Best of 2013

I want to kick off this blog by giving credit to bands and tracks that became dear to me last year. However, this is not my All Time Favourites -list. It will come later (if it's even possible to make a list like that)!

Anyway, to the point...

The best song released in 2013:

There were many songs that could've deserved this award, but what makes this track so special is that I can listen to it in every mood, any day. It's got attitude, but it's also funny and playful. The lyrics, the rhythm and the melody work together really well. And the bassline! Simple but groovy, just the way I like it. I also have to emphasize that the music video is pure awesomeness. Evil Eye is certainly one of the best songs of 2010s, and definitely the best song of 2013. 

The best album released in 2013:

Once again, there were some remarkably good albums released last year, but none of them moved me like The Badger. This album is brilliant from the beginning to the end. It feels like an endless flurry of warm emotions and epic sounds. The Turku boys know how to put their guitars into good use! I really admire how they can create such a flow in the album, but at the same time there are a couple of really catchy and distinguishable hits too. If you feel like listening some lovely music, please consider The Badger! And if you long for a nice gig, I recommend this band since they're really sweet and cute chaps!

Sadly, The Badger isn't avalable in Spotify yet, but luckily their older album is.

The best song released before 2013:

Okay, now would be the time to make a confession: I'm a bass maniac. And last year, when my friend introduced Jamiroquai to me I was amazed. The basslines are incredible! I love intriguing melodies and I guess a bass guitar is the perfect instrument for playing them. Runaway's bassline is the best and I spent almost the whole of 2013 listening to it's awesomeness. I guess it goes without saying that I like the other parts of the track too: Jay Kay's lovely voice, the brisk rhythm and all the instruments playing along making the song vivid and full of sounds. All in all, this is an excellent piece of pop music.

The best album released before 2013:

This album is a classic, and it's my favourite from Happy Mondays. I recognized the band after watching the movie 24 Hour Party People last May and I'm a bit ashamed that I've ignored them before. Pills 'n' Thrills And Bellyaches is a great combination of weird (I mean really weird) lyrics and psychedelic indie rock. Even though I prefer pretty voices, I must admit that Shaun Ryder's chaotic and uncontrolled singing style is refreshing. Compared to other Happy Mondays' albums, I think Pills 'n' Thrills And Bellyaches is the most comprehensive and it contains my favourite tracks such as God's Cop and Kinky Afro. On the other hand, Bummed is also an album worth exploring.

As a bonus, here's the 24 Hour Party People movie's theme song that got me interested in Happy Mondays:


Now that the serious business is over I'm going to award the songs that made some particular areas of my life more bearable and cheery.

The best song for starting a new day:

I'm again a bit ashamed that I got to know this song only in last year, even though this is the mother of all synthpop, which I'm a fan of too. Anyway, after the happy day when I found this song, I've been listening to it almost every day. This song is especially nice because of the rhythm, while listening to it I can walk up to the central campus of university of Helsinki really fast! ...Oh yes, the name of the song is of course Blue Monday!

The best album for studying:

I've been listening to Pekka Pohjola's Harakka Bialoipokku already in earlier years, but this year I found out that it stimulates my learning. I really love this kind of progressive music. Usually I prefer music where there's singing too, but this album is perfect the way it is, without words. I'm 100% sure, that Finnish progressive rock and/or fusion jazz is good for the brain. If I was your doctor I would prescribe you at least one track per day!

The best song for waking up:

This song was my alarm clock sound for a long period of time. At some point I started to hate it, but later again I realized how epic song it is. All the weird sounds and everything. I have no idea what the song is about, but hey, who cares in the morning? I have to admit that this is not my favourite song from Win, but using their other songs as an alarm sound would be wrong. (I must change You've Got the Power away immediately!)

The best song for a bad mood:

I don't relate much to the lyrics of this song, but when I'm feeling sad or angry the pain of this song feels very real. Del Shannon had the rare ability of express sorrowful feelings so that I can feel them too. I'm sad that he's already gone because I only just got started with him last summer.

The cutest song of 2013:

As you could've guessed, I have a soft spot for cute music. The kind of songs I like to listen while walking around and watching all the nice lamps people have hanging from their ceilings. My Bloody Valentine is the band for that. Of course at first I said I loathed When You Sleep, but deep in my heart I fell in love at first sight.

The best summer album:

In the spring/summer of 2013 Daft Punk released their new album Random Access Memories. It brings back lovely moments with my high school friends, who hyped the album a lot. And yeah, it is a great album indeed. It's a mixture of disco and modern synthpop, and for me both are delightful type of music. While I was working in summer I listened to this album every day. Now while listening to it again I can almost smell the last summer.



I guess I'll end my list here, because this post sums up my last year pretty well. Many impressive songs were left unnoticed, but they will definitely be discussed later. I hope this year brings me plenty of good music to listen to, and of course for you too!