End-of-Year Jukebox: 10 Essential Songs of 2013
Before we begin, we feel obligated to offer a disclaimer that many great songs didn’t quite make the cut for this list. Several world-eating singles (‘Get Lucky’, ‘Sacrilege’, err… ‘Blurred Lines’) didn’t get a look in, but such hair-splitting is surely a testament to how truly monumental this year has been for the landscape of sound. Even with a whole month to go before it is upon us, 2014 already has a lot to live up to. For now, however, it’s time to plug in those headphones and get down to some playlisting…
1 Kurt Vile: ‘Wakin on a Pretty Day’
Languid without slipping into lethargy, the quasi-title track of Kurt Vile’s sublime fifth album occupies an uncanny space between heavy-lidded pleasure and aching melancholia. Acoustic guitars and an anonymous drum patter keep things rolling forwards across a leisurely nine-and-a-half minutes, with little variation beyond the occasional swell in tempo. Yet such uniformity is never dull: the recurring motifs that do chime through simply sparkle, and coalesce into a warm, intoxicating haze. In the age of the quick-fix pop single, this is a gem unabashed in its blissful, unhurried beauty.
Michael Perry
2 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: ‘Higgs Boson Blues’
Although not quite as catchy as the single ‘Jubilee Street’, ‘Higgs Boson Blues’ is undeniably one of the strongest songs Nick Cave has ever recorded. Cave takes us on a tour of world 21st Century culture, citing Robert Johnson and Miley Cyrus, and presents its seedy, Conradian underbelly. It’s apocalyptic, but not in a conventional religious sense. In a sense of the apocalypse of human emotion, the worst excesses revealed for all to see. It’s an overwhelming song of dissolution. Not to be missed.
Andrew Sztehlo
3 Selena Gomez: ‘Come and Get It’
Who ever said that Disney stars had to belt over Kelly Clarkson-lite anthems or show extreme vestiphobia to prove that they’ve grown up? Certainly not Selena Gomez, whose descent into solo stardom was accompanied with graceful hooks, genius rhythmic nuances and a mature, reserved vocal. She may not be as loud or courageous as her contemporaries, but when all her different threads of musical mastery are brought together, it makes for a triumphant masterpiece, and an assured highlight of 2013.
Faizan Sadiq
4 Colin Stetson: ‘To See More Light’
The idea of a saxophone solo might put off anyone who’s heard of something called the 1980s, but Colin Stetson has reinvented the wheel with his revolutionary recording technique that utilizes dozens of microphones to transform a single bass sax into an entire ethereal ensemble. ‘To See More Light’ – the 15-minute behemoth that falls towards the end of his epic New History Warfare album trilogy – is a culmination of everything that has made his music so fantastically unique. I’ve a feeling we’re not on Baker Street anymore…
Sam Evans
5 Kanye West: ‘Black Skinhead’
It’s perhaps impossible to choose one song from Kanye’s insane, ground-breaking Yeezus, but ‘Black Skinhead’ is where his fury is at its most focused. Backed by growling, brutal bass and animalistic yelps, Kanye works himself up into a cyclical, frantic fit of paranoia and self-importance, spitting venom with ever-increasing speed until he can only burn out, collapsing into an exhausted, seething expulsion of “God!” Ranting is what Kanye does best, and on ‘Black Skinhead’, he’s on ridiculous form.
Trahearne Falvey
6 Phosphorescent: ‘Song for Zula’
Early in Muchacho (following its opening song, in fact), Phosphorescent’s spacey country sound is stopped in its tracks by the dreamlike swirl of ‘Song for Zula’. With thin streams of violin and a measured hum of synthesisers drifting above Matthew Houck’s fragile croak, there’s a profound honesty to the singer’s vocals as he twists and turns along an aching path through melancholy Johnny Cash references to broken-down anger. A gorgeous example of finely-tuned production and heartbreaking sincerity in equal measure.
Sam Carter
7 Sigur Rós: ‘Brennisteinn’
‘Brennisteinn’ may bear Sigur Rós’ name on the tin, but in no way does it resemble one of the lush, sumptuous soundscapes which have come to be recognised as the band’s niche. Instead, the Icelandic trio have produced a vehemently boisterous song which unflinchingly signposts a new, more aggressive direction for the group. Dark, heavy, foreboding and vicious melodies intertwine with one another, resulting in a track loaded with such emotion that it sounds as if it was ripped from the very gut of Jónsi Birgisson.
Flora Havelock
8 M.I.A.: ‘Bring the Noize’
Following several disputes with her record company (culminating in her threatening to leak the album herself), M.I.A. made her glorious comeback with ‘Bring the Noize’. This is the second single from her album Matangi, and it continues on from the vaguely sinister rhythm slither of last year’s ‘Bad Girls’, with a killer video and sampled beats to match. Amongst a sea of recent copycats (namely Azealia Banks and her rival/sidekick Iggy Azalea), M.I.A. returns to prove that she’s still queen.
Miranda Wilkie
9 Local Natives: ‘Colombia’
As Local Natives’ frontman and lyricist Kelcey Ayer repeatedly calls out “Patricia” (the name of his deceased mother), you become aware of listening to something infinitely meaningful. A heart-wrenching maternal ode, ‘Colombia’ is at its best when seen live. Ayer’s voice crackles and his sinews strain as he pours his heart, body and soul into a treatise on loss and dejection. The pinnacle of a rise that has garnered Local Natives a cult following, ‘Colombia’ is an absolute victory for the beauty of the band’s music.
Richard Brown
10 Arcade Fire: ‘Here Comes the Night Time’
The most pop-friendly song off Reflektor, ‘Here Comes the Night Time’ is a delicate fusion of calypso and synth-pop, stadium rock and indie disco. The production here is impeccable, with lurching bass lines, spacey synths, and lilting drums providing the perfect backdrop for that addictive steel drum melody. Clocking in at six minutes it never feels that long; only as long as it takes for the night-time to arrive.
Redmond Bacon
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