ALARM's 51 Favorite Albums of 2013

ALARM’s 51 Favorite Albums of 2013

Saving the best for last, we’ve chosen our 51 favorite albums of 2013, pulled from the acclaimed and the unsung — some of the best as well as most boundary-pushing releases from rock and beyond.

Punk-rap super-group The White Mandingos vs. #swag in “The Ghetto Is Tryna Kill Me”

The White MandingosThe White Mandingos:The Ghetto Is Tryna Kill Me (Fat Beats, 6/11/13)

Super-group The White Mandingos, comprised of rapper Murs, Bad Brains bassist Darryl Jenifer, and Ego Trip magazine founder Sacha Jenkins, is releasing its debut album, The Ghetto Is Tryna Kill Me, on Fat Beats in June. A concept album about a Harlem projects-dwelling rocker, it’s shaping up to be an incisive, satirical, and unique blast of dub-infused rap punk.

Q&A: Ill Bill on getting personal, Henry Rollins and Chuck D, and a changing Brooklyn

Ill Bill: The Grimy AwardsIll Bill: The Grimy Awards (Uncle Howie / Fat Beats, 2/26/13)

“Paul Baloff”

Ill Bill: “Paul Baloff”

It’s one thing to say a lot on an album; it’s quite another to actually have something to say. Drawing from artists who are equal parts entertainer and activist, Ill Bill uses his new solo album, The Grimy Awards, as a platform to both tell his story of growing up around drugs and violence in Brooklyn and sound the alarm against blind acquiescence to authority.

The former Non Phixion MC, coming off recent collaborations with La Coka Nostra and Vinnie Paz, teams with a host of collaborators and producers — including Large Professor, Pete Rock, El-P, HR of Bad Brains, and more — to showcase both the scars and the life lessons that come from being a hip-hop heavyweight with nearly three decades in the ring.