Music tastemakers who participate in the ongoing listening series (myself and various other CL Staffers along with local music promoters, record store and venue owners, music fans and scenesters, DJs, musicians, and a radio personality or two) have been weighing in on favorite albums of the year — the Best of 2013. Because we're off on consecutive Wednesdays for Christmas and New Year's, and make up such a large group with varying tastes, I've broken up our lists into four parts. The Well-Played List closes in 2013 with Part 4, the final Best of 2013 breakdown, which includes my own list expanded from the one in next week's paper.
Click here to check out Part 1. Part 2 right here. And Part 3 here. Hopefully, all four of these will give you something to fill your ears while you enjoy your holiday breaks… and as always, Spotify Playlists with picks is featured at the end of each post, for your listening pleasure. And on that note, what were your favorite albums of 2013? Tell us in the comments…
LEILANI
If you look at the past three Well-Played Lists, you'll notice that there isn't too much overlap in our Best of 2013 selections, which shows you just how much fantastic, high quality music dropped this year. My own list is a rather diverse one, ranging from psych pop to hip hop to indie rock, and albums I expected on the list — Local Natives, MGMT, Flaming Lips, of Montreal — were missing in favor of some brand new artists I'd never heard or (or listened to) before this year.
I had a really hard time narrowing it down to the 10 I ultimately included in next week's paper, so I've expanded it to 25 here; the first 10 are my most-listened-to selections, while the rest are all ones I had trouble choosing between. Enjoy, and listen to each of these (and everything else you read about today) in the Spotify Playlist at the bottom of this post…
Jamaican Queens, Wormfood
Pillowfight, Pillowfight
Javelin, Hi Beams
Big K.R.I.T., King Remembered in Time
Queens of the Stone Age, …Like Clockwork
Foxygen, We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic
Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, We The Common
Pick a Piper, Pick a Piper
Willy Mason, Carry On
Blitzen Trapper, VII
The Stepkids, Troubadour
POND, Hobo Rocket
AAN, “Mystery Life” 7"
Generationals, Heza
Wampire, Curiosity
Jesse Woods, Get Your Burdens Lifted
Run the Jewels, Run the Jewels
Young Fathers, Tape Two
The Darcys, Warring
Aceyalone, Leanin’ On Slick
Midlake, Antiphon
Deltron 3030, Deltron 3030: Event II
The Features, The Features
Youth Lagoon, Wondrous Bughouse
Sapient, Slump
JULIA STEWART / MoonGoddess Entertainment LLC
Bonobo, North Borders
Tedeschi Trucks Band, Made Up Mind
Daft Punk, Random Access Memories
Lettuce, Fly
Ghostface Killah & Adrian Younge, Twelve Reasons To Die
Holy Ghost!, Dynamics
Lotus, Monks
Elvis Costello & The Roots, Wise Up Ghost
Disclosure, Settle
Greenhouse Lounge, Freak Out/Now Reflect
ANTHONY ATEEK | Local musician in Broken Things, writer for Tampa Bay Rays blog, X-Rays Spex
Restorations, LP 2
Off With Their Heads, Home
Jesu, Everyday I Get Closer to the Light to the Light From Which I Came
Joanna Gruesome, Weird Sister
Modern Life Is War, Fever Hunting
Bitch Prefect, Bird Nerds
Earl Sweatshirt, Doris
Hop Along, "Sister Cities" (From the Shaking Through Vol. 4 comp)
Night Marchers, Allez! Allez!
Perfect Pussy, I Have Lost All Desire For Feeling
Radioactivity, Radioactivity
Sharks, Selfhood
Speedy Ortiz, Major Arcana
Modern Charms, Modern Charms
True Widow, Circuambulation
JACK SPATAFORA | Founder, aestheticized presents; DJ, Soft Rock Renegades.
AAN, “Mystery Life” 7"
Baths, Obsidian
Beacon, The Way We Separate
Benoit & Sergio, “Bridge So Far” b/w
James Blake, Overgrown
Boards Of Canada, Tomorrow’s Harvest
Bondax, “Gold” B/W
Action Bronson, Saaab Stories
Disclosure, Settle
Kaytranada, “At All” b/w “Hilarity Duff” + various remixes
Jessy Lanza, Pull My Hair Back
Machinedrum, Vapor City
Metronomy, “I’m Aquarius”
O’Brother, Disillusion
Queens of the Stone Age, …Like Clockwork
RiFF RAFF, “Rap Game James Franco” + “Got Them Mad”
Snakehips, “On & On”
Luke Temple, Good Mood Fool
Toro Y Moi, Anything In Return
Various Artists, Brontosaurus
JESS GROOM | music fan with discerning taste
Deerhunter, Monomania
STRFKR, Miracle Mile
Diane Coffee, My Friend Fish
Phoenix, Bankrupt!
Unknown Mortal Orchestra, II
Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires of the City
Wild Nothing, Empty Estate
Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d. city (released in 2012, jammed out in 2013)
Jagwar Ma, Howlin
The Head and the Heart, Let's be Still
ARIELLE STEVENSON
Over the last 12 months, I've locked into these 10 albums intensely. Hip-hop is back with a fury and passion, with Push T's Nosetalgia taking over my speakers and guest appearances by dirty-mouthed punk Kendrick Lamar. Via Arcade Fire, I discovered multi-instrumentalist and musical powerhouse Colin Stetson, part jazz, part experimental; his album of circular-breathing-made beats stopped me dead in my tracks. David Bowie, my one and only, came back with a fierce album in The Next Day, pleasing Bowie lovers of all generations. Queens of the Stone Age made a melodic and hypnotizing comeback. And of course, Destroyer, known for 2011's Kaputt, decided to take a break for a while, leaving us with a final EP in Five Spanish Songs. Cool kid beat master Toro y Moi gave me more tracks to dance and obsess over, while Rhye, Phosporescent, and Haim fed my soul. And while everyone is talking about Beyonce's surprise release, but to me, Janelle Monáe's "Q.U.E.E.N." featuring Erykah Badu is 2013's track of the year. Everywhere I go, I hear ladies jamming out to it, which makes me want to dance and eat chicken wings, all at the same time. She's struck gold; it's down home, femme-fataled, and funky as hell.
Janelle Monae, The Electric Lady
Phosphorescent, Muchado
Haim, Days Are Gone
Toro Y Moi, Anything in Return
Destroyer, Five Spanish Songs
Queens of the Stone Age, …Like Clockwork
Colin Stetson, New History Warfare Vol. 3: To See More Light
Rhye, Woman
David Bowie, The Next Day
Pusha T, My Name Is My Name
Past editions of The Well-Played List here.
This article appears in Dec 19-25, 2013.