Album of the Year lists can often get a bit overheated and all too serious, and we don’t want to get interrupted. So rather than going to all of the trouble of making up rankings, we’ve picked our favourite 30 albums of the year and decided to share them with you!
In Part 1, we look at the 15 albums which, for one reason or another, have been pleasantly surprising to hear in 2013.
Arcade Fire - Reflektor
It’s certainly not The Suburbs and it’s a million miles away from Funeral, but there’s a lot to be said for the Arcade Fire’s fourth studio release. Mostly that it’s absolutely mad, that it’s about as disco as the Canadian band are ever going to get and that it’s a bit like Bruce Springsteen singing Dark Side of the Moon to you, backwards. But all in all it’s a million times more original than most things we’ve heard this year, and that’s why we love them.
Yo La Tengo – Fade
Despite this being the band’s thirteenth studio album in the past two decades, they still manage to sound fresh. The perfect cure for a miserable January came out of nowhere, but it stayed with us all year..
Poliça – Shulamith
Try and make Karen O a bit artier, darker and dirtier, slap the bassline from Chic’s ‘Good Times’ into the middle of ‘Art Star’ and you will get somewhere close to approximating the sound of Poliça. Extra-dreamy vocals are always a winner, catch them on tour in 2014.
Chvrches - The Bones of What You Believe
Despite the potential of a hugely hyped flop, this highly anticipated debut album was a huge success in demonstrating the band’s versatility and consistency. Hopefully more to come next year.
Nadine Shah - Love Your Dum and Mad
A beautifully haunting, tender album which touched deep topic with soft words. If you haven’t heard it yet, make sure you do. Just maybe make sure you’re in a comfortable emotional place first.
Vondelpark - Seabed
The trio’s debut album was stunning blend of synth, dream and indie pop with influences from British Sea Power and MGMT. Another band to watch out for in the future.
Ghostpoet - Some Say I So I Say Light
Missing out on a second Mercury nomination might have been a disappointment, but we think Ghostpoet’s second album is actually better than his first. His performance at Beacons Festival this year was when of the best we’ve seen and it feels fair to say that he is quickly becoming the voice of a generation.
Foals - Holy Fire
The third from the indie rock band that didn’t disappoint. Heavier, gutsier, and more masculine. You never would have thought the band that released ‘Mathletics’ would, a few years later, have written the BBC’s soundtrack to the Six Nations. Best accompanied by an electric live performance.
AlunaGeorge - Body Music
By far the sexiest, grooviest album of the year, I’m just surprised that AlunaGeorge get away with SO much. The awful band name, the strange knock-kneed dancing on stage, the layers and layers of indulgent synth and sickly sweet vocals. They’re just lucky it sounds so damn good.
Anna Calvi - One Breath
You could be forgiven for assuming that Calvi had vanished into obscurity after her self-titled debut in 2011, but this year she came back stronger than ever. Half way between Graham Coxon and Laura Marling; perfect for people who like their tender moments heavy and the fast parts complex.
Sigur Rós - Kveikur
How relaxing can one album be? Too relaxing perhaps, but Kveikur doesn’t quite get that far by keeping you gripped throughout. Effortlessly chilled Icelandic sounds which paint a dense, complex, absorbing soundscape.
Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City
With the tempo dropped just a little, Koenig has time to breathe and deliver one of the most thematically clear albums of the year. Another album which diverges from previous efforts but which is no lesser for it.
Kanye West - Yeezus
There’s very little about Yeezus that isn’t shocking, apart from the fact that Kanye managed to take a few hours out of his full-time job as a media persona to record it. Needs to be heard to be believed.
Eleanor Friedberger - Personal Record
If you’ve ever heard some of her later work with The Fiery Furnaces then it will be truly astonishing and news to your ears that Friedberger has, with Personal Record, reined in her eccentricity (only a little) and matched it with her songwriting talent in an equilibrium which makes an engaging and enjoyable record from start to finish.
Lorde - Pure Heroine
The ubiquity of ‘Royals’, among other things, could mark Lorde out as the next major popstar. Yet what is so enjoyable about her music, and particularly Samsung’s decision to use ‘Royals’ on their own advert, then it is deeper than commercial success or superficiality. Enjoy in one of your angsty moods or just before hitting the town.