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OT: The Years' Best Songs - Printable Version

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OT: The Years' Best Songs - Hulk01 - 01-11-2014

A couple of Cardboarders liked the idea of sharing favorite music here. 
My list is intended for two groups.

The first are those of you who had not had the time to stay up on music but still like the music that evolved from Chuck Berry, The Beatles, and U2, and are willing to give a try to hop-hop, techno, and other modern iterations.

The second group are Cardboarders who are up on modern pop/rock but might be interested in tidbits about several songs that you like.

To my heart and ears, these are the 16 Best Songs out there, almost all of them from 2013.  Because of message limits, this post spans this and the next post.

I have attempted to create links to Spotify.  If you have an interest in music and are not registered on the site, it’s indispensable.  Here’s the link (or at least a url you can copy into your browser) to Spotify. 
https://www.spotify.com/us/ 
Registering takes seconds. 

Open, Rhye 
https://play.spotify.com/album/6b1HPtDuYioXwmw5xLLFQ9
The new Sade is a cellist from Canada backed by an instrumentalist from Denmark.  For months, no one knew who was making these songs.  When the curtain was opened, everyone was surprised.  You will be, too.

Song For Zula, Phosphoresence 
https://play.spotify.com/album/2he3CA9Gg1XLCsBiMAaXiz
For anyone who ever has fallen into a burning ring of fire.  This makes lost love truly beautiful; you can feel his ache.  And Phosporescent only sounds like a band that is channelling Brian Eno and U2.  It's really Matthew Houck from Brooklyn via Athens, Georgia, plus his boys.  You’ve heard it if you saw The Spectacular Now.  Lucky you.  Thousands of votes for Song of the Year.  No kidding.

Closer, Tegan and Sara 
https://play.spotify.com/album/5IUJ6v408Z7pECC3BXUJxX
You have to have a sex song.  Needs a throbbing rhythm to it.  A bit light, sure, but what the hell.  All I dream of lately is how to get you underneath me--well, no kidding guys.  This is sex we’re talking about. 

Wildest Moments (2012), Jessica Ware 
https://play.spotify.com/album/1T5wmjLCBuuTKTpKsiAn7R
You know the relationship that drove you crazy--on each extreme?  Maybe you should, maybe you shouldn’t?  Why did you even try?  Another reason to love her, guys:  She was a sportswriter at one time.  One part Adele (her friend) and one part Sade--how does England turn out out so many remarkable female singers?  A voice you want to hear underneath you.

Get Lucky, Pharrell and Daft Punk
https://play.spotify.com/album/2ePFIvZKMe8zefATp9ofFA
It sounds like another song about sex, disco/punk meets a one-night stand.  But the coming together these artists are singing about is being reunited--the gifted producer/singer Pharrell and the distinctly French dance-pop duo Daft Punk.  (Daft Punk disappeared in 2005, while Pharrell was in the background helping to produce hits for other artists.) And it’s about these three working to achieve something big and get electronic dance music out of its rut.  And some one-night stand: This song, which Steve Colbert has called “the Song of the Summer of the Century,”  took 18 months start to finish. 

Wake Me Up, Avicii   
https://play.spotify.com/album/37qAVEAZSyRTVFvVRHcwOa
Another great summer anthem.  He’s not from rural Georgia?  Well no, the guy who created it is from Sweden and the vocalist is the American soul singer Aloe Blacc, a 2001 USC graduate from Laguna Hills, California.  He’s guy worth supporting, too, as he is active in immigrant causes and malaria education.  Love his voice.

[b]If You Could See Me Now, The Script  [/b]
https://play.spotify.com/album/7JOCOjZTcLysDMkZGWlcIj
Who cannot relate to Danny O’Donoghue wishing that his dad could see him play to packed stadiums, or just wishing that his dad were alive?  You are not a fan of hip-hop?  This song will convince otherwise.  Continuing the anywhere-but-America theme, these guys are Irish.  And a sign that the music world is flat generationally: This is my teenage daughter’s favorite group.

Let Her Go, Passenger (Summer 2012)
https://play.spotify.com/album/2sRnJq6dfXdqhIflBk0ve1
We move a few hundred miles to England although only the writer/singer is British (Passenger is one guy, not a band).  The other five musicians are Aussies.  No other voice in music like his.  And while it seems to be a yet another song about a failed relationship, it also is a reminder that loss makes us treasure gain and that failure makes success taste sweeter and, more important, that we too often don’t know what we’ve got ‘til its gone.

Everything Is Embarrassing, Sky Ferreira.
https://play.spotify.com/user/1276717022/playlist/65nGsHnPiXcaJoK7zdZXGH
Finally, an American.  Get off your feet dance/pop.  You may notice my preference for this female voice (Lana Del Ray, Florence + The Machine).  Yeah, I guess.
[b]













OT: The Years' Best Songs - Hulk01 - 01-11-2014

A couple of Cardboarders liked the idea of sharing favorite music here. 
My list is intended for two groups.

The first are those of you who had not had the time to stay up on music but still like the music that evolved from Chuck Berry, The Beatles, and U2, and are willing to give a try to hop-hop, techno, and other modern iterations.

The second group are Cardboarders who are up on modern pop/rock but might be interested in tidbits about several songs that you like.

To my heart and ears, these are the 16 Best Songs out there, almost all of them from 2013.  Because of message limits, this post spans this and the next post.

I have attempted to create links to Spotify.  If you have an interest in music and are not registered on the site, it’s indispensable.  Here’s the link (or at least a url you can copy into your browser) to Spotify. 
https://www.spotify.com/us/ 
Registering takes seconds. 

Open, Rhye 
https://play.spotify.com/album/6b1HPtDuYioXwmw5xLLFQ9
The new Sade is a cellist from Canada backed by an instrumentalist from Denmark.  For months, no one knew who was making these songs.  When the curtain was opened, everyone was surprised.  You will be, too.

Song For Zula, Phosphoresence 
https://play.spotify.com/album/2he3CA9Gg1XLCsBiMAaXiz
For anyone who ever has fallen into a burning ring of fire.  This makes lost love truly beautiful; you can feel his ache.  And Phosporescent only sounds like a band that is channelling Brian Eno and U2.  It's really Matthew Houck from Brooklyn via Athens, Georgia, plus his boys.  You’ve heard it if you saw The Spectacular Now.  Lucky you.  Thousands of votes for Song of the Year.  No kidding.

Closer, Tegan and Sara 
https://play.spotify.com/album/5IUJ6v408Z7pECC3BXUJxX
You have to have a sex song.  Needs a throbbing rhythm to it.  A bit light, sure, but what the hell.  All I dream of lately is how to get you underneath me--well, no kidding guys.  This is sex we’re talking about. 

Wildest Moments (2012), Jessica Ware 
https://play.spotify.com/album/1T5wmjLCBuuTKTpKsiAn7R
You know the relationship that drove you crazy--on each extreme?  Maybe you should, maybe you shouldn’t?  Why did you even try?  Another reason to love her, guys:  She was a sportswriter at one time.  One part Adele (her friend) and one part Sade--how does England turn out out so many remarkable female singers?  A voice you want to hear underneath you.

Get Lucky, Pharrell and Daft Punk
https://play.spotify.com/album/2ePFIvZKMe8zefATp9ofFA
It sounds like another song about sex, disco/punk meets a one-night stand.  But the coming together these artists are singing about is being reunited--the gifted producer/singer Pharrell and the distinctly French dance-pop duo Daft Punk.  (Daft Punk disappeared in 2005, while Pharrell was in the background helping to produce hits for other artists.) And it’s about these three working to achieve something big and get electronic dance music out of its rut.  And some one-night stand: This song, which Steve Colbert has called “the Song of the Summer of the Century,”  took 18 months start to finish. 

Wake Me Up, Avicii   
https://play.spotify.com/album/37qAVEAZSyRTVFvVRHcwOa
Another great summer anthem.  He’s not from rural Georgia?  Well no, the guy who created it is from Sweden and the vocalist is the American soul singer Aloe Blacc, a 2001 USC graduate from Laguna Hills, California.  He’s guy worth supporting, too, as he is active in immigrant causes and malaria education.  Love his voice.

[b]If You Could See Me Now, The Script  [/b]
https://play.spotify.com/album/7JOCOjZTcLysDMkZGWlcIj
Who cannot relate to Danny O’Donoghue wishing that his dad could see him play to packed stadiums, or just wishing that his dad were alive?  You are not a fan of hip-hop?  This song will convince otherwise.  Continuing the anywhere-but-America theme, these guys are Irish.  And a sign that the music world is flat generationally: This is my teenage daughter’s favorite group.

Let Her Go, Passenger (Summer 2012)
https://play.spotify.com/album/2sRnJq6dfXdqhIflBk0ve1
We move a few hundred miles to England although only the writer/singer is British (Passenger is one guy, not a band).  The other five musicians are Aussies.  No other voice in music like his.  And while it seems to be a yet another song about a failed relationship, it also is a reminder that loss makes us treasure gain and that failure makes success taste sweeter and, more important, that we too often don’t know what we’ve got ‘til its gone.

Everything Is Embarrassing, Sky Ferreira.
https://play.spotify.com/user/1276717022/playlist/65nGsHnPiXcaJoK7zdZXGH
Finally, an American.  Get off your feet dance/pop.  You may notice my preference for this female voice (Lana Del Ray, Florence + The Machine).  Yeah, I guess.
[b]













Re: OT: The Years' Best Songs, part two - Hulk01 - 01-11-2014

Timber, Pitbull and Kesha. [/b]
https://play.spotify.com/album/3X33e7UII5loqrEgauOKEC
A harmonica? What the hell?  A pop anthem, then a funky rap, about as fun as a song gets.  brobdingnagian hit.

Follow Your Arrow, Kacey Musgraves
https://play.spotify.com/album/6IGpQUt0KNi5rBUXZZOFI6
A radical departure into country, but cannot resist the detour because these are among cleverest lyrics you will ever hear.  Plus who can resist her message?  Follow your muse, be yourself--follow your arrow wherever it points.  The worst that can happen: It will make you smile.  Her songs Merry Go Round and Keep It To Yourself are worth two listens for similar reasons.  “Mommy’s hooked on Mary Kay,  Brother’s hooked on Mary J, Daddy’s hooked on Mary two doors down.  Mary Mary quite contrary, we get bored so we get married. . .”  No one writes lyrics like these.

That’s My Kind of Night, Luke Bryan
https://play.spotify.com/album/5M8gr5RV2eR6UkztC69ogB
More cool country, even with an opening nod to hip-hop.  Stories matter in country music and this tells a story that starts and ends happily.  Might as well hear the country guy that everyone is, or soon will be, talking about.

Young and Beautiful, Lana Del Rey
https://play.spotify.com/album/1D92WOHWUI2AGQCCdplcXL
Oh that grace, oh that body, oh that face--she’s my avatar--and oh that haunting voice, retro lyrics, and million dollar productions.  So will the men still love you when you’re just that woman who used to be that hot 25 year-old singer?  Her song Video Games is a gift, too.  To my ears and mind, this was the only good thing about last summer's failed attempt to turn the great American novel, The Great Gatsby, into a watchable movie.

Shot At The Night, The Killers 
https://play.spotify.com/album/5fCdDUSSP2C65fz5fqxQHd
If songs still were pressed onto vinyl, my copy of Human would be dead from needle blows and Read My Mind would be translucent.  Brandon Flowers is that star of this Las Vegas-based band that’s bigger in the U.K,, where all four of their albums have gone to number one; they’re a cross of British pop and indie rock.  They actually signed with a British indie label initially after being rejected here.  (I don’t like their early work like Mr. Brightside either).  I recommend all three songs mentioned here.  You can skip almost everything else they’ve recorded.  They’re Lamborghinis-rich already.

Ribs, Lorde
https://play.spotify.com/album/0rmhjUgoVa17LZuS8xWQ3v
Back to the rest of the our planet and down to New Zealand, and a remarkable 17 year-old singer Ella Maria Lane Yelch-O’Connor.  The stage name reflects her fascination with royalty and her fear that “Lord” would sound too masculine.  Not surprising given that fascination, her big hit is “Royals” but “Ribs” is a favorite.  She loves Raymond Carver, Sylvia Plath, Walt Whitman and poetry, as does her father--the prize-winning New Zealand poet Sonja Yelich.  A prodigy, she signed her first recording contract months after turning 13.  A remarkable girl whatever your taste, but she may be too precious and ethereal to last.

Hold On, We’re Going Home, Drake and Magid Jordan
https://play.spotify.com/album/2gXTTQ713nCELgPOS0qWyt
The Canadian hip-hop king and non-stop hit maker Drake combined with the group Magid Jordan and the producer 40 to create this.  Their aim wasn’t sky-high: They merely wanted to create a classic love song that people would play at their weddings.  But the result is both wildly popular and well-received by the critics.

So these are mine.  Would love to hear yours.  And thanks.

Re: OT: The Years' Best Songs, part two - Hulk01 - 01-11-2014

Timber, Pitbull and Kesha. [/b]
https://play.spotify.com/album/3X33e7UII5loqrEgauOKEC
A harmonica? What the hell?  A pop anthem, then a funky rap, about as fun as a song gets.  brobdingnagian hit.

Follow Your Arrow, Kacey Musgraves
https://play.spotify.com/album/6IGpQUt0KNi5rBUXZZOFI6
A radical departure into country, but cannot resist the detour because these are among cleverest lyrics you will ever hear.  Plus who can resist her message?  Follow your muse, be yourself--follow your arrow wherever it points.  The worst that can happen: It will make you smile.  Her songs Merry Go Round and Keep It To Yourself are worth two listens for similar reasons.  “Mommy’s hooked on Mary Kay,  Brother’s hooked on Mary J, Daddy’s hooked on Mary two doors down.  Mary Mary quite contrary, we get bored so we get married. . .”  No one writes lyrics like these.

That’s My Kind of Night, Luke Bryan
https://play.spotify.com/album/5M8gr5RV2eR6UkztC69ogB
More cool country, even with an opening nod to hip-hop.  Stories matter in country music and this tells a story that starts and ends happily.  Might as well hear the country guy that everyone is, or soon will be, talking about.

Young and Beautiful, Lana Del Rey
https://play.spotify.com/album/1D92WOHWUI2AGQCCdplcXL
Oh that grace, oh that body, oh that face--she’s my avatar--and oh that haunting voice, retro lyrics, and million dollar productions.  So will the men still love you when you’re just that woman who used to be that hot 25 year-old singer?  Her song Video Games is a gift, too.  To my ears and mind, this was the only good thing about last summer's failed attempt to turn the great American novel, The Great Gatsby, into a watchable movie.

Shot At The Night, The Killers 
https://play.spotify.com/album/5fCdDUSSP2C65fz5fqxQHd
If songs still were pressed onto vinyl, my copy of Human would be dead from needle blows and Read My Mind would be translucent.  Brandon Flowers is that star of this Las Vegas-based band that’s bigger in the U.K,, where all four of their albums have gone to number one; they’re a cross of British pop and indie rock.  They actually signed with a British indie label initially after being rejected here.  (I don’t like their early work like Mr. Brightside either).  I recommend all three songs mentioned here.  You can skip almost everything else they’ve recorded.  They’re Lamborghinis-rich already.

Ribs, Lorde
https://play.spotify.com/album/0rmhjUgoVa17LZuS8xWQ3v
Back to the rest of the our planet and down to New Zealand, and a remarkable 17 year-old singer Ella Maria Lane Yelch-O’Connor.  The stage name reflects her fascination with royalty and her fear that “Lord” would sound too masculine.  Not surprising given that fascination, her big hit is “Royals” but “Ribs” is a favorite.  She loves Raymond Carver, Sylvia Plath, Walt Whitman and poetry, as does her father--the prize-winning New Zealand poet Sonja Yelich.  A prodigy, she signed her first recording contract months after turning 13.  A remarkable girl whatever your taste, but she may be too precious and ethereal to last.

Hold On, We’re Going Home, Drake and Magid Jordan
https://play.spotify.com/album/2gXTTQ713nCELgPOS0qWyt
The Canadian hip-hop king and non-stop hit maker Drake combined with the group Magid Jordan and the producer 40 to create this.  Their aim wasn’t sky-high: They merely wanted to create a classic love song that people would play at their weddings.  But the result is both wildly popular and well-received by the critics.

So these are mine.  Would love to hear yours.  And thanks.

Re: OT: The Years' Best Songs - stupac2 - 01-11-2014

Here's a couple I really like (I'll be omitting the descriptions because I suck at that).

Flyweight Love, Vienna Teng
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBgbB_C9FMg
Bonus: Teng is a Stanford alum.

Sonsick, San Fermin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld81Y6Em3NM

Re: OT: The Years' Best Songs - stupac2 - 01-11-2014

Here's a couple I really like (I'll be omitting the descriptions because I suck at that).

Flyweight Love, Vienna Teng
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBgbB_C9FMg
Bonus: Teng is a Stanford alum.

Sonsick, San Fermin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld81Y6Em3NM

Re: OT: The Years' Best Songs - washingtonismoney - 01-11-2014

Farrah Fawcett Hair -- Capital Cities
Is this one of the actual best songs in 2013? I have no idea. I do know it's just plain fun, with a great "I've-still-got-it" Andre 3000 verse:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjcOx4yYvEk

Re: OT: The Years' Best Songs - washingtonismoney - 01-11-2014

Farrah Fawcett Hair -- Capital Cities
Is this one of the actual best songs in 2013? I have no idea. I do know it's just plain fun, with a great "I've-still-got-it" Andre 3000 verse:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjcOx4yYvEk

Re: OT: The Years' Best Songs - BostonCard - 01-11-2014

Thank you (and a big up-vote) for sharing.  I already have a number of those songs on my playlist.

One comment... they piped "Timber" in at the Rose Bowl.  In isolation, it is a song I could get behind, but in context, I thought it was a bad omen.

BC

Re: OT: The Years' Best Songs - BostonCard - 01-11-2014

Thank you (and a big up-vote) for sharing.  I already have a number of those songs on my playlist.

One comment... they piped "Timber" in at the Rose Bowl.  In isolation, it is a song I could get behind, but in context, I thought it was a bad omen.

BC

Re: OT: The Years' Best Songs - BostonCard - 01-11-2014

To simplify things, I created a "Hulk's playlist" playlist on Spotify that should have all the tracks listed.

https://play.spotify.com/user/jmgalanter/playlist/7IpjLlaXBuP3TA21KWne9F

I'll add a couple:

Since you mentioned Lana Del Rey, I feel compelled to mention Summertime Sadness, which is a now overplayed but hauntingly brooding song that features Del Rey's phenomenal voice.

Hurricane by MS MR (technically 2012) would fit right into your playlist.
The Monster by Eminem and Rihanna, which seems like an odd pairing, but one that works really well
Another Lorde track: No Better

And I want to take a second to plug my very favorite unknown band from South Africa of all places, Goldfish.  Since you are focusing on this year, I will recommend: Away Game.  Their newest album (Three Second Memory) also features an awesome remix of Canteloop (Flip Fantasia).

My favorite track is from a few years ago, not least because of this awesome video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-tNUur2YoU

BC

Re: OT: The Years' Best Songs - BostonCard - 01-11-2014

To simplify things, I created a "Hulk's playlist" playlist on Spotify that should have all the tracks listed.

https://play.spotify.com/user/jmgalanter/playlist/7IpjLlaXBuP3TA21KWne9F

I'll add a couple:

Since you mentioned Lana Del Rey, I feel compelled to mention Summertime Sadness, which is a now overplayed but hauntingly brooding song that features Del Rey's phenomenal voice.

Hurricane by MS MR (technically 2012) would fit right into your playlist.
The Monster by Eminem and Rihanna, which seems like an odd pairing, but one that works really well
Another Lorde track: No Better

And I want to take a second to plug my very favorite unknown band from South Africa of all places, Goldfish.  Since you are focusing on this year, I will recommend: Away Game.  Their newest album (Three Second Memory) also features an awesome remix of Canteloop (Flip Fantasia).

My favorite track is from a few years ago, not least because of this awesome video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-tNUur2YoU

BC

Re: OT: The Years' Best Songs - Hulk01 - 01-12-2014

Great adds.  My bias for alll things Stanford made me love Flyweight Love instantly.  My love of South Africa and appreciation for the people there, not to mention my longtime crush on Sally Little and her voice, has led me to store the Goldfish pieces, too.  And Hurricane was actually my 17th song. 

Now waiting to see Publius and Trevmeister weigh in. . .both are sleeping in this morning and perhaps hung over from the Colts loss.  But damn do I love Sherman. 

Re: OT: The Years' Best Songs - Hulk01 - 01-12-2014

Great adds.  My bias for alll things Stanford made me love Flyweight Love instantly.  My love of South Africa and appreciation for the people there, not to mention my longtime crush on Sally Little and her voice, has led me to store the Goldfish pieces, too.  And Hurricane was actually my 17th song. 

Now waiting to see Publius and Trevmeister weigh in. . .both are sleeping in this morning and perhaps hung over from the Colts loss.  But damn do I love Sherman. 

Re: OT: The Years' Best Songs - Fuzzy Dunlop - 01-12-2014

Haim, Don’t Save Me
http://open.spotify.com/track/6Je5Vjd8VXVpQYcOiav5KU
One of the most-hyped indie-rock albums of the year – Grantland called it “so perfect that there's hardly anything ‘indie’ about it” – deserves the accolades.  Spotify labels it “R&B-influenced soft rock,” and these three sisters from the San Fernando Valley have drawn comparisons to Fleetwood Mac mashed with 80s pop.  The hard-to-pigeonhole style has a number of different influences, but the common theme is fun, catchy melodies.  My favorite song is “Don’t Save Me,” but you also might like to try “The Wire,” “Forever,” and “If I Could Change Your Mind.”

Wild Child, Crazy Bird
http://open.spotify.com/track/5d9SYJezRJqMYJBQu1X3Mp
Wild Child’s song “Living Tree” was named one of NPR’s best songs of 2013.  “Crazy Bird” is better, maybe my favorite song of the year.  It’s incredibly catchy, and I love the sound of the female singer’s voice.  I’d generally describe them as folk-pop.  NPR’s description of “Living Tree”: “Kelsey Wilson, one of two leaders of this playfully old-timey Austin-based band, has the voice of a Jazz Age Broadway baby, all coos and hiccups and shivers. Songs like this one are gin cocktails, fizzy with just a hint of a juniper-berry bite.”

Cold Blood Club, Goodbye to All That
http://open.spotify.com/track/46d4Lmy1ZHpyPEixBKHjRH
Electro-pop dance rock, I don’t know how to describe this, but it’s catchy and fun.  The 2012 release “Ladies and Gentlemen” is better (http://open.spotify.com/track/4l2zmEkeFgJvug3EsuDHDG).

Gaslight Anthem, “45” or Handwritten
http://open.spotify.com/track/25Sd73fleKUVPNqITPZkn1
http://open.spotify.com/track/2NUwA4xWCIxU3TVw9Un3nK
These songs were actually released in 2012, but they’re too good to omit.  Gaslight Anthem is a more modern/alternative-sounding Bruce Springstreen.  (Spotify calls it soulful punk rock, but I’d dispute the “punk” appellation.)  I think my favorite description of Gaslight’s songs is “heart-on-sleeve rock anthems” (though I think that was describing the earlier, admittedly better “59 Sound”).

The National, I Should Live in Salt
http://open.spotify.com/track/6gf7WF9nXNON9HdNtrdEDq
Some people describe The National as boring or bland; I think you just need to give the songs a few listens.  They’re soulful, deep, and melodic.  I’d also recommend from the same album “Demons,” “Don’t Swallow the Cap,” or “Sea of Love.”  Spin says: “Anatomies of melancholy in modern music rarely come with skeletons as complete as the National's.”

Frank Turner, Plain Sailing Weather
http://open.spotify.com/track/4Rpz1cMDsEgHbQc9A5o0VC
Turner “turns out highly quotable, sometimes deliriously catchy rants about life after punk.”  This is just a good rock album, and “Plain Sailing Weather” is its best song.

Okkervil River, Down the Deep River
http://open.spotify.com/track/1SIQLf6ZWauO1fcPxl9lvB
Stealing this from an online review: “bruised and brooding melodies, eclectic and calculated arrangements, deep and poetic lyrics.”

Finally, I’d also echo the recommendations for MS MR (though I might pick the song “Fantasy”) and Tegan and Sara’s “Closer.”

Re: OT: The Years' Best Songs - Fuzzy Dunlop - 01-12-2014

Haim, Don’t Save Me
http://open.spotify.com/track/6Je5Vjd8VXVpQYcOiav5KU
One of the most-hyped indie-rock albums of the year – Grantland called it “so perfect that there's hardly anything ‘indie’ about it” – deserves the accolades.  Spotify labels it “R&B-influenced soft rock,” and these three sisters from the San Fernando Valley have drawn comparisons to Fleetwood Mac mashed with 80s pop.  The hard-to-pigeonhole style has a number of different influences, but the common theme is fun, catchy melodies.  My favorite song is “Don’t Save Me,” but you also might like to try “The Wire,” “Forever,” and “If I Could Change Your Mind.”

Wild Child, Crazy Bird
http://open.spotify.com/track/5d9SYJezRJqMYJBQu1X3Mp
Wild Child’s song “Living Tree” was named one of NPR’s best songs of 2013.  “Crazy Bird” is better, maybe my favorite song of the year.  It’s incredibly catchy, and I love the sound of the female singer’s voice.  I’d generally describe them as folk-pop.  NPR’s description of “Living Tree”: “Kelsey Wilson, one of two leaders of this playfully old-timey Austin-based band, has the voice of a Jazz Age Broadway baby, all coos and hiccups and shivers. Songs like this one are gin cocktails, fizzy with just a hint of a juniper-berry bite.”

Cold Blood Club, Goodbye to All That
http://open.spotify.com/track/46d4Lmy1ZHpyPEixBKHjRH
Electro-pop dance rock, I don’t know how to describe this, but it’s catchy and fun.  The 2012 release “Ladies and Gentlemen” is better (http://open.spotify.com/track/4l2zmEkeFgJvug3EsuDHDG).

Gaslight Anthem, “45” or Handwritten
http://open.spotify.com/track/25Sd73fleKUVPNqITPZkn1
http://open.spotify.com/track/2NUwA4xWCIxU3TVw9Un3nK
These songs were actually released in 2012, but they’re too good to omit.  Gaslight Anthem is a more modern/alternative-sounding Bruce Springstreen.  (Spotify calls it soulful punk rock, but I’d dispute the “punk” appellation.)  I think my favorite description of Gaslight’s songs is “heart-on-sleeve rock anthems” (though I think that was describing the earlier, admittedly better “59 Sound”).

The National, I Should Live in Salt
http://open.spotify.com/track/6gf7WF9nXNON9HdNtrdEDq
Some people describe The National as boring or bland; I think you just need to give the songs a few listens.  They’re soulful, deep, and melodic.  I’d also recommend from the same album “Demons,” “Don’t Swallow the Cap,” or “Sea of Love.”  Spin says: “Anatomies of melancholy in modern music rarely come with skeletons as complete as the National's.”

Frank Turner, Plain Sailing Weather
http://open.spotify.com/track/4Rpz1cMDsEgHbQc9A5o0VC
Turner “turns out highly quotable, sometimes deliriously catchy rants about life after punk.”  This is just a good rock album, and “Plain Sailing Weather” is its best song.

Okkervil River, Down the Deep River
http://open.spotify.com/track/1SIQLf6ZWauO1fcPxl9lvB
Stealing this from an online review: “bruised and brooding melodies, eclectic and calculated arrangements, deep and poetic lyrics.”

Finally, I’d also echo the recommendations for MS MR (though I might pick the song “Fantasy”) and Tegan and Sara’s “Closer.”

Re: OT: The Years' Best Songs - Hulk01 - 01-12-2014

On many days, Haim would have been on my sweet sixteen. 
More great adds.

Re: OT: The Years' Best Songs - Hulk01 - 01-12-2014

On many days, Haim would have been on my sweet sixteen. 
More great adds.

Re: OT: The Years' Best Songs - washingtonismoney - 01-12-2014

I also really enjoy Haim, so I'll third that recommendation. I'm in the tank for the Coen Brothers (the filmmakers), so naturally I enjoyed both the movie and accompanying folk soundtrack, Inside Llewyn Davis.

Re: OT: The Years' Best Songs - washingtonismoney - 01-12-2014

I also really enjoy Haim, so I'll third that recommendation. I'm in the tank for the Coen Brothers (the filmmakers), so naturally I enjoyed both the movie and accompanying folk soundtrack, Inside Llewyn Davis.