Country Universe’s Best Albums of 2013, Part One: #40-#21

For the second year, Country Universe is publishing a 40-deep list of the year’s best albums.  Part One includes releases from talented newcomers, genre legends, and quite a few entries from the outskirts of country music.  As usual, that’s where most of the cool stuff can be found.

Country Universe will close out our year with the conclusion of this list tomorrow.  As always, share your thoughts and opinions in the comments!

Dan Grimm Ventucky

#40
Ventucky

Dan Grimm

Individual rankings:  #12 – Jonathan

The EP format doesn’t leave much margin for error, but with a knack for unconventional imagery and a style that blends vintage SoCal rock with authentic honky-tonk, Dan Grimm ensures that every track on his freewheeling, endlessly likable Ventucky is a standout. – Jonathan Keefe

Recommended Tracks:  “Skeletor,” “300 Beers”

Avett Brothers Magpie and the Dandelion

#39
Magpie and the Dandelion
The Avett Brothers

Individual rankings:  #12 – Sam

Since moving up to a major label, the Avetts’ album releases have strayed further and further away from their ragged-but-right indie albums. There aren’t as many reckless moments, though “Another Is Waiting” and “Open Ended Life” come close. The trade is that their slower, introspective songs are increasingly sophisticated. “Good to You” is beautifully written, and Bob Crawford’s rare vocals are a dagger to the heart for any dads who spend too much time traveling. – Sam Gazdziak

Recommended Tracks: “Good to You”, “Another is Waiting”, “Morning Song”

Matraca Berg Loves Truck Stop

#38
Love’s Truck Stop

Matraca Berg

Individual rankings:  #11 – Kevin

Originally released in Europe last year, Matraca Berg’s latest collection builds on the strength of 2011’s Dreaming Fields. She embodies the characters of her song so fully that she allows you to walk as easily in the shoes of a truck stop waitress as those of a grieving, abused daughter clutching flowers at her father’s graveside. Her vulnerable vocals shine best on “My Heart Will Never Break This Way Again”, which was sung by Patty Loveless many years ago. – Kevin Coyne

Recommended Tracks:  “Her Name is Mary”, “Fistful of Roses”, “My Heart Will Never Break This Way Again”

Sheryl Crow Feels Like Home

#37
Feels Like Home
Sheryl Crow

Individual rankings:  #11 – Leeann

It was inevitable that Sheryl Crow would eventually make a country album, since she’s dabbled in it over the years on various tribute projects and has collaborated with country stalwarts like Willie Nelson and Vince Gill, not to mention that even her pop albums have had elements of country in them. So, Feels Like Home seems appropriate for the title of her first official country record.
While certainly not a traditional country record, as I had personally hoped it would be, Crow is instead authentic to her way of doing things, while also being able to draw from the good parts of the modern sounds and styles of country music. – Leeann Ward

Recommended Tracks:  “We Oughta Be Drinkin'”, “Stay at Home Mother”

Gibson Brothers They Called it Music

#36
They Called it Music
The Gibson Brothers

Individual rankings:  #11 – Ben

On the title track of They Called it Music, IBMA Entertainers of the Year Leigh and Eric Gibson pine for the days when music was honest, simple, and “helped the hard times heal” – when it was a medium of art and self-expression rather than a mere moneymaker. Whether lighthearted (“Buy a Ring, Find a Preacher”), melancholy (“Dying for Someone to Live For”) or introspective (“Something Coming to Me”), the entire album is a beautiful realization of that very standard. – Ben Foster

Recommended Tracks:  “Buy a Ring, Find a Preacher,” “They Called It Music,” “Something Coming to Me”

Mando Saenz Studebaker

#35
Studebaker

Mando Saenz

Individual rankings:  Sam – #11

The third album from Texas-raised, Nashville resident Saenz is the most eclectic and best of his career. While the focus is still on his sharp songwriting skills, the mood varies from introspective to rocking to, on “Tall Grass,” downright playful. Saenz collaborated with an A-list batch of co-writers, including Kim Richey for “Break Away Speed” and Wade Bowen for “Bottle into Gold,” and the mix of songs with Saenz’s pleasant vocals and a hot band is a winning combination. – Sam Gazdziak

Recommended Tracks:  “Break Away Speed”, “Bottle into Gold”, “Pocket Change”

Sarah Jarosz Build Me Up From Bones

#34
Build Me Up from Bones
Sarah Jarosz

Individual rankings:  #17 – Jonathan; #19 – Ben

On her third album, Build Me Up from Bones, Sarah Jarosz found her voice as both a singer and a songwriter. Her sense of phrasing draws from both her expansive knowledge of contemporary folk and her conservatory training in improvisation, and sharply observed original songs like “Gone Too Soon” and “1000 Things” more than hold their own alongside Joanna Newsom and Bob Dylan covers. – Jonathan Keefe

Recommended Tracks: “Over the Edge,” “Build Me Up from Bones,” “1000 Things”

Peter Cooper Opening Day

#33
Opening Day
Peter Cooper

Individual rankings: #16 – Leeann; #18 – Sam

eter Cooper’s second album was entitled after the great pedal steel guitar player, Lloyd Green. While Opening Day is not named after him, Green is still the other star player on Cooper’s third stellar solo album. Along with Green’s prominent steel and cooper’s own emotionally conversational voice, Cooper once again proves that he is as an adept songwriter as he is a journalist. Themes of living life well, baseball (Of course!), and even drone strikes. Each of these songs with its various themes are all presented with either insight or witty humor and sometimes both. – Leeann Ward

Recommended Tracks:  “Much Better Now”, “Quiet Little War”

Whiskey Gentry Holly Grove

#32
Holly Grove
The Whiskey Gentry

Individual rankings: #8 – Sam

It’s hard to say if The Whiskey Gentry will be the next big thing to come out of Georgia, but they have the talent to spare. The band mixes in bluegrass, country, a bit of Celtic and a dash of punk rock, resulting in a high-energy, hard-to-classify sound. “I Ain’t Nothing” and “Dixie” wouldn’t sound out of place in a honky tonk, while “Colly Davis” is a bluegrass-on-amphetamines winner. The title track is a four-and-a-half minute epic that was one of the most moving songs of the year. – Sam Gazdziak

Recommended Tracks:  “Holly Grove”, “Particles”, “I Ain’t Nothing”

Rebecca Frazier When We Fall

#31
When We Fall

Rebecca Frazier
Individual rankings: Ben – #7

Rebecca Frazier is a genuine triple threat – a great picker, a great singer, and a great songwriter. She shows that she can throw it down with the best of them on “Ain’t Gonna Work Tomorrow” as well as a trio of stellar instrumental tracks, while her delivery of ballads such as the deeply personal “Babe in Arms” resounds with humanity and vulnerability, the result being one of the year’s finest bluegrass albums. – Ben Foster

Recommended Tracks: “When We Fall,” “Ain’t Gonna Work Tomorrow,” “Babe in Arms”

4PAN1T

#30
Not Cool
Tim Easton

Individual rankings:  #7 – Jonathan

Even if its self-deprecating title isn’t at all accurate, singer-songwriter Tim Easton’s Not Cool proves that, despite the glut of counter-evidence 2013 presented, it’s still possible to incorporate a heavy rock influence into folk and country styles without sacrificing wit, craft, or genre know-how. Spirited, ramshackle cuts like “Lickety Split” and “Crazy Motherfucker from Shelby, OH” make the underrated Easton’s seventh outing one of the year’s most raucous and, yes, coolest albums. – Jonathan Keefe

Recommended Tracks:  “Troubled Times,” “Lickety Split,” “They Will Bury You”

Brad Paisley Wheelhouse

#29
Wheelhouse
Brad Paisley

Individual rankings:  Sam – #7

Did you know that Brad Paisley released one of the best albums of his career this year? The humorous songs, like “Harvey Bodine” and “Death of a Single Man,” stayed humorous after multiple listenings, and unlike most other country singers, Paisley blended in pop elements, like sampling Roger Miller in “Outstanding in Our Field,” and did it without turning them into pop or rock songs with token country elements. “Southern Comfort Zone” and “Those Crazy Christians” showed more depth than their titles would suggest. And all anyone wanted to talk about was that damn “Accidental Racist” song.  – Sam Gazdziak

Recommended Tracks:  “Southern Comfort Zone”, “Beat This Summer”, “Death of a Single Man”

John Moreland In the Throes

#28
In the Throes
John Moreland

Individual rankings: #6 – Jonathan

A difficult meditation on what happens when one has experienced losses of love and faith, John Moreland’s In the Throes is a testament to the redemptive power of music. He may sing, “Nobody Gives a Damn About Songs Anymore,” on the album’s most keenly observed song, but Moreland’s spectacular songwriting is something everyone should hear. – Jonathan Keefe

Recommended Tracks: “Nobody Gives a Damn About Songs Anymore,” “Break My Heart Sweetly,” “Blues & Kudzu”

Lorrie Morgan and Pam Tillis Dos Divas

#27
Dos Divas
Lorrie Morgan & Pam Tillis

Individual rankings: #13 – Kevin; #16 – Ben

A lively and entertaining collaboration between two nineties, second-generation country stars. The album features six full collaborations, along with four solo tracks from each artist. The pairings are funny and loose, recalling the best of those old-school duet albums from the sixties and seventies. But the biggest surprise is in the solo turns by Lorrie Morgan, who turns in some of her strongest moments ever put down to tape. – Kevin Coyne

Recommended Tracks:  “Last Night’s Makeup”, “Next Time it Rains”, “I Know What You Did Last Night”

Julie Roberts Good Wine and Bad Decisions

#26
Good Wine and Bad Decisions
Julie Roberts

Individual rankings: #13 – Ben; #16 – Tara

Roberts’ comeback album is best approached with an aching heart and a glass of something smooth – all the better to absorb its combo of earthy blues and provoking, damn-that’s-depressing stories. But don’t mistake Good Wine and Bad Decisions for a downer; Roberts lures you into her dark places with such emotional gusto and groovy, engaging vibes that you somehow end up celebrating in misery. – Tara Seetharam

Recommended Tracks:  “Arms of Jesus,” “He Made a Woman Out of Me,” “Bones,” “Old Strings”

Blue Sky Riders Finally Home

#25
Finally Home
Blue Sky Riders

Individual rankings:  #4 – Dan

With their considerable powers combined, Georgia Middleman, Gary Burr, and Kenny Loggins (Kenny Loggins!) produce the year’s most relentlessly positive LP. No time for cynics here; this is distilled country-poptimism, a set of songs that could easily soundtrack a self-help seminar (“Just Say Yes”! “How About Now”!) and like it that way, thanks. And are you gonna complain? The songs are so catchy, you will help yourself. – Dan Milliken

Recommended Tracks:  “Little Victories”, “Just Say Yes”, “How About Now”

Willie Nelson To All The Girls

#24
To All the Girls…
Willie Nelson

Individual rankings:  #12 – Tara; #15 – Leeann

Only Nelson could create an album akin to a mug of hot chocolate on a lazy Sunday afternoon that still feels elegant and impeccably thought-out. There’s no doubt he was tickled to record with all 18 female acts, from current stars to genre darlings to his own family, and it shows. He plays to each of her strengths with grace – stepping back in “Grandma’s Hands” to let Mavis Staples take it to church, standing quietly still in “Always On My Mind” so Carrie Underwood can inhabit the classic, waltzing right alongside Norah Jones in “Walkin.” It’s all comfort food, to be sure, but comfort food of the classiest, most tasteful order. – Tara Seetharam

Recommended Tracks:  “Far Away Places,” “Please Don’t Tell Me How the Story Ends,” “Grandma’s Hands,” “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?”

Kim Richey Thorn in My Heart

#23
Thorn in My Heart
Kim Richey

Individual rankings: #15 – Kevin; #18 – Ben; #19 – Tara

Built around full-bodied melodies, subtle yet evocative arrangements, and authoritative vocal performances, Thorn in My Heart is another excellent collection of mature, compelling roots country songs by one of the genre’s most underrated singer-songwriters.  – Ben Foster

Recommended Tracks:  “Thorn in My Heart,” “London Town,” “Breakaway Speed”

Lori McKenna Massachusetts

#22
Massachusetts
Lori McKenna
Individual rankings: #3 – Kevin

Whereas the previous, excellent Lorraine dealt heavily in the themes of loss and grief, the finest moments on McKenna’s latest collection surround matters of the heart. McKenna captures the quiet desperation just under the surface of life’s mundanity better than any writer today.  – Kevin Coyne

Recommended Tracks: “Shake”, “Salt”, “Smaller and Smaller”

Caitlin Rose The Stand-In

#21
The Stand-In
Caitlin Rose

Individual rankings: #10 – Dan; #11 – Jonathan

Liz Rose’s daughter once again proves her family can school yours all day long, with a sophomore set of songs every bit as sharp as her debut. Her soft, demure singing style belies her ability to slip powerful blows—whether aimed at others or herself—into a song. Call her Nashville’s ninja. – Dan Milliken

Recommended Tracks:  “I Was Cruel”, “Silver Sings”, “Menagerie”

Country Universe’s Best of 2013:

 

7 Comments

  1. Laura Bell Bundy came back this year? The last I heard from her was Giddy on Up, which I thought was a fun song. Evidently I did a google search for this song and ended up getting a free download. It sounds pretty much like the Gaga Version, with a slight country twang in there. Of course this was probably my favorite song on The Born This Way Album so I enjoyed LBB’s take on it.

  2. The John Moreland album is simply a phenomenal piece of songwriting. Every song is amazing, but my favorites are “Blacklist” and “3:59 AM.” Love that Caitlin Rose album, too. Such a great year for songwriters.

  3. I was disappointed Paisley’s album didn’t get more attention than it did for things not involving LL Cool J. Brad finally started taking some chances again with his music and while not all of them work, the overall end result was his most interesting album in several years.

  4. ^ Ditto what Andrew said above about Paisley’s album. He deserves more credit for an adventurous set of songs that, in my opinion, hit more often than they miss.

    Also, these year end lists always lead me to spending a portion of my Christmas money. It is a testament to how much I value and rely upon sites like Country Universe when it comes to finding good music.

  5. My favorite album of the year is “Finally Home” by Blue Sky Riders. Since we’re retired, most mornings my wife and I play music for about 2 hours. This album has easily been played over 100 times this year. Gary and Georgia have to be two of the most underrated vocalists. One reviewer earlier this year wrote that Finally Home “features brilliant three part harmonies and the rare combination of all three musicians sharing lead vocals without anyone taking the dominant role as the leader.”

    Quite a few of the other albums here I’m not familiar with but I’ll have to check out Kim and Matraca.

    An album that won’t appear on any lists in the U.S. that I would recommend is “One + One” from O’Shea, an Aussie pop country husband and wife duo. Saw them about 6 months ago.

  6. I’m glad that Caitlin Rose’s album The Stand-In was included in this year’s Top 40 list, because it was my pick for Album Of The Year overall for 2013, regardless of gender or genre. Besides the songs on the album that were mentioned, I’d like to throw in another track from it–“Golden Boy”, which seems very much influenced by one of Caitlin’s big heroes, Linda Ronstadt.

2 Trackbacks / Pingbacks

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