2013 in review

2013 has really and truly flown past. It's currently New Years Eve and I guess as everyone gets ready for their parties and plans, I thought it would be a good opportunity to review the year just had.

It's been a big year, filled with great music, both newly released and live music at various concerts and festivals such as Matt Corby, Splendour in the Grass, Lewis Watson, Lakyn Heperi, Gabrielle Aplin, Passenger, Ed Sheeran, Birdy, Woodford Folk Festival and a couple more in the mix. This year held big moments for me personally such as the start of this very blog - The Universal Solitude, as well as the building of my YouTube. 

I have chosen my 10 most listened to artists/albums of the year, I'm sure I will have missed some amazing artists, but these are my picks of 2013. I will say now that not all of these were released this year and the order of these artists is completely random!

1. Sticky Fingers

Sticky Fingers (not my photo)

I have been a huge fan of Sticky Fingers, especially over the last year since I saw them at Woodford Folk Festival this time last year (to date). My love for this band got almost a bit obsessive as I would honestly say there was a point where if I had my iPod on, there was an 89% chance Sticky Fingers was playing. With about 30ish of their songs, I just listened to them on shuffle constantly. Sounds a bit ridiculous, like, come on Stella, branch out a bit more, but there is something about Sticky Fingers that just works into every situation, every mood, every emotion. 

2. Ray Lamontagne

Ray Lamontagne (not my photo)

An oldy but a goody with this one. I grew up listening to Ray Lamontagne as my father is a big big fan, I was so used to listening to him with my family, it wasn't until this year that I actually bought his album 'Trouble' for myself. Truly up there with some of my all time favourites, I find this album fairly melancholy (somewhat like David Gray's White Ladder in its emotional vibe) and it really takes me back to being a little girl driving with my parents in the old red Volvo hatchback.
Songs like Trouble, Hold you in my Arms, and Forever my Friend were my standouts, but the album is so beautiful as a whole and was really a standout for me this year.

3. Jake Bugg

Jake Bugg (not my photo)

Huge favourite this year was Jake Bugg. I was introduced to is music, I would say about June/July and was mesmerised. Such raw talent is shown through Jake's music, and watching interviews with him it can be seen that he really does just care about his art, his music. I fell inlove with his self titled album and listened to it many many times, hearing new emotions and new messages every time, really a very interesting album. Introducing Jake Bugg to my father after discovering him was interesting as he didn't seem to fall inlove with him like I did at first (perhaps this could be to do with the fact that I played him Two Fingers, a song about drugs, cigarettes and caring less, maybe not the best message to show the father of a 16 year old girl). But over time, as my Dad discovered Jake Bugg for himself, I watched him connect with the music as I did too. I would like to commend Jake Bugg for this, for being able to relate to a 16 year old and a 50 year old, hard to do, but boy did Jake succeed.

4. Haim

Haim (not my photo, I wish though)

Pwoah. It's difficult for me to put my love and respect for these lovely girls into words. They have made an astonishing entry into the difficult music industry this year and really blown everyone away. With music that really stands out, very different to a lot of the music you hear nowadays.
Unfortunately I was unable to see Haim live at Splendour in the Grass as I wasn't there for their set, but man I wish I had have been.
Raved about by fans an critics, Haim has really set a whole new standard for music around the world. Three young girls, I am completely jealous of their success but they absolutely deserve every glimmer of it. Big, big props to sisters Este Haim, Danielle Haim and Alana Haim, absolutely stunning. 

5. The Kramers

The Kramers (not my photo)

This is kind of a weird choice for me, but The Kramers really made a significant imprint into my year, specifically the song 'Ariel'. This song seemed to be playing throughout the best few months of this year and as cliched and lame as it sounds, I think the song 'Ariel' will always remind me of that time. I am still in the midst of the time it will remind me of, and although it sounds like a kind of weird that it's in my favourites, it's here because of how much that song means to me, and where that song takes me.
(So lame, so sorry).

6. Lorde

Here we go again, which 2013 favourites/recap DIDN'T Lorde make it into lets be honest. I made that sound a lot more negative than I implied it, I do that a lot. Lorde deserves to be in every single person's 2013 review. I did manage to see Lorde live at Splendour in the Grass as she filled in when Frank Ocean pulled out. This was before her album 'Pure Heroine' was released by the way. An absolutely amazing performance. Throughout 2013 I have listened to a lot of Lorde and she really does deserve all of the amazing attention she is currently receiving.

7. Vance Joy

Vance Joy (not my photo)

Leading on from Lorde is the lovely Vance Joy. I first got into Vance Joy around the same time as I discovered Lorde, so they both kind of take me back to the same place. Vance Joy's EP 'God Love You When You're Dancing' was one of my favourite EPs for a while and I did listen to it constantly. I had a lot of friends who fell inlove with Vance Joy at the same time so for a while it was a bit of a soundtrack to our lives. Honestly, such a talented musician and I do hope to hear more from him in the future. I also would really love to see him live at some stage. Amazing talent.

8. Foals

Foals (not my photo)

For my birthday in September one of my lovely friends who I have mentioned on this blog a bit, Keeley, bought me the Foals album 'Holy Fire' vinyl for my collection. I'm not going to lie here, I hadn't really taken time to listen to the full album before this. But I'm so happy I received the album as it gave me the chance to really get into it, and I really did. 'Holy Fire' is an amazing album, by an amazing band. I really did enjoy listening to this a lot. For me personally, I find it very night time music...is that the stupidest thing I've ever said? I don't know, this album just really makes me excited, it's the type of album I like putting on when I am getting ready to go out, to psyche myself up.

9. The 1975

The 1975 (not my photo)

Here's another weird choice of mine. I feel like this band is much more 'pop' than I usually listen to, but honestly, I really got into them throughout the month of August. I performed a cover of their well known song 'Chocolate' for a music assessment, and just really got into a lot of their other songs such as 'Girls', 'Sex' and 'The City' from there. I really loved this band for a while, I don't know what it was that made them stand out from the rest of the pop culture to me, but they really did. With interesting lyrics and well constructed songs, yep, I'm not embarrassed to show my 'pop' music love, amazing job The 1975, unfortunately I am not attending Big Day Out, but if I was, I would be in the mosh pit for them.

10. Half Moon Run

Half Moon Run (not my photo)

What a surprise. My one true love, truly my pick for album of the year goes to Half Moon Run's 'Dark Eyes'. I was lucky enough to see these guys live the other day (full review of that performance is in my Woodford Folk Festival 2013 blogpost). These four guys from Canada are such talented and beautiful musicians, very raw, intense and charismatic, 'Dark Eyes' really is a more of a journey than an album.
I cannot put my love for these guys into words, their music is so different from anything I have heard and ranges from intense and upbeat to slow and thoughtful. Absolutely amazing job to Half Moon Run on everything they have accomplished so far and will do in the future.

All in all, an amazingly musical year. I'd like to thank anyone who has supported this blog, and everyone who has introduced me to new music, or just music they like. Thank you.
It's been a fantastic year and I am sure 2014 will bring just as many if not more spectacular moments.

Thank you,
Stella Grace xxx

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Sticky Fingers: http://www.stickyfingerstheband.com
Ray Lamotagne: http://www.raylamontagne.com/us/home
Jake Bugg: http://jakebugg.com
Haim: http://haimtheband.com
The Kramers: https://www.facebook.com/thekramers
Lorde: https://www.facebook.com/lordemusic
Vance Joy: http://vancejoy.com
Foals: http://www.foals.co.uk
The 1975: http://the1975.com
Half Moon Run: https://www.facebook.com/halfmoonrun