This 10-disc, 184-song mix is a survey of some of the best and most notable music from 2013. For an even more broad overview of the year’s music across many genres, I encourage you to check out the many lists I made in collaboration with Aylin Zafar, Caitlin White, Maria Sherman, Alex Naidus, and several other writers over at BuzzFeed.

DOWNLOAD DISC 1

Ariana Grande “Honeymoon Avenue” / Miley Cyrus “We Can’t Stop” / Haim “The Wire” / Kanye West “Bound 2″ / Vampire Weekend “Don’t Lie” / King Krule “Neptune Estate” / Neko Case “Night Still Comes” / Sky Ferreira “I Blame Myself” / Laura Mvula “Make Me Lovely” / Beyoncé “Flawless” / Saint Pepsi “Better” / Disclosure featuring Ed Macfarlane “Defeated No More” / Maria Magdalena “CVMC (Cada Vez Mas Cerca)” / Phoenix “S.O.S. In Bel Air” / Laura Marling “Master Hunter” / David Bowie “The Next Day” / My Bloody Valentine “New You” / Nine Inch Nails “Find My Way”

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Justin Timberlake “Pusher Love Girl” / Foxygen “Oh Yeah” / Cults “I Can Hardly Make You Mine” / Janelle Monaé “Dance Apocalyptic” / Brown Eyed Girls “날아갈래” / Coco O. “Where the Wind Blows” / Mariah Carey featuring Miguel “Beautiful” / Eleanor Friedberger “I’ll Never Be Happy Again” / Deerhunter “Dream Captain” / Fear of Men “Ritual Confession” / One Direction “Little Black Dress” / Superchunk “FOH” / Pink featuring Nate Ruess “Just Give Me A Reason” / Killer Mike and El-P featuring Big Boi “Banana Clipper” / Earl Sweatshirt featuring Vince Staples and Casey Veggies “Hive” / Kelela “Enemy” / Rhye “Open” / Goldfrapp “Alvar” / Glass Candy “The Possessed”

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Chvrches “The Mother We Share” / GEMS “Medusa” / Lorde “Royals” / Vic Mensa “Orange Soda” / Pusha T featuring Kendrick Lamar “Nosetalgia” / Wet “Dreams” / Darkside “Metatron” / The Field “Cupid’s Head” / Major Lazer “Bubble Butt (Remix)” / Pitbull featuring Ke$ha “Timber” / Queens of the Stone Age “Smooth Sailing” / The Preatures “Is This How You Feel?” / Tricot “おちゃんせんすぅす” / Unknown Mortal Orchestra “So Good At Being In Trouble” / Action Bronson featuring Big Body Bes “72 Virgins” / Boards of Canada “Nothing Is Real” / Baths “Ironworks” / Tim Hecker “Virginal II” / Scout Niblett “Can’t Fool Me Now”

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A$AP Rocky “Long Live A$AP” / Four Tet “Parallel Jalebi” / Blood Orange “You’re Not Good Enough” / James Blake “Retrograde” / Yo La Tengo “Cornelia and Jane” / Kacey Musgrave “Merry Go Round” / Iron & Wine “Grace for Saints and Ramblers” / Eminem featuring Kendrick Lamar “Love Game” / M.I.A. “YALA” / Icona Pop “All Night” / Lady Gaga “Applause” / Basement Jaxx “Back 2 the Wild” / Duke Dumont featuring A*M*E “Need U (100%)” / Betty Who “Somebody Loves You” / Alan Braxe “Time Machine” / Britney Spears “Til It’s Gone” / Jai Paul “Str8 Outta Mumbai” / FKA Twigs “Papi Pacify” / Beck “I Won’t Be Long”

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Okkervil River “Stay Young” / Elvis Costello and the Roots “Sugar Don’t Work” / Big Sean featuring Kendrick Lamar and Jay Electronica “Control” / Sage the Gemini “Gas Pedal” / Le1f “Plush” / Jessy Lanza “5785021″ / Eric Copeland “Rokzi” / Kurt Vile “Walkin’ On A Pretty Day” / Florida Georgia Line “Get Your Shine On” / Brandy Clark “Stripes” / The National “Don’t Swallow the Cap” / Yvette “Cuts Me In Half” / Grouper “Cloud in Places” / Tove Lo “Habits” / Lone “Airglow Fires” / Dawn Richard “Frequency” / The Weeknd “Belong to the World”

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Autre Ne Veut “Play By Play” / Atoms For Peace “Default” / La Big Vic “All That Heaven Allows” / Pretty Lights “Color of My Soul” / Majical Cloudz “This Is Magic” / Juveniles “Strangers” / Mount Kimbie featuring King Krule “You Took Your Time” / Schoolboy Q featuring Kendrick Lamar “Collard Greens” / Tyler, the Creator “Jamba” / Bibio “You” / Thee Oh Sees “Toe Cutter – Thumb Buster” / of Montreal “Belle Glade Missionaries” / Marnie Stern “You Don’t Turn Down” / Sophie “Bipp” / The Knife “Full of Fire” / Doldrums “She Is the Wave”

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Sleigh Bells “Bitter Rivals” / Teen Girl Scientist Monthly “Summer Skin” / Danny Brown “Dip” / Cakes Da Killa “Break Em Off” / Drake “Hold On, We’re Going Home” / San E “이별식탁” / AlunaGeorge “Body Music” / Oneohtrix Point Never “Zebra” / Lana Del Rey vs Cedric Gervais “Summertime Sadness” / Seven Lions vs. Myon & Shane 54 featuring Tove Lo “Strangers” / Octo Octa “His Kiss” / Au Revoir Simone “Crazy” / Alpine “In the Wild” / Phosphorescent “Ride On/Right On” / Burial “Rival Dealer” / VÅR “Begin to Remember” / Yeah Yeah Yeahs “Despair”

DOWNLOAD DISC 8

Chance the Rapper “Good Ass Intro” / Knife Party “Power Glove” / Ciara featuring Nicki Minaj “I’m Out” / Migos featuring Drake “Versace” / The Juan Maclean “Feel Like Movin’” / The Julie Ruin “Cookie Road” / Grass House “The Colours in the Light May Obscure” / Charli XCX “You (Ha Ha Ha)” / Jay Z “Somewhere In America” / J. Cole “Forbidden Fruit” / The Blow “I Tell Myself Everything” / The Range “Loftmane” / Speedy Ortiz “No Below” / Kate Nash “Part Heart” / Electric Six “Show Me What Your Lights Mean” / Paul McCartney “Queenie Eye” / Unmade Beds “Go the Whole Way” / A$AP Ferg featuring A$AP Rocky “Shabba” / Robin Thicke featuring Kendrick Lamar “Give It 2 U” / Dënver “Revista de Gimnasia”

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G-Dragon “미치GO (GO)” / Arcade Fire “We Exist” / Daft Punk “Get Lucky” / The Head and the Heart “Summertime” / Fleetwood Mac “Sad Angel” / Pearl Jam “Infallible” / Waxahatchee “Brother Bryan” / Future of the Left “The Male Gaze” / DJ Khaled featuring Drake and Rick Ross “No New Friends” / Rudimental featuring Foxes “Right Here” / Classixx featuring Nancy Whang “All You’re Waiting For” / Giant Drag “90210″ / The Dismemberment Plan “No One’s Saying Nothing” / Luke Bryan “Crash My Party” / The Last Hurrah “Lonely Whistle Call” / Sebadoh “Love You Here” / Savages “I Am Here” / Jason Derulo featuring 2 Chainz “Talk Dirty” / MellowHigh “Get’n Drunk” / Sandy Lam “无言歌”

DOWNLOAD DISC 10

Tegan and Sara “Closer” / Fol Chen “A Tourist Town” / Franz Ferdinand “Right Action” / Destroyer “El Rito” / The Flaming Lips “Sun Blows Up Today” / Lee Ranaldo and the Dust “Key-Hole” / Mazzy Star “In the Kingdom” / Julia Holter “Maxim’s II” / Lightning Dust “Diamond” / Rizzle Kicks “The Reason I Live” / Toro Y Moi “Say That” / Bflecha “B33″ / Cassie featuring Jeremih “Sound of Love” / Daughn Gibson “The Sound of Law” / Anna Calvi “Love of My Life” / Cass McCombs “Big Wheel” / Chelsea Light Moving “Heavenmetal” / Candy Claws “White Seal – Shell & Spine” / Factory Floor “Here Again”

Maria Magdalena “CVMC (Cada Vez Más Cerca)”

One of the nice things about listening to songs in languages I cannot understand is that I get to enjoy it on a purely musical level. I can infer a bit from contextual clues, or seek out a translation of the lyrics, but even still the vocals just sort of wash over me, and it’s mostly just abstraction to my ears. This is a nice change of pace – I maybe spend too much time letting my experiences with music be shaped by lyrical intention, when that’s only a portion of what’s happening in most songs. “CVMC” is definitely the kind of song that doesn’t really need words to get across an emotion – it basically sounds like Kate Bush collaborating with Giorio Moroder in the early ’80s, and it’s at this perfect intersection of dreamy joy and mild melancholy.

Buy it from Amazon.

The Breeders @ Webster Hall 12/19/2013
New Year / Cannonball / Invisible Man / No Aloha / Roi / Do You Love Me Now? / Flipside / I Just Wanna Get Along / Mad Lucas / Divine Hammer / S.O.S. / Hag / Saints / Drivin’ on 9 / Roi Reprise / Glorious / Doe / Happiness Is A Warm Gun / Oh! / Hellbound / When I Was A Painter / Fortunately Gone / Iris / Opened / Only In 3′s / Lime House / Metal Man // Walking With A Killer

The Breeders “Saints” (Live in Stockholm, 1993)

I find it kinda weird to watch bands play albums in order – I get the appeal from a marketing standpoint, but it generally goes against the dynamics and pacing that work best for concerts. I do think that Last Splash has a general flow that worked well on stage, but it is very strange to watch a band play their biggest hit one song into a 28 song setlist, and for this very climactic jam song to come five songs in. I’m also not sure why they chose to play Last Splash and then Pod – wouldn’t you want to play them in chronological order, and make the audience wait a bit for the more popular record? And what about all the great Breeders song from after 1993?

But aside from that, this was a terrific show. I hadn’t ever seen The Breeders before but I have seen the reunited Pixies, so it was nice to just see Kim Deal again – she’s got such a pleasant energy on stage. She always seems like she’s having fun up there, and her relaxed, unpretentious vibe deflated anything that’s either pompous or crass about playing your first two albums in full 20+ years after their release. The show was presented as a “celebration,” and it was, albeit in a very low key “hey, cool” sort of way.

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Duke Dumont featuring A*M*E “Need U (100%)”

In some ways it is odd to think of this as being the work of teenagers, in that this song is made with a very high degree of craft, and the vocal performance seems rather adult to me. But then again, this is music for very young club people, isn’t it? And the lyrics have a charming naivete to them: She’s singing very earnestly about wanting to be loved and demanding public affection, and while that’s not a thing that necessarily fades away with age, this comes across as very sweet rather than maybe a little desperate. It wouldn’t take much to shift the phrasing to make it feel that way.

Buy it from Amazon.

Burial “Rival Dealer”

“Rival Dealer” isn’t a long song so much as it’s an album’s worth of sounds and ideas compressed into nearly 11 minutes. There’s a through line here, mainly in the form of a recurring breakbeat paired with wonderfully ugly distortions, but the track mostly just keeps moving forward, as though you’re walking through a physical space. You pick up on moments of romance and peace, but for the most part it all seems ugly, sordid, and violent. I like to imagine that whenever the beat picks up, that’s when you’re running because you just want to get to the other side of it faster.

Buy it from Amazon.

Saint Pepsi “Better”

When I listen to Saint Pepsi I just wonder if this guy got sick of waiting around for another Avalanches record and just decided to make an Avalanches album himself. It’s the same aesthetic basically, but he pushes it a little further into disco and ’80s kitsch, and it’s just so warm and joyful. “Better” is especially great – it reminds me a little of August Darnell stuff from the ’70s, it has that really luxurious and hedonistic vibe to it. But not hedonistic in the sleazy way, you know? It’s just like someone’s vision of the perfect party.

Get the album for free from Keats Collective.

Stop the A15 “Paradox”

I have a real weakness for songs like this, which sound a bit like a few pop songs played at once. It mostly lines up, but I actually really enjoy the parts where it sounds like this whole thing could collapse under the weight of doing too much simultaneously. It all feels just a bit off and wrong, especially when the keyboards or beats seem to jump out ahead of the vocals. It’s a little like My Bloody Valentine that way – it’s like you’re hearing the song inside-out, or from a reversed perspective.

Visit the Stop the A15 site.

Wet “Dreams”

I love how this song, even before you get to the lyrics, just radiates this vibe of kindness and generosity. I feel like it’s not that hard for music to convey love or lust, but genuine kindness is a bit more tricky. “Dreams” is basically someone trying to be supportive of someone they care about, and pushing them to go out and do what they most want to do, but recognizing that the world is harsh and difficult, especially to those with pure feelings and strong hopes. That seems a little trite in print, but it really doesn’t in this song — Wet add shades of feeling that keep it from sounding like something you just say to someone to make them feel better.

Buy it from Bandcamp.

Okkervil River “Stay Young”

I’ve wondered in the past what a purely American version of Jarvis Cocker would be like, and I think this song may actually be it. The resemblance is there on a musical level – there’s a similar spin on ’80s rock aesthetics, and the melody is very much something Cocker would sing. (In fact, at some points it reminds me specifically of “The Night Minnie Timperly Died.”) But beyond that, I think Will Sheff and Cocker are kindred spirits in the way they write lyrics – they use very vivid and specific language but their reference points are fairly low brow, and there’s a strong identification with what could be considered unremarkable losers who don’t even have the quiet dignity of a romanticized working class. There’s a different kind of romance here, and it’s more to do with standing up and fighting to give your life meaning. Sheff sings this song like a call to arms, and the stakes are basically – this all means something, or it doesn’t. And the thought of all the pain and indignity being for nothing is too much to handle.

Buy it from Amazon.

One Direction “Little Black Dress”

Maybe you didn’t know this, but One Direction’s new album has a lot of power pop on it. As in, this particular song sounds like it could be a song that Alex Chilton forgot to record with Big Star, and that the general dynamics of the album is far more like a Sloan record than anything you’ve ever associated with a boy band. This is awesome in that it sort of automatically makes One Direction the most popular rock band of 2013, and that it’s nice to see someone actually make rock music relevant to this generation of teenagers. It’s not just the gesture of this that is cool – “Little Black Dress” and a few other tracks on Midnight Memories are genuinely fantastic rock tunes, and deliver the kind of unashamed bubblegum hooks and riffs that it seems like most actual rock bands these days shy away from. I’d be pretty happy to hear this sort of thing come back in style, and not just with boy bands.

Buy it from Amazon.