The contents of the top ten remain unchanged, while former two-time chart-topper Lianne La Havas moves into the top twenty with “Unstoppable.” New Warner Bros. signing PHASES scores the highest entry with debut single “I’m In Love With My Life,” along with another debut, “Cooler,” further down the list. Allen Stone is the greatest gainer, reaching #51 with “Freedom” ahead of additional debuts that include new singles from Maroon 5, Tori Kelly, and American Authors. New cuts from Adam Lambert, Rachel Platten, and Kendrick Lamar also log their first week, along with American Idol coronation songs from winner Nick Fradiani and runner-up Clark Beckham.

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Carly Rae Jepsen and Tori Kelly each move up one spot in an otherwise-unchanged top ten, led once again by Walk The Moon’s “Shut Up And Dance.” The week’s biggest movers include Alabama Shakes’s “Sound & Color,” Bleachers’s “Like A River Runs,” R5’s “Let’s Not Be Alone Tonight,” and Adam Lambert’s “Ghost Town,” each moving at least 15 places upward. Tori Kelly also lands the greatest debut on the chart with the title track of upcoming album Unbreakable Smile, ahead of debuts from Clean Bandit, Alabama Shakes, and newcomers Good Old War.

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These are one hundred songs that stayed in my heavy rotation throughout 2013. In a year that saw personal advancements including eight weeks studying abroad in France and graduation from college, these songs soundtracked my year, each song appealing to me through instrumentation, lyrics, or just its overall mood. Read on for descriptions of each track, access the whole playlist on SoundCloud to listen, and judge away.
Continue reading “Kurt’s 100 Favorite Songs of 2013”

Though there were a lot of great albums released throughout the entire year, it seemed that the biggest concentration of great albums were found in the early summer and early fall. Among releases mentioned earlier in the list, those such as Walk The Moon, Best Coast, and The Temper Trap stood out as superior summer releases, while The Script, Matchbox Twenty, and P!nk got their turns in my playlist when the leaves turned outdoors. In these next ten albums, comprising numbers 30 through 21 in my year-end list, many of the artists represented were the soundtracks to my summer semester at school and the beginning of my junior year.

Continue reading “Kurt’s Favorite Albums of 2012: #30–21”