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: Dorena - Nuet

Album Rating: A

"A lot of things took place in our lives during the past two and a half years since our last release. And as we grow older, we notice that the years keep flying by faster and faster. These songs are ways for us to hold onto things that would otherwise be distorted by memory or fall into oblivion.”
-Kim Ruiz, Dorena

Stop reading this and look at your hand. I mean, really, really hold it right up to your face and look at it. Examine each little line, each part of a map you could get lost in for hours; the colors, subtle shades of peach or tan or mocha, forming a tapestry rich with history; the scratches and scars only you are privy to. Why is it that way? How did it get there?

Those aren’t questions most people are asked every day, granted, but they popped into my head nevertheless as I peered at the hand on the cover of Nuet, Swedish post-rock band Dorena’s newest release. It’s almost childishly small, one little paw in a sea of tan, yet within it, the mementoes of an entire compact life are illuminated, a world built out of kisses and Christmas trees and stuffed animals. I wondered, for a split-second, what secret of life would reveal itself to me if only I could see my own hand the way I saw that hand—and the story contained within it.

Deep Elm Review of 2010: Dorena - About Everything And More

Another excellent band from Deep Elm Records, Dorena play post-rock in the vein of Mogwai or Laura. About Everything And More may have been influenced by these greats of the genre, but never mimics them. To create this relative individuality, Dorena incorporate musical ideas that most other post-rock bands do not. For instance, "From The Window Of My Room" builds to a nearly indie-pop section, complete with catchy synth, about three minutes into the track. Soon, vocals enter the mix to great effect. Singing is used sparingly throughout the record, but never muddies the vibe Dorena aim to craft.