A Year in Review: Top 10s of 2013

Top Albums, Films, Days of 2013 (top 3 are in order, the rest are not)

TOP ALBUMS

1. Chris Thile “Bach: Sonatas and Partitas, Vol. 1”
2. Volcano Choir “Repave”
3. James Blake “Overgrown”
4. Matt Scott “Poets & Saints”
5. The Lone Bellow “The Lone Bellow”
6. Lost in the Trees “A Church That Fits All Our Needs”
7. Daft Punk “Random Access Memories”
8. The Bad Plus “Made Possible”
9. Stile Antico “Phoenix Rising”
10. Phosphorescent “Muchacho”

TOP FILMS

1. 12 Years a Slave, dir. Steve McQueen – brutal. beautiful. must see.
2. Stories We Tell, dir. Sarah Polley – about memory, story, and family; go see this immediately
3. Gravity, dir. Alfonso Cuarón – captures what it means to be human
4. Much Ado About Nothing, dir. Joss Whedon – entertaining rendition of Shakespeare filmed in the directors home
5. Before Midnight, dir. Richard Linklater – the third of the “Midnight” trilogy, watched all three in one sitting with great friends who love the films
6. The Way Way Back, dir. Nat Faxon & Jim Rash – first time seeing Steve Carrell as an antagonist, heartwarming story
7. Mud, dir. Jeff Nichols – less whimsical than expected but the two boy actors nailed it
8. The Place Beyond the Pines, dir. Derek Cianfrance – interesting in that there was no hero
9. Frances Ha, dir. Noah Baumbach – captures our generations trouble with growing up
10. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, dir. Frances Lawrence – guilty pleasure, much closer to book than first movie

TOP DAYS

1. Performing my brother and sister-in-law’s wedding ceremony on Aug 30, 2013
2. Driving with The Suz all over the Isle of Skye in Scotland in our VW Golf Diesel on of the only sunny days of our trip and frolicking in various haunts like the Fairy Pools, Fairy Glen (too magical to capture with an iPhone camera) and Quiraing.
3. Exploring the grounds and monastery of Île Saint-Honorat, a tiny island a short ferry ride away from Cannes in the French Riviera.
4. Touring the Balvenie Distillery in Dufftown, Scotland. We tried a 40+ year old whisky – all I can say is that it tasted something like church.
5. Hanging with my Dad and Carrie in San Diego: sailing in a beautiful boat in San Diego Bay and capping the day off with a bon fire on the beach.
6. Wine tasting with The Suz in Sonoma Valley, California.
7. Floating on lake in Virginia with a group of my closest friends.
8. Seeing Garrison Keillor in A Prairie Home Companion at Tanglewood in Lenox, MA.
9. This one is cheating: Seeing Chris Thile in concert twice: at Tanglewood performing the Goat Rodeo Sessions with YoYo Ma and crew and then again at Princeton.
10. Building a farm table for our dining room with my father-in-law and two brother-in-laws.

2013 was a great year and will be a tough one to beat. I would love to hear your thoughts on albums or films. Let me know if I missed any winners. I know I missed a bunch of films – we usually watch all the leftovers after the Oscars – TGFR (Thank God for Redbox).

Cheers!