American Songwriter's Top 50 Albums of 2013

American Songwriter's Top 50 Albums of 2013

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48.

Jonny Fritz - Dad Country
April 16, 2013
Critic Score
65
2 reviews

45.

Tim Easton - Not Cool
August 20, 2013
Critic Score
80
1 review

44.

October 15, 2013
Critic Score
71
14 reviews

43.

Kris Kristofferson - Feeling Mortal
January 29, 2013
Critic Score
79
6 reviews

42.

Matt Costa - Matt Costa
February 12, 2013
Critic Score
75
2 reviews

41.

Charlie Worsham - Rubberband
August 20, 2013
Critic Score
70
1 review

40.

Deer Tick - Negativity
September 24, 2013
Critic Score
72
13 reviews

39.

September 16, 2013
Critic Score
71
24 reviews

The Diving Board proves that Elton John is on the right musical path once again, sounding so energized by the familiar trappings that a career renaissance, which seemed a long shot a few years back, now seems thrillingly possible.

38.

Night Beds - Country Sleep
February 5, 2013
Critic Score
74
10 reviews
He writes hauntingly beautiful music that subtly creeps up on you: As each of these 10 tracks ends, it’s easy to get lost in their country-fied dreamscapes and not realize that you’ve been tapping your foot or whispering the lyrics the entire time. It would be a fully-formed debut for artists of any age.

37.

March 19, 2013
Critic Score
75
20 reviews
It’s Bragg’s voice that’s most prominent of course: warm and resonant, but also mournful at times, tinged with regret, that of an old soul looking at the world and shaking his head at its follies.

35.

Tristen - CAVES
October 15, 2013
Critic Score
65
4 reviews

34.

February 25, 2013
Critic Score
77
24 reviews

With an album as consistently strong as The Stand-In at this early stage, she has an impressive career ahead.

33.

Mark Knopfler - Privateering
September 3, 2012
Critic Score
73
9 reviews

32.

March 5, 2013
Critic Score
71
10 reviews

30.

Aoife O'Donovan - Fossils
June 11, 2013
Critic Score
76
5 reviews

29.

Willy Mason - Carry On
December 3, 2012
Critic Score
71
11 reviews

26.

September 27, 2013
Critic Score
77
37 reviews

25.

September 27, 2013
Critic Score
76
36 reviews

24.

Johnny Flynn - Country Mile
September 30, 2013
Critic Score
69
8 reviews

23.

October 29, 2013
Critic Score
77
49 reviews

Fans craving some kind of thematic hook might be disappointed, but the flow the band achieves from song to song even with the variety of sounds on display should outweigh those concerns. 

21.

August 13, 2013
Critic Score
81
9 reviews

20.

May 27, 2013
Critic Score
86
40 reviews
Both as a songwriter and as a performer, Laura Marling has never soared so majestically.

19.

August 5, 2013
Critic Score
71
25 reviews

18.

February 18, 2013
Critic Score
84
47 reviews

For an album so ballad-heavy, there’s a great sense of turmoil and menace bubbling up just underneath the surface.

17.

The Milk Carton Kids - The Ash & Clay
March 26, 2013
Critic Score
70
4 reviews

16.

Dawes - Stories Don't End
April 9, 2013
Critic Score
73
9 reviews

15.

The Avett Brothers - Magpie and the Dandelion
October 15, 2013
Critic Score
66
12 reviews

12.

May 14, 2013
Critic Score
81
45 reviews

It’s time to start thinking of Vampire Weekend not as upstarts but as one of the world’s best bands

11.

September 17, 2013
Critic Score
79
30 reviews

In its strongest moments — though there are no real weak moments to speak of — Dream River presents a compelling, gorgeous sonic world in which to get blissfully lost.

10.

Sarah Jarosz - Build Me Up From Bones
September 24, 2013
Critic Score
80
4 reviews

9.

September 17, 2013
Critic Score
79
34 reviews

Wise Up Ghost is a fearless, invigorating gut-punch of a record, one that never settles and surprises from start to finish.

8.

October 15, 2013
Critic Score
76
26 reviews

7.

March 19, 2013
Critic Score
84
10 reviews
Her major label debut, which moves from country waltz to roadhouse blues, from rootsy singer-songwriter narratives to irresistible country pop, follows its own relentless arrow throughout, and the result is one of the most fully-formed, arresting debuts Nashville’s seen in years.

6.

May 21, 2013
Critic Score
84
47 reviews

Trouble Will Find Me finds them maintaining the peak they reached with High Violet even when they trek out in new directions.

5.

July 2, 2012
Critic Score
83
7 reviews
There are standouts everywhere.

4.

Guy Clark - My Favorite Picture of You
July 23, 2013
Critic Score
81
13 reviews
This terrific batch of songs needs no such handicap to be recommended as a perfect way for newcomers to start a musical relationship with Clark’s burnished Americana or for existing fans to continue theirs.

3.

March 19, 2013
Critic Score
78
23 reviews
He can do a tender, dreamy pop song, or he can plug in and just get straight to rocking. And anything in between is fair game.

1.

June 11, 2013
Critic Score
84
13 reviews
This album is harrowing and not for the timid, but those who stick with it will be treated to a truthful, moving journey and a master class in songwriting to boot.
Original Source: http://www.americansongwriter.com/2013/12/american-songwriters-top-50-albums-2013/
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