I had fallen in love with this retro-soul band back in 2010, when I heard "MoneyGrabber" for the first time, and it blew me away. Other songs from that album Picking Up the Pieces, including the title track, "Please Mr. President", "L.O.V" and "Don't Gotta Work It Out" all made my top 20, so I was looking forward to the new set. And although the feel is a bit more "contemporary" than "retro", it's a great album. F.A.T.T. also placed another track, "Keeping Out Eyes Out", which came in at #11; a third song (and a second single), "The Walker" is currently in my top 3 but added too late to make my list this year. The song also came in #6 for the year on Billboard's alternative chart, it had been #1 for three weeks on that weekly chart.
One chart that the song didn't make was Billboard's Hot 100, a testament to the pop music's audience's continued refusal to accept anything other than stale beats and uninspiring lyrics. Thus, it breaks my two-year love affair with Billboard; my 2012 favorite "Someone That I Used to Know" by Goyte, and 2011 winner "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele, were also at the top spot on Billboard's year-end chart..
There was no one artist that dominated the SNS charts this year but many acts contributed evenly. Three songs was the maximum anyone had and it was quite the list: P!nk, Golden Void, Rachel Allyn, and Lana Del Rey all had three entries; a slew of artists had two.
The list contains a good mix of pop and indie artists. P!nk headed the pop list, but Bruno Mars, Katy Perry, and Robin Thicke also made the list. Country artists were scarce; aside from Rachel Allyn's three entries, only Blake Shelton was able to place a song this year.
Four songs that were on my list last year managed to make this year's as well: "Change" by Churchill, "Stars" by Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Grizzly Bear's "Yet Again", and Golden Void's "The Curve".
The heart of my blog, however, will remain alternative and indie artists, and although Lorde's "Royals" crossed over to pop, and Cage the Elephant, Atlas Genius, Cayucas, Serena Ryder, New Politics, and Phoenix had major alternative rock hits; my pride is featuring bands that haven't even been on the public's radar. Two bands stand out: Wild Belle, who seriously challenged Fitz & and the Tantrum's for the top spot this year, with "Keep You", and Golden Void, with three great songs featured, all making the top 40. Terraplane Sun, Man Man, The Veils, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Leagues, and Field Mouse are others to check out.
Another interesting aspect of this year was that, with the exception of Nine Inch Nails and Pearl Jam, no "major classic" alternative band released any new material of note this year; and both of those bands missed the countdown. And get this: only four artists on this list made their marks before the millennium: The Pixies, Depeche Mode, Bon Jovi, and heaven forbid, Hanson.
The music marches onward.
Here is my Top 100 of 2013. The two columns on the right are the number of weeks the song appeared on my list, and its peak position on my weekly chart. For number ones, the number in parenthesis is the weeks it spent at #1:
Rank
|
ARTIST-Title
|
Weeks on List
|
Peak
|
1
|
FITZ & THE TANTRUMS
"Out of My League"
Album: More Than Just a Dream
|
44
|
1 (7 wks)
|
2
|
Wild Belle - Keep You
|
41
|
1 (6)
|
3
|
New Politics - Harlem
|
36
|
3
|
4
|
Lana Del Rey - Ride
|
32
|
1
|
5
|
Foxygen - San Francisco
|
29
|
1 (2)
|
6
|
Cage the Elephant - Come A Little Closer
|
19
|
1
|
7
|
Phoenix - Trying to Be Cool
|
25
|
1
|
8
|
Fun - Carry On
|
37
|
1 (2)
|
9
|
Terraplane Sun - Get Me Golden
|
21
|
2
|
10
|
Man Man - Head On
|
20
|
1 (2)
|
11
|
Fitz and the Tantrums - Keeping Our Eyes Out
|
17
|
1 (4)
|
12
|
Paul Czekaj - At the Beach
|
21
|
1 (6)
|
13
|
Portugal. The Man - Purple Yellow Red & Blue
|
25
|
8
|
14
|
Golden Void - The Curve
|
40
|
1
|
15
|
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Sacrilege
|
30
|
10
|
16
|
Golden Void - Shady Grove
|
31
|
9
|
17
|
Cayucas - High School Lover
|
24
|
4
|
18
|
The Veils - Through the Deep Dark Wood
|
24
|
1 (4)
|
19
|
Calvin Harris f. Florence Welch - Sweet Nothing
|
24
|
2
|
20
|
Maroon 5 - Daylight
|
27
|
6
|
21
|
Omnia Hegazy - Aziza
|
24
|
3
|
22
|
Pageants - Musing of the Tide
|
22
|
1
|
23
|
Pink f. Nate Ruess - Just Give Me A Reason
|
21
|
1 (4)
|
24
|
Robin Thicke f. T.I. & Pharrel Williams - Blurred Lines
|
20
|
5
|
25
|
Field Mouse - How Do You Know
|
20
|
1
|
26
|
Vicci Martinez f. Cee Lo Green- Come Along
|
23
|
3
|
27
|
Dan Croll - From Nowhere
|
30
|
13
|
28
|
Leagues - Spotlight
|
22
|
3
|
29
|
Portugal. the Man - Evil Friends
|
23
|
8
|
30
|
Leila - Monday
|
20
|
5
|
31
|
Case Studies - Everything
|
23
|
12
|
32
|
Rachel Allyn - Do It Yourself
|
21
|
3
|
33
|
Lorde - Royals
|
18
|
1 (2)
|
34
|
Lana Del Rey - Summertime Sadness
|
18
|
5
|
35
|
Train f. Ashley Monroe - Bruises
|
21
|
7
|
36
|
Churchill - Change
|
39
|
1 (2)
|
37
|
Daft Punk f. Pharrell Williams - Get Lucky
|
25
|
2
|
38
|
Veronica Falls - Teenage
|
20
|
4
|
39
|
Golden Void - Rise to the Out of Reach
|
19
|
7
|
40
|
Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Under the Earth
|
21
|
7
|
41
|
The Thermals - I Go Alone
|
21
|
6
|
42
|
The Satelliters - Shake Shake Shake
|
27
|
4
|
43
|
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - Runaway
|
30
|
1
|
44
|
Rachel Allyn - Dear Prudence
|
17
|
4
|
45
|
Foals - My Number
|
24
|
13
|
46
|
Phillip Phillips - Gone Gone Gone
|
27
|
23
|
47
|
Lana Del Rey - Young and Beautiful
|
22
|
10
|
48
|
Blake Shelton - Boys 'Round Here
|
21
|
11
|
49
|
Pink - Try
|
28
|
2
|
50
|
I Am Dynamite - Hey Girl
|
20
|
12
|
51
|
Tame Impala - Elephant
|
25
|
11
|
52
|
Train - Mermaid
|
21
|
9
|
53
|
Matthew Koma - Parachute
|
24
|
5
|
54
|
Kurt Vile - Waking on A Pretty Day
|
22
|
12
|
55
|
Silversun Pickups - Dots and Dashes
|
20
|
17
|
56
|
Paramore - Still Into You
|
19
|
11
|
57
|
Hanson - Get the Girl Back
|
22
|
13
|
58
|
Leila Hegazy - Mirror Mirror
|
34
|
6
|
59
|
Serena Ryder - Stompa
|
25
|
8
|
60
|
Paul Czekaj - Even Better Than Before
|
18
|
4
|
61
|
Bruno Mars - Treasure
|
19
|
16
|
62
|
Grizzly Bear - Sleeping Ute
|
19
|
9
|
63
|
Palma Violets - Best of Friends
|
21
|
17
|
64
|
Wild Nothing - Shadow
|
20
|
8
|
65
|
Django Django - Hail Bop
|
20
|
12
|
66
|
Generationals - When They Fight They Fight
|
29
|
2
|
67
|
Avett Brothers - February Seven
|
23
|
21
|
68
|
Pink f. Lily Allen - True Love
|
17
|
14
|
69
|
Neko Case - Man
|
20
|
14
|
70
|
Atlas Genius - If So
|
22
|
28
|
71
|
Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside - They Told Me
|
20
|
17
|
72
|
Two Door Cinema Club - Sun
|
19
|
11
|
73
|
Rachel Allyn -October
|
17
|
8
|
74
|
Depeche Mode - Heaven
|
20
|
12
|
75
|
Matthew Koma - One Night
|
19
|
13
|
76
|
Imagine Dragons - Radioactive
|
49
|
42
|
77
|
Thao & The Get Down Stay Down - Holy Roller
|
21
|
6
|
78
|
Tame Impala - Feels Like We Only Go Backward
|
24
|
21
|
79
|
Bruno Mars - Locked Out of Heaven
|
17
|
3
|
80
|
Franz Ferdinand - Right Action
|
21
|
24
|
81
|
Civil Twilight - River
|
29
|
17
|
82
|
Lifehouse f. Natasha Bedingfield - Between the Raindrops
|
21
|
16
|
83
|
The Vaccines - I Always Knew
|
22
|
8
|
84
|
Foxygen - No Destruction
|
18
|
24
|
85
|
Jay Arner - Don't Remind Me
|
27
|
35
|
86
|
Waaves - Demon to Lean On
|
23
|
27
|
87
|
Grizzly Bear - Yet Again
|
29
|
1 (2)
|
88
|
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - Stars
|
31
|
1 (2)
|
89
|
Pixies - Bagboy
|
17
|
18
|
90
|
Sara Bareilles - Brave
|
28
|
23
|
91
|
Alabama Shakes - Hang Loose
|
19
|
21
|
92
|
Phoenix - Entertainment
|
19
|
17
|
93
|
Florence + the Machine - Spectrum (Say My Name)
|
18
|
20
|
94
|
Paramore - Now
|
20
|
19
|
95
|
Dawes - From A Window Seat
|
19
|
13
|
96
|
The Veils - Another Night on Earth
|
17
|
12
|
97
|
Kings of Leon - Supersoaker
|
18
|
16
|
98
|
Bon Jovi - Because We Can
|
18
|
21
|
99
|
Katy Perry - Roar
|
17
|
12
|
100
|
The Mowglis - San Francisco
|
22
|
19
|
