We live in a day and age where the music world has never been more saturated. With access to modern advances, anyone can follow their dream and create something new and fresh. As every year passes and genres evolve, despite the saturation, the quality of music continues to thrive. Just when I think that a year of music can’t be topped, an innovative producer or artist opens a door that leads to a new world. That’s just what I love about music. It’s one of the most variable industries out there, and that’s precisely why I’m so confident in my decision to base my future around it. We’ve got to keep things interesting, right? With that, we give you or top picks of 2013. Check after the jump!

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CoachellAltDelight brings attention to special artists that will be featured in Indio come April.
Some we love. Some we just discovered. All essential.
Click here for more from this series.
70/77 Days

The Casablancas croon of lead singer Matt Hitt and the 80’s indie-punk jangle of New York quartet Drowners will set you up proper for your Saturday. Their music is all about the rebellious teenage years of running away, making mistakes, and pushing the limits. Who are we kidding; we’re still doing that. Here’s to music about living, we guess.

Their self-titled LP was just released and its a doozy. Listen up and then come dance with us in April.

12th / 19th

Luv, Hold Me Down
[audio:https://controlaltdelight.com/Music/drowners/03%20-%20Luv%2c%20Hold%20Me%20Down.mp3]

Shell Across the Tongue
[audio:https://controlaltdelight.com/Music/drowners/12%20-%20Shell%20Across%20the%20Tongue.mp3]

A Button on Your Blouse
[audio:https://controlaltdelight.com/Music/drowners/09%20-%20A%20Button%20on%20Your%20Blouse.mp3]

Apolline d’Ash

Electronica gets spaced out thanks to Apolline d’Ash (Fabien Dalzin and Adrien Larouzée). Much like the psychic rhythms of HVOB or Recondite, this French duo’s fragile galactic sounds have guided us across the universe of our minds and back.

DARKSIDE | Soundcloud

DARKSIDE – Heart
[audio: https://controlaltdelight.com/best%20of%202013/03%20Heart.mp3]

10 minutes of ambient intro.

This massive mirror hung overhead; it was essentially a portal to another dimension.

Awe-inspiring lights flooded the stage. Sometimes calm, blue, peaceful. Other times bright, red, intense. At one point the entire platform was drowning in a sea of flames. Thankfully our protagonists, unscathed.

Then there were sounds, lots of them…

The amount of instruments & electronics was stupefying.

Dave Herrington jammed on the guitar, bass, organ, piano, and clarinet. All while Nicolas Jaar wrestled with a Wurlitzer and another goofy contraption called the Mellotron. I dunno what they do, but they sounded really cool.

The set progression was flawless, the crowd was into it, and the place was packed. Everyone I interacted with was super genuine & nice. Props to The Do LaB for throwing a quality show.

Gorgeous Bully

Manchester’s Gorgeous Bully (aka Thomas Crang & gang) throws down with the fuzzy guitar riffs. This music is an absolutely beautiful mess of self-loathing garage pop-grunge rock we wouldn’t mind getting pushed around to.

Their EP Nobody Hates You As Much As You Hate Yourself is out February 17th!

Claptone | Karma Kid. | The M Machine | Wilks

Claptone

Courtesy of Mixmag, Claptone’s Control is now a free download. We remember him dropping this at HARD Day of the Dead. It felt so good.

Karma Kid

Karma Kid’s newest release is a perfect blend of house and darkroom dance for heating things up.

The M Machine

This trio always surprises us with their high energy electro. Newest track Superflat doesn’t hold back. Catch them live at the Avalon on February 14 or at The Observatory on the 15th!

Wilks

LA G-House frontrunner Wilks’ newest track, G-Thang, kicks up the nostalgia. We’re leaning so heavy.

Yunizon Records

Yunizon Records has kept our attention with their finely crafted mixtapes that spotlight artists we’ve been all about lately (more on them soon). The label’s most recent project “Three Little Dreams” just came to a close; it took us for quite a ride. Feel free to join in on the experience.

Midnight Lovers

We begin with immediate funkification. Strut, fall in love, and vibe out to this feel good dance-floor disco set.

Black Label

Dream 2: A deep kick to the face. Rule some moods with these sultry grooves.

Milky Waves

The third and final act. Melt into your surroundings and float away into the aether with this chilled out mix.