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: Morningbell - Boa Noite

Album Rating: A

Who listens to albums anymore? In an increasingly hyperactive music culture ruled by YouTube and Soundcloud, where a good single aimed straight at the heart of the zeltgeist matters more than just about anything else, the craft of making a work meant to be listened front-to-back is increasingly underrated. Yet, the mark of a truly great work of art is one that transcends the sum of its parts: more than just ten or eleven great songs in succession, it must be something with a life of its own.

It’s with this in mind that Morningbell comes in with its sixth album, Boa Noite, and what an example it sets for all of us. After ten listens, the only things I can coherently note about it are emoticons, marking each little moment. Here’s where it made me smile, here’s where it made me sit up in my chair and gasp in awe, here’s where it made my eyes water as I completely crumbled in its wake. Boa Noite is full of little treasures, but it’s so cohesive that it defies attempts at dissection: throughout 38 minutes, the band reaches blissful highs, crushing lows, festive days and contemplative nights…sometimes all in the same song. The press release describes it as a gauntlet. It wasn’t exaggerating.