Looking back at 2013

It’s been another good year for music and this blog! Let’s take a moment for a quick recap, and compare with what was promised a year ago…

January

Once we’d finally finished messing around with the extended Christmas break, we were back! Loads of reviews, free mp3s, and more!

February

As promised we worked our way gently towards the BRIT Awards 2013 with a journey through a pile of older ceremonies!

March

The Playlist for stowaways launched, and has kept over one person entertained with intermittent mixtapes.

April

OMD came back. Again. With an album that was a little bit better than their previous comeback History of Modern.

May

We covered Kraftwerk‘s 3D concert in Singapore!

June

We celebrated the 25th anniversary of Depeche Mode‘s 101 performance in Pasadena by reviewing the album!

July

Pet Shop Boys reappeared with the iridescent Electric, pretty much undeniably their best album since 1993’s Very.

August

No idea whether One Direction turned out to be any good or not… They probably twerked a bit or something.

September

Goldfrapp turned up again, more pastoral than ever, with the totally delightful Tales of Us.

October

We celebrated the Q Awards and the Barclaycard Mercury Prize 2013.

November

Bonkers Frenchman Sébastien Tellier reappeared with his latest album.

December

And that just about wraps it up for 2013! Have fun tonight!

Top Tracks of 2013 – Goldfrapp

We’ve nearly made it to 2014, and these are some of the best tracks of 2013:

• 10. Karl Bartos – Without Trace of Emotion
• 9. Tomorrow’s World – You Taste Sweeter
• 8. Vanessa Paradis – Love Song
• 7. Maps – AMA

At number six is the opening track from Goldfrapp‘s excellent new album Tales of Us. Sorry about the bootleg recording, but at the time of writing there isn’t a proper video yet – this is Jo:

Top Tracks of 2013 – Maps

I don’t really know a lot about Maps (or perhaps MAPS?) but this track A.M.A. is excellent, and I particularly liked the Susanne Sundfør remix. Number seven on our countdown of 2013:

Top Tracks of 2013 – Vanessa Paradis

Hmm… what do we know about Vanessa Paradis? Not a lot, actually. After Joe le Taxi, I think most of us had just lumped her under the general category of French pop.

Her latest album Love Songs kicked off with the brilliant Love Song:

Top Tracks of 2013 – Tomorrow’s World

Tomorrow’s World was a side project this year from some or all of Air (let’s be honest, is it really worth doing any research into this?) They put out a pretty good eponymous album this year, and the number nine track on our countdown of 2013 is You Taste Sweeter. Unfortunately it isn’t on the interwebs, so this is So Long My Love instead:

 

Top Tracks of 2013 – Karl Bartos

Either side of New Year’s Day, we’re going to count down the top ten singles of 2013. Straight in at number ten is one of the tracks from Karl Bartos‘s comeback album Off the Record, and my favourite track from that album, Without Trace of Emotion.

Christmas for stowaways

It’s CHRIIIIIISTMAS!

Merry Christmas. Or “Happy Holidays” if you think that somehow wishing non-Christians a merry Christmas is supposed to be offensive.

I won’t share anything completely new here, but why not take a spin through the Christmas countdown from last year?

• 10. John Shuttleworth – The Christmas Orphan
• 9. Camouflage – Winter
• 8. Slade – Merry Xmas Everybody
• 7. Wham! – Last Christmas
• 6. Band Aid – Do They Know It’s Christmas?
• 5. Dusted (feat. Dido) – Winter
• 4. Röyksopp – Le Cantique de Noël
• 3. Erasure – God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
• 2. Pet Shop Boys – It Doesn’t Often Snow at Christmas
• 1. Saint Etienne – I Was Born on Christmas Day

You might also enjoy Erasure‘s Gaudete, which I shared a couple of weeks ago, or the review of their Crackers International EP from last week. Or Saint Etienne‘s lovely Through the Winter from a few days ago, or even Proper Chrimbo, which we revisited a day or two ago.

Greatest Hits – Volume 3

Here’s a quick test of whether you’ve been paying attention. Did you catch Volume 1 and Volume 2? If not, here are a few posts you might have missed over the last few months:

1. Depeche Mode – Remixes 2: 81-11
2. Apparat – The Devil’s Walk
3. Utah Saints – Utah Saints
4. Pet Shop Boys – Winner
5. I Monster – Remixed
6. The Presets – Apocalypso
7. Kraftwerk – Tour de France
8. Yello – Flag
9. VCMG – Ssss
10. Various Artists – Electrospective

Preview – Orbital

This will definitely put a smile on your face. The brilliant Orbital are back, with a Christmassy version of their classic track Chime, inevitably called Christmas Chime, and with an excellent video to go with it. Out now.

Chart for stowaways – 2 November 2013

Here are the top 10 singles this week:

1. Depeche Mode – Should Be Higher
2. Pet Shop Boys feat. Example – Thursday
3. Goldfrapp – Annabel
4. Efterklang – Doppelgänger
5. Pet Shop Boys – Love is a Bourgeois Construct
6. Moby – The Perfect Life
7. Pet Shop Boys – The Last to Die
8. Pet Shop Boys – Vocal
9. Efterklang – Monopolist
10. Pet Shop Boys – Axis

Pet Shop Boys are everywhere, including a re-entry for Electric, back into the top ten albums.