Guest Spot Best of 2013 - 'C'

In the essence of our blog, we asked some friends from blogs that we follow to share with us the tunes that stood out for them in 2013. We love to hear what other people listen to and the reasons why they tick the right boxes musically and of course to hear the stories associated with them. Whilst also hopefully discovering things that otherwise would have passed us by.

And here we have the thoughts of 'C', who is responsible for the excellent blog Sun Dried Sparrows, where you can find a melange of music, art and fantastic nostalgic stories!

But that's enough from us, 'C'..... the floor is yours

'This year my musical tastebuds have been tickled by the unexpected. But the unexpected didn't come in the form of Polynesian nose-flutes or mathcore, instead I was surprised to find that the songs I liked were mass-market; they were getting into the charts.... sometimes even to Number 1. Oh god! This must be the first time that has happened to me since the Pistols' 'God Save The Queen' made it to the top (even if it was never acknowledged that it could have outsold Rod Stewart at the time – we know it did, don't we?!)

I mean, I was absolutely swept off my feet by John Newman's 'Love Me Again' and I fell in love with Nile Rodgers' guitar style all over again on Daft Punk's 'Get Lucky' ft. Pharrell Williams. Both would have to make it into my list of favourite tracks of the year, even though there's that little part of me that is niggled by the thought that they are probably on a million other people's lists as well, both being Number 1 singles. Oh I'm too old for elitism now!

Another unexpected delight came in the form of the new Suede album, 'Bloodsports'. Not because I didn't expect to like it – I thought and hoped I would, I just never thought they'd actually make another. It was brilliant to see them perform on various TV shows too – haven't they aged well?! Picking one track from the album is difficult, though, as they all stand up so well.

One further surprise for me this year has been my newly developed penchant for a bit of dubstep. It's strong, uplifting and makes me want to dance, and that's a lovely way to feel on a damp, English, winter night.

Anyway, all of the above feature in my tracks of the year. I can't possibly put them into any order, that all depends on what mood I'm in and what time of day it is, what I've had to eat and the phases of the moon etc etc. So I hope you'll just enjoy these five picked fairly much at random for starters.  Have a great 2014!'

Suede – 'Sabotage'

Here's the live version... a great rendition and the first time I heard it before the album's release.

Mat Zo ft. Rachel K Collier – 'Only For You'

 

From the album 'Damage Control'.  Doesn't it just make you feel good?!

Yeah Yeah Yeahs ft. Dr Octagon – 'Buried Alive'

No visuals for this I'm afraid, but such a great track from the album 'Mosquito'

Johnny Marr – 'New Town Velocity'

Such a good single, and the video reminds me of somewhere I used to live!

Parra For Cuva ft. Anna Naklab – 'Wicked Game'

Wicked Game is just one of those songs which I can't imagine ever being covered badly.  I especially love this fairly minimal take on it.  Shame about the video, though...

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My current top 10 in absolutely no particular order....

John Newman – Love Me Again

Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams – Get Lucky

Ray Foxx ft. Rachel K Collier – Boom Boom (Heartbeat)

Suede – Sabotage

Mat Zo ft. Rachel K Collier – Only For You

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Buried Alive

Johnny Marr – New Town Velocity

Parra For Cuva ft. Anna Naklab – Wicked Game

British Sea Power – Loving Animals

Klangkarussell ft. Will Heard - Sonnentanz