Albums of 2013

凛として時雨 - i'mperfect
Genre: Alternative Rock
Country: Japan



Although lacking the experimentation the last Sigure album, as well as TK's solo album had, "i'mperfect" fine-tunes Sigure's sound and cuts out all the filler. The album may be short at just 37 minutes but essentially every song is perfect.

The Uncluded - Hokey Fright
Genre: Folk-Hop?
Country: USA (NY/CA)



Aesop Rock and Kimya Dawson don't seem like an obvious team but they've crafted a great album. The styles clash pretty hard but it's never a bad thing. A very unique and memorable album.

Baths - Obsidian
Genre: Glitch Pop
Country: USA (CA)



Baths drops a bit of the glitch elements this time around and adds some 80's post-punk/new-wave sounds and his vocals have gotten a bit better. Doesn't have as much punch as I would have liked but a solid set of tracks nonetheless.

パスピエ - 演出家出演
Genre: Indie Pop
Country: Japan



One of the best J-Pop albums I've ever heard. The music is definitely pop but still has some technicality to it. Lots of variety without sounding disjointed and the distinct vocals help the album stand out.

Gorguts - Colored Sands
Genre: Death Metal
Country: Canada



Amazing melody and songwriting coupled with great atmosphere and heavy as fuck riffs. This is a badass record.

Melt-Banana - Fetch
Genre: Noise Rock
Country: Japan



Melt-Banana diversify their sound on Fetch and has some very unique songs that are catchy and fun while still being a noisy riot.

Queens of the Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork
Genre: Alternative Rock
Country: USA (CA)



Distinct and varied rock record that never dazzles but is solid throughout.

Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
Genre: Synth-Pop
Country: France



A glorious blend of dance music from all across time that, despite dipping in quality past the 5th track is consistently stellar.

Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire - Kismet
Genre: Hip-Hop
Country: USA (NY)



An interesting take on grimy NY rap that has consistently solid and varied production, excellent flows, and good features.

大森靖子 - 魔法が使えないなら死にたい
Genre: Singer/Songwriter
Country: Japan



Great instrumentation, lots of variety and a blend of beautiful and straight-up weird vocals make for a standout album.

Immolation - Kingdom of Conspiracy
Genre: Death Metal
Country: USA (NY)



I may not know too much about death metal but I do know I like this album. The production is modern without sounding too polished, the songs are cohesive without being repetitive and every song has at least one riff that impressed me. If this is textbook death metal, it deserves a Pulitzer.

Flatbush Zombies - BetterOffDEAD
Genre: Hip-Hop
Country: USA (NY)



Great and diverse beats accentuated by the personality and distinct vocals of the emcees. Lyrics can be weak but this is a fun fun album.

きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ - なんだこれくしょん
Genre: Electropop
Country: Japan



This is exactly my kind of pop music. Yasutaka Nakata's production is quite a bit different from what he was doing with Capsule. Fun, innocent, summery melodies straight out of a Nintendo game over bouncy beats. Apart from one or two songs that fall victim to over-diversifying this is a great album.

Art Vandelay - Eye 8 the Crow
Genre: Hip-Hop
Country: USA (WA)



Dynamic and varied production and solid flows and lyrics makes "Eye 8 The Crow" a solid hip-hop album.

The Underachievers - Indigoism
Genre: Hip-Hop
Country: USA (NY)



Consistency is the name of the game here. One solid track featuring solid beats and solid rapping after another.

Run the Jewels - s/t
Genre: Hip-Hop
Country: USA (NY/GA)



Exactly what I expected from EL-P and Killer Mike and it's pretty awesome.

Tyler, the Creator - Wolf
Genre: Hip-Hop
Country: USA (CA)



Excellent production and surprisingly good lyrics with only a bit of that typical OF bullshit. The production gets a bit samey-samey and there's a few garbage tracks towards the end but a very solid release nonetheless.

ねごと - 5
Genre: Power Pop
Country: Japan



A lot of solid pop tunes with some psychadelic influences.

Gris - À l'âme enflammée, l'âme constellée...
Genre: Depressive Black Metal
County: Canada



Though it does get repetitive over it's 80 minute run-time, Gris have crafted an incredibly detailed and beautiful album. Lots of lush, but not overbearing string arrangements, gorgeous bass lines and impressive acoustic guitars really make this album stand out.

のあのわ - Cry Like a Monster
Genre: Art Pop
Country: Japan



If you were to listen to any song on this album you'd probably think "this is a pretty standard pop song". What makes this album interesting is that just about every song on "Cry Like a Monster" is a different style of pop music and they generally do them pretty well.

ウサギトネコ - 中庭△
Genre: Electropop
Country: Japan



J-pop with elements of glitch and trance thrown in. Very good stuff.

うみのて - In Rainbow Tokyo
Genre: Indie Rock
Country: Japan



Solid indie rock with very good guitar work and splashes of xylophone and post-rock guitars that give the album a little something extra.

Deafheaven - Sunbather
Genre: Blackgaze
Country: USA (CA)



Peaceful black metal without entering ambient territory. Excellent use of post-rock influences. Consistent and solid throughout.

Ninja Sex Party - Strawberries and Cream
Genre: Synth-Pop/Comedy
Country: USA (NJ)



Though not every song translates as well without a hilarious video, this is still a collection of humorous, well-written tunes that are unnaturally catchy.

Death Grips - Government Plates
Genre: Experimental Hip-Hop
Country: USA (CA)



Death Grips take even more of an electronic angle on this album and while it is definitely a great album, it isn't quite as memorable as some of their earlier work.

Sigur Rós - Kveikur
Genre: Post-Rock
Country: Iceland



While Kveikur doesn't quite have the level of atmosphere I would like from a Sigur Rós album it is still a well crafted collection of songs from the post-rock legends. Probably need a few more listens to confirm all this.

Darkthrone - The Underground Resistance
Genre: Heavy Metal
Country: Norway



One kick-ass riff after another. Apart from some bad clean vocals and some shoddy production this is a solid release. I believe this album was crafted solely to release "Leave No Cross Unturned" as the other songs don't really live up to the standards of the 14 minute epic.

Cultes Des Ghoules - Henbane
Genre: Black Metal
Country: Poland



The biggest plus for this album is the vocal variety. There's shrieks, howls, moans, growls, cackles and they are all executed well. Other than that there isn't too much to right home about, just solid black metal. The production could have been a bit beefier but still, the vocals are enough to make "Henbane" an above average black metal experience.

Beach Fossils - Clash the Truth
Genre: Indie/Dream Pop
Country: USA (NY)



Perhaps not the most memorable album but the killer drums and atmosphere make this a treat. The middle of this album (tracks 7-10) are fabulous.

Progenie Terrestre Pura - U.M.A.
Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal
Country: Italy



Certainly a solid black metal release with some interesting "space rock" sounds but it does sound a bit robotic and the epic song lengths never amount to anything truly epic.

Ill Bill - The Grimy Awards
Genre: Hip-Hop
Country: USA (NY)



A consistent hip-hop album that suffers from some painfully traditional production but has some standout tracks. Ill Bill has great flow and good lyrics but some questionable hooks interfere here and there.

Shelling - s/t
Genre: Shoegaze
Country: Japan



Very pretty and consistent shoegaze album that isn't necessarily memorable but it is very enjoyable while it's on.

0.8秒と衝撃。 - 【電子音楽の守護神】
Genre: Post-Punk
Country: Japan



An interesting blend of J-pop and industrial that's a little too trashy for it's own good.

CX KiDTRONiK - Krak Attack 2: Ballad of Eli Skiff
Genre: Hip-Hop/Digital Hardcore
Country: USA (NY)




Though it's inconsistent and gaudy it's also the most fun you can probably have with an album this year.

Thyrfing - De Ödeslösa
Genre: Viking Metal
Country: Sweden



Definitely a solid release but it's a bit standard. The synths are a bit cheesy but they compliment the guitar tone and riffs pretty well. The biggest problem is the vocals. I miss the old vocalist.

Boris - Präparat
Genre: Post-Rock
Country: Japan



Although some of the songs drag, the balance of soft, post-rock tunes and heavy sludge tracks makes this a cool album.

Melt Yourself Down - s/t
Genre: Afrobeat
Country: UK



Though the sounds and instrumentation are there and the style is certainly interesting, the song writing needs work.

Kvelertak - Meir
Genre: Black 'N' Roll
Country: Norway



It still sounds like Kvelertak but a lot of these songs just don't have that spark the debut had. Still a fun album though.

Iwrestledabearonce - Late for Nothing
Genre: Metalcore
Country: USA (CA)



The music may be a bit more focused and well composed overall but this new girls cleans are just way too bland.

!T.O.O.H.! - Democratic Solution
Genre: Experimental Metal
Country: Czech Republic



This album is a drastic change in sound for the progressive death metal/grindcore act. This clearly home recorded album has oddly distorted guitar tones, synth bass and cheap keys. The biggest change would be the vocal delivery though, switching from the crazy, frantic screams they were known for to some monotonous chants. Overall I think this album works pretty well until the last 5 tracks which are reworkings of previously released tracks that just don't work in this new style and a 5 minute instrumental that doesn't really do much.

Finntroll - Blodsvept
Genre: Folk Metal
Country: Finland



The instrumentation is fun but a lot of the time the songs aren't as this is pretty much standard Finntroll and nothing new really makes it in to "Blodsvept". A lot of songs carry along at the same pace and have the same structures but they are catchy. Feels like they phoned it in on this one.

Peste Noire - s/t
Genre: Black Metal
Country: France



Peste Noire have 2 really good albums and 2 pretty average albums at this point. They can add this to the "average" pile. It's probably their least engaging and least interesting album.

Carcass - Surgical Steel
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Country: UK



It's better than every other current melodic death metal record but it's still melodeath and suffers greatly from being pretty generic. There's some bluesy sounding grooves and riffs but that's not really anything new for Carcass. I hoped a 17 year hiatus would yield some changes.

Ghostface Killah & Adrian Younge - Twelve Reasons to Die
Genre: Hip-Hop
Country: USA (NY)



The production is fantastic but the lyrics and flows are really rough until maybe the last few tracks. Most of the features are awful as well.

The Monolith Deathcult - Tetragrammaton
Genre: Death Metal
Country: The Netherlands



I get the feeling these guys could be cool if they weren't being so gimmicky.

きのこ帝国 - Eureka
Genre: Post-Rock
Country: Japan



Bland and poppy take on post-rock that's listenable but not particularly engaging.

385 - 人間
Genre: Art-Punk
Country: Japan



Well performed but bland Midori worship.

Uncle Acid and the Dead Beats - Mind Control
Genre: Heavy Psych
Country: UK



Starts off decent but dips into a few terrible nothing tracks near the end. The production that made "Blood Lust" so good has the reverse effect on this record and most the songs just sound flat.

さよならポニーテール - 青春ファンタジア
Genre: J-Pop
Country: Japan



Cute, inoffensive pop music where every song sounds like it was made for a commercial. Lots of cheesy instrumentation.

Arckanum - Fenris Kindir
Genre: Black Metal
Country: Sweden



The songs are okay but this album is pretty much ruined by the choppy guitar tone on one of the guitars and a bad mix. It's trying to be an old-school kick-ass kind of black metal album but the weak mix takes away any momentum the album might have had.