Top 5 Albums of January 2013

January 2013 ended up being an awesome month for music, and if you’re trying to play catch up with so much awesome material to sort through, having a list of the five best albums of the entire month is a great place to start off.

1. Anything in Return – Toro Y Moi

One of the original progenitors of the so-called “chillwave” movement, Chaz Bundick a.k.a. Toro Y Moi has come a long ways since his first album Causers of This.  Toro Y Moi’s sound has evolved with every new album he releases and that trend continues on Anything in Return, as Bundick has crafted the best collection of pop tracks since The-Dream’s Love King all the way back in 2012.

Favorite Tracks: “Harm in Change”, “Rose Quartz”, “Day One”

2. Light Up Gold - Parquet Courts

Parquet Courts have already delivered what is probably the best punk album of the 2010′s with their debut album Light Up Gold.  Not only does the album offer up killer guitar riffs and licks, but also some of the most cerebral and entertaining lyrics you’ll have heard from a punk band in years.

Favorite Tracks: “Borrowed Time”, “N. Dakota”, “Picture of Health”

3. General Dome - Buke and Gase

Although the story behind this band screams gimmick (the members named their band after the two instruments they “invented”), Buke and Gase are able to totally confound expectations by creating some of the best noise pop in years.  All while vastly improving upon their debut album Riposte.  The band draws from a myriad of different genres but it all comes together wonderfully to create some totally singular and invigorating music.

Favorite Tracks: “Houdini Crush”, “Hard Times”, “Split Like a Lip, No Blood on the Beard”

4. LONG.LIVE.A$AP - A$AP Rocky

Yeah, the album leaked all the way back in December, but the actual release date was January, 15th– so this album more than meets the cutoff.  A$AP Rocky built off the success of his debut mixtape LIVE.LOVE.A$AP by creating another sound collage that  only he could pull off, and while the album isn’t even close to being as great as Rocky hyped it up to be in all his interviews, it’s still pretty darn good.

Favorite Tracks: “PMW”, F*ckin Problems”, “1 Train”

5. Hummingbird - Local Natives

Local Natives may not exactly be innovators, as their music is often very reminiscent of their contemporaries Grizzly Bear, Fleet Foxes and others, but they still write some pretty sweet songs.  Local Natives may not take as many risks  as a band like Grizzly Bear but they’re much more unabashedly poppy and as such have some of the most catchy and enjoyable songs on their album you’ll hear this month.

Favorite Tracks: “Ceilings”, “Breakers”, “Colombia”