100 best albums of 2013 countdown: 50-41
Published on December 28th, 2013 | Jonny Abrams
You know what? It’s Rocksucker’s 100 best albums of 2013 countdown festive end-of-year special bonanza! That’s what!
We listened to more albums this year than you’ve had dinners of any temperature – and we conferred varying degrees of merit, in quail form, upon them based on our own spurious criteria.
Now we bring you our favourite hundred of them, counted down in order arbitrarily/for fun. Do join us in sneaking a peek at positions 50 to 41…
50. Karl Hyde – Edgeland
What we said…
Hyde’s debut solo album sheds Underworld’s lush, clubby trips in favour of a more atmospherically and psychedelically loaded mix, drawing attention to the to the ‘edgeland’ between wake and sleep that they do have in common.
Read our review of Edgeland in full
49. The Sufis – Inventions
What we said…
Inventions finds The Sufis doing what they do best – that is, tumbling vintage psych with tangential tendencies befitting of its own youthful exuberance – but with an extra added sophistication that they refrain from beating us over the head with.
Read our review of Inventions in full
48. Dustin Wong – Mediation of Ecstatic Energy
What we said…
It’s a blissful sensory overload from start to finish, a fantastical and relentless heavy rainfall of benevolent pink droplets interspersed with fuzzily melodic guitar and amiably swaggering beats, occasionally so laid-back as to be gloriously at odds with the deluge going on around it.
Read our review of Mediation of Ecstatic Energy in full
47. Cate Le Bon – Mug Museum
What we said…
Le Bon’s understated singing style skims satisfyingly over the layer of good-natured jangle, inhabiting a cocoon of comfort from which it breaks out only sparingly, making the isolated moments of extroverted eccentricity all the more striking for it.
Read our review of Mug Museum in full
46. Ducktails – The Flower Lane
What we said…
A splendid LP’s worth of agreeable, intricately pieced-together pop music with a lush soul coating.
Read our review of The Flower Lane in full
45. Big Black Delta – Big Black Delta
What we said…
Rocksucker would hesitate to describe this as an ‘electro-pop’ record – that would infer too much tweeness on the part of all the harsh electronics. It’s a remarkable balancing act that few have truly nailed, indeed “The Zebrah” reminds of fellow graduates-with-honours Super Furry Animals and Liars. Let’s chuck of Montreal in there, too.
Read our review of Big Black Delta in full
44. Primal Scream – More Light
What we said…
The best, most arse-kicking thing they’ve done since 2000’s XTRMNTR, better even than 2002’s pretty-good-too-since-you-ask sinister electro workout Evil Heat.
Read our review of More Light in full
43. These New Puritans – Field of Reeds
What we said…
If Talk Talk were zapped by Zappa and sprinkled with North Sea Radio Orchestra, you’d be at least some way towards an acceptable description of Field of Reeds. It’s such a remarkable piece of work unto itself, though, that it scarcely feels worthwhile trying to summon precedents.
Read our review of Field of Reeds in full
42. French For Cartridge – We Humans
What we said…
Ridiculously eccentric, and jolly lovely with it. It’s rare for something to be quaint and berserk at the same time, but this succeeds valiantly. This is completely off its rocker and we bloody loves it for it.
Read our interview with French For Cartridge
41. Shigeto – No Better Time Than Now
What we said…
2013 has been a stellar year for synaesthetic electronic music, the likes of Matmos, Gold Panda, Mount Kimbie and Jon Hopkins having had us licking our lips with their cross-sensory delights. Enter Japanese-American producer Shigeto with one of the best yet.
Read our review of No Better Time Than Now in full
Previously on our 100 best albums of 2013 countdown: 100-91 – 90-81 – 80-71 – 70-61 – 60-51
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