Since the Grammy’s were last night I was feeling musical and honestly, there’s not a better way to reflect on a year of your life than listening to your music playlists. One of the beauties of using the streaming music client Spotify is the ability to do just that, and I want to share with you a few of my favorite songs I listened to (a LOT) in 2013. Now, they aren’t ALL from 2013, mind you, (there are a few songs from the 60’s and 70’s on here, just because I have rediscovered them and listened to them 2 million times this year). The list below includes songs I really liked this year, for some inexplicable reason or another.

Shall we begin?  In no particular order… (links go to Youtube)

• WOODKID – “RUN BOY RUN” (Not my usual, but if I was a runner or athlete this would be on my playlist.)
• MUSE – “MADNESS” (I’ll admit, it’s a guilty pleasure and catchy as heck.)
• TOM ODELL – “CAN’T PRETEND” (Give it to 2 minutes in. Trust me.)
• THE FOX – “YLVIS” (Oh, shut up. You know you liked it too when it came out and watched that Youtube video 100 times. At least I will admit it.)
• BASTILLE – “OBLIVION” (This guy’s voice = swoon)
• PEARL JAM – “SIRENS” (A little poppish for Eddie Vedder, but I like the lyrics)
• THE BETA BAND – “SQUARES” (Pretty trippy LSD version, but it’s just stupid catchy.)
• ALT-J – “TESSELLATE” (No idea what he’s talking about, but it sounds great.)
• ELTON JOHN – “LEVON” (We might have gone to an Elton John concert this year and this might have been his last song of the night, and I might have gotten really excited dancing with the old hippies with cigarette lighters, foul mouths, and hip replacements… and I might just secretly love it.)
• THE CINEMATIC ORCHESTRA – “TO BUILD A HOME” (Amazing. Just listen to it. Really.)
• JASON COLLETT – “RAVE ON SAD SONGS” (Totally underrated song, this guy has a great voice.)
• IMAGINE DRAGONS – “RADIOACTIVE” (I definitely predicted this #1 after hearing it on the show “Hard Knocks” last year. I mean, c’mon, who doesn’t love it?)
• JAMES VINCENT MCMORROW – “HIGHER LOVE” (Best cover I’ve heard in a while, although the dude sounds castrated.)
• CAT POWER – “3, 6, 9” (Oh, why does this song have to be so catchy? She’s an odd one, but a Georgian, and I love her voice.)
• BADFINGER – “BABY BLUE” (Thank you Walter White, for reminding me how much I love this band and how FANTASTIC this song really is.)
• NADA SURF – “WHEN I WAS YOUNG” (Nice tune, I like the lyrics, and just hang on until about 2:00 in…)
• COLDPLAY – “EVERYTHING’S NOT LOST” (Somehow I missed the “hidden” track on this song years ago, I heard it on XM and revived it.)
• ALICE IN CHAINS – “BLACK GIVES WAY TO BLUE” (Dear Alice in Chains, thank you for coming back and recording this song and making it so fun to play on the guitar.)
• BENJAMIN FRANCIS LEFTWICH – “PICTURES” (This is the perfect song to just relax and listen to… no idea what he’s talking about, and the video is very odd.)
• AWOLNATION – “SAIL” (First time I heard this song, I saw a man free-fall from outer space, OK? Forgive me, but it’s a bit inspiring.)
• LORDE – “ROYALS”  (Yeah, yeah… Another guilty pleasure)
• RODRIGUEZ – “CAUSE” (We watched a documentary about this guy. Brilliant songwriter as popular as the Beatles in South Africa but somehow was completely overlooked and living in the slums of Detroit. Amazing story.)
• LED ZEPPELIN – “GALLOWS POLE” (Thank you Spotify for now streaming the entire Led Zeppelin discography so I can be reminded of all their less popular songs, although I love pretty much everything they’ve done.)

BONUS (JUST FOR FUN):  THRIFT SHOP (8-BIT NINTENDO VERSION)  (Oh yes, yes I did.)