Music in 2013: The 100 Greatest Tracks (Part Three)
Thank you for enduring this countdown - there are only more to come I'm afraid.
#20 - "Black Skinhead" - Kanye West
I wouldn't mind another Marilyn Manson rip-off next year to be honest if they sounded as furious and lively as this.
#19 - "You're Not the One" - Sky Ferreira
Gorgeous 80s riffs, a soaring chorus and a general amalgamism of everything excellent about recent indie-pop music.
#18 - "Closer" - Tegan and Sara
I think this is probably the best chorus of the year. It makes doing the grocery shopping feel triumphant.
#17 - "Recover" - CHVRCHES
Basically this whole teens-thing is full of all my "choruses of the year" before I settle down and get all deep and pretentious for my top ten, yo.
#16 - "It All Feels Right" - Washed Out
I just can't put into words how well this style of music just clicks with me and turns me into a gooey, reclining mess.
#15 - "Q.U.E.E.N. (feat. Erykah Badu)" - Janelle Monae
Excellent video. Excellent groove. Excellent rap at the end. Kinda pointless Erykah (but kinda awesome hair). BUT WONDERFUL.
#14 - "Pelican Man" - Youth Lagoon
The intro is a bit of psychedelic nonsense but once it gets into its stride it's one of the most heart-swelling songs of the year. Almost gives A Day in the Life a run for its money (it of course doesn't, but I have to sell this somehow OK?)
#13 - "Body Party" - Ciara
I would probably have been happy enough with those intro lilts being repeated for 4 minutes, but instead Ciara delivers her most sensual and vocally beguiling track to date. Just...sexy.
#12 - "Where Are We Now?" - David Bowie
I remember the morning this was excitedly talked about on Twitter out of nowhere - I'd stayed up all night out of general poor sleeping patterns and then just saw the unimaginable: DAVID BOWIE COMEBACK. I won't lie, I cried a little out of exhaustion and surprise. Also, the single happened to be a sombre and pensive little beauty.
#11 - "#Beautiful (feat. Miguel)" - Mariah Carey
I have generally regarded Mariah Carey in the same way as I would regard a banshee with an excellent Christmas song: I avoided her and her ridiculous melisma, and cheap, soulless R&B. This year, she dropped arguably a bigger surprise (to me) than Bowie: a fantastic, understated song that made the summer. It fails to make the top ten for daring to use a hashtag.
#10 - "Get Lucky (feat. Pharrell Williams)" - Daft Punk
There was a brief period in 2013 where the release of a new Daft Punk single - teased with little video snippets at Coachella and talked about as though a fossil being uncovered - was quite a subdued affair. Its eventual appearance and the subsequent chart domination around the world may have grown to irritate many, but in the process kickstarted a revival of disco thanks to the year's grooviest riff. Long live Nile Rodgers.
#9 - "When a Fire Starts to Burn" - Disclosure
To my knowledge this hasn't been released as a single, which is quite criminal since it's the album's most rousing effort. Especially since that London Grammar bit was released recently (remember it? Me neither). Of course, it's all down to motivational speaker Eric Thomas for delivering the most unlikely call to the dancefloor in recent times, but I suppose the Disclosure brothers helped cultivate it into a tune. A bit.
#8 - "You (Ha Ha Ha)" - Charli XCX
Much like last year's "I Love It" before it, Charli's ear for a pop anthem that just spouts lyrical mantras by accident was in fine form again in 2013. Her solo efforts may not have enjoyed the same boom that her songwriting for Icona Pop did this year, but oh well: the use of Gold Panda's brilliant You is the most inspired sample this year.
#7 - "Open" - Rhye
My favourite vocal performance of the year. Rhye's whole album was full of untapped beauty like this, but this was the strongest individual effort in my opinion.
#6 - "Y.A.L.A." - M.I.A.
On some days this'd quite comfortably sit at #1 - but I suppose being the year's strongest argument for shaking my arse like a twat isn't really enough to secure a top five placing. Those drops though...
#5 - "Honey" - Torres
Spellbinding - initially just a very pretty, very cute ballad - the song grows into a gritty, garage-rock stomper. Mackenzie Scott's vocal also helps craft a total spotlight-on-her moment.
#4 - "The Apple" - V V Brown
In 2009 I was deadset on stanning the shit out of VV Brown and her retro-rockabilly pop nonsense: 'Shark in the Water' was BY FAR the song of the year and just destroyed everything else in terms of pop hooks. This year, she came incredibly close to reviving that trend but under a wholly different disguise: gone is all the Motown, all the vocal stutters and WAH-WAH-WAH!s, and in their place a thumping, dark beat lets Brown deliver knock-out blows like "don't patronise me - I'm not your clown". Best heard at night whilst walking in the dark.
#3 - "Hold On, We're Going Home (feat. Majid Jordan)" - Drake
I am still not really sold on Drake: his habit of releasing repetitive, tuneless dross like "Started from the Bottom" - however much it gets talk about by hipsters who think they like hip hop, but rather just prefer liking things no one else does (with reason) - just totally turns me off. Then he went and released this rolling, reassuring electroballad and just flipped 2013 on its head. It's frustrating knowing he's capable of this and delivers so little elsewhere, but for the time being this is a wonderful diversion.
#2 - "Reflektor" - Arcade Fire
I mentioned above the kind of "calm before the storm" feeling that anticipated the Daft Punk release and I guess the same applies to Arcade Fire: much was expected of them, but few would have expected this. My initial reaction to Reflektor, and the one I still hold today, was just awe. This is a seven minute disco epic, and throwing in James Murphy and David Bowie was just the icing on the cake. I wanted to put it top so badly, but...
There was a brief period in 2013 where the release of a new Daft Punk single - teased with little video snippets at Coachella and talked about as though a fossil being uncovered - was quite a subdued affair. Its eventual appearance and the subsequent chart domination around the world may have grown to irritate many, but in the process kickstarted a revival of disco thanks to the year's grooviest riff. Long live Nile Rodgers.
#9 - "When a Fire Starts to Burn" - Disclosure
To my knowledge this hasn't been released as a single, which is quite criminal since it's the album's most rousing effort. Especially since that London Grammar bit was released recently (remember it? Me neither). Of course, it's all down to motivational speaker Eric Thomas for delivering the most unlikely call to the dancefloor in recent times, but I suppose the Disclosure brothers helped cultivate it into a tune. A bit.
#8 - "You (Ha Ha Ha)" - Charli XCX
Much like last year's "I Love It" before it, Charli's ear for a pop anthem that just spouts lyrical mantras by accident was in fine form again in 2013. Her solo efforts may not have enjoyed the same boom that her songwriting for Icona Pop did this year, but oh well: the use of Gold Panda's brilliant You is the most inspired sample this year.
#7 - "Open" - Rhye
My favourite vocal performance of the year. Rhye's whole album was full of untapped beauty like this, but this was the strongest individual effort in my opinion.
#6 - "Y.A.L.A." - M.I.A.
On some days this'd quite comfortably sit at #1 - but I suppose being the year's strongest argument for shaking my arse like a twat isn't really enough to secure a top five placing. Those drops though...
#5 - "Honey" - Torres
Spellbinding - initially just a very pretty, very cute ballad - the song grows into a gritty, garage-rock stomper. Mackenzie Scott's vocal also helps craft a total spotlight-on-her moment.
#4 - "The Apple" - V V Brown
In 2009 I was deadset on stanning the shit out of VV Brown and her retro-rockabilly pop nonsense: 'Shark in the Water' was BY FAR the song of the year and just destroyed everything else in terms of pop hooks. This year, she came incredibly close to reviving that trend but under a wholly different disguise: gone is all the Motown, all the vocal stutters and WAH-WAH-WAH!s, and in their place a thumping, dark beat lets Brown deliver knock-out blows like "don't patronise me - I'm not your clown". Best heard at night whilst walking in the dark.
#3 - "Hold On, We're Going Home (feat. Majid Jordan)" - Drake
I am still not really sold on Drake: his habit of releasing repetitive, tuneless dross like "Started from the Bottom" - however much it gets talk about by hipsters who think they like hip hop, but rather just prefer liking things no one else does (with reason) - just totally turns me off. Then he went and released this rolling, reassuring electroballad and just flipped 2013 on its head. It's frustrating knowing he's capable of this and delivers so little elsewhere, but for the time being this is a wonderful diversion.
#2 - "Reflektor" - Arcade Fire
I mentioned above the kind of "calm before the storm" feeling that anticipated the Daft Punk release and I guess the same applies to Arcade Fire: much was expected of them, but few would have expected this. My initial reaction to Reflektor, and the one I still hold today, was just awe. This is a seven minute disco epic, and throwing in James Murphy and David Bowie was just the icing on the cake. I wanted to put it top so badly, but...
#1 - "Warm in the Winter" - Glass Candy
This happened 4 months before. I understand it's something of an anachronism on this list, since it was uploaded in 2011 - but I didn't discover it until this year, when it was released on a compilation called After Dark. The video totally has that whole "Lana del Rey, stock footage from old cameras" thing going on, and the vocal musings of Ida No are often cheesy, odd and at times unwelcome, but behind all of that is another 7 minute epic that just snaps into more and more engaging and serene sequences. I can't pinpoint a favourite moment: it just unravels like a sunny, almost-narcotic dream. And that's why it's my song of the year.
This happened 4 months before. I understand it's something of an anachronism on this list, since it was uploaded in 2011 - but I didn't discover it until this year, when it was released on a compilation called After Dark. The video totally has that whole "Lana del Rey, stock footage from old cameras" thing going on, and the vocal musings of Ida No are often cheesy, odd and at times unwelcome, but behind all of that is another 7 minute epic that just snaps into more and more engaging and serene sequences. I can't pinpoint a favourite moment: it just unravels like a sunny, almost-narcotic dream. And that's why it's my song of the year.
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