Best Releases Of 2013: #30-21

#30: Deniro Farrar - "The Patriarch"

One of the most solid hip hop releases of the year, easily. This is a good album to play for people who say stuff like "there's no good new rap that comes out anymore" or "where is the realness in new hip hop?". His songs generally have a very laid back vibe, but he has a very commanding mic presence without having to shout or get wild.

#29: E-40 - "The Block Brochure: Welcome To The Soil Vols. 4-6"

E-40 just won't quit making dope music. Yet another simultaneous multiple album release from him that does not disappoint. I will even say this is a little more solid throughout than the first 3 volumes of the series were. It seems like he's not trying to win over any new fans this time around and made a bunch of songs for his core audience to enjoy. I love it.

#28: Matmos - "The Marriage Of True Minds"

The results of their experiments this time around were a success in my book. Matmos never fails to keep it interesting, but this time around, I think it ended up being a little more listenable than usual for them.

#27: Anika - "EP"

I was a pretty big fan of her debut LP from a couple years ago. They reused one of the songs from that LP on here for some reason (I actually don't mind. I love the song), and then put a couple good dub versions of songs from that album on here as well, then added a few new songs to spice it up. The end result is a superb EP that I always want to keep going once it's over.

#26: Free The Robots - "In Other Worlds"

He's been pumping out great releases steadily for the past few years, and this EP is no exception. All the songs on here shine.

#25: Thundercat - "Apocalypse"

I think this 2nd album from him is an improvement on the first one in many ways. It's less experimental, but still weird enough for me, and showcases his immense skills as a bass player much more. You can tell this is just the beginning of a lengthy and prestigious career ahead of him. He just oozes talent.

#24: Zomby - "With Love"

I noticed a lot of critics, and really the industry in general, seemed to shun this album, even shit on it a little. I can't fathom why. A double LP full of awesome beats with a couple dance tracks sprinkled in. I really love driving around and listening to this in the car. This album does a good job of mostly staying within a common theme and soundscape, but still having a good variety of songs to keep me interested.

#23: The Uncluded - "Hokey Fright"

The unlikely duo of Kimya Dawson and Aesop Rock really works for me. I can see how a lot of people, especially from his fanbase, might find this album annoying, but I really appreciate what they did here. I went back a got a lot of her older releases after getting this, and apparently I was a Kimya Dawson fan and didn't know it. A bunch of my friends told me before I heard her that they thought I would hate her music, but they were obviously dead wrong. They should know that I usually love unique voices with good, honest songwriting skills to back it up. It also cool how this is way more in her sound spectrum than his, but he still doesn't sound out of place on this album at all.

#22: Nine Inch Nails - "Hesitation Marks"

A lot of people dogged this album due to it's more pop oriented nature compared to his previous works, but in my opinion most of those people are the same fools who dogged "The Fragile" when it was new for 'not being hardcore enough", and then turned around and fully embraced "With Teeth" when it was new, even though it was far more pop oriented than anything he'd ever released before, and clearly inferior to "The Fragile" in every way. This album is way better than "With Teeth" was, in my opinion, but I will say that "Hesitation Marks" is probably his 2nd worst album. It's still Trent Reznor doing what he does though, and that still is something that I enjoy a lot. He doesn't have to make a classic album every time to still make great music.

#21: Moistboyz - "V"

This one is a little more laid back than the previous volumes, but this is a super solid rock album, and definitely fills my fix for new Ween oriented material after they broke up.