Conventional wisdom holds that, musically, 2013 has been a rather upside-down year: Daft Punk didn’t make a “dance” record, Kanye West didn’t do a “rap” album, Justin Timberlake didn’t make the sequel to “SexyBack,” and Jay-Z is releasing albums on phones. And yet, despite all that — or perhaps because of it — , the first half of 2013 has also been one of the most memorable in recent history, a six-month span that’s seen artists big and small defy conventional wisdom, take risks, and, more often than not, succeed in spades. Given the glut of truly great releases, it’s difficult to pick the very best, but I’m going to try. Here are my picks for the Best Albums of 2013 (So Far), albums that have stuck with me through a very busy six months. If there’s anything I’ve missed, let me know in the comments below … but let’s get right to it (before someone else releases something awesome). Honorable Mentions El-P and Killer Mike, Run The Jewels: Loved both of their efforts last year (Cancer 4 Cure and Mike’s fantastic, El-P helmed R.A.P. Music) and, though it was just released — for free! — I’m already warming to Jewels, 33-minutes of aggressive wordplay and knotty, gnarly beats that will almost certainly crack my Top 10 by year’s end. Savages, Silence Yourself: Blunt and bleak, the oddly-assured debut from English post-punk quartet Savages delights in not only creating eerie expanses, but dragging the listener down into the darkness. Its cold, claustrophobic tendencies recall the likes of Joy Division and Siouxise, but thanks to serrating guitars, pummeling bass and frontwoman Jehnny Beth’s impassioned yowls, it’s hardly a sterile thing … there’s blood and guts and heart here, too. Phosphorescent, Muchacho: Whiskey-soaked, widescreen Redneck-tronica that shivers and shimmies (thanks to those Cantina horns) and occasionally shines with synths and strings, Muchacho is all over the place, musically, though spiritually, it’s still a country album … very much about long nights and fistfights and love gone awry. In other words, it’s basically everything you’d expect from a guy who kicked around Georgia, once recorded an album’s worth of Willie Nelson tunes, and currently resides in Brooklyn. Tegan and Sara, Heartthrob: The Quin sisters have never hid their affinity for pop, though aside from the New Wave flag they flew on 2004’s So Jealous, they’ve never embraced the genre with the aplomb they do on Heartthrob, an album so shiny you can practically see your reflection in it. Not surprisingly, they scored the biggest hit of their career (the excellent “Closer”) as a result, proving that perhaps they were born to play popstars all along.
2013’s best albums!
