2013 in Review: Music

I bought 180 songs in 2013 (same amount as last year!!), including four complete albums (last year I only bought one). The albums were all from bands I also saw in concert:

Tegan and Sara - Heartthrob More poppy than their earlier albums, this is one I can listen to start to finish. The beats are great for cleaning house ;)

The National - Trouble Will Find Me  The National is showing up in all my favorite things lately. They were on The Mindy Project. They had a song on the Catching Fire soundtrack. And they sang The Rains of Castamere on Game of Thrones. They are amazing and I love this entire album.

MS MR - Secondhand Rapture At first I was only into a couple of the songs, but upon repeated listens, I really fell in love with the catchy lyrics, melodic hooks, and sultry pop atmosphere.

Bastille - Bad Blood My pick for best album of 2013. Of course that might have something to do with the fact that I am certain Dan and I have the same muse. So many of the themes he explores are present in my forthcoming novel CHASING BEFORE. So much so that I am gobsmacked. See especially Bad Blood, Flaws, and Things We Lost in the Fire.

2013 songs on heavy rotation (indicates top 5)

*Things We Lost in the Fire – Bastille

*Hurricane – MS MR

Fireproof – The National

Love They Say – Tegan and Sara
*Midnight Drive – Still Corners

*Overdose – Little Daylight

*Lies - Chvrches
Beauty Queen – Foxes

Youth – Daughter

The One That Got Away – The Civil Wars

Get Lucky – Daft Punk

Safe and Sound – Capitol Cities

Troublemaker – Camera Obscura

Lilies – Bat for Lashes

If So – Atlas Genius

Sweater Weather – The Neighborhood

Drift – RZA (from Pacific Rim soundtrack)
Mirror - Ellie Goulding (from Catching Fire soundtrack)
Dream - The Boxer Rebellion
Waiting for Something to Happen - Veronica Falls

Favorite finds from previous years (indicates top 5)

*Deadlines and Commitments – The Killers (2012)

*Harbor Lights – A Silent Film (2012)
Youth Without Youth – Metric (2012)

Myth – Beach House (2012)

Let Her Go – Passenger (2012)

No Rest - Dry the River (2012)
Afternoon - Youth Lagoon (2011)
*A Little Piece - The Jezabels (2010)

*On The Surface – Civil Twilight (2010)

Girls Like You – The Naked and the Famous (2010)

Sweet Disposition – The Temper Trap (2009)

No Direction – Longwave (2008)

Lights Out – Santigold (2008)

*Satellite – Guster (2006)

Le vent nous portera – Noir Desir (2001)

Live Music in 2013

+ Mumford & Sons - Dusseldorf, Germany - April (Highlight: none. I absolutely hated the venue, Mitsubishi Halle, and will never attend a concert there again. The terrible venue affected my overall enjoyment of the concert)
+ Tegan and Sara - Frankfurt, Germany - June (highlight: Call it Off)
+ The National - Luxembourg - November (highlight: Bloodbuzz, Ohio)
+ MS MR - Frankfurt, Germany - November (highlight: how excited they were to be on stage. Loved it!)
+ Bastille - Luxembourg - November (highlight: umm... during Flaws, Dan came into the audience, touched me on the shoulder and said hello. Note that I was the only person sitting (in a bar stool) in the whole place due to my recent surgery. It was pretty surreal.)
+ I had tickets to see The Light Princess in London, but couldn't go due to my hospitalization. Major Bummer. Glad that Tori Amos is embarking on a tour in 2014 and I already have tickets to five shows.



Have any recommendations for me based on my taste? Would love to hear them!!