Stereogum’s Top 25 Albums Of 2013 So Far
2013 isn’t technically half over yet, but we’re deep into the part of the year where you start sweating the instant you leave your door, and that means it’s a good time to take stock of all the disco robots, frantic rap nerds, and metal boundary-crushers who have thus far delighted us. It’s impossible to pick a narrative out of this year’s crop of great albums, as we’ve heard beautiful things from just about every corner of the music multiverse.
But perhaps more than usual, our favorites of 2013 (so far) marry precise studio craft to open-hearted sentiment and weapons-grade hooks with a sense of genre-blurring adventure. By and large, these good people sound like they’re having fun, you know? To be eligible for this list, your record had to come out by 6/11 (roughly midway between January 1st and our year-ending listomania) and be available for us to hear for at least one week prior (sorry, Boards Of Canada, awesome as you sound on first blush).
And if you didn’t make an album this year, but would like to own the best of them, here’s a thing: One Stereogum reader will win our Top 10 albums of 2013 (so far) on vinyl, courtesy of Insound. To enter the sweeps, you need be a fan of Stereogum on Facebook and comment below with your favorite album(s) of the year (so far) via Facebook Connect (do not use your ‘Gum user account on this post — we’ll have to be able to check if you are a fan of Stereogum on FB when the sweepstakes ends). Winner will be chosen randomly. Sweepstakes ends on 6/18/13 at 12 PM EST.
And now … check out our picks below.
25 Kylesa – Ultraviolet (Season Of Mist)
24 Tegan And Sara – Heartthrob (Warner Bros.)
23 Autre Ne Veut – Anxiety (Software/Mexican Summer)
22 Laura Marling – Once I Was An Eagle (Ribbon Music)
21 Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Mosquito (Interscope)
20 Yo La Tengo – Fade (Matador)
19 The Strokes – Comedown Machine (RCA)
18 Deerhunter – Monomania (4AD)
17 Kvelertak – Meir (Roadrunner)
16 Charli XCX – True Romance (IAMSOUND)
15 Mikal Cronin – MCII (Merge)
14 LE1F – Fly Zone (Greedhead/Camp & Street)
13 Kurt Vile – Wakin On A Pretty Daze (Matador)
12 Rhye – Woman (Republic)
11 Chance The Rapper – Acid Rap (Self-Released)
10 Waxahatchee – Cerulean Salt (Don Giovanni Records)
09 The National – Trouble Will Find Me (4AD)
08 Justin Timberlake – The 20/20 Experience (RCA)
07 Majical Cloudz – Impersonator (Matador)
06 My Bloody Valentine – MBV (Pickpocket)
05 Deafheaven – Sunbather (Deathwish Inc.)
04 Daft Punk – Random Access Memories (Columbia)
03 Savages – Silence Yourself (Matador/Pop Noire)
02 Disclosure – Settle (PMR)
01 Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires Of The City (XL)
Not all of our favorite records as individual humans made our aggregated staff list, so we broke off five honorable mentions each for your further perusal and study:
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Scott
01 Low – The Invisible Way (Sub Pop)
02 Bibio – Silver Wilkinson (Warp)
03 Dutch Uncles – Out Of Touch In The Wild (Memphis Industries)
04 Phoenix – Bankrupt! (Loyauté/Glassnote/Atlantic)
05 Thee Oh Sees – Floating Coffin (Castle Face)
Amrit
01 Jon Hopkins – Immunity (Domino)
02 Baths – Obsidian (Anticon)
03 Colin Stetson – New History Warfare Vol. 3: To See More Light (Constellation)
04 Youth Lagoon – Wondrous Bughouse (Fat Possum)
05 Alpine – A Is For Alpine (Votiv)
Tom
01 Cassie – RockaByeBaby (self-released)
02 Kevin Gates – The Luca Brasi Story (self-released)
03 Free Energy – Love Sign (Free People)
04 The So So Glos – Blowout (Shea Stadium)
05 Dawn Richard – Goldenheart (self-released)
Michael
01 V/A – Svn Okkvlt Compilation (Fallen Empire)
02 Vattnet Viskar – Sky Swallower (Century Media)
03 Biffy Clyro – Opposites (Warner Bros.)
04 ASG – Blood Drive (Relapse)
05 Iceage – You’re Nothing (Matador)
Claire
01 Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire – Kismet (self-released)
02 Unknown Mortal Orchestra – II (Jagjaguwar)
03 August Alsina – The Product 2 (self-released)
04 Hausu – Total (Hardly Art/Sub Pop)
05 The-Dream – IV Play (Radio Killa/Def Jam)
Even with those mentions, something tells us you think we left one or two of your favorites off. The comments are below and they are yours, to identify omissions and memorialize your tastes. 2013! Good job (so far).