For our 7th annual Highlighting feature, we split the year into TWO pieces -- January to June and July to December. Normally, we select our top 25 most anticipated releases for the whole year, but we realize that it's tough to really gauge EVERYTHING that may release throughout a given year when we're making the list in January. So, for 2012, we split the year into TWO pieces -- January to June and July to December, and we're using this format again for 2013. Also, each list contains 15 artists/releases for a total of 30 in total for 2013. So, without further ado, we give you Highlighting First-Half 2013!

	13 of 15   #13. Tal & Acacia Black & White Release Date: February 2013 Tal & Acacia originally stated that Black & White would drop last November, but that obviously didn't happen. The good news is that their ambitious $12,000 Kickstarter campaign was successful, which is no small feat for an indie artist with only one album to their name. Watch for what will surely be one of the better pop efforts this year.         - Roger Gelwicks From the catchy, fun, and slick sounds of their painfully underrated Essential Records debut, Wake Me, I just couldn't help but love these sisters. When they parted with their label after just album and launched a Kickstarter campaign for their newest effort, Black & White, we could only hope that this newfound freedom would yield another memorable release...         - John DiBiase Visit our Tal & Acacia page for more information about them... 2013 Countdown: 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 ©January, 2013 Jesusfreakhideout.com