No Better Time Than Now… Well, go on then

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

Artists: big black delta, cate le bon, ducktails, dustin wong, french for cartridge, karl hyde, primal scream, shigeto, the sufis, these new puritans

About the Author

Jonny Abrams Editor of Rocksucker and the website's founder, Jonny is passionate about the music he listens to, both good and bad, as well as interviewing his favourite musicians.