It turns out that the man who caught a gratuitous amount of Internet grousing earlier this year for dubbing himself "the nucleus of culture" was totally right. Behind us, there's 11 months of blustery, severe sounds, but Yeezus was the loudest, boldest, riskiest, best-selling, most controversial, and most divisive example. Click here to read Christopher R. Weingarten on how this album dominated a year of shadowplay.
2. Chance the Rapper, Acid Rap (Self-Released)
3. Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires in the City (XL)
4. Haim, Days Are Gone (Columbia)
5. Disclosure, Settle (Island)
6. Tim Hecker, Virgins (Kranky)
7. Boards of Canada, Tomorrow's Harvest (Warp)
8. Ka, The Night's Gambit (Iron Works)
9. The Knife, Shaking the Habitual (Mute)
10. Kurt Vile, Wakin on a Pretty Daze (Matador)
Other notable entries:
11. M.I.A.. Matangi (N.E.E.T./Interscope)
12. Danny Brown, Old (Fool's Gold)
19. Daft Punk, Random Access Memories (Columbia)
28. Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope)
32. Justin Timberlake, The 20/20 Experience (RCA)
37. Arcade Fire, Reflektor (Merge)
46. Pusha T, My Name is My Name (G.O.O.D. Music/Def Jam)
50. Drake, Nothing Was the Same (OVO/Young Money/Cash Money/Republic)
lol I'm sorry, but Yeezus is not anywhere close to the best album of 2013. It's not even a very good Kanye album, even though it has a few amazing songs.
"Musically, baroque went broke in 2013: The New York Opera closed, and Lady Gaga flopped with the most elaborate album-release campaign since MJ was erecting statues to himself."
5. Disclosure, Settle (Island)
6. Tim Hecker, Virgins (Kranky)
7. Boards of Canada, Tomorrow's Harvest (Warp)
My Bloody Valentine, Arcade Fire, Kurt Vile, The Haxan Cloak and Oneohtrix Point Never also made it! Jon Hopkins missing, which is really sad for SPIN.
@ Chance the Rapper. People are doing him dirty giving him all these false hopes 
