Top 25 Albums of 2013 6 - Wrap up

Here is the full list of the top 25 albums of 2013 based on The Music Geek's unique combination of sales, fan and critic data.

Rank	Artist	Album	Source
1	My Bloody Valentine	m b v	Critics + Fans
2	Vampire Weekend	Modern Vampires of the City	Critics + Fans
3	Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds	Push the Sky Away	Critics + Fans
4	The National	Trouble Will Find Me	Critics + Fans
5	Daft Punk	Random Access Memories	Critics + Sales
6	Jon Hopkins	Immunity	Critics + Fans
7	Queens of the Stone Age	...Like Clockwork	Critics + Fans
8	Kurt Vile	Wakin on a Pretty Daze	Critics + Fans
9	Julia Holter	Loud City Song	Critics + Fans
10	Kanye West	Yeezus	Critics
11	Sigur Rós	Kveikur	Fans
12	Justin Timberlake	The 20/20 Experience	Sales
13	Run the Jewels	Run the Jewels	Fans
14	Taylor Swift	Red	Sales
15	Arcade Fire	Reflektor	Critics
16	Boards of Canada	Tomorrow's Harvest	Fans
17	One Direction	Take Me Home	Sales
18	Gorguts	Colored Sands	Fans
19	Bruno Mars	Unorthodox Jukebox	Sales
20	Mumford & Sons	Babel	Sales
21	Imagine Dragons	Night Visions	Sales
22	Tim Hecker	Virgins	Fans
23	Arctic Monkeys	AM	Critics
24	Florida Georgia Line	Here's To The Good Times	Sales
25	Haim	Days Are Gone	Critics

It's a pretty diverse list. There's pop, country rock, indie, ambient, hip hop, speed metal, shoe gaze, art rock, post rock and more.

The albums from this list that have really stayed with me and begged multiple plays are from Haim, Boards of Canada, Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, Julia Holter and Daft Punk.

Are any of these likely to make the all time top 100? My pick of the most likely to succeed are Yeejus and Random Access Memories.

Top 25 Albums of 2013 5 - Numbers 5 to 1

Here we are at the pointy end of the countdown.

4 selections by critics and fans, 1 selection by critics and sales.

Rank

Artist

Album

Source

5

Daft Punk

Random Access Memories

Critics + Sales

One of my personal favourites this year. What's not to like about Daft Punk + Nile Rogers? Fun to dance to. Fun to listen to. Unlike much dance music it stands up well to repeated close listening.

4

The National

Trouble Will Find Me

Critics + Fans

It's nicely produced, atmospheric, etc. But I don't feel like it's advancing the state of the art as laid down by Nick Cave or Joy Division or some other confessional singer/songwriters. Certainly listenable and enjoyable - but I was kinda hoping for more.

3 Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds  Push the Sky Away  Critics + Fans

...speaking of which. The real deal. 120 years on and still going strong.

2

Vampire Weekend

Modern Vampires of the City

Critics + Fans

This one is growing on me slowly. Dense arty indie pop rock.

1

My Bloody Valentine

m b v

Critics + Fans

What is it with shoegaze this year? Another album that just missed out on the list was the industrial shoegaze Sunbather by Deafheaven.

Amazing that this is #1 on the list when it isn't on iTunes or Spotify. You need to buy it from the artist's site. I appreciate the immersive and experiential nature of shoegaze - and this is probably as good a contemporary example as you'll find anywhere. I would have said it's not for everybody - but clearly a lot of critics and fans have made the effort to track it down and vote for it.