Favorite Songs of 2013

“I’ll explore the outer limits of boredom / moaning periodically”

Here’s a list of my top songs for this year, in an order that might be surprisingly mixable. These are not necessarily from 2013; I just happened to have heard them in the last twelve months.

“Tourniquet,” by Hem (Departure & Farewell)
“Run (Feat. Jennifer Nettles & Kristian Bush),” by Matt Nathanson (Modern Love)
“Someone Will,” by Dawes (Stories Don’t End)
“I Remember You,” by Rilo Kiley (Rkives)
“Entertainment,” by Phoenix (Bankrupt!)
“Metroland,” by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (English Electric)
“We Sink,” by Chvrches (The Bones of What You Believe)
“Don’t Just Sit There,” by Lucius (Wildewoman)
“Out on the Town,” by Fun. (Some Nights)
“Black Sheep,” by Gin Wigmore (Gravel & Wine)
“At Seventeen,” by Janis Ian (Between the Lines)
“If I Ever Leave This World Alive,” by Flogging Molly (Drunken Lullabies)
“Fake Palindromes,” by Andrew Bird (The Mysterious Production of Eggs)
“Don’t Save Me,” by Haim (Days Are Gone)
“Lights (Single Version),” by Ellie Goulding (Halcyon [Deluxe Version])
“Love Is a Bourgeois Construct,” by Pet Shop Boys (Electric)
“Picking Up the Pieces,” by Paloma Faith (Fall to Grace)
“The Heart of the Matter,” by Megan Hilty (It Happens All the Time)
“What’ll Keep Me Out of Heaven,” by Brandy Clark (12 Stories)
“Without You,” by Harry Nilsson (Nilsson Schmilsson)

If I had to pick one song that was my very favorite for this year, it would be the Pet Shop Boys’ “Love Is a Bourgeois Construct,” a seven-minute romp that somehow never overstays its welcome.  It’s a playful song with tongue-in-cheek lyrics and a driving beat, the signature of these pop masters who’ve been making great music for more than twenty years.  May they stay boys forever.

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