Top 100 Music Albums of 2013 by 
buzzdainer 
In 2013 I lived near the shore of Lake Chatuge, just on the North Carolina side of the Georgia/North Carolina state line. I taught at a small United Methodist college nearby, and spent a lot of my time exploring the mountains and rivers of the Southern Appalachian mountains in which I lived. One of my favorite haunts was the Fires Creek area, a beautiful and infrequently visited wilderness where my dog and I almost always had the entire vast network of trails entirely to ourselves (and the bears and rattlesnakes). I often had the songs and albums mentioned on this list running through my head, and they conjure up great memories of those places I came to love very much. They also remind me of the girl I was seeing at the time. In many ways these albums reflect our shared tastes in music as much as they reflect my own individual palate. A passionate and earnest period in my life, a time of transition and growth, all qualities you could probably hear if you made a playlist out of this chart. But it wasn't all good: 2013 was also the year I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, an illness I've been lucky to survive (so far), as it made me so sick at one point that I literally couldn't lift myself out of bed, having to roll myself onto the floor and crawl to the bathroom. I am so grateful to modern medicine for providing me with the insulin I need to go on living. And I have a renewed appreciation for how fragile and precious life truly is.
- Chart updated: 05/29/2022 01:45
- (Created: 02/19/2016 19:33).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
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The Silver Gymnasium is a criminally underrated record, one that gets overshadowed when we talk about Okkervil River because they're recorded so many great albums in such a short time. I understand, though, that not all listeners will identify with it as much as I do. These are Will Sheff's stories of growing up in a small New England town, an experience that resonates for me, having grown up in the next state over. The stories are unsettling, with hints of violence and darkness always lurking just around the corner, as in these lyrics from "Down Down the Deep River": "We lie awake at night in a tent and I say / Tell me about your uncle and his friend / Because they seem like very bad men / Well we'll want to keep away from them." Haunting. This feels like a thematic step toward a Will Sheff solo album, although the sound of the band as a whole has never sounded more full.
[First added to this chart: 02/25/2016]
4
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This is the album that lifted Jason Isbell to the summit of Americana's songwriting mountain, the one that established him as the finest craftsman working today at his particular art. It's no coincidence that this was the first album he recorded after quitting drinking. While he wrote a number of terrific songs while still suffering from the ravages of alcoholism--he was a notoriously mean drunk, so much that his bandmates in Drive-By Truckers, no saints themselves, kicked him out of the band for his own good--the songs on this album have an emotional clarity, and raw honesty, that make them unlike anything he'd done previously. These are songs of heartache and addiction, but also profound redemption and gratitude. Isbell's singing has never been stronger, too, as evidenced by the powerful and fantastic opener, "Cover Me Up." I always get a lump in my throat when he sings, "In days when we raged / We flew off the page / Such damage was done / But I made it through / To somebody new / I was meant for someone."
[First added to this chart: 02/25/2016]
Year of Release:
2013
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,513
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A transcendently great breakup album--or at least, a deep exploration of relationship dysfunction--from Laura Marling. This album has it all: powerful vocal performances, sharp songwriting, sophisticated guitar playing, and thunderous drumming. I had the great fortune to see Laura Marling play at the Georgia Theater in Athens on her tour supporting this album, and although I thought I was initially disappointed that she didn't bring her band on the tour (it was a solo acoustic show), she more than commanded the stage, and the performance really emphasized her talents as a guitarist. The multi-song suite that opens the album is fascinating, with the relentlessly percussive "Master Hunter" as a highlight.
[First added to this chart: 02/25/2016]
Year of Release:
2013
Appears in:
Rank Score:
767
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Of all Matthew Houck's indie folk releases under the Phosphorescent moniker, Muchacho is by far the most consistent, and the one on which his vocals are an asset rather than an early Will Oldham-esque distraction. "Song for Zula" is the album's high point, and it is genuinely lovely and affecting, one of the most heartbreaking songs of the new millenium. When Houck sings, "I will not open myself up this way again," I sense the pain underlying his words; I believe him. As Jayson Greene wrote for Pitchfork, "It’s a simple sentiment, pitched somewhere south of Zen koan and just north of heartland-rock cliche, and it maps out the coordinates of Houck’s world: It’s a place where well-worn sounds are the most beloved, where ideas and poses are settled into like old chairs. On Muchacho, Houck invests this world with new beauty and profundity."
[First added to this chart: 02/25/2016]
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[First added to this chart: 07/14/2021]
Year of Release:
2013
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,152
Rank in 2013:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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Holly Williams comes from one of the great musical families, as she's the granddaughter of country legend Hank Williams. Her family pedigree shines through on this album, as both her vocals and songwriting have the sound of an assured veteran with total command over her craft. The album as a whole is a consistent collection of blues-inflected country songs, but I think my favorite is "'Til It Runs Dry," a song about wholehearted living: "Hang my heart up on that line / Let it beat 'til it runs dry." If it's true that cynicism and depression are closely linked, as I read in a very compelling blog post concerning the death of Chris Cornell yesterday, then "'Til It Runs Dry" may be the perfect antidote. Long may we both live, Holly Williams.
[First added to this chart: 02/25/2016]
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Trouble Will Find Me is a solid and reliable album by The National, not quite as outstanding as Boxer or Alligator, but still one of the best albums of 2013. This album finds Matt Berninger and company settling into a songwriting groove that feels like it could be sustainable for many years to come, as it combines just the right elements of familiarity and inventiveness to continue to be a successful formula in the "indie" zone somewhere between rock and folk. The song on this album that lifts it beyond "merely good" to "really good" is "I Need My Girl," with its lyrics consistent with the existential dread implied in the album's title: "Remember when you lost your shit and / Drove the car into the garden? / And you got out and said I’m sorry / To the vines and no one saw it / I need my girl." Hearing these lines, I can't help thinking about the way we accept the people we love for who they are, even if they incline sometimes toward recklessness--because, well, how can you not love the sort of person who'd apologize to a plant? I know that feeling all too well.
[First added to this chart: 03/30/2016]
Year of Release:
2013
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,044
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The Beast in Its Tracks--an album inspired by, and whose energy is animated by, a painful divorce that he went through--is Josh Ritter's Blood on the Tracks,. Although there are definitely moments of bitterness and anger here, what is most admirable about this album is how hopeful and forgiving it is. This is best heard on the tender and absolutely lovely "Joy to You Baby," with its lyrics that I very much hope are true, for both Josh's sake and my own: "There's pain in whatever / We stumble upon / If I never had met you / You couldn't have gone / But then I couldn't have met you / We couldn't have been / I guess it all adds up / To joy to the end."
[First added to this chart: 02/25/2016]
9. (8) 
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There's always been a physicality about Arcade Fire's sound--this is, after all, a band whose members used to find it necessary to wear football and motorcycle helmets on stage to be drummed upon--but the rhythm section has never popped on one of their albums the way it does here. That emphasis has producer James Murphy's stamp all over it. Win Butler says the band learned an important lesson early in the recording sessions: "If you can get James tapping his foot, you know you're on the right track." That approach really works on this album, as I find it Arcade Fire's most club-ready record yet (I say this as someone who never goes to clubs, but I might if they played songs like those on Reflektor). The title track offers the most intense moment here, when Butler and David Bowie launch into a gorgeous vocal hall of mirrors: "It’s just a reflection of a reflection / Of a reflection of a reflection of a reflection, ah!" Ah, indeed.
[First added to this chart: 02/25/2016]
Year of Release:
2013
Appears in:
Rank Score:
7,724
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Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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I had the good fortune of seeing Joseph Arthur at eTown Hall in Boulder soon after the release of The Ballad of Boogie Christ. eTown co-host Nick Forster remarked at one point that the eponymous protagonist of this concept album could easily be a resident of Redemption City, a fictional metropolis that was the title of Arthur's previous album. This album never got that much attention either from listeners or critics (which I guess you could also say about Arthur's career as a whole), but I rate it among his stream-of-consciousness best, as in these lines from "I Miss the Zoo": "I miss exposing my bones and the need that rewinds / Even my burning home, even my gutted inner child / Even my dead grandfather beneath the ground that's wild / Even my criminal family, even my weedwhacker thoughts / Whipping a thin plastic string to cut the ears of others as I sing / I miss van Gogh's revenge, I miss his nightly binge / I miss spiders surrounding my bed and lifting me as if an effigy / Or a Dead King or a prophet of doom / A Jesus for the apocalypse wearing dirt like perfume." Yep, that's a day in the life for a character with a name like Boogie Christ.
[First added to this chart: 02/25/2016]
Total albums: 100. Page 1 of 10
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Top 100 Music Albums of 2013 composition
| Artist | Albums | % | |
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| Elephant Revival | 1 | 1% | |
| DJ Rashad | 1 | 1% | |
| Maybird | 1 | 1% | |
| Bill Callahan | 1 | 1% | |
| The Tillers | 1 | 1% | |
| Emily Mure | 1 | 1% | |
| James Blake | 1 | 1% | |
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| Country | Albums | % | |
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78 | 78% | |
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8 | 8% | |
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4 | 4% | |
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4 | 4% | |
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1 | 1% | |
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1 | 1% | |
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Top 100 Music Albums of 2013 chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
 Up 21 from 28th to 7thTrouble Will Find Me by The National |
| Biggest fallers |
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| Down 1 from 7th to 8th The Beast In Its Tracks by Josh Ritter |
| Down 1 from 8th to 9th Reflektor by Arcade Fire |
| Down 1 from 9th to 10th The Ballad Of Boogie Christ by Joseph Arthur |
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buzzdainer (2024)Top 100 Music Albums of 2013 ratings
89/100 (from 5 votes)
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
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N.B. The average rating for this chart will not be reliable as it has been rated very few times.
Showing all 5 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 75/100  | 04/13/2022 01:49 | Moondance | | 85/100 |
| 100/100 | 03/28/2020 23:13 | DJENNY | | 100/100 |
| 100/100 | 03/19/2019 23:32 |  mickilennial | | 77/100 |
| 100/100 | 03/16/2018 07:03 |  desh79 | | 93/100 |
| 100/100 | 03/03/2018 23:32 |  Graeme2 | | 94/100 |
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Top 100 Music Albums of 2013 comments
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From buzzdainer 03/16/2018 16:44
buzzdainer 03/16/2018 16:44
Thanks for that kind comment, desh79! If you haven't heard Jason Isbell yet, and you like Americana music, you're in for a huge treat. I consider him one of the best living songwriters in any genre. I like Holly Williams a lot, too--there are some really good songs on The Highway, an album definitely worthy of her family name.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From desh79 03/16/2018 07:05
desh79 03/16/2018 07:05
Another great list! Jason Isbell and Holly Williams are two artists I definitely need to look up. Once I've updated my end-of-year-lists to reach 100 (I will soon start on my 2014 list) I will try and have as many detailed comments and descriptions as yours, though I can already see that is quite a challenge. :) Thanks for your comments and also sharing some interesting biographical bits, for giving some context.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From buzzdainer 03/10/2018 20:57
buzzdainer 03/10/2018 20:57
Thanks, Graeme2! The Silver Gymnasium and Once I Was an Eagle are my favorites by Okkervil River and Laura Marling, respectively. I love The Silver Gymnasium for its nostalgic appeals and creative storytelling, and Once I Was an Eagle is a fantastically bitter breakup album with amazing musicianship. The multi-song suite that opens the album is the strongest collection of songs in her career, in my opinion.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From Graeme2 03/03/2018 23:39
Graeme2 03/03/2018 23:39
I enjoyed reading the comments. I shall check out that okkervil album. Living near the southern Appalachians sounds swell. Think I've heard every marking record apart from that, need to hear it. Good stuff.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From buzzdainer 11/26/2017 21:41
buzzdainer 11/26/2017 21:41
For some reason a lot of people didn't like The Silver Gymnasium, including some pretty diehard Okkervil River fans. I will agree that it's different from a lot of their previous stuff, in part because of some major lineup changes in the band. I think it's some of Will Sheff's most personal work, and I like the cleanness of the production compared to, say, Black Sheep Boy (which I also love, though some of it sounds like it was recorded at the bottom of a well). I'd start with "Down the Deep River," which I think is a great song. If you like that one, you might like the rest of the album.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From lanis 11/26/2017 07:42
Thanks for the nice comments you made on my chart - I also enjoyed reading the comments youve got against your albums here, great job! I think I need to give this Okkervil River more attention
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From buzzdainer 06/09/2017 15:11
buzzdainer 06/09/2017 15:11
Thanks for the comment and rating, Exist-en-ciel! I think it would be quite rare for me to come across someone here on BEA who shares my musical tastes perfectly. But we do share a common appreciation for a lot of stuff, and I'm especially pleased to see Jason Isbell's Southeastern on your chart. It really is a brilliant album, so full of passion and insight. He tells stories in an incredibly clear and authentic way--lately I've really been appreciating "Elephant," although that one is usually bound to make me cry. Maybe that's what I'm looking for these days.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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