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Rob Harvilla’s 25 Best Albums of 2013

Rob Harvilla's Best 25 Albums of 2013

To finish out the year, we’ll be offering the top 25 albums from various SPIN staffers. Today, Deputy Editor Rob Harvilla.

This is my very first Kanye West No. 1. I’d quite enjoyed that streak in a perverse sort of way, but I enjoyed Yeezus in a really perverse way, the “operatic hostility in the face of impending fatherhood” vibe a lovely soundtrack to the strains and delights of moving one’s own young/growing family across the country. From there country women (Ashley, Caitlin, Kacey, Neko, and Brandy) tend to dominate this thing, amid the usual dilettante gymnastics (Jon Hopkins, K. Michelle); established biases (QOTSA, AF, Waxahatchee in temperament at least, plus Neko again); and pop dramatics (there are several songs better than “Royals” on the Lorde record, and very few songs better than anything on the Tegan & Sara record). Plus Ooey Gooey Chewy Ka-Blooey on vinyl makes an excellent late Christmas gift.

Rob Harvilla’s 25 Best Albums of 2013

1. Kanye West, Yeezus
2. Tegan & Sara, Heartthrob
3. Ashley Monroe, Like a Rose
4. Neko Case, The Worse Things Get…
5. Queens of the Stone Age, …Like Clockwork
6. Caitlin Rose, The Stand-In
7. Mikal Cronin, MCII
8. Beyoncé, Beyoncé
9. Jon Hopkins, Immunity
10. Ty Dolla $ign, Beach House II
11. Haim, Days Are Gone
12. Lorde, Pure Heroine
13. Autre Ne Veut, Anxiety
14. Kacey Musgraves, Same Trailer, Different Park
15. Arcade Fire, Reflektor
16. Brandy Clark, 12 Stories
17. Disclosure, Settle
18. Chance the Rapper, Acid Rap
19. Waxahatchee, Cerulean Salt
20. K. Michelle, Rebellious Soul
21. James Holden, The Inheritors
22. Daughn Gibson, Me Moan
23. The National, Trouble Will Find Me
24. Sturgill Simpson, High Top Mountain
25. The Dirtbombs, Ooey Gooey Chewy Ka-Blooey