No.5: "Get Lucky" - Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers.
Now, a wee song which you might be familiar with. Pharrell Williams "featured" on two significant chart hits this year: one was only fit for the dustbin (clue: hashtag-Thicke) and the other was this. One of the year's most pleasant musical surprises, which marked the resurgence of the legendary Nile Rodgers and brought his music to a whole new audience. And then Linda "I know a drag queen when I see one" Martin brought her cover version, and no-one expected that. So all in all, a win-win situation.
Linda's version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZYQluJW-dM
No.4: "DNA" - Empire of the Sun.
My favourite song off "Ice On The Dune" and probably the one that's closest in spirit to, say, "Walking On A Dream" or "We Are The People". DNA was the second single off the album and yet again, failed to make any impact over here. However, the band does have a loyal following in the UK and Luke Steele has promised that they will bring their big theatrical show over here for a tour at some point. Now if Nick Littlemore could only get over his aversion to touring...
Official video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDN08Ia7CNI
No.3: "Mi Servirebbe Sapere" - Antonio Maggio.
So I won't bore you with the details, and no offence to Marco Mengoni, but suffice to say that in my world this should have been the song which represented Italy in Eurovision this year.
Antonio did win the best newcomer prize at Sanremo so that suggests that he'll be back again at some point. Whether his song will ever better this quirky, "We No Speak Americano"-influenced, catchy-as-hell song which still sounds as wonderful every time I play it, remains to be seen.
Official video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuXGsYg0acA
No.2: "The Underground" - Datarock.
Although I was mainly disappointed with MGP this year it still managed to produce some tunes which I’ll listen to again. And again and again. Songs with that kind of staying power will always turn up in my top 10, and this bold fusion of electro-dance and old style disco, sprinkled with a little "Music Sounds Better With You" immediately hit the spot. It was never in any doubt that this would be in my top 5 and in any other year it would have probably topped my chart. But then along came my favourite song of the year...
Datarock at the MGP final: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H5Ji3ecaCk
No.1: "Hur Dom Än" - Oskar Linnros.
Sometimes the most long-awaited songs can be the most disappointing. But not in this case: the ambitious structure of "Hur Dom Än" which was premiered at the Grammisgalan - not a week goes past without me watching that performance - finds Oskar in more epic, complex musical territory than ever before. This song completely soars and takes you on a breathtaking musical journey from beginning to end. If he is achieving this level of greatness so early in his solo musical career, it only makes you wonder just how much more he can achieve. Unfortunately nothing on "Klappar Och Slag" came close to matching it; further proof that 2013 was the year of the great individual track, rather than the great album.
That Grammisgalan performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtJmC9Nkn-0
So there you have it. Another year over, and a new one on the way, which will hopefully bring some good new music for my 2014-50, which will be published on here one year from now :)
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