Top 50 Albums Of 2013: End-Of-The-Year List of Rainbows and Sunshine

Because I had to find a way to fit in a Pentatonix reference.

Over the past twelve months, I finished high school, questioned (and then came back around to) my faith, wrote a lot of angsty teen poetry, took too many selfies, and met a lot of great people. That aside, I also lost a good deal of my hearing listening to all of the fabulous music that came out in 2013. To put it this way: the albums on this list alone run for a combined length of 36 hours, give or take a few minutes. I've listened to most of them a good three or four times, and some of the ones near the top of this list I've heard upwards of ten times. For the sake of convenience, let's assume I listened to each of these about five times, making for a total listening time of 180 hours for only the 50 albums below. Then consider that this isn't even a third of the music I've heard this year when you count all of the other albums, EPs, and singles from 2013. I would estimate I spent about 600 hours (or 25 days) listening to music this year, which is 6.85% of the entire year--an even larger proportion when you exclude the time I spent asleep. It's no surprise that when I look back on 2013, music will be an enormous part of my memories.

But even when I'm old and deaf in one ear, I won't regret a moment of the time I spent here: MuzikDizcovery has become a home for me, not just for the fantastic community of staff members but for every single one of you who read, listen and (as our site's name suggests) discover. You make this one of the best places for a music lover to be.

Clicking on an album title will take you to an album stream or, failing that, a stream of a single. Onwards!

Album Review: 65daysofstatic - Wild Light

Album Rating: A

When we last heard from 65daysofstatic, the Sheffield post-rock powerhouse was straight out of two back-to-back projects that couldn’t have been more different. The first, We Were Exploding Anyway, took the band in a new direction by integrating EDM into its end-of-the-world fireworks festivities. The other, Silent Running, tapped into a cinematic vein, both a return to 65’s roots and an indication of the grander ambitions the band had sat on for some time. Wild Light, the first 65 release in two years, will naturally inspire plenty of comparisons to both. Like We Were Exploding Anyway, it piles on the electronic atmospherics heavier than ever; like Silent Running, it’s an exercise in balancing futuristic grit with classical gracefulness. The ancestor it truly reminds me of, however, is the band’s sophomore album One Time For All Time. Maybe it’s in how this is one cohesive story being told, a dormant impulse reawakened here as the band dissects and rebuilds itself. Or maybe it’s just my affinity for that album speaking.

Artist Spotlight: 65daysofstatic

In celebration of being busy and occupied with tours and music-making (strange thing to celebrate, right?), 65daysofstatic honors their audiences with a free-to-download EP, The Last Dance. The band has been busy of late, what with the Silent Running soundtrack late last year, and both We Were Exploding Anyway and the Heavy Sky EP the year before. However, the EP they're releasing is all previously released material, and is really more of a sampler, featuring tracks from each of the three previous releases aforementioned. A healthy mix of more space-rock / ambient things from Silent Running will mix well with their more lively material from 2010 is a great way to remind fans what they're capable of, and an even better way to introduce those who are new to the 65 club to a variable platter of their musical tastes. The Last Dance has a lot of really great material, and is definitely worth picking up at no cost to yourself for a sampler of fun hits from a well-established post-rock band.

As I said before, the release is 100% free, and can be streamed, torrented, or downloaded here.

Mat's Top Releases of 2011

There have been a lot of releases that I didn't expect to end up on here, and a fair share that should have been on here, but didn't make it. I'm as surprised as you, dear reader. But no matter - this is my list. You may not agree, but at least listen to what I have to say before you shout profanities at me. Read below for albums including those by Across Waters, Russian Circles, Moonlit Sailor, Tides From Nebula, and many more.

Album Review: 65daysofstatic - Silent Running

Album Rating: A

65daysofstatic has been pretty active as of late, what with the Heavy Sky EP, and We Were Exploding Anyway both being released last year. With this year came a dynamic work for the band that started as a fundraiser through Indie Gogo, and came to fruition through the support of loyal fans everywhere. Silent Running is a testament to the band's new direction, and this change is not something we should reject - rather, we should hold it close, cherish it, and admire this brilliance 65 has graciously handed down to us. The album feels so natural for the band, yet has many different tastes, ones that have evolved and matured since the likes of The Destruction Of Small Ideas. Where there was once angst, static, and anger, there is now creativity, fluidity, and feeling.

Record Reflections: 65daysofstatic - Heavy Sky

With 2011 rolling in full, many new post-rock albums lie on the horizon; however, we simply can't forget the small things. In this case, the small things notably point to this interesting EP, by the English post-rock / electronic project 65daysofstatic. The EP has it's fair share of ups and downs, being a half-compilation with a couple of new songs, but it was put together in such a great way, that fact remains almost unnoticeable.

"Sawtooth Rising" portrays a much more electric side of the project, hence the name, and grows in such a mesmerizing way that it feels like a true element of what the project does best, a meshing of genres to create something beyond its core components. Meanwhile, "Pacify" gets down to the true roots of the band, bringing out a very M83 type sound, but a softer, Mogwai-esque style, creating a romantic and tender yet solid track to be cherished. The rest of the EP does as much justice as their prior releases to the post-rock genre, and shows the real devotion the band has to creating and refining their sound.

Band info and album purchase links can be found here.

Track Listing:

1. Tiger Girl (Wishful Thinking Edit)
2. Sawtooth Rising
3. The Wrong Shape
4. PX3
5. Pacify
6. Beats Like A Helix
7. Guitar Cascades