Best Albums of 2013

Here is my annual list of the 10 best albums in no particular order:

1. These New Puritans-Field of Reeds (Infectious Music)


Probably the band with the smallest following on this list, their official SoundCloud has less than 6,000 followers.  The song above was the one track on this list that I almost immediately wished I had thought of writing.  The piano starts out with a simple but memorable line something in the vein of Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" for the 21st century.

2. Kanye West-Yeezus (Roc-A-Fella, Def Jam)


Kanye West may be the most widely know artist on this list but his focus on a more dirty synth sound in the vein of Chicago House electronic music didn't have a single track make it the top of the billboard charts.  This album, as opposed to his previous "Dark Fantasy", sees West as his narcissistic peak with few of the points of vulnerability that made that previously album so unique.  The track "I am a God" probably speaks the strongest to this new direction.  Yeezus has been less well received and has alienated some of his fan base.  But I think that makes him a truly great artist that he is willing to experiment at the expense of fans not being satisfied with his new work.

3. Lorde-Love Club EP (Universal Music Group)

The only one on this list that actually has a song on the Top 40, she exploded out of nowhere this year.  The song everyone knows by this point is "Royals" a critique on the excess that is found in pop and hip-hop music.  Lorde is "not proud of her address" in her native New Zealand so it is ironic then that Lorde beat out artists like Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, and even Eminem as number 1 on the charts.  I chose her EP over the full length album that was also released this year because overall it seemed a much more polished effort over some of the weaknesses of the LP.

4. Forest Swords- Engravings (Tri Angle Records)


Forest Swords is the work of the British Matthew Barnes on Tri Angle an independent record label based in Brooklyn that includes Balam Acab and Evian Christ. Sasha Frere-Jones a writer for the New Yorker describes the label as palimpsest, a manuscript in which the original writing has been written over by later writing.  Forest Swords is definitely part of this category of electronic music, heavy use of samples and splicing made possible by the rise of modern DAW's such as Pro Tools and Ableton Live.  Barnes, as he was going through hearing problems, refused to work many hours in the studio.  He mixed the entire record on his laptop outdoors in the English countryside.  What resulted is an incredibly organic sound, a rarity for electronic music.

5. James Blake-Overgrown (Atlas, A & M, Polydor)

Blake's sophomore effort while not quite as groundbreaking as his first it corrects many of the weakness of his first album.  One of the chief complaints of his debut was the large lack of lyrics.  He rectifies that here and as a result songs seem to have more life to them.

6. Baths-Obsidian (Anticon)

Baths' first record Cerulean, while a great album suffered from overuse of compression making the dynamics of the record at times difficult to listen to.  In this his third album Baths seems to back off from the loud wars and actually features a majority of tracks with him singing.  Not a usual feature of electronic music.

7. Jon Hopkins-Immunity (Domino Records)

Hopkins, coming out of his recent folk collaboration with King Cresote, returns back to his roots and creates one of the best electronic records of the year.  While my favorite track is actually the piano based "Abandon Window"the track above captures the feel of the album much better.

8. Arcade Fire-Reflektor (Merge (US), Sonovox (UK))

If I'm completely honest Arcade Fire's album was one that I was disappointed with on first listen.  It took a second listen before I realized how much I actually loved the new direction Arcade Fire seems to be taking.  The album is much more heavy on the bass and almost leans towards reggae on tracks such as "Here Comes the Night Time" and the opening of "Porno" which actually sounds like something from a current hip-hop hit.  It's great to see another established band experimenting and the results are amazing.

9. Boards of Canada- Tomorrow's Harvest (Warp)

I fell asleep to this record many times (in the best way possible).  It's electronic music but it's not the kind of music you'd play in clubs but the kind you'd play alone in your room with some good quality studio headphones. The record uses very little drum machine or samples despite clearly being an electronic record. Although this is their first album in seven years they are were completely unknown to me before this record.

10. Thundercat-Apocalypse (Brainfeeder)

Thundercat was featured in Grand Theft Auto 5 on the Flying Lotus channel. Thundercat is actually on the same record label Brainfeeder founded by Lotus. Thundercat is not only further establishing himself as a permanent fixture in the Los Angeles electronic music scene but also as a rarity in the field: Thundercat is primary a bassist. This in a music scene that often either focuses on drum machines and sythns. As a result Thundercat's album is extremely dynamic and seems to feature the often forgotten instrument much more prominently than any other artist on the list.