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Best Music Of 2013: Editor's Picks
Previous Nextauthor PP date 26/12/13
Year 2013 is drawing to close in the coming days, which means you've already been bombarded by best of lists from friends, fans, bands, and magazines alike. Not ones to skip out on a party, the Rockfreaks.net staff has of course also put together lists of what we thought qualified as best music in 2013, separated into two articles of the editors behind the site and the regular staff (tune in 3rd of January for this one). Each staff member was asked to put together a list of his or her choosing, where the criteria was simple: if you're reading this article three year's time from now, which albums do you think should be specifically highlighted as the ones worth mentioning from 2013. It was up to each writer to figure out just how many or how few albums they interpreted as suitable according to that description.
During 2013 our writers collectively covered close to a thousand albums with reviews and checked out even more outside of our duties, most of them in all genres imaginable within the realm of rock music and beyond. We have specialists in each style, and all of us have eventually carved our own niche of styles to cover, which explains why our lists are so different from one another. After all, every genre has its highlight reel albums if you're willing to dig deep enough, and we've done just that for you in this article. There are a number of albums that creep up on multiple lists, however, and these are usually ones with particular cross-genre appeal.
In any case, the top 5 on all lists are all brilliant albums which, if you haven't checked out yet, you should consider listening to. Because after all, if people who listen to music 365 days a year combing through releases argue that these are the best albums from the past year's worth of releases, then surely that warrants at least a few listens to figure out why that might be the case.
Without further ado, I present you Best Music of 2013: Editor's Picks. PP
PP is the Editor-In-Chief at Rockfreaks.net, and specializes in punk/rock/hardcore and their subgenres with few forays into other genres as well.
- 1. Have Mercy - The Earth Pushed Back (emo / alternative / indie)
- 2. Bad Religion - True North (punk rock)
- 3. Alkaline Trio - My Shame Is True (punk / alternative)
- 4. Streetlight Manifesto - The Hands That Thieve (ska punk / progressive ska)
- 5. Superchunk - I Hate Music (90s alternative / indie)
- 6. A Wilhelm Scream - Partycrasher (technical punk / melodic hardcore)
- 7. Paint It Black - Invisible EP (hardcore / melodic hardcore)
- 8. Daylight - Jar (post-hardcore / alternative / grunge)
- 9. The Thermals - Desperate Ground (garage rock)
- 10. Direct Hit! - Brainless God (pop punk)
- 11. Touché Amoré - Is Survived By (emotional hardcore / post-hardcore)
- 12. Real Friends - Put Yourself Back Together EP (emotional pop punk / alternative)
- 13. Kvelertak - Meir (black metal / rock'n'roll)
- 14. Terror - Live By The Code (hardcore)
- 15. The Bronx - IV (rock / hardcore)
- 16. Deez Nuts - Bout It (hardcore)
- 17. Iron Chic - The Constant One (punk rock)
- 18. Modern Life Is War - Fever Hunting (melodic hardcore / hardcore)
- 19. The Dangerous Summer - Golden Record (indie / emo / alternative)
- 20. RVIVR - The Beauty Between (garage rock / punk)
- 21. Off With Their Heads - Home (no frills punk rock)
- 22. Frank Turner - Tape Deck Heart (singer-songwriter / alternative)
- 23. Suede - Bloodsports (90s alternative / indie)
- 24. Wavves - Afraid Of Heights (post-punk / garage / lo-fi / indie)
Honorable Mentions: Norma Jean - Wrongdoers, Cartel - Collider, Amon Amarth - Deceiver Of The Gods, Half Hearted Hero - Whatever, State Lines - For The Boats, Carcass - Surgical Steel, The Flatliners - Dead Language.
AP is the resident sludge/experimental/djent/post- metal correspondent, who has recently discovered the joys of heritage/retro rock.
- 1. Bombus - The Poet and the Parrot (heavy metal / sludge / progressive)
- 2. Procession - To Reap Heavens Apart (doom metal / heavy metal)
- 3. TesseracT - Altered State (djent / post-metal / progressive)
- 4. The Ocean - Pelagial (post-metal / progressive)
- 5. Golden Animals - Hear Eye Go (psychedelic rock / folk)
- 6. Blues Pills - Devil Man EP (retro rock / soul / groove)
- 7. Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) (progressive rock)
- 8. Kvelertak - Meir (black metal / rock'n'roll)
- 9. Redwood Hill - Descender (post-metal)
- 10. Bring Me the Horizon - Sempiternal (metalcore / scene / post-hardcore)
- 11. Off With Their Heads - Home (no frills punk rock)
- 12. Kadavar - Abra Kadavar (rock'n'roll / groove / retro rock)
- 13. Alkaline Trio - My Shame Is True (punk / alternative)
- 14. Bad Religion - True North (punk rock)
- 15. Streetlight Manifesto - The Hands That Thieve (ska punk / progressive ska)
- 16. The Dillinger Escape Plan - One of Us is the Killer (mathcore / experimental metal)
- 17. Amber - Lovesaken (post-metal)
- 18. Wilson - Full Blast Fuckery (southern rock / rock'n'roll)
- 19. Darkthrone - The Underground Resistance (black metal)
- 20. Deaf Havana - Old Souls (alternative / mainstream rock)
- 21. Light Bearer - Silver Tongue (post-metal)
TL's speciality lies within emo/post-hardcore and similar genres, but recent years have seen him expand more into the indie, alternative, and original/revivalist territory.
- 1. Captain, We're Sinking - The Future Is Cancelled (emotional punk rock)
- 2. The Wonder Years - The Greatest Generation (realist pop punk / emotional pop punk)
- 3. The 1975 - The 1975 (indie / pop / rock)
- 4. A Lot Like Birds - No Place (progressive rock / post-hardcore / post-rock)
- 5. The National - Trouble Will Find Me (indie / alternative)
- 6. Dance Gavin Dance - Acceptance Speech (post-hardcore)
- 7. Shreddy Krueger - The Grieving (post-hardcore / electronic / metalcore)
- 8. Have Mercy - The Earth Pushed Back (emo / alternative / indie)
- 9. The Braces - Two Years (melodic punk / melodicore)
- 10. Hands Like Houses - Unimagine (post-hardcore / emo / alternative)
- 11. Fall Out Boy - Save Rock And Roll (mainstream rock / pop rock)
- 12. Jimmy Eat World - Damage (emo / alternative rock)
- 13. Mallory Knox - Signals (alternative rock)
- 14. Go Go Berlin - New Gold (classic / retro / pop rock)
- 15. CHVRCHES - The Bones Of What You Believe (not reviewed) (electro pop / electronic / indietronica)
Our newest editor BV is a specialist within psychedelic and retro rock. Stoner, indie, sludge, and progressive rock also fall within his realm.
- 1. Spids Nøgenhat – Kommer Med Fred psychedelic rock / psychedelic folk
- 2. Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats – Mind Control doom / stoner
- 3. Kama Loka – Kama Loka psychedelic folk / psychedelic rock
- 4. Golden Animals – Hear Eye Go desert rock / psychedelic rock
- 5. Kadavar – Abra Kadavar stoner / doom / psychedelic rock
- 6. The Road to Suicide / Spökraket - Split shoegaze / psychedelic / drone-rock
- 7. Blues Pills – Devil Man EP blues rock / psychedelic / retro-rock
- 8. Telstar Sound Drone - Comedown psychedelic rock / shoegaze / experimental rock
- 9. Kurt Vile – Wakin’ On a Pretty Daze indie / slacker-rock
- 10. Steven Wilson – The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories) progressive rock
- 11. Foxygen – We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic indie / psychedelic rock / psychedelic pop
- 12. Bombus – The Poet and the Parrot heavy metal / sludge / progressive
- 13. Hookworms – Pearl Mystic space-rock / shoegaze / psychedelic rock
- 14. Doublestone - Wingmakers stoner rock / doom / retro-rock
- 15. Causa Sui – Euporie Tide progressive rock / stoner-rock / psychedelic rock
- 16. Clutch – Earth Rocker stoner-rock
- 17. Papir - III kraut-rock / psychedelic rock / progressive rock
- 18. Föllakzoid – II space-rock / psychedelic rock / ambient
- 19. Scorpion Child – Scorpion Child hard rock / retro-rock
- 20. Jacco Gardner – Cabinet of Curiosities baroque-pop / psychedelic folk
We affectionately refer to EW as 'the metal dad' in our circles. No, but seriously, when he rates a metal album high, you better listen closely, because there's no bigger expert in the genre than him, and none more passionate.
- 1. Procession - To Reap Heavens Apart (doom metal / heavy metal)
- 2. Argus - Beyond the Martyrs (heavy metal / classic metal)
- 3. Bombus - The Poet and the Parrot (heavy metal / sludge / progressive)
- 4. Atlantean Kodex - The White Goddess (heavy metal / viking metal)
- 5. Darkthrone - The Underground Resistance (black metal)
- 6. Jex Thoth – Blood Moon Rise (doom / drone)
- 7. Carcass - Surgical Steel (extreme metal / death metal)
- 8. Devil - Gather the Sinners (heritage rock / doom / occult rock)
- 9. Wardruna - Yggdrasil (folk metal / ambient)
And there you have it. Stay tuned next week for the rest of our staff's thoughts on their favorites from the year gone by.