Favorite Albums of 2013

My favorite albums of 2013:

1. James Blake, Overgrown
2. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Push the Sky Away
3. Neko Case, The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, the More I Love You
4. Daughter, If You Leave
5. Savages, Silence Yourself
6. Local Natives, Hummingbird
7. El P & Killer Mike, Run the Jewels
8. The National, Trouble Will Find Me
9. Arcade Fire, Reflektor
10. Various, The Great Gatsby Original Movie Soundtrack

Favorite reissues:

1. Jimi Hendrix, People, Hell & Angels
2. William Onyeabor, World Psychedelic Classics 5: Who is William Onyeabor?
3. Patty Griffin, Silver Bell

There was only one album in 2013 that I think I would really miss if it were to disappear from my life: James Blake, Overgrown. Some Blake fans have derided it for being more "pop" than his earlier releases, but I think his set at Treasure Island this year belied that, showing that his current versions of even his older songs (like "CMYK") are stronger than ever.

The rest of my list is dominated by artists I already know and love, but while I liked their 2013 efforts enough to put them in my top 10 for the year, almost none eclipsed their earlier work (Neko Case, Arcade Fire, The National, Local Natives -- Nick Cave might be an exception). Still, I liked them better than most of the new material I encountered. But Daughter and Savages established new beacheads in my heart from the quiet and loud directions, respectively.

And honorable mentions that might, over time, displace some in the 6-10 bracket: Lorde, Pure Heroine; Jason Isbell, Southeastern; Midlake, Antiphon; Colin Stetson, New History of Warfare (vol. 2).