13 Songs For 2013

This is a bit different for me.

Since I'm still working on my 2013 recap for you - it's really about being inept at collage making, truth be told - I figured I would put something else together quickly that was a reflection of sorts on the year that just came to an end.

13 Songs for 2013. Not necessarily from 2013 (some are, though). Just 13 songs that stood out to me, were on repeat, of emotional relevance, etc. This year was big for me, musically, and though I am not generally of the music sharing blogging platform.. it's a new year, so let's do it.

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James Blake - Retrograde / This album is insanely good. I absolutely love it from start to finish, full & through, truly, madly, deeply. It's probably my 1st or 2nd favorite album from last year, which is hard to peg. It's a perfect 'listen through' album, and I find this song to be the absolute sexiest.

Sharon Van Etten - Ask /  This album legitimately got me through the months of January & February last year. I listened to it over & over again, and it's in that 1st or 2nd placing as well. Though the whole thing is perfect, I decided on this one because the lyrics are incredible.

Twin Shadow - 5 Seconds / This song reminds me of the Spring & Summer, as it got the most plays around that time (a.k.a over & over). Plus, this is just the kind of song that you play on a Summer night drive with the windows down, hand out the window, air in your hair, etc.

Wild Belle - Keep You / This band could very well be just a "flavour", but I have really enjoyed them over the past year. I like their horn section & subtle use of island sounds, and I love this song the most. It's a bit of a national anthem for the cat & mouse relationship. Love games. Romance roller-coasters. And I think that, "Tell me what the matter is, little man, I've got a pretty face & I wear a nice dress" is maybe my favorite lyric in ever.

St. Vincent - Actor Out Of Work / I love St. Vincent & I did quite a bit of listening to her this year past. I'm looking forward to her new album dropping in February, but, until then, I just picked one on the random since they are all the very best. "You're a boxer in the ring. With brass knuckles underneath. You're the curses through my teeth. You're the laughter, you're the obscene. You're a cast signed broken arm. You're an actor out of work. I think I love you, I think I'm mad."

Washed Out - It All Feels Right / I like this album, but I love this track. It's dreamy. It's easy on the ears. It's ethereal. It makes you forget for just a minute.

Susanne Sundfør - White Foxes /  This song is sad & good & creepy & everything else. I love her voice so hard. It almost has a Celtic feel to it, which is weird since she's from Norway. And this: "I've wept and I've stumbled, I fought and I craved for the gravy of your soul". Soul gravy!

Sky Ferreira - You're Not The One / I have to tell you that I really, really like Sky Ferreria. This song is a song I dig deeply, but went with what's below where it was on repeat the last month of 2013. "It's the middle of the night & I'm so gone". I like your style, miss Ferreria.

Deerhunter - Dream Captain / Some proper garage rock. I love this album very hard, and this song is one of my favorites. This song makes me want to drink beer from a cup & wear all of my denim cut offs.

Kathleen Edwards - Chameleon/Comedian / I'll be seeing this lady perform locally at the end of this month, and I'm so very excited. A sit down show in a beautiful, old church with perfect acoustics & my flask full of whiskey (shhh) - I can't wait. This song is perfect and I think the lyric, "I don't need a punch line" is one of my forever favorites.

The Heavy Blinkers - When You Go / This song does all of the things to me. It's gorgeously arranged. The harmonies are spotless. And guys, THE LYRICS. Gut punchers: "When you go, I'm left like a widow of the war who sits and waits for no one at the door". "Be kind to me, I want to ease into this heartache tonight. Every great love passes and so must I.". Dead.

The Ronettes - The Best Part Of Breaking Up / I listened to this album a heck of a lot this year. It's one of my all time favorites, and I've donned it my "desert island album" before. Not because it's the best music I have ever heard in ever, but because it can reliably make me sway a little & feel nice.

 

Françoise Hardy - Le Temps De L'Amour / I got the album that this is from on vinyl this year, and it sounds the most lovely. I am a pretty big sucker for french yé-yé pop, and then they went and used this in Moonrise Kingdom in 2012. Plus, Françoise Hardy is on of the most quintessential babes ever.

An extra! 

Daft Punk - Get Lucky / Because I can't keep anything to what I say it will be - always the unsatisfied (sigh) - here's one more favorite from the past year. This one is a bit more predictable, since it was all over the place, but it's so good, so infectious, such a dance jam, and I still turn it up when it comes on.