material, especially a lot of NPR's international-centric list. I also haven't yet heard the new albums from old standbys like Los Campesinos!, QotSA, Local Natives, The Men ... skipped the Toro Y Moi for now but I bet I'd love it. Couldn't fit Streetlight Manifesto's *The Hands That Thieve*, or the new Beach Fossils, or a handful of albums @ButterflyEffect@ mentioned in his list. Cold War Kids has a 2013 album that I vaguely remember enjoying. Tim Hecker. Etc. So it's not a complete list but I think it's a pretty good one.

I left out *Because the Internet* from sheer confusion.

-----------

+Tracks+

The best three songs of the year were all on the Daft Punk album, no that's not fair; it's only somewhat accurate. [Instant Crush](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9BK3xcRH1g) combined two of my favorite things perfectly. Best song Casablancas has ever been a part of? Surely not. Meanwhile, [Giorgio by Moroder](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m4ZkEqQrn0) was overlooked, the synth, the orchestral fusion, the way the song mirrors the narrative.

[He Say She Say](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDZZ9VWSpZ4), from Shad, is one of the most moving and well-constructed hip hop tracks I've ever heard. Remember Nujabes? The torch is being carried.

[The Stars Are Out Tonight](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdU3OPxLq7s) needs no introduction. Off the new Bowie. Weird and wild. @thenewgreen@ I promised to shout-out to you for this post and right here seems appropriate.

[New Slaves](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SoKFycTmVU). Kanye. The electric performance on SNL. I admit this song has something other songs this year just didn't have. I'm not sure what to think about the whole album, but New Slaves by itself is an anthem. It'll be around for a long fucking time loved or hated.

[Modern Jesus](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8e1sSNsf44) from Portugal. The Man. Probably the best non-Shad, non-Daft Punk song of the year even though the album that surrounded it wasn't too great. Chorus of the decade.

[Song for Zula](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPxQYhGpdvg) off of *Muchacho* by Phosphorescent.

[Cigarette Daydreams](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuFb2iRhM7M), the wonderful closing track of Cage the Elephant's new album.

[Brennisteinn](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc6zXSdYXm8), the most explosive song from Kveikur.

[Everything Is Embarrassing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEamE0MYPkg), off of Sky Ferreira's album. Surprise!
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Postby Seneschal » 2013.12.27 (20:38)

otters~1 wrote:here's my list copied over from a different forum

+Albums+

1. Daft Punk - *Random Access Memories.* My god. Come on. It's such a rare thing that an album so completely fulfills expectations while simultaneously redefining everything we think we know about the modern state of a genre ... that has to be rewarded and it would be even if RAM wasn't *also* filled with the best tracks of 2013. Had this more or less penciled in since it came out.

2. Shad - *Flying Colours.* All over the place, a total revelation, smart, funny, sad. Hip hop. What I wish Donald Glover did, what I think everyone should've been talking about when they were worshiping Chance the Rapper.
Up until a week ago I would have completely agreed with you about Daft Punk. Now I disagree with just about everything you said other than the last sentence. Interesting what one listen after many months can do to your thoughts on an album...

I'd never heard of Flying Colours before, but I have it a listen today and my god is it good. Gonna have to re-jig my whole list now to find a space for it.

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Postby otters~1 » 2013.12.28 (05:03)

Every track on RAM killed. I've seen no fewer than nine of its songs mentioned in the context of best songs of the year.

Daft Punk could have made Discovery 2.0 so easily and instead they blew us all away in a totally different style -- much respect
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Postby Universezero » 2013.12.31 (03:30)

otters~1 wrote:Every track on RAM killed. I've seen no fewer than nine of its songs mentioned in the context of best songs of the year.

Daft Punk could have made Discovery 2.0 so easily and instead they blew us all away in a totally different style -- much respect
Although the retro vibe of RAM was pretty cool, it still was never going to be as good as something original and new. One More Time is stilled played on New Years around the globe, due to its uplifting, un-replicable sound. Discovery is still my favourite Daft Punk album of all time, and will be until they create something as fresh as Discovery when it came out.
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Postby unoriginal name » 2014.01.02 (03:59)

god it's weird making a post here but promises are promises and i'll make it look pretty too because i've certainly got nothing better to do with my time
2013 was pretty fucking awesome but then every year is if you're open-minded and know where to look. the Album is becoming increasingly irrelevant and as much as i love that format i think that's a great thing. i was way less in the loop this year because i actually do have a life sometimes now but i listened to a lot of shit over holidays and generally got my thoughts in order so here we go:

click pictures for words
10. James Ferraro - NYC, Hell 3:00 AM
spoiler

out of all these albums, this one's the one people are most likely to be talking about in 100 years to be honest.

9. Brainbombs - Disposal of a Dead Body
spoiler

stories of rape, murder, and degradation, set to grimy guitars and sickly trumpeting. brainbombs have been following that basic formula since the mid-80s, and i would consider it sort of remarkable they're still at it, except i can't imagine what else they'd do with their lives. this album is 110 minutes by the way.

8. Tim Hecker - Virgins
spoiler

tim hecker has always stood out from the synth-and-sample ambient crowd, but virgins is on a whole different level. easily, by far, the most exciting ambient music i've heard this year. there was a time i would've said "exciting ambient" didn't exist, or was missing the point, at least. no longer.

7. BiS階段 [BiS Kaidan] - BiS階段 (BiS Kaidan)
spoiler

japanoise legends hijokaidan collaborating with an alt-j-pop idol group. it lives up to the expectations that suggests, which is all it needs to do to earn a slot on this list.

6. Pharmakon - Abandon
spoiler

death industrial done right. i've never been much for the "release everything and sort it out later" methodology that seems dominant in noise circles (although not as much so now as a few years ago, thankfully), so a carefully composed album statement like this is a welcome sight.

5. Melt-Banana - Fetch
spoiler

here's another band that've never sounded better. melt-banana expand upon their unique brand of sugar-rush noise rock, delivering an immensely confident album of laser-fucking-sharp tunes. they've been making this sort of music for an honestly incredibly long time now, and to hear them sounding this good this deep into their career is truly impressive.

4. Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience
spoiler

hnoestly, while this album got mad buzz i'm really shocked it didn't get more. it's a whole album of an absolute pop superstar at the top of his game, basking in the success. it's an album i can imagine no one else doing, much less doing this well.

3. Yung Lean - Unknown Death 2002
spoiler

i remain a total sucker for cloud rap, and this was easily the most interesting tape of it i heard this year. yung lean is some white kid from sweden or whatever, and this background unsurprisingly means he has a pretty unique style. the whole album has a weird, melancholy vibe, full of surreal, druggy raps about nothing important, delivered in a slow, unfocused drawl against absolutely stellar beats by some of the best cloudy producers working today.

2. Michael Pisaro, Oswald Egger & Julia Holter - The Middle of Life (Die ganze Zeit)
spoiler

like all of pisaro's best work, this is deep, nuanced, and at times startlingly beautiful soundscape. listening to this is like submerging yourself in a deep, cool pond, not in an aural sense, but in that it inspires a similar feeling of calm, peaceful appreciation for life.

1. clipping. - midcity
spoiler

this came completely out of nowhere and bowled me over. midcity sets dark, paranoid swag rap against stripped-back production that owes more to harsh noise than anything traditionally associated with hip-hop. many of the tracks barely gesture towards anything resembling a steady beat, leaving the verses floating in an ocean of shrieks and squeals. way, way more out there than anything death grips have ever done, and much more interesting as well.


honorable mentions:
Perfume - Level3 not as good as triangle but still <3
Paysage d'Hiver - Das Tor cold
Ryoji Ikeda - Supercodex colder
Friendzone - DX happiness is a warm tv screen
FKA twigs - EP2 probably should be higher
Joe Panzner & Greg Stuart - Dystonia Duos best erstwhile of the year by a narrow margin
Zomby - With Love feels transitional, if anything
Graham Lambkin & Jason Lescalleet - Photographs end of one of the more important trilogies in recent music
Cosmetics - Olympia EP how revivalist synth pop should be fucking done, my god
Jakob Ullmann - Fremde Zeit Addendum 4 non-essential but beautiful

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Postby Vyacheslav » 2014.01.02 (04:49)

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