2013: The Good, The Bad & The POP!

As the unlucky 13 was developing we were living more and more key moments that will make this year memorable. From David Bowie album comeback to Miley Cyrus singing with a lipsyncing giant kitten or Beyonce's surprise date album, the year was full of surprises, some were a lot better than others but what an exciting year for music!. 2013 was a great year for woman, even if Robin Thicke tried to defend the domestication of them -all blurred lines- , girls took the lead in the charts specially Miley Cyrus who came as a Wrecking Ball to make us forget about Hannah Montana and scored the two most watched videos of the year. Everything went Pop! the bands, solo artists and even goats went for a pop direction to be a hit and be more radio friendly, probably influenced by Lady Gaga and her so awaited album Artpop ,which weirdly, lacks of this, but if you weren't into that there was an alternative: Folk or Electronic, which also got massive attention this year and if you were a fan of Mumford & Sons folk/rock style and dance beats why not mix it and listen to Avicci or Ellie Goulding ,even Britney has a slip to that. 2013 had variety, that's for sure, but almost everyone aimed for the same:to be on everyone's lips some made it, some fail.

As for the news for 2013: Meteor and opinions on homosexuality crashing in Russia while they keep Pussy Riot bounded luckily many artists showed they support to the band and the human rights, sadly the new Pope and his 'open mind' couldn't help, in other news Prince William passed from changing THE royal baby nappies to perform Livin' On A Prayer with Bon Jovi And Taylor Swift and suggesting that we could see a Royal Twerk soon,The Hives apologized for singing a song about 'stuff blowing up” in Boston, and U2 honoring Nelson Mandela by releasing a song just a few days before he passed away; Events and music were once again hand in hand through 2013, can almost relate any event in the year to a song, but there wasn't an official song for Andy Murray winning Wimbledon or for NSA hacking phones and USA Government Shutdown, or probably Arctic Monkey's 'Do I Wanna Know?' is?. Probably we will never know what a fox says but now there's a song for that and also one that reminds us we'll never be royals (royals) what we do know is Katy Perry's roar sounds like and it was a powerful hit. Psy demonstrated he's not a one hit wonder and we tried to learn the moves but probably ended up more like a 'dancing' in Harlem Shake video,but most important we listened to 'The Best Song Ever',it was impossible not to. In the end 2013 wasn't about bad luck, at all, because we got lucky with Daft Punk's funky comeback,we hear the coming of Yeezus and album names were like AM,BE,MBV,MGMT & 180, easy to remember or lack of creativity? the thing is that '13  all about pop culture.

But aside Pop , the music was also affected by a trend that keeps growing the 90's vibe and new artists like Icona Pop showed that the Eurodance is stronger again and probably will strike hard again. So my lists of the best and worst of the year will be focused on who did a congruent and bold move to survive in a year that expectations were high and many were pursuing the same goal.

 Albums Of The Year 

13.Crimes Of Passion by Crocodiles 

12.The Electric Lady by Janelle Monae

11.This is... by Icona Pop /The Terror by The Flaming Lips

10.The Bones of What You Believe by CHVRCHES

9. Forever by Holograms / 180 Palma Violets 

8.The Weight of Your Love by Editors

7.NEW by Paul McCartney 

6.Mosquito by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

5.Every Weekend by Hadouken!

4.Modern Vampires of the City by Vampire Weekend

3.The Next Day by David Bowie

2.Overgrown by James Blake 

1.Right Thoughts Right Words Right Action by Franz Ferdinand 

 Singles Of The Year 

13.2013 by Primal Scream /Mirrors by Justin Timberlake

12.Black Skinhead by Kanye West 

11. Do I Wanna Know? by Arctic Monkeys / Do What U Want by Lady Gaga ft. R. Kelly 

10. I Sat by the Ocean by Queens Of The Stone Age

9.Right Action by Franz Ferdinand

8.Young and Beautiful by Lana Del Rey / My Number by Foals

7.Diane Young by Vampire Weekend 

6.First Time Caller by White Lies

5.Sacrilege by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

4.Roar by Katy Perry

3.Get Lucky by Daft Punk ft. Pharell /Evil Eye by Franz Ferdinand 

2. Love Illumination by Franz Ferdinand 

1.Levitate by Hadouken!

 Worst Songs 

5.Saturday by Rebecca Black / Chinese Food by Alison Gold 

4.#Twerkit by Busta Rhymes 

3.Started From The Bottom by Drake

2.Let's Get Ridiculous by Redfoo

1. Scream & Shout (REMIX ) by Will.I.Am ft. Britney Spears, Diddy, Hit-Boy, Lil Wayne, and Waka Flocka Flame

 Worst Albums 

5.MGMT by MGMT

4.In a World Like This by Backstreet Boys

3..Paramore by Paramore

2.Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die! by Panic! At The Disco

1.Avril Lavigne by Avril Lavigne

The Good The Bad and Some Other Bollocks: Year in Review 2012

When planet earth was nearly ending ,again, music industry gave all the best to make  a memorable year, and it was a great year indeed. Too many bands get back together to "save music" from what had been decadent for the past 5 years. Many awaited comebacks were made: Blur, No Doubt , Madonna, Public Image Ltd (PiL), The Rolling Stones and even The Stone Roses and The Spice Girls performed again anx yet Led Zeppelin were seen together. The year was filled mostly by experienced artists like Muse,The Hives, P!nk,The Killers, Alanis Morissette, Hot Chip,Papa Roach, Paul McCartney,Green Day, Bruce Springsteen, Robbie Williams,Linkin Park etc. some of them were letdowns but some were magnificent. Others wanted to strike back as well, with their second album, The Ting Tings, One Direction, Ke$ha,The XX, The Vaccines, Tame Impala,Mumford & Sons and Nicki Minaj did their comebacks but not for all of them was successful. With all of these well know artists bouncing around it seemed like there were no space for the new ones but Jake Bugg, Rita Ora, Jessie Ware, Enter Shikari  and Alt-J managed to hit the lists and make their name know. And what a year for 'The One Hit Wonders' (if it wasn't for all social media they would be that) they did everything to cheer up the crowds, they made the whole world dance like we were riding a horse and made us sing corny lyrics, if you didn't dance to Psy's Gangnam Style or sung 'Call Me Maybe', even as a joke, you probably were labeled as a sad ,Gotye and that Brazilian guy are also on the list and some even listed Ellie Goulding for her "Lights" single as one hit wonder probably Fun. could join them too but we all enjoy a bit of rubbish joy in our playlists.

If all music releases wasn't enough some mayor events make the world come together, Madonna opened the amazing televised performances, broke many records and stuff; then people were able to watch the Jubilee Concert which was just a taste from what was coming for the summer,some in repeat, the biggest ever event: The Olympics which was the most watched event in television history and inspired millions, and it came with 4 ceremonies that were hallucinating with a large display of almost every outstanding British musician that have ever live (maybe they just missed The Smiths), it had some lows but the highs overshadowed every misstep. Paul McCartney move craws in Mexico as well giving a free gig he also performed as usual in charity concerts alongside with the usual folks  Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi and The Who and a lot of plain acts take the world's stages too, many 'artists' were creating visually good performances and forgot  about giving a whole show but many others performed as it was the end of world. Rihanna, trying to do something new, did something called 777 which meant to hit 7 countries in 7 days, plane tour ended well and she told she would do it again but press said it was a turbulent event. Other talked events were a man shattering sound barrier doing the highest skydive in history; and a band trying to break the barriers of the minded ,Pussy Riot put the spot light on stupid politics (which were a lot this year) and once again music was part of a movement against injustice. 

2012 was the year of cheer up and fun, we ROLF about apocalypse and music,as always go hand in hand. So for a great year, with plenty to hear & recommend, avoid and enjoy here's The Good,The Bad and some other bollocks:

TOP 12 BEST ALBUMS  

TOP 15 BEST SONGS 

Worst Albums and Songs

And as for Artists to Watch: Nina Nessbit that started the year with an amazing EP, Appple Tree, but the secong half she messed a bit and band Best Friends which are a surfing version of The Who and very fun and reliable.