Acclaimed Music Top 50 Albums from 2013 poll

By far, the best one yet.

lol I was about to post "wow what a huge drop-off from 2012"

I think the only album on here I would willingly listen to today is Classixx

For me, the Top 10 is outstanding and then you also have Night Time, My Time, Pure Heroine, Days Are Gone and The Bones of What You Believe which still only goes into the top twenty-five.

the 1975

I was not paying any attention to pop music in 2013 (still not), so the only two albums here that I've heard in full are Silence Yourself and The Next Day. Savages over Bowie without question.

Loud City Song

xxxxp same here. Musically speaking, 2013 may be my least favorite year of the '00s.

Probably go with Chance.

danny brown was my fav album of the year at the time, don't see why i'd change my mind now!

Janelle

double cup without a second thought

yikes. mbv, sky, or haim I guess. I should hear that Danny brown album.

I’ve listened to yours truly so many times - including twice in the past five days - so it’s that

agree that this was a relatively weak year

by far my favourite release of 2013 was burial's rival dealer which isn't on the list so it's between sky ferreira, paramore, and kanye i guess

Dream River is the one I would put on first these days.

Voted for Sky Ferreira as Goldfrapp aren't here. Not quite as brilliant as 2012, but Charli XCX, Beyonce, Tegan & Sara, Classixx, Paramore, Haim and Daft Punk still get regular listens.

I’d be lying if I didn’t vote Kanye

Dream River or Field of Reeds, depending on the time of year

voted for Shaking the Habitual

voted tomorrow's harvest but my real pick for this year is king krule 6 feet beneath the moon.

Again, yes, agreed.

2013 is where it all woke up again - you suddenly had a profusion of what I'd call the luminous avant-garde. Katie Gately, Signor Benedick the Moor, clipping., Richard Dawson, These New Puritans, Oranssi Pazuzu, 0PN, Blanche x3, Y//ST and Jute Gyte all LANDED

— Louis Jagger (@louisjagger) May 28, 2022

Not that some of them hadn't already but it was a breakthrough year for them all. Add to that brilliance from old masters like MBV, Gorguts, The Ruins Of Beverast, Matmos, Kayo Dot (I personally like it less but it's an Event album for sure) and above all The Drones...

— Louis Jagger (@louisjagger) May 28, 2022

Forgot DJ Rashad too. This year was like waking up in the future and fuiud

Not that you'd know it from this terrible selection. MBV I guess

Oh and arguably Dawn Richard's breakthrough year too!

I mean, I've called this as the breakthrough year of a whole bunch of cutting-edge artists and then voted for boring old MBV instead of, say, 0PN or Rashad, but...idk, m b v still sounds like the future to me, I really don't think it's acknowledged enough how good it is

xp arguably her worst album though

anyway, to clarify: there are albums here I liked at the time, just not ones I remain all that fond of. A low-key fave from this year is Quadron's Avalanche, which is still an extremely pleasant listen

maybe I'll try m b v again, it made no impression in 2013

i didn't appreciate m b v 'til i listened on my good headphones

Man what a year

Went with DJ Rashad. RIP. Bro went out on top

Still listen to Paramore quite regularly. Queens of the Stone Age less so these days, but it was huge for me when it came out. Still listen to the single from that Tegan and Sara in a playlist and probably should give the album a spin. Fond memories of the Kacey Musgraves, although I don't think I'll listen to it again. Totally forgot about Classixx - the track with Nancy Whang was huge for me, but never checked out the rest of the album.

On the other hand, there's a lot of stuff on here that I remember giving a shot to among a lot of hype and it just falling flat for me: Daft Punk, Deafheaven, Change the Rapper, Sky Ferreira, Kurt Vile. Or things that were good, I guess, but only listened once: Kanye, Beyonce, mbv.

don’t think this was a weak year at all

I could vote for many of these - m b v, Acid Rap, Days Are Gone, Double Cup, Tomorrow’s Harvest, Doris, R Plus Seven, Virgins

my vote went to Shaking the Habitual though

it is still intriguing almost a decade later

by far my favourite release of 2013 was burial's rival dealer which isn't on the list...
― ufo, Wednesday, June 1, 2022

the Rival Dealer EP was a standout release for Burial and deserves to be on this list

The Knife or Boards of Canada

Surprised Bowie isn't at or near the top of the list

the next day got decent reviews but it wasn't adored like blackstar or dominant across EOY lists or anything

Oh yeah, I was actually thinking of Blackstar, doh

Modern Vampires, Yeezus, Paramore, and Night Time, My Time all made the top 25 of the "Best of the Decade" list I made at the end of 2019. A couple years on, Paramore's the one I listen to most often.

I mentioned this in one of the previous poll threads, but I loved Deerhunter's Monomania. It didn't make a lot of year-end lists though (and landed at #35 in P&J, a big drop from their previous two) so I'm not surprised it's missing here.

Going with Chance, love Acid Rap and was very happy to see his quick rise to stardom soon after. Similar to Kanye, it was a bit of hometown pride.

I remember Tomorrow's Harvest being a beautiful album and it meaning a lot to me

I wish they would make something new but am not counting on it

I still haven't given m b v a chance. It was not on streaming for the longest time but that is not an issue any longer.

Loud City Song. though "new you" came on the radio the other day and made a pretty compelling argument.

oh yeah, Monomania, first half might be their best run of songs. and where's Kelela?

4 354 Beyoncé - Beyoncé
8 728 The Knife - Shaking the Habitual
9 733 My Bloody Valentine - m b v
10 753 Disclosure - Settle
13 1058 Sky Ferreira - Night Time, My Time
18 1388 Savages - Silence Yourself
26 2127 These New Puritans - Field of Reeds
30 2264 Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest
31 2356 Janelle Monáe - The Electric Lady
37 - Dawn Richard - Goldenheart
39 - M.I.A. - Matangi
43 - Charli XCX - True Romance

one of these, probably Janelle, These New Puritans, and Beyonce are my top 3

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

has to be Kacey for me but Push the Sky Away and Psychic are big classics too

Earl or Danny

You would think that since I just ran the Daft Punk poll that it might be my vote but that album is only in the Top 10 of these. This to me is a battle between The Knife and Arctic Monkeys as those two albums, to me, are on a different level. It's very hard for me to not vote for the Knife, as I played the heck out of that album at time of release but it's not their best album. This is Arctic Monkeys best album though. It sounds more like a greatest hits album then just their fifth album. When "Knee Socks" or say "Arabella" are just the fifth and sixth best song then you are on to something. It also looks like I will be the only vote for it here.

1. Paramore, 2. Beyoncé, 3. Sky Ferreira

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

well i didnt expect that result

wuuuuuuut

Weird result. Did Like Clockwork even make our 2013 list?

Just checked, it was 78'd.

Haim and Daft Punk very much not maintaining their popularity from that year.

Nice to see the rockists come out for this one...

missed this one but would have voted for The Inheritors or Loud City Song

this was a huge music year for me where it felt like every other album that came out was a favorite, haven't had one like that since

since when did we have a QOTSA-loving lurker contingent

strange results. I voted Beyoncé but should've tossed a vote Charli's way

Someone tipped off a Kerrang! forum about this one.

We’ve come full circle, rockist history is back

Looking at ILN end of year spreadsheet, QOTSA did get 10 Votes in our 2013 poll and it also had a number one vote. Here are the rest of the notes from that spreadsheet: "#100 in Drowned in Sound, #17 in ILM Metal Poll, #10 in Kerrang, #15 in Mojo, #3 in NME, #29 in Paste, #14 in Q, #6 in Rolling Stone, #49 in Spin."

Interesting stuff, I was about to suspend this series for the ufo poll but I'm going to do one more.

winner hardly got a mention in thread

lurkers, reveal yourself!

yes you've still got time for at least one more of these, i'm not ready to start yet

Didn’t know there was an ILM silent majority.

That said, forgot to vote but would’ve went with the Paramorw S/T

I think it's a bad look to use the word "rockists" as shorthand for people who are just fans of rock music.

...Like Clockwork was a tremendous album. Would definitely love to hear from those who voted for it. Listening back to some of these songs for the first time in a long time, it kinda makes me wish I did too! There's awesome stuff all over this album, from synths and pianos, to interesting percussion arrangements, and especially crazy backing vocals. Over on the QOTSA subreddit, there's a significant population for whom this album represents the band falling off. "It's too classic rock, too mainstream." Sorry that it's so good, I guess?

This is the album with I Appear Missing on it, which is pretty much peak QOTSA for me. That loping riff? Those pitch-shifted guitars in the outro? Holy shit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeJ_-LLUbOc

The ballads in general are this album's biggest strength. There are a few of them - Kalopsia, Vampyre of Time and Memory, the title track - and Josh seems to really be channeling his inner David Bowie and really pulling it off. It's really vulnerable stuff. Kalopsia is my other top song from the album, with Trent Reznor giving a helping hand on backing vocals. Another one of Josh's amazing songs for his children (along with Fortress and Villains of Circumstance from the Villains album). "Huh-huh, it's literal dad rock." Yeah, fuck you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSR1GBRmqEs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Cub_Fvyalg

glad to read some thoughts on the album

can't say I enjoy it, but enjoy listening to those examples, does not sound as I had imagined (expected more stoner hard rock vibes)

I'm a bit sad to see Kurt Vile at 0 vote. I had gone for Acid Rap.
QotSA is for the "didn't know they had a career" thread.

prob his best album yeah