2013 was a special year for me – not only that I met Pet Shop Boys in person, but also that most of my favourite bands released studio albums. Pet Shop Boys released an album merely a year after “Elysium”, and it was a far better one too. Basildon folks of Depeche Mode, Alison Moyet, and Erasure also released their new albums in 2013. I was rather pessimistic about Erasure’s Christmas album at first, but “Gaudete” turned out as an awesome remake of the traditional Christmas carol.

I didn’t know what happened in Scotland in this past year, but the Scottish bands had been on the rise. Travis was back with a studio album after their hiatus for 5 years, Camera Obscura was back with a new album, and the latest import from Scotland, CHVRCHES, went huge with their debut album “The Bones of What You Believe”.

Another new act that impressed me deeply in 2013 was Rhye, a San Francisco-based duo of Danish instrumentalist Robin Hannibal and Canadian singer Mike Milosh (a male singer whose vocal reminded me of Sade).

Anyway, here’s a list of my top 13 tracks of 2013. 🙂

1. Pet Shop Boys (feat. Example) – Thursday

2. Travis – Where You Stand

3. The Duckworth Lewis Method – It’s Just Not Cricket

4. Depeche Mode – Heaven

5. Alison Moyet – Changeling

6. Au Revoir Simone – Somebody Who

7. Rhye – The Fall

8. Erasure – Gaudete

9. CHVRCHES – The Mother We Share

10. Camera Obscura – Break It to You Gently

11. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – Dresden

12. Caro Emerald – Liquid Lunch

13. Moby (feat. Wayne Coyne) – The Perfect Life

watch the youtube playlist here.
mixtape tomorrow!