YEAR IN REVIEW: My favorite songs of 2013

by Nicholas Cicale (@nickcicale)

This year had a TON of really good rock songs, partly because there were a lot of solid albums (consequently, there are a lot of repeat artist). Luckily I liked a lot of singles too, so the list is a really nice mix of things. There aren’t that many pop or hip-hop stations in Minnesota so I wasn’t exposed to this as much as I have been in the past, but I was able to find 30 songs that I actually liked by artists that I THINK are on pop stations, or would be considered a dance song.  I’m sorry about all the Justin Timberlake songs, but that’s what happens when an artist releases 2 albums in the same year. In hip-hop, 2013 was really bad year for good hip-hop, and there was so much promise going in.  Big names in the genre like Kanye West, Tyler, The Creator, Jay-Z, Drake,  and Lil Wayne all released records that vastly disappointed, as did promising up and comers like Childish Gambino, J. Cole, and Big Sean.  And for the first time in a long time, we didn’t have a hip-hop smash hit that everyone recognized and got excited about when they heard it on the radio (I guess “Suit and Tie” might fit the bill, but it’s a real stretch calling that a Hip-hop song to begin with).

Alternative/Rock Songs

1. Defriended – Beck
2. I Appear Missing – Queens of the Stone Age
3. Doin’ It Right – Daft Punk & Panda Bear
4. Porno – Arcade Fire
5. Milk & Black Spiders – Foals
6. Diane Young – Vampire Weekend
7. Reflektor – Arcade Fire
8. Holding on for Life – Broken Bells
9. Do I Wanna Know? – Arctic Monkeys
10. Hannah Hunt – Vampire Weekend
11. Take Me To Church – Hozier
12. If I Had A Tail – Queens of the Stone Age
13. Fireside – Arctic Monkeys
14. Oh Sheit It’s X – Thundercat + Flying Lotus
15. Victims/Things – Actual Wolf
16. Don’t Save Me – Haim
17. Gallup, Nm – The Shouting Matches
18. The Wire – Haim
19. Black Out Days – PHANTOGRAM
20. Is This How You Feel? – The Preatures
21. Don’t Swallow The Cap – The National
22. My God is the Sun – Queens of the Stone Age
23. I Should Live In Salt – The National
24. Hey Mami – Sylvan Esso
25. Unbelievers – Vampire Weekend
26. Team – Lorde
27. Awful Sound (Oh Eurydice) – Arcade Fire
28. Night Sky – CHVRCHES
29. S.O.S In Bel Air – Phoenix
30. Entertainment – Phoenix
31. Chain My Name – POLIÇA
32. Ordinary Love – U2
33. Instant Crush – Daft Punk & Julian Casablancas
34. Let Me Go – Haim
35. Birth In Reverse – St. Vincent
36. Ghost – Jeremy Messersmith
37. Come To My Party – Black Joe Lewis
38. Humiliation – The National
39. Before Your Very Eyes – Atoms For Peace
40. TIFF – POLIÇA & Justin Vernon

Hip-Hop/R&B Songs

1. Black Skinhead – Kanye West
2. Blood On The Leaves – Kanye West
3. Banana Clipper – EL-P & Killer Mike, Big Boi
4. Ghetto Symphony – A$AP Rocky, Gunplay & A$AP Ferg
5. Suit and Tie – Justin Timberlake & Jay-Z
6. New Slaves – Kanye West & Frank Ocean
7. Run the Jewels – Run The Jewels
8. 3005 – Childish Gambino
9. Holy Grail – Jay-Z & Justin Timberlake
10. Pusha Man – Chance The Rapper, Lili K., Nate Fox
11. PMW (All I Really Need) – A$AP Rocky & ScHoolboy Q
12. Hold My Liquor – Kanye West, Chief Keef & Justin Vernon
13. Herb Shuttles – The Underachievers
14. Collard Greens – Schoolboy Q, Kendrick Lamar
15. Light Blue – Lupe Fiasco
16. Numbers On The Boards – Pusha T
17. I. Crawl – Childish Gambino
18. Job Well Done – EL-P & Killer Mike
19. Bound 2 – Kanye West
20. Wu-Tang Forever – Drake
21. U.O.E.N.O. – Rocko, Rick Ross & Future
22. Domo23 – Tyler, The Creator
23. F.U.T.W. – Jay-Z
24. Take a Fall For Me – James Blake & RZA
25. Tapout – Rich Gang
26. It Ain’t The Prettiest – Atmosphere
27. Hold On, We’re Going Home – Drake & Majid Jordan
28. Can’t Hold Us – Macklemore
29. Power Trip – J. Cole
30. Poor Decisions – Wale featuring Rick Ross and Lupe Fiasco

Pop Songs

1. Giorgio by Moroder – Daft Punk
2. Take Me To Church – Hozier
3. Get Lucky – Daft Punk & Pharrell
4. Blue Ocean Floor – Justin Timberlake
5. Tunnel Vision – Justin Timberlake
6. White Noise – disclosure, AlunaGeorge
7. Suit and Tie – Justin Timberlake & Jay-Z
8. Happy – Pharrell Williams
9. Team – Lorde
10. Ain’t It Fun – Paramore
11. Applause – Lady Gaga
12. Dangerous – Big Data, Joywave
13. When A Fire Starts To Burn – Disclosure
14. Take Back The Night – Justin Timberlake
15. Closer – Tegan and Sara
16. Q.U.E.E.N. – Janelle Monae
17. You (Ha Ha Ha)– Charli XCX
18. Mirrors – Justin Timberlake
19. Love Me Again – John Newman
20. Blurred Lines – Robin Thick, Pharrell & T.I.
21. Fragments Of Time – Daft Punk
22. Royals – Lorde
23. Talk Dirty – Jason Derulo, 2 Chains
24. The A Team – Ed Sheeran
25. Can’t Hold Us – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
26. We Can’t Stop – Miley Cyrus
27. The Other Side – Jason Derulo
28. Alive – Empire of the Sun
29. Fine China – Chris Brown
30. Next To Me – Emeli Sande’
31. That Girl – Justin Timberlake
32. Young and Beautiful – Lana Del Rey