Just 2 categories: best songs and best albums. As always, the quality of music is judged by the super official standards explained here. Drum roll…

Best Songs of 2013

#1. Kishi Bashi - Philosophize In It! Chemicalize With It!

Easy choice - it was my most played song of the year by far. I’ve never heard such a contagious happiness in music. And supposedly this is just an early version of the song, which will be on his new album next year, so maybe this will end up as my favorite new song for 2 years in a row?

#2. Tera Melos - Weird Circles

Tera Melos definitely made the best music videos this year (why do I laugh so hard at the magically-appearing pinata?). This also made my “best albums” list so I’ll just say more there.

#3. Sylvan Esso - Hey Mami

Her layered vocals provide so much more than just a melody and harmony. There’s this hypnotic movement to it that I feel like I could listen to on repeat forever. And although just the vocals make a great song on their own, the instrumental additions in the second half find the perfect spaces to fill.

#4. CavityFang - Average Shopper

Are you familiar with koans? They are questions used in Zen Buddhism, such as “what is the sound of one hand clapping?”, that are meant to confuse and unhinge you from reason, with the goal of leading to enlightenment. At around 3:00 in this song, when the three (yes, three) drummers start creating chaos, I feel like I finally understand how koans are supposed to work.

#5. Kelli Schaefer - Calm Down

Her melodic choices in this song consistently catch me off-guard, like a book or movie that is full of plot twists. And “you better pull it together” is probably my favorite vocal moment of any song this year.

Best Albums of 2013

#1. Norwegian Arms - Wolf Like a Stray Dog

This album made it hard to keep doing this blog for a while, because there was a good chunk of time where I wasn’t interested in listening to anything else. All the elements of this music just fit together perfectly, and it’s not like anything I’ve ever heard. I really like how it often sounds like he’s about to burst out laughing while he sings. There’s also something really refreshing about the drums in a way that I also felt with Alt-J’s album last year. I think a big part of that is the lack of cymbals (which really stands out when you mostly listen to music like my #2 pick below). And I feel like Spongebob would really like this music… hopefully people will just know what I mean because I don’t know how else to explain that.

#2. Tera Melos - X'ed Out

I was really obsessed with their album before this, to the point where I was sure the next album would feel like a letdown no matter how good it was. But they really pleasantly surprised me. It maintained a unique sound that only they can do, while also being really different from what they’ve done before. This is an ideal example of how I wish every band/musician would evolve album-to-album. I’m more excited about their future music than any other band.

#3. Buke and Gase - General Dome

Buke and Gase are a duo that play string instruments they invented while drumming with their feet. It would be so easy for that to just end up gimmicky, but even if you thought they were just playing guitars and had a separate drummer, this would still be amazing and original music. It’s so thick and gritty and rhythmically addicting with such attention-grabbing vocals.

#4. Marnie Stern - The Chronicles of Marnia

If you’re like me, this will likely sound obnoxious on the first listen. But keep listening! The obnoxiousness won’t go away, but you really develop a taste for it. This is also the best running album of the year - there’s just a fun and unique energy to her music that tricks you into thinking you’re on an adventure rather than in pain.

#5. N. Penston - Completche Ouahm

This is all one guy, but it sounds like several people jamming. And it feels quite natural and off-the-cuff, yet the complexity of how everything works together suggests these songs were crafted very carefully. It gets straight to the point of each musical idea and then moves on quickly, making it a very easy listen even if you don’t expect folk instruments in irregular time signatures with no vocals or drums to be your thing. This is probably the only album this year that I would often repeat in its entirety.

And a quick bonus section, simply because they deserve mention. Best music from last year that I had missed until this year:

#1. Goat - World Music

#2. Folo - The Secret Message