Next up in our My Top Fives series is entertainment.ie journalist (and former Whipping Boy guitarist) Paul Page. What has he selected as his favourite music of the year? Well, let's find out shall we?

Previously: Dan Hegarty | Steven Gannon | Edda Kjarval | Louise Bruton | Leanne Harte | John Barker | Dave Hanratty | Andrew Lambert


TOP FIVE SONGS OF 2013 

 

1. The Waves Have Come – Chelsea Wolfe

From her excellent Pain is Beauty album, this was Wolfe at her most epic, dramatic and elegiac– eight minutes of tear stained, string laden melodrama. Fantastic. 

 

2. For Flotsam – Los Campesinos!

Proving that there is still a place for music that wears its heart proudly on its sleeve, For Flotsam was a pop juggernaut from these Welsh indie kingpins. Sincere and heartfelt. 

 

3. Little Colored Balloons – John Murry

From the harrowing and confessional The Graceless Age, this was Murry at his most raw and uncompromising, a grim tale of the ravages of drug abuse. A song that bleeds raw emotion from the speakers. 

 

4. Tanager Peak – Halves

Halves continue to carve their own unique path as one of Ireland’s most innovative bands – this beauty featured the vocal talents of Gemma Hayes and is one of the best cuts on their excellent Boa Howl album.

 

5. R U Mine? – Arctic Monkeys

A decidedly underwhelming year for guitar rock, it was left to Sheffield’s finest to deliver the goods yet again – AM may not have hit the heights of their first two albums, but it served up a handful of stomping tunes – R U Mine? was up there with the best of them.

TOP FIVE ALBUMS OF 2013 

 

1. Nepenthe – Julianna Barwick

Music doesn’t come any more beautiful than this – Nepenthe was a stunning follow up to Barwick’s 2011 release The Magic Place, combining ethereal, choral vocal loops with the lush arrangements of producer Alex Somers of Riceboy Sleeps. Haunting, evocative and utterly gorgeous. 

 

2. Slow Focus – Fuck Buttons

Bristol duo Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power took no prisoners with this epic, sci-fi influenced follow up to the critically acclaimed Tarot Sport released in 2009. Dark, monstrous slabs of electronic noise made for the most thrilling album release of the year. An absolute stormer. 

 

3. Modern Vampires of the City – Vampire Weekend

One of the most hyped indie rock bands of the modern era finally delivered on the promise displayed on their first two records. Modern Vampires of the City dispensed with some of the affectations that dogged their early releases, leaving just sublime, inventive pop music at its very best and a record that provided the soundtrack to the summer. 

 

4. If You Leave – Daughter

2013 saw the release of a number of very fine debut albums, none better that this heavily touted gem from London trio Daughter. The brutal, naked honesty of these songs from Elena Tonra was utterly compelling and the band’s brand of emotive, spacious indie rock drew comparisons with the xx. Expect Daughter to go from strength to strength. 

 

5. Immunity – Jon Hopkins

Nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and it is easy to see why – Immunity is Hopkin’s fourth and best album, a masterful slice of ambient electronica. Hopkins put his considerable skills as a producer of some renown to effective use – sonic perfection.

Honourable mentions: San Fermin – San Fermin, The Bones of What you Believe –Chvrches, Personal Record – Eleanor Friedberger, The Unfolding – Chequerboard, AM –Arctic Monkeys