2013: the songs (50-41)

Previously: 100-91, 90-81, 80-71, 70-61, 60-51
Spotify Link

50. Portugal. The Man - Atomic Man

Proggy without being off-putting, Atomic Man is the best song off P.TM's Evil Friends. I'm not sure if "Atomic Man" is supposed to be some sort of hero, but the song rushes forward at the start like a speeding bullet viewed in slow motion. There's energy there, but it's constrained and paced. It builds up slowly, starting with drums, then a strummed guitar, then a picked guitar, then bass, and finally the vocals, coated with a fine layer of white noise. It's a fun song until it starts winding down, when the mood suddenly becomes somber and even a bit glum. Tracing the arc of a hero from ascendance to downfall? Maybe.

49. St. Lucia - The Night Comes Again

It floats in gently, opening When the Night with an atmospheric synth bed. And then Jean-Philip Grobler's lyrics come in, get layered and introduce the rest of the music. And just like the previous tracks from this band on this list, it's a wonderful mix of tropical 80s-type sounds. The lyrics are just the same basic chorus, with an adjustment or two, four times in total. But this isn't a song about the lyrics; this song's placement is based almost exclusively around how it sounds, with layers and layers of fun and nuanced music that make it super-easy to play on repeat.

48. Lorde - White Teeth Teens

A lot of teenagers who write music and have it played focus on things that revolve around being, well, a teenager. But the thing that has (and hopefully will continue to) set Lorde apart in this realm is that her songs seem like more than just some precocious teenager who has a touch more self-awareness and less Big Label whitewashing. She has that, but songs like this are lyrically deep. It attacks the issue of cliques without ever getting mopey or bitter, all while staying shrouded in this dark-pop mist Lorde has on many of her songs not named "Royals."

47. Sam Smith - Safe With Me (not on Spotify)

Few newcomers this year have wowed with their pure vocal power than Sam Smith, the 21-year-old tenor with an ear for mixing crooning pop with VIP room drug haze. His debut LP is expected next year, and is buoyed on the shoulders of massive hype brought on by an EP that contains tracks like this, a song that stays current by doing things like pitch-shifting, but manages to avoid getting too cute and does the smart thing by letting Smith's vocals be the real star of the show. Dude can sing.

46. Janelle Monae - We Were Rock n' Roll

There's maybe no other performer on this list who can put on a show like Janelle Monae. Her live energy and unique personality make everything she does an experience, including songs like this. Even out of the context of her skit-filled albums, tracks like this stand out for combining parts rock, gospel and disco to make something irresistible. It's in keeping with the rest of what she does, after all.


45. Haim - The Wire

Haim are quickly gaining the reputation, for better or worse, that they get super into their music when they play. When you hear songs like this, mixing some elements of 70s rock like Fleetwood Mac or The Eagles (hey, I like The Eagles) with a slight country twang, you can understand and see how easy it is to get into them live. Do they look a little ridiculous sometimes? Do an image search of "Haim bass face." But the music's worth getting into like that. Who knows, maybe when you hear that bass lick or ending solo, you'll contort your face into something magical as you play air guitar along with it.

44. Haerts - Wings

Actually released as a single in late 2012 and then officially as part of the Hemiplegia EP this year, Wings is Haerts at their best and the biggest reason why they're such an exciting act to keep an eye on into next year. They've said in interviews that being classified as "pop," a classification which they only barely fit into, isn't a dirty word for them. And that mindset seems reflected in their music; what pop elements are there are embraced and mesh nicely with the more shoegaze-y aspects of the track. It's a happy medium.




43. Grizzly Bear - Will Calls (Marfa Demo)

We should all be so lucky to be able to record music good enough to compile an entire album and consider a song like this a bad fit, relegating it to an internet release leading up to an expanded reissue of the album it apparently wasn't up to snuff for. Shields, Grizzly Bear's excellent 2012 album, is full of great tracks, and EP tracks tend to have something about them that makes their omission from the album proper apparent. Not here, as the raw, lo-fi aspects of this song with Droste's sincere lyrics and cooing verse vocals before the emotional explosion of the chorus are solid through and through, even as-is (you can hear crickets chirping in the background).

42. Julianna Barwick - Forever

What's maybe the most aurally blissful sounding song on this entire list ends up at this spot, and it's been a struggle trying to figure out if I'm severely underrating it, or if it's actually placed just right. That's probably more a testament of what's to come on what's left of this countdown, because this song truly is immersive, expansive. It takes the best elements of every relaxing piece of spa muzak and shines them up, combining wafting, unintelligible vocals that only feel like they're barely there with early-era Sigur Ros-style music in the back.


41. Lucius - Wildewoman

The harmonies are BACK, and they're in full throat. The whole song exists for the chorus, especially the second one, after which the vocals transition into exciting yelps of "hey-ey." The draw of Lucius is now and will always be the way Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe sing together, and this is where they sound their best.

2013: the songs (60-51)

Previously: 100-91, 90-81, 80-71, 70-61
Spotify Link

60. Wild Ones - Golden Twin

There are a couple things about this song that I'm infatuated with, in some order: the way the guitars shimmer behind everything, Danielle Sullivan's Portland-ized take on Cranberries vocals and the gentle, summery pop feel layered over the whole song. It's got a reminiscent tone while managing to never sound melancholy about it. All in all, it's just got all of the ingredients you need for an enjoyable indie pop song. Simple.

59. Mikal Cronin - Shout It Out

Mikal Cronin's music is this refreshing blend of rock, pop and punk that takes it easy in the verses before pressing the overdrive pedal for the chorus. It manages to mix those three genres easily, creating a punk-type song that more indie-leaning listeners can enjoy, and vice-versa.


58. Torres - Waterfall

By now on this list, the gist of Torres is clear; but on an album full of contemplative music, this is one that still manages to set itself apart lyrically. It's probably best enjoyed in the context of the album, where it stands in as closer, with a longer lead-in of the looped, reverbed, superfast guitar strumming that lies behind the entire track. It's not an uplifting track - little about the album is hopeful, really - but there's a sad beauty in the lyrics that let them stand out to me. The second half of the chorus especially: "From way up here it looks so calm / do you ever make it halfway down and think / 'god, I never meant to jump at all'" is sung at times in a heartbroken semi-wail, at other in a nearly-hushed whisper. It's a fitting closer to an album that deserved one.

57. Night Beds - Ramona

Slide guitar, twangy vocals, country feel. It's a song that sounds like the feeling you get when some sort of revelation hits you as you're walking home late at night, probably from a bar where the whiskey buzz hasn't quite left you yet. I don't usually go foraging on the country side of the property line, but every once in a while there's a tune that's accessible enough even for me. It's at its sweetest during the second chorus, stretched out and harmonized.


56. Chvrches - Night Sky

In a way, given the hype I had for this song after first hearing it live in June, placing it 56th feels like a disappointment. It isn't obviously, but it takes some mental course-correction to appropriately appreciate this rank when you had song-of-the-year aspirations for its studio iteration. It isn't the best song of the year, obviously, but it's still Chvrches doing more of what they do so well: hooky, memorable electropop.

55. Phosphorescent - Terror in the Canyons (The Wounded Master)

An emerging trend on this list is that, if your song has a great chorus, chances are it's ending up on this list somewhere. Matthew Houck's Phosphorescent outfit have a habit of making beautifully flawed music, in that it never sounds 100 percent cohesive; but that's part of the charm. Whether it's a vocal waver, an improvised piano cut-in, a trumpet interjection or a noodling guitar sort of messing about behind the scenes, there's a lot strewn about that isn't straightforward, but all comes together to make something beautiful in spite of itself.

54. Neko Case - Local Girl

Neko's voice has taken on a bit of fine grit as the years have gone on, at least to my ears, and that added texture adds a little extra warmth to supplement her still-powerful vocal ability. Local Girl is a wistful song, kicking off with a line that's either disdainful of youth or regretful that her own youth is gone: "I pass the light that the young people make / how joyfully it's wasted." Everyone's approach to the past is different. Some embrace nostalgia, some view it as final and not worth revisiting. Whatever the angle you subscribe to, there's a part of us that'll always remember the past as it relates to loved ones. So as the song closes with "god damn the time / god damn the miles / that take me away from you and change your face," it feels relatable. We lose memories - at least, their integrity - to time. And, as the ultimate lines say, it can change both the way you feel about the present and the way you think about the way you feel in the past.

53. The National - Hard to Find

I have to hand it to the person who decided to soundtrack this song over a condensed, edited version of the 1935 cartoon Dancing On the Moon, because it's perfect. Hard to Find, the closer for The National's sixth studio album, continues in their tradition of strong closers by being rather emotionally jarring. It talks of distance, of how the separation of people (whether physically, emotionally or psychologically) over time frays whatever bonds they once had. The cartoon shows a parade of animal couples on their way to celebrate a romantic dance on the moon, as a pair of cats try desperately try to make it before lift-off. Only one does, and he's subjected to his own company as the other couples enjoy their time together. Separation is acidic: it gradually wears through every bond you have and can drive you crazy before you even realize it. Hard to Find is a song in the aftermath of said fraying, a song that can be emotionally jarring if it relates to something in your life. Bonus points to the beautiful Sharon van Etten cameo, too.

52. Vampire Weekend - Step

We're on sort of a roll with this theme of aging/time and all its collateral damage over the past couple of songs, and this isn't much different. "Wisdom's a gift but you'd trade it for youth" is the line that sticks with you, even if it's not something you'd necessarily do. It makes you wonder: if given the chance, would you exchange what you've learned and experienced for a chance to be younger again? Go back to a time when "potential" was still a thing? Honestly, I don't know that I would, but it's interesting to think about. Vampire Weekend don't get tribal in this one; it's a song that's about as accessible as about anything else they've done, and for once, it sounds pretty, to boot.

51. Sky Ferreira - I Blame Myself

It takes a fair bit of self-awareness to record a track for a debut album acknowledging that you have something of a "reputation." Sky Ferreira's had her fair share of publicity - whether on her own or related to her boyfriend, DIIV's Zachary Cole Smith - but the deserved pub and reputation now should come from her music, which is plain-stated, heart-on-sleeve pop. But it avoids the top 40 pitfall of being overly sweet or trite, instead both sounding and reading like a defiant confessional.

2013: the songs (70-61)

Previously: 100-91, 90-81, 80-71
Spotify Link

70. Milk Music - New Lease on Love

Probably the most straight-up ROCK song on the list to this point, Milk Music's under-publicized Cruise Your Illusion has its ups and downs, but it never gets higher than the power strumming that serves both as a bridge and an outro. Not that that's a bad thing; it's a hard act to top. Much like last year's Hospitality single Monkey had a guitar solo that was enough to vault it among my favorites for the year, this track's anthemic guitar work puts it here. It's a fun listen above lyrics that almost come out slurred. And that's fine, it's all just part of the song's party.

69. Savages - Shut Up

The introduction to this song's music video is not the introduction to the song on the album. On the album, an ominous back-and-forth excerpted from the film Opening Night lends some supernatural, witch-like presence to the song. The music video features a softly but forcefully spoken poem-like intro that feeds into the Editors-on-PCP bass riff that kicks the song off at around 1:15. Savages quickly built a reputation for blisteringly intense live performances, and the video hopes to capture some of that feeling. It does, and it's probably the best presentation for a song like this: not laid over some vignette, a crunched story, but instead about the music and these four women who could rock the socks off any other band on this list.

68. Arcade Fire - Reflektor

Regardless of exactly what you think about Arcade Fire's new sound, the introduction of this song as the first single ahead of the same-titled double album was striking. Arcade Fire constructed a persona built on music that was emotive and full of sound, but never had they presented anything quite this...dance-y. Sprawl II, the second-to-last track from 2010's The Suburbs, came kind of close, but it didn't have this psychotropic disco edge to it. It didn't have Bowie. It didn't feel like this strange new world of people with big ideas about music turning those ideas into something newly intriguing. The song is a bit long and loses some steam after Bowie, but not nearly enough to diminish its potency. Depending on where AF go from here, this is a pivotal song in their catalog, and one that probably deserves deeper analysis than I can give it.

67. Torres - Jealousy and I

Not since Interpol's Untitled have I heard a song that so completely and accurately sounds like a cold, rainy night. From the moment the guitar kicks in, through the lyrics that smack of this chained-up, helpless feeling (Jealousy and I / we're two of a kind / and she's all mine) and past the gentle vocal wails that end the song, the urge to get wrapped up in a blanket is all-consuming. In the summer, listening to this song turns that into a desire to lie still beneath a ceiling fan. It's a paralyzing track, sung with palpable emotional intensity that reveals new facets of itself on every listen.

66. Haim - Falling

The sisterly trio - plus drummer Dash Hutton, don't forget about him - seem to have perfected a sound that seems both contemporary and based heavily in the late 70s or early 80s. And they're only one album into their careers! Falling, the lead track off Days are Gone, melds a call-and-repeat chorus over xylophonic keys, yelps of "hey!"and a swiftly plucked guitar. It's fun listen, sounding both of its time and in debt to those influences of decades ago.

65. Yo La Tengo - Ohm

There's symbolism in initially releasing this track over a simple time-lapse video of a tree. Nothing extraordinary happens in the video; the tree undergoes no massive transformation, the area around changes slightly, but there's no surprise twist. In a way, in matching up with the song's lyrics about accepting the bad with the good, it's visualized complacency. Ohm is a singular highlight from YLT's Fade, and is the first track I shortlisted this year. It's classic YLT with a bit of an ambient layering, and an easy, quick listen despite its seven-plus minutes.

64. Sky Ferreira - 24 Hours

Sky Ferreira's brand of pop isn't candy cane or bubblegum. She's already pretty thoroughly jaded for being just 21, but on a song like 24 Hours, she turns Eagle Eye Cherry's Save Tonight sentiment into some sort of dark electropop that still manages to be sentimental. It's about cognizance of the clock and approaching deadlines and maximizing the time you have, which is thinking ahead of the curve. Don't be fooled by appearances, though; there's a definite edge to this song. It may still be top 40-worthy, but that's not the aim.

63. Tegan and Sara - I'm Not Your Hero

Sisterly duo Tegan and Sara Quin made a lot of charming indie/folk pop, but rarely stuff this poppy or accessible. It's a shade short of danceable, but certainly toe-tappable, especially as the chorus kicks in. Tegan and Sara are vulnerable and emotionally available here, and their lyrics are comfortingly honest and up front (I never walked the party line / doesn't mean that I was never afraid).



62. Washed Out - All I Know

I imagine there's a corner shop on heaven's main street that sells trips where you can drift among the stars and planets, all while Washed Out soundtracks your journey. Ernest Greene is a master of ambience, creating songs that are simultaneously relaxing and great, uh, bedtime music. All I Know is no different, with Greene's lyrics hazed almost to the point of incomprehension above his synths and looped guitar. The chorus demands to be listened to loudly, where the layers are at their most potent and can just take your ears over. It's blissful.

61. Austra - Painful Like

Viva Canada. Katie Stelmanis has one of the more unique voices on this list, its strength tempered by its inherent, wavering vibrato. Placed atop a rolling electro beat, Stelmanis cranks out lyrics that are bittersweet (Malice keeps calling / your palms keep on calming) and lustful (I held you in my underwear / someone might see but I don't care). It's impossible to resist Stelmanis's voice here, which finds all the right ways to convey the emotions of her lyrics while staying so original.

2013: the songs (80-71)

Previously: 100-91, 90-81
Spotify Link

80. Quadron - Crush

Much like their previous entry on this list, Quadron have a soulful outpouring of a song here. It's not the upbeat, joyful tune that Hey Love is, but what it gains in trading that aspect out is relatable vulnerability in the form of unrequited love. That's usually one of the more powerful forces, and who can't relate in some way to the line "Maybe some day he'll notice me / if I keep a close proximity?"


79. Au Revoir Simone - The Lead is Galloping

Brooklyn trio Au Revoir Simone may borrow their name from a Pee-Wee Herman reference, but (forgive me) there's nothing little about their sound. Their sound is at its biggest and best during the chorus of The Lead is Galloping, a dreamy pop song with keys like a digital church organ. The vocals are gently harmonized and reverbed over the song's two and a half minutes, a varied and interesting drum machine pattern keeping time behind the keys and filling whatever little space is left.


78. Snowden - Anemone Arms

Conveniently and coincidentally released the same year that a man with the same name made a few headlines, Snowden returned from a seven-year hiatus with a similar but more refined take on their 2006 debut. Jordan Jeffares's distinctive vocals set him apart still, but his vocals are decidedly less anti-authority. He sounds gentle, empathetic, even if the image created by the embrace of an anemone (obviously not the song's literal focus) isn't exactly a down pillow.


77. Jamie Lidell - Do Yourself a Faver

A funky English soul, Jamie Lidell is at his grooviest on this track off his self-titled release, his sixth full-length. In a way, he's a slightly dancier version of another artist who'll appear later on this list, Autre Ne Veut. Combining a soulful voice with this kind of pseudo-disco groove is a winner.





76. Chvrches - Gun

This Scottish electropop trio has swooped in to capture the hearts of lots and lots of listeners. Formed from something of a ragtag collection of previous band histories, Chvrches have managed to create catchy, upbeat pop songs with terrific beats and hooks. This is the first of a few times they'll show up on this list, and this single from their debut full-length embodies everything about what makes this band work.






75. Lucius - Hey, Doreen

You want harmonies? We've got harmonies here. Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe are a terrific vocal tandem, and their prowess is well-exhibited on this track. It only barely stops for breath after it gets going, only to build back up to full strength for a final pass at the chorus. It's forcefully sung, but it's not overpowering, and its chorus sounds tailor-made to be explosive during a live show.




74. Arcade Fire - Joan of Arc

Starting off deceptively punk, this track quickly morphs into something that sounds like an even-more-back-alley take on Billy Joel's It's Still Rock and Roll to Me. Regine Chassagne is the star in a supporting role, her "Jeanne d'Arc, ah-ooh" during the chorus will stick with you long after the song finishes, and her creepiest French verse to date is riveting. It's a song about persistence and beliefs, in sticking by what you feel to be true even in the face of opposition or disbelief; it's sort of a microcosm of Arcade Fire's approach to this album, a departure from the style that made them famous. It's bold, and it doesn't always pay off. Here, though, it certainly does.

73. The Love Language - Calm Down

Having a spaceman as the main character for the music video of this song sure seems appropriate, given how tall and airy the music sounds at points, especially as the chorus erupts. Driven by simple instrumentation layered just right, The Love Language make fun indie pop without complication or excessive frills. The instrumental breakdown is the one chance on the track the instrumentalists take to shine, and it's gloriously indulgent, slowly ramping up to an absolute cavalcade of sound.

72. St. Lucia - Elevate

Jean-Philip Grobler is back, and he's got more of the '80s in tow, this time with a bit of a tropical flare. This summer afternoon-style track does well enough drifting along on the haze it creates over synths and wood blocks, but the breakdowns after the second and third chorus are what make this song truly excellent. Fun throughout.




71. Local Natives - Three Months

An absolute heartbreaker of a chorus, song completely in falsetto, is the punch behind this pensive Local Natives track. Stunning and beautiful at moments and tinged with uncertainty at others, it's not the Local Natives that made their name with Gorilla Manor; this is an introspective band that's in touch with something deeper, something emotive. They've left part of their carefree sound behind to explore the more serious and expressive side of their music, and here it just flat-out works.

2013: the songs (90-81)

Previously: 100-91
Spotify Playlist

90. Young Galaxy - Out the Gate Backwards

There's something slightly haunting about this song. "Haunting" seems like a strange word, given the song's lean toward being uptempo and danceable, but the way the transfixing keyboard lick blends with Catherine McCandless's vocals - given that slight, empty church echo treatment - makes the song feel partially spectral.





89. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Swim and Sleep (Like a Shark)

The first time I was exposed to UMO was in September 2012 as openers for Grizzly Bear. Their lo-fi sound was a bit peculiar on its own, but combined, with the rather unique acoustics of Radio City Music Hall, the band sounded almost disembodied. I'm not sure if I was sold right then, but I was definitely curious. That curiosity persisted early into this year, when the band released their follow-up to their self-titled 2011 debut. There weren't many tracks that held up, but this one did. Devoid of a chorus and instead operating on the back of a happily gritty guitar lick and plodding drums, Swim and Sleep is fun to listen to multiple times, even if its lyrics are about something decidedly less fun.

88. Youth Lagoon - Mute

Youth Lagoon - performance name of Iowa native Trevor Powers - released a supersoft collection of indie pop songs on his 2011 debut, The Year of Hibernation. It was tender and airy, with plenty of space to float around in each song. When YL returned with new material this year - first with Dropla and then with Mute - the change was immediately noticeable. Most of the gaps had been filled in with activity, thickening up the thin atmospheres that were once (and apparently only briefly) his staple. Mute is the best use of that space-filling drive, creating a sound bigger than just about every song on Year of Hibernation combined. Most of the time, it works beautifully. It's a little busy, but never overwhelming. The song's transition to its even-grander, sweeping finish can be a little grating to listen to sometimes, as some sort of hellish calliope takes over for a spell after about a minute and a half. It undermines some of the more beautiful parts of Powers's musical layers with discord; every single second of the song doesn't click, but the ones that do connect squarely.

87. Quadron - Hey Love

Danish duo Quadron self-describe as producers of "electronic soul," a descriptor that seems contradictory on a cursory glance. "Soul" has always seemed to imply something raw, bare and openly emotive without grandeur; it's all about plain stating. Adding their own twist to this concept, these Danes manage to keep the soulful aspect of their music plain, even atop music that sounds like it was copped from some fascinating Caribbean night club and 1920s dance hall hybrid.

86. Portugal. The Man - Modern Jesus

"You don't need sympathy / They got a pill for everything / Just take that dark cloud / Wring it out to wash 'em down." "Who cares if hell awaits? / We're heaving drinks at heaven's gate." Portugal have lots of fun with words on this, the second-most upbeat song on this year's Evil Friends. It's a song that acknowledges lots of the world's ills, but only for long enough to say "fuck 'em." They don't quite pull this sort of thing off as well as, say, Japandroids, but the result is plenty fun just the same.


85. The Head and the Heart - Shake

The entirety of this indie-country/folk outfit's standout builds up to its conclusion, where a beautiful harmony erupts after three and a half minutes of sweet lyrics and down-home musical stylings. It's a quality that renders me a bit impatient on future listens, as sometimes I feel like I'm just going through the body of the song to get to its end. That sells the body short, though, as the whole song is really a very pleasing tune that's punctuated by its end more than defined by it.

84. Mutual Benefit - Advanced Falconry

It would be easy to characterize part of the beauty of this song as saccharine; Jordan Lee's vocals have a piercingly vulnerable feel to them, one that would almost lend itself to weakness in the eyes of more callous listeners. In fact, I sense more genuine feeling and honesty here than anything fake, and the lyrics feel earnest. It may take a couple listens to click, and this is one definitely better suited for headphone listening.


83. Waxahatchee - Lips and Limbs

A song that is, lyrically, deeply sad usually struggles to find the happy medium between being either "emo" or just feeling overwrought. Katie Crutchfield's Lips and Limbs, though, hits the sweet spot easily. A quick tune that chronicles a drunken couple's trip home, undercut with notions of issues plaguing the relationship that both are trying to drown out through drink or by "sharing gravity to suppress." It's not exactly a mixtape-worthy song, but everything that conveys feeling doesn't have to be.

82. Suede - Hit Me (not on Spotify)

Nearly 25 years after they first formed and three years after reuniting following a seven-year absence, British rockers Suede returned this year with Bloodsports, an album that would've been perfectly at home in the late '80s or early '90s that still seems to work for today's audiences. It's a song about sex, not of S&M and literal hitting but of being overwhelmed by someone's presence, energy or (for lack of a better word) aura. The song's highlight is its chorus, a proud lyrical belting over guitars and cymbals and an understated synth backing. It really is so very end-of-'80s style, but its accessibility keeps it from feeling like a novelty.


81. The Strokes - One Way Trigger

I know, I'm surprised this song is on the list, too. When I first heard One Way Trigger some months ago, I was sad. To me, this sounded like the absolute, final death of the band I had come to associate so closely with 2000s lo-fi beach rock, if Angles hadn't already sort of done that. But after letting the track cool for a few months, I came back to it and heard something different. True, it does sound more like something The Strokes would experiment with and either leave as a demo or slap on a B-side, but as a finished product, something about it works. The A-Ha-ishness of it feels fun. The falsetto chorus could definitely rub some listeners the wrong way, and that's where your opinion of the song will hinge. If you like the chorus, as I've grown to, you'll probably enjoy the song. If you don't, well, I can't say I blame you. We'll always have Someday.