Top Ten Albums of 2013 - 5 through 1

Here are the top five.  A quick note, the top three were interchangeable in order for a long time.  It was very close.

5. Franz Ferdinand - Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action - I didn't realize it had been four years since their last album and eight years since You Could Have It So Much Better. They make fun, cheeky (I can't think of a better word for it) music.  This album is a return to their roots.







4. Laura Marling - Once I Was an Eagle - Another year, another great Laura Marling album. It is not an easy listen.  She moves the melody around, she moves the rhythm around.  It is an unusual album for me to like, but I do.  I always find her music beautiful and haunting.








3. Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City - I listened to the single, Diane Young, for a month before I realized it was a play on words. I originally wrote these guys off as doing a cheap imitation of Graceland on their first album.  I didn't want to like Contra, but I did.  I felt they had done everything they could with that album.  I was pleased to see that they have developed their own style of pop music that blends multiple instruments and exotic rhythms. I am looking forward to the next album.



2. Frank Turner - Tape Deck Heart - Frank Turner has issues, lots of them.  And he has created a piano driven sound to convey all of them.  You would think the album would be really dark, but he has a humorous way of presenting things.  Don't dwell on the lyrics, enjoy the spirit that he sings them with and wish him well as he moves forward.






1. Steve Martin/Edie Brickell - Love Has Come For You - I heard about this album and my first thought was vanity project.  Steve Martin does an album with his friend's (Paul Simon) wife.  Two people who don't need the money or something to do.  Then I heard the first single on Letterman.  Martin has an angular way of playing banjo that is very clever.  Edie Brickell brings a southern (okay, maybe Texan) warmth to the songs that is very inviting.  I found myself coming back to this album over and over throughout the summer and every time it made me smile.