40. Kacey Musgraves – Same Trailer Different Park
In a banner year for the women of Nashville (and Nashville), Texas-born Musgraves’ stood apart for writing that let loose a rebel belle on Music Row. Her major label debut, Same Trailer Different Park, has plenty of classic country signatures like late-night torch burners, hard working men and slips of the drink, but it’s the sly, witty winks that bring her characters brimming to life. Take the breakout hit “Merry Go Round,” for example. Over light banjo picking is a birds-eye view of dead-end life in a small town: “If you ain’t got two kids by 21 / you’re probably going to die alone/ At least that’s what tradition told you.” “Follow Your Arrow” is a witty id-chaser (“If you save yourself for marriage you’re a bore. /You don’t save yourself for marriage you’re a horrible person.”) Musgraves’ voice may be sweet, on the verge of lilting, but make no mistake, there’s a trace of Jack Daniels under the tongue. -Kate Silver
39. Blood Orange – Cupid Deluxe
You just have to watch the music video for “Time Will Tell” to know how real Dev Hynes is about his work (and his dance moves). The respected producer blew up November with Cupid Deluxe, an ode to 80’s R&B with the sonic grandeur of Purple Rain coming out of a cryogenic freezer. Mastery of genre and ambience are Hynes’ forte, as he plays to his strengths as a producer to create swaths of smoothness to contrast the growing grittiness of R&B and rap today. In addition, Cupid Deluxe’s secret star may well be singer Samantha Urbani, whose hooks on many of the tracks are delicate yet assured, including “It Is What It Is” and the gargantuan cut “You’re Not Good Enough.” Call it indie and contrived, call it cheesy, call it PBR&B, but the formidable force that is Blood Orange refreshingly gave us funky jazzy gold with which to close the year out. -Dorian Mendoza
38. The National – Trouble Will Find Me
Driven by their proclivity for melancholy, The National delivered a heart-wrenching and despondent album in Trouble Will Find Me. But consistent to their tried and true formula, darkness always makes for genius. Opening with the emotionally driven “I Should Live in Salt,” the album takes the group’s characteristic somber ballads and injects heavier procession and synth chords. Marked by heartbreak, much of the album waxes poetic about the grief of dissolving relationships and despondency. Once again, The National delivers, crafting a solid record that draws the listener in by creating associative strings of recognition and relatability. -Christina Salgado
37. Joanna Gruesome – Weird Sister
Punny name aside, the noise-pop quintet from Cardiff is no joke. Its debut, Weird Sister, plays like a lovingly assembled fanzine to ‘80s indie heroes like the Shop Assistants and Slumberland label-mates Black Tambourine, with pedal-heavy guitar and lovelorn lyrics. The band swings between afternoon-snack highs (“Sugarcrush”) and doe-eyed ballads (“Wussy Void”) with the efficiency of a Ramones set. When you reach the end, it’s hard not to play the whole thing again. And again. A good sugar craving needs to be satisfied. -Kate Silver
36. Rhye – Woman
You can almost put a finger the moment of 2013 that seemingly everyone woke up to, at once, the fact that singer Milosh is a man. No one can be blamed; the sinewy smooth falsetto incanting the end of love (“The Fall”), shadowy adoration (“Hunger”), and sudden end-of-night lust (“Open”) was the first of its kind. Ok, so maybe Sade—people talked themselves hoarse with comparisons—but is that unwanted company? Rhye piqued the internet’s interest with a series of incognito releases and incredibly amorous NSFW (read: delightful) music videos accompanying them. The lyric sheet is terse but stabs deftly. Milosh’s classical training shines through in arrangements set to sound by the superb Robin Hannibal; the music that breaks the horizon at dawn, of April hoarfrost. -Taylor Cowan
35. Baths – Obsidian
Will Wisenfeld’s first album under the moniker Baths, Cerulean, was pleasant but rather vague, showcasing a producer who seemed to be attempting a balance between Flying Lotus and Passion Pit. Spastic, breezy and catchy at some point or another, there was a lot to appreciate but not a lot to take with you when it ended. Fortunately, Wisenfeld figured it all out on Obsidian. A darker, much more focused release sees him pouring out his heart, even the gritty truths we usually like to keep hidden. His voice is at times coy, at times blunt, but most importantly it’s very raw and real. The weight of the words grounds the music that tries escaping to the ether. Listeners really gets to see things through Wisenfeld’s eyes – his self-loathing, his loathing for his live-in boyfriend, his failures – all the while trying to simply appreciate the excellent production. It makes for a sometimes unsettling experience, but all the more of an experience because of it. -Chris Favata
34. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – II
This 3-piece New Zealand band, recently awarded Best Alternative Album at The New Zealand Music Awards, has found its way to US ears this year with their second album. II features quivering acid vocals and Beatles grunge rock, covered all the while in a hazy film that substitutes clarity for 60’s retro recording charm. Each song on II keeps an upbeat tempo and avoids overly climatic situations. It is as easy to listen to as it is to ignore; Unknown Mortal Orchestra does not aim to demand your attention, but when you crank the volume up and decide to pay attention, the band’s salute to 70’s rock one minute and 60’s pop the next is fantastically fun, natural and warm. -Adrienne Thomas
33. Darkside – Psychic
When Nicolas Jaar is behind the decks, we are at the mercy of the beat. It is the sole dictator of our significant movement; all else only instigates anticipatory sways or wide-eyed stares keen on soulful samples and funky bassline tremors. Darkside is the project of minimal electronic prodigy Nicolas Jaar and bassist Dave Harrington. The duo debuted this year with Psychic, an album containing 8 tracks that individually reward patience via eerie, often tribal builds and Jaar’s timely disco-falsetto breaks. Psychic is for lovers of crescendo and dark, inspiring, bass-driven tunes. Often parts sound confused, throbbing or lost while other parts pound synesthetic assurance at us via diagetic sound scenes and confident stylistic drifts. Although Darkside’s music is highly recognizable, we can never be sure where a track is going upon beginning it. It wanders in a manner reminiscent of that its name alludes to, The Dark Side Of The Moon’s exploratory intros and the meditative potential within. -Adrienne Thomas
32. Justin Timberlake – The 20/20 Experience
“So high I’m on the ceiling, baby,” chirped Justin Timberlake’s return to pop music in the signature falsetto “Pusher Lover Girl,” which opened The 20/20 Experience with gusto. This euphoria led Timberlake’s entire narrative for a sultry reappearance from five-year a musical hiatus. The love drunk character suited the soothing pop superstar, paired with synth and string instruments that created an overwhelmingly amorous experience–just as the singer may have felt about his new marriage. The 20/20 Experience was Timberlake’s most positive, most reflective and most powerful project, an audio drug that was a truly introspective audio treat for fans. The lush, overgrown and mature sounds captured the man in the boy we always heard a hint of in previous solo efforts post-boy band. The R&B and pop glory was smoothed over in Timberlake’s golden voice, encapsulated within the familiar production sounds of projects prior. What a win. (Part 2 intentionally overlooked.) -JasonRadford
31. Charli XCX – Modern Romance
There’s tension at the core of Charli XCX’s songs, lava churning under cloudy atmospherics. The English songwriter’s breakout, “Nuclear Seasons,” is a cumulous, confessional blurt hanging over crisp synth rhythm and blasts of piano. Modern Romance is pop pastiche, a Tumblr scroll of Danceteria classics and Euro-pop stars of more recent vintage. Whether Charli (née Charlotte Emma Aitchison) is finding new love on the dance floor (“Take My Hand”) or giving an old one the slip (“You (Ha Ha Ha)”), she does so with lyrics sharp and polished as a knuckle ring, and the crackle of electric youth. Oh, yeah, she also wrote and appears on Icona Pop’s “I Love It.” It’s safe to say Charli XCX had a nuclear year. -Kate Silver
