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 Grizzly Bear: "Will Calls (Marfa Demo)"
02 Kevin Gates: "4:30 A.M."
03 Duke Dumont: "100% (Need U)"
04 Chester Watson: "Phantom"
05 Rocko: "U.O.E.N.O. Remix" [ft. Future & A$AP Rocky]
06 Migos: "Chinatown"
07 A$AP Ferg: "Shabba/Shabba Remix"
08 Classixx: "All You're Waiting For"
09 Schoolboy Q: "Collard Greens" [ft. Kendrick Lamar]
10 Problem: "Like Whaat" ft. Bad Lucc
Favorite Albums of 2013:
01 Danny Brown: Old
02 Thundercat: Apocalypse
03 Chance the Rapper: Acid Rap
04 Darkside: Psychic
05 Kevin Gates: The Luca Brasi Story/Stranger Than Fiction
06 Run the Jewels: Run the Jewels
07 Forest Swords: Engraving
08 DJ Rashad: Double Cup
09 Juicy J: Stay Trippy
10 Shlohmo: Laid Out
Most Played Song of 2013: Migos, "Chinatown." Whatever smug, fancy lad proclaimed that ignorance was bliss must have had the Migos in mind. I'm relatively certain that listening to the Atlanta carnival trap trio at length can cause you to speak exclusively in staccato bursts and exhaust your spare brain power on devising similes for your plug. But when I wanted to run on a treadmill or break through flimsy bando walls with my forehead, Migos were there for me. I wouldn't count on them for cultural sensitivity, restaurant recommendations, or sartorial diversity, but they understand how to make a consistent and addictive product. It also made me order more shrimp fried rice this year than any other year of my life.
An Old Album I Discovered/Rediscovered This Year: I'd heard "Dove" sampled on the title track of The Fugees' "The Score." I'd heard "Bra" sampled by De La Soul. But I never understand how much I needed Cymande in my life to fulfill my vampiric need for 70s funk-soul-jazz fusion.
Musical Highlights:Fela, the musical, again. The Yeezus tour briefly eroding my cynicism through imagination and Starman mask . Rustie in the rain at the Pitchfork Music Festival. Any piece of cheap vinyl that I bought to temporarily excuse myself from the grid. Hellfyre Club rapping so hard at Low End Theory that the audience broke Basquiats over each other's heads. Renting out a bar for my birthday so I could be a musical fascist and play music from 1993, 2003, and 2013—timing the substances and sounds just right that the last hour was Juicy J, Kevin Gates, "Shabba", LA ratchet, "New Slaves", 2 Chainz, Salva, Classixx, Rich Homie Quan, and Danny Brown. Somehow emerging alive and improved.
Musical Lowlights: Watching Red Foo from LMFAO do a courtside jig at the Lakers game to "Party Rock Anthem", while Zack Galifiankakis glowered at him from two seats away. I imagined a "Between 2 Ferns" episode in my head.