My Five Favorite Albums of 2013

As the year comes to an end, I always love reflecting on all my favorite things:) Here are my five favorite albums of 2013! What are yours?!

1) Native - One Republic

2) Red - Taylor Swift

3) Magnetic - Goo Goo Dolls

4) Golden - Lady Antebellum

5) Moon Landing - James Blunt

I Can't Stop Listening to "I'll Hold My Breath"

Is anyone else addicted to this Ellie Goulding song? I just can't stop listening to it. So catchy and I love the lyrics.

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A Fine Frenzy's Third Album, PINES, Worth Checking Out!

This album is more than just a collection of songs but a story, a fable actually about a pining tree. It was released along with an animated short film and a companion book illustrated by Jen Lobo.

Alison Sudol (A Fine Frenzy) described PINES as a place you could go to feel.

"Sometimes I feel like the world has been strapped onto the back of a giant rocket and it's hurtling us into the unknown at a pace we're not entirely equipped to deal with. All kinds of things are falling off, good and bad. It's a crazy, exciting, terrifying time- so much is changing, and fast. Yet some of the most wonderful things in the world are slow- rivers and seasons and turning leaves and growing older with the ones you love. I wanted to create an environment where a person could retreat to, somewhere vivid and real where their minds and hearts could wander freely. I wanted it to be a place you could go to feel, like a quiet spot in a forest or the sea on a cloudy day."

Also, check out the video below to learn more about inspiration behind the short film "A Story of Pines"!

As a big A Fine Frenzy fan ("Ashes and Wine" and "Almost Lover" are two of my favorite songs!), I must admit I think I like the first two albums better. However, I did enjoy it and certainly appreciate it's uniqueness. It was not what I expected but I was not disappointed. Check it out and I'd be interested in knowing what you think!

6 Brilliant Songs with Fire/Burning Analogies

1) Ashes and Wine-A Fine Frenzy

"Is there a chance?
A fragment of light at the end of the tunnel?
A reason to fight?
Is there a chance you may change your mind?
Or are we ashes and wine?"

2) A Lifetime Burning-One Less Reason

"‘Cause I don’t believe I failed you
Are your lies still coming true?
Do you still think the better days are gone?
‘Cause after all the things we’ve been through
Years so hard to lose
Give me a life of half love, half hope, half true
Or a lifetime burning with you"

3) Come Wake Me Up-Rascal Flatts

"Tonight your memory burns like a fire
With every one it grows higher and higher
And I can't get over it, I just can't put out this love
I just sit in these flames and pray that you'll come back
Close my eyes tightly, hold on and hope that I'm dreaming
 Come wake me up"

4) Stars-Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

"I lit a fire with the love you left behind
And it burned wild and crept up the mountainside
I followed your ashes into outer space
I can’t look out the window, I can’t look at this place.
I can’t look at the stars
They make me wonder where you are
Stars, up on heaven’s boulevard
And if I know you at all, I know you’ve gone too far
So I, I can’t look at the stars."

5) Slow Dancing in a Burning Room-John Mayer

"We're going down
And you can see it too
We're going down
And you know that we're doomed
My dear, we're slow dancing in a burning room"

6) Set Fire to the Rain-Adele

"But there's a side to you that I never knew, never knew
All the things you'd say, they were never true, never true
And the games you play, you would always win, always win
But I set fire to the rain
Watched it pour as I touched your face
Let it burn while I cry
'Cause I heard it screaming out your name, your name"