2013. What a great year for music. New releases from Vampire Weekend, Janelle, Kanye, major comebacks by the heroes of dance music Daft Punk, and massive crossover hits. During the summertime, I started paying more and more attention to the major quality releases. Here I'll rank my 50 favorite songs released this year.
10 Best Artists of 2013
Hip hop. R&B. and alternative artists really delivered this year, pop artists unfortunately didn't, with many failing to release albums that were up to par despite still seeing success and some who just completely dropped the blue disco ball. I'll rank my 10 favorite artists of the year in this thread along with 50 of the best songs of the year.
10 Best Top 10 Hits of 2013
The Hot 100 was really fun to watch this year with all the rule changes and reactions. The meltdowns over Harlem Shake debuting at #1. The unexpected returns of songs because of viral activity. I did a lot of chartwatching early in the year but have mostly lost interest now. I've looked through this list of Hot 100 top 10s for the year and picked out the 10 best.
Just among the artists name dropped in the original post, I know I'm excited for this. I'm definitely excited for a R&B/hip hop/alternative-dominant chart, it's a refreshing change. I'll keep updated!
And, now that I think about it, I might be able to do a Top 10 albums of the year too. It would just come down to if I have enough time, because I've been kinda busy. We'll see.
I start off my countdown with a song I discovered extremely late into the year. Perfectly blend a cup of Sade, a cup of The xx, and a tablespoon of string instruments and this is what you would get.
Favorite lyric(s): "I wanna make this play/Oh, I know you're faded", "I'm a fool for that sound in your sighs"
49NO DESTRUCTIONFOXYGEN.
When I first heard this song. I instantly thought of Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, 60s folk, and The Beatles. The melody is so pleasant and easygoing, the song is perfect to listen to on a nice long drive.
Favorite lyric(s): "You politely say, "I miss you"/But we know you don't mean that anymore"
48RIBSLORDE.
Royals was good, Tennis Court was great, and this is amazing. Lorde perfectly captures the tension of becoming an adult and losing childhood innocence in this ode to the fear of growing old, and growing lonely. The song has no true chorus, which is what makes it so great. She just repeats the two verses, emphasizing her fear even more. This is the first and last you'll see of Lorde in this countdown.
Favorite lyric(s): "This dream isn't feeling sweet/We're reeling through the midnight streets/And I've never felt more alone/Feels so scary getting old."
47NUMBERS ON THE BOARDSPUSHA T.
The best song on his album, like, this is perfection. The production. The lyrics. THE LYRICS. The way he wraps his lyrics around the beat. I've never really paid that much attention to Pusha T. But I'm definitely going to start now.
Favorite lyric(s): N/A. Couldn't pick out any, all the lyrics are perfect.
46THE RED WING**** BUTTONS.
Another song I discovered very late, just a few days before making this list in fact. I love the way the synths compliment the sparse minimal beat. How little details jump in and out of the foreground. The track sort of builds up in a very subtle way as more synths are added...I love how it ends.