2013 was a pretty normal year. We reviewed around ninety albums, distilling the following 31 list.
What wasn’t normal was the passing of Lou Reed. I was a latecomer to Reed’s brilliance, later learning how deep his influence truly was. Today I wonder what it would have been like to visit Warhol’s Factory and watched the Velvet Underground. Or to have been at the table when Reed, Bowie, and Iggy Pop would hold court. Even a simple coffee with he and wife Laurie Anderson would have been unbelievably amazing. Not that any of that would have happened, and I’m grateful for his music from which I have been given so much.
NEWCOMERS
Alt-J, Arctic Monkeys, Capital Cities, Daft Punk, Émilie Simon, Faded Paper Figures, Fitz & The Tantrums, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, The London Suede
SECOND-TIMERS
Aimee Mann, Arcade Fire, Bat for Lashes, Depeche Mode, Empire of the Sun, London Grammar, Mayer Hawthorne
RETURNING FAVORITES
Franz Ferdinand, Iron & Wine, Oh Land, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Foals, Hot Chip, New Order, Neko Case, Richard Thompson, Bloc Party, Everything Everything, Editors, Goldfrapp, Nerina Pallot
2013 Playlist
Track by track, with artist
- Cough Cough
EVERYTHING EVERYTHING - Ratchet
BLOC PARTV - Tessellate
ALT-J - Franky’s Princess
EMILIE SIMON - The Next Day
DAVID BOWIE - Inhaler
FOALS - Renaissance Girls
OH LAND - R U Mine?
ARCTIC MONKEYS - Stick Out Your Tonque
ELVIS COSTELLO & THE ROOTS - Not Over You
NERINA PALLOT - Laura
BAT FOR LASHES - Clay
GOLDFRAPP - Wasting My Young Years
LONDON GRAMMAR - Same Love
MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS - Get Lucky
DAFT PUNK - Safe and Sound
CAPITAL CITIES
- Ends of the Earth
HOT CHIP - Snowblind
THE LONDON SUEDE - Love Illumination
FRANZ FERDINAND - Concert Pitch
EMPIRE OF THE SUN - I’ll Stay With You
NEW ORDER - Sugar
EDITORS - Should Be Higher
DEPECHE MODE - Metroland
OMD - Avida Dollars
FADED PAPER FIGURES - Normal Person
ARCADE FIRE - bod Things Happen To Bad People
RICHARD THOMPSON - Man
NEKO CASE - Labrador
AIMEE MANN - New Mexico’s No Breeze
IRON & WINE - The Walker
FITZ & THE TANTRUMS - Where Does This Door Go
MAYER HAWTHORNE
IN MEMORIUM
Lou Reed, Satellite Of Love
