My Favorite 10 Songs of 2013

So, I failed.

The last time I posted on this blog, I was all excited to get back to writing about life, sports, music etc and I thought I was motived to provide blog posts that were worthy of the internet's time. That was January of 2013 ... today is December 7th, 2013 and this will be my first post since the first month of the year. Yet, here I am again, ready to declare that I will find the time in 2014 to be a better blogger.

See, the reason I really love this blog is because of music.

This blog have never been about sports, radio or running a business. I guess it was in the beginning, but it quickly became the place where I get to talk about what I like to listen to. At the end of each year, this space becomes a journal of my personal music selections. That's not reason enough to have a blog though. I mean, shit, who reads a blog for a post once a year!? However, I'm going to be better because, well, I have no f'ing choice now. I need an outlet.

You might ask why I don't I have a choice? It's because 2013 was the craziest year of my life and I think I took maybe an hour to reflect on it all. I got married in September and then we found out that we are expecting our first child in November. 2014 will be the most tranformational year of my life, as we will welcome a new edition in July. Bye-bye normal life right? I need to carve out some "me" time to reflect on what is about to happen to me.

Let's get back to the point of this post though ... Every since I was 13, I've done a top 10 lists of my favorite bands, songs, music etc. I don't know why it's important do to it at the end of each year except I just know that it is.

Maybe it's because music is why I got into radio and keeping track of my new discoveries allows me to stay connected and in-touch. Going to concerts is a rarity now after years of seeing about 1 per month, I rarely have the time. So, I have to keep my ears open to new sounds whenever I can and I like to share. Plus, when I do this list, I get to pretend like I am a music critic even though I only write about what I like ... not about what I don't.

After that explanation, here is the list of my Top 10 favorite songs of 2013. Feel free to tell me what you think.

10. Love Fills The Plate - Chasing Blue 

I will be completely shocked if any of you know this song. This is the song that Theresa (my wife) and I picked for our first dance as Man and Wife. It's from the local band Chasing Blue, who played our wedding in September. In fact, there is not a studio recording of this song yet, only this radio appearance performance. The band wrote the song in the spring of 2013 and only started playing in during the early summer months. We heard it at a concert at a tiny little church outside of Boston that the band played in June and we immediately selected it.

We love this song for so many reasons.




9. Eavesdrop - The Civil Wars 

My next post will be about my Top 10 favorite albums of the year and The Civil Wars self-titled second album will have a strong showing. It's really too bad that these two have had so many problems because they are really a talented pop-country-folk duo. This song really stood out on the album to me.




8.  Master Hunter - Laura Marling 

If you have followed this blog, you know that I have loved Laura Marling for a long time. Unfortunately, her albums are getting away from what made me love her and it's pretty frustrating to be honest. She has grown up but while doing so, she has tried to become show her maturity through complex sounds and melodies that I don't like. I know it's simple to say that her early work was better but it's really true, in my opinion. Her lastest album "Once an Eagle" fell short of the mark with me but it did produce a few memorable tracks. I liked this one the best and I'm still a fan but I hope we see her get back to simple nature of her earlier work soon.




7. Shut Up - Savages 

I do this list because I get to point out songs that I loved from bands that I might not have a ton of connection with or experience listening to yet. Savages, along bands like The XX, fall into this category for me and I hope to learn more about this interesting English group in 2014. I grew up listening to singer/songwriter/poets like Ani DiFranco and Sinead O'Connor and the first minute of "Shut Up" awoke memories of mid-90's songs that featured deep questioning and fire. Really like this song's message a lot.




6. Team - Lorde 

So 2013 was a flippin huge year for the teenage sensation Lorde. Her huge hit "Royals" was played all over the radio for most of the summer and into the later parts of 2013. My wife loves the track, as do many people, and I get why. It's very catchy and it speaks about a lot of issues women have with today's world. However, in what is normally the case with me, I liked a different track by her this year. "Team" showed the ability to write more than just 1-hit and I think showcased a talent that will be around for years to come.




5. Same Love - Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

This song is simply brilliant. It could easily be my favorite of the year but the competition was steep this year. I'm not going to write a ton here because the fact that I selected this song should tell you everything you need to know about my feelings on it. We need more music like this in 2014.




4. Round Here - Florida Georgia Line

My country music listening has dropped DRAMATICALLY since my years in Omaha, Des Moines and Huntsville. That's not really a slap at the genre because I'm not exposed it much anymore, so my country choices are slim. I have to go find new songs and that leaves me with mostly top 25 type tracks in my ears. My wife still listens to country music a ton, so I get a little bit from her as well, but this song got stuck in my head for a good month. It's an awesome summer driving song.



4. (tie) Blowin Smoke - Kacey Musgraves

Another fun track that Theresa reminded me that I loved in 2013.





3. Radio Active - Imagine Dragons 

"Night Vision", the first full length album from Imagine Dragons, will be picked for "Rock Album of the Year" by many publications. I'm not sure if that's because it's that good or that rock music sucks right now. It will be on my list of favorite albums from 2013, yet, I feel like the band won't be around very long. Their sound is not all that unique and I feel the subject matter addressed in the music is very "now" and safe. I'm very interested to be proven wrong because "Radio Active" is a really strong track.




2. The One That Got Away - The Civil Wars 

So welcome to the song that everyone listened to in order to try to figure out what the hell happened to these two. Did they sleep together? Did they fall in love with each other or out of love with their spouse? What. The. Hell. Happened!? This band can't tour together in support of this album because they can't be around each other.... which sucks because this song is awesome. The second album was pushed hard by the label and for good reason, but until these two figure out how to work together again ... this might be the last we hear from these two.


and finally ...

1. The Monster - Eminem feat. Rihanna

Can Em and Rihanna just make an entire album together please? I'm serious. They are amazing when they mix their voices and abilities. Em's 40 now... which shows how old I am but he is just getting better. It's crazy when my 14-year old sister can sing along to old Em tracks because his music still hits home with kids. He's been with us for a long time, doing his thing. "Marshall Mathers 2" is freaking awesome and yes, that's a pretty big tease for what my favorite album of the year will be but I have been playing this album on repeat for weeks. I'm glad he's back doing what made him great. Rap'ing. He doesn't need to shock us anymore. Just entertain us and show off his amazing skills.



In case you are wondering - Lady Gaga's song at top is an honorable mention ...  next ... my favorite 10 albums of 2013....