Another year gone and with that comes my annual round up of all things music, fashion and stuff I can categorise into a list. 2013 has been a very good year for music, fashion, TV and movies especially. It’s the year my interest in films has reached an all time high going from a twice a year cinema goer to a much more regular attendee that’s a lot more interested in the whole film-making process too. TV has always been a massive love of mine but as I get older I find more amazing things to watch – brilliantly acted, wonderfully written, shot stunningly and leaving you happy/sad/on the edge of your seat.
As music is my main love the majority of this round up is dedicated to that. The best albums, singles, live moments have all been rounded up here for you to find out my own opinions on what has been brilliant for me this year. From favourites delivering brilliant albums to mind blowing debuts and discovering plenty of new music this year too either through magazines, browsing online or bands/artists/pr’s getting in touch with me. I’ve written about so much music this year mainly new stuff but some more well known names and it’s been exciting for me to not only have a constant source of things to write about but to also see careers develop or start to break through for these acts.
It’s been a wonderful year and let’s hope 2014 continues in the same vein. And if you do want to get in touch about your music and a possible feature/review then check the ‘Contact’ tab above and send me an email.
Top 20 Albums
1) Bastille – Bad Blood
2) Jagwar Ma – Howlin’
3) James Blake – Overgrown
4) Foals – Holy Fire
5) To Kill A King – Cannibals With Cutlery
6) Biffy Clyro – Opposites
7) Arctic Monkeys – AM
8) My Bloody Valentine – mbv
9) Disclosure – Settle
10) PEACE – In Love
11) Everything Everything – Arc
12) Bring Me The Horizon – Sempiternal
13) Chvrches – The Bones of What You Believe
14) Phoenix – Bankrupt!
15) Stylusboy – Hospitality for Hope
16) Panic! At The Disco – Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die
17) Kids In Glass Houses – PEACE
18) Haim – Days Are Gone
19) The 1975 – The 1975
20) Miles Kane – Don’t Forget Who You Are
With so many brilliant albums being released over the course of the last 12 months it was difficult to pick the one for the top spot. Though inevitably it came down to the album I’ve played the most and the one I was most excited about. I love Bastille and I have done for a long time and to finally have the chance to listen to their debut and see it do so well [going to number 1 in the album charts] was just completely amazing for me personally. With all that and the fact that it is musically very good and well created is why I think that ‘Bad Blood’ by Bastille really does deserve my title as number 1 album of 2013.
Top 5 EP’s
We Are Scientists – Business Casual, Cosmo – Cosmo, Tangerine – Radical Blossom, Jordan James – Love Waves, Puppet Rebellion – Chemical Friends.
Best 20 Singles
To Kill A King – Funeral, Bastille – Things We Lost In The Fire, Katy Perry – Roar!, Jimmy Eat World – I Will Steal You Back, Fall Out Boy – My Song Know What You Did In The Dark, Haim – Falling, We Are Scientists – Good Answer, Lorde – Royals, MT Wolf – Midnight Shallows, Jagwar Ma – The Throw, Biffy Clyro – Black Chandelier, Disclosure – Help Me Lose My Mind [feat. London Grammar], Bring Me The Horizon – Sleepwalking, Chvrches – The Mother We Share, Kiwi – Llama, The Vaccines – Melody Calling, McFly – Love Is Easy, Daft Punk – Get Lucky, Peace – Follow Baby, Thumpers – Dancing’s Done.
Most Played Song on iPod
Bastille – Icarus
New Favourite Band/Artist – Haim, Deap Vally, Kiwi, Stylusboy.
Music Video of the Year – Discosure – White Noise [feat. AlunaGeorge]
Comeback of the Year – McBusted.
Best Gig I’ve Been to in 2013 – To Kill A King at Leadmill, Sheffield. 28th October 2013.
Performance of Leeds Festival – Green Day.
Top 3 Festival Performances – Arctic Monkeys at Glastonbury, Biffy Clyro at Reading, Foals at Reading.
Best Sing A Long at Leeds Festival – Pompeii by Bastille.
Albums to Look Forward to Next Year – Chloe Howl, The Maccabees, The Horrors, Friendly Fires, Thumpers, McFly.
Bands/Artists to Look Out for Next Year – The Hics, Javeon, Chloe Howl, Thumpers, Sampha, Swiss Lips.
Remixes of the Year
Disclosure – F For You [TEED Remix]
Jagwar Ma – Come Save Me [Andrew Weatherall Remix]
Clean Bandit – Dust Clears [Jack Savidge Remix]
London Grammar – Strong [Shadow Child Remix]
Best Tour Line Up – Bastille, To Kill A King, Swiss Lips.
Worst Music Point of 2013 – MT Wolf announcing they were calling it a day after releasing only a few absolutely brilliant songs, it was very short but very very wonderful.
——————————
Favourite Clothing Purchases – H! by Henry Holland Coat, Velvet Skirt from Primark, Hearts and Bows Tartan Smock Dress from Ark, Galaxy Print Dress from ASOS, Drop Dead Cat Print Shirt, Cat Print Skirt from H&M.
 |
 |
 |
 |
Favourite Accessories Purchase – Skull Snood from Asda, Black Pork Pie Hat from H&M, Purple Stone Ring.
Favourite Footwear Purchase – River Island Biker Boots and Star Stud Boots from Tesco.
Trend of the Year – Tartan, 1920’s.
Shop of the Year – Primark.
Clothing Brand of the Year – H! by Henry Holland for Debenhams.
—————————-
Best Book I’ve Read this Year – The Cousins War Series by Philippa Gregory.
Top 5 Films of the Year – Thor: The Dark World, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Star Trek: Into Darkness, The Fifth Estate, The World’s End.
Best TV Shows – The Newsroom, The Tunnel, Fresh Meat, Hebburn, The White Queen, The Escape Artist, Broadchurch.
Comedian of the Year – Russell Kane.
And now to my most favourite of the categories, it’s the most fun one in an otherwise serious and very well thought out round up/list of the year from plenty of different areas. This year there was only one candidate for this title for me, if you follow me on Twitter or know me well this will come as no surprise to you as my amount of fangirling over the amount of films, TV shows and interviews that have graced the world and the internet featuring this man has been off the scale. And I think he may be the contender for this title for 2014 too, with Sherlock series 3, 12 Years a Slave, August: Osage Country and The Imitation Game.
Best Looking Guy of 2013 – Benedict Cumberbatch.
Mixtape Couture 