25 Best Albums Of 2013

13. Foals - Holy Fire Any album boasting a 'Prelude' as an opening track must work hard to deliver on its epic promise. It's not Wordsworth (as there are no lyrics) but it does create a 4-minute panoramic landscape of what to expect from the following 10 songs. The last time this was effective was in the intros and interludes used on An Awesome Wave album from kings of 2012, Alt-J (a huge compliment in my book). The first half of the album is packed with the record's biggest sounds and singles; 'Inhaler' and 'My Number' are sparks amidst the density of 'Late Night' and 'Bad Habit'. However, these fiery sparks smoulder into the moody embers that comprise the second half of the album. Titles like 'Out of the Woods' and 'Milk and Spiders' conjure the thick misty atmosphere that drifts through these songs. Lead vocalist Yannis' plaintive, echoing cries bring together a searching and blindly impassioned album. Check out the review of 'Late Night' in the top singles list for more on the dark, stumbling journey that Holy Fire undertakes. The refrain "I know I cannot be true, I'm an animal just like you... I bleed just like you" of 'Providence' is the album in a snapshot. Holy Fire is the antidote to Antidotes in many ways. The band's sound is more cohesive, creating a consistency opposing the catchy-tune nature of 'Cassius' and 'Olympic Airways'. Half a decade apart, each album has its place and should not be reduced to a binary contrast but the passing years suggest we have seen foals mature to horses. Words by George Meixner

12. My Bloody Valentine- MBV

To say that My Bloody Valentine are one of the most obstinate bands of all time is somewhat of an understatement €“ in terms of perfectionism their only peers are the La's - and whilst it may have taken twenty-two years to release 'MBV' - the follow up to 'Loveless' - at least they managed to finish it. The only shame is that most of it was written and recorded years ago, so why make us wait so long? If they have a modern day literary equivalent it would be the American writer Donna Tartt - mind you, with three novels in twenty one years she's pretty prolific in comparison. Like Tartt, My Bloody Valentine have their own style that they float in and out of, but they always manage to sound like no one else you've ever heard and seem to be only influenced by themselves. 'MBV' is no exception; it's more of the same and of course that means it's wonderful. They smack you around the head with what sounds like samples of jet plane engines on 'Who sees you' and 'Only tomorrow', seemingly invent a new music genre €“ Space Jungle - on 'In another way' and the only slight disappointment here, the overlong 'Wonder 2', and try their hand at a wonderfully weird take on straightforward pop with 'New You'. My only quibble is I hoped it would sound a lot louder and closer to the unbelievable racket that they make playing live. Perhaps the technology isn't quite there yet, I'm sure that by the time the next record is released €“ which at this rate will be in 2047 - we'll be able to download mp72 files straight into our brains and feel the music all over our bodies. Which would probably the best way to listen to them anyway. Words by Ed Nash

11. Kanye West - Yeezus

With the release of his fifth studio album, Kanye West took a sizeable step, head raised to the stars, away from every other big-name hip-hop star. 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' was a collection of epic soliloquys, twisted and contorted, glossed with the most iridescent production that hip-hop had ever seen. It was, in West's own words, "perfection". Where '...Fantasy' was "perfection" though, 'Yeezus' is destruction. It takes the "dark" and "twisted" bits, adds in a sprinkle of 'Watch the Throne's couture hip-hop and then rips the ceiling from above it. No rapper who's ever sold as many records as Kanye, let alone made as many headlines, as ever been so daring. 'On Sight' is a cyborg-screamer of an opener, 'Send It Up' utilises fantastically ear-splitting air-raid horns, and 'Black Skinhead' is a ferocious swipe at anyone who questions Ye's polymathism; breathless, boiling, and blood still dripping from his canines. This is a record in which Kanye's adrenaline unceasingly pumps through his veins; you can feel it pulsing beneath the skin on the shockingly honest 'Hold My Liquor', but it's always close to the surface, erupting on both 'New Slaves' and 'Blood on the Leaves', the diamond in the centre the record, that spins into faces of anger, despair and gasping melody. The engrossing highlight of 'Yeezus', it sums up the album: psychotic paranoia delivered with a scream and a pop-culture reference. It oddly sums Kanye West up, too. 'Yeezus' is maybe the furthest we'll ever venture into his Messiah-complexed, labyrinthine mind, and it feels like the definitive portrait of the rapper that we've come to know. It lurks in the dingy spaces between fury and the fascinating: it's frighteningly captivating. And it's every bit as perfect as 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'. Words by Mark White