The Top Albums of 2013 - RESULTS

[Nick]

Hello everyone, and welcome to the results of the "Top Albums of 2013" poll! Thanks to everyone for viewing/commenting on the songs poll thread, and congratulations to Daft Punk for taking home the "top song of the year" honors! In this poll we will get to find out who's taking home the "top album of the year" honors. First off, I would like to thank all of the voters who contributed lists. Here they are, all 41 of them...

Absolutely
antonius
blackandbianco
Brad
Chambord
Charlie Driggs
Chilton
Craig
Dan
DaveC
DocBrown
Gillingham
Greg
guigs2910
Henry
Jackson
jamieW
Jeff
Jirin
Kingoftonga
Matski
Mattceinicram
Maschine_Man
Michel
Miguel
Mindrocker
Moonbeam
Nassim
Nick
nicolas
Otisredding
phil
PlasticRam
Rocky Raccoon
Romain
schaefer.tk
slick
sonofsamiam
Stephan
Timmywing
whuntva

Here are a couple notes about the presentation. First off, the "Fans" section is for people who placed an album in their top ten, or if nobody placed that particular album in their top ten, it is the person who gave the album its highest ranking. Second off, the "Critic's Ranking" section is the album's ranking on the EOY 2013 spreadsheet that Harold has meticulously compiled. And finally, I don't really have a set schedule as to when I will post updates, but you should expect at least two a day.

Ready? Well here we go!

50. San Fermin- San Fermin



Score: 62 points (3 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 193
Fans: DocBrown (4), Michel (4), DaveC (8)

48. Tim Hecker- Virgins



Score: 63 points (4 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 37
Fans: Matski (4), Jeff (5)

48. Anaïs Mitchell and Jefferson Hamer- Child Ballads



Score: 63 points (4 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 311
Fans: Jirin (6), Stephan (7)

47. Stromae- Racine Carrée



Score: 64 points (3 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 119
Fans: nicolas (1), Jirin (7), Chilton (7)

46. M.I.A.- Matangi



Score: 65 points (4 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 59
Fans: PlasticRam (5), Maschine_Man (7)

45. Autre Ne Veut- Anxiety



Score: 66 points (5 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 51
Fans: Absolutely (9)

43. Nils Frahm- Spaces



Score: 67 points (4 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 174
Fans: Matski (2), Jeff (4)

43. John Grant- Pale Green Ghosts



Score: 67 points (5 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 28
Fans: Absolutely (2)

42. Prefab Sprout- Crimson/Red



Score: 70 points (3 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 54
Fans: Otisredding (1), Greg (1), sonofsamiam (8)

40. These New Puritans- Field of Reeds



Score: 72 points (5 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 26
Fans: Jackson (6), Matski (10)

40. Foals- Holy Fire



Score: 72 points (4 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 29
Fans: Chambord (3), whuntva (4), slick (6)

[Nick]

And here is the next batch of our top 50! As a warning, one particular piece of album art below may be considered "not safe for work", so please do not open this page around your boss/great grandmother/pastor/etc.

39. Torres- Torres



Score: 73 points (5 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 215
Fans: DocBrown (3), Craig (4)

38. Boards of Canada- Tomorrow's Harvest



Score: 74 points (5 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 20
Fans: Gillingham (2), Matski (6)

35. Roy Harper- Man and Myth



Score: 75 points (4 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 188
Fans: Jirin (4), Stephan (6), DaveC (7)

35. Jason Isbell- Southeastern



Score: 75 points (6 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 151
Fans: Stephan (4), Dan (6)

35. Agnes Obel- Aventine



Score: 75 points (4 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 68
Fans: antonius (3), Stephan (5), Dan (9)

34. Phosphorescent- Muchacho



Score: 76 points (4 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 41
Fans: Timmywing (4), Gillingham (5), Craig (7)

33. Unknown Mortal Orchestra- II



Score: 79 points (5 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 67
Fans: Charlie Driggs (1), Brad (5), Craig (9)

32. La Femme- Psycho Tropical Berlin



Score: 80 points (5 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 129
Fans: Nassim (3), Michel (7), jamieW (8)

31. Bill Callahan- Dream River



Score: 84 points (6 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 21
Fans: antonius (5), Greg (6)

[Mattceinicram]

Wow! A lot of surprises that I didn't see coming! I'm really glad to see Southeastern and Torres scoring high.

[Rocky Raccoon]

And here is the next batch of our top 50! As a warning, one particular piece of album art below may be considered "not safe for work", so please do not open this page around your boss/great grandmother/pastor/etc.

I don't know, I didn't think the Phosphorescent album cover was that bad.

[Brad]

And here is the next batch of our top 50! As a warning, one particular piece of album art below may be considered "not safe for work", so please do not open this page around your boss/great grandmother/pastor/etc.

I don't know, I didn't think the Phosphorescent album cover was that bad.

lol...I love that cover!

[Kingoftonga]

I tried to listen to at least an album a week or so during 2013, yet I'm amazed at how many I still have to catch up on. I suppose having too many albums to listen to is better than having the opposite problem.

Dream River really fell flat for me, especially when compared with what I thought was the far superior Apocalypse that preceded it. The music on Dream River just felt like it had far less of an emotional range, and all the songs ended up blending together for me. I was surprised it got such better reviews.

[Nick]

And here's your next group of ten- the albums that almost made it to the top 20!

30. Deerhunter- Monomania



Score: 85 points (6 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 31
Fans: Rocky Raccoon (3), Chambord (9)

29. Darkside- Psychic



Score: 89 points (7 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 30
Fans: Charlie Driggs (9), phil (10)

28. Kurt Vile- Wakin on a Pretty Daze



Score: 92 points (5 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 16
Fans: Stephan (2), Michel (2), phil (5)

27. 65daysofstatic- Wild Light



Score: 96 points (6 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 155
Fans: jamieW (6), PlasticRam (7), Kingoftonga (7)

26. Parquet Courts- Light Up Gold



Score: 108 points (7 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 36
Fans: Rocky Raccoon (2), Absolutely (3), Matski (8), Michel (8)

25. James Blake- Overgrown



Score: 117 points (9 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 9
Fans: Otisredding (2), phil (2), Nick (10), Jackson (10)

23. Savages- Silence Yourself



Score: 119 points (9 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 14
Fans: Timmywing (8), DocBrown (10)

23. Haim- Days Are Gone



Score: 119 points (9 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 13
Fans: Stephan (9), guigs2910 (9), Jirin (10)

22. Run the Jewels- Run the Jewels



Score: 126 points (8 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 40
Fans: Nassim (5), Matski (5), Mindrocker (6), Jeff (7), blackandbianco (10)

21. Jon Hopkins- Immunity



Score: 128 points (8 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 15
Fans: Gillingham (1), Jackson (4), Timmywing (5), Nassim (7)

[Mattceinicram]

I don't want to be a pain and complicate things, but I didn't actually vote for Run the Jewels..

[Nick]

I don't want to be a pain and complicate things, but I didn't actually vote for Run the Jewels..

Thanks for catching that! It was actually Matski who put "Run the Jewels" at number 5. You and Matski, in addition to having similar names, are right next to each other on my spreadsheet. I'll fix that. The ranking/number of points/number of votes for "Run the Jewels" doesn't change. Thanks again!

And to think I almost made it without any errors!

[whuntva]

I didn't vote for Muchacho either.

[Nick]

I didn't vote for Muchacho either.

Thanks for the correction! I got you confused with Timmywing because you two are right next to one another on my spreadsheet. It's all fixed now.

If anyone else spots any errors, be sure to let me know!

[Nick]

Here's your next batch of ten albums! Here we start the top 20!

Who will make it in? Who will be left out cold from the top 10? Find out soon........

20. Chance the Rapper- Acid Rap



Score: 129 points (7 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 25
Fans: Nassim (1), Jeff (3), Absolutely (5), Rocky Raccoon (7), blackandbianco (8)

19. Sigur Rós- Kveikur



Score: 130 points (8 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 81
Fans: DaveC (2), PlasticRam (3), Chambord (5), Nick (8)

18. Queens of the Stone Age- ...Like Clockwork



Score: 161 points (10 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 19
Fans: Nassim (2), whuntva (3), schaefer.tk (3), DaveC (4), Matski (9)

17. Disclosure- Settle



Score: 175 points (10 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 10
Fans: Absolutely (1), antonius (4), Nick (6), Timmywing (6), blackandbianco (6), Nassim (10), guigs2910 (10)

16. Deafheaven- Sunbather



Score: 181 points (11 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 23
Fans: Jackson (3), blackandbianco (4), Nassim (4), Craig (5), Nick (7), Mattceinicram (10)

15. Foxygen- We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic



Score: 187 points (12 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 50
Fans: Charlie Driggs (2), Brad (3), Gillingham (4), PlasticRam (6)

14. Chvrches- The Bones of What You Believe



Score: 196 points (13 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 22
Fans: slick (1), Kingoftonga (4), Nassim (6), Stephan (8), Greg (10)

13. The Knife- Shaking the Habitual



Score: 203 points (11 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 12
Fans: blackandbianco (1), Jirin (2), Timmywing (3), Kingoftonga (3), Matski (7), Nick (9), Charlie Driggs (10), Michel (10)

12. Janelle Monáe- The Electric Lady



Score: 205 points (14 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 18
Fans: Moonbeam (1), Henry (3), Rocky Raccoon (6), schaefer.tk (6), Absolutely (10)

11. David Bowie- The Next Day



Score: 215 points (14 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 11
Fans: Timmywing (2), Greg (2), Otisredding (3), Romain (8), guigs2910 (8), Moonbeam (9), Henry (10)

[jamieW]

If anyone else spots any errors, be sure to let me know!

You asked!
I actually didn't vote for "Acid Rap." I checked the thread where we posted our lists and Jeff (who probably would've been next to me on the spreadsheet) did have it at #3, so this shouldn't affect the results. Thanks again, Nick!

[Nick]

If anyone else spots any errors, be sure to let me know!

You asked!
I actually didn't vote for "Acid Rap." I checked the thread where we posted our lists and Jeff (who probably would've been next to me on the spreadsheet) did have it at #3, so this shouldn't affect the results. Thanks again, Nick!

All fixed, thank you!

[Mattceinicram]

So far only 1 of my top ten has been revealed

[Harold]

Well, 8 of the top 10 should be pretty obvious, and if so it's amazing how closely this forum's tastes aligned with the critics' this year.

I'm guessing that the other two are by very different female singer-songwriters, and if I'm correct I couldn't be more thrilled by the British one making the top ten. (If I'm wrong, I'll be stunned at her missing the top 50!)

[Brad]

if so it's amazing how closely this forum's tastes aligned with the critics' this year.

I find this fact disheartening.

[PlasticRam]

There are a few climbers.

[Jirin]

The thing about lists that use an open ballot system is they heavily favor albums that the most people have listened to. And because people who voted in this poll are likely to be users of acclaimedmusic.net, they're far more likely to have listened to the ones praised by the critics. This exaggerates the amount people are actually agreeing with the critics.

If you notice the list of albums that did much better than their critic ranking, most of them were nominated for BMAA2013. They did better on the list because people listened to them for the game who wouldn't have otherwise.

It'd be interesting to see how the results changed if we used a system where not listening to an album != not liking it.

[Gillingham]

if so it's amazing how closely this forum's tastes aligned with the critics' this year.

I find this fact disheartening.

Agreed.
I'd say so in general, but maybe even more when it comes to 2013.

[Nick]

Well here we are, the first part of the top ten!!

10. Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds- Push the Sky Away



Score: 216 points (13 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 5
Fans: DaveC (1), Greg (3), Craig (3), Michel (5), guigs2910 (6), antonius (6), Otisredding (8), nicolas (9), Gillingham (10)

9. Laura Marling- Once I Was an Eagle



Score: 241 points (15 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 27
Fans: DocBrown (1), Chilton (1), Mindrocker (2), whuntva (5), schaefer.tk (5), Mattceinicram (6), Rocky Raccoon (9)

8. Arctic Monkeys- AM



Score: 259 points (16 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 8
Fans: Maschine_Man (3), Henry (4), Dan (4), slick (5), DaveC (6), Jackson (7), Mattceinicram (7), guigs2910 (7), Craig (8), Otisredding (10)

[Nick]

Alright folks, here we go with numbers 7 through 3! I will reveal the top 2 in a couple hours after I wake up.

Remember, you're always allowed to comment!

7. Julia Holter- Loud City Song



Score: 276 points (15 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 17
Fans: sonofsamiam (1), Matski (1), phil (1), Mattceinicram (2), Maschine_Man (2), schaefer.tk (2), blackandbianco (5), Jackson (5), DaveC (5), Moonbeam (8)

6. Kanye West- Yeezus



Score: 302 points (15 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 1
Fans: PlasticRam (1), guigs2910 (1), Mindrocker (1), blackandbianco (2), Kingoftonga (2), Chilton (3), Nick (4), Otisredding (6), Absolutely (8), slick (8), Nassim (9), Mattceinicram (9), Maschine_Man (10), sonofsamiam (10)

5. My Bloody Valentine- m b v



Score: 304 points (17 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 7
Fans: Jackson (1), Matski (3), Mattceinicram (3), Charlie Driggs (4), Nick (5), sonofsamiam (5), Otisredding (5), blackandbianco (7), Brad (8), schaefer.tk (8), Timmywing (10), whuntva (10)

4. Arcade Fire- Reflektor



Score: 338 points (18 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 2
Fans: Nick (2), Henry (2), PlasticRam (4), guigs2910 (5), Mattceinicram (5), jamieW (5), Dan (5), Gillingham (6), Maschine_Man (6), nicolas (7), whuntva (9), Kingoftonga (9), blackandbianco (9), Craig (10)

3. The National- Trouble Will Find Me



Score: 405 points (22 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 6
Fans: Stephan (1), Jirin (1), Craig (1), Kingoftonga (1), antonius (1), Gillingham (3), Dan (3), guigs2910 (4), Mattceinicram (4), Chilton (4), Timmywing (7), DocBrown (8), Henry (9), slick (10)

[Nick]

And here we are! The top two! Thanks for reading/commenting/and voting!

2. Daft Punk- Random Access Memories



Score: 412 points (20 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 4
Fans: Henry (1), schaefer.tk (1), Dan (1), jamieW (2), slick (2), whuntva (2), PlasticRam (2), Nick (3), guigs2910 (3), blackandbianco (3), Charlie Driggs (3), nicolas (5), Chilton (6), Moonbeam (7), Brad (7), Mattceinicram (8), Kingoftonga (8)

1. Vampire Weekend- Modern Vampires of the City



Score: 444 points (21 votes)
Critic's Ranking: 3
Fans: Nick (1), Mattceinicram (1), Rocky Raccoon (1), guigs2910 (2), DocBrown (2), Craig (2), antonius (2), Dan (2), Stephan (3), slick (3), Absolutely (4), Otisredding (4), Chilton (5), Henry (6), Chambord (7), PlasticRam (8), Maschine_Man (8), schaefer.tk (10), DaveC (10)

Congratulations Vampire Weekend!

[Maschine_Man]

I'm super happy that Vampire Weekend managed to get the top spot (instead of Daft Punk <_< ).

I'm going to have to go back and check some of the albums I didn't give a good listen to. Thanks Nick for organising everything!

[Chambord]

Wow. That's a great surprise. I didn't expect RAM to lose the no 1. But it did freakin happen. And the fact that the winner was an album I actually included in my top (unlike any other year so far) makes it even greater

[Otisredding]

Thank you, Nick.

[Chambord]

The Artists of the Decade (so far) aka artists that have more than 1 album in AMF EOY Top 10 in 2010s:

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs (2010); Reflektor (2013)
Beach House - Teen Dream (2010); Bloom (2012)
Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010); Yeezus (2013)
The National - High Violet (2010); Trouble Will Find Me (2013)

[Jirin]

Pleasantly surprised to see Yeezus no higher than #6. Pretty good list near the top but I think Vampire Weekend capitalized on previous success just a bit. One trend for critic rankings is that it's much easier to get critical praise if you have previously released critically praised albums. (Of course it goes both ways, you also get criticized much more if your album isn't at least good).

If you think forum tastes aligns too much with critic tastes, the first thing you should do is go out and listen to a lot of albums critics aren't raving about.

[Brad]

If you think forum tastes aligns too much with critic tastes, the first thing you should do is go out and listen to a lot of albums critics aren't raving about.

I believe a number of us already do this.

[Harold]

Pretty good list near the top but I think Vampire Weekend capitalized on previous success just a bit. One trend for critic rankings is that it's much easier to get critical praise if you have previously released critically praised albums.

First off, sorry I didn't vote. Although my list probably wouldn't have had any impact at all on the rankings.

I kind of disagree with Jirin's comment, although I might be biased because MVotC would have been my #1 album too. While it's true that the success of VW's first two albums obviously assured that their third would have a near-automatic critical advantage right off the bat, I think the album is very much a progression, and very much their best work. Speaking for myself, I enjoyed and admired the first two, but this one was different - I loved it, absolutely loved it, from the first listen, and every subsequent listen has only reinforced and deepened that reaction.

[Gillingham]

Thanks a lot Nick!

Just like Jirin, I'm glad West didn't make the top five somewhat surprisingly, although that's still really high.

Another observation: the first six albums are all by artists that already enjoyed a huge reputation as a successful artist. And that's, arguably, true for at least 8 of our top 10 and also for the number 11 tot 13. Only after that we can see some newcomers emerge.

[Mindrocker]

Thanks for hosting the 2013 polls, Nick.

[Matski]

Yeah, top work Nick.

Another observation: the first six albums are all by artists that already enjoyed a huge reputation as a successful artist. And that's, arguably, true for at least 8 of our top 10 and also for the number 11 tot 13. Only after that we can see some newcomers emerge.

I have been wondering how many of those albums would be selected if voters were hypothetically asked to vote with consideration as to whether they also thought the albums chosen would rank as the 1st or 2nd best release amongst their respective artist's oeuvre (or maybe amongst top three/five albums if the artist has a large back-catalogue)

EDIT: I have to admit a few of my choices would not have been rated as high up if I had considered voting that way.

[PlasticRam]

I honestly think Yeezus > MBDTF, RAM > Homework > Discovery, MVOTC > their other stuff.

Obv Funeral can't be topped though. And I mean I understand someone might think MBDTF can't be topped, but in my opinion Kanye did the impossible. I don't want to start an argument though.

Edit: That being said I didn't like The National, Arctic Monkeys or m b v, while each of their best work I very much like.

[Jirin]

If you think forum tastes aligns too much with critic tastes, the first thing you should do is go out and listen to a lot of albums critics aren't raving about.

I believe a number of us already do this.

Yeah, but everybody listens to the critically praised albums, whereas everyone goes deeper than the surface of the list in a different direction (And some not at all). The conversation tends to center around the critically praised options, and I'm just saying that if we want lists that differ more from critic lists we need to create more conversation around more diverse albums.

RAM and MVOTC feel like 'Maturation' albums to me, where the bands become less unique writers but better performers. Kind of like Sky Blue Sky.

[Brad]

If you think forum tastes aligns too much with critic tastes, the first thing you should do is go out and listen to a lot of albums critics aren't raving about.

I believe a number of us already do this.

Yeah, but everybody listens to the critically praised albums, whereas everyone goes deeper than the surface of the list in a different direction (And some not at all). The conversation tends to center around the critically praised options, and I'm just saying that if we want lists that differ more from critic lists we need to create more conversation around more diverse albums.

I understand (and agree on) the "why" of the list similarities; my intent was to point out that Harold's original observation (about how we are very in line with "the critics") is not necessarily one that is met with universal enthusiasm. Yes, I am trying to promote more adventurous listening excursions. Your MA competition is right in line with this goal.

[jamieW]

I noticed that I wasn't counted as a fan for "Random Access Memories." (I had it at #2 on my list.) The good news for Vampire Weekend fans is that, even if my vote wasn't counted, it still wouldn't be enough to topple them from the top. The bad news for me is that Vampire Weekend is one of those artists, try as I might, I just don't seem to be able to get.

Thanks for the presentation, Nick! I really look forward to these end of the year forum polls. There are still a few albums that made the list that I haven't heard, so I have something to look forward to this weekend.

[Dan]

Thanks Nick (for both polls). You've ensured that the high standard of presentation continues. And I hope you enjoyed the experience!

I noticed that I wasn't counted as a fan for "Random Access Memories." (I had it at #2 on my list.)

I wasn't mentioned either, and it was my #1. Don't know if only our names were omitted, or our points, too?

[Nick]

Thanks everyone!

Dan and jamieW, I had counted your lists, but I had just forgot to add your names to the fan's section. Consider that done now though!

[Jackson]

MBV over Kanye was a nice surprise. VW is a predictable winner, though I certainly thought DP had a chance after dominating the songs poll.

Great job, Nick. I was wondering--could you post more extensive lists beyond the top 50 for songs/albums? I'm curious where some others that I voted for placed.

[Henry]

MBV over Kanye was a nice surprise. VW is a predictable winner, though I certainly thought DP had a chance after dominating the songs poll.

Great job, Nick. I was wondering--could you post more extensive lists beyond the top 50 for songs/albums? I'm curious where some others that I voted for placed.

I agree with all that kudos go to Nick and with Jackson that it would be interesting to see more extensive lists if it's not too much trouble.

[Nick]

Sure thing! I'm quite a bit busy today, but I will be able to post both more extensive lists and the individual lists within the upcoming days. Sorry for any delay!