Best of The Year: Benny Horowitz (Gaslight Anthem) and Mikey Erg

Happy Thursday! Bailey the Elf Dog is pleased to bring you lists from Benny Horowitz (Gaslight Anthem) and our (failed) candidate for Against Me!'s new drummer, Mikey Erg.

You can click Read More for their picks.

.gh-album { min-height: 75px;


Benny Horowitz plays drums in Gaslight Anthem. His list is in no particular order.

Modern Life Is War: Fever Hunting
Deathwish Inc.

Kendrick Lamar: Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City
Top Dawg, Aftermath, Interscope

Defeater: Letters Home
Bridge Nine Records

The Flatliners: Dead Language
Fat Wreck Chords

Queens of the Stone Age: …Like Clockwork
Matador Records

J. Cole: Born Sinner
Columbia, Roc Nation

Touche Amore: Is Survived By
Deathwish Inc.

Gates: You are All You Have Left to Fear
Pure Noise Records

Nine Inch Nails: Hesitation Marks
Columbia Records

Dave Hause: Devour
Rise Records

Sigur Ros: Kveikur
XL Recordings


Mikey Erg is involved with The Ergs!, Star Fucking Hipsters, The Dopamines, The Unlovables, Dirtbike Annie, and Parasites. He also performs solo.


10
Eminem: The Marshall Mathers LP 2
Aftermath Entertainment, Shady Records, and Interscope Record
Been loving this album recently. Classic Eminem. Plus he samples The Zombies. How can you lose?


9
My Bloody Valentine: mbv
Self-Released
An album I never thought I'd get to hear. Picks up perfectly where 1991's Loveless left off! Beautiful.


8
David Bowie: The Next Day
Columbia
This was an incredible year for artists that we thought fell off the face of the earth coming back with some of their best material.


7
Pissed Jeans: Honeys
Sub Pop
I'm convinced that this band will never put out anything less than stellar.


9
Elvis Costello/The Roots: Wise Up Ghost
Blue Note
An unexpected pairing that works incredibly well. Think Elvis' 2002 release "When I Was Cruel" for a sound comparison.


5
Nine Inch Nails: Hesitation Marks/Tension Rehearsals 2013
Columbia Records
The last thing I was expecting this year was a full on rediscovery of NIN's music but once I heard the leaked Tension rehearsal tapes I was immediately back in. Hesitation Marks came out shortly after and quickly became one of my favorite records.


4
Superchunk: I Hate Music
Merge Records
Superchunk's "comeback" records and some of the finest the band has ever done.


3
Andy Kaufman: Andy and his Grandmother
Drag City
Made up of recordings that Andy made on a cassette recorder he carried around with him for years. A wonderful insight into a brilliant comedy mind.


2
Kanye West: Yeezus
Def Jam
I don't think any record has gotten me into more arguments than this one. Kanye makes a noise record. It's funny, immediate and brilliant.


1
Daft Punk: Random Access Memories
Daft Life, Columbia Records
Without a doubt my favorite record of the year. So funky. It's Perfect. Nile Rodgers is GOD.

Favorite EPs of 2013
5. My Man: 65 Songs -- Seriously great Indie pop from Toronto. I fucking love this band.
4. MAGUMA TAISHI: Self Titled -- Mike Park and Paddy Costello inspired by Japanese hardcore? Sign me up!
3. Who Needs You: With Friends Like These -- The best current pop punk band? Very Likely.
2. Against Me: True Trans -- Teaser single for what with no doubt be my favorite record of next year.
1. Ian Rubbish: The Best Of -- EP of songs by Fred Armison's brilliant take on early British punk rock.

Reissues
5. The Who: Tommy Super Deluxe Edition --
Expanded with Pete Townshend's demos of nearly the entire record. Tommy recorded on a 4-Track. Fucking awesome.
4. Grateful Dead: The Complete Studio Albums Collection --
I know, I know. The Grateful Dead, BUT these are great records and this Hi Rez collection literally makes you feel like you're in the studio listening to the final mixes.Maybe the thing I've listened to most this year.
3. Half Japanese: 1/2 Gentlemen Not Beasts --
Takes the original 3 LP debut album and expands it to 4 LPs with a ton of bonus tracks. Absolutely incredible.

2. Harry Nilsson: The RCA Albums Collection/Flash Harry --
This year saw the re-release of nearly all of this brilliant artist's material with stellar sound and heaps of bonus material. 2013 was a great year for Nilsson fans.
1. The Beatles: Live At The BBC/On Air: Live At The BBC Volume 2/Bootleg Recordings 1963 --
Re-release of 1994's BBC sessions updated from better sounding source material. Vol. 2 offers more great BBC recordings from my favorite band. Bootleg recordings add even more BBC recordings and a ton of outtakes. Released solely to extend the copyrights of the recordings for another 70 years. I love British copyright law.