LMdC’s 10 Best Albums of 2013

 Compared to 2012, 2013 has been a year where music was still omnipresent in my life but I mostly revisited albums that I cherished and loved more than being much on the discovery side. Still digging extreme Metal, indie Rock, and Punk I somewhat managed to have a decent playlist of 2013 albums that will endure for a while in my ears.

 

As side note, I must add this list of albums I have yet to listen and that will eventually change the rank of the so-called Top 10 below :

 David Bowie – The Next Day, Carcass - , DarkThrone - , Deltron 3030 – Event II, The Dillinger Escape Plan – One of Us Is the Killer, Franz Ferdinand – Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Actions, Ghost – Infestissimum, Gorguts – Colored Sands, Haken – The Mountain, Hieroglyphics – The Kitchen, Ihsahn – Das Seelenbrechen, Immolation - , Kylesa - Ultraviolet, MGMT – MGMT, Motorhead – Afterschock,  Nails – Abandon All Life, The Naked and Famous – In Rolling Waves, Phoenix  - Bankrupt!, Sigur Ros – Kveidur, Suicidal Tendencies – 13, Summoning -  And many more…

Here are my choices for the 10 best albums of 2013 :

10. M83 – Oblivion Soundtrack
Here is a case where the score is more interesting than the film. Just by the name of M83 I was sold. 

9. Jimmy Eat World – Damage
Jimmy Eat World is a band I’ve seen many times live and it always reminds me of the first moments of relationship with my wife. It is, in fact, her favorite band. Their new album, Damage is a return to form back to the time they made their sound in the era of Bleed American and mostly Futures. A solid Indie rock album.

Listen : Damage, I Will Steal You Back

8. Vreid – Welcome Farewell
The continuity on the path that the melodic Viking Metal band Windir after its frontman past away, Vreid is a much more traditional version of Metal from Norway. Without falling into the ocean of Black Metal bands calling themselves true Norwegian BM, Vreid manage to make genuine and efficient extreme Metal in the vein of the best years of Keep of Kalessin.

Listen : Way of the Serpent, Welcome Farewell

  

7. The Black Angels – Indigo Meadow
Psychedelic Rock isn’t often considered that much contemporary. But, The Black Angels have released another hit with Indigo Meadow. It sounds less garage but still has their original sound and they kept true to their roots.

Listen : Broken Soldier, Don’t Play With Guns

6. Tegan and Sara – Hearttrob
Known commonly because they are lesbian twin sisters, Tegan and Sara came back with this new album, pop, electro, and enjoyable as hell. However, someone has to attend to a live show of the Canadian duo to fully enjoy how natural they are on the stage. An album that grows on you.

Listen : Closer, I Couldn’t Be Your Friend

5. Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats – Mind Control
Directly inspired by Black Sabbath and all the sludge/stoner rock movement, Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats was reveled to me by a guy I know from skateboarding who is also a professionnal snowboarder. Their third album might sound a little bit more commercial at times but they manage to perfectly capture the sound of their psychedelic lyrics and a very heavy sound of garage underground band.

Listen: Poison Apple, Death Valley Blues

4. Black Sabbath – 13
At first I was very cynic and critical about the release of this album. Because, for me the first four albums of Black Sabbath made them the most important band in music history. It is fuckin bold to state that but my personal tastes and knowledge of music discards many more popular choices that could come to anyone’s thoughts. So trying to reproduce a sound that influenced many musicians but also that was particularly avant-garde in its own time might be very risky.
Getting into 13 wasn’t particularly difficult and I must admit loving it very much with Tony Imomi in full form and Ozzy’s vocals still making some sense.

Listen : End of the Beginning, God Is Dead?, Live Forever

3. Steven Wilson – The Raven That Refused to Sing
Wilson is this sublimly talented songwriter and guitarist that can do anything and his fanbase would follow him anywhere he goes. With The Raven That Refused to Sing, Wilson made one of the most memorable progressive albums of the later years. The textures, the ambiences, and the transitions from different moods of this album are grandiose.

Listen: Luminol, The Holy Drinker

2. Daft Punk – Random Access Memories
My knowledge of Electro might be limited but I know what I like and what I dislike. As I am honest enough to also recognize the talent of artists of genres I don’t particularly dig. This is the case for Daft Punk and their Random Access Memories, this is the album I listened to the most during the year. There were even days it played twice in the same day. Something that I almost never do.

Listen: Giorgio by Moroder, Doin’ It Right (feat. Panda Bear)

 

1. Arcade Fire – Reflektor
Not a big surprise I agree, but it is the album that hooked me the most and I thought to myself that again Arcade Fire has been able to reinvent themselves. Textured with funk, percussions, disco, indie rock, well a great mix of what Arcade Fire does best : what they love. It is an album that we feel they are more relaxed and the lenght of some songs demonstrate how they let themselves into their creations. To me, it is already an album that will leave a mark.

Listen : Joan of Arc, Afterlife, Supersymmetry

Honourable Mentions (no particular order) : Hatebreed – The Devinity of Purpose, Voivod – Target Earth, The National – Trouble Will Find Me, Suffocation – Pinnacle of Bedlam, Bad Religion – True North, Hatebreed - , Tame Impala – , Unknown Mortal Orchestra – II