The best albums of 2013 so far: A mid-year status report

Given the volume of music released already in 2013, a half-year update on the best so far is assuredly in order. After all, six months in and already Coachella broke records, Lil Wayne was nearly pronounced dead by the press, the Rolling Stones have come and gone, Azaelea Banks still hasn’t released her debut, LL Cool J and Brad Paisley have attempted to solve the problem of race in America, a bunch of Frenchmen have stormed the charts, Beyoncé has stomped across the Super Bowl stage and Snoop Dogg has changed his name to Lion and back again. Oh, and Kanye West has declared himself a god and desecrated “Strange Fruit” while releasing a phenomenally produced...