May is coming. May is coming. MAY IS COMING.

That means new records from several giants. The National. Daft Punk. Vampire Weekend.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. 2013 has been great through it’s first third, with very few artists disappointing. Local Natives remains atop my list, and for good reason. Over the months Hummingbird has been out, it’s continued to build on its stellar initial impact, and will almost certainly end up in my Top 5 come December.

The biggest surprise of April was the seemingly out of nowhere re-emergence of Justin Vernon. I had heard that Bon Iver was on hiatus (similar to the limbo period after For Emma, Forever Ago when Vernon worked with artists from Kanye to Collections of Colonies of Bees), and did not expect Justin to show up leading a lick-splitting blues trio. The Shouting Matches’ debut is catchy, dense, enthralling, and above all, pleasantly surprising.

My favorite albums through the first third of 2013:

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1. Local Natives - Hummingbird | ★★★★½

2. The Shouting Matches - Grownass Man | ★★★★½

3. Frightened Rabbit - Pedestrian Verse | ★★★★½

4. Kurt Vile - Wakin on a Pretty Daze | ★★★★

5. Foals - Holy Fire | ★★★★

6. Dawes - Stories Don’t End | ★★★★

7. Phoenix - Bankrupt! | ★★★★

8. Autre Ne Veut - Anxiety| ★★★½

9. Josh Ritter - The Beast In Its Tracks | ★★★½

10. Atoms for Peace - Amok| ★★★½

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11. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Mosquito| ★★★½

12. James Blake - Overgrown| ★★★½

13. Night Beds - Country Sleep | ★★★

14. Youth Lagoon - Wondrous Bughouse | ★★★

15. Sigur Rós - Brennisteinn [EP] | ★★★★

16. Yo La Tengo - Fade| ★★★

17. Ryhe - Woman| ★★★

18. Deerhunter - Monomania| ★★★

19. Akron/Family - Sub Verses | ★★★

20. The Knife - Shaking the Habitual | ★★½

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Favorite Tracks of 2013 - Through April

1. “Diane Young” by Vampire Weekend

2. “Breakers” by Local Natives

3. “My Number” by Foals

4. “I Need A Change” by The Shouting Matches

5. “Get Lucky (ft. Pharrell Williams)” by Daft Punk

6. “Holy” by Frightened Rabbit

7. “Heavy Feet” by Local Natives

8. “Step” by Vampire Weekend

9. “Wakin On A Pretty Day” by Kurt Vile

10. “I Need My Girl” by The National

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11. “Hopeful” by Josh Ritter

12. “Sacrilege” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

13. “Late Night” by Foals

14. “Milkman” by The Shouting Matches

15. “Retrograde” by James Blake

16. “Ya Hey” by Vampire Weekend

17. “The Real Thing” by Phoenix

18. “Slave” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

19. “Stuck Together Pieces” by Atoms For Peace

20. “Clash The Truth” by Beach Fossils

1. acopy-of-acopy-blog liked this
2. acopy-of-acopy-blog said: i’m surprised at your reaction to The Knife’s album considering it was so highly praised by the critics. beside that spot on with the others XD
3. steadycrushinghand-blog posted this