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It’s that time of year again. Here’s part one of Louder Than War’s albums of the year 2013 list.
Those of you with a decent enough memory will recall that last year we put in a front of you a mammoth list of 200 amazing albums from 2012. This year we’ve reigned our enthusiasm in somewhat and are presenting a more modestly sized list of 150. The reason we’ve downsized our list is not because this year has been three quarters as good for releases as last year, but rather because last year we included some choices from our contributors. This year we have a separate list for writers which we’ll put in front of you next week. So any fury at the exclusion of your favourite album of 2013 should be directed towards the whole of the lead editorial team; John Robb, Phil Newall, Sarah Lay and Guy Manchester. Exorcising your spleen through the medium of the written word with caustic barbs, we assure you, is far more cathartic than a punch on the nose so if you disagree with anything please feel free to “have a go at us” in the comments box below rather than search us out in person.
As usual we’ve endeavoured to be as diverse and genre inclusive as possible in our list – and not by way of the “token” this or the “token” that album. So in the list you’ll find reggae, folk (NOT La Marling), jazz, hardcore, black metal, blues, pop, noise, electronic, indie, rap, ska, funk and etc. etc. etc. We hope we’ve included the best releases in all those genres, but it’s inevitable that we’ve missed some. The very nature of embracing all genres means we’ll never know as much about any of them as someone who specialises in and devotes their whole life to listening to just one kind of music. We accept that. So, again, pipe up if, in your opinion, we’ve boobed.
As with all such lists ours has the dual purpose of hopefully opening your eyes to some albums you may’ve missed this year and also to serve as a springboard to some debate. We hope we’ve achieved that.
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150. Hey Colossus – Cuckoo Live Life Like Cuckoo. (Sludge Metal).
149. Grouper – The Man Who Died In His Boat. (Dark Ambient / Experimental).
148. Swearin’ – Surfing Strange. (Indie Pop Punk).
147. Satelliti – Transister. (Jazzy Krautrock).
146. Tim Hecker – Virgins. (Ambient Electronica).
145. Thundercat – Apocalypse. (Jazz / Funk / Electronica).
144. Camera Obscura – Desire Lines. (Indie Pop).
143 Alice In Chains – The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here. (Rock).
142. Mulatu Astatke – Sketches Of Ethiopia Jazz Village(Ethiopique / Afrobeat).
141. Oneohtrix Point Never – R Plus Seven. (Experiemental Drone Electronica).
140. Dan Friel – Total Folklore. (Psychedelic Indietronica).
139. Keaton Henson – Birthdays. (Folk).
138. Alkaline Trio – My Shame Is True. (Punk Rock).
137. Martin Simpson – Vagrant Stanzas. (Folk).
136. Waxahatchee – Cerulean Salt. (Indie / Acoustic).
135. A$AP Rocky – Long.Live.A$AP. (Rap).
134. Deafheaven – Sunbather. (Atmospheric Black Metal).
133. Defeater – Letters Home. (Melodic Hardcore).
132. These New Puritans – These New Puritans – Field Of Reeds. (Post-Punk / Art-Rock).
131. David Bowie – The Next Day. (David Bowie).
130. Barn Owl – V. (Psychedelic Drone).
129. Chrome Hoof – Chrome Black Gold. (Avant Funk).
128. Dillinger Escape Plan – One Of Us Is The Killer. (Metalcore).
127. The Flatliners – Dead Language. (Ska Punk).
126. Canola Tenderfoot – Hy-Brasil. (Chillout Electronica).
125. The Ex And Brass Unbound – Enormous Door. (Jazz-Punk-Afrobeat).
124. OvO – Abisso. (Noise-rock).
123. Nine Inch Nails – Hesitation Marks. (Industrial Rock).
122. Cate le Bon – Mug Museum. (Female Singer-Songwriter).
121. Gary Numan – Splinter. (Synth-Pop).
120. Crash of Rhinos – Knots. (Math Rock).
119. Grumbling Fur – Glynnaestra. (Neo-psychedelia).
118. Fire! Orchestra: Exit!. (Jazz rock).
117. Bob Dylan – The Bootleg Series, Vol. 10 – Another Self Portrait (1969-1971). (Folk).
116. My Bloody Valentine – m b v. (Shoegaze).
115. Body / Head – Coming Apart. (Experimental Guitar).
114. Wooden Shijps – Back to Land. (Space Rock).
113. English Heretic – Anti-Heroes. (Art Collective).
112. Stornoway – Tales from Terra Firma. (Indie Folk).
111. Palma Violets – 180. (Garage Rock).
110. Teeth Of The Sea – Master. (Experimental Post Rock).
109. Altar of Plagues – Teethed Glory and Injury. (Irish Black Metal).
108. Widowspeak – Almanac. (Dream Pop).
107. Cornell Campbell – New Scroll. (Reggae).
106. Suede – Bloodsports. (Alt Rock).
105. Young Echo – Nexus. (Electronic Collective).
104. Woodkid – The Golden Age. (Indie / Chamber Pop).
103. Moderat – ii. (Glitchy Techno).
102. Black Roots – On The Ground In Dub. (Roots Reggae / Dub)/
101. Orchestra of Spheres – Vibration Animal Sex Brain Music. (Krautrock).
So endeth part one. Part two, 100 – 51, can be found here.
No embers of the autumn by the fireflys? You gave that a cracking review too :)
You have over looked a great Oi! release from this year 16 Oi! Scorchers! by Evil Conduct from the Netherlands
The devil put dinosaurs here is a big fat pile of shit! Dual harmony overkill and “signature sound” abuse. It would be number one of my disappointments of 2013 list!!! It only looks good next to the return of Soundgarden! Thank fuck Janes Addiction have still got the bollocks to move in a forward direction.
Big Gazza Numan ONLY 121??? Consider myself and Dom officially unimpressed with this, he’s only 2 places above his leading tribute band!!! Nice work with Altar of Plagues though.