Top Albums of 2013: 31 - 60

We’re sending off 2013 and welcoming the New Year the best way we know how: with the list of our favorite albums of the past twelve months.

As always, the objective of this list is to give an honest and, certainly, subjective opinion on the records that stood out the most among the many that we’ve listened to in the year. Of course, as I always like to point out when presenting this first version of the year-end list, the process of discovering music never stops. This means that if we were to revisit this list a few months from now, the selection could be different. However, what makes the December version special is the fact that it gives an accurate picture of the new music we’ve been listening and enjoying the most during the year.

So, after a reminder that compilations, EPs and reissues are not included in our list, let’s take a look at the albums that comprise the lower half of our Top 60 selection of the year plus a few more that also deserve a mention. All good stuff, without a doubt, that just didn’t fit in the one record bag we’re allowed on the trip to 2013’s desert island:

Top 60 Albums of 2013: 31 - 60

31. Defend yourself - SEBADOH
32. Run fast - THE JULIE RUIN
33. MCII - MIKAL CRONIN
34. Right thoughts right words right action - FRANZ FERDINAND
35. Personal record - ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER
36. Wakin on a pretty daze - KURT VILE
37. Last night on earth - LEE RANALDO AND THE DUST
38. Chelsea Light Moving - CHELSEA LIGHT MOVING
39. Fade - YO LA TENGO
40. Back to land - WOODEN SHJIPS
41. Images du futur - SUUNS
42. Matangi - M.I.A.
43. MGMT - MGMT
44. Cruise your illusion - MILK MUSIC
45. The argument - GRANT HART
46. Muchacho - PHOSPHORESCENT
47. Ghost on ghost - IRON AND WINE
48. Nature noir - CRYSTAL STILTS
49. English little league - GUIDED BY VOICES
50. Modern vampires of the city - VAMPIRE WEEKEND
51. Yeezus - KANYE WEST
52. Bitter rivals - SLEIGH BELLS
53. Strange pleasures - STILL CORNERS
54. Herein wild - FRANKIE ROSE
55. The worst things get, the harder I fight, the harder I fight, the more I love you - NEKO CASE
56. Coming out of the fog - ARBOURETUM
57. Almanac - WIDOWSPEAK
58. Monomania - DEERHUNTER
59. The terror - THE FLAMING LIPS
60. ...Like clockwork - QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE

Also recommended: Comedown machine - THE STROKES, Specter at the feast - BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB, Run The Jewels - RUN THE JEWELS, FIDLAR - FIDLAR, You're nothing - ICEAGE, Girls like us - PINS, Wash the sins not only the face - ESBEN AND THE WITCH, Desire lines - CAMERA OBSCURA, One track mind - PSYCHIC ILLS, New moon - THE MEN, Vanishing point - MUDHONEY, Change becomes us - WIRE, An object - NO AGE, Out of view - THE HISTORY OF APPLE PIE, The new life - GIRLS NAMES, You owe me nothing but love - COMANECHI, Rat farm - MEAT PUPPETS, The invisible way - LOW, Excavation - THE HAXAN CLOAK, The bones of what you believe - CHVRCHES, Body music - ALUNAGEORGE, Olympia - AUSTRA, Hard coming down - GUN OUTFIT, Am I vertical? - THE CALLAS, A long walk - TANGO WITH LIONS, At home - KEEP SHELLY IN ATHENS.

The "final" version of this list, with all the new discoveries that will undoubtedly come along in the next few months (with the help of the many other lists out there), will be posted in Cool Music Database, the place for all our year-end lists from the '80s and beyond.

Stay tuned for Cool Music Central's Top 30 Albums of 2013 in our first post of the New Year...

And to bid farewell to 2013, here's our last jam of the year, the track "The Desert Babbler" off Iron & Wine's LP "Ghost on Ghost", the #47 of our list, a great song to listen to on New Year's Eve:

Iron & Wine - The Desert Babbler