Thursday, December 12, 2013

Day 12: The top 10 songs/artists I found in 2013!

Well, I'm not going to have a whole lot of opportunity to try something new today, so I'm picking a lifeline for today's Think Kit. Nay, TWO lifelines, sir!

 I've had music on the brain this morning, and it is nearly impossible to just pick *one* new band or song this year. So I'm combining the "what new music did you find and how?" lifeline and the "make a top 10 list of anything" lifeline. Deal with it, sucka.

image by MisterBrony


The Top 10 Songs and/or Artists I Found in 2013 are... (drumroll)

  • Poni Robots by Omnipony



I add that the kid was only 14 when he made this. Between the level of talent and effort needed to compose something like this, and the fact a 14 year old boy was OK with admitting he likes a pastel pony show written for 5 year old girls... I suddenly have a lot more faith in the future. I randomly found this song a few days ago while I was searching on Google for reviews of MLP:FiM season 4 episodes. I'm rather consistently blown away by the level of talent shown by this fanbase.

  • Q.U.E.E.N. by Janelle Monae featuring Erykah Badu



The TL;DR version is that I love everything about Janelle Monae. Just everything. Girl can do no wrong in my opinion. Her entire Electric Lady album is gold. I anxiously awaited this album because I've loved her ever since I found her. Granted, any song on the album could stand well as a single, but I think the choice to release this one first was VERY wise. Also. DAT VIDEO.

  • He Was A Big Freak by Betty Davis



My friend Nicole showed me Betty Davis while I still lived in Evansville. We were probably talking about how much clinical depression sucks, and we were definitely drinking hot tea in her old eclectic farm house. I will never be as cool as Betty Davis. Neither will you.

  • Love Come Down by Kalafina



I hate myself for not finding this group sooner. The whole thing is a brainchild of Yuki Kajiura, a composer who's done a lot of work for anime, and who I've pretty much got an enormous crush on based on her music alone. Everything is just so ethereal. I adore it so much. Kalafina is basically dolly kei incarnate. For more examples of Kajiura's magic, look up the soundtrack to La Portrait De Petite Cosette. A very disturbing, weird anime film with music so pretty, you'll cry.

To add an extra level to how stupid I feel for not having heard Kalafina sooner, they performed at Anime Central in Chicago like ONE month before I discovered them. *headdesk* (I also can't go without mentioning Natsu No Ringo. I was torn between that and Love Come Down to show you on the blog.)

  • Tea Party by Kerli



Okay, so this one is actually from 2010, but I missed her somehow. I do completely adore this song and video. I found it on some list somewhere of new music videos that have a goth vibe. I can't find the list now, alas. She's DEFINITELY got nothing in common with the old-school goth community that started it all back in the day, but this video is a lot of things I enjoy, bringing the sort of electronic dance vibe, glitter, and pastel set that I'm sure perkigoths can get all over. I'm a wee tad confused over Kerli calling herself the starter of something called Bubblegoth. I mean, I get the concept, and it's cool, but it's already been a thing. Because pastelgoth/perky goth/glitter goth already exist. Eh, I'm not going to think too hard about it. She's still doing some really interesting things.

  • Paloma Faith



I found Paloma Faith randomly on Spotify. Possibly on Mika radio, I'm not sure. The structure of the song I chose for her, Picking up the Pieces, reminds me of a Mika song. I'd have more insight as to why they're similar if I had ever studied music theory. For all I can tell so far, the woman is flawless.

  • Kishi Bashi


I am ANGRY at everyone who never showed me Kishi Bashi. He's probably my favorite musical find of 2013. God, his cover of ELO's Twilight makes me SO happy. Anyone who doesn't like Kishi Bashi is a bad person.

  • The Birthday Massacre


TBM is one of those bands I heard about in passing, made a mental note to check out, and then kind of forgot to follow through on it. The video above was made by my friend B-Ray, of Geekvision Productions, for a video contest the band had early in 2013. Leave it to B-Ray to remind me I was an idiot for forgetting about TBM.

  • Bottom of the River by Delta Rae


So apparently this was on the Sing Off a few days ago or something. I don't even have a TV, so I don't know. I heard this done live on NPR a couple months ago.

  • Daughn Gibson


I gotta just go and share the whole album for this guy. He's a weirdo. I like it. This is his 2012, album, not the one from this year. I like All Hell better, but his new album is called Me Moan, if you want more.

So, that's my top 10 for 2013. Did I miss something that I absolutely need to hear? Let me know in the comments!

4 comments:

  1. Looking forward to diving into this list! The only artist I'm familiar with is The Birthday Massacre. I found them on MySpace (back when it was relevant :)). I only know a few of their songs, but like what I've heard.

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    1. OMG Myspace! Those were the days, weren't they? Glad we're able to share some music with each other. Always a fun time. Very nice to meet you!

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  2. Hi, Leah! I love this list because it's introducing me to a lot of artists I never heard of, and I can't wait to give them a listen. (I did almost put Q.U.E.E.N on my Top Ten list, though, and I am familiar with Kishi Bashi, so I'm not a bad person, thankfully. :) )

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    1. Thanks for coming around and for the compliments! I wouldn't think you were a bad person, even if you weren't familiar with Kishi Bashi.

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