The Top 15 Rock Albums of 2013

It's been a somewhat iffy year for rock music, but here is the cream of the current crop. Keep in mind this is limited to just rock music and I will be posting the metal and goth/industrial lists throughout the week.

15-Iggy and the Stooges - Ready to Die

The fact this was not half bad gets it the honorable mention spot of number 15, if Iggy had left his secret love of country to a solo album rather than slap the Stooges name on it, this would have scored higher.



14-Hollow Sunshine- Held Above

A great droney throw back to the 90's . The indie leanings keep it from making the metal list.



13-Dumb Numbers-s/t

Another hard hitting dose of shoe gazing, this time from a super group of 90's veterans.



12-Blood Ceremony - the Eldritch Dark

Female fronted stoner rock that conjures up Jethro Tull albums from hazy drug summers long forgotten.



11- the World is A Beautiful Place & I am No Longer Afraid to Die - Whenever, if Ever

Emo is alive and well on this stunning debut. They left the haircuts at home and are focused on writing dynamic songs.



10- Kylesa-Ultraviolet

Just because they evolved away from being metal it isn't a bad thing given the darker direction this album takes.



9- Nouns- Still Bummed

If Hot Water Music got stoned with Modest Mouse the results might be similar put less noisy.



8-Iceage-Your'e Nothing

Your favorite Icelandic punkers are growing up and they are depressed about it.



7- The Devil's Blood- Tabula Rasa

Their swan song is pretty epic.



6-Selim Lemouchi & His Enemies - Earth Air Spirit Water Fire

Selim didn't make us mourn the Devil's Blood for long. The guitarist takes you on the darkside of his moon.



5-the Black Heart Rebellion-Har Nevo

Really dark and primal, heavy but not quiet metal , this former hard core bands matures in the best way possible.



4-Merchandise-Totale Nite

Normally I don't like e.p.s , but I will take whatever I can get from this Florida band.



3- Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds-Push the Sky Away

Cave is keeping it classy.



2-Sigur Ros - Kveikur

The Icelandic band comes down from the clouds to add some balls to their new album.



1-David Bowie - The Next Day

It's not Bowie's best album, but it's pretty impressive that he still has it at 66. Some of these songs do stand up against his classics and that is more than anyone else on this list or any other list can do.

Selim Lemouchi & His Enemies : "Earth Air Spirit Water Fire"

It's o.k you don't have to mourn the loss of the Devil's Blood, the new release by the band's mastermind Selim Lemouchi , picks up where the band left off. The album is a move into a an even more organic and jammy direction than Devil's Blood. The high light of the album is his guitar playing as he is one of the best players out there today.

Before you expect the total second coming of The Devil's Blood, the opener "Chiaroscuro"lets you know it's not exactly the case. Milko Bogaard shares vocal duties with the Lemouchi clan. This creates a minor key harmony on the vocals that conjures up Alice In Chains like vibrations. In addition to Bogaard, The band consists of ... drummers, Ries Doms,Micha Haring,Hans van de Perre and Hansz Deijnen. No word on if this is the touring lineup, as the band had three guitarists in the past but I can't imagine that many drummers on stage at once, so these are more than likely session guys per track. The bass duties are filled out by Job van de Zande, with additional guitars and f/x lent by Robby Geerings and Oeds Beydals.

"Next Stop Universe B" is like a more Dark side of the Moon like shuffle, think Money if covered by a more psychedelic Alice in Chains. It builds into the drive of "One of These Days" sort of thing , which is one big difference from Devils Blood is it is much more Pink Floyd than Jefferson Airplane.


They take a darker turn on "The Deep Dark Water" the vocals take on a more mysterious tone,is a better description than calling it goth as it touches on a Syd Barret era Pink Floyd, which is arguably one of goth's earliest influences. The seven minutes of ambient noise that comprises " The Ghost of Valentine" isn't really a song and seems an odd inclusion, but oh well.

"Molasses" pours out slowly with a moog dripping over an elastic bass line. The song floats in a more fiery air than Pink Floyd, though it does remind me of something "Obscured By Clouds" . This introductory jam coast on for around four minutes, when it coagulates from his sister's vocals, the tempo picks up into more of a Zeppelin pace, if we are thinking "In Through the Out Door" one of the best guitar solos  I have heard this year pulls it altogether. His playing is fluid and precise knowing when to pull the shred out at the right moment. I'll give this one a 10 easy , hard to say which is better this or the last the Devil's Blood album, I think the song writing and production here are more fully realized, the playing and conceptual ele,emts to these jams are pretty breath taking as far as the sonics go.