Under the Radar's Top 125 Albums of 2013

Under the Radar's Top 125 Albums of 2013

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125.

Yamantaka // Sonic Titan - UZU
October 29, 2013
Critic Score
77
13 reviews

124.

November 18, 2013
Critic Score
85
20 reviews

The variety of Frahm's career is captured with selective care, but Spaces' true achievement is transcending the summary nature of live records.

123.

October 29, 2013
Critic Score
77
18 reviews

The piano has displaced Krug's veil of intellect and mystery. What remains is something warm, something sentimental, something beautiful. Spencer Krug has never sounded better. 

122.

July 29, 2013
Critic Score
73
32 reviews

They ooze a confidence that marries the seductive mews of Aaliyah with something just slightly sinister. It's a combination that could easily sound forced, but Francis has mastered the trick of adding a nuance to her purrs that makes them intoxicating. 

121.

The Stepkids - Troubadour
September 10, 2013
Critic Score
63
7 reviews

120.

October 22, 2013
Critic Score
73
23 reviews

119.

Murray A. Lightburn - MASS:LIGHT
August 20, 2013
Critic Score
78
2 reviews

118.

September 30, 2013
Critic Score
78
20 reviews

117.

January 15, 2013
Critic Score
80
39 reviews

For a band that has made change their consistent state, Fade is another welcome stop on a career that shows no signs of growing old.

116.

September 9, 2013
Critic Score
73
11 reviews

115.

October 29, 2013
Critic Score
75
32 reviews

Producer and co-writer Ariel Rechtshaid may have used Bowie’s Low as a reference point but the scatterings of choppy guitar scuzz add little to an already uneven and unimpressive debut.

114.

Ex Cops - True Hallucinations
January 22, 2013
Critic Score
73
8 reviews

A charmed debut that exhibits just how deep the well of pop music runs when a band has a firm grasp of the fundamentals, which Ex Cops possess in spades.

113.

August 19, 2013
Critic Score
83
32 reviews

This is music that takes a while to comprehend, designed for longevity over quick appeal. For those of you wistful for this approach, look no further.

112.

August 20, 2013
Critic Score
78
20 reviews

Peaks and drops alike unveil a rich and full detail that becomes beautifully granular on subsequent listens without being obscure or academic.

110.

Scout Niblett - It's Up To Emma
May 21, 2013
Critic Score
74
14 reviews

The singer sheds herself of what little accoutrement she's had in the past; these songs are Niblett, her guitar, her drummer, and little else.

109.

March 19, 2013
Critic Score
76
30 reviews

The Invisible Way may be a distillation of previous outings, but the new production style and emphasis on feminine vocals is a welcome change for a group that experienced some growing pains this decade. 

108.

September 27, 2013
Critic Score
77
37 reviews

106.

October 8, 2013
Critic Score
84
29 reviews

Old doesn’t sound like anything approaching a conventional hip-hop record—and in a year when the majority of rap’s big hitters failed to deliver, it couldn’t feel more indispensable.

105.

March 19, 2013
Critic Score
75
38 reviews

While it may be a little overlong at nearly an hour and a half, there are influences from 40-odd years of pop music expertly melted together by a master craftsman to create an album of consistently brilliant songs. 

103.

June 11, 2013
Critic Score
81
44 reviews

It might not be a major leap forward for Boards of Canada, but when the music continues to be so obviously them, maybe Tomorrow's Harvest doesn't need to be.

102.

September 3, 2013
Critic Score
76
38 reviews

On Hesitation Marks, Nine Inch Nails hints at new directions, but hesitates to take a leap.

100.

December 10, 2013
Critic Score
68
17 reviews

98.

November 5, 2013
Critic Score
65
20 reviews

97.

Rose Elinor Dougall - Future Vanishes
November 18, 2013
Critic Score
75
2 reviews

96.

Cheatahs - Extended Plays
February 5, 2013
Critic Score
60
3 reviews

95.

October 14, 2013
Critic Score
83
29 reviews

It marks a natural progression—a little more defined, a little less of a homogeneous whole, but still a sound world that’s unmistakably Hecker’s own.

94.

Weekend - Jinx
July 23, 2013
Critic Score
73
15 reviews

93.

July 9, 2013
Critic Score
79
17 reviews
Speedy Ortiz take the most captivating musical elements of their forbears and push them to glorious new heights.

92.

August 6, 2013
Critic Score
77
25 reviews

The introspection allows ideas to flow freely, and moreover the diverse styles of the collaborators this time make cosy bedfellows to create a genuinely beautiful, atmospheric record. 

91.

July 23, 2013
Critic Score
79
43 reviews

Slow Focus is exactly what you'd expect from a Fuck Buttons effort: it's brusque, overwhelming and complicated. But for a band so intent on pushing boundaries, this is a strange, almost faltering, sidestep.

89.

August 20, 2013
Critic Score
70
16 reviews

Featuring eight songs of disco/pop haze laced with longing and Dan Bejar-approved horns (Shabason moonlights as Destroyer's saxophonist), the band's debut album Perpetual Surrender is packed full of earworm elements that, in another era, we all had to use the phrase "guilty pleasures" to describe.

88.

September 10, 2013
Critic Score
74
12 reviews

87.

September 3, 2013
Critic Score
76
28 reviews

While the music often shows a strength and hope, The Silver Gymnasium is largely a heartbreaking record. 

86.

Sebadoh - Defend Yourself
September 16, 2013
Critic Score
70
24 reviews

85.

Crocodiles - Crimes of Passion
August 20, 2013
Critic Score
74
20 reviews

Without a doubt, this is their strongest and most cohesive collection of tracks to date.

84.

July 15, 2013
Critic Score
78
35 reviews

Tennant and Chris Lowe hit far more often than they miss here; Electric is the most boisterous and lively Pet Shop Boys album since Very.

83.

September 9, 2013
Critic Score
72
21 reviews

They're fragile mists of songs, often hanging together as much by theme and mood as structure. It's a haunting song cycle, one that might not necessarily appeal to their fan base as a whole. But give it another listen; for all its subtlety, this is a role that Goldfrapp was born to play.

82.

August 27, 2013
Critic Score
75
22 reviews

A bold album that takes you places

81.

September 3, 2013
Critic Score
77
23 reviews

With Unmap, Volcano Choir clearly had the raw materials it needed to create something stunning—but those materials were left unarranged, scattered, and disparate. Repave is built from the same basic building blocks, but they've been die-cast into a definite mold—and the results are remarkable. 

80.

March 5, 2013
Critic Score
73
31 reviews

79.

March 19, 2013
Critic Score
78
23 reviews

No matter what happens to Phosphorescent from here on out, Muchacho is an artist setting a new standard.

78.

April 30, 2013
Critic Score
72
18 reviews

The appeal of the album lies in its musicianship and perfect production. Synths and drum machines create a panic-laden sci-fi landscape; meanwhile, acoustic guitars slip deftly in and out of the songs. 

77.

Wild Nothing - Empty Estate
May 14, 2013
Critic Score
72
11 reviews

It was only eight months ago that Wild Nothing treated us to a near-perfect album. Now they're just spoiling us. 

Original Source: http://www.undertheradarmag.com/lists/under_the_radars_top_125_albums_of_2013/
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