I missed a bunch, but all of your last three updates were pretty good!
Youth, Days Are Gone, Flatline, Open, HOWGH were my favourites though And good call on Gypsy, I wasn't a fan of the album but that track is definitely my favourite (maybe tied with DWUW).
2013 was really the year that I fell in like with Vampire Weekend, specifically Ezra Koenig (my future husband). Their third album, Modern Vampires of the City, is a truly great piece of music, with "Everlasting Arms" being the centerpiece (for real, though, it's track #7 of 12; Pitchfork would tell you the centerpiece is "Hannah Hunt", but they're wrong). I also can't help but think it's one of the Vamps' favorite songs as well, because they always lead into this song with a beautiful instrumental intro whenever they play it live. They're trying to build anticipation from the crowd for this great song. However, this song isn't a big banger like "Diane Young" or "Ya Hey". It's a lot more subtle. It's also very short, at only three minutes long. I guess I could attempt to decipher the lyrics of this song, which I think are about atheism and the struggles one has in their decision to admit that they're an atheist. But, honestly, it seems like every time someone says the album is about atheism, Ezra comes out and says that it's not. Therefore, I'll just focus on the music. The main beauty of this song lies within the strings, which create such a somber and dramatic tone. The drums throughout this song create such a good vibe to which someone can slowly move their hips. After the first chorus, there's a nice little guitar that kicks in that creates a nice funk vibe. Throughout the whole song, the bass is excellent. It hides out in the background until the second chorus, where is gets to be the feature instrument. When you listen to this part on some high quality speakers, things get really intense. It's overwhelming, almost like being "trapped beneath the chandelier that's going down" (my favorite lyrics from the song). I'm also in love with the last little bit of the song, in which Ezra calmly, politely whispers, "Hold me... in your everlasting... arms." I feel like Vampire Weekend packs so much into this little three minute song, and that's what really makes it something special and memorable. It just makes me want to listen to it on repeat.
At the start of 2013, I was convinced that Lady Gaga would dominate my Best of '13 if she released new music. Of course, ARTPOP & "Applause" gave me my life, but there were three other songs in 2013 that had way more impact on me that couldn't be ignored. At one point, I thought that "Applause" would finish at #6, but, in the end, I couldn't resist making it #4, mirroring its Hot 100 peak. When I first listened to "Applause", I wasn't sure what to make of it. The lyrics are really jarring and bizarre. "If only fame had an IV, baby, could I bare being away from you. I found the vein; put it in here." Most artists would feel so dumb saying this, and I feel dumb listening to it, but Gaga sings it with such confidence each time. Additionally, the whole second verse is a self-glorifying tribute to all the artistic contributions Gaga has made to the pop music world, which comes off a bit lot pretentious. I think Gaga wanted "Applause" to be a big comeback statement; she wanted everyone to praise her artistry and remember her past days of pop music domination. I don't think this era turned out quite how she expected, but "Applause" still has the big hooks in the chorus that make people forget about the verses and want to sing along with Gaga. The synthesizer throughout the chorus is so freaking catchy. Most of the time, I don't even sing along to the lyrics during the chorus; I just follow the synth because I love it so much. I also can't resist the buildup to the second chorus, which does a great job of creating tension before the big release in the chorus. Gaga's head voice in the bridge evokes a little bit of Mariah; its a nice little feature that sometimes doesn't get enough praise because of its simplicity. Oh, and A-R, T-P, O-P. Who can resist that little hook at the end?
I first listened to HAIM when "The Wire" was the iTunes free single of the week back sometime in the summer. I really fell hard for the mixture of sweet '70s soft rock with heavy-hitting, hip-hop-ish beats. They sorta reminded me of fun., except a lot better. I'll definitely be doing a write-up for their album, Days Are Gone, in my Top 20 albums, but, for now, let's focus on "The Wire". The '70s sound of this song really just makes me love it. It takes me back to The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac, stuff that my dad loved. When I played him this song for the first time, he thought it was a cover of "Heartache Tonight", due to HAIM's sampling of the opening beat. I've noticed, in some internet music circles, that HAIM gets a lot of hate for this sample, but I really don't see the harm? The sample fits into the song so perfectly, and it creates the tension that Alana & her sisters later expand upon in the lyrics. The song's meaning is really explained within the opening lyrics: "You know I'm bad at communication / It's the hardest thing for me to do / And they said it's the most important part / That relationships will go through." The song describes the awkwardness that comes when two people are in different stages of a relationship. One is deep in love, but the other is just about over it and ready to go. Obviously, the lack of communication between the two parties is going to create some bad feelings eventually, but Danielle is okay with breaking up with her boy because she knows he's "gonna be okay anyway". The lyrics can be a bit messy if you think about them for too long, so it's best to avert your attention to the music & the Haim sisters' lovely harmonies. The best part of this song, which would automatically put this song in the Top 10 alone, even if the rest of the song was trash, is the guitar feature at the end. Danielle just really ****ing lets loose on this. The juxtaposition of Danielle singing "It felt right" with Este screaming "IT FELT RIGHT" right after her really sends this song over the edge for me. The tension I talked about earlier in the song... it boils over in the last 45 seconds. This is when it goes from a pop-rock song to a rock song. My dad's reaction at the end: "Pretty good, I like it..."
d i s c l o s u r e - "YOU & ME" (feat. Eliza Doolittle)
Disclosure was certainly the breakout group of 2013. They had a few promising singles pop up in 2012, but their first album, Settle, put them at the forefront of the intensely competitive and exciting British dance music scene. I wouldn't say competitive as in "antagonistic" or "aggressive", but these British dance artists are always pushing each other to make the best music possible. It's why I stan so much for the Brits right now. I knew Disclosure had to be in the Best of '13 tracks, but I debated so much on which song it would be. Would it be 2012's "Latch", which was technically ineligible, but insanely catchy & beautiful? Or "Confess to Me", which features 2012 Queen Jessie Ware? Maybe the overrated AlunaGeorge track? Or "Help Me Lose My Mind", featuring London Grammar? (Real talk: HMLMM was in my Top 50 until Beyonce released. I had to cut something!) But, no, my instinct kept telling me to go back to "You & Me", featuring little-known Eliza Doolittle. The more times I listened, the more I realized that this wasn't just my favorite Disclosure song; it was one of my favorites of the entire year, a strong contender for #1. My love for this song was unexpected because I didn't expect Eliza to slay as much as she did. I've hosted two music rates dedicated solely to upcoming British female singers (35 singers combined), and Eliza wasn't a part of either of those rates. However, with this song, she got her payback for being forgotten. To open, she sings, "Home is where the heart is / And I gave it to you in a paper bag / Even though it's tarnished / You told me its the best you ever had." You have to love the usage of bag imagery, a la Katy P. When she gets to chorus, the way she sings, "So please don't let go / 'Cause you know / Exactly what we've found", sounds like she is begging. There is so much emotion in the "Let go" part; you can really feel it.
Production-wise, as soon as she gets to, "It's gonna be you.... and me", the synths take an awesome turn into some '90s house realness. Honestly, the whole track is such a great homage to '90s house. I hate to bring up Katy P again, but I got so frustrated when she released "Walking on Air", and called it an homage to CeCe Peniston's "Finally". It wasn't an homage; it was a straight-up rip-off, totally unoriginal and uninspired. However, Disclosure does it right. They evoke the feeling of the '90s, but the production is totally current and fresh. This is truly what's right about pop music. Disclosure and Eliza take a fairly common love song concept about finding true love amid various obstacles, but they make it their own with the production and vocal delivery, respectively. This isn't just great dance music; it's great MUSIC, period!
Finally. I've been so nervous about doing this write-up because I've thought that this was going to be my #1 since May. And then by August there was absolutely no doubt. I just love this song. When I think about a theme for this song, I keep going back to what I wrote for "Bed Peace" by Jhene Aiko, and "We Can't Stop" by Miley Cyrus. All of these songs are just trying to represent a generation that really does not give a ****, according to everyone. "We Can't Stop" is about the early-20s partying; "Bed Peace" is about the mid-20s romance; and "What I Like" is about teenage debauchery, the first encounters with both partying and romance. It's the prequel to all that adult stuff. The first in a trilogy. (I'm really liking where this is going).
Charli writes about young love & the bliss that comes with it, stating, "You call me up at six / Come 'round, undressing in my house again / Your t-shirt's on the floor / Yeah, we're undressing in my house again / You know just what I like". The intro music sounds almost like a rocket taking off, the kind of rush a teenager feels when they're in love for the first time. When she says, "You know just what I like", she sounds like an innocent girl, but we know she's not that innocent. [/britney] So this young girl is "in love", but we all know how things go at this point in a teenager's life. Nothing's really forever; love is fleeting. When she states, "All along I wanted someone to vibe with / Found the guy I want the rest of my life with", she follows it with a little "Ha", laughing at the thought of being so committal at such a young age.
After the first verse, Charli unexpectedly hits us with the bridge. My time with Girls Aloud's discography last year got me accustomed to unusual song structures, so I quite enjoy the foray into the bridge straight from the first verse. In this part of the song, Charli hits us with the teenage angst. The mood changes, the instrumental darkens, and Charli sings, "And when clouds part open / When the last word is spoken / When the last heart been broken / We'll be sittin' on your bedroom floor still smokin'." For this generation, "love" is about getting through the troubles together by sitting in a darkened bedroom, eating cold pizza, and smoking weed. When the song ventures back into the second verse, Charli really hits her mark. "This s*** is super wild / This s*** is super cool / This s*** is kinda gangsta / I think I'm into you." You can tell Charli is part of the generation influenced so heavily by Britney Spears. We just want everything to be "cool". Additionally, we want to give off this "don't care" attitude, which Charli does in her sly delivery.
Charli's "What I Like", like "We Can't Stop" and "Bed Peace", is written in a way that fulfills the prophecies of the older generation. They believe the millennials don't care about anything but instant gratification, never wanting to work hard for anything. Charli, Miley, and Jhene may not agree with what the older generations say about us, but they're singing and writing these songs to capture how this generation feels it is being viewed by others. Charli, whose goal has always been to be a living tumblr page (tumblr being the embodiment of the millennials), does an excellent job of capturing teenage whimsicality in this little, three-minute pop song. "What I Like" is the Best of '13.