2013 Album of the Year Voting Thread - Voting ends Sunday 1/19

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Oh, wow, this year was good for music. It's not every year that my #6 album and my #26 album are neck-to-neck in quality.

The two (yes, two) albums I've figured out so far. Titles go to streams of each album:

1. Typhoon - White Lighter

Typhoon is my favorite band, so I had sky-high expectations for this album and it didn't let me down. It deals with death, growing up, heartbreak and heartache -- all universal themes -- but there's so much detail and thought put into every song that every person is going to feel something different listening. Kyle Morton, who fronts the band, is writing some of the best lyrics in folk music today. If there's one album from 2013 I want everybody to listen to, it's this one.

Recommended tracks: "Artificial Light," "The Lake"

2. Dorena - Nuet


Playful, creative and beautiful post-rock. I love the sunshine, the willingness to play with textures instead of always going all-out, the way each song just blooms and fades in such a relaxed manner. I've listened to it over a dozen times (it's my go-to album for naps and walks at this point) and find new things to love every time.

Recommended tracks: "Her Comforting Touch," "Young Hearts of Summer"

Will continue to check up on this thread and see what people have enjoyed :)
 
omgkitty said:
It's because Sunbather was hyped up by sites that aren't traditionally into that kind of music, meaning that most of their readers aren't either. I've listened to Sunbather but haven't really listened to anything else in that genre this year.
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Servbot24 said:
Well this isn't specifically a music enthusiast forum, so it's natural that a lot of people only going to hear the most hyped albums. And Sunbather is the metal album for people who don't actually listen to metal, so it gets a lot of votes for that.
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But that's the catch and why I disagree. Sunbather is a beautiful album, but takes a long time to digest, to "click". Took 2 months to fully appreciate the album, and that's coming from a metal fan.
It's like saying everyone likes Black Metal, it's fucking weird.

equippedwithtowel said:
What does that tell you about metal?
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Underrated and under-explored genre that gets summarily ignored by the mainstream media.
 
Tunin said:
Am I the only one being bothered by the lists so far? I mean it feels like a rehash of one another.

I can understand people visit the same websites over and over again for new material but it feels like no one looks for new bands/albums for themselves.
Like Sunbather popin up so frequently and no other metal album, it's so bizarre that does not make sense at all.
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Windhand's Soma and the new Inquisition album nearly made it on my list, but I also just bought those albums so I'm a bit close to the sun on those.
 
So I did something sort of like this last year, but I made a thread where people can post what they've listened to most in 2013. This of course included albums not released this year. Thought some people who complained in here about not listening to a lot of new music could post what they have been listening to, which of course included releases from 2013 as well.

You can find the thread here.
 
why is daft punk showing up so much here....such a boring album
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I revisited Reflektor and Modern Vampires twice over and I have to say that although I was a bit disappointed with Arcade Fire this year I still found their album to be considerably more enjoyable and deep than Modern Vampires. The praise and the critical reception Vampire Weekend receives will always be baffling to me I guess. I see a real pattern with people picking all of these easily accessible, somewhat by the numbers albums like RAM, Modern Vamps, Settle, Chvrches, Justin Timberlake, Arctic Monkeys, etc.
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I can do this too, check out my list! Why the fuck do people like Vampire Weekend they've been whiny cunts from the get go with soft skins, Arcade Fire had one and a half good albums before tanking, Kanye still tripping, disposable pop queens still being disposable, and electronic music's been taking over by high pitched children- I don't like these things, so why do others?

It's probably because my taste is way better than yours and you only WISH you could live in my headspace, you Malkovich fucks.

Anyways. My biggest forays this year were into ska from the fifties and Africana surf rock. I hope after this thread we'll all be cool enough to still post on a video game message board.
 
01 | Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds | Push the Sky Away
02 | My Bloody Valentine | m b v
03 | VHÖL | VHÖL
04 | Pharmakon | Abandon
05 | Boards of Canada | Tomorrow's Harvest
06 | Oozing Wound | Retrash
07 | Cloud Rat | Moksha
08 | Raum | Event of Your Leaving
09 | Touché Amoré | Is Survived By
10 | The Haxan Cloak | Excavation

11 | The National | Trouble Will Find Me
12 | Ensemble Pearl | Ensemble Pearl
13 | Subrosa | More Constant than the Gods
14 | Celeste | Animale(s)
15 | Messer | Die Unsichtbaren
16 | Melt-Banana | fetch
17 | Kvelertak | Meir
18 | Power Trip | Manifest Decimation
19 | The Bronx | The Bronx (IV)
20 | Kayo Dot | Hubardo

It's a little spotty after #10. Also I've just listened to the Haxan Cloak album or a week or so now, and it's instant top 10. The new Vaura is nice too, but too new to rank it. Boris didn't make it 'cause fuck their style of releasing shit. Wow and totally forgot Nails - Abandon All Life. Put that in there somewhere between #10 and #11.
Oh and Thou seem to want to delay their album further and further, so that's the #1 spot for them gone :(
 
beato_angelico said:
completely meaningless using a personal experience like this as some kind of general rule.
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Well, if not in my personal experience what am I going to base it on? You missed the point entirely. Im implying that the album isnt shallow, its heavy, noisy, very black metal-ish oriented, a genre that was completely view as joke genre... Until now.
 
I'm perfectly capable of appreciating a "grower", and while Sunbather wouldn't make any list of mine, it's clearly not black metal played straight. Something I can only tolerate in small doses.
 
Tunin said:
But that's the catch and why I disagree. Sunbather is a beautiful album, but takes a long time to digest, to "click". Took 2 months to fully appreciate the album, and that's coming from a metal fan.
It's like saying everyone likes Black Metal, it's fucking weird.
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hmm. in my experience most of the people who rated highly don't like metal that much but liked sunbather almost immediately.

equippedwithtowel said:
I'm perfectly capable of appreciating a "grower", and while Sunbather wouldn't make any list of mine, it's clearly not black metal played straight. Something I can only tolerate in small doses.
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anything "played straight" can fuck right off imho

afternoon delight said:
I can do this too, check out my list! Why the fuck do people like Vampire Weekend they've been whiny cunts from the get go with soft skins, Arcade Fire had one and a half good albums before tanking, Kanye still tripping, disposable pop queens still being disposable, and electronic music's been taking over by high pitched children- I don't like these things, so why do others?

It's probably because my taste is way better than yours and you only WISH you could live in my headspace, you Malkovich fucks.
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calm down. people are allowed to express negative opinions. may as well get used to it.
 
1. Daughter - If You Leave
2. Janelle Monae - The Electric Lady
3. J.Cole - Born Sinner
4. Big Deal - June Gloom
5. Bonobo - The North Borders
6. Moving Mountains - Moving Mountains
7. Beacon - The Ways We Separate
8. Small Black - Limits To Desire
9. Yuna - Nocturnal
10. Sigur Ros - Kveikur
11. Kavinsky - Outrun
12. Action Bronson - Blue Chips 2
13. Ludovico Einaudi - In A Time Lapse
14. Drake - Nothing Was The Same
15. Miguel - Kaleidoscope Dream
very good music from all corners.
 
CaptainMintMan said:
1. Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d city
2. Daughter - If You Leave
3. Janelle Monae - The Electric Lady
4. J.Cole - Born Sinner
5. Big Deal - June Gloom
6. Bonobo - The North Borders
7. Moving Mountains - Moving Mountains
8. Beacon - The Ways We Separate
9. Small Black - Limits To Desire
10. Yuna - Nocturnal
11. Sigur Ros - Kveikur
12. Kavinsky - Outrun
13. Action Bronson - Blue Chips 2
14. Ludovico Einaudi - In A Time Lapse
15. Drake - Nothing Was The Same

very good music from all corners.
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As great as good kid, m.A.A.d city is, it didn't come out in 2013.
 
beato_angelico said:
and you are the one talking about missing the point? you think the "indie" people who are liking it would like classic black metal?
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Yep, why not? Why not dig deeper?

equippedwithtowel said:
I'm perfectly capable of appreciating a "grower", and while Sunbather wouldn't make any list of mine, it's clearly not black metal played straight. Something I can only tolerate in small doses.
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Played "straight".

wut
 
Reserved.

I know my top couple, but I'm going to add to this!

01 | Danny Brown | Old
02 | Modern Life is War | Fever Hunting
03 | Kanye West | Yeezus
04 | Sky Ferreira | Night Time, My Time
05 | Big K.R.I.T. | King Remembered In Time
06 | Nipsey Hu$$le | Crenshaw
07 | A Wilhelm Scream | Partycrasher

Still working on it.

My track of the year was definitely Freddie Gibbs & Madlib's "Harold's"
 
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01 | Deafheaven | Sunbather (Metal/Shoegaze/Post-Rock)
The album doesn't set out to innovate any of the genres that encapsulate it, but nearly everything I love about metal, shoegaze, screamo and post-rock are all wrapped up in a neat little package here. The triumphant moments on some of these songs made for some of the best memories in music I've had this year. If I had any complaints about it, it would be that the interlude songs get kind of old by the last one and the final track feels like it ends a little too abruptly (but what a gorgeous guitar riff to end it on).

All that said, this album just really clicked with me on a personal level so it's absolutely my choice for album of the year.

Choice track: "Dream House"
02 | Forest Swords | Engravings (Electronic/Psychedelic)
Pretty much everything I loved about his Dagger Paths EP and fleshed out in the best way possible. The atmosphere on this album is so damn thick and heavy and coming back to finding new layers in these tracks on repeated listens is always a treat. While the mood on this album is very bleak, there's always this small sense of hope that manages to be present at times.

Choice track: "Thor's Stone"
03 | Melt-Banana | Fetch (Noise-Punk)
A complete assault on the senses. This is probably this band's most accessible album to date and maybe even one of their best from their entire discography. These guys have been at it for so long and still remain to be as energetic and (more importantly) fun as ever.

Choice track: "The Hive"
04 | Darkside | Psychic (Electronic/Ambient/Rock)
While predominantly an electronic album, the rock vibes that emerge from some of these songs are just straight up groovy. This album is smooth as hell.

Choice track: "Paper Trails"
05 | Jon Hopkins | Immunity (Electronic/Ambient)
Just a very beautiful electronic/ambient album. This is my first time listening to something from this guy and it's a really good first impression.

Choice track: "Open Eye Signal"
06 | Russian Circles | Memorial (Post-Metal)
Choice track: "Burial"
07 | Tim Hecker | Virgins (Ambient/Drone)
Choice track: "Virginal I"
08 | Comadre | Comadre (Screamo/Punk)
Choice track: "The Moon"
09 | oOoOO | Without Your Love (Electronic/Witch House)
Choice track: "The South"
10 | Iceage | You're Nothing (Post-Punk)
Choice track: "Ecstasy"

Honorable mentions:

Disclosure - Settle
My Bloody Valentine - m b v
James Blake - Overgrown
The Weeknd - Kiss Land
Four Tet - Beautiful Rewind
Daughn Gibson - Me Moan
Thundercat - Apocalypse

Yeah I think I'm satisfied with that. Good year for music.
 
01 | Janelle Monae | The Electric Lady
02 | Savages | Silence Yourself
03 | Polica | Shulamith
04 | The Knife | Shaking the Habitual
05 | Yeah Yeah Yeahs | Mosquito
06 | Daft Punk | Random Access Memories
07 | Dawes | Stories Don't End
08 | Foxygen | We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic
09 | Thao & The Get Down Stay Down | We the Common
10 | Darkside | Psychic

Will post some thoughts later. Pretty sure this will be my final list although I guess some stuff at the bottom could move around.
 
I just got the last album (Forest Swords' Engravings) that I was missing from collection so after I listen to this I'll finally be able to start my list. I just looked and I have nearly 4,000 songs released this year in my library.
 
HiResDes said:
I just got the last album (Forest Swords' Engravings) that I was missing from collection so after I listen to this I'll finally be able to start my list. I just looked and I have nearly 4,000 songs released this year in my library.
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I only have 1200....showoff.
 
This list was a little amusing. 10 Most Overrated Albums of 2013...

It’s end-of-year list-making time, and right on cue, the first bunch of Best-of-2013 lists are starting to appear on various blogs and in magazines. And, as ever, there’s a certain orthodoxy about them, a pattern whereby you see the same record appear on list after list, and find yourself scratching your head and saying, “But, wait, that album sucked!” Well, if it’s any consolation, it’s not just you. Here are ten records to which your correspondent has had the same reaction — albums that seem to have gotten universal love despite being at best flawed and at worst awful.

Daft Punk — Random Access Memories
Haim — Days Are Gone
Disclosure — Settle
Vampire Weekend — Modern Vampires of the City
Eminem — The Marshall Mathers LP 2
Justin Timberlake — The 20/20 Experience
Arcade Fire — Reflektor
Chvrches — The Bones of What You Believe
The Knife — Shaking the Habitual
Jay Z – Magna Carta Holy Grail
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Nyanko said:
This list was a little amusing. 10 Most Overrated Albums of 2013...
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I think that list is pretty well summed up by its top comment:

Of all the lists I've read so far this December this one undoubtedly irritated me the most. For a start, the very premise of it is imbued with the wanky clever/cycnical pseudo-cultural critique that music blogs are dominated by. Secondly, the author seems to think he is taking down musical scared cows while actually missing the critically immune bands an article like this should be taking aim at- Sigur Ros and The National have been on autopilot for their last two albums and far more deserving of a place on this list than, say, Vampire Weekend who have clearly tried to push themselves (and created, in my opinion, a genuine classic). The same goes for Arcade Fire, who at the very least keep things interesting. I'm not a fanboy of any of the bands on that list, but it's so very lazy it annoys the hell out of me. Criticising Daft Punk for having noting to say, I mean really. Why does it have to say anything? Try discussing it with your aunty off her face on cheap wine dancing to Get Lucky at a wedding next year and ask her how much it means. It's pop music- fucking deal with it.
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Truth.
 
Servbot24 said:
Why is that comment so upset that someone doesn't like some albums?
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It's an opinion on an opinion piece. Both are equally valid.

I never quite understand the desire some people have to highlight the music they don't like. I don't like a lot of music, but I don't feel the need to make a list and decry it as 'overrated'.
 
Pickles the Firecat said:
My biggest problem with that article is that it compares The Bones Of What You Believe with Silent Shout.

What the fuck? How the fuck? Why?
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And why does it matter if we've skipped Old Dreams. Skip that and Fracking and you're still left with 70 minutes of pure excellence (though Old Dreams is excellent in its own right - Fracking not so much).
 
01: The Knife - Shaking the Habitual
02: M.I.A. - Matangi
03: Tim Hecker - Virgins
04: The National - Trouble Will Find Me
05: William Tyler - Impossible Truth
06: Gris - À l'Âme Enflammée, l'Äme Constellée...
07: The Field - Cupid’s Head
08: Cornelius - NHK Design Ah
09: Colleen - The Weighing of the Heart
10: Luke Wyatt - Teen Hawk
11: Jeremiah Cymerman - Sky Burial
12: Emma Louise - Vs Head Vs Heart
13: Julia Holter - Loud City Song
14: Gorguts - Colored Sands
15: Ryuichi Sakamoto & Taylor Deupree - Disappearance
16: Omar S - Thank You for Letting Me Be Myself
17: James Plotkin, Paal Nilssen-Love - Death Rattle
18: Charli XCX - True Romance
19: The Necks - Open
20: Jon Hopkins - Immunity
21: Lucrecia Dalt - Syzygy
22: Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience
23: 東京酒吐座 - Turnaround
24: The Flaming Lips - The Terror
25: Altar of Plagues - Teethed Glory and Injury
26: Kyle Hall - The Boat Party
27: Melt-Banana - Fetch
28: Sean McCann - Music for Private Ensemble
29: Cult of Luna - Vertikal
30: Dwig - Forget the Pink Elephant
31: Thee Oh Sees - Floating Coffin
32: Kanye West - Yeezus
33: Locrian - Return to Annihilation
34: Arve Henriksen - Places of Worship
35: Classixx - Hanging Gardens
36: Madegg - Alone Breath to My Family EP
37: Huerco S - Colonial Patterns
38: Koch-Schutz-Studer - Walking And Stumbling Through Your Sleep
39: Pat Metheny - Tap - The Book of Angels Vol 20
40: やくしまるえ つこ - Radio Onsen Eutopia
41: Bardo Pond - Peace on Venus
42: Audio Atlas - Window 2 the World
43: Deafhaven - Sunbather
44: Eluvium - Nightmare Ending
45: Maxmillion Dunbar - House of Woo
46: Janelle Monae - The Electric Lady
47: きのこ帝国 - Eureka
48: Ryoji Ikeda - Supercodex
49: Cult of Fire - मृत्यु का तापसी अनुध्य ान
50: Ulver - Messe I.X-VI.X

I'll do some blurbs later
 
Still gathering my thoughts this year about how I want to rank things but I think 2013 has been an incredible year of music for me. Thanks to MusicGAF I think I have really expanded my musical tastes more than ever.

Will be editing this post to include my picks soon.
 
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