We asked Pitchfork writers and editors to share their personal highs and lows of 2013. Check back for more installments of My Year in Music throughout the next two weeks.
Favorite Tracks of 2013:
01 Vampire Weekend: "Hannah Hunt"
02 Daft Punk: "Touch"
03 Forest Swords: "Thor's Stone"
04 Fuck Buttons: "Brainfreeze"
05 Pissed Jeans: "Bathroom Laughter"
06 Yo La Tengo: "Ohm"
07 Foxygen: "San Francisco"
08 Deafheaven: "Dream House"
09 Disclosure: "Latch"
10 My Bloody Valentine: "New You"
Favorite Albums of 2013:
01 Vampire Weekend: Modern Vampires of the City
02 My Bloody Valentine: mbv
03 Daft Punk: Random Access Memories
04 Neko Case: The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight...
05 Forest Swords: Engravings
06 Polvo: Siberia
07 The Haxan Cloak: Excavation
08 Savages: Silence Yourself
09 Veronica Falls: Waiting for Something to Happen
10 DJ Koze: Amygdala
Most Played Song of 2013: Daft Punk, "Give Life Back to Music". Somehow 2013 was the year I realized I hadn't spent enough time thinking about Chic.
An Old Album I Discovered/Rediscovered This Year: Various Artists: Hata Unacheza - Sub-Saharan Acoustic Guitar and String Music Ca. 1960s. This excellent comp was originally assembled from vintage 78s by Ian Nagoski in 2007 and made available again this year on his always-crucial Canary Records.
Musical Highlights: My twin five-year-old sons got really into Vampire Weekend's "Step", and the line "I feel it my bones" in particular. They both would walk around softly repeating "I feel it in my bones" as though it was a riddle to be solved. As for myself, the "album" I spent the most time with was the mammoth 99-track For Tom Carter tribute compilation on Deserted Village and it was worth every hour.
Musical Lowlights: One thing no one really tells you about parenthood is that eventually your kids reach the age where it's like getting some new cranky, opinionated little roommates. Much of the talk at my house essentially boils down to "Yo, Dad, turn off that crap you're listening to, I want to hear MY song." It's even worse when that song is Ylvis' infernal "The Fox (What Does the Fox Say)".