December 23, 2013
Face it – 2013 was a lame year. But there were still gems:
| 40 | Dumb Numbers Dumb Numbers Adam Harding has teamed up with Lou Barlow (Sebadoh, Dinosaur Jr.), Dale Crover (Melvins) and Murph (Dinosaur Jr.) among others to release his surprisingly innovative debut album on enthusiastic indie-rock label Joyful Noise Records. |
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| 39 | Volcano Choir Repave Repave exhibits a collaborative band that is out to prove that they are a full-blown group, not just the backers for the guy from Bon Iver. This album is full of winner songs, namely, lead single “Byegone”. Read review |
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| 38 | Josh Ritter Beast In Its Tracks Nothing can stop this acclaimed singer/songwriter. |
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| 37 | Placebo Loud Like Love British veterans do emotional rock the right way. Read review |
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| 36 | Lee Ranaldo & The Dust Last Night On Earth While his ex-Sonic Youth bandmates are concentrating on bringing back the experimental sounds they originally came from, Lee Ranaldo sticks to more traditional, melodic sonorities, releasing his second solo record which is darker in tone and lyrics, but more cohesive and stronger than its predecessor. |
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| 35 | Okkervil River The Silver Gymnasium Will Sheff is in fine form – not that he ever isn’t… Read review |
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| 34 | Bottomless Pit Shade Perennial Chicago indie-rock band have been come reliable veterans. |
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| 33 | The Head and The Heart Let’s Be Still The roots revival keeps delivering fine alt-country/folk. Read review |
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| 32 | Los Campesinos! No Blues Yes, there is a ‘Los Campesinos! sound’, and it’s a great one. Read review |
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| 31 | Hookworms Pearl Mystic Combining psych music, krautrock and epic sonorities, this Leeds five-piece made one of the most surprising and immediate debuts of the year. |
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| 30 | The Civil Wars The Civil Wars Despite lots of uncertainty surrounding this group right now, one thing we do know is that their sophomore album is more mellow than their debut album Barton Hollow but vastly more emotive. Read review |
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| 29 | Daughter If You Leave A hypnotic and enchanting debut. |
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| 28 | Middle Class Rut Pick Up Your Head No sophomore slump for the alt-punks. |
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| 27 | Chelsea Light Moving Chelsea Light Moving More prolific and restless than ever, Thurston Moore has recruited a new band to make this rebellious, almost punk record which features noise, at times dissonant guitars and Beat generation-influenced lyrics. |
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| 26 | Savages Silence Yourself Post-punk outfit make the biggest indie debut of 2013. Read review |
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| 25 | Jason Isbell Southeastern Rejuvenated by rehab & The 400 Unit. |
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| 24 | Deer Tick Negativity After heartbreak and more, John Joseph McCauley III grew up, got sober, and gave us Negativity. Read review |
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| 23 | Speedy Ortiz Major Arcana Sadie Dupuis & co.’s debut album brings back the angularity, moodiness and rebellious spirit of ‘90s indie rock giving it a contemporary twist. |
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| 22 | Matt Nathanson Last of the Great Pretenders Folk-rock singer/songwriter continues at an impressive pace. |
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| 21 | Sulk Graceless Incredibly strong psych-shoegaze debut. |
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