Musicology NYC Best of 2013 (1-13) List by Nick Greto

You've been waiting all week for this moment.  The top 13 of 2013 is coming up.  And what a year this was.  Any of these albums in my top 13 could very well be number one in my eyes.  A wonderful year in music is coming to an end.  If you haven't heard these you probably should.

The rest of our list is here and here.  But if you aren't concerned with the albums we ranked at 14-50 just read below.

13) Pusha T - My Name is My Name:  Sleeper for me.  Didn't love it at first but it grew on me.  This is a solid straight hip hop LP.  King Push.
12) Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience (1 of 2):  Why, oh, why did JT have to put out that second album this year.  This one was perfect pop.
11) Grouper - The Man Who Died in His Boat:  Devastatingly gorgeous.
10) Janelle Monae - The Electric Lady:  If my lady had her pick this would be number one. Solid RnB with some great featured artists. How is JM not a bigger star?
9) My Bloody Valentine - mbv:  Their return LP didn't miss a beat.  It is sort of like it's the 90s all over again.  But this time I got to see them live.
8) Daft Punk - Random Access Memories:  It really is unbelievable that a funk album that is this good only sits at number 8.  It is the reason that I am digging through the catalogue of a 70's funk/ disco band called Chic.  And both Chic and this album are awesome.
7) Hiatus Kaiyote - Tawk Tomahawk:  This album has some Dilla in it and some soulful folk rock.  Huh?  Exactly.
6) James Blake - Overgrown:  A great electronic artist that is also a performer.  James Blake also writes amazing music that makes up near perfect albums.
5) Rhye - Woman:  This album was also a shock.  For different reasons though...who would have thought that the chick that sings for this group is a dude.  That said, this is a great sexy time LP with some great songwriting.  It is worth noting that the album at number 50 is this band's singer's solo work.
4) The National - Trouble Will Find Me:  They somehow get better and better.  I am amazed at the craftsmanship that this band is still bringing.
3) Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City:  A completely different sound for them with some incredible songwriting.  A lot of this album's focus is around death and growing older.  But it is also very fun.  As it should be.
2) Darkside - Psychic:  Nicolas Jaar is my hero.  What a great minimalist sort of electronic rock album.  Put this on at any time of day, in any sort of mood and you would have picked the right album.  Not an easy accomplishment.
1) Kanye West - Yeezus: No one is making albums this good/creative/unique six albums into their career.  And most people aren't on their first either. I have never given Kanye a number one slot.  He earned it on Yeezus.

If you want a taste from all of our faves you can play the mix below.  It includes a song from just about every album on this list plus a few additional.

Musicology NYC Best of 2013 (14-25) List by Nick Greto

Day two of our best of 2013.  1-13 will be up tomorrow.

25) Postiljonen - Skyer
24) Daughter - If You Leave
23) Knx - Anthology
22) Arcade Fire - Reflektor
21) Dustin O'Halloran - The Beauty Inside (Original Film Score)
20) Machinedrum - Vapor City
19) Local Natives - Hummingbird
18) Russian Circles - Memorial
17) Beastwars - Blood Becomes Fire
16) Disclosure - Settle
15) Youth Lagoon - Wondrous Bughouse
14) denitia and sene. - his and hers.

Musicology NYC Best of 2013 (26-50) List by Nick Greto

It is that time of the year where we all share our favorite albums. I stress favorite...not best.

My favorite part about list season is seeing other lists so I can check out some things that I may have missed. Anyway, here goes, 26-50. The rest will be added later this week. I know I forgot something. I'm sure you'll see some edits down the road. Couple of honorable mentions for that new Burial EP, Nadine Shah LP, Haerts and Diana.

50) Milosh - Jetlag
49) Julien Dyne -December
48) Savages - Silence Yourself
47) Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest
46) Django Django - S/T
45) Chvrches - The Bones of What you Believe
44) Sebastien Tellier - Confection
43) Oddisee - The Beauty in All
42) Inc. - No World
41) Eric Kufs - The Long - EP
40) Forrest Swords - Engravings
39) Jim James - Regions Of Light And Sound Of God
38) Ejecta - Dominae
37) Letherette - S/T
36) Grey Reverand - A Hero's Lie
35) Charles Bradley - Victim of Love
34) Nightmares on Wax - Feelin' Good
33) King Krule - 6 Feet Beneath the Moon
32) Moderat - II
31) London Grammar - If You Wait
30) AlunaGeorge - Body Music
29) Jay Z - Magna Carta...Holy Grail
28) Atoms For Peace - Amok
27) Autre Ne Veut - Anxiety
26) Unknown Mortal Orchestra - II

Musicology NYC Best of 2012 (1-15) List by Nick Greto

15 Kindness – World, You Need a Change of Mind :  A dance-punk LP that was quite a surprise earlier this year.

14 Liars – WIXIW:  Liars.  Always solid but this is their best LP since Drum's Not Dead

13 Guts – Paradise for All:  Dope beats!

12 Gojira – L’Enfant Sauvage:  Metal. that you must see live to believe.

11 Gonzalez- Solo Piano II:  Number one fall-asleep LP of 2012.  Also, nice to pay attention to.

10 Flying Lotus – Until the Quiet Comes:  FlyLo with a softer album than Cosmogramma but still damn good.

9 XXYYXX – XXYYXX:  More beats.  Heard this kid was 17 when this was recorded.  Awesome.

8 Kendrick Lamar – good kid, mAAd City:  Didn't love his mix tapes so this was a surprise.

7 Chromatics – Kill for Love:  Smooth.  And opening with a Neil Young cover?

6 Wild Nothing – Nocturne - This one really grew on me this year.  Only a few guitar albums on here.  For fans of the Cure and the Smiths.

5 Passion Pitt – Gossamer Party LP of the year?  Maybe.  More like, damn, this is fun ...But sad.  My favorite kind of LP.

4 Frank Ocean – Channel Orange:  First part of the Year of R&B trilogy (see below).  If you would have told me this wasn't my fav of the year when it dropped I'd'a told ya, you crazy.

3 Michael Kiwanuka – Home Again:  Crazy that Terry Callier passes the same year this dude hits it big.  Classic album.  Immediately.

2 Alt-J – An Awesome Wave:  A very, very creative rock album.  So nice to hear rock songs sounding so unique.  Expecting great things from these dudes.

1 Miguel – Kaleidoscope Dream -  Woah!  Where did this come from?  So damn good.  And who expected it?  I added this after reading about it on Pitchfork.  Pitchfork of all places!  And before I played it I went in with such hesitation.  It is so great to be surprised by something this good.  Every track on this is awesome.

Here is a playlist I put together that has a song from just about every album that I liked last year.  I should also mention that Wildcookie was a discovery this year and if you haven't hear them, you need to.

I love list season.

Musicology NYC Best of 2012 (16-50) List by Nick Greto

I promised myself I would only do a top 20 this year and then I would list the rest without numbers. For some reason that never happened. I will be making notes as we get closer to number one. That should happen tomorrow or Wednesday. Regardless, here is the MusicologyNYC top albums of 2012.

50	Titus Andronicus – Local Business
49	Shins – Port Of Morrow
48	Bat For Lashes – The Haunted Man
47	Crybaby – Crybaby
46	Metz – METZ
45	The xx – Coexist
44	Angel Olsen – Half Way Home
43	Diiv – Oshin
42	Max Richter – Recomposed: Vivaldi – The Four Seasons
41	Janka Nabay – En Yay Sah
40	Damien Jurado – Maraqopa
39	Joey Bada$$ - 1999
38	Indian Handcrafts – Civil Disobedience for Losers
37	Lemonade – Diver
36	Cat Power – Sun
35	Jessica Pratt - Jessica Pratt
34	The Sword – Apocryphon
33	Musette – Drape Me In Velvet
32	Walkmen – Heaven
31	Odisee – People Hear What They See
30	Julien Dyne – Glimpe
29	Sharon Van Etten – Tramp
28	Jens Lekman – I Know What Love Isn’t
27	Baroness – Yellow & Green
26	Exitmusic – Passage
25	Tanlines – Mixed Emotions
24	Tame Impala – Lonerism
23	Andrew Bird – Break it Yourself
22	Mirroring – Foreign Body
21	Beach House – Bloom
20	John Talabot – Fin
19	Now, Now – Threads
18	Grimes – Visions
17	Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do
16	Lee Fields – Faithful Man

Musicology NYC Best 0f 2011 (1-15) List by Nick Greto

1) Bon Iver - Bon Iver
2) SBTRKT - SBTRKT
3) Goapele - Break of Dawn
4) Lykki Li -Wounded Rhymes
5) James Blake - James Blake
6) Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi - Rome
7) Frank Ocean - Nostalgia, Ultra
8) Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
9) Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise
10) Black Tusk - Set the Dial
11) The Caretaker - An Empty Bliss Beyond This World
12) Blue Sky Black Death - Noir
13) Gem Club - Breakers
14) Shabazz Palaces - Black Up
15) Caged Animals - Eat Their Own

See 16-32 here.

Musicology NYC Best 0f 2011 (16-32) List by Nick Greto

16) Action Bronson - Dr. Lector
17) The Antlers - Burst Apart
18) Cut Copy - Zonoscope
19) Atlas Sound - Parallax
20 Feist - Metals
21) M83 - Hurry Up We're Dreaming
22) Modeselektor - Monkeytown
23) Mastadon - The Hunter
24) Sound of Arrows - Voyage
25) Other Lives - Tamer Animals
26) Zola Jesus - Conatus
27) Real Estate - Days
28) The Weeknd - House of Balloons
29) Destroyer - Kaputt
30) Thundercat - The Golden Age of Apocalypse
31) Yuck - Yuck
32) Radiohead - The King of Limbs

Musicology NYC Top 30 of 2009 (1-13)

In reverse order of 14-30. Still, my list is probably the best of all the best of's.

1) Mayer Hawthorne "Strange Arrangement" Stones Throw

2) The Antlers "Hospice" French Kiss Read Review

3) Girls "Album" True Panther Sounds

4) Appleseed Cast "Sagarmatha" The Militia Group

5) Sharon Van Etten "Because I Was In Love" Language of Stone Read Review

6) Tune-Yards "Bird-Brains" Marriage

7) Bat For Lashes "Two Suns" Astralwerks Read Review

8) Cass McCombs "Catacombs" Domino Read Review

9) Fever Ray "Fever Ray" Mute Read Review

10) The xx "xx" Young Turks Read Review

11) The Big Pink "A Brief History of Love" 4AD Read Review

12) Major Lazer "Guns Don't Kill People... Lazers Do" Downtown/Mad Decent

13) Mos Def "The Ecstatic" Downtown Records

Musicology NYC Top 30 of 2009 (14-30)

Top 30 of 2009. The top 13 will be posted after kevchino posts. For now enjoy my list from 30 to 14. When you make yours, be sure to include one hip hop album and one metal.

30) Florence and the Machines, Lungs
29) Wild Beasts, Two Dancers
28) Here We Go Magic, Here We Go Magic
27) Dinosaur Jr., Farm
26) Shilpa Ray and the Happy Hookers, A Fish Hook An Open Eye
25) Woods, Songs of Shame
24) Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
23) Natureboy, Natureboy
22) Califone, All My Friends Are Funeral Singers
21) Jay Z - The Blueprint 3
20) Throw Me the Statue, Creaturesque
19) Low Anthem, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin
18) The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
17) Dirty Projectors, Bitte Orca
16) Camera Obscura, My Maudlin Career
15) Andrew Bird, Noble Beast
14) Isis, Wavering Radiant

Musicology NYC Top Albums 2008

30. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig! Lazarus! Dig!

29. Hold Steady - Stay Positive

28. Brazilian Girls - New York City

27. She and Him - Volume One

26. Wolf Parade- At Mount Zoomer

25. Abe Vigoda - Skeleton

24. Why? -Alopecia

23. Thao - We Brave Bee Stings and All

22. Wye Oak - If Children

21. Chad VanGaalen - Soft Airplane

20. Quiet Village - Silent Movie

19. David Byrne and Brian Eno - Everything That happens Will Happen Today

18. Santogold - Santogold

17. Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)

16. The Walkmen - You and Me

15. No Age - Nouns

14. Flying Lotus - Los Angeles

13. Meshugga – ObZen

12. Grouper- Dragging a Dead Dear Up a Hill

11. Dodos-Visiter

10. The Cool Kids – The Bake Sale

09. Titus Andronicus – The Airing of Grievances

08. Vivian Girls – Vivian Girls

07. Portishead - Third

06. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend

05. Hercules and Love Affair – Hercules and Love Affair

04. Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid

03. Okkervil River – The Stand Ins

02. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes

01. Frightened Rabbit – Midnight Organ Fight