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 11 Best Songs By Phoenix

Every once in awhile a band makes an album that's bigger than the themselves.  And they spend the rest of their career living up to that apex.  They may never come close again...which is not necessarily their fault. The Cure has Disintegration, Guns N Roses has Appetite For Destruction, The Sex Pistols have Never Mind The Bullocks...  This isn't to say these bands aren't talented enough and can't make great music anymore.  The problem is these albums are not just musical masterpieces but also cultural touchstones.  These behemoth albums aren't just a product of the band as much as they are a product of timing.  From the culture, to the audience, to the exposure, to the placement, to the other music around them...the stars have to perfectly align for this type of success to befall a band.  Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is that epic album for Phoenix.  It was a power house punch that literally came out of nowhere.  It was like an adrenaline shot to our musical playlists.  Like someone had turned our music up to 11.  At the close of a rather banal decade of music, we as music fans wanted it as much as we needed it.  Will Phoenix ever make another album this good?  We hope...but even if they don't...let's remember that they were there for us when we needed them the most.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Phoenix:

1. 1901 (Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix)
2. Lisztomania (Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix)
3. If Ever Feel Better (United) 
4. Everything Is Everything (Alphabetical)
5. Armistice (Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix)
6. Fences (Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix)
7. Second To None (It's Never Been Like That) 
8. Too Young (United)
9. Girlfriend (Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix)
10. Lasso (Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix)
11. Rally (It's Never Been Like That) 

Buy Phoenix's new album, Bankrupt! now!!!

The 11 Most Anticipated Albums of 2013

I'll post the top 111 albums of 2012 on Friday.  So you still have time to get me your lists!!  Just send me your favorite albums of 2012 in the comment section.  Top 20...or whatever number of albums you liked.

With 2013 already .3% over, let's start looking ahead at what our year might look like musically...

This is a list of albums that have official release dates...or have been officially announced.  There might be a new Arcade Fire album, there might be a new Modest Mouse, there might be two new Beck albums...and we all know how long Kevin Shields takes to do anything so I'm not holding my breath about a new MBV album until 2015.  And honestly...why does everyone care so much about a new Cher album?

The 11 Most Anticipated Albums of 2013:

1. Phoenix (April)
2. Eminem (June)
3. Depeche Mode (March)
4. MGMT - MGMT (May)
5. Atoms for Peace - Amok (2/18)
6. Tegan & Sara - Heartthrob (1/29)
7. Kid Cudi - Indicud (March)
8. Natalie Maines - Mother (May)
9. Bad Religion - True North (1/22)
10. Ra Ra Riot - Beta Love (1/22)
11. Johnny Marr - The Messenger (1/26)

What albums did I leave off?  What are your most anticipated?

Buy the best of 2012 here!

The 11 Most Anticipated Albums of Fall 2012

There's no telling if any of these albums are coming out this year...it's all a massive guess...all for fun.  Some of these may come out before Fall...some after...but rumors are flying.

Here are the 11 Most Anticipated Albums of Fall 2012:

1. Tool - TBA (Nov.)
2. Stone Roses - TBA (Oct.)
3. Pearl Jam - TBA (Oct.)
4. No Doubt - TBA (Nov.)
5. U2 - TBA (Oct.)
6. Green Day - TBA (Dec.)
7. The xx - TBA (Oct.)
8. Modest Mouse - TBA (Nov.)
9. Black Sabbath reunion - TBA (Oct.)
10. Phoenix - TBA (Oct.)
11. Dr. Dre - Detox (???????????)

The 11 Most Exciting Acts to see at Coachella 2010

The lineup for the 2010 Coachella show is out. And some strange headliners. Jay-z the first night...okay, I can see it. Muse the 2nd night...yeah, I guess...may be too commercial for the show...but okay. Gorillaz the 3rd night. Gorillaz? Headliner? Aren't they just a novelty act? Considering you have Thom Yorke (a previous headliner) and the Pavement reunion on the same night...you went with Gorillaz as the headliner...okay...

These aren't necessarily the best bands playing at the show. These aren't the bands who might put on the best performances. And these aren't even the bands that I think everyone else would be excited about seeing. These are the bands that I, personally, am excited to see at the show. Some big reunions (Pavement, FNM, PIL, and SDRE)...and some of 2009's breakout sensations (Phoenix, the XX, Grizzly Bear). Should be an awesome show...too bad I can't go.

The 11 Most Exciting Acts I'm Most Excited to see playing at Coachella 2010:

1. Pavement (April 18)
2. Faith No More (April 17)
3. Sunny Day Real Estate (April 18)
4. MGMT (April 17)
5. Phoenix (April 18)
6. the XX (April 17)
7. Grizzly Bear (April 16)
8. Sly and the Family Stone (April 18)
9. Vampire Weekend (April 16)
10. LCD Soundsystem (April 16)
11. Public Image Ltd. (April 16)

Check out the entire list for yourself.

The 111 Best Albums of 2009

Well, here it is...the annual epic 111 best albums of 2009...as voted on by you. Usually it's a close race...but this year, Animal Collective ran away with it. In fact, the entire top ten was leaps and bounds above the rest. And...if you have a problem with the list...then blame yourselves...you're the ones who voted.

See ya, next decade!!

Here are the 111 Best Albums of 2009:

1. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
2. The xx - xx (Crystalised BBC)
3. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
4. The Antlers - Hospice (Kettering)
5. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (1901 live)
6. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca (The Bride)
7. Wilco - Wilco (the Album)
8. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz (only $5.00)
9. Metric - Fantasies (Help Im Alive)
10. Girls – Album
11. St. Vincent – Actor
12. Pearl Jam – Backspacer
13. Japandroids – Post Nothing
14. Monsters of Folk – Monsters of Folk
15. White Rabbits - It's Frightening (Percussion Gun daytrotter)
16. Modest Mouse – No One’s First and You’re Next
17. Bob Dylan – Together Through Life
18. Built To Spill - There is No Enemy
19. Silversun Pickups – Swoon
20. Lisa Hannigan – Sea Sew
21. Morrissey - Years of Refusal
22. The Dead Weather – Horehound
23. Neko Case – Middle Cyclone
24. Wild Beasts – Two Dancers
25. Cage The Elephant – Cage The Elephant
26. Regina Spektor - FAR
27. Fanfarlo – Reservoir
28. Various Artists – Dark Was The Night
29. Bonnie “Prince” Billy – Beware
30. Passion Pit – Manners
31. Noah and the Whale – The First Days of Spring
32. Mos Def – The Ecstatic
33. The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love
34. The Avett Brothers – I and Love and You
35. K’naan – Troubadour
36. Super Furry Animals – Dark Days/Light Years
37. M. Ward – Hold Time
38. Sunset Rubdown – Dragon Slayer
39. The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
40. Them Crooked Vultures – Them Crooked Vultures
41. Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport
42. Samantha Crain - Songs In the Night
43. David Gray – Draw The Line
44. Fever Ray – Fever Ray
45. Green Day – 21st Century Breakdown (Know Your Enemy Colbert Report)
46. The Pains of Being Pure of Heart – POBOH
47. Karen O and the Kids – Where the Wild Things Are
48. Dave Matthews Band – Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King
49. Devendra Banhart – What Will We Be
50. The Swell Season - Strict Joy
51. Why? – Eskimo Snow
52. Julian Plenti - …is a Skyscraper
53. Cymbals Eat Guitars – Why There Are Mountains (Cold Spring)
54. The Low Anthem - Oh My God, Charlie Darwin (Ticket Taker)
55. Neon Indian – Psychic Chasms
56. Mew – No More Stories Are Told Today
57. Fun. – Aim and Ignite
58. The Horrors – Primary Colours
59. Conor Oberst – Outer South
60. Crystal Method - Divided By The Night (only $5.00)
61. Miike Snow – Miike Snow
62. The Big Pink – A Brief History of Love
63. Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career
64. Jay-Z – The Blueprint 3.0
65. The Mountain Goats – Life of the World To Come
66. Dan Deacon – Bromst
67. Florence and the Machine – Lungs
68. Weezer – Raditude
69. Mastodon – Crack the Skye
70. Say Anything – Say Anything
71. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Up From Below
72. Trail of Dead – Century of Self
73. Paramore – Brand New Eyes
74. Sonic Youth – The Eternal
75. Handsome Furs – Face Control
76. Wavves – Wavves
77. Antony and the Johnsons – The Crying Light (only $5.00)
78. Maxwell – BLACKsummer’s Night
79. Von Bondies - Love, Hate and Then There's You
80. Deer Tick - Born On Flag Day (Straight Into A Storm)
81. Dinosaur Jr. – Farm
82. Muse – The Resistance
83. The Mars Volta – Octahedron
84. Cut Off Your Hands – You and I
85. Tanya Morgan – Brooklynati
86. Brand New – Daisy
87. Manchester Orchestra – Mean Everything To Nothing
88. The Black Crowes - Before The Frost...Until the Freeze
89. The Fray – The Fray
90. Roman Candle – Oh Tall Tree In The Ear
91. Band of Skulls - Baby Darling Dollface Honey
92. U2 – No Line on the Horizon
93. Placebo – Battle For the Sun
94. Various Artists – Ghana Special (1968-91)
95. Gogol Bordello – Live from Axis Mundi
96. Flyleaf – Memento Mori (only $5)
97. Taking Back Sunday – New Again
98. Third Eye Blind – Ursa Major (only $5.00)
99. Jack Penate – Everything Is New
100. Levon Helm – Electric Dirt (only $5)
101. Mumford and Sons – Sigh No More
102. Dananananaykroyd – Hey everyone!
103. El Grupa Nueva De Omar Rodriguez Lopez – Cryptomnesia
104. Raekwon – Only Built For Cuban Linx P2
105. Wale – Attention Deficit (only $5.00)
106. Franz Ferdinand – Tonight
107. Matt & Kim – Grand ($5.00)
108. Memory Tapes – Seek Magic
109. Drake – So Far Gone (only $5.00)
110. Andrew Bird – Noble Beast
111. Tegan and Sara – Sainthood