Monthly Archives: December 2013

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Song of the Day #1,999: ‘Fare Thee Well (Dink’s Song)’ – Oscar Isaac

inside_llewyn_davisBeyoncé aside, I did a pretty good job of avoiding any late-year surprises in the music world. But just last week I had one of my most sublime musical experiences of the year in a movie theater.

Recently I was asked, during a business meeting of all things, for the name of my favorite filmmaker. That’s the kind of question a guy like me needs a week and a series of spreadsheets to answer, but that wasn’t an option. I had to go with my gut, and my gut said “The Coen Brothers.”

I suspect a week and a series of spreadsheets would have arrived at the same conclusion.

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Song of the Day #1,998: ‘XO’ – Beyoncé

beyonce_visual_albumLike everybody who writes about music for fun or profit, I was thrown for a loop by Beyoncé’s surprise self-titled Dec. 13 release. All those year-end wrap-ups were suddenly and hopelessly out-of-date.

This release was the biggest popular music story of the year, both for what it means for the industry and because of its perfect, top secret execution by one of the most scrutinized women in the world.

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Song of the Day #1,997: ‘The Climb’ – No Doubt

no_doubtI have a vivid memory of listening to No Doubt’s breakout album, Tragic Kingdom, during my hour-plus commute to one of my first jobs out of college.

I listened to it quite a bit back then. I don’t think I’ve listened to it in its entirety since.

It’s wild to realize that was nearly 19 years ago. More and more often I run into little reminders of exactly how much time has passed since I became an adult.

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Song of the Day #1,996: ‘I Am the Walrus (from Love)’ – The Beatles

41_birthdayToday is my wife’s birthday. Only every seven years or so (not sure how Leap Years affect this) will both her birthday and mine fall on a weekend, so this might be my only opportunity to play the ‘Random Weekend (Birthday Edition)’ game for both of us in the same year.

So let’s spin the wheel and see what Alexandra’s 41st year has in store.

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Song of the Day #1,995: ‘Hannah Hunt’ – Vampire Weekend

vampire_weekend_stepBest Songs of 2013 – #1

This is the sixth year-end countdown I’ve done since I started writing Song of the Day posts. The very first was in 2008 and Vampire Weekend reached the #1 spot with the track ‘M79’ off of their debut album.

Five years and two albums later, they’re back on top.

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