I saw a couple of other people do this, so I figured I would do it too. I'd imagine that my musical tastes don't cross over with very many users of this site and that's okay. None of this music has anything to do with video games (though Iron Chic has a chiptune intro to a song). Oh well. Here are some of the albums that I really enjoyed this year:
Albums I liked a lot in 2013 in no particular order. Click on the album title to listen it (mostly on spotify).
Lemuria - The Distance Is So Big
Punk influenced indie rock with male and female vocals. Catchy stuff that's weird and rough around the edges and not overly polished in a way that works for me. "Brilliant Dancer" and "Clay Baby" are my jams.
Kanye West - Yeezus
For as much as people hate Kanye West, this record reminded me of why I've mostly loved him since "The College Dropout". The weirdest huge mainstream rap record in a long time, in a good way.
This sounds like it came straight from the 90's. fuzzy grungy indie pop rock. another band with male/female vocals. Start with "Wind Up" but it's fairly solid the whole way through.
Deafheaven - Sunbather
This is probably the most overhyped record on my list, but it's still really good. Sort of a shoegaze/DM hybrid sound. I'm into it. At the very least check out the first track "Dream House".
Mikal Cronin - MCII
This was my #1 summertime jam. The 1-2 punch of "Weight" and "Shout it Out" are unstoppable aural sunshine. hell yeah.
Iron Chic - The Constant One
These are some fucking anthems. Imagine being in a room full of dudes chugging beer when "Bogus Journey" or "Spooky Action at a Distance" comes on. This band is a total downer and a total party all at once.
Off With Their Heads - Home
Somehow this band keeps getting better and better. The most dour band in punk delivers their most polished and most bitter album yet. The lyrics hit me like a ton of bricks.
Earl Sweatshirt - Doris
Earl is back from Samoan boarding school and is already sick of dealing with the fans. Into it. Aside from Frank Ocean's stellar "Channel Orange" last year, this is the most solid Odd Future related release to date.
Signals Midwest - Light on the Lake
A follow up to last year's incredible "
" delivers fairly well on being a great, modern record without abandoning their technical 90's emo influences.
Waxahatchee - Cerulean Salt
Katie and Allison Crutchfield have been making music that I care a lot about since 2009's
record and last year Allison's new band
had one of my favorite records of the year. This year it's Katie's project Waxahatchee. Really great stuff.
American War - Symptoms
This singer/songwriter is from ohio and is typically found playing guitar and doing backing vocals for his other band,
. This album is profoundly sad but really, really good.
The Front Bottoms - Talon Of The Hawk
Just some poppy as hell guitar based songs. Super accessible, super fun.
BONUS: Albums from 2012 that I got really into this year:
Glocca Morra - Just Married
Maybe my favorite album of the recent "90's emo revival". Listen to the first 2 tracks of this and you might agree.
Hop Along - Get Disowned
Woman fronted band and damn, she's got a set of pipes. Weird song structures, interesting lyrics, I like it! Listen to "Tibetan Pop Stars" off of that record. Then watch this video of "
", it's unbelievably good.
Jeff Rosenstock - I Look Like Shit
Former Bomb The Music Industry! frontman released this compilation of solo songs and covers. It's not for everyone but I dig it.
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