***2013 Edition of Reaper's Favorite Albums of the Year***
 

It's time of the year again. It's everyone's favorite holiday present. Etc.

As always, this is a list of my personal favorite albums of the year. It's not meant to be an objective "best-of" list, because while I listen to hundreds of new albums each year I still fall far short of listening to enough to feel comfortable making an objective claim. My usual genre tendencies towards metal and hip-hop are as present as ever. Hopefully you'll find some albums you will come to dig through this list.

I'll be posting it out over the next day. I'm doing 30 albums this year.

30. The Knife – Shaking the Habitual
29. Rittz – The Life and Times of Jonny Valiant
28. The National – Trouble Will Find Me
27. Arcade Fire – Reflektor
26. Chvrches - The Bones of What You Believe
25. Ces Cru - Constant Energy Struggles
24. DGM – Momentum
23. Action Bronson – Blue Chips 2
22. Kvelertak – Meir
21. A$AP Rocky – Long Live A$AP
20. Brandy Clark – 12 Stories
19. Mr. Mother****in eXquire – Kismet
18. Death Grips – Government Plates
17. ST 2 Lettaz – The G…Growth & Development
16. Ayreon – The Theory of Everything
15. Kacey Musgraves – Same Trailer, Different Park
14. Magic Circle – Magic Circle
13. Gorguts – Colored Sands
12. Beyonce – Beyonce
11. Daft Punk – Random Access Memories
10. Haim – Days Are Gone
09. Pusha T – My Name Is My Name
08. Dessa – Parts of Speech
07. Danny Brown – Old
06. Deafheaven – Sunbather
05. El-P & Killer Mike – Run the Jewels
04. Jason Isbell – Southeastern
03. Rokia Traore – Beautiful Africa
02. Kanye West – Yeezus
01. Janelle Monae – The Electric Lady

30. The Knife – Shaking the Habitual
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This is sort of like the colder, more electronic, more analytical version of Swans’ album from last year, The Seer. It’s really challenging. There’s essentially no song structure on most of the tracks, some of which are 20 minute long droning noise pieces. Lyrically, I guess there’s a bunch of critical and feminist theory, but I never really glean any of it when listening to the album. Sure, The Knife could have made their first album in like seven years more accessible. I’d probably prefer that. But I appreciate this wacky challenge. As much as I want to feel things when listening to music, the prog-loving part of me also loves it when music – not lyrics, but music – stimulates me intellectually as well. This album does that.

29. Rittz – The Life and Times of Jonny Valiant

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Rittz is an Atlanta rapper who raps very quickly. His signature flow crams a bunch of words into each line, but the phrasing, pronunciation, and timing is perfect. He’s incredibly precise while also managing to come across as completely chill. His flow is the sound of lazily driving around the neighborhood, showing off the new aftermarket part you just put on your car. I have a soft spot for virtuosic rappers, and Rittz hits that spot for me while also evoking the laidback parts of Southern hip-hop.

28. The National – Trouble Will Find Me

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I don’t like this album more than The National’s previous album, High Violet. In fact, I think this album is largely unnecessary. It shows very little, if any, artistic growth from their previous work. There’s no “Lemonworld” here. It’s more of the same. That said, The National are very good at doing what they do. I can’t deny that I listened to this album a whole lot more than the preceding sentences would have suggested. If you don’t know this band, I think this album would be a good starting point.

27. Arcade Fire – Reflektor

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I freely admit: I don’t like Arcade Fire. Never have. Nonsense music. Bullshit music. Their first three albums anyway. This new one has been largely rejected by their core fans. That must be the reason why I find myself digging it. It’s a double album: not quite progressive in scope, but out-of-the-box enough to include some noise tracks for texture. The songs mostly operate on a disco-meets-island-rhythms trajectory. Danceability seems to have been the goal, even when the band wants to throw some fuzz and drone and choppy structure in the way to make sure it isn’t TOO danceable. In some ways, I think this is a timid album. Despite LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy as executive producer, the band doesn’t embrace the danciness to its fullest extent. I think my favorite moments lean towards the disco ones here. The title track is the best David Bowie song in the last 40 years; it’s incredible. I wish Bowie himself would have written it himself, for his new album, so I wouldn’t have to put a damn Arcade Fire album on my list.

26. Chvrches - The Bones of What You Believe

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These pop songs are huge. Massive waves of synths that sound like a rainbow tsunami crashing into you, leaving behind a wake of beautification. These three Glasgow musicians studied the M83 playbook and figured out what Anthony Gonzales never did – that female vocals work better over these kinds of keyboard sounds than male vocals do. The vocals here soar as high as the synth melodies, but there is a slight chill that cuts the happiness. There’s a touch of wisdom here, as these songs have ambitions to swell with emotion. A wisdom that keeps the songs from becoming twee. This album is really awesome. If not for the three tracks where some dude in the band takes over lead vocals (and the songs slow down with him singing, for some reason) this would rank higher.

25. Ces Cru - Constant Energy Struggles

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Ces Cru are an insanely technically proficient rap duo from Kansas City. Their previous album placed in my top 10 back in 2010. I love these guys. This album is their first on Strange Music, and it is conceived as an introduction to the label’s die-hard fans. I did not need to be introduced to Ces Cru. So lyrically, some of the content falls flat to my ears; you know, the typical sort of rap braggadocio. Some of the tracks have interesting lyrical turns, like “Wall-E” – a song about environmental concerns; obviously a subject that rap doesn’t cover very much. Mostly, I like this album for Ubiquitous & Godemis’ insane flows. This was a go-to album this year for when I wanted to listen to some impressive technical rapping but didn’t want to think about it too much.

24. DGM – Momentum

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This Italian progressive metal band is basically ripping off Symphony X. Like, that’s all that DGM does: make Symphony X songs. Why is it on my list of favorite albums of the year? Because I ****ing love Symphony X. Hell, the first track on the album has Russell Allen (Symphony X’s vocalist) singing on it! The worship couldn’t be more blatant. But because of their worship DGM are meticulous students of progressive metal. They know how to write a prog metal song that hits all of my weak spots: technical chops from every musician, guitar riffs that are thick and dynamic, vocals that make me wish I could sing more than anything in the world. This kind of metal music makes me pump my fist, makes me want to sing along, and makes my brain work overtime trying to figure out the time signatures.

23. Action Bronson – Blue Chips 2

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Action Bronson returns to his one true muse, producer Party Supplies, and puts out a collection of tracks that are hilarious and strangely dynamic. The key to making it all work is the samples. There’s lots of 80s and 90s radio staple songs being looped and rapped over. It creates this cloudy feeling of nostalgia, while Bronsolino cuts through with bars that are just as much self-aggrandizing as they are self-defeating. Sample lines: “I nutted in like three strokes/shit, now that’s no way to rep the East Coast” or “A young Zinedine Zidane/in Flushing Meadows Park, drinking Hennessey with Mom.” The track that best sums up this release is “Contemporary Man,” which almost frantically switches up the sampled beat as if someone is changing the dial on the radio & Action Bronson is on every station. This album is just fun, IDK.

22. Kvelertak – Meir

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This album is also just fun. I loved Kvelertak’s first album – cannon blast of black metal and punk rock. This, their second album, is just as punk. But black metal slips to the background in favor of more classic rock guitars. Imagine if a local punk band did a collaboration with Thin Lizzy, and they all wore corpsepaint. That is Meir. It’s a nonstop blast of energy. This album will KILL at Egan’s (or whatever your local dive bar that books loud bands is).

21. A$AP Rocky – Long Live A$AP

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It feels like forever ago that this album came out. I haven’t tired of it. “Goldie” is still amazing. “1 Train” still knocks. I even warmed up to the Skrillex-produced “Wild For the Night.” And I can’t forget about the Clams Casino-produced “LVL.” A$AP Rocky will never be confused for a great lyricist. He’s not a great rapper either, but he does just enough with his wordplay and changes his flow up just enough to make everything work. He’s got such charisma. He owns the beats he raps on, and the beats he picks are typically stellar. I may not care about anyone else in the A$AP Mob, but Rocky needs to keep on putting out material. He’s two for two on albums now. Great start to his career.

20. Brandy Clark – 12 Stories

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I hate country radio. My mom still listens, but even she finds more musical solace in the Nashville outsiders trying to make a name for themselves rather than the products of the machine. Usually, good songwriters have to settle for writing for other, less talented musicians. Brandy Clark was in that boat not too long ago, having written hits for Miranda Lambert and The Band Perry (their only good song, “Better Dig Two”). With this album, though, Clark gets to show that she has the chops to make it on her own. She’s got a classic country voice: expressive and delicately phrased. It works perfectly with her songwriting style, which is the classic storytelling kind. “Stripes” is about a woman who decides against murdering her cheating husband because she doesn’t look good in stripes or orange. “Pray to Jesus” is based around the sad-but-true? premise that in small town life, the only way to make a real change for the better is to “pray to Jesus or play the Lotto.” “What’ll Keep Me Out of Heaven” is perhaps the best country song about adultery that I can remember hearing. I wouldn’t hate country radio if there were more artists as honest and spare as Brandy Clark.

19. Mr. Mother****in eXquire – Kismet

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Mr. Mother****in eXquire has come a long way from his 2010 mixtape, Lost in Translation, which I adored. That was mostly party tracks or sort of depressed musings, spit over recycled Necro and El-P beats. Lyrically, he’s more confident in his abilities. Lyrically, he can do whatever he wants. He gets caught up in relationship troubles still. But there’s a maturity here, and an almost bleak acceptance that maybe is or isn’t maturity, that feels new and rare in hip-hop. This is a conscious rap album for people going through breakups. “Cherry Raindrops” and “Vanilla Rainbows” tread romantic ground in a mature, non-skeevy way that Drake could never do. “The Cauldron” and “Noble Drew Ali,” meanwhile, show off what eXquire can do as an emcee when he wants to straight kill a beat. The album’s focus dips on the second half –a common problem with rap albums for whatever reason – but this is well worth your time. I’ll ride for eXquire, whatever he puts out.

18. Death Grips – Government Plates

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Ah, Death Grips. They put out my #16 and #1 albums last year. Yes, in case you forgot, I thought and still do think that The Money Store is a better album (barely) than Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid…m.A.A.d. City. Their new album starts off as a natural progression from No Love Deep Web. It’s unrelentingly aggressive and paranoid. MC Ride doesn’t drop bars so much as he pleads to the voices inside his head. The samples sound invasive. If No Love Deep Web sounded like being under drone surveillance, then Government Plates sounds like the drones attacking you. For the first half anyway. Then it becomes looser, more spaced out. Death Grips start experimenting with texture in new ways, and I find the songcraft to drop off with it. I don’t need Death Grips to be high-energy all the time. But what separates a good album like Government Plates from an all-time classic like The Money Store is craft. Catchiness. An olive branch given towards pop sensibilities. This album lacks that olive branch, but it doesn’t lack for memorable material.

17. ST 2 Lettaz – The G…Growth & Development

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It’s moot now that G-Side have gotten back together, but this is ST’s full-length solo debut (there was a short 2012 EP). I don’t feel like typing up all of my positive feelings towards ST, Block Beattaz, and G-Side. You can read my 2011 list for those. This is ST 2 Lettaz – perhaps the most dynamic rapper in the south that isn’t a member of Outkast – rapping over Block Beattaz instrumentals. It’s lovely. “Ocean” features an absolutely epic layering of percussion and ‘whoop’ sounds and wind instruments over a sampled vocal hook from a Scandinavian singer. “Wasted Youth” is classic Block Beattaz, with a guest verse from Bentley that might be the realest talk put onto a record this year: “A wise man once said you only getting what’s given/my cousin’s in prison, so mother**** your aphorisms.” “Trillmatic” is this old-school 90’s throwback beat, with ST giving some of the best college football metaphor bars I’ve heard in a while: “I bleed Roll Tide red/houndstooth bedspread/and I’m still getting head from an Auburn Tiger/so strong, I pack an Iron Bowl.”

16. Ayreon – The Theory of Everything

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Ayreon is the major musical project of Arjen Anthony Luccassen, a progressive rock and metal supergenius. All Ayreon albums work like this: they are rock operas. There are a bunch of guest vocalists who sing dialogue for characters. There are a bunch of guest musicians who lay down awesome instrumentals. Everything comes together to feel like a Broadway musical. The story for this album is about a savant whose father, a brilliant mathematician obsessed with figuring out the so-called Theory of Everything, gives him an experimental drug to help his autism or whatever. Unexpected things happen. The story is pure theatrical cheese, but I happen to dig that sort of thing, so whatever. Musically, this album Arjen at some of his very best: flutes and organs and harps and guitars. Heavy Kansas + Jethro Tull + Yes. The guest vocalists, headed up by Kamelot’s Tommy Kaervik, put in impressive, expressive work to sell the dialogue. The guest musicians? What a lineup! Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater, Steve Hackman of Genesis, Rick Wakeman of Yes, Keith Emerson of ELP, among others. All held together by one of my favorite dummers on the planet, Ed Warby. What keeps this album out of my top 10, honestly, is the way the tracks are broken up. Arjen has essentially recorded four different 20-minute long songs. But the album breaks them up into little segments for each movement of the story (so you can follow along in the lyrics book). What happens is that instead of building true momentum over the course of a 20 minute song, the track changes undercut that tension. Sometimes a track will change in the middle of a vocal climax. It’s an unqualified mistake, and one that keeps one of Arjen’s best albums from becoming one of my all-time favorites.

Love these, Reaper. Look forward to it every year.

Thanks! I do it for all of y'all.

Always a must read thread. Thanks for doing this every year!

I was about to start whining about this not being up, yet. I'll be really curious to see where you put some metal albums.

I thought this year was really, really, really poor for metal. I have HALF the number of metal albums in my top 15 that I normally do.

I love this album.

They only good ones that I have heard are Infesstissumam by Ghost and The Mystery of Time by Avantasia. Iced Earth's newest won't be coming out till next month but it sounds good.

I guess you could count Anthems by Anthrax but its all covers.

How does one of such eclectic tastes discover so much new music? What do you guys do? Visit forums? Radio? Pandora? Friends?

Forums help. Various music blogs too. I find the prog and metal stuff through sites I've been going to and online acquaintances I've had for darn near a decade. I get tuned into most pop stuff through DJ friends. I live in the same town as NPR's chief music critic, Ann Powers, and she tunes me into things also.

15. Kacey Musgraves – Same Trailer, Different Park

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Taylor Swift get a lot of credit for writing her own songs, and she should. But be real: her songs are about some bullshit. Formulaic relationship songs lacking in self-awareness. Much better to heap awards and laurel wreathes on a young country performer who writes her own GOOD songs. Kacey Musgraves is that artist. This is the most refreshing country album I’ve heard in years. Listen to “Follow Your Arrow”, a song whose chorus breaks rhythm intentionally, supporting the song’s message to just do you, no matter who or what you are (“Make lots of noise/kiss lots of boys/kiss lots of girls if that’s something you’re into/when the straight and narrow gets a little to straight/roll up a joint/or don’t/just follow your arrow wherever it points”). A loose, carefree Nashville that acknowledges recreational drug use as something other than sinful? That is accepting and inviting to the LGBT community? Yes please. Lead us into tomorrow, Kacey. But it’s Kacey’s really depressing songs that most impress me. “Merry Go Round” is the best country song I’ve heard since the 90s, maybe. My Lord, what a masterpiece. You must listen to this. I’ve linked to it below. From the chorus: “ Mama’s hooked on Mary Kay/Brother’s hooked on Mary Jane/Daddy’s hooked on Mary two doors down./Mary, Mary, quite contrary/We get bored, so we get married./Just like dust, we settle in this town.” THAT’S THE CHORUS. Kacey has such an observational eye and an economy of words to capture small town life in an actually real way. This is impressive work.

14. Magic Circle – Magic Circle

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This album absolutely should not work. Members from various New York/East Coast hardcore bands came together to form this side project – a band completely inspired by Black Sabbath, modern doom metal, and a splash of NWoBHM. This is my inherent bias against hardcore bands talking, but I didn’t expect them to get the song structure right. I didn’t expect the riffs to crush. I didn’t expect the pacing to be spot on. Beyond my expectations, the songs themselves surprise. “Rapture” begins with a riff stolen from Iron Maiden’s first album but gradually slows down to a Sabbath-era crawl. I mean, In Solitude tried to pull off something like this with their 2013 album, “Sister,” but they couldn’t get the energy, immediacy, or power correctly. Magic Circle, a damn side project, presumably formed for funsies, nails it.

13. Gorguts – Colored Sands

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Quebec’s Gorguts are the godfathers of technical death metal. Every album in the genre is attempting to live up to Gorguts’ influence. The whirlwind riffs, the mathematical drumming, the progressive, complex song structure, the obvious jazz influence…these are things that lots of bands have come to be incredibly proficient at, modeling themselves after Gorguts. In Colored Sands, a concept album about Tibetan monks & Gorguts’ first album since 2001, they show that perhaps the only band to live up to them is them. Riffs on riffs on riffs. Walls of sound broken down by relentless drumming. A classical, orchestral composition in the middle of the album because why not. There’s not much more I can say here. Either the prospect of complex riffs excites you or it doesn’t.

12. Beyonce – Beyonce

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I’ll come out with it: this is my favorite Beyonce album. I’m a Beyonce fan. I anticipated each of her albums. She’s great. I love the singles. There’s some deep cuts (“Crash Into You”!) that I love too. But I always found myself skipping some tracks on each of her albums. I’ve never been totally satisfied with an album-length listen from her. Until this self-titled album, released with absolutely no warning whatsoever (Death Grips did the same thing with No Love Deep Web, another point in my favor for rating them as highly as I did last year).

It’s so strong, all throughout. “Pretty Hurts” and “Heaven” are archetypal Beyonce ballads. “XO” and “Rocket” are the happy, lovey-dovey songs that she excels at too. But Beyonce adds a couple of other wrinkles beyond her usual. This is her dirtiest, nastiest, sexiest album yet. “Blow” is a disco song about licking her skittles, turning her cherry out, and giving her that daddy long stroke. “Partition” drips sex fluids all over the beat, and all over Bey’s clothes in the song. I could go on forever about the sexiness here. I’m most interested in how Houston this album is. Some instrumentals evoke chopped & screwed, plenty more just wear a Texas hip-hop influence on their sleeve. Beyonce herself, whether she’s performing this or not, uses a bit of Texas country inflection on this album. And the braggadocio of hip-hop is there too, especially on “***Flawless”, where Beyonce reminds other pop stars that the pop game “is my shit. Bow down, bitches” before moving on to making the track a feminist manifesto. The only weak point here is Jay-Z’s verse on “Drunk In Love,” where he favorably compares himself to Mike Tyson and Ike Turner. Why Beyonce allowed him to sing the praises of domestic abusers on an album that she and audiences want to see as a major work of feminism is beyond me. But that aside, this is an incredible pop album.

11. Daft Punk – Random Access Memories

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What is it with disco this year? Arcade Fire played with it a lot. Beyonce touches it with “Blow.” And electronic dance masters Daft Punk released damn near a whole disco album this year. Also, it rules. Most of the tracks are immediately danceable, and the ones that aren’t are growers. Daft Punk hired a who’s who of session musicians, and the album is so instrumentally tight because of it. I love the scope and storytelling of “Giorgio by Moroder” and “Touch.” I love the electro-tinged futuristic-throwback sound of “Doin It Right” and “Give Life Back to Music.” The Pharell songs speak for themselves; you’ve heard them. The album closes with “Contact,” finally bringing things around to audience expectation of what Daft Punk should sound like. I could say more, but there’s one album this year that has a similar project as Random Access Memories, only its better. I’ll say more when that album comes up on the list.

10. Haim – Days Are Gone

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I didn’t expect to like this album at all. It has plenty of red flags: a sudden wave of hype, a faux-indie sensibility (they are a major label band), and a sound seems entirely a nostalgic throwback. Surprise, surprise: the hype is deserved, it is catchier than any other pop album this year, and they aren’t JUST a throwback group. You can probably tell from the album art that Haim is inspired by 90s music. Indeed, they sound just like Wilson Phillips filtered through early 90s R&B. Add a healthy dose of Fleetwood Mac, and you’ve got a recipe for delicate melodies. These three sisters don’t just look backwards at influences though. There’s just enough understanding of modern hip-hop production to add interesting wrinkles to things. Listen to album opener “Falling,” which adds this final, heavy layer of rap drums to the mix on the final verse and chorus. Or take “My Song 5,” which throws down heavy, distorted backing vocals and massive bass swells. Mostly, I don’t have to think about these things. The songs just capture me from the start. The delicate, wordy vocal lines and hooks. The jangly guitars. The smart percussion. I love these pop songs. I love this album. I’m kind of pissed at myself for putting another pop album above Beyonce’s, but it is what it is.

09. Pusha T – My Name Is My Name

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We’ve been waiting so long for this, the solo debut album from one half of Clipse. Pusha T has long been one of the best wordsmiths in rap. The references and rhymes pile on top of eachother so densely on this album; you’d better remember what Pusha said 4 lines ago, because he does and the full impact of the wordplay won’t register if you don’t. This album has everything that a commercial rap album should have: “King Push” has a spectral beat that wouldn’t be out of place on a A$AP Rocky album; “40 Acres” has introspection, desperation, and a great chorus from The-Dream; “Suicide” reunites Pusha with his Re-Up Gang costar, Ab-Liva. But this IS a commercial rap album. His label wanted it that way. So there are more commercial beats, with features from the likes of Future, Big Sean, and 2 Chainz. Despite the obvious anchors, those songs don’t sink. Pusha is so damn good as to keep them afloat somehow.

What makes this album one of my top 10 favorites of the year are the ways in which this album fights against the expectations of commercial rap. There’s a ridiculous song called “Let Me Love You” that features Kelly Rowland on a low-key hook; I say that track is ridiculous because Pusha raps the entire song in the world’s best Mase impression. He sounds just like Mase and he’s absolutely nailed Mase’s signature flow. Weird, fun song. Another way this album defies expectation is in a couple of sparse songs – “Numbers on the Boards” and “Nosetalgia.” OK, well, they don’t defy expectations lyrically. Mostly in his career, Pusha raps about the manufacture and sale of crack. Mostly, that’s what he’s always done. But nobody on earth does it better. I say these two songs defy commercial rap expectations because the beats are ****ing austere. Minimal sounds beyond drums. They are a natural extension of the difficult beats that the Neptunes made Clipse learn to rap over. Basically, if you like rap I can’t see how you’d dislike this album.

08. Dessa – Parts of Speech

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I’ve been a huge advocate of Dessa’s music for a long time now. Best female rapper there is, period. Her technical ability is obvious, and her ability to tell literary narratives in rap verse has few peers, male or female. She also is an accomplished singer. It’s that side of Dessa that shines on this album. There’s only two, maybe three, out-and-out rap tracks on this new album. Instead, Dessa and her band record delicate ballads and slow narratives and even a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s oft-forgotten “I’m Going Down.” “Call Off Your Ghost,” and “Sound the Bells” exemplify this album’s tendency to put down layers of haunting vocals from Dessa and backup singer/Minneapolis superstar Aby Wolf to support the words. “Skeleton Key” shows that Dessa has an ear for a catchy pop hook. “Warsaw” and “Fighting Fish” prove that she hasn’t lost a step when it comes to rapping, absolutely killing a Paper Tiger and Lazerbeak beats, respectively. If you already know Dessa then you’ll like her new album. If you don’t know Dessa, well, that’s what this list is for.

07. Danny Brown - Old

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What I loved about Danny Brown’s previous album, XXX, was the album-length arc. It began with the club songs about popping molly and having lots of sex; the songs that Danny Brown and his high-pitched rapping voice are known for. But the second half of the album became increasingly aware that Danny was turning 30 years old, and that this partying shit has to come to an end for his own good. He even started rapping in his “normal” voice. I bring this up because Old also has a ‘Side A/Side B’ mentality. It starts off with some tales of what it was like growing up in Detroit. It’s “the old Danny Brown,” before he gained a following and a larger-than-life personality. It’s coming from the same place as where XXX left off – a place of maturity. But on Side B, the album switches to molly-soaked club bangers. Some people were disappointed that the album reverted to what they perceive as a party music crutch. But listen closer: those club songs, lyrically (and sonically) aren’t anywhere near as fun as the ones on XXX. Danny, our album character anyway, is back in the party scene but he’s not enjoying it. He came back to the club because talking about “the old Danny Brown” was depressing. Even though he knows its not good for him, he starts partying again. And all it is is dangerous. And all it is is a cycle of behavior that he can’t get out of. Get depressed about partying. Get depressed about real life, so back to partying. Old is full of enjoyable songs. But the album-length narrative is so finely realized that I had to spend this whole paragraph talking about it. You’re a fool if you write off Danny Brown as a “molly rapper.” Danny Brown is one of the most ambitious artists in hip-hop.

06. Deafheaven – Sunbather

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This is Metacritic’s highest-reviewed album of the year. It’s in nearly every major top 10 list. Also, this is a black metal album. Usually, this would be a red flag suggesting that this is the worst, most palatable black metal album ever. I don’t know why critics appreciate this album but not black metal as an entire genre. Maybe there’s just enough shoegaze here, or maybe it’s because Deafheaven come out of hipster-approved San Francisco instead of Norway or Poland. Shame on you, critics, for lauding this album while ignoring every other black metal release. All that said, the critics got this right. Sunbather is indeed the best metal album of the year, for my money anyway. What makes this album stand out is its use of major chords. Black metal is bleak, harsh, depressing. It’s about a cold, jagged atmosphere and about hearing the attack of the pick on the guitar strings. Deafheaven, instead, used black metal songcraft and instrumentation to try and make happy, uplifting music. This isn’t a post-rock album, but it gets to emotional places that a Sigur Ros or Godspeed You! Black Emperor can. And Deafheaven does it through black metal, just flipping the ratio of minor chords to major chords around. It’s not a perfectly-realized concept, as the black metal vocals sound just as cold and harsh here as they do on a proper black metal album. But those vocals help the sound from getting too saccharine. Again, I shouldn’t like anything about this project. It seems almost anti-metal. A subversion of metal. But I listen to “Dream House” and I know that it just does what a lot of metal does (and is unfairly ignored for it): make compelling art.

05. Killer Mike & El-P – Run the Jewels

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Last year, El-P released a killer solo album, Cancer 4 Cure. Last year, Killer Mike released R.A.P. Music, an album that would have been an easy #1 favorite if not for the unexpected quality of Kendrick Lamar and Death Grips. This year, they teamed up to release a free album. Run the Jewels is basically ten tracks of Killer Mike and El-P trying to out-rap each other. The beats are done by El-P and they are the bombastic, skitter, paranoid, heavy kind that he used on Cancer 4 Cure. On those beats, the two rappers say the craziest shit, boast the biggest boasts, and have plenty of fun. Sure, there’s some social commentary to be found on this album. “DDFH”, short for Do Dope **** Hope is 2013’s best rap song about 2013. It might be the best song about 2013, about contemporary life, of any genre this year. But mostly, this album is about insane bars. It’s about to rappers going hard. I mean HARD. Within the first minute of the album Killer Mike has already shot a poodle to death. It’s crazy. Admittedly, this isn’t as conceptually strong as Danny Brown’s Old. No album on this list is. I enjoy Run the Jewels more because of the consistency of production, and because this album is ****ing fun. I could just type that word over and over: funfunfunfunfunfunfunfunfun. This shit rules.

04. Jason Isbell - Southeastern

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Jason Isbell always could write an amazing song. He proved it during his stint with the Drive-By Truckers (an aside: my mom and brother hated DBT when they opened for Tom Petty. I, however, enjoyed their set very much). But with his two albums with The 400 Unit, his songs were hit & miss. He’ll tell you today that his addiction to alcohol was to blame. Sober and focused, Isbell put out this proper solo album: a stripped-down country record of stories. Singer/songwriter material. Americana, if you will. These songs lack the epic sweep of “Decoration Day” or the full band beauty of “Alabama Pines.” What are they? A man and his guitar and lyrical narratives without peer this year. “Cover Me Up” is about redemption, vis a vis two lovers in a winter’s cabin (“So go leave your boots by the bed, we ain’t leaving this room/ til someone needs medical help or the magnolias bloom./ It’s cold in this house and I ain’t goin out to chop wood./ so cover me up, and know you’re enough to use me for good”). “Different Days” shows all the self-awareness of the recovered addict and all the frailty they’d rather not admit. Every song is so tight and focused lyrically. There’s nothing innovative on this album. It’s all about execution. There are a couple of tracks that get too big, too expansive with different instruments, too loud. But apart from that the focus leads to impressive execution. I think I said earlier in this list that Kacey Musgraves’ “Merry Go Round” was the best country song I’ve heard in decades. Jason Isbell’s “Elephant” gives that song a run for its money; it’s the most honest depiction of losing a friend to cancer that I can ever remember hearing. This album kills me, and I returned to it time and time again.

03. Rokia Traore – Beautiful Africa

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Rokia Traore is from Mali. She’s from the Bambara people. And she’s one of the most gifted musicians and songwriters that I’ve been introduced to in years. This album is sung mostly in French and Bambara. Lyrically, from what I’ve been told by the interwebs, it’s an album detailing the state of modern Africa, the good and the bad. But I don’t care about that. I care about how groovy and complex the melodies are. Traore lays down guitar tracks to contrast against n’goni (a traditional West African string instrument). Her vocals have a percussive quality to them at times. She can sing her ass off too. The song structures are not simple. This is layered, complex rock/folk music. Progressive, at times. There are many points in this album where I’m reminded of The Mars Volta. Yes, you read that correctly. Look, just click on the YouTube links. “Lalla” begins with a familiar electric blues riff, throws an n’goni riff on top of it, uses backing vocals to create a spiritual sort of mood, then uses her verses to rhtymically punctuate things and keep the song grounded. It’s a high-wire act. “Melancollie” is unrelentingly beautiful as it shifts and squirms. The title track breaks into powerfully-phrased English all of a sudden to claim “My faith doesn’t know failure.” Rokia Traore is the artist on this list that the least amount of people will have heard of, so she is the artists that I most want people to check out. This album took me by complete surprise and forced its way into a debate for my very favorite album of the year. It’s stunning.

02. Kanye West - Yeezus

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Yeah, yeah. You’re sick of Kanye. He doesn’t care. He’s going to **** with all of our shit. He doesn’t care. And that’s what I love about Yeezus. OK, I love many things about this album. First of which is how much it grows on you. My first impression was “Was that it? All that aggression, and for what? Seems half-formed.” Also, it was hard for me to get over the fact that this album is inspired directly by Death Grips. Kanye is usually a trend-setter. Drake wouldn’t have a career in music if Kanye hadn’t invented Drake’s sound for him on 808s and Heartbreak. Kanye’s previous album was forward-thinking in all of the best ways. Yeezus by comparison sounded a year too late; Death Grips ruled 2012 with the same sonic principles. The truth, though, is that Death Grips were a year too early (and, again, Kanye gives me proof that I was right to rank The Money Store #1 last year). This album is actually quite catchy once you spend time to figure out its movements, or to realize when it jarringly moves for no purpose.

The album’s arc is fascinating: Kanye is writing some of the most political, angry material of his career. “Black Skinhead” and “New Slaves” lack the polish of Kanye’s previous material. You have to understand: Kanye West is a musical perfectionist. He demands perfection from himself. So that these two songs, debuted on SNL, are as raw as they are is the first punk statement Kanye has allowed himself to make. Musically, anyway. This album, more than anything, is about finally merging Kanye’s public persona with his musical identity. But an interesting thing starts to happen while Kanye is calling himself a God. He starts to get upset at his relationship history. He starts to realize that some of this anger he’s feeling is psycho-sexual in nature. He realizes that if his long-term relationship with Kim is going to work, he’ll have to get some things off his chest first. And, yes, they are absolutely for her to hear. The sexual conquests of “I’m In It” are depraved, sure, and Kanye uses dancehall samples & Beenie Man vocals in such a way as to create a tense, freighting vibe. “Blood on the Leaves” is one of the most powerful songs I heard all year; in it, Kanye goes over the beginning and end of his relationship with Alexis Phifer (it has been the cause of nearly everything he’s put out since 808s and Heartbreak), using Nina Simone singing “Strange Fruit” as a bleating alarm, and using some intense horns from TNGHT to punctuate things and the emotions get ramped up to one of the most intense boiling points in hip-hop history. Is this even hip-hop, actually? I don’t even know. I don’t even care. Kanye is in a realm of his own when it comes to the art of the sample. The album closes with “Bound 2,” which feels like vintage Kanye in sound. Charlie Wilson delivers perhaps the best Kanye chorus ever. Lyrically, it wraps up the theme of the album: Kim, you need to know where this anger comes from so that we understand how to be with each other. I have to finally let myself be angry about Alexis instead of just depressed, so that I can finally move on and be with you.” Personally, I don’t have much faith that Kanye can move on. But that’s neither here nor there. What’s here is an album that I think is rightly topping many best-of lists. In a weak year for music, I think Yeezus is the best album I listened to. But there was one other album that I actually enjoyed more…

01. Janelle Monae – The Electric Lady

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Kansas City represent. Janelle Monae’s meticulous 2nd album – a double-album, actually – is so damn good. 19 tracks, and there’s no filler! Every song slays. Thematically and lyrically, this is another edition in Janelle’s expansive concept album series about an android named Cindi Mayweather. Musically, Janelle is duplicating every significant period of R&B music from the early 60s through the 90s. But always with a modern twist to the instrumentation and arrangements. This doesn’t feel like an old album, even when “It’s Code” wears its Jackson 5 influence on its sleeve and “Ghetto Woman” feels like an 80s shopping mall, and “Givin Em What They Love” is so much a Prince song that Prince himself does a guest verse. Monae is basically a neo-futurist in philosophy, and she applies that to her music and production. It’s hard to explain. I mean, she complains here about being “tired of Marvin asking me what’s goin on” but in order to achieve freshness in R&B she uses like all of the past and makes a R&B cyborg. This album is goddamned R&B Voltron. Janelle Monae has made a 19 track musical Megazord, and everything is so good. “Primetime,” featuring Miguel, is an incredible duet. “Victory” is a gospel track that every atheist slash robot can get behind. “Sally Ride” and “Dorothy Dandridge Eyes” are the culmination of the album’s synthesis. This album is in many top 20 lists and it is still underrated. Impeccable songcraft and musicianship. By the time you reach the album’s closer, the 90s radio R&B-evoking “What an Experience,” you’ll be thinking and feeling that song’s title. If you’ve read my lists ever before, you know that I’m rating these as album-length listens. Two years ago I dropped Doomtree’s last album from what would have been #1 to #3 because of one song that should have been sequenced earlier in the album. I get nitpicky. The Electric Lady is 19 tracks and I can’t find enough nits to pick to drop it from this spot. “Give me back my pyramid, I’m trying to free Kansas City.” This album is a treasure.

Whew. There it is. All done.

I don't see Hail to the King on there.

So dislike.

I'm about to travel to KC for the holidays, but remind me to tell the story about the time I made M. Shadows cry onstage.

Nice addition on the Jason Isbell. Some albums I loved that you, evidently, didn't:

Chance the Rapper, Acid Rap
Foals, Holy Fire
Vampire Weekend
Laura Marling, Once I was an Eagle

Awesome write ups, especially the ones I'm not familiar with. Wholeheartedly agree on this being a down year for metal. Typically, I have an internal conversation with myself about whether a genre is having a bad year or maybe it's just my tastes being cyclical, but this was definitely a stagnant year for metal.

Some of my favs for 2013:

Sex Prisoner - State Property
Spine/The Repos split
Sea of Shit - s/t
Ultra//Negative/IRA Graves split
Budd Dwyer - Never Satisfied

As for metal, I went through the stereogum best metal album and listened to a few different albums there. Some of the ones I liked:

Inter Arma: Sky Burial
Windhand: Soma
Wolvserpent: Perigaea Antahkarana
Skeletonwitch: Serpents Unleashed

I just came across Windhand the other day and really dug Soma as well. I was about to post it up on here and NewChief beat me to the punch. :)

Reaper,

Did you listen to TesseracT - Altered State?

The National/Arcade Fire in a Reaper list?

I've seen everything.

I was surprised to see that TesseracT's Altered State and Steven Wilson's The Raven That Refused to Sing were excluded from your top selections. Otherwise, absolutely phenomenal selections as always, Reaper.

(As an aside, after the release of Sunbather, I can not contain my fangirl-like excitement to see Deafhaven in Lawrence this spring.)

I'm the first to admit that Repaer's lists are just occasional reminders of how little new music I listen to anymore, but I came here to post those very two.

MVotC is a fricken' national treasure.

Agreed. I really, really expected VW to take a step back with a third album, but it's become my favorite of theirs by far, and VW has pretty much been the soundtrack to my family's life for the last 5 years. Just this morning, my 8 year old was making his breakfast and singing "Step."

I'll also say that this was either a really good year in electronic music, or it was the year that electronic music began to grow on me. I listened to a LOT of electronic type shit (Burial, Disclosure, Darkside, Oneohtrix Point Never, etc...) this year.

Deafheaven reminds me of City of Caterpillar.

That's a throw-back and a half to a different time in my life.

Enjoyable listen.

Nicolas Jaar's first full length album was one of my favorites of 2011, but I think this Darkside project might be even better.

Listened to it again today. It's fantastic. Have you listened to the latest Burial EP? Crazy good. Halfway through the third track.... Tears.

I really don't care for Vampire Weekend. They do nothing for me.

I enjoyed it but not as much as some of his previous stuff. I did give it only a single cursory listen though so I'll have to return to it when I get the chance.

That's because I sent the album to you this time last year :)

As for Yeezus being #2 let me quote Charlemagne Tha God "yeezus was garbage".

Um, no Earl Sweatshirt?????? Doris was way better than A$AP Rocky's album.

I liked Doris, but not better than ASAP.

For me Chvrches was my favorite find of 2013 but a solid list you've comprised! Cheers

To me, Earl is better in lyrics and delivery than Rocky.

Reaper,

You really should have this published (other than on CP). In terms of new music reviews with a local flavor, there really isn't any better. Get yourself a paycheck, son.

I tend to agree, but the production for Rocky is really good and interesting. I don't really enjoy the production from the OF crew.

Good List Reaper. This is a constant reminder of how much music I don't hear.

I was surprised to see 3 country entries in this one. I hadn't heard of Brandy Clark or Jason Isbell. Thank you, sir. Very much

I'm right there with you about country radio. I can't stand it, and it is by far the most listenable radio of any genre in my area. In fact, I hated it so much, I didn't listen to any country for several years. I got into some red dirt and more off the Nashville path bands and got back into country. If you haven't, listen to Turnpike Troubadours. They are good.

Haven't even listened to ASAP Rocky's album. Might have to do that.

Doris was pretty goddamn good, though.

Don't give a shit who that dude is. I personally enjoyed the hell out of Yeezus.

They're touring with BTBAM?

Huh, I should definitely catch that show.

BTBAM will be at the Grenada with Deafheaven, Intronaut, and Kindred on March 7th (a Friday). I haven't been this enthusiastic about a show since Opeth toured with Ghost and Mastodon.

Understandably so.

I'm a BTBAM fan and have only listened to Deafheaven a little bit, but that's already a very, very solid ticket. I'll have to check out the other two bands.

100% this.
Posted via Mobile Device

Yeezus doesn't feel like a hip-hop/rap album to me. If that's what you want from it, it will disappoint you. To me, its value comes from being non-generic ('generic' defined here as 'of a genre'). It's got some rapping, some bad auto-tune singing, but its mostly about the production choices. It is a bizarre electronic album held together with a surprising amount of pop sensibility. It was a grower for me, too. It went from 6/10 to 7/10 to 8/10 to 9/10 over the course of the year.

I would listen to ASAP Rocky over Earl Sweatshirt ten times out of ten. Earl does nothing for me. I don't enjoy his flow. I don't enjoy the production on Doris (or, really, on any Odd Future output).

ASAP Rocky is not a great rapper. He's got a great ear for beats, and he's just capable enough on the mic to do those beats justice.

:spock:

Earl's flow is probably the best out of the "new" generation (Kendrick, Rocky, etc).

Verse 1 on whoa ****ing kills it.

I liked Rocky's album but it has a decidedly more pop-ish vibe. I liked Doris more for that raw throwback to 90's style hip hop where the lyrics and MC dominate the song.

Please understand that this is not a criticism of others' tastes and I certainly expect, and am inviting, discussion when I say this, but: I can't get into Death Grips.

I don't hate Death Grips.
I don't begrudge their critical acclaim.
I just don't get them.

Does that say something about me as a person? I have never really been able to suffer the experimental scene, not because I think it's some exercise in pretentious art, but because it's simply unappealing to me. What you (Reaper) call texture sounds to me like someone clicking a mouse over some soundboard. I'm fully aware that that is my fault; when I say that I don't understand what makes it appealing, I mean that in its most literal sense, and not as "I don't understand it, and I don't see how anyone else could". What is its purpose, beyond experimenting with beats/rhythms that may influence popular artists? Why does Pitchfork love noise music? Is there some professional fear from music critics to not appreciate experimental music? Certainly, there must be some noise bands that critics hate, so that can't be it.

I guess I just don't see the purpose.

Death Grips' music makes me feel things, and feel them pretty intensely. If it doesn't for you, well, that's fine. Music is so subjective.

Why I like Death Grips album The Money Store so much more than their other work is because it makes me feel all of the emotions that their work makes me feel, but marries them to pop music sensibilities as far as catchiness goes.

Man. I liked that a lot more than I thought I would. What a simple, but fun and enjoyable song.

I just can't do it. Electronica kills me. Makes my skin crawl. I can't even appreciate good lyrics and melody (which I love) in a song with "too much" electronics.

Thanks for these Reaper. In the past few years I usually check best of year from pitchfork, avclub and the Reaper thread for top album list albums for stuff I missed or didn't consider.