The Best Music of 2013
January 15, 2014 1 Comment
Every year, ROTI breaks down a definitive (read: subjective and hopelessly flawed) analysis of the best music of the year. We recently wrapped up our 2013 edition. This is a single-page encapsulation of that herculean effort!
For full articles, click the links below — or read on for the results.
- Introduction & Honorable Mentions
- The Twenty Best Pop and Hip-Hop Singles
- Albums #50-#31
- Albums #30-#21
- Albums #20-#11
- Albums #10-#1
The Spotify Playlist
For those who prefer to let their ears decide, ROTI has assembled 200+ tracks from the wonderful musicians touted below (minus a few unstreamable mixtapes and independent releases) in a single, glorious Spotify playlist…
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Honorable Mentions
50 outstanding albums that just missed the ROTI countdown, ranked in alphabetical order.
The full article with commentary is here.
- Ashley Monroe, Like a Rose
- Atlas Genius, When It Was Now
- Au Revoir Simone, Move in Spectrums
- Bastille, Bad Blood
- Bill Callahan, Dream River
- The Blank Tapes, Vacation
- Boards of Canada, Tomorrow’s Harvest
- Boogarins, As Plantas Que Curam
- Brendan Benson, You Were Right
- Brothertiger, Future Splendors
- Charli XCX, True Romance
- Cloud Cult, Love
- Cults, Static
- David Bowie, The Next Day
- Dawn of Midi, Dysnomia
- Deer Tick, Negativity
- Ducktails, The Flower Path
- Endless Boogie, Long Island
- Fear of Men, Early Fragments
- The Flaming Lips, The Terror
- Ghostface Killah, Twelve Reasons to Die
- Guards, In Guards We Trust
- Jenny O., Automechanic
- Junip, Junip
- The Knife, Shaking the Habitual
- Local Natives, Hummingbird
- The Lone Bellow, The Lone Bellow
- Lorde, Pure Heroine
- Los Campesinos!, No Blues
- Lucius, Wildewoman
- Majical Cloudz, Impersonator
- MIA, Matangi
- Mutual Benefit, Love’s Crushing Diamond
- The National, Trouble Will Find Me
- Neko Case, The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You
- Nine Inch Nails, Hesitation Marks
- The Octopus Project, Fever Forms
- Palms, Palms
- Pissed Jeans, Honeys
- Portugal. The Man, Evil Friends
- Queens of the Stone Age, …Like Clockwork
- Rhye, Woman
- Smith Westerns, Soft Will
- St. Lucia, When The Night
- Ty Segall, Sleeper
- Unknown Mortal Orchestra, II
- Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires of the City
- Widowspeak, Almanac
- Yo La Tengo, Fade
- Young Man, Beyond Was All Around Me
The 20 Best Pop & Hip-Hop Singles
Because popular music makes life more enjoyable. Listed in no special order.
The full article with commentary is here.
- Drake, “Started From the Bottom”
- Lorde, “Royals”
- Big Sean f. Kendrick Lamar & Jay Electronica, “Control”
- Beyonce f. Jay-Z, “Drunk In Love”
- Icona Pop f. Charli XCX, “I Love It”
- Capital Cities, “Safe and Sound”
- Kanye West, “Black Skinhead”
- Janelle Monae, “Dance Apocalyptic”
- Daft Punk f. Pharrell, “Get Lucky”
- 2 Chainz f. Pharrell, “Feds Watching”
- Robin Thicke f. Pharrell & T.I., “Blurred Lines”
- Miley Cyrus, “We Can’t Stop”
- Justin Timberlake, “Mirrors”
- Dre Skull f. Megan James & Popcaan, “First Time”
- Selena Gomez, “Come and Get It”
- Pitbull f. Ke$ha, “Timber”
- A$AP Rocky f. Drake, 2 Chainz & Kendrick Lamar, “Fuckin’ Problems”
- HAIM, “The Wire”
- OneRepublic, “Counting Stars”
- Drake f. Majid Jordan, “Hold On We’re Going Home”
Albums #50-#30
20 fantastic record albums. The full article with commentary is here.
#50. King Krule, 6 Feet Beneath the Moon
#49. Hockey, WYETH IS
#48. Various Artists, Saint Heron
#47. Pity Sex, Feast Of Love
#46. Wavves, Afraid of Heights
#45. True Widow, Circumnambulation
#44. The Besnard Lakes, Until in Excess, Imperceptible UFO
#43. Run the Jewels, Run The Jewels
#42. Disclosure, Settle
#41. Kavinsky, OutRun
#40. Bad Bad Hats, It Hurts
#39. Waxahatchee, Cerulean Salt
#38. Blood Orange, Cupid Deluxe
#37. Laura Mvula, Sing to the Moon
#36. Arctic Monkeys, AM
#35. Earl Sweatshirt, Doris
#34. Laura Marling, Once I Was An Eagle
#33. PAPA, Tender Madness
#32. Colleen Green, Sock It To Me
#31. Arcade Fire, Reflektor
Albums #30-#21
Really digging into some ROTI faves now. Full article with commentary here.
#30. Crystal Fighters, Cave Rave
#29. Pusha T, My Name is My Name
#28. Typhoon, White Lighter
#27. Beisbol, Lo-Fi Cocaine
#26. Caveman, Caveman
#25. Bent Shapes, Feels Weird
#24. Tegan & Sara, Heartthrob
#23. A$AP Rocky, LONG.LIVE.A$AP
#22. Haim, Days Are Gone
#21. CHVRCHES, The Bones of What You Believe
Albums #20-#11
Everything under the sun. Full article with commentary here.
#20. Deafheaven, Sunbather
#19. Drake, Nothing Was The Same
#18. Youth Lagoon, Wondrous Bughouse
#17. Chance the Rapper, Acid Rap
#16. Foxygen, We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic
#15. My Bloody Valentine, mbv
#14. Parquet Courts, Light Up Gold
#13. Fuck Buttons, Slow Focus
#12. Grouplove, Spreading Rumours
#11. Sky Ferreira, Night Time, My Time
Albums #10-#1
The dramatic conclusion. Full article with commentary here.
#10. Speedy Ortiz, Major Arcana
#9. Savages, Silence Yourself
#8. Danny Brown, Old
#7. Bombino, Nomad
#6. James Blake, Overgrown
#5. Kurt Vile, Waking on a Pretty Daze
#4. Janelle Monae, The Electric Lady
#3. Daft Punk, Random Access Memories
#2. Kanye West, Yeezus
#1. Beyoncé, Beyoncé
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The Best Music of 2012
The Best Music of 2011
The Best Music of 2010
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