I still can't bring myself to do a "Best of" list

I really can't. It would be like saying "Bananas are the best of all fruits"- utterly insane.
What I can say is that there was some fine stuff to enjoy this year. I can say that I had some real joys this year. I know that it's unique to each of us, so what brought me joy might be a real head scratcher for you. For example, while watching Baroness play at Ram's Head in May, it was almost life-changing to see just how happy and inspired they were to play music. It was palpable that, while they were grateful to have an audience, these guys would've played every note the same if they were alone in somebody's garage- and that conviction of doing exactly what you were meant to do, following your muse no matter what- that's why any of us is a fan of anything. We enjoy Art because it has a purity of intent and purpose. From time to time, I get asked what I think the point of everything is- what is the meaning of life? I always kind of hem and haw about it, because I don't believe that life, in and of itself, has meaning. What meaning can there be to simply breathing, and eating and sleeping? However, we each find a meaning. Each of us try to write a narrative over our experiences- even if the point of that narrative is "It's all absurd". So, I think the meaning of life is in the search for meaning. So, it brought me joy to see it so starkly as it is with Baroness- these are guys who literally are validating their choices for the meaning of life right before your eyes. See, if I explain it out, even if you disagree with me, you can see why I'd call it a highlight in my year. That's why I cannot do a top ten list, or a best of 2013; all bullet points and proper nouns. It closes off the beauty in Art to reduce it to that consumer transaction of "I bought this LP, and I love it more than the last LP I bought". I prefer finding those moments of transcendence - I might hear a song a dozen times, but then, that right combination of experiences and reception clicks into place, and for just that moment, I get a glimpse of some deeper truth, some beautiful construction of shared ideas. That would be my top pick.
All that having said, if you do read the blog, I hope I can turn you on to something that does that for you. I don't write about crap ( much) so I really do think you might be able to find that, too.