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Back to 2013 (Re-Ranking the Best of Lists)

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Melody Bot, Jul 29, 2020.

  1. Melody Bot Jul 29, 2020
    Melody Bot

    Your friendly little forum bot. Staff Member

    This article has been imported from chorus.fm for discussion. All of the forum rules still apply.

    The early versions of these “back to” articles felt like I was looking at a distant past, a version of myself that was so far removed from who I am today, a version doing things I can only remember around the edges. More the shape of memory, less defined lines. This year we get to 2013, only a couple years from the end of this iteration of this project.1 I look at the staff’s 2013 best of list and the memories around these albums feel fresh in my mind. I remember the buzz around The National. I remember The Wonder Years destroying our web server with the most-streamed song premiere we ever did. To date, that song’s been streamed over a half a million times on Soundcloud. I remember the return of Fall Out Boy, the legal drama of A Day to Remember, the My Chemical Romance hiatus, and my utter obsession with this new band called The 1975.

    For me, 2013 is a year of contrasts. I’m living in the city for the first time, moving in, finding my footing, and discovering this entirely new world. And it is invigorating and inspiring in wholly new ways. And yet work is extremely stressful. From trying to juggle the madness of the bureaucrats and traffic goals and resource allocation, to the beginning of us starting to peel back the sexism at the root of our music scene; I was beginning to feel extremely overwhelmed. And yet I’m also starting a new relationship while both of us are exploring significant changes in our lives2, and we’re spending more time on FaceTime than should be legally allowed.

    This staff list, in particular, shows how tastes were starting to expand. We see albums from Kanye West, Drake, Justin Timberlake, alongside albums from The National, Arcade Fire, The World Is A Beautiful Place…, next to records from staples like Fall Out Boy, Paramore, and Jimmy Eat World. It’s the kind of collection of artists that I’ve only ever seen combined on AbsolutePunk and here on Chorus. Where Fall Out Boy, or Have Mercy, or The Wonder Years can be talked about and held with the reverence as the current critical darlings of the rest of the music world. It’s what I think makes us special.

    Looking back at my list now, I think what’s most striking is my placement of albums. I did an awful job of putting albums in an order that would hold up to how I listened to them over the next few years. Fall Out Boy’s too low. Paramore only made the honorable mentions. The National is too low. Those Justin Timberlake albums haven’t aged very well for me, too long, too overstuffed. I think I was just excited to get new music from him. But my top ten still holds up relatively well, needing only a few tweaks for it be a group of ten albums that stand against any other year.

    In hindsight, it’s impossible for me not to think of 2013 as the year of The 1975 and the return of Fall Out Boy. The first 1975 full-length was only the beginning of what would be an incredible run of music, massive popularity, and critical acclaim. And then there was everything surrounding the rumors, the speculation, and then Fall Out Boy returning with an album announcement, video, and tour dates all at once. A pitch-perfect return. As I’ve been spending the past week or so bringing back various historical memories from AbsolutePunk, these are the moments that are hard to recapture. I can bring back some reviews and interviews that were lost to time to help explain and tell the history of this music scene for future generations, but there’s much lost in the news articles from that era as well. And while I maintain that seeing much of that comment section forever buried in molten lava brings me peace, there’s a tiny part of me that would like to pull up the Fall Out Boy reunion news article or The 1975 review, and re-read through it. If only for a day to see who was right and who was dead wrong, on their predictions for those bands’ continued successes.3

    So, let’s re-rank the list. The same arbitrary rules I’ve been using the past eight weeks apply here.

    Best of 2013 (Re-Ranking)

    1. The 1975 – The 1975
    2. Fall Out Boy – Save Rock and Roll
    3. A Wilhelm Scream – Party Crasher
    4. Frightened Rabbit – Pedestrian Verse
    5. The National – Trouble Will Find Me
    6. Paramore – Paramore
    7. HAIM – Days Are Gone
    8. Deafheaven – Sunbather
    9. Jimmy Eat World – Damage
    10. Shad – Flying Colours
    11. Direct Hit – Brainless God
    12. Holy Ghost! – Dynamics
    13. Hellogoodbye – Everything is Debatable
    14. Janelle Monáe – The Electric Lady
    15. The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die – Whenever, If Ever
    16. Josh Ritter – The Beast in its Tracks
    17. Ólafur Arnalds – For Now I Am Winter
    18. John Mayer – Paradise Valley
    19. Andrew Belle – Black Bear
    20. Kanye West – Yeezus
    21. Justin Timberlake – The 20/20 Experience (Part 1)
    22. Cartel – Collider
    23. Better Off – (I Think) I’m Leaving
    24. The Wonder Years – The Greatest Generation
    25. Iron Chic – The Constant One
    26. Bad Religion – True North
    27. Balance and Composure – The Things We Think We’re Missing
    28. CHVRCHES – The Bones of What You Believe
    29. Daft Punk – Random Access Memories
    30. Dessa – Parts of Speech

    One thing I’ve learned from doing these re-rankings is that while I may be one of the most well known “Fall Out Boy fans” in existence, I also consistently underrate them in their release year. I have consistently put them lower in my lists than what ends up playing out in replayability over the following years. Maybe at some point, I’ll stop doing that.

    It’s impossible for me not to keep The 1975 at the top. While that album, in my opinion, continues to hold up quite well, it’s also the beginning of what can only be described as an era for the band on our website. It fit itself so perfectly into my life in 2013 and they have been the band that I’ve grown up with through my thirties. Teenage me had Blink-182, thirty-year-old Jason has The 1975. They’ve just become that band.

    A Wilhelm Scream albums have also aged like fine wine. I find them consistently re-playable and at the top of these re-ranking lists. I will always remember walking around the city in the fall with Pedestrian Verse on repeat, and it’s hauntingly difficult for me to make it through that record today. Paramore sees a boost up the list, Justin Timberlake falls. Direct Hit! and Bad Religion join the list for the first time and a bunch of the other moves feel almost cosmetic. The list needed some tweaking, but it’s not that much of a holistic change. That top ten sure is something to reckon with though; I could listen to all of those albums, back-to-back, and enjoy every minute of it.

    I think these next few weeks, as we move toward the final year of AbsolutePunk, 2015, are going to be an exciting walk down memory lane. These memories feel distant and yet clearer than ever before. It’s less talking about the pop-punk bands that ruled the world for a few years and remembering what happened to them and more looking at bands that still have a big place in our current musical world. The National were a big 2013 band, and Aaron Dessner just had a massive role on a Taylor Swift album. Many of these artists are not of our distant past, but of our lived present. The 1975 put out an album this year, that’ll feature highly on my end of the year list. It’s more of a glance backward in the rearview mirror at a road you just turned down. You can see where you came from even as it’s growing smaller behind you.

    There’s also this underlying feeling of anxiety. These are the years where I began to feel the weight of the stress over the state of our music scene. The constant fighting. The constant drama. We’re moving toward the years of Front Porch Step on Warped Tour. Of tour managers lying to cover up sexual assault and facing the minimum of repercussions. Of a normalized scene rot that we still haven’t figured out how to work through. And this walk forward gets us ever closer to the 2016 election, and the subsequent four years that have put a low buzz of rage in the base of my neck at all times. I look upon these next few years fondly in places, messy in others, but it almost feels too close, too real, to have any actual perspective shaped by time. And yet, it was seven years ago. It’s the year I turned thirty and started to feel like an adult instead of just playing the part of one. Just far away enough to feel like the past, not far away enough to feel like history.

    Please consider becoming a member so we can keep bringing you articles like this one.

    1. I have an idea of what I am going to do once we get to 2015.↩

    2. She was beginning her doctorate in Arizona.↩

    3. At least Twitter still exists for that. ↩

    more

    Not all embedded content is displayed here. You can view the original to see embedded videos, tweets, etc.
     
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  2. irthesteve Jul 29, 2020
    irthesteve

    formerly irthesteve Prestigious

    My 2013 list, pretty solid year. Beyonce would be higher now, but when I made this list I think the album was out for like... only a week, haha. I would have other re-rankings if I re-made the list today, but overall it's pretty good

    1. Kanye West - Yeezus
    2. Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience Pt. 1
    3. Portugal. The Man - Evil Friends
    4. Haim - Days Are Gone
    5. Paramore - Paramore
    6. Phoenix - Bankrupt!
    7. Major Lazer - Free The Universe
    8. Lissie - Back To Forever
    9. Charli XCX - True Romance
    10. Janelle Monáe - The Electric Lady
    11. Drake - Nothing Was The Same
    12. letlive. - The Blackest Beautiful
    13. Beyoncé - Beyoncé
    14. Volcano Choir - Repave
    15. Thao & The Get Down Stay Down - We The Common
    16. Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience Pt. 2
    17. Marnie Stern - The Chronicles of Marnia
    18. I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody's Business - Enola
    19. Big D & The Kids Table - Stomp
    20. Kevin Devine - Bubblegum
     
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  3. Craig Manning Jul 29, 2020
    Craig Manning

    @FurtherFromSky Moderator

    I really do not remember this year fondly, musically or otherwise, so it will be interesting to do the re-rank.
     
    Jason Tate likes this.
  4. irthesteve Jul 29, 2020
    irthesteve

    formerly irthesteve Prestigious

    @Jason Tate how in the world is Repave not on your list? Aren't you a big Bon Iver fan?
     
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  6. Jason Tate Jul 29, 2020
    Jason Tate

    newsletter is back Staff Member

    Never was into it. :shrug: Don't even have it in my collection. Should maybe listen again after all these years, but it never did anything for me.
     
  7. irthesteve Jul 29, 2020
    irthesteve

    formerly irthesteve Prestigious

    that's crazy to me, such a top tier Justin project. So lush and detailed. Give it another try!!
     
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  8. soggytime Jul 29, 2020
    soggytime

    Trusted

    2013 is actually one of the best years of my life, and the movies and music I was into reflected that. I had turned 21 at the end of 2012, therefore 2013 was a full on year to fully enjoy the fruits of being a 21 year old in college. I was very deep into the EDM craze at the time, every week trying to find the perfect sounds for my pregame playlists. What I do remember is that the one album that stuck out at the time, that reminded me of my old love for pop punk, was The Greatest Generation. It felt like it was a hint of what was to come after I left college, while still reminding me of how I got where I was.

    At the time - I was spinning new music from Kanye, Kid Cudi, Drake, Pretty Lights, GRiZ, Knife Party, Zomboy, Skrillex, Avicii, Childish Gambino, Chance the Rapper, Mac Miller, Dizzy Wright, A$AP Rocky, Justin Timberlake... and of course the return of DAFT PUNK.

    2013 (Re-ranked with 2020 eyes):

    1. The Wonder Years - The Greatest Generation
    2. Kanye West - Yeezus
    3. Deafheaven - Sunbather
    4. Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
    5. The Front Bottoms - Talon of the Hawk
    6. Pretty Lights - A Color Map of the Sun
    7. Streetlight Manifesto - The Hands that Thieve
    8. A Day to Remember - Common Courtesy
    9. My Bloody Valentine - mbv
    10. Drake - Nothing Was the Same
    11. Queens of the Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork
    12. Kid Cudi - Indicud
    13. Chance the Rapper - Acid Rap
    14. Paramore - Paramore
    15. Mac Miller - Watching Movies With the Sound Off
    16. Death Grips - Government Plates
    17. PUP - PUP
    18. Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City
    19. Childish Gambino - Because the Internet
    20. Moving Mountains - Moving Mountains
    21. Earl Sweatshirt - Doris
    22. A$AP Ferg - Trap Lord
    23. Portugal. The Man - Evil Friends
    24. The Story So Far - What You Don't See
    25. A$AP Rocky - LONG.LIVE.A$AP


    Btw - this year was NUTS for hip-hop.... I am missing a lot
     
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  9. phaynes12 Jul 29, 2020
    phaynes12

    https://expertfrowner.bandcamp.com/ Prestigious

    honorable mentions - atoms for peace - amok; david bowie - the next day; nine inch nails - hesitation marks; russian circles - memorial

    25. comadre - comadre
    24. the dillinger escape plan - one of us is the killer
    23. asap fern - trap lord
    22. laura marling - once i was an eagle
    21. the civil wars - the civil wars
    20. paramore - paramore
    19. haim - days are gone
    18. pusha t - my name is my name
    17. echo base - some legacy
    16. queens of the stone age - like clockwork
    15. asap rocky - long live asap
    14. dawes - stories don’t end
    13. run the jewels - run the jewels
    12. arctic monkeys - AM
    11. chvrches - the bones of what you believe
    10. frightened rabbit - pedestrian verse
    9. touché amore - is survived by
    8. danny brown - old
    7. jason isbell - southeastern
    6. true widow - circumambulation
    5. kurt vile - wakin on a pretty daze
    4. moving mountains - moving mountains
    3. deafheaven - sunbather
    2. the national - trouble will find me
    1. vampire weekend - modern vampires of the city
     
    Crisp X likes this.
  10. Elder Lightning Jul 29, 2020
    Elder Lightning

    With metal in my bones and punk in my heart Supporter

    This was a much better year for music than what I initially recalled. In no particular order:


    The Wonder Years - The Greatest Generation
    Moving Mountains - Moving Mountains
    Queens of the Stone Age - Like Clockwork
    Portugal the Man - Evil Friends
    Fall Out Boy - Save Rock and Roll
    PUP - PUP
    Kevin Devine - Bulldozer / Bubblegum
    CHVRCHES - The Bones of What You Believe
    Haim - Days Are Gone
    Childish Gambino - Because the Internet
    Tegan & Sara - Heartthrob
    The Bronx - IV
    My Bloody Valentine - m b v
    Alkaline Trio - My Shame Is True
    Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels
    Jimmy Eat World - Damage
    Deafheaven - Sunbather
    A Wilhelm Scream - Partycrasher
    Hellogoodbye - Everything Is Debatable
    The Appleseed Cast - Illumination Ritual
    The Flatliners - Dead Language
    Superchunk - I Hate Music
    Less Than Jake - See the Light
    Mansions - Doom Loop
    Lydia - Devil
    OWEL - OWEL
    Owen - L'Ami Du Peuple
    The Swellers - The Light Under Closed Doors
    Touche Amore - . . . Is Survived By
    Transit - Young New England
    Laura Stevenson - Wheel
    Captain, We're Sinking - The Future Is Canceled
    A Great Big Pile of Leaves - You're Always On My Mind
    Saves the Day - Saves the Day
    Power Trip - Manifest Decimation
    Neko Case - The Worse Things Get . . .
    O'Brother - Disillusion
    Sundowner - Neon Fiction
    Balance and Composure - The Things We Think We're Missing
    Annuals - Time Stamp
     
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  11. Anthony Brooks Jul 29, 2020
    (Last edited: Jul 29, 2020)
    Anthony Brooks

    brook183 Supporter

    Super strange year in my life. Graduating from undergrad, moving back in with my parents, starting med school. Definitely less music that sticks out as important to me now than 2012 had.

    Rerank:

    1. Kanye West - Yeezus
    2. Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels
    3. The National - Trouble Will Find Me
    4. Volcano Choir - Repave
    5. Moving Mountains- Moving Mountains
    6. Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City
    7. Lorde - Pure Heroine
    8. O’Brother - Disillusion
    9. The Wonder Years - The Greatest Generation
    10. Tanner Merritt - Doubt
    11. Chance the Rapper - Acid Rap
    12. Balance & Composure - The Things We Think We’re Missing
    13. Biffy Clyro - Opposites
    14. Drake - Nothing Was the Same
    15. Haim - Days Are Gone
    16. Deafheaven - Sunbather
     
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  12. trevorshmevor Jul 29, 2020
    (Last edited: Jul 29, 2020)
    trevorshmevor

    and use a pretty font Prestigious

    2013 is where I consider the current era of my life starting. In January I started working for the company that I’m still with today, in March my girlfriend and I moved in together, and all year long I listened to probably more music than I’d listened to since like 2007 — which resulted in the first year I made an EOTY list! Not gonna bother re-ranking, but excited to actually have a list for one of these posts for once haha

    1. Moving Mountains - Moving Mountains
    2. Balance & Composure - The Things We Think We’re Missing
    3. The 1975 - The 1975
    4. NK - Nothing To Be Gained Here
    5. August Burns Red - Rescue & Restore
    6. Paramore - Paramore
    7. Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience pt.1
    8. Daughter - If You Leave
    9. A Wilhelm Scream - Partycrasher
    10. I Can Make A Mess - Enola
    11. HRVRD - From The Bird’s Cage
    12. Chance The Rapper - Acid Rap
    13. Hands Like Houses - Unimagine
    14. The Swellers - The Light Under Closed Doors
    15. Local Natives - Hummingbird
    16. The Story So Far - What You Don’t See
    17. Citizen - Youth
    18. Laura Stevenson & The Cans - Wheel
    19. Daylight - Jar
    20. Houses - A Quiet Darkness
    21. The Reign of Kindo - Play With Fire
    22. City & Colour - The Hurry and The Harm
    23. Stray From The Path - Anonymous
    24. A Great Big Pile Of Leaves - You’re Always On My Mind
    25. Hellogoodbye - Everything Is Debatable

    Some notes:
     
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  13. artbynickferran Jul 29, 2020
    artbynickferran

    nickferran.com

    A lot of all-timers for me in 2013. This top 10 is about as good as it gets for me to this day. I saw my tastes expand a lot this year as well – lots more indie, electronic, post-rock, folk, pop, and hip-hop than in previous years.
    1. The National – Trouble Will Find Me
    2. The Dangerous Summer – Golden Record
    3. Frightened Rabbit – Pedestrian Verse
    4. The 1975 – S/T
    5. Local Natives – Hummingbird
    6. The Wonder Years – The Greatest Generation
    7. Mansions – Doom Loop
    8. Surrogate – Post Heroic (this album/band is so underrated)
    9. Have Mercy – The Earth Pushed Back
    10. Daughter – If You Leave
    11. Deafheaven – Sunbather
    12. Listener – Time is a Machine (this band's later material never got enough love)
    13. Silverstein – This Is How the Wind Shifts (still their best album imo)
    14. Baths – Obsidian
    15. The Front Bottoms – Talon of the Hawk
    16. TWIABP – Whenever, If Ever
    17. I Can Make A Mess – Enola
    18. Tegan & Sara – Heartthrob
    19. Jason Isbell – Southeastern
    20. Fall Out Boy – Save Rock & Roll
    21. Jimmy Eat World – Damage
    22. John Mayer – Paradise Valley
    23. Koji – Crooked In My Mind (still waiting on a proper follow up to this)
    24. OWTH – Home
    25. BMTH – Sempiternal
     
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  15. Ryan G Jul 29, 2020
    Ryan G

    Moderator Moderator

    I can send you The 1975 review I did for AP.net in ‘13 if you want to repub it!
     
  16. Jason Tate Jul 29, 2020
    Jason Tate

    newsletter is back Staff Member

    I think I have that one. I’ll double check and reach out if I don’t! Thanks.
     
    Ryan G likes this.
  17. Ryan G Jul 29, 2020
    Ryan G

    Moderator Moderator

    I almost just typed “I can’t believe this was 5 years ago” and then I thought about it and was like ... 7. Time is weird.
     
    trevorshmevor, Jason Tate, Orla and 1 other person like this.
  18. Orla Jul 29, 2020
    (Last edited: Jul 29, 2020)
    Orla

    little old lady Prestigious

    15. AW – Say What You Mean
    14. Balance & Composure – TTWTWM
    13. Touché Amoré – Is Survived By
    12. Panic! at the Disco – Too Weird To Live...
    11. Tegan & Sara – Heartthrob
    10. Dessa – Parts of Speech
    9. Superheaven – Jar
    8. Glasser – Interiors
    7. Laura Veirs – Warp and Weft
    6. Tancred – Tancred
    5. Chvrches – The Bones of What You Believe
    4. Paramore – Paramore
    3. Torres – Torres
    2. Lorde – Pure Heroine
    1. Poliça – Shulamith

    Not as strong a year for me as 2012 or 2014, but certainly better than I remembered before making this list.

    Honourable mentions go to Sombear’s Love You In The Dark, Lemuria’s The Distance is So Big, and Transit’s Young New England.
     
    Crisp X likes this.
  19. disambigujason Jul 29, 2020
    (Last edited: Aug 5, 2020)
    disambigujason

    Trusted Supporter

    2013 was a really bad year for me...old and new health issues, relentless stress and overexertion, a big break up. But the music was so good. It felt like a bit of a scene revival for me after the past couple years introducing a lot more indie and pop to my tastes.

    big ones for me are Silverstein, Lydia, dance Gavin dance, deafheaven, touché amore, citizen, have mercy, cardova, paramore, BMTH, b&c, panic!, Koji, moving mountains, JEW, and Ariana grande

    i have super vivid memories of purchasing/first laying my hands on a lot of these.
     
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  20. Pepetito Jul 29, 2020
    Pepetito

    Trusted Supporter

    1975.
    Great big pile of leaves.
    Story so far.
    Paramore.
    Jimmy.
     
  21. Anthony Brooks Jul 29, 2020
    Anthony Brooks

    brook183 Supporter

    Oh shit was pure heroine 2013? Gotta add that in
     
    Orla likes this.
  22. Chase Tremaine Jul 29, 2020
    Chase Tremaine

    Albums/EPs for free/pay-what-you-want on Bandcamp Prestigious

    2013 is, I think, my favorite release year ever. It’s definitely the oldest year where all of my favorite releases from the year still feel new
     
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  24. ComedownMachine Jul 29, 2020
    ComedownMachine

    Prestigious Prestigious

    2013 was an insanely important year for me. End of junior year through beginning of senior year in high school. Crazy relationship stuff, figuring out myself and the kind of friendships I wanted, moving to 2 different houses, all my favorite artists were releasing music and I was actually paying attention to that for the first time.

    1. Kanye West- Yeezus
    2. MGMT- MGMT
    3. Vampire Weekend- Modern Vampires of the City
    4. Arctic Monkeys- AM
    5. The Strokes- Comedown Machine
    6. Haim- Days Are Gone
    7. Beyoncé- Beyoncé
    8. Lorde- Pure Heroine
    9. Portugal. The Man- Evil Friends
    10. Daft Punk- Random Access Memories
    11. Arcade Fire- Reflektor
    12. Chvrches- The Bones of What You Believe
    13. Justin Timberlake- 20/20 Experience pt1
    14. Janelle Monae- Electric Lady
    15. Paramore- Paramore
    16. Panic at the Disco- Too Weird To Live
    17. Queens of the Stone Age- Like Clockwork
    18. Childish Gambino- Because the Internet
    19. The National- Trouble Will Find Me
    20. Fall Out Boy- Save Rock and Roll

    I’m sure I’m forgetting something. This is definitely one of my favorite years for music.
     
    Crisp X likes this.
  25. Craig Manning Jul 29, 2020
    Craig Manning

    @FurtherFromSky Moderator

    Looking back on this year is super surreal to me. As @Jason Tate said, it's really the kind of year that feels like it happened forever ago, but like it was also just yesterday. This was the year that I graduated college and the year that I asked my wife to marry me, so it was definitely a big one. But man, I remember being fucking miserable for a solid six months of 2013. Graduating into a fucked economy was definitely rough. I remember taking a shitty sales job, working it for two weeks, crashing my car, and then quitting. (That National record was playing when I crashed my car, which...definitely makes me feel less fond of it than I think I would otherwise!)

    I'd moved down to the Chicago area after graduating, to move in with my girlfriend, who was working near the city at the time (she'd graduated a year ahead of me). It was really great to finally share a home together, but I just recall feeling like I was an absolute failure when I couldn't find a good job right out of graduation. Staying at our apartment when she went off to work, spending the day shooting off applications and cover letters, and getting zero responses...man, that was a tough couple of months. I think I'd probably be fonder about a few of these albums if I hadn't been in that situation when they came out. The Greatest Generation, which speaks a lot about not being where you feel like you're "supposed" to be in your mid-twenties, came out that spring, and I legitimately could not listen to that album for like two or three years because it reminded me of how demoralized I was feeling at the time.

    Eventually, I decided that I'd start freelance writing, just until I could find a job, and that ultimately grew and grew until it was my whole career. Looking back, I'm really proud of where that led, and grateful that it was the path I ended up taking. But yeah, 2013 was tough. I feel like that was sort of right before the idea of the "gig economy" became a thing, and all my friends had "real jobs," and I felt like I was working from home for pennies. Easily my least favorite summer of my life, and that includes this one.

    Perhaps unsurprisingly, my original end-of-the-year list from 2013 is the one I would probably change the most, of all the lists I've ever made. Reflektor in the top 10 is genuine madness, and I do not think I've listened to those Justin Timberlake albums in full since 2013. Definitely not the second one, which is straight up not good.

    2013 wasn't all bad, though. I've got some really good memories from that year too, including:

    -The last few weeks of college: lots of trips to the bar with my friends, a few final parties with my roommates, and soundtracking it with the new records from Dawes, The Summer Set, Frank Turner, and Jimmy Eat World (which arrived in my inbox just days before I graduated to encapsulate my very last days on campus).

    -Writing a ton for AbsolutePunk, including a feature with @DaydreamNation called "My Back Pages" that I still remember very fondly. I particularly love this post about Springsteen's The Wild, The Innocent, The E-Street Shuffle, which we published the day before I graduated from college.

    -Speaking of AbsolutePunk, I spent a part of that summer writing reviews of every Butch Walker record, for a feature I ran on the site called "Butch Walker Week." That was fucking blast, and I recall Butch being super flattered and kind of at a loss for words over it. I should bring all of those reviews back for one of these weeks of AbsolutePunk archive retrievals...

    -Spending the whole of Labor Day weekend listening to The 1975, culminating in an absolutely flawless August evening when I proposed to my girlfriend/now wife. A day so good it kind of makes up for everything about 2013 that sucked.

    This was also the year where the seeds for my pivot toward country music were planted. Discovering Jason Isbell, finding out about Kacey Musgraves and Ashley Monroe, falling hard for that Will Hoge record: those were all significant moments in a twist of my music taste, especially as the bands that had defined my college years (specifically The Dangerous Summer) started to sputter out. I wouldn't discover the likes of Charlie Worsham, John Moreland, Logan Brill, Lori McKenna, or William Clark Green until years later (and 2013 is also the year of Sturgill Simpson's debut, albeit a record I don't particularly feel much attachment to), but all those artists would play a role in kind of redefining the kind of music I listened to in my mid to late-twenties.

    So, here's the re-rank:

    1. Jason Isbell – Southeastern
    2. Will Hoge – Never Give In
    3. Dawes – Stories Don’t End
    4. Kacey Musgraves – Same Trailer Different Park
    5. The Civil Wars – The Civil Wars
    6. Jimmy Eat World – Damage
    7. Charlie Worsham – Rubberband
    8. The 1975 – The 1975
    9. Matt Nathanson – Last of the Great Pretenders
    10. Frank Turner – Tape Deck Heart
    11. John Mayer – Paradise Valley
    12. John Moreland – In the Throes
    13. The Wonder Years – The Greatest Generation
    14. The Summer Set – Legendary
    15. Logan Brill – Walking Wires
    16. The Dangerous Summer – Golden Record
    17. Haim – Days Are Gone
    18. The Lone Bellow – The Lone Bellow
    19. Lori McKenna – Massachusetts
    20. Ashley Monroe – Like a Rose
    21. Sara Bareilles – The Blessed Unrest
    22. Goo Goo Dolls – Magnetic
    23. The Head and the Heart – Let’s Be Still
    24. The National – Trouble Will Find Me
    25. Volcano Choir – Repave
    26. William Clark Green – Rose Queen
    27. City and Colour – The Hurry and the Harm
    28. Josh Ritter – The Beast in Its Tracks
    29. Night Beds – Country Sleep
    30. Jeremy Porter and the Tucos – Partner in Crime
     
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  26. irthesteve Jul 29, 2020
    irthesteve

    formerly irthesteve Prestigious

    I got rear ended in 2013 and my car was totaled, it was to the tune of this song and I'll never un-link the two things
     
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  27. BenSmith94 Jul 29, 2020
    BenSmith94

    Trusted

    2013 was very much a year of change for me. My second year at uni was one where I really started to enjoy my degree, but I suffered a lot from mental health issues, stemming from not seeing my high school friends/being included in get-togethers or being invited to parties. I didn't cope well at all that year and lashed out a lot of people which I now regret. I wasn't exactly obnoxious but I also definitely didn't exactly cover myself in glory and come across as a person I'm proud of.

    It wasn't an easy year at all, but I found solace in music. Looking back over this year's re-ranking, there's a lot of artists I first discovered this year as my listening increased ten-fold. I listened to probably 20 more albums than the previous year if my records are correct. I discovered some of my favourite albums of the decade in 2013, it was a stunning year for albums. There's some artists on this list I don't really associate with any more, but felt even on a quick re-listening the records were too strong too leave off and they should remain as a reminder of what I was listening to and enjoying then.

    1. The Greatest Generation - The Wonder Year (The single most important album I think I've ever listened to. I've never connected with an album as greatly as this one).
    2. Paramore - Paramore
    3. Vessel - Twenty One Pilots
    4. Sempiternal - Bring Me the Horizon
    5. The Blackest Beautiful - Letlive.
    6. What You Don't See - The Story So Far
    7. Opposites - Biffy Clyro
    8. AM - Arctic Monkeys
    9. Common Courtesy - A Day to Remember
    10. Signals - Mallory Knox

    Honourable mentions
    Unimagine - Hands Like Houses
    The Finer Things - State Champs
    Put Yourself Back Together - Real Friends
    Tape Deck Heart - Frank Turner
     
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  28. Craig Manning Jul 30, 2020
    Craig Manning

    @FurtherFromSky Moderator

    “Graceless” was the song playing for me. iPod went flying at the moment of impact, but stayed plugged in. Took me a minute to find the thing and turn it off, so the song just kept playing. Very bizarre experience.