If you know anything about me at all, you know I’m obsessed with comparing and contrasting different years based on their music. How does one year compare with the next? How does my top 10 records from one year compare to the top 10 of another year? I’m also often deeply immersed in nostalgic feelings during the comparison process, as most of the records I organize by year bring me right back to the environment when I was listening to them heavily. This feeling is not unique to me in any way, but I seem to have a very intense memory when it comes to these things. Probably because I’m so motivated to listen to things from the current year, so I often don’t go back to things from the past unless I’m either looking for a nostalgia trip or something really sticks with me.
I wanted to start a series of revisiting years to see how they’ve aged, just in case I’ve found some new, rich flavors that I didn’t pick up on at the time, or found some rotten eggs, stinking up the catalog of that year. I’m starting off with 2013, because over the past few years it’s taken on an interesting legacy in my mind and I’d like to expand on it more.
At the time, 2013 was like heaven on Earth for a music fan like myself. New albums from legendary artists like Boards Of Canada, The Knife, Daft Punk, My Bloody Valentine, Arcade Fire, The Flaming Lips, Kanye West, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Deerhunter, The National and Yo La Tengo? You gotta be kidding me. I was in bliss, feverishly soaking up all these albums the best I could and deeming all of them instant classics. After waiting so long for follow-up albums from these bands, I was certain that they were flawless and that 2013 was the best year in music that I’ll see in a long time. I was even tweeting that hyperbole in March, before most of the really good stuff came out.
There were plenty of new favorites for me this year as well, the main leader of the pack being Arca and everything he touched along with it. His mixtape &&&&& is one of my most-listened to records of all time and his production on is the reason FKA Twigs’ EP2 isn’t far behind that. Other than that, I discovered Kelela, Fear Of Men, Grave Babies, Postiljonen, Ovlov, Speedy Ortiz, Infinity Shred, and a few others. Pretty good finds that have offered me a bit of dividends later on, but I feel like didn’t make as much of a mark as other years’ new artists.
Below you’ll find my Top 50 records from 2013 as I ranked them that year.
Warm Visions 