Between the Boston Marathon Bombing in April, a trip to Cuba (via a rare opportunity through work) in December and my getting married in September, this was an exceptionally busy year, though as always I still made time for music. Random Access Memories was easily my favorite LP of the year, but Heartthrob, Tegan and Sara’s aim-for-the-fences dance pop effort wasn’t far behind. While I don’t return to it as frequently today, leadoff track “Closer” is the first song that comes to mind when I think about 2013.

I also recall Haim’s Fleetwood Mac-goodness, Eleanor Friedberger’s disarming ode to being clumsy in love, unusually strong comeback singles from Alison Moyet, Pet Shop Boys and Paul McCartney(!), the loveliest Vampire Weekend song to date (though the later “Harmony Hall” gives it a run for its money), the most blissful melody you’ll ever hear from Washed Out, the year’s best, most idiosyncratic actual number-one hit (“Royals”), a choice cut from Goldfrapp’s better-with-each-year, atypically pastoral Tales Of Us, a Sam Phillips song as classic as anything on Martinis and Bikinis and Laura Marling convincingly staking her claim as a “Master Hunter”. 

This was also a time when happily anonymous pop singles (Atlas Genius, Fitz and the Tantrums, Capital Cities) carried the same weight for me as more eccentric and/or distinct declarations from Jessy Lanza, Sky Ferreira and London Grammar (both with and without Disclosure) and I’m not sure I could make the same claim a decade-plus later.

Speaking of eccentric/distinct, on my first listen of John Grant’s “GMF”, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing (the title is a NSFW acronym), but I knew it was a superb, self-deprecating anthem for the ages before it was over.

2013: Love Me While It’s Still a Crime

1. Tegan and Sara, “Closer”
2. Bastille, “Pompeii”
3. Haim, “If I Could Change Your Mind”
4. Daft Punk feat. Julian Casablancas, “Instant Crush”
5. John Grant, “GMF”
6. Disclosure feat. London Grammar, “Help Me Lose My Mind”
7. Goldfrapp, “Drew”
8. Jessy Lanza, “Keep Moving”
9. Cut Copy, “In Memory Capsule”
10. Sky Ferreira, “I Blame Myself”
11. Eleanor Friedberger, “When I Knew”
12. Alison Moyet, “Love Reign Supreme”
13. Atlas Genius, “Electric”
14. Camera Obscura, “This is Love (Feels Alright)”
15. Pet Shop Boys feat. Example, “Thursday”
16. Iron & Wine, “The Desert Babbler”
17. Emma Louise, “Boy”
18. Neko Case, “Man”
19. Mavis Staples, “I Like The Things About Me”
20. Fitz and The Tantrums, “Out Of My League”
21. Janelle Monae, “We Were Rock and Roll”
22. Lordes, “Royals”
23. Paul McCartney, “Queenie Eye”
24. Jason Isbell, “Traveling Alone”
25. Yo La Tengo, “Is That Enough”
26. Washed Out, “All I Know”
27. Sam Phillips, “You Know I Won’t”
28. Laura Marling, “Master Hunter”
29. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Mosquito”
30. Capital Cities, “Safe and Sound”
31. Holy Ghost!, “Bridge and Tunnel”
32. Vienna Teng feat. Glen Phillips, “Landsailor”
33. Vampire Weekend, “Step”
34. David Bowie, “Valentine’s Day”
35. Florence + The Machine, “Over The Love”
36. London Grammar, “Strong”