Kane White's Favorite Albums of 2013, YEAH!

Wow! 2013 was a great year to be a person! It was also a great year to be someone that likes music, and it just so happens that I like music. I also really like lists, so I have one here. Below are my favorite albums from 2013, or "the year that mankind was almost apocalypsed." Keep in mind that these are all albums that were released in 2013. I didn't include anything from other years, and they're in no particular order. Okay, let's do this...

Melt-Banana - Fetch

This album is crazy and intense. The lyrics are all but unrecognizable, and that guitar sound is ridiculous, but it all comes together in the best possible way (or the worst, depending on who you ask). Thanks to The Needle Drop for introducing me to Melt-Banana.

Queens of the Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork

Josh Homme brings rock to us lowly mortals once again on ...Like Clockwork, this time with less stoner rock and more sauntering-guitar-monster-tracks and piano ballads. This one is a really fun listen.

Youth Lagoon - Wondrous Bughouse

YL's 2011 release, The Year of Hibernation, was a pretty exciting collection of self-produced indie anthems. Wondrous Bughouse, released earlier this year, took that same sound, layered it a little thicker, and made a really coherent and interesting record. The album art is actually pretty fitting for the listening experience.

Black Milk - No Poison No Paradise

This is probably my favorite hip-hop album of this year, Run the Jewels getting runner up. The production on this album is amazing, and "Sunday's Best" and "Monday's Worst" are must-listens. Seriously, go right now and listen to them on Youtube. Actually, here:

It's not lyrically life-altering, but No Poison is a super refreshing hip-hop album with some seriously genius beats. 

Speedy Ortiz - Major Arcana

This one's a pretty straightforward indie rock album, but the use of jagged guitar and vocal melodies is pretty exciting throughout Major Arcana. It's got a lot of catchy songs and some really interesting lyrics, and a few spots here and there rock pretty hard thanks to some great drumming.

Swearin' - Surfing Strange

Sometimes I get the feeling that I'm the only person on the internet that enjoys Swearin' over their sister band, Waxahatchee. They're more or less making the same brand of lo-fi indie rock, but the garage band attitude that Swearin' puts forth on Surfing Strange is undeniably satisfying for fans of toned back production.

Baths - Obsidian

What a strange, twisted, catchy, album this is. Baths uses some pretty disturbing imagery on Obsidian, an album mostly dealing with death and sickness, but musically, it's the same Baths writing some good electronic hooks.

Deafheaven - Sunbather

I don't really listen to black metal, so I debated whether I should mention this album. But I do really love Sunbather, and that's probably all that matters. Maybe I jumped aboard the hype train (again) with this band, but any record that transcends genres like this one is worth a listen. The songs are epic in the truest sense of the word -- Massive, sprawling, powerful -- but they're also well composed, and little rays of light shine through brutal guitars and growls periodically on Sunbather. 

Los Campesinos! - No Blues

Definitely not my favorite Los Campesinos! album, but No Blues still stays true to the most lovable aspects of LC! Gareth Campesinos lyrics are as witty as ever, and I'll still listen through and chuckle at lines that I didn't hear or understand before. If you do listen to this album, don't try to fight the silliness of "Avocado, Baby." That final refrain is pretty cheesy, but it's undeniably catchy and you might end up singing it to yourself all day if you're anything like me.

Streetlight Manifesto - The Hands That Thieve

Hooray for ska! Streetlight sounds like they've matured a lot on their newest record in just about every way. But who am I to judge maturity? I still listen to ska.

Savages - Silence Yourself

This album rocks hard, plain and simple.

Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City

This album grew on me a lot, and I even liked it when it first came out. I just wish "Young Lion" was twice as long, because every time I hear it, it stays in my head for hours. I won't disagree with anyone that says this was the best release of 2013, because it really is a beautiful album from beginning to end. That said, I'd rather promote Modern Vampires for what I think it really is: the most relevant record of the year. You'll be hard pressed to find a band that's more representative of what popular music is today and where it'll hopefully be going in the future.

So, that's my year in review in blog post format. Tell me what you think. Hopefully you got a little something from this and if you have your own personal feelings about 2013, feel free to share them! Until next time, friends.

- Kane