Nick's Top 40 Of 2013
Dec 26, 2013 15:43:43 GMT -5
Post by Nick on Dec 26, 2013 15:43:43 GMT -5
I was thinking all year that this year wasn't that great in music, but I was wrong. Maybe there wasn't as large of an amount of songs I liked, but the ones that were good were good.
To land on my chart, songs need to be released on an album/EP in 2013, or as a standalone single. Artists can only have one song on here. There are singles covers when available, and some chart positions. I even added in album chart positions this year if the song from it didn't chart.
I also used Soundcloud this year instead of YouTube for the clips.
Thanks to Pipa for continuing to archive the Canadian alternative and active charts. I pretty much got shut down by Wikipedia earlier this year, so I was still able to get the Canadian positions with your thread.
The write ups are there, but I can't do much justice for great songs by just typing.
Enjoy! I hope you find some of your favourites and gain a few new ones.
Listen To Clips:
40-31|30-21|20-11|10-1
#40
Five Finger Death Punch feat. Rob Halford - "Lift Me Up" CAN Act #33, US Main #1, US Rock #19
The unstoppable active rock band gave us this as the lead single to their first of two albums this year. I think that both voices contrast each other beautifully to form an all out pump-up song.
#39
Grouplove - "I'm With You" US #21, US Alt #3
Ways To Go was kind of disappointing as a lead single and I therefore pretty much wrote off the album. But, then I heard this and faith was restored. The intro is long at about 2 minutes, but doesn't seem tedious. It has great choruses, and a breakdown with some pounding drums. Predicted KP year-end chart position: #1.
#38
Ki:Theory - Kitty Hawk
This track is a great mix of hard rock, electronic, and indie. I love the sounds during the chorus...is that a guitar or some type of robot? I don't know, but it's awesome and driving. And who doesn't love a good xylophone solo?
#37
Funeral For A Friend - "The Distance" UK #34, UK Rock #2
It's nice to have a band such as this who have consistently released great albums over the past 10 years. Though progressing through emo and onto post-hardcore, they've still managed to keep fans like me happy with great songs like this one. The riff through the verses is to die for.
#36
Static Revenger feat. Kay - "Back Off, Bitch! [Original Extended Mix]"
I'm gonna have to give this one the nod for best artwork of the year. The bass in this song is great, and so is Kay's rapping. She's got great attitude when the chorus kicks in, and it's cool when she "nah nah nahs" along to the last one. And cowbell!!! A fantastic dance tune.
#35
Shishamo - "Boku Ni Kanojyo Ga Dekitanda" Album: #31 JPN
I love high-pitched guitar scratching, and this one has that right out of the gate. It even has a great solo where, in my opinion, the drums are the best part. The whole thing has a pure, raw sound to it. The end is a complete beautiful mess: a pitch change, then a tempo change, then more scratching, and so on!
#34
Said The Whale - "I Love You" CAN #97, CAN Alt #1, US Alt #38
Arguably the biggest alt song in Canada this year, it even broke the band into the US alternative chart which is usually unheard of. It was so fun to see it live! Great show by them.
#33
The Motorleague - "North America" CAN Act #27, CAN Alt #40
This song just really makes you feel happy. With it's guitar that sounds like bagpipes sometimes, I think it has a real Atlantic Canadian feel to it. The chorus makes me want to go out and have fun and always seems to get a spin before I head out on a Saturday night: "we've got tonight, we've got the song, we've got North America".
#32
GaGaGa SP - "Tomoyo"
You can easily tell as soon as the lead singer starts singing that he has the kind of voice that gives off the impression that he doesn't give a f*ck. It's so unrefined. The song has an odd, carefree vibe that I love to listen to both when I'm really happy and when I'm feeling down. I think we can also all relate to the storyline of the video sometimes, which is about a guy who is just not happy with the way things are and wants a change. It goes great with the song.
#31
Foals - "My Number" AUS #98, BEL #35, FRA #38, NED #83, UK #23, US Alt #23
Foals' biggest song ever is a catchy, dreamy one with some cool picking and a catchy bassline. It's pretty simple and the same all the way through, but I never get tired of listening to it.
#30
The Joy Formidable - "Cholla" Album: UK #41, US #51, US Alt #11
The Joy Formidable released this great album early this year. The only thing I was disappointed with was the low amount of airplay it got. The riff that starts the song off is killer.
#29
Pop Evil - "Trenches" CAN Act #14, US Main #1, US Rock #27
Pop Evil released this totally jammin' song as the lead single for their album. It came out when I started going to the gym, and became a regular listen there. What a jam.
#28
S/mileage - "Ee Ka!?" JPN #3
This super fun single by S/mileage was just released on December 18th and became their 15th top 10 single in a row, and became their highest peak. I love when songs change genres quickly and this one does that a few times. Not that drastic of a genre change, but rather the whole feeling and tone of the song. It's also great that some Japanese music groups are beginning to upload their music videos with English subtitles, such as this one, which broadens the appeal to people. It made me laugh hearing this right after "Trenches" in the mix.
#27
Enter Shikari - "The Paddington Frisk" UK #128
Enter Shikari is the first returnee from 2012's chart, who came in at #19 last year with "Sssnakepit". This is the shortest song on the chart, with a length of about 1:16. It's also my favourite music video of the year. The premise is so great and the dancing at the end is priceless. The song itself is good enough to land it here, as it gives me goosebumps during the last verse, and the end is a total headbanging masterpiece. I love their electronicore style, so looks out for some more songs from the genre on this chart.
#26
Daughn Gibson - "Kissin' On The Blacktop"
I really have no idea what genre this even belongs too. There's definitely some swampy county in there...and maybe some electronic? I don't even know. But the song is super catchy and always gets stuck in my head. The title doesn't refer to kissing someone on a blacktop, but rather getting your face beat into one.
#25
Hanni El Khatib - "Family" UK FRA #35, US Heat #8
This quick 2.5 minute song is full of energy all the way through, starting off with the great sounding drumming right off the bat that continues into the rest of the song. It's one of those times in which the weirdness of a music video can kind of take away from the song, which was actually uncensored when I had first seen it on MuchMusic.
#24
Bloc Party - "Ratchet" AUS #81
Bloc Party, who were #1 on my chart last year with "Octopus", released an EP in August with this as the lead single in June. The music video is actually all footage from "Octopus" and other music videos from them cut and edited so that it looks like lead singer Kele is mouthing the words to this one. A cool idea that came out really well. I love the guitar throughout the song, which reminds me of a scratched record and sounds like it could fall apart at any time.
#23
Wavves - "Nine Is God" US Soundtracks #11
A Grand Theft Auto V exclusive, this is a grungy, surfy, sleazy song that you'd expect from Wavves. Definitely a big 90s feel. The lyrics are hard to make anything out of, but alot of people think the track is about one of the characters from the game. Still, the chorus is hard to make anything out of: "one is nine, nine is two...". Before the song was released onto the internet, I would always be checking to see if this song was on a station in the game. I'd stay in my car just to listen to it!
#22
Hollerado - "Pick Me Up" CAN Act #26, CAN Alt #3
Hollerado never fails to deliver fun songs with catchy riffs. The one that starts the song and comes in after the choruses is golden with its high pitch, and the extra voices used in the pre-chorus and chorus are a nice touch.
#21
Cayucas - "High School Lover"
One of the many songs that gets some decent spins on Alt Nation, but pretty much nothing on FM. The bassline is perhaps the catchiest on the year, and I imagine the lyrics are relatable to most people during their school days.
#20
Dinosaur Pile-up - "Arizona Waiting"
Dinosaur Pile-Up stormed back this year with this lead single from their new album Nature Nurture. Matt Bigland sounds a bit like Ozzy in this tune, but that doesn't mean that they don't still sound very 90s. It's a loud, heartfelt, hard-hitting rock song that I love blowing my speakers with.
#19
American Authors - "Hit It"
This song seems like the type that could blow up on alternative radio, so I'm not sure why their other, more tame songs have been released as singles. The guitar playing is so fun, and so are the choruses with their high-pitched "-oo" sounds that become the only vocals during the solo. Maybe it hasn't been released as a single due to the questionable lyrics in each chorus?
#18
The Naked And Famous - "I Kill Giants" Album: AUS #12, AUT #33, GER #98, NZL #4, SUI #34, UK #53, US #48
Written about lead singer Alisa Xayalith's mother's death, you can hear how much feeling that the song has as soon as it kicks in. I guess that this is too good to get played on Alternative radio anytime soon, just like how "Hearts Like Ours" wrongly flopped on it. This song gives me the chills, especially with the chorus asking "why couldn't we save you?". There's also something simply cool about the strumming in the verses.
#17
De Staat - "Down Town"
This one has an aggressive attitude during the verses, and the crazy duet singing in the choruses is so cool. The guitar(?) riff that ends the chorus is so fun, and the drum rolls throughout are great too. When their hometown soccer team saw them perform the song on TV while sporting one of the team's hat, they got asked to perform at centre field during halftime, which was used for the music video. How cool is that?
#16
AKB48 - "Koi Suru Fortune Cookie" JPN #1
The hugest group Japan has to offer are really hit and miss with me, but this one is dead-on. Selling over a million copies on it's first day of release, it debuted at #1, making it their whopping 19th in a row. It is the definition of a feel-good song and features a disco-esque sound and some nice guitar playing to match. A great music video, too, with an English-speaking DJ to set the tone for the rest of the song.
#15
Team Spirit - "Teenage Love"
One of the best riffs of the year comes at the beginning of this song and after the choruses. Who doesn't like some high-pitched guitar that you can "ooh" along with? The way it goes back to it at the end with a sudden tempo change is nicely done.
#14
Scandal - "Scandal In The House" A-Side: JPN #6, Album: JPN #3
This was released in video form only with Scandal's album Standard, and eventually as audio when it was chosen as the B-side to the album's third single "Over Drive". It is way out of Scandal's normal genre of music, yet it is a huge treat to fans. The song features each band member rapping about how great another one is, and the music video to go along with it is perfect. The rock songs released as singles from the album could very well chart here too, but this song is very special and unique.
#13
Vampire Weekend - "Unbelievers" CAN Alt #9, UK #158, US Alt #12
One of the most peaceful sounding songs of the year is right here. The wind that the song uses is pretty uncommon for alternative songs, but it goes with the track very well. It's relaxing, but that doesn't mean I don't go mad when the drums kick in sometimes.
#12
MGMT - "Your Life Is A Lie"
COWBELL!!! This is a great offering from MGMT, and absolutely trumps "Alien Days", the lead single from their self-titled album which was released this year. A quick song that is fun to sing along with.
#11
Crossfaith - "Eclipse"
With in-your-face screaming and some great synthesizer, this song totally energizes me. It makes me wish I could scream like they do.
#10
Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker - "This Is The Best" CAN #75, CAN Alt #3
Kicking off the top 10 is a breakthrough for USS, becoming their first song to chart on the Canadian Hot 100. With it's seemingly drunken lyrics such as "I don't care, party anywhere" and "I'm cool, man, possibly beyond repair", it's a total party anthem. How did this not go #1 on alt?
#9
Babymetal - "Megitsune" JPN #7
2013 was great for Babymetal, giving them their first two top 10 singles, which would be unheard of on a Western chart. Their high voices and heavy metal combination is truly unique. In this song, once it kicks in with "sore!", you can't help but to headbang. You can never have enough double-kick, either.
#8
Protest The Hero - "Mist" Album: CAN #7, US #20, US Hard Rock #3, US Ind #1
A new drummer and an independently released album didn't hurt my favourite band at all when they released their fourth album in October. They wrote this song about how much they love my home province of Newfoundland, which is still totally bizarre to me. Imagine your favourite band writing about the place you're from, which doesn't even have much population! I've seen them three times here, so it's cool that I've experienced much of what lead singer Rody Walker is talking about. They haven't played here since 2012, so me and the rest of the crowd will surely go nuts when they play this one live here.
#7
Maximum The Hormone - "A・L・I・E・N" Album: JPN #1
Maximum The Hormone are known for their metal genre-switching, and this song stays true to that while giving them their first #1 album. The first half has many different parts that are extremely heavy metal, but the last half changes drastically and suddenly to a pop anthem. It's a great listening experience, and both parts are so different that I sometimes just listen to one or the other depending on my mood. The music video is one of the best this year as well, as it seems like a normal performance video, but that changes too.
#6
Issues - "Hooligans"
For the first 30 seconds of this song, you could think you're about to listen to some dance or dubstep, but then a huge drop of metal instruments makes you know otherwise. It combines electronic, metal, and R&B vocals. This is a standalone single, with the band not even having a full album to call their own yet, making this track even more impressive.
#5
Zebrahead - "Call Your Friends" JPN #48
The kings of punk rock longevity released another great album this year, along with the title track as the lead single. In true Zebrahead style, the song is all about partying and lets us know how much fun the band is. The "do do do do do" is really catchy and can get stuck in your head after a single listen.
#4
Konomi Suzuki And Kiba Of Akiba - "Watashi Ga Motenai No Wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera Ga Warui!" JPN #43
The duet singing between a male and female in a metal song like this is something I've never experienced before, at least not done so perfectly. I love how their voices contrast each other, and hearing Konomi Suzuki's clean voice jammed in between the deep, metal of growling is a treat. The electronic breakdown is delightfully unexpected. It's one of the heaviest anime openings ever. My top 10 is turning out heavier than I thought it would be.
#3
Filter - "What Do You Say" CAN Act #26, US Main #30
The best rock song of the year in my opinion. The industrial sounding guitar is perfect for the song, and the chorus is simple with it's catchy lyrics while staying a pure headbanging track. It also uses a drum machine instead of real drums, which is pretty odd. It's their highest charting song since "Where Do We Go From Here?" in 2002.
#2
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu - "Invader Invader" JPN #3
I fell in love with this song and Kyary as soon as I watched the video for the first time. The song is pretty crazy and just plain cool. It's got many different parts to it, to the point where I'm still not really sure which parts are supposed to be choruses and which are supposed to be verses. The dubstep break is a nice touch, too. Hearing this song when it came out this past spring made me wonder how the hell Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, who has had many great hits dating back to 2011's "PonPonPon", could have flown under my radar for all these years. With this song to introduce me to her, she quickly got propelled as one of my favourite artists.
#1
Chvrches - "Lies" Album: AUS #13, AUT #18, BEL #37, GER #22, JPN #66, NED #68, NOR #28, NZL #35, SCO #5, SUI #55, UK #9, US #12
What a god damn fantastic album this is, good enough for it to be the only one I physically bought this year. But the history of "Lies" is confusing. The version which I like the most, which is linked, never really got an actual release, but was circulated around the internet last year and even made NME's top songs of 2012 list. The video was uploaded on another account just titled "Chvrches - Lies", but was uploaded on Chvrches' account this year as "Chvrches - Lies (Live)", despite only showing live footage and using the original studio recording. I guess this happened around the time they decided to change up "Lies" for the album. The album version is still a great song, but it just doesn't have the same appeal to me as the original. Songs on my chart need to be on an album or standalone single in 2013, and this version didn't get any of that. Not good enough for you? This album is so great that I could choose many others to take this very top spot (that's why I have my own rule of one song per artist!). The Mother We Share, Lungs, We Sink, Gun, etc, are all so great.
Okay, time to talk about the actual song. It's an electronic, synthpop jam that I can't help but move to. The beats are just so great, and Lauren Mayberry's voice is damn near hypnotic. The same beat persists into the choruses, though at a different tone, and gives the song a pretty different feel for those lines while still keeping the dance jam going. I love the lyrics too, which are great throughout the whole song and really tell a story. Even typing this summary, I'm forced to move around in my chair as if the song is possessing me. What a track, and album!
To land on my chart, songs need to be released on an album/EP in 2013, or as a standalone single. Artists can only have one song on here. There are singles covers when available, and some chart positions. I even added in album chart positions this year if the song from it didn't chart.
I also used Soundcloud this year instead of YouTube for the clips.
Thanks to Pipa for continuing to archive the Canadian alternative and active charts. I pretty much got shut down by Wikipedia earlier this year, so I was still able to get the Canadian positions with your thread.
The write ups are there, but I can't do much justice for great songs by just typing.
Enjoy! I hope you find some of your favourites and gain a few new ones.
Listen To Clips:
40-31|30-21|20-11|10-1
#40
Five Finger Death Punch feat. Rob Halford - "Lift Me Up" CAN Act #33, US Main #1, US Rock #19
The unstoppable active rock band gave us this as the lead single to their first of two albums this year. I think that both voices contrast each other beautifully to form an all out pump-up song.
#39
Grouplove - "I'm With You" US #21, US Alt #3
Ways To Go was kind of disappointing as a lead single and I therefore pretty much wrote off the album. But, then I heard this and faith was restored. The intro is long at about 2 minutes, but doesn't seem tedious. It has great choruses, and a breakdown with some pounding drums. Predicted KP year-end chart position: #1.
#38
Ki:Theory - Kitty Hawk
This track is a great mix of hard rock, electronic, and indie. I love the sounds during the chorus...is that a guitar or some type of robot? I don't know, but it's awesome and driving. And who doesn't love a good xylophone solo?
#37
Funeral For A Friend - "The Distance" UK #34, UK Rock #2
It's nice to have a band such as this who have consistently released great albums over the past 10 years. Though progressing through emo and onto post-hardcore, they've still managed to keep fans like me happy with great songs like this one. The riff through the verses is to die for.
#36
Static Revenger feat. Kay - "Back Off, Bitch! [Original Extended Mix]"
I'm gonna have to give this one the nod for best artwork of the year. The bass in this song is great, and so is Kay's rapping. She's got great attitude when the chorus kicks in, and it's cool when she "nah nah nahs" along to the last one. And cowbell!!! A fantastic dance tune.
#35
Shishamo - "Boku Ni Kanojyo Ga Dekitanda" Album: #31 JPN
I love high-pitched guitar scratching, and this one has that right out of the gate. It even has a great solo where, in my opinion, the drums are the best part. The whole thing has a pure, raw sound to it. The end is a complete beautiful mess: a pitch change, then a tempo change, then more scratching, and so on!
#34
Said The Whale - "I Love You" CAN #97, CAN Alt #1, US Alt #38
Arguably the biggest alt song in Canada this year, it even broke the band into the US alternative chart which is usually unheard of. It was so fun to see it live! Great show by them.
#33
The Motorleague - "North America" CAN Act #27, CAN Alt #40
This song just really makes you feel happy. With it's guitar that sounds like bagpipes sometimes, I think it has a real Atlantic Canadian feel to it. The chorus makes me want to go out and have fun and always seems to get a spin before I head out on a Saturday night: "we've got tonight, we've got the song, we've got North America".
#32
GaGaGa SP - "Tomoyo"
You can easily tell as soon as the lead singer starts singing that he has the kind of voice that gives off the impression that he doesn't give a f*ck. It's so unrefined. The song has an odd, carefree vibe that I love to listen to both when I'm really happy and when I'm feeling down. I think we can also all relate to the storyline of the video sometimes, which is about a guy who is just not happy with the way things are and wants a change. It goes great with the song.
#31
Foals - "My Number" AUS #98, BEL #35, FRA #38, NED #83, UK #23, US Alt #23
Foals' biggest song ever is a catchy, dreamy one with some cool picking and a catchy bassline. It's pretty simple and the same all the way through, but I never get tired of listening to it.
#30
The Joy Formidable - "Cholla" Album: UK #41, US #51, US Alt #11
The Joy Formidable released this great album early this year. The only thing I was disappointed with was the low amount of airplay it got. The riff that starts the song off is killer.
#29
Pop Evil - "Trenches" CAN Act #14, US Main #1, US Rock #27
Pop Evil released this totally jammin' song as the lead single for their album. It came out when I started going to the gym, and became a regular listen there. What a jam.
#28
S/mileage - "Ee Ka!?" JPN #3
This super fun single by S/mileage was just released on December 18th and became their 15th top 10 single in a row, and became their highest peak. I love when songs change genres quickly and this one does that a few times. Not that drastic of a genre change, but rather the whole feeling and tone of the song. It's also great that some Japanese music groups are beginning to upload their music videos with English subtitles, such as this one, which broadens the appeal to people. It made me laugh hearing this right after "Trenches" in the mix.
#27
Enter Shikari - "The Paddington Frisk" UK #128
Enter Shikari is the first returnee from 2012's chart, who came in at #19 last year with "Sssnakepit". This is the shortest song on the chart, with a length of about 1:16. It's also my favourite music video of the year. The premise is so great and the dancing at the end is priceless. The song itself is good enough to land it here, as it gives me goosebumps during the last verse, and the end is a total headbanging masterpiece. I love their electronicore style, so looks out for some more songs from the genre on this chart.
#26
Daughn Gibson - "Kissin' On The Blacktop"
I really have no idea what genre this even belongs too. There's definitely some swampy county in there...and maybe some electronic? I don't even know. But the song is super catchy and always gets stuck in my head. The title doesn't refer to kissing someone on a blacktop, but rather getting your face beat into one.
#25
Hanni El Khatib - "Family" UK FRA #35, US Heat #8
This quick 2.5 minute song is full of energy all the way through, starting off with the great sounding drumming right off the bat that continues into the rest of the song. It's one of those times in which the weirdness of a music video can kind of take away from the song, which was actually uncensored when I had first seen it on MuchMusic.
#24
Bloc Party - "Ratchet" AUS #81
Bloc Party, who were #1 on my chart last year with "Octopus", released an EP in August with this as the lead single in June. The music video is actually all footage from "Octopus" and other music videos from them cut and edited so that it looks like lead singer Kele is mouthing the words to this one. A cool idea that came out really well. I love the guitar throughout the song, which reminds me of a scratched record and sounds like it could fall apart at any time.
#23
Wavves - "Nine Is God" US Soundtracks #11
A Grand Theft Auto V exclusive, this is a grungy, surfy, sleazy song that you'd expect from Wavves. Definitely a big 90s feel. The lyrics are hard to make anything out of, but alot of people think the track is about one of the characters from the game. Still, the chorus is hard to make anything out of: "one is nine, nine is two...". Before the song was released onto the internet, I would always be checking to see if this song was on a station in the game. I'd stay in my car just to listen to it!
#22
Hollerado - "Pick Me Up" CAN Act #26, CAN Alt #3
Hollerado never fails to deliver fun songs with catchy riffs. The one that starts the song and comes in after the choruses is golden with its high pitch, and the extra voices used in the pre-chorus and chorus are a nice touch.
#21
Cayucas - "High School Lover"
One of the many songs that gets some decent spins on Alt Nation, but pretty much nothing on FM. The bassline is perhaps the catchiest on the year, and I imagine the lyrics are relatable to most people during their school days.
#20
Dinosaur Pile-up - "Arizona Waiting"
Dinosaur Pile-Up stormed back this year with this lead single from their new album Nature Nurture. Matt Bigland sounds a bit like Ozzy in this tune, but that doesn't mean that they don't still sound very 90s. It's a loud, heartfelt, hard-hitting rock song that I love blowing my speakers with.
#19
American Authors - "Hit It"
This song seems like the type that could blow up on alternative radio, so I'm not sure why their other, more tame songs have been released as singles. The guitar playing is so fun, and so are the choruses with their high-pitched "-oo" sounds that become the only vocals during the solo. Maybe it hasn't been released as a single due to the questionable lyrics in each chorus?
#18
The Naked And Famous - "I Kill Giants" Album: AUS #12, AUT #33, GER #98, NZL #4, SUI #34, UK #53, US #48
Written about lead singer Alisa Xayalith's mother's death, you can hear how much feeling that the song has as soon as it kicks in. I guess that this is too good to get played on Alternative radio anytime soon, just like how "Hearts Like Ours" wrongly flopped on it. This song gives me the chills, especially with the chorus asking "why couldn't we save you?". There's also something simply cool about the strumming in the verses.
#17
De Staat - "Down Town"
This one has an aggressive attitude during the verses, and the crazy duet singing in the choruses is so cool. The guitar(?) riff that ends the chorus is so fun, and the drum rolls throughout are great too. When their hometown soccer team saw them perform the song on TV while sporting one of the team's hat, they got asked to perform at centre field during halftime, which was used for the music video. How cool is that?
#16
AKB48 - "Koi Suru Fortune Cookie" JPN #1
The hugest group Japan has to offer are really hit and miss with me, but this one is dead-on. Selling over a million copies on it's first day of release, it debuted at #1, making it their whopping 19th in a row. It is the definition of a feel-good song and features a disco-esque sound and some nice guitar playing to match. A great music video, too, with an English-speaking DJ to set the tone for the rest of the song.
#15
Team Spirit - "Teenage Love"
One of the best riffs of the year comes at the beginning of this song and after the choruses. Who doesn't like some high-pitched guitar that you can "ooh" along with? The way it goes back to it at the end with a sudden tempo change is nicely done.
#14
Scandal - "Scandal In The House" A-Side: JPN #6, Album: JPN #3
This was released in video form only with Scandal's album Standard, and eventually as audio when it was chosen as the B-side to the album's third single "Over Drive". It is way out of Scandal's normal genre of music, yet it is a huge treat to fans. The song features each band member rapping about how great another one is, and the music video to go along with it is perfect. The rock songs released as singles from the album could very well chart here too, but this song is very special and unique.
#13
Vampire Weekend - "Unbelievers" CAN Alt #9, UK #158, US Alt #12
One of the most peaceful sounding songs of the year is right here. The wind that the song uses is pretty uncommon for alternative songs, but it goes with the track very well. It's relaxing, but that doesn't mean I don't go mad when the drums kick in sometimes.
#12
MGMT - "Your Life Is A Lie"
COWBELL!!! This is a great offering from MGMT, and absolutely trumps "Alien Days", the lead single from their self-titled album which was released this year. A quick song that is fun to sing along with.
#11
Crossfaith - "Eclipse"
With in-your-face screaming and some great synthesizer, this song totally energizes me. It makes me wish I could scream like they do.
#10
Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker - "This Is The Best" CAN #75, CAN Alt #3
Kicking off the top 10 is a breakthrough for USS, becoming their first song to chart on the Canadian Hot 100. With it's seemingly drunken lyrics such as "I don't care, party anywhere" and "I'm cool, man, possibly beyond repair", it's a total party anthem. How did this not go #1 on alt?
#9
Babymetal - "Megitsune" JPN #7
2013 was great for Babymetal, giving them their first two top 10 singles, which would be unheard of on a Western chart. Their high voices and heavy metal combination is truly unique. In this song, once it kicks in with "sore!", you can't help but to headbang. You can never have enough double-kick, either.
#8
Protest The Hero - "Mist" Album: CAN #7, US #20, US Hard Rock #3, US Ind #1
A new drummer and an independently released album didn't hurt my favourite band at all when they released their fourth album in October. They wrote this song about how much they love my home province of Newfoundland, which is still totally bizarre to me. Imagine your favourite band writing about the place you're from, which doesn't even have much population! I've seen them three times here, so it's cool that I've experienced much of what lead singer Rody Walker is talking about. They haven't played here since 2012, so me and the rest of the crowd will surely go nuts when they play this one live here.
#7
Maximum The Hormone - "A・L・I・E・N" Album: JPN #1
Maximum The Hormone are known for their metal genre-switching, and this song stays true to that while giving them their first #1 album. The first half has many different parts that are extremely heavy metal, but the last half changes drastically and suddenly to a pop anthem. It's a great listening experience, and both parts are so different that I sometimes just listen to one or the other depending on my mood. The music video is one of the best this year as well, as it seems like a normal performance video, but that changes too.
#6
Issues - "Hooligans"
For the first 30 seconds of this song, you could think you're about to listen to some dance or dubstep, but then a huge drop of metal instruments makes you know otherwise. It combines electronic, metal, and R&B vocals. This is a standalone single, with the band not even having a full album to call their own yet, making this track even more impressive.
#5
Zebrahead - "Call Your Friends" JPN #48
The kings of punk rock longevity released another great album this year, along with the title track as the lead single. In true Zebrahead style, the song is all about partying and lets us know how much fun the band is. The "do do do do do" is really catchy and can get stuck in your head after a single listen.
#4
Konomi Suzuki And Kiba Of Akiba - "Watashi Ga Motenai No Wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera Ga Warui!" JPN #43
The duet singing between a male and female in a metal song like this is something I've never experienced before, at least not done so perfectly. I love how their voices contrast each other, and hearing Konomi Suzuki's clean voice jammed in between the deep, metal of growling is a treat. The electronic breakdown is delightfully unexpected. It's one of the heaviest anime openings ever. My top 10 is turning out heavier than I thought it would be.
#3
Filter - "What Do You Say" CAN Act #26, US Main #30
The best rock song of the year in my opinion. The industrial sounding guitar is perfect for the song, and the chorus is simple with it's catchy lyrics while staying a pure headbanging track. It also uses a drum machine instead of real drums, which is pretty odd. It's their highest charting song since "Where Do We Go From Here?" in 2002.
#2
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu - "Invader Invader" JPN #3
I fell in love with this song and Kyary as soon as I watched the video for the first time. The song is pretty crazy and just plain cool. It's got many different parts to it, to the point where I'm still not really sure which parts are supposed to be choruses and which are supposed to be verses. The dubstep break is a nice touch, too. Hearing this song when it came out this past spring made me wonder how the hell Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, who has had many great hits dating back to 2011's "PonPonPon", could have flown under my radar for all these years. With this song to introduce me to her, she quickly got propelled as one of my favourite artists.
#1
Chvrches - "Lies" Album: AUS #13, AUT #18, BEL #37, GER #22, JPN #66, NED #68, NOR #28, NZL #35, SCO #5, SUI #55, UK #9, US #12
What a god damn fantastic album this is, good enough for it to be the only one I physically bought this year. But the history of "Lies" is confusing. The version which I like the most, which is linked, never really got an actual release, but was circulated around the internet last year and even made NME's top songs of 2012 list. The video was uploaded on another account just titled "Chvrches - Lies", but was uploaded on Chvrches' account this year as "Chvrches - Lies (Live)", despite only showing live footage and using the original studio recording. I guess this happened around the time they decided to change up "Lies" for the album. The album version is still a great song, but it just doesn't have the same appeal to me as the original. Songs on my chart need to be on an album or standalone single in 2013, and this version didn't get any of that. Not good enough for you? This album is so great that I could choose many others to take this very top spot (that's why I have my own rule of one song per artist!). The Mother We Share, Lungs, We Sink, Gun, etc, are all so great.
Okay, time to talk about the actual song. It's an electronic, synthpop jam that I can't help but move to. The beats are just so great, and Lauren Mayberry's voice is damn near hypnotic. The same beat persists into the choruses, though at a different tone, and gives the song a pretty different feel for those lines while still keeping the dance jam going. I love the lyrics too, which are great throughout the whole song and really tell a story. Even typing this summary, I'm forced to move around in my chair as if the song is possessing me. What a track, and album!