Welcome to the 2013 Musical Bacon Calendar! This is the fifth year of the calendar, in which we count down our favorite 31 albums from the year.¹

If you acquired any new music in 2013, you’d probably agree that 2013 was a great year for music. There are quite a few repeat artists on the Calendar (a quick count of this year’s list has eleven artists that have been featured in previous year’s Calendars), as well as some long-time favorites who have finally released something worth including.

It’s been a good year for live performance as well. In total, I saw 64 bands perform this year, which is 30 fewer than last year. Even though I didn’t go to SXSW this year, or Sasquatch, I did cover Bumbershoot in its entirety, and I attended the Treasure Island Music Festival — as an attendee, not as a writer — for the first time. But enough about the year that was. Let’s get to the music, shall we?

#31 on the 2013 Musical Bacon Calendar

Let’s Be Still by The Head and the Heart

This album was doomed to fail. The Head and the Heart’s self-titled debut album was the 10th best album of 2010, and with the extensive touring the band has committed to in the subsequent years, expectations were extremely, impossibly high.

And it’s a great album, on its own merit. But compared to the band’s previous work, it doesn’t measure up. It has the sound of a more mature band, a band that’s slowed down a tad. But it also expands on the themes established in that debut, creating an album that is richer, fuller, deeper.

You would probably be best served to go in with no expectations. If you can muster that sort of self-control, you’ll find yourself pleasantly surprised by what lies within. I haven’t seen the band perform since the album came out², and I’m anxious to see how they bring these new songs to their legendary live show.

And there we go. The 2013 Calendar has officially kicked off. Hold on tight, it’s going to be an exciting ride.

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2012 Musical Bacon Calendar
2011 Musical Bacon Calendar
2010 Musical Bacon Calendar
2009 Musical Bacon Calendar

To keep my sanity and to ensure that every album gets its due consideration, the Bacon Calendar operates on a November 1 – October 31 year. Therefore, any album released on or after November 1, 2012, and before November 1, 2013, is up for contention for the 2013 Musical Bacon Calendar. ↩
This will be rectified on December 3 as part of the stellar line-up featured at the 2013 Deck the Hall Ball. ↩