Doing some end of the year/ best-of posts over the next few days. Though most major publications did their year end lists closer to the beginning of December, this is the one that everyone has really been waiting for.
10. "Reflektor," Arcade Fire
Though it shares many of the same problems as the album with which it also shares a name, such as being overly long, "Reflektor" gets into the best groove of any of Arcade Fire's new disco-tinged tracks. And a David Bowie cameo can only help things.
9. "Suit & Tie," Justin Timberlake feat. Jay-Z
Speaking of grooves, the one this song gets into is phenomenal. Even Jay-Z's verse, which for whatever reason is slowed down, can't ruin this, one of the year's biggest hits and best songs.
8. "Do I Wanna Know?" Arctic Monkeys
Many expected Arctic Monkeys, who came to prominence in 2006 as teenagers, to go the way of many bands of their ilk and fizzle out after their first album. No one counted on them making a song this good at this point in their careers. "Do I Wanna Know?" slinks along to a riff that would make Tony Iommi proud, and the lyrics contain some of the best examples of Alex Turner's biting wit.
7. "Sea of Love," The National
It's telling that this is the most up-tempo song on Trouble Will Find Me, The National's newest album. The album is a slow burn, but this song is a drum-heavy rocker, sure to be a live staple.
6. "I Sat by the Ocean," Queens of the Stone Age
Count on Queens of the Stone Age to come up with a unique, riff-driven single that even their worst albums can boast. This stands up with their very best work.
5. "Lose Yourself to Dance," Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams
Spoiler alert: this is not the only Daft Punk song on here featuring Pharrell. I tried to keep this list to one song per artist, but I couldn't have a top ten songs of 2013 list without including both of these songs. At times I thought this one was better than "Get Lucky," the ubiquitous radio hit, and though I no longer think so, it's still a phenomenal song.
4. "The Wire," Haim
The Fleetwood Mac-iest song to come out since the mid-'70s. Haim takes the best parts of '70s classic rock and '80s pop and makes songs that would have been hits in any era. This is their best work thus far, a classic rock hit transported to the modern day.
3. "Unbelievers," Vampire Weekend
There are several songs from Vampire Weekend's latest album that could have made their way onto this list, but eventually I settled on "Unbelievers." Lie most of the album it lyrically deals with questioning of faith. And questioning faith has rarely been so fun to hear.
2. "Get Lucky," Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams
I may regret not putting this at number one; it's the "Hey Ya!" of this decade, a gigantic hit that attains that status purely on merit. No matter how many times I heard this song this year, I never got sick of it. Daft Punk takes to best aspects of disco and implements everything we have learned about dance music since the end of disco, and uses that knowledge to produce the greatest disco song ever made.
1. "The Mother We Share," Chvrches
If there's one song on this list that really sounds like "2013," it's this one. That may be viewed as a good thing or a bad thing in the future, but it's the reason this tops the list. Much like Daft Punk did with disco and "Get Lucky," Chvrches took '80s synth-pop and put a modern twist on it to craft this incredible song. And though it didn't become a smash hit like "Get Lucky," it certainly would have been worth of it. This is my song of 2013.
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