ThisisBigBrother.com - UK TV Forums - My Review of Music in 2013 [Top 10 Albums; Misc Awards]

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5AM is rather brilliant. I guess I'm the same as everyone else, I'm waiting to see the top 20 LOL. I don't know a lot of these songs but I'll be listening to some tomorrow during the day when I'm in the house doing nothing :love:

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Spoiler:

#40 - "Birds" - Death Grips
Probably the least comfortable listen from the new record, but then again just about the only one that I remember.

Spoiler:

#39 - "Pretty Hurts" - Beyoncé
The strongest argument for her usual second "ballad-single", surely? Wonderful stuff.

Spoiler:

#38 - "Rap God" - Eminem
Didn't like it at first because it was just too much to keep up with, but as a showman delivering what he is capable of, it's astounding.

Spoiler:

#37 - "Timber (feat. Ke$ha)" - Pitbull
Look, no one wanted to like a Pitbull song this year. But throw in Ke$ha's songwriting, a daftly catchy hook and a general awakening of a subconscious enjoyment of Pitbull's nonsense lyric, and you've got an anthem. He's slicker than an oil spill, don't you know.

Spoiler:

#36 - "Work" - Iggy Azalea
This'll win another award when I get around to the individual categories (maybe June 2014). For now, let's enjoy the least-convincing summer anthem of 2013. And the finest ass.

Spoiler:

#35 - "La La La (feat. Sam Smith)" - Naughty Boy
217 million views on YouTube!? Crikey. I thought only Miley got that nowadays. The catchiest tune of the year, hands down.

Spoiler:

#34 - "The Fall" - Rhye
Nnnnnnnnngh that piano. What could possibly beat it? Oh, maybe Michael Milosh's gorgeous gender-bending voice.

Spoiler:

#33 - "Afterlife" - Arcade Fire
It feels like classic Arcade Fire, all that Haiti, Neighborhood #3 sound.

Spoiler:

#32 - "Valentine's Day" - David Bowie
The catchiest track from the album, and a glorious tribute to his career beginnings and signature sound. And also, because songs about teenage school shootings are nice once in a while.

Spoiler:

#31 - "Retrograde" - James Blake
That vocal hook looping around is just bewitching.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Negreindeer (Post 6552212)

It's clearly Reflektor for me. I'm such a stan.

I'm a big AF fan, have been since their debut but Reflektor didn't do much for me, I was disappointed with it. :(

Funeral > Suburbs > Reflektor > Neon Bible, for me (I just never really enjoyed NB beyond the singles)

So much pop in the top 100. :(

-weeps for Boards Of Canada and Gold Panda, especially Gold Panda, damn Charli XcX getting the credit-

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cameltoe and Wine (Post 6568819)

Funeral > Suburbs > Reflektor > Neon Bible, for me (I just never really enjoyed NB beyond the singles)

I'd swap Reflektor and NB. Funeral still remains their finest work.

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Spoiler:

#30 - "Attracting Flies" - AlunaGeorge
"Everything you exhale is attracting flies" is 2013's most charming and well-put insult of the year.

Spoiler:

#29 - "Girlfriend" - Icona Pop
I'm almost certain that there was an early, poorer version of this put out prior to the proper release because either that happened or I made one of the most sudden 180s on a track in recent history. Their music videos are rather samey though aren't they :(

Spoiler:

#28 - "Do I Wanna Know?" - Arctic Monkeys
Standard "first single is the best moment from the album" fare from the Monkeys. Still, rather fantastic.

Spoiler:

#27 - "Do What U Want (feat. R. Kelly)" - Lady GaGa
Yeah, don't worry GaGa, just let your best song in 4 years go without a music video months after its release, no yeah, that's a great strategy.

Spoiler:

#26 - "Running to the Sea (feat. Susanne Sundfør)" - Röyksopp
The second of two Susanne features on this list, and the second of two Royksopp/fellow Scandinavian female collaborative tunes I've grown to cherish over the past five years. Gorgeously quiet.

Spoiler:

#25 - "Diane Young" - Vampire Weekend
BABY BABY BABY BABY

Spoiler:

#24 - "Pusha Man" - Chance the Rapper
I am dying to hear more from this guy.

Spoiler:

#23 - "We Can't Stop" - Miley Cyrus
I see this video has a million dislikes now. Shame how over-the-top a reaction to a bit of nudity is, isn't it? Because this is a ****ing tune.

Spoiler:

#22 - "I Hate This Town" - John Grant
RELEVANT.

Spoiler:

#21 - "Entertainment" - Phoenix
I think this was the first single of the year that really got me pumped about music in 2013. Fantastically upbeat track.

...Do What U Want, feat. R. Kelly - Lady GaGa :love:...

..it's exciting to see what will be number 1....

Do I Wanna Know/DWUW :love:

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Spoiler:

#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.

Spoiler:

#19 - "You're Not the One" - Sky Ferreira
Not entirely sure why more of TiBB aren't stanning her - gorgeous 80s riffs, a soaring chorus and a general amalgamism of everything excellent about recent indie-pop music.

Spoiler:

#18 - "Closer" - Tegan and Sara
I think this is probably the best chorus of the year. It makes doing the grocery shopping feel triumphant.

Spoiler:

#17 - "Recover" - CHVRCHES
Basically this whole segment is full of all my "choruses of the year" before I settle down and get all deep and pretentious for my top ten, yo.

Spoiler:

#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.

Spoiler:

#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.

Spoiler:

#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?)

Spoiler:

#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.

Spoiler:

#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.

Spoiler:

#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.

Body Party and #Beautiful :love:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benjamin (Post 6568813)

I'm a big AF fan, have been since their debut but Reflektor didn't do much for me, I was disappointed with it. :(

I quite liked Reflektor. It was no Funeral, but that is a 10/10 album for me <3

Afterlife, Reflektor, Porno, Joan Of Arc >>

thank you for being patient...

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Spoiler:

#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.

Spoiler:

#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.

Spoiler:

#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.

Spoiler:

#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.

Spoiler:

#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...

Spoiler:

#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.

Spoiler:

#4 - "The Apple" - V V Brown
In 2009 I was deadset on stanning the **** 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.

Spoiler:

#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.

Spoiler:

#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...

Spoiler:

#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.

YALA and Get Lucky :love:

Reflektor getting dat silver medal :worship: <3

-enjoys the effort you put in every year, even if I don't get around listening to them all-

writing up the first ten albums rn~

Eeeee I always learn so much from your year end lists, listening to Torres - Honey atm

it's so pretty isn't it :lovedup:

Ew London Grammar Shade
bye

bye...

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http://i1.cdnds.net/13/03/200x200/ye...s-mosquito.jpg
#50 - "Mosquito" - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
OK, so, brace yourselves because this first list of ten has some positively appalling artworks on display. The first is the 4th YYYs LP, and although far from the best it made enough of a pleasant listen to creep onto this list right here.

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#49 - "Apocalypse" - Thundercat
Not nearly as ugly is Stephen Bruner's face, which adorns the front of his Thundercat project's second effort. It's been a pretty big year for him - worming his way onto the GTA 5 soundtrack and continued great work with Flying Lotus - and whilst this wasn't quite as wonderful as his debut it's a pretty groovy album nonetheless.

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#48 - "Spreading Rumours" - Grouplove
There is a sneaking suspicion that this band are secretly a bit terrible but I'm quite happy to ignore that if they keep putting out lovely, enjoyable pop. (Fugly album cover #2, by the way).

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#47 - "Heartthrob" - Tegan and Sara
I may have waxed lyrical over 'Closer' on more than one occasion, but the rest of the album was equally solid and boasts a host of fantastic pop tunes. Were 2013 a worse year, this would have charted higher.

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#46 - "Wolf's Law" - The Joy Formidable
Another quiet year for the Welsh band, but a fine album off the back of it.

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#45 - "MBV" - My Bloody Valentine
Not quite the miracle that everyone over on the Guardian comments section would have you believe, but still an interesting comeback after 22 years away. And I thought being a Bowie fan was trying until this year.

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#44 - "Glow and Behold" - Yuck
Losing their frontman after the fantastic self-titled 2011 debut definitely hindered the band's progress a little bit, but thankfully they managed to cling onto enough remnants of their first album to construct a wonderful second.

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#43 - "Melophobia" - Cage the Elephant
The album title might be a bit silly (ooh it means fear of music but they're a band!?!?!?!? XD) but at least the band are reliable enough to deliver pumping-up music.

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#42 - "Free Your Mind" - Cut Copy
Look, there were a lot of bands who took a step down from their fine 2011 moments this year alright? But they weren't all that bad. Free Your Mind singlehandedly made everyone a Primal Scream fan all over again.

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#41 - "Hummingbird" - Local Natives
This will tide me over quite nicely until the next Fleet Foxes record.