My Favorite Albums of 2013 (21-30)

With 2013 coming to a close, I've compiled another favorite albums list. Last year I published my 50 favorite albums and made note that I kept making my list longer every year. This year I've consciously decided I need to show just a small amount of restraint, so I'm limiting myself to "only" 30 albums this year. I think there's a pretty good variety on here, so hopefully there's something everyone can enjoy. Without further ado, onto the list...

30) Charles Bradley - Victim Of Love

Charles Bradley's second album finds him belting out love songs with an energy few 60+ year olds possess. My knowledge of the soul genre is limited, but he's one of my favorites and his story is as good as any you'll find. A few weeks ago he released a really cool cover of a Black Sabbath tune too that I recommend checking out. You can find that one here.

29) Great Apes - Thread

Great Apes are a punk band from San Francisco fronted by Hanalei singer/songwriter Brian Moss. I've written before about my love of Hanalei. While the music of Great Apes is decidedly different from the folkier Hanalei, Moss' influence and voice are still present and "Thread" is a very solid punk record. It's well worth checking out if that's your kind of thing.

28) The National - Trouble Will Find Me

The National seem like a pretty divisive band. Some people love their music and other people think it's boring and that the people who love it are crazy. I side closer to the former. They aren't my favorite band in the world, but Matt Berninger's baritone voice can be intoxicating at times. If you've enjoyed one of the band's previous five albums, I imagine you'll enjoy "Trouble Will Find Me" as well.

27) Unknown Mortal Orchestra - II

"So Good At Being In Trouble" is one of my absolute favorite songs released this year. Throughout the year, the song's chorus has repeatedly just popped into my head out of nowhere. The album's lo-fi/psychedelic indie rock took me a bit longer to get into than some albums, but I've definitely come around on it. Plus any band that can write a song as good as "So Good At Being In Trouble" has my attention.

26) Lady Lamb The Beekeeper - Ripely Pine

I saw Maine native Aly Spaltro (aka Lady Lamb The Beekeeper) open for Kaki King a couple months before her album came out. At the time, I was intrigued by how well she could fill up a room with sound using just her voice and a guitar. The album does a really good job of showcasing her talents while adding a few more instruments to the mix. It is a fantastic debut, and I look forward to seeing what she can do with her career.

25) Foxygen - We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic

Foxygen sounds a bit like a band out of place in 2013. Their music has a clear 1960's sound. The Velvet Underground is the biggest comparison I hear, but that's probably because I'm more familiar with them than other artists. I've seen some criticism from people claiming the band is just copying other bands before them. However, I feel like all bands do that to an extent, and Foxygen is at least really good at it. If you go into the album with an open mind, it's a pretty enjoyable 40 minutes of music.

24) Mikal Cronin - MCII

Following up his self titled debut with "MCII", Mikael Cronin is giving labelmates She & Him a run for their money for least creative album titles. Fortunately, Mikal Cronin is just another in a long line of really good artists releasing music on Merge Records, and everything else about the album is pretty good. I've actually listened to this album less than most of the other albums on here, but each time I have, I've found myself nodding along to his blend of pop/rock.

23) Hey Marseilles - Lines We Trace

Seattle-based Hey Marseilles first introduced the world to their orchestral folk/pop on their debut album in 2008. We've had to wait a long time, but 2013 finally brought the follow up to that album and it does not disappoint. Hopefully we won't have to wait another 5 years for the third album.

22) Kevin Devine - Bulldozer

A quick look at the blog archives indicates that I've somehow only written about Kevin Devine once on here. That's a real shame because he's one of my favorite lyric writers. One day I'll have to dedicate a post to him. This year, he ran a Kickstarter campaign that was funded in less than one day. The product of that campaign is this solo album as well as an album with his backing band. Both albums are really good, but I found myself coming back to the solo one a bit more.

21) Streetlight Manifesto - The Hands That Thieve

I don't listen to much ska music anymore, but I've got a real soft spot for it (dating back to my days of playing saxophone for a ska band in high school) that is likely never going to go away. Streetlight Manifesto was always one of my favorite bands, and "The Hands That Thieve" is a good indication of why that is. It's pretty close to physically impossible for me to listen to their horns without whistling along. Combine the catchy horns with Tomas Kalnocky's singing, and I'm hooked. If you want something with a lot of energy that's gonna get your foot tapping and your mouth whistling, then look no further.


I should be back tomorrow with albums 11-20. Until then, you can sample each of the albums from this portion of the list with a song below.

New (to me) Artist: Julia Stone

I love whenever I'm fortunate enough to discover a new (to me) artist that just clicks with me right away. It's plenty exciting hearing new music from bands you already know, but there is just something extra exhilarating about discovering an artist you've somehow missed. The artist's entire back catalog is suddenly new to you all at once. It's like having a favorite artist release several albums all at once.

Well somehow Australian singer Julia Stone has completely slipped under my radar these last few years. I've since learned that she is best known through Angus & Julia Stone, a folk duo with her brother. I feel like I have heard the name before, but I don't know their music. Well, fortunately I stumbled upon Julia Stone performing a cover of the song "Bloodbuzz Ohio" by The National on the music blog All Things Go (on a sidenote, I added a list of my favorite blogs on the sidebar for anyone who is interested). The original song was on 2010's "High Violet" album. It features The National's trademark deep baritone vocals and a persistent drum beat dominating much of the sound. Other instruments and noises fill in around the vocals and drums. Their version is a great song and one of my favorites from that album, but there is just something about Julia Stone's cover that I loved right away. She takes the drum beat a bit more into the background than on the original (although apparently borrows The National's drummer for the song). Instead the focus is more on the atmospheric noises around the drums and on her voice, which allows the lyrics to stick out a bit more. I'm not sure what it is about her voice, but there is something there that I just can't get enough of. Anyhow, here's her cover of the song along with the original by The National.






Julia Stone's cover is on her album "By The Way," which just came out about three weeks ago. It's one thing to be able to handle a good cover song, but another to be able to write your own. I was a bit wary of the rest of the album going into it, but the lead track "Let's Forget All The Things That We Say" is great as well and immediately alleviated my fears. Again, the focuses of that song is mostly on her voice, which is OK with me. After the two songs I've discussed, the rest of the album is similarly strong and didn't disappoint. I've listened to it several times over now, and "By The Horns" will definitely show up in my "Favorite Albums from April - June" post at the end of the month. Once I'm able to listen to this album enough times, I'll have to move on to her first solo record and also check out Angus & Julia Stone's stuff as well. Needless to say, I've got plenty to keep me busy for a while now!

Here's the lead track that I mentioned, and if you enjoy it, you can grab the album from Amazon, iTunes, or eMusic (which is the cheapest if you're a member). If anyone knows Angus & Julia and wants to tell me the best place to start with their music, let me know!