The 55 Best Albums of 2013 (1-11)

Here they are...my 11 best albums of 2013.  Up next will be your top 111.  Last chance to send in your favorite albums now.  I will compile everyone's picks and publish the super list next week.  Just in time to start our chronicling of 2014.  Have a happy and safe new year!

Here are the 55 Best Albums of 2013 (1-11):

1. Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
2. Haim - Days Are Gone
3. Empire of the Sun - Ice on the Dune
4. Small Black - Limits of Desire
5. The Strokes - Comedown Machine
6. Ra Ra Riot - Beta Love
7. Kisses - Kids in LA
8. The Arcade Fire - Reflektor
9. Calexico - Spiritoso
10. The National - Trouble Will Find Me
11. Arctic Monkeys - AM

Buy these albums and more now!!

Don't forget to check out our blog's awesome new book The 111 Best Lists of the 2000s.  Available now!

The 11 Best Songs By Burial

It's been a fun roller coaster ride with our new book, The 111 Best Music Lists of the 2000s. We've had a lot of good feedback from all our readers.  We've had a lot of attention on Twitter from some of the bands featured in the book including Tom Shear of Assemblage 23, Alison Mosshart of the Kills and Dead Weather, Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips, Erik Arnesen of the Great Lakes Swimmers, The Kings of Leon, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand.  I could not be more thrilled.

One of the last big releases of 2013 comes from Burial who is featured in our book for the album Untrue which makes our list of the 111 Best Albums of the decade.

Here are the 11 Best songs by Burial:

1. Archangel (Untrue)
2. Distant Lights (Burial)
3. Unite (Box of Dub)
4. Kindred (Kindred EP)
5. Raver (Untrue)
6. Loner (Kindred EP)
7. Etched Headplate (Untrue)
8. Ashtray Wasp (Kindred EP)
9. Untrue (Untrue)
10. Ghost Hardware (Untrue)
11. Wounder (Burial)

Buy Burial's new album, River Dealer...now!

The 55 Best Albums of 2013 (12-22)

Part 4 of our countdown.  We still your picks for best albums of 2013.  Send them in via email or put them in the comment section below.  Send in your top 20...if you can't think of 20...any number will do.

And buy our book, The 111 Best Music Lists of the 2000s.

Here are the 55 Best Albums of 2013 (12-22):

12.  Sky Ferreira - Night Time My Time
13.  Jim James - Regions of Light
14.  Phoenix - Bankrupt!
15.  Franz Ferdinand - Right Thoughts Right Words Right Action
16.  A$AP Rocky - Long. Live. A$AP
17.  Midlake - Antiphon
18.  Late Night Alumni - The Beat Becomes A Sound
19.  Capital Cities - In A Tidal Wave Of Mystery
20.  Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of The City
21.  Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP2
22.  When Saints Go Machine - Infinity Pool

Buy these and more albums of 2013...now!!

The 55 Best Albums of 2013 (23-33)

Part 3 in our countdown of the best albums of 2013.  

Get your album favorites in now!!!  I'm counting on you for your best albums.  I need them to compile a top 111.  Just email them or put them in the comment section below.

Here are the 55 Best Albums of 2013 (23-33):

23.  Kanye West - Yeezus
24.  Moving Units - Neurotic Exotic
25.  CHVRCHES - The Bones Of What You Believe
26.  The Weeknd - Kissland
27.  Pickwick - Can't Talk Medicine
28.  Savages - Silence Yourself
29.  Tegan And Sara - Heartthrob
30.  Washed Out - Paracosm
31.  Drake - Nothing was the Same
32.  Rhye - Woman
33.  Volcano Choir - Repave

Buy these albums and more...now!!!

The 55 Best Albums of 2013 (34-44)

Part 2 of our countdown of the best albums of this year.  Don't like our choices?  Then it's your turn to vote.  Send me your 20 best albums of the year.  We're compiling a best of list from our fans.  Can't wait to see what you loved this year...there were a lot of great releases for sure.

Don't forget to pick our book...available now and it should arrive well before Christmas.  Buy three copies and it's free shipping!!

Here are the 55 Best Albums of 2013 (34-44):

34.  Waxahatchee - Cerulean Salt
35.  Grouplove - Spreading Rumors
36.  David Bowie - The Next Day
37.  Jason Isbell - Southeastern
38.  My Bloody Valentine - m b v
39.  Atoms For Peace - Amok
40.  The Civil Wars - The Civil Wars
41.  Kaskade - Atmosphere
42.  The Head and The Heart - Let's Be Still
43.  Dawes - Stories Don't End
44.  Mac Miller - Watching Movies With The Sound Off

Buy these albums and more...now!!

The 55 Best Albums of 2013 (45-55)

 It's that time of the year...time for the best of lists.  Here at GBU it's been a big year.  We had a book come out...and the music this year was worlds better than last year. As usual we like to put together a list of the best music that you loved and compile it into one big uber list of 111 albums.  So it's time for you to vote.

 We want your 20 favorite albums of 2013.  You can email us...or just post it in the comment section of the blog.  And if you can't think of 20...list as many as you liked. If you liked just 1 album...then tell us that.  We collect everyone's responses and tally them up. So let us have them.  And as always...we will start off the voting with our own list.  Enjoy!

  Here are the 55 Best Albums of 2013 (45-55):

45.  Kings of Leon - Mechanical Bull

46.  Noah and the Whale - Heart of Nowhere

47.  Pearl Jam - Lightning Bolt

48.  HBS - In Deep Owl

49.  Junip - Junip

50.  Disclosure - Settle

51.  James Blake - Overgrown

52.  Earl Sweatshirt - Doris

53.  Andrew Stockdale - Keep Moving

54.  Avicii - True

55.  Fitz and the Tantrums - More Than Just A Dream

Buy these albums and more...now!!!

The 11 Best Reasons To Buy The 111 Best Lists of the 2000s

 It's been one week since the release of our first book and the reception has been incredibly unexpected.  I thank everyone who has purchased the book...and am giving the stink eye to everyone who has not.  If you haven't picked up a copy yet...here are some amazing points at why you should.

 The 11 Best Reasons to Buy The 111 Best Music Lists of the 2000s:

1. There are 111 lists - where most books go to 100 ours does them 11 better and goes to 111.
2. It features many good artists including: Arctic Monkeys, Beck, The National, Wilco, and Radiohead
3. It features many bad (ass) artists including:  The Black Keys, The Strokes, The White Stripes, The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and the Foo Fighters
4. It features unknown artists including: The Dirtbombs, Jay Reatard, Assemblage 23, Mr. Lif, and the Great Lake Swimmers
5. It cost less money ($12.95) than a concert ticket and it lasts longer
6. Reading makes you smarter.  This book will make you 111 times smarter.
7. It makes for a great Christmas gift and a belated Hanukkah gift for all your Jewish friends
8. It is proven to kill flies if you hit them hard enough with it
9. It is a great conversation starter for a boring New Year's party (or any party for that matter)
10. It is the perfect guide for making a '00s playlist for a '00s-themed party.
11. There's a secret ending just like in the Marvel movies which hints at a bigger story.  Sorta.

Buy The 111 Best Music Lists of the 2000s...now!!!

The 11 Best Songs By Black Flag

Black Flag's punk presence hit our ears like a baseball bat smashing a Top 40 jukebox while Henry Rollins looked on with his boot heel firmly planted on the neck of a roller skating disco queen.  You have to be at school?  You have a project due?  That's a new suit?  Rollins and Ginn didn't give a shit.  They would take it from you with the sheer force of Rollins voice busting open your ear drum.  If there was a super hero with a super voice, Rollins would beat the crap out of him and throw him in a ditch.  Or at least, that was the Rollins of the '80s.  Now he's an actor, poet, and novelist.  Ginn has carried on with the Flag's legacy releasing their first album in 27 years.  It's been so long, their hiatus in between albums is eligible for the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame.  The new album title pretty much sums up what everyone is thinking.  Even without Rollins on board, the new album is strangely inviting.  This isn't the '80s...and the band is practically ready to enroll for social security...but there's no one out there brave enough to tell them they're too old to do shit.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Black Flag:

1. Rise Above (Damaged)
2. Damaged II (Damaged)
3. Nervous Breakdown (Nervous Breakdown)
4. Gimme Gimme Gimme (Damaged)
5. Jealous Again (Jealous Again)
6. Drinking and Driving (In My Head)
7. The Bars (Slip It In)
8. TV Party (Damaged)
9. Wasted (Nervous Breakdown)
10. Black Coffee (Slip It In)
11. Slip It In (Slip It In)

Buy Black Flag's new album, What The...now!!!

The 11 Best Songs By Boston

Today marks the release of Boston's sixth album in their 37 year career.  Even though, Boston has released music in five different decades, they released less songs in their entire career than are found on a single New York rapper's mixtape.  They've had more lead singers than they have albums.   Their debut album held the record for the best selling rock debut until Appetite For Destruction.  Currently, their debut still sits in the top ten as one of the best selling hard rock albums of all time.  They've never had a live album.  They've never done a duet with Ke$ha.  They've never partied with P.Diddy.  They have less music videos than Pearl Jam.  They are about one thing...and one thing only:  Rock n' Roll!  Okay, that might be two things.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Boston:

1. More Than A Feeling (Boston)
2. Peace Of Mind (Boston)
3. Don't Look Back (Don't Look Back)
4. I Think I Like It (Third Stage)
5. Feelin' Satisfied (Don't Look Back)
6. It's Easy (Don't Look Back)
7. Foreplay/Long Time (Boston)
8. Something About You (Boston)
9. Can'tcha Say You Believe In Me: Still In Love (Third Stage)
10. Amanda (Third Stage)
11. Someone (Corporate America)

Buy Boston's new album, Love Life and Hope...now!!!