Albums of 2013 // 10-1

It may have come very early, but Phosphorescent's 'Muchacho' held off all that followed to take top spot. A journey of an album, led out by the country epic Song For Zula and closed by the swelling incantations of Sun's Arising (A Koan, an Exit). Quiet yet soulfully energised throughout, it's an ambitious statement of a record which defined 2013. Enjoy the fruits of our top 10's labours below.

10. Parquet Courts - 'Light Up Gold'



9. Fuzz - 'Fuzz'



8. Laura Marling - 'Once I Was An Eagle'



7. Savages - 'Savages'



6. James Blake - 'Overgrown'



5. Kwes. - 'Ilp.'





4. White Denim - 'Corsicana Lemonade'





3. John Grant - 'Pale Green Ghosts'





2. Toro Y Moi - 'Anything in Return'





1. Phosphorescent - 'Muchacho'





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Albums of 2013 // 20-11

Into the top 20, and you can tell by the change in the Top of The Pops music that this is getting serious now. This next installment features two albums with roman numerals, Christoper Mintz-Plasse, a three year old stealing the show from her Dad and 10 albums of total excellence.

20. Ghostpoet - 'Some Say I So I Say Light'



19. Kurt Vile - 'Wakin On A Pretty Daze'



18. Jon Hopkins - 'Immunity'



17. Inc. - 'No World'



16. Austra - 'Olympia'



15. Vampire Weekend - 'Modern Vampires of the City'



14. Iceage - 'You're Nothing'



13. Glasser - 'Interiors'



12. Mikal Cronin - 'MCII'



11. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - 'II'



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Albums of 2013 // 30-21

And the countdown continues! This next 10 has a distinctly more British feel, with London Grammar, King Krule, and Public Service Broadcasting all releasing stellar débuts in 2013, accompanied by continued brilliance from Neon Neon, These New Puritans, and a quite beautiful collection of new songs from Bill Ryder-Jones.

30. Neon Neon - 'Praxis Makes Perfect'



29. These New Puritans - 'Field of Reeds'



28. Thee Oh Sees - 'Floating Coffin'



27. Bill Ryder-Jones - 'A Bad Wind Blows In My Heart'



26. London Grammar - 'If You Wait'



25. Public Service Broadcasting - 'Inform - Educate - Entertain'



24. King Krule - '6 Feet Beneath The Moon'



23. Julia Holter - 'Loud City Song'



22. Blood Orange - 'You're Not Good Enough'



21. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - 'Push The Sky Away'



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Albums of 2013 // 40-31

Round two. Things are getting serious. From the precise, hypnotic Juliana Barwick through AM's ever-grander, Brylcreemed pomp and down to the unrelenting Tampa post-punk of Merchandise, this is a seriously strong set not to even have made the top 30.

40. Juliana Barwick - 'Nepenthe'



39. Matthew E. White - 'Big Love'



38. Autre Ne Veut - 'Anxiety'



37. Deptford Goth - 'Life After Defo'



36. Wampire - 'Curiosity'



35. Volcano Choir - 'Repave'



34. Arctic Monkeys - 'AM'



33. Bosnian Rainbows - 'Bosnian Rainbows'



32. Moonface - 'Julia With Blue Jeans On'



31. Merchandise - 'Totale Nite'



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Albums of 2013 // 52-41

Hardly been prolific with the postings this year, huh? No matter though as this 2013 album list is effectively 52 posts crammed into 5, singling out the best tracks from the best albums of the year, starting with OutFit's other-wordly début through the unsettling and unrestrained Destruction Unit and ending up at Daughn Gibson's country noir.

52. OutFit - 'Performance'



51. The Men - 'New Moon'



50. Laura Veirs - 'Warp & Weft'



49. The National - 'Trouble Will Find Me'



48. White Fence - 'Cyclops Reap'



47. Swearin' - 'Surfing Strange'



46. Majical Cloudz - 'Impersonator'



45. Poliça - 'Shulamith'



44. Dent May - 'Warm Blanket'



43. Destruction Unit - 'Deep Trip'



42. Grouper - 'The Man Who Died In His Boat'



41. Daughn Gibson - 'Me Moan'



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Albums of 2012 // 10-1

And there was only ever going to be one winner for me in 2012. How To Dress Well's record stands apart, taking R&B into divine new places, and for that 'Total Loss' sits proudly at the summit of an incredible top 10.

10. Japandroids - 'Celebration Rock'



9. Grimes - 'Visions'



8. Perfume Genius - 'Put Your Back N 2 It'



7. Frank Ocean - 'channel ORANGE'



6. Death Grips - 'The Money Store'



5. Sharon Van Etten - 'Tramp'



4. Kindness - 'World, You Need A Change Of Mind'



3. Liars - 'WIXIW'





2. Jack White - 'Blunderbuss'





1. How To Dress Well - 'Total Loss'





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Albums of 2012 // 20-11

Into the top 20, from Kendrick Lamar's opus and its Janet Jackson sampling Poetic Justice, via a quartet of Pitchfork Paris standouts through to Angel Olsen's otherworldly modern folk. Oh, and the 30 minute video of Dan Deacon at SXSW below is insanely good. What a guy.

20. Kendrick Lamar - 'good kid, m.A.A.d city'



19. Dean Blunt & Inga Copeland - 'Black Is Beautiful'



18. Breton - 'Other People's Problems'



17. Purity Ring - 'Shrines'



16. John Talabot - 'fin'



15. Dan Deacon - 'America'



14. DIIV - 'Oshin'



13. Gang Colours - 'The Keychain Collection'



12. Tame Impala - 'Lonerism'



11. Angel Olsen - 'Half Way Home'



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Albums of 2012 // 30-21

The next 10 brings some of the best choruses to grace 2012 in First Aid Kit's Emmylou and pretty much every track off Jessie Ware's 'Devotion', while if this is, as rumoured, the last Grizzly Bear record, what a way to go.

30. Dam Mantle - 'Brothers Fowl'



29. First Aid Kit - 'The Lion's Roar'



28. Jessie Ware - 'Devotion'



27. Lower Dens - 'Nootropics'



26. Halls - 'Ark'



25. Chromatics - 'Kill For Love'



24. Grizzly Bear - 'Shields'



23. Actress - 'R.I.P.'



22. Django Django - 'Django Django'



21. Fort Romeau - 'Kingdoms'



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Albums of 2012 // 40-31

The next ten brings a lot of love for merry ole England and its audio-visual output, with Micachu's Lambeth walking vid for Easy, the warped urban dystopia of Alt-J's video for Fitzpleasure, taken from their Mercury winning 'An Awesome Wave', through to NZCA/LINES' awesome self titled debut.

40. Cloud Nothings - 'Attack On Memory'



39. TOY - 'TOY'



38. Micachu & The Shapes - 'Never'



37. Julia Holter - 'Ekstasis'



36. Willis Earl Beal - 'Acousmatic Sourcery'



35. Peaking Lights - 'Lucifer'



34. Metz - 'METZ'



33. alt-J - 'An Awesome Wave'



32. Weird Dreams - 'Choreography'



31. NZCA/LINES - 'NZCA/LINES'



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Albums of 2012 // 52 - 41

I could suggest that the reason for this being a top 52 is to allow for one album per week. That would be neat. Except it would also be a lie, the truth being that my indecisive nature has meant I'm unable to trim my favourite albums of 2012 list down any further. It just wouldn't be fair.

As such, here is the first installment of incredible music that actually did make the cut (and there was a cut), taking in 'SFV Acid #2''s fractured electronic beats, the psychedelic swoon of 'Melody's Echo Chamber' and the lo-fi blitzkrieg of PAWS' debut 'Cokefloat'.

52. Lands & Peoples - 'Pop Guilt'



51. Menomena - 'Moms'



50. OMBRE - 'Believe You Me'



49. Mount Eerie - 'Clear Moon'



48. Nite Jewel - 'One Second Of Love'



47. The Walkmen - 'Heaven'



46. Ceremony - 'Zoo'



45. Cold Specks - 'I Predict a Graceful Explosion'



44. Laurel Halo - 'Quarantine'



43. Melody's Echo Chamber - 'Melody's Echo Chamber'



42. SFV Acid - 'SFV Acid #2'



41. PAWS - 'Cokefloat'

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Frank Ocean // Pyramids

Man of the moment Frank Ocean has just released a video for standout 'Channel Orange' track Pyramids, an 8 minute short full of gun shots and strip clubs to accompany Ocean's modern soul vocal. Check it out below.



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King Krule // Rock Bottom

King Krule's self titled debut EP from last year saw him carry the soulful surf melodies of his Zoo Kid days and bulk them out with full band backing and tight melodies.

This latest single Rock Bottom, released in September on Rinse, is further evidence that the combination of Spectrals, 60s rock & roll sound and realist, cockney-punk vocals work a charm. Have a listen below, and to a video sample of his set at Pitchfork fest.

via 405.





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Jack White // Freedom at 21

For Freedom At 21's tale of addictive, violent love, Hype Williams has made Jack White even cooler thanks to a lime green muscle car, a fine selection of jewellery, the essence of Johnny Depp's Edward Scissorhands and Raoul Duke, and a rap exploitation femme fatale, all in White's new blue hue. And a Josh Homme to finish.



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How To Dress Well // Cold Nites

How To Dress Well has been slowly unveiling new tracks from his forthcoming new record 'Total Loss', and this latest, Cold Nites, is a sexual, emotional, fluid exercise in modern pop. You can also stream and download another track from the album, Ocean Floor For Everything, below.


 

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Gem Club // I Heard The Party

I Heard The Party from Massachusetts trio Gem Club is a deeply affecting, immersive piece of music, and while the video initially reminds us of the closing scenes of E.T., this is turned on its head by what comes later. Hardly Art's output is second to none right now.

 

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Deep Time // Clouds

Hints of Cat Power and nods to new wave royalty Orange Juice and Elvis Costello abound on this simply brilliant pop song from Austin duo Deep Time, formerly Yellow Fever. Their eponymous debut record is out now on Hardly Art. I suggest you get some.

 

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Death Grips // Double Helix

Who needs a video camera when you have a mobile phone web cam CCTV footage fish-eye lens of a Toyota Prius? Such may have been the thinking behind this brilliant, intense video for Death Grips' Double Helix, one of the more melodic but no less visceral for it tracks from their 'The Money Store' record.



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Jens Lekman // Erica America

Jens has made people wait a while for a follow up to 2007's 'Night Falls Over Kortedala'. Not that he hasn't been busy in the meantime, with his 2011 'An Argument With Myself EP' the most recent in a string of minor releases.

Erica America is a first taste of what to expect from his forthcoming 'I Know What Love Isn't' LP, with his wistful folk and melancholic, absorbing pen as sharp as ever. Check out the video below.

 

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Baio // Sunburn Modern

Vampire Weekend's Chris Baio has turned out the most aptly named track of the year so far in Sunburn Modern, taken from his debut record for Greco-Roman, and now has a bizarre yet transfixing and confusingly erotic stop-motion video to go with it.

 

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Lemonade // Softkiss

Summer has finally arrived in the form of San Franciscan trio Lemonade and their new, David Franklin directed video for Softkiss. The band will be in London on July 3rd, for a set of R&B influenced tropical dance-pop, so if you're after a charmingly hedonistic departure from the London gloom, you could do a lot worse.

 

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