Friends' Favorite Albums of the Year

 

T'is the season of lists; Christmas wish lists, Naughty and Nice lists, shopping lists, to-do lists and of course best of lists!

 

Being that a bunch of my friends work in the music biz in one way, shape or form I decided I'd reached out to them for my Best of, Friends' list!

 

Here's what some of them picked as their #1 album of 2013.

My friend and fellow cupcake enthusiast, Lindsay works in sales at Pandora: the internet radio service that magically plays musical based on the user's artist selection.

This lady knows hands on the plethora of bands, albums, and musical genres available for listening pleasures! Here's what she said about her favorite album of the year.

Lindsay:
I think my #1 favorite Album is The National's "Trouble Will Find Me".
Graceless and Pink Rabbits are my favorite songs off the album.
Overall I am a sucker for The National, their lyrics and Matt Berninger's rich vocals. The drumming on the album was fantastic and I love the dark and subtle sense of humor that The National bring to this album and their live performances.

The legend, Lucas Taranto took a study break after touring to contribute to Sweet Sound Bites!
Here's what the Bassist from Gotye loved listening to this year.

So, my no. 1 album is... Gossling - Harvest of Gold. I love it. Really smart and simple electro pop. She's a great singer too!

I thought of another great release! The artist is called Chela. She's great. Check out her singles Romanticize and zero. Awesome stuff. Also, the Tame Impala record is amazing too! Enjoy! 
  

    

You can catch my ex-coworker Bret at the Drink Verbena booth at Berkeley's Greek Theater because this year he started his  own specialty cocktail company! There's more info below  about this entrepreneur and what tunes got his creative juices flowing as he worked hard to get his business up and going.



Washed Out @ First City Festival
Photo by: Marc Fong

Bret :
Hey there. My favorite album for 2013 is Washed Out , album Paracosm. Favorite track is "All I Know". Lately, I've been so busy I use music as medication and this album just slows my heartbeat down and allows me to mellow. It's opium for your soul so choose a nice piece of furniture to melt into it...And it pairs well with my beverages. 
 I just started a wine/spirits company and we produce and bottle Seasonal Infusions and batch cocktails made with fresh local produce, grape brandy and quality botanicals.  So if you want to support local farmers and a small local business making amazing drinks, you can track us down at www.drinkverbena.com




Another one of my multitalented Gotye mates, Tim Shiel is the brains behind the soundtrack to this years critically acclaimed iPhone game, Duet. This is what Tim picked as this year's #1 album.

Tim Shiel:

Hard to pick just one album but if I had to it'd probably be Jon Hopkins' "Immunity." Really gritty but also very beautiful album of deep, hypnotic electronic music, rich with texture and fine details, and lots of moments where I just can't tell how the hell he got the sounds he got. Its head music but it also hits me in the guts too.

I've also really enjoyed Son Lux's "Lanterns" album, that'd be the other one I've really obsessed over this year.

I've been getting back into my own music projects the last few months which has been great!

I can't disclose where my cousin's fiancé works but I can tell you that he moonlights as a DJ. Here's what Peter, AKA: The Ginger Kid said is his favorite album from this year and why.

 

Peter: Miley Cyrus' Bangerz is my number one of 2013. It hits harder than anything else in the pop world this year.

 

 Hearing what friends are listening to is one of my favorite things because you get music recommendations from a reliable source. Thank you to those of you who shared your top albums with Sweet Sound Bites!

What are your friends' favorites?

 

 

 

 Hope you and yours had a very Happy Holiday!