Rebecca Docter’s ‘Best of 2013’ In Music

December 13th, 2013

Rebecca Docter

2013 delivered a sea of great albums, but five stood out above the rest. Check out what albums made my cut!

5. Moving Mountains – Moving Mountains

Very seldom do I find an album that I can listen to all the way through without skipping or shuffling tracks, so when I listed to Moving Mountains’ self-titled, I was surprised to find that this was one such album. I came into the Moving Mountains game blind after seeing recommendation after recommendation on many of my usual news outlets, so I gave the band a try with the new release. The album flows in movements, which I’m always particularly drawn to, and it functions more as a complete “story” than simply a collection of songs. This, paired with the lyrical quality (“Eastern Leaves” and “Chords” have stolen my heart on multiple occasions), creates a phenomenal record.

4. Melophobia – Cage The Elephant

I’ve always found Matt Schultz’s voice somewhere between Kurt Cobain and Conor Oberst’s; he could honestly sing the newspaper and I’d have it on repeat for days. That mixed with the band’s newly polished vibe give Melophobia a sound unlike anything the band has ever done.

3. Trouble Will Find Me – The National

I always called myself a “sort of” fan of The National. I would see someone in a coffee shop on campus wearing one of the band’s tees and think “I sort of like that band.” I would turn on High Violet as study music during midterms and think “I sort of like this album.” Then one day, in preparation for the band’s appearance at Bonnaroo, I hit play on Trouble Will Find Me, sat back, and listened. I never called myself a “sort of” fan again.

2. Bubblegum – Kevin Devine

Everything Kevin Devine has ever done was a buildup to this album. With a clear influence from producer Jesse Lacey (some tracks sound like they were recorded in the same sessions as The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me), Devine pushed his boundaries with an album so packed with influences that I had to listen to it a full three times before I really registered what I was hearing; Bubblegum is so wonderfully poetic and political without necessarily trying to be. Devine creates an effortless sound that is sure to be flowing through my speakers well into the future.

1. AM – Arctic Monkeys

To put it simply, this aptly titled record showed me what Arctic Monkeys were capable of. The band has come a long way since Whatever People Say I am, That’s What I’m Not, and this album demonstrates that fact in both sound and lyrics. Creating a sultry R&B vibe throughout its entirety,AM is one of those new releases that is destined to be slated as a classic.