10. The Knife, Shaking the Habitual
The album starts out with steel drum and rhythmic chants, spaced out beats and back curling vocals. Then you're hooked. No? This is an electronic manifestation of both emotion and philosophy.
9. Paul McCartney, New
It's Sir Paul f!@#$%^ McCartney! What else is there to say?
8. The Avett Brothers, Magpie and Dandelion
What's wrong with a few leftovers? Recorded (mostly) at the same time as The Carpenter, Magpie was originally slated for B-sides to singles. Ballads are heavy and the questions of a life lived are evident is these fully finished cuts. Hurts so bad.
7. Arctic Monkeys, AM
These cryptic bad boys are obsessed with some crazy chick. And you (and the reverb) are in for their ride. Dripping of Libertines and self-awareness, this fifth studio album is freaking haunted, man.
6. Bryce Dessner & the Kronos Quartet, Ahyem
A cross-genre, compositional phoneme, The National's other darling Dessner scored this year's Big Sur film before composing this dense cut of quartet awesomeness.
5. The National, Trouble Will Find Me
"Fireproof," "Should I Live in Salt," "I Need My Girl"--these are power tracks from the Brooklyn brothers that cry adulthood, compassion and a heart of darkness, accompanied by celestial instrumentals and Matt Berninger's sharpest writing yet.
4. Atoms for Peace, Amok
Superband Atoms for Peace--Thom Yorke, Flea, Nigel Godrich (producer for Radiohead), Joey Waronker (Beck, R.E.M), and Mauro Refosco (Forro in the Dark, David Byrne)--have come together to blow your mind into astrological synth pieces. Eat it!
3. Daft Punk, Random Access Memories
Recorded over five years in New York, Paris and London, Random Access Memories was another album release hijink of 2013, along with Arcade Fire and Jay Z, to say the least. This album received a lot of bad criticism for not sounding like Daft Punk, but isn't that the point? To grow as an artist and expand your repertoire? The party is still there sonically, it's just down a few BPMs. Guests include everyone from Julian Casablancas to Pharrell Williams (whose own 24-hour music video for "Happy" boasts some 100 artists, including Panda Bear of Animal Collective and '70s staple Paul Williams).
2. Jim James, Regions of Light and Sound of God
No surprise this record was written and produced almost entirely by James, himself. Regions of Light is a fine example of what an already successful frontman can produce on his own. The bedroom instrumentals on the intro to "New Life" and "A.E.I.O.U. State Of The Art" nearly infected the audience at his performance at the Newport Folk Festival. To boot, there is a fantastic remix album featuring Thom Alt, SLKTR and Robot Toast.
1. Arcade Fire, Reflektor
Produced by James Murphy and influenced by Régine Chassagne's Hatian roots, the Grammy-winning Arcade Fire dive a lifetime deeper into suburban dystopia via Greek master musician Orpheus and his lover Eurydice, advanced by secret, themed shows before the album name was even released. (And the band sold out the Barclays Center 9 months in advance of their score for Her.) This is the new Arcade Fire. Merci, beaucoup.
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