As I promised last week, here are my picks for the best albums of 2013. This was a great year for music, except maybe for country. The realms of indie rock, Americana and electronica offered a smorgasbord of amazing songs and albums. Those of you who’ve been following my weekly album reviews have gotten but …read more.

Though she’s been playing music more than half her life, it took a period of soul-searching and despair for Amanda Shires to find her voice. She breaks out in a big way with her fourth solo album, “Down Fell the Doves.” After releasing her last album, “Carrying Lightning,” Shires went through a pretty rough patch. …read more.