Best of The Year: Miguel Chen (Teenage Bottlerocket), Jon Loudon (Restorations), Laura Stevenson

'Tis the season for us to commence posting "Best of 2013" lists. It's been a good year for music and we've invited a couple friends to submit their favorites for us to share with you. In the first edition of guest Best of 2013 lists, we have Miguel Chen from Teenage Bottlerocket, Jon Loudon from Restorations, and the lovely Laura Stevenson. We'll be bringing you these guests lists twice a week for the rest of December. Enjoy!

You can click Read More for their lists.

Miguel Chen is the bass player of Teenage Bottlerocket.

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10
Jetty Boys: Let 'Er Rip
Kid Tested Records

9
The Flatliners: Dead Language
Fat Wreck Chords

8
Night Birds: Born To Die In Suburbia
Grave Mistake Records

7
Get Dead: Bad News
Fat Wreck Chords

6
Off With Their Heads: Home
Epitaph

5
The Creeps: Our Time
Self-Release

4
Swingin' Utters: Poorly Formed
Fat Wreck Chords

3
Iron Chic: The Constant One
Bridge Nine

2
Murderburgers: These Are Only Problems
Asian Man Records

1
Various Artists: The Songs of Tony Sly: A Tribute
Fat Wreck Chords

Jon Loudon is the vocalist and guitarist of Restorations. From Jon:

Honorable Mention: Savages, Waxahatchee, Psychic Teens, Earthless, True Widow, Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats, Superchunk, Night Marchers. Shout outs to Paint It Black’s Invisible and The Smith Street Band’s Don’t fuck With Our Dreams EPs, too.

10
Hell : I-III Cassette Box Set
Loweryourhead
Totally missed this band while they still had things in print. "I" "II" and "III" were the best metal(?) I stumbled upon this year. Wild band.

9
The National: Trouble Will Find Me
4AD
There’s been enough said about this record. "Hard To Find" is their best.

8
Frightened Rabbit: Pedestrian Verse
Atlantic Records
Again, maybe not their best, but this got a ton of spins. "The Woodpile" is Olympics-grade indie pop.

7
Self Defense Family: The Corrections Officer In Me [EP]
Family Drugs
Is that new full length out yet? The most interesting band in punk.

6
The Bronx: The Bronx IV
ATO / White Drugs
This started the most circle pits in our van this year.

5
The Necks: Open
Northern Spy
Slow. Really slow.

4
Nails: Abandon All Life
Southern Lord
Fast. Really fast.

3
Bars of Gold: Wheels
Bellyache Records
They finally nailed it. Brilliant, and as good as (better than, at times?) anything Bear Vs. Shark ever did.

2
Mark Kozelek & Desertshore : Mark Kozelek & Desertshore
Caldo Verde
This is my second favorite songwriter, joined here by a couple of musicians from some of my favorite records of his. Droney folk music with bizarre lyrics.

1
Bill Callahan: Dream River
Drag City
This is my favorite songwriter. Maybe not his best record, but I listened to it more than anything else since it came out. "Small Plane" and "Summer Painter" are among his best. His lead guitar player deserves a lot of credit, too.

Laura Stevenson performs solo and also with Laura Stevenson and the Cans.

10
Katy Perry: Prism
Capitol Records

9
Owen: L'Ami du Peuple
Polyvinyl

8
Vampire Weekend: Modern Vampire of the City
XL

7
Neko Case: The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You
Anti-Records

6
Tim Kasher: Adult Film
Saddle Creek

5
Tegan and Sara: Heartthrob
Warner Bros.

4
Frightened Rabbit: Pedestrian Verse
Atlantic Records

3
The Spinto Band: Cool Cocoon
Spintonic

2
Kurt Vile: Wakin on a Pretty Daze
Matador

1
Jake Bellows: New Ocean
Saddle Creek