I didn’t listen to a ton of new music this year, and probably listened to as much old music (old country, old jazz, old punk, lots of Elvis) as new. But there were a few 2013 releases I really liked. Here, in no particular order, are the albums I found myself returning to repeatedly.
Queens of the Stone Age, . . . Like Clockwork
Arcade Fire, Reflektor
Paramore (self-titled album)
Mazzy Star, Seasons of Your Day
Camera Obscura, Desire Lines
Wilie Nelson and Family, Let’s Face the Music and Dance
Robbie Fulks, Gone Away Backward
Shearwater, Fellow Travelers
Long-time readers may notice the absence of any heavy metal on this list. For whatever reason, 2013 was the year I almost completely lost interest in new metal. Particularly “extreme” metal. Maybe I’m getting old (maybe?), but I’ve gotten really tired of the cliched, cookie-cutter Cookie Monster vocals and the dearth of melody and effective songwriting that characterizes so much extreme metal.
A Thinking Reed 
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