Graduation's Best of 2013: Top 100 Songs | 10-1 REVEALED
Graduation's BEST OF 2013
BEST REMIXES | BEST NEW ARTISTS | BEST MUSIC VIDEOS
TOP 100 SONGS | TOP 50 ALBUMS
Hello, all! It's again that time of year to count down my favorites from the past year.
Over the next couple of days, I will unveil the best remixes and best new artists of the past year. Then, I will move on to the best music videos of the year, and finish off with the best songs and albums of 2013.
Schedule
12.21 - Best Remixes/Best New Artists: Part One
12.22 - Best Remixes/Best New Artists: Part Two
Best Music Videos: Part One
12.23 - Best Remixes/Best New Artists: FINALE
Best Music Videos: Part Two
12.24 - Best Music Videos: FINALE
12.25 - BREAK
12.26 - Top 100 Songs: Part One
12.27 - Top 100 Songs: Part Two
12.28 - Top 100 Songs: Part Three
12.29 - Top 100 Songs: Part Four
12.30 - Top 100 Songs: Part Five
12.31 - Top 100 Songs: Part Six
Top 50 Albums: Part One
1.1 - BREAK
1.2 - Top 100 Songs: Part Seven
Top 50 Albums: Part Two
1.3 - Top 100 Songs: Part Eight
Top 50 Albums: Part Three
1.4 - Top 100 Songs: Part Nine
Top 50 Albums: Part Four
1.5 - Top 100 Songs: FINALE
Top 50 Albums: FINALE
But to start, here's a look at my top 10 albums and songs from 2008-2012.
2008
TOP SONGS
10 Adele "Chasing Pavements"
9 M.I.A. "Paper Planes"
8 Vampire Weekend "Oxford Comma"
7 Estelle featuring Kanye West "American Boy"
6 Kings of Leon "Sex on Fire"
5 Coldplay "Viva la Vida"
4 Lil Wayne "A Milli"
3 Bon Iver "Skinny Love"
2 Fleet Foxes "White Winter Hymnal"
1 MGMT "Kids"
TOP ALBUMS
10 Kings of Leon, Only By the Night
9 The Raconteurs, Consolers of the Lonely
8 Jack Johnson, Sleep Through the Static
7 Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III
6 Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend
5 Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago
4 Kanye West, 808's and Heartbreak
3 Coldplay, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
2 MGMT, Oracular Spectacular
1 Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes
2009
TOP SONGS
10 Local Natives, "Airplanes"
9 Fever Ray, "If I Had a Heart"
8 The Antlers, "Kettering"
7 Alicia Keys, "Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)"
6 Passion Pit, "Moth's Wings"
5 The xx, "Infinity"
4 Grizzly Bear, "Two Weeks"
3 Phoenix, "1901"
2 Dirty Projectors, "Stillness Is the Move"
1 Animal Collective, "My Girls"
TOP ALBUMS
10 Grizzly Bear, Vecktamist"
9 Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
8 Yeah Yeah Yeahs, It's Blitz!
7 Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse, Dark Night of the Soul
6 Dirty Projectors, Bitte Orca
5 The Dead Weather, Horehound
4 Franz Ferdinand, Tonight
3 Passion Pit, Manners
2 Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavillon
1 The xx, xx
2010
TOP SONGS
10 Mark Ronson & the Business Intl featuring Boy George & Andrew Wyatt "Somebody to Love Me"
9 LCD Soundsystem "All I Want"
8 Arcade Fire "Ready to Start"
7 Cee Lo Green "**** You"
6 Big Boi featuring Cutty "Shutterbugg"
5 Kanye West "Power"
4 Kelis "4th of July (Fireworks)"
3 Arcade Fire "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)"
2 Janelle Monae featuring Big Boi "Tightrope"
1 Kanye West featuring Rick Ross, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj + Bon Iver "Monster"
TOP ALBUMS
10 Janelle Monae, The ArchAndroid
9 Gorillaz, Plastic Beach
8 Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Before Today
7 Beach House, Teen Dream
6 Big Boi, Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
5 LCD Soundsystem, This Is Happening
4 Sufjan Stevens, The Age of Adz
3 Robert Plant, Band Of Joy
2 Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
1 Arcade Fire, The Suburbs
2011
TOP SONGS
10 Cults "Go Outside"
9 Azealia Banks featuring Lazy Jay "212"
8 Wilco "Art Of Almost"
7 Metronomy "Everything Goes My Way"
6 Fleet Foxes "The Shrine / An Argument"
5 Jay-Z & Kanye West "*****s In Paris"
4 Lana Del Rey "Video Games"
3 M83 "Midnight City"
2 tUnE-yArDs "Powa"
1 The Weeknd "Wicked Games"
TOP ALBUMS
10. Let England Shake, PJ Harvey
9. House Of Balloons, The Weeknd
8. Helplessness Blues, Fleet Foxes
7. Skying, The Horrors
6. Father, Son, Holy Ghost, Girls
5. build a rocket boys!, Elbow
4. Cults, Cults
3. Slave Ambient, The War On Drugs
2. BOBBY, Bobby
1. W H O K I L L, tUnE-yArDs
2012
TOP SONGS
10 Jack White, "Sixteen Saltines"
9 Grimes, "Oblivion"
8 Jai Paul, "Jasmine (Demo)"
7 The Walkmen, "Heaven"
6 Jessie Ware, "110%"
5 Fiona Apple, "Werewolf"
4 AlunaGeorge, "Your Drums, Your Love"
3 Miguel, "Adorn"
2 Grizzly Bear, "Sun In Your Eyes"
1 Tame Impala, "Feels Like We Always Go Backwards"
TOP ALBUMS
10 Ty Segall Band, Slaughterhouse
9 Fiona Apple, The Idler Wheels Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Chords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do
8 Grimes, Visions
7 Jessie Ware, Devotion
6 Miguel, Kaleidoscope Dream
5 Tame Impala, Lonerism
4 Grizzly Bear, Shields
3 Frank Ocean, channel ORANGE
2 Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d. city
1 Chromatics, Kill For Love
Nicolas Jaar’s exquisite reworking of Shields highlight “Sleeping Ute” does a remarkable job of recharacterizing the track as a sprawling electronica epic, clocking in at over 8 minutes without overstaying its welcome. Like any great remix, it makes one appreciate the quality of the original as well as the time and energy spent in crafting a companion remix.
9 | CHROMATICS
Tick of the Clock Visione's The Stroke of Midnight Remix
Johnny Jewel’s music seems like a difficult entity to remix, as his music with Chromatics, Glass Candy and Symmetry is all seemingly broken down to their most basic qualities and stretched out for long durations of time. Visione’s remix of Chromatics’ essential track “Tick Of The Clock” rips right through the original with a surgical precision unlike anything else released this year.
Days Are Gone, Haim’s debut studio LP, is the gift that keeps on giving. While it has led to many great performances, including a stint on SNL and Vh-1′s You Oughta Know broadcast concert special, it has also given us some great remixes, none better than legendary electronica artist Giorgio Moroder’s impressive touch on his remix to their early 2013 single “Falling.” The remix maintains the sisters’ thrilling energy while delivering it on a bed of soaring synthesizers and infectious robotic voices that act as a victory lap for both artists’ fantastic years.
10
POSTILJONEN
Perhaps the most slept-on album of 2013 was Postiljonen’s gem Skyer. Released in the middle of summer, the album was eclipsed in the media by the likes of Kanye West, Disclosure, and AlunaGeorge. But what the album lacked in critical recognition, it made up for in pure musical content. Taking a few cues from the increasingly in-demand M83, Postiljonen crafted an album that beautifully captures the band at their most economic.
Must here: the prerelease single “Supreme,” as well as the somber “All That We Had Is Lost.”
9
ALUNAGEORGE
Aluna Francis and George Reid first made a name for themselves in 2012 with the release of infectious singles “You Know You Like It” and “Just a Touch,” as well as the fantastic “Your Drums, Your Love.” In 2013, the duo made good on their initial buzz, with Body Music being one of the year’s finest pop records. The album plays to the strengths of the two leads, as Francis’ warm, delicate delivery is matched perfectly to Reid’s cool, assured productions.
Must hear: the great, biting kiss-off “Attracting Flies” and the slow jam title-track.
8
JAGWAR MA
For more than a year, there was seldom known about Jagwar Ma other than their Beach Boys’ inspired summer anthem “Come Save Me,” which was released in the dead of winter in early 2012. The duo really hit their stride with 2013′s “The Throw,” and the ensuing full-length Howlin, which signaled Jagwar Ma as much more than a Stone Roses’ cover act.
Must hear: the deceptively confrontational “Man I Need,” and the bouncy, spirited “Uncertainty.”
7 | Sh** ROBOT FEAT. REGGIE WATTS
We Got a Love Paul Woolford Remix
“We Got a Love” was one of year’s best house records regardless of Paul Woolford’s captivating remix, but it is true that Woolford put the song over the top, sending it straight to the stratosphere. Reggie Watts is one of the best underground performers around today, and Woolford’s playful manipulation of his vocals stretches their impact without diminishing their effect.
“You’ll never be / never be / Manhattan,” coos Cat Power on Sun highlight “Manhattan.” Angel Haze’s inclusion on the track was rather timely when this Ryan Hemsworth remix was released, as it followed on the heels of the embarrassing and ugly and (very) public feud between Haze and perennial Twitter instigator Azealia Banks regarding Haze’s assertions in her raps that she “runs New York.” While that narrative was an initial draw to the appeal of the remix, its lasting power arises from Hemsworth’s fantastic ability to rework the song in a mold of Cat Power’s affecting vocals that also invites Haze’s lyrical dexterity.
5 | DAFT PUNK FEAT. TODD EDWARDS
Fragments of Time Darkside Remix
Before most people could finish Daft Punk’s monstrous 2013 album Random Access Memories, Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington must have already been prepping their complete remix of the album, which features some outstanding remixes that rival the originals. The best moment comes on their remix of “Fragments of Time,” which repurposes the track as a hypnotic, dance floor filler as opposed to 1970s breezy AM affair.
4 | LANA DEL REY
Summertime Sadness Ryan Hemsworth Remix
If there were justice in the world, Ryan Hemsworth’s seductive, enthralling remix of Lana Del Rey’s Born To Die track would have been the remix that made Del Rey into a radio force. While it was Cedric Gervais’ remix that became her calling card, the undeniably sublime Hemsworth reworking was able to stay true to the original while amplifying its best qualities.
Glad to see you again still alive. like that remix for Sleeping Ute and also the remix for Forever. Such good beats and the robotic voice on Forever.
AlunaGeorge's music is so-so.
Manhattan remix sends such nice vibes. Fragments of Time remix has a good beat. That Summertime Sadness remix acts like a boss and also keeps the haunting nature of the original song. Some amazing music so far man.
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