2013 in Review

2013 was partly defined by big releases by both returning and debuting artists in the pop world.

Daft Punk’s return after eight years brought Random Access Memories and mega-hit “Get Lucky,” which, along with “Happy” and “Blurred Lines” gave Pharrell one heck of a year. The return of Justin Timberlake came with his first two album releases since 2006, and a handful of singles, like “Mirror” and lead single “Suit & Tie.” The latter boosted Jay-Z back into the spotlight, and helped him launch his first solo record since 2009. And Paramore’s self-titled record was their first since 2009.

For debuts, “Royals” by Lorde, “Take Me To Church” by Hozier, “Latch” was a sleeper hit for Disclosure as their first record came out. HAIM, Fitz and The Tantrums, CHVRCHES also put out their debut records. In hip-hop, Run The Jewels joined forces officially.

There’s a long list of classic records from 2013 as well – Modern Vampires of the City, Yeezus, AM, Trouble Will Find Me, and …Like Clockwork, to name a few that had lasting impacts.

Songs of the year

2013 Albums

Album	Artist	Start	Score	Genre
…Like Clockwork	Queens of the Stone Age	★★★★★	97	Rock	Alternative Rock
Modern Vampires of the City	Vampire Weekend	★★★★★	95	Rock	Indie Pop	Chamber Pop
Settle	Disclosure	★★★★½	89	Electronic	House	Synthpop
Random Access Memories	Daft Punk	★★★★½	88	Electronic	Dance-Pop	Disco
Trouble Will Find Me	The National	★★★★½	87	Rock	Alternative Rock	Chamber Pop
6 Feet Beneath The Moon	King Krule	★★★★	78	Rock	Jazz Rock	Alternative R&B
Run The Jewels	Run The Jewels	★★★★	78	Hip-Hop
Yeezus	Kanye West	★★★★	77	Hip-Hop	Alternative Hip-Hop	Electronic R&B
Night Time, My Time	Sky Ferreira	★★★★	75	Pop	Indie Pop	Synthpop
Pure Heroine	Lorde	★★★★	75	Pop	Indie Pop
Reflektor	Arcade Fire	★★★½	74	Rock	Art Rock	Alternative Dance
AM	Arctic Monkeys	★★★½	73	Rock	Alternative Rock
Cupid Deluxe	Blood Orange	★★★½	72	Hip-Hop	Indie Pop	Neo-Soul
Days are Gone	Haim	★★★½	70	Rock	Indie Pop
Holy Fire	Foals	★★★½	69	Rock	Alternative Rock
Indigoism	Underachievers	★★★½	69	Hip-Hop
Immunity	Jon Hopkins	★★★½	69	Electronic	Ambient	IDM
Push the Sky Away	Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds	★★★½	68	Rock	Art Rock	Chamber Pop
Because The Internet	Childish Gambino	★★★½	66	Hip-Hop
Cold Spring Fault Less Youth	Mount Kimbie	★★★½	66	Electronic	Art Pop
Tomorrow’s Harvest	Boards of Canada	★★★½	66	Electronic	Ambient
Bankrupt!	Phoenix	★★★½	65	Rock	Indie Pop	Synthpop
Monomania	Deerhunter	★★★	63	Rock	Psychadelic Rock	Indie Rock
Heart Murmurs	Jeremy Messersmith	★★★	63	Rock	Pop Rock
Acid Rap	Chance the Rapper	★★★	63	Hip-Hop
The Bones of What You Believe	CHVRCHES	★★★	63	Electronic	Indie Pop	Synthpop
II	Moderat	★★★	63	Electronic	House	IDM
Nothing Was The Same	Drake	★★★	62	Hip-Hop	R&B
Sunbather	Deafheaven	★★★	61	Rock	Metal	Post-Metal
Overgrown	James Blake	★★★	61	Electronic	R&B
The Electric Lady	Janelle Monae	★★★	60	Pop	R&B	Neo-Soul
Long.Live.A$AP	A$AP Rocky	★★★	60	Hip-Hop
AMOK	Atoms For Peace	★★★	57	Electronic	Alternative Rock
The 20/20 Experience	Justin Timberlake	★★★	55	Pop	R&B
Grownass Man	The Shouting Matches	★★½	54	Rock	Alternative Rock	Indie Folk
Lightning Bolt	Pearl Jam	★★½	53	Rock	Alternative Rock
Same Trailer Different Park	Kasey Musgraves	★★½	52	Country	Country Pop
Paramore	Paramore	★★½	51	Rock	Pop Rock	Pop Punk
Beyonce	Beyonce	★★½	50	Pop	R&B
Magna Carta Holy Grail	Jay Z	★★½	50	Hip-Hop
Apocalypse	Thundercat	★★½	50	Electronic	R&B	Neo-Soul
Matangi	M.I.A.	★★½	50	Electronic	Alternative Hip-Hop
I Want To See Pulaski at Night	Andrew Bird	★★½	49	Rock	Indie Pop	Chamber Pop
More than Just A Dream	Fitz and the Tantrums	★★½	49	Rock	Indie Pop	Synthpop
Shaking the Habitual	The Knife	★★½	49	Electronic	Alternative Rock	Experimental
Melophobia	Cage the Elephant	★★½	48	Rock	Alternative Rock
Wakin On a Pretty Daze	Kurt Vile	★★½	48	Rock	Alternative Rock	Indie Rock
Tape II	Young Fathers	★★½	47	Hip-Hop	Alternative Hip-Hop	Neo-Soul
Old	Danny Brown	★★½	47	Hip-Hop
Shulamith	Polica	★★½	46	Rock	Indie Pop	Synthpop
True Romance	Charli XCX	★★½	46	Pop	Electropop
Heartthrob	Tegan and Sara	★★½	45	Rock	Indie Pop	Synthpop
My Name is My Name	Pusha T	★★½	45	Hip-Hop
Doris	Earl Sweatshirt	★★	44	Hip-Hop
Bangerz	Miley Cyrus	★★	43	Pop	R&B
Born Sinner	J. Cole	★★	43	Hip-Hop
Wolf	Tyler The Creator	★★	43	Hip-Hop
The Invisible Way	Low	★★	42	Rock	Alternative Rock	Indie Folk
Cerulean Salt	Waxahatchee	★★	42	Rock	Alternative Rock	Indie Rock
Retired from Sad, New Career in Business	Mitski	★★	41	Rock	Indie Pop
Parts of Speech	Dessa	★★	41	Hip-Hop	Alternative Hip-Hop
Mosquito	Yeah Yeah Yeahs	★★	40	Rock	Alternative Rock
Comedown Machine	The Strokes	★★	39	Rock	Alternative Rock	Indie Rock
Tape I	Young Fathers	★★	39	Hip-Hop	Alternative Hip-Hop	Neo-Soul
The Gifted	Wale	★★	39	Hip-Hop
Artpop	Lady Gaga	★½	30	Pop	Electropop
I Am Not A Human Being II	Lil Wayne	★½	29	Hip-Hop
The Marshall Mathers LP 2	Eminem	★	23	Hip-Hop

50 Best Songs

I Appear Missing – Queens of the Stone Age
Ribs – Lorde
Hannah Hunt – Vampire Weekend
Furthest Thing – Drake
Reflektor – Arcade Fire
White Noise – Disclosure, AlunaGeorge
Porno – Arcade Fire
Bad Girls – M.I.A.
Do I Wanna Know? – Arctic Monkeys
Doin’ it Right – Daft Punk, Panda Bear
Diane Young – Vampire Weekend
Pusha Man/Paranoia – Chance The Rapper, Nate Fox, Nosaj Thing
Don’t Swallow the Cap – The National
Reach For The Dead – Boards of Canada
Milk & Black Spiders – Foals
Jubilee Street – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3005 – Childish Gambino
A Christmas Fucking Miracle – Run The Jewels
Giorgio by Moroder – Daft Punk
Defriended – Beck
Herb Shuttles – The Underachievers
Man Of The Year – ScHoolboy Q
I Should Live in Salt – The National
Blood On The Leaves – Kanye West
Boys – Sky Ferreira
Suit & Tie – Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z
If I Had A Tail – Queens of the Stone Age
Get Lucky – Daft Punk, Pharrell Williams, Nile Rodgers
Border Line – King Krule
Red Eye – The War On Drugs
Voices – Disclosure, Sasha Keable
Victims + Things – Actual Wolf
Pink Rabbits – The National
My God Is The Sun – Queens of the Stone Age
PME (All I Really Need) – A$AP Rocky, ScHoolboy Q
Take Me To Church – Hozier
Oh Sheit It’s X – Thundercat
I’ll Be Around – Yo La Tengo
King and Cross – Asgeir
Run The Jewels – Run The Jewels
Ghetto Symphony – A$AP Rocky, Gunplay, A$AP Ferg
Hey Mami – Sylvan Esso
Banana Clipper – Run The Jewels, Big Boi
Black Skinhead – Kanye West
Bad Kingdom – Moderat
I. The Worst Guys – Childish Gambino, Chance the Rapper
Gallup, NM – The Shouting Matches
Is This How You Feel? – The Preatures
Holding on or Life – Broken Bells
No Right Thing – Blood Orange

Genre Highlights

Rock

Hip-Hop

Pop

2013 Albums

50 Best Songs

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