Sunday, December 29, 2013

Top 100 of 2013

MORE THAN JUST A DREAM:    The winner of my favorite song of 2013 goes to "Out of My League", by Fitz and the Tantrums.    The song, the lead single from their second album More Than Just A Dream, was released in March,. and made the top of my chart in three weeks, the fastest non-Christmas, non-summer song to accomplish the feat.

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







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