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 Albums of 2013:
01 Vampire Weekend: Modern Vampires of the City
02 James Holden: The Inheritors
03 DJ Koze: Amygdala
04 Various Artists: Night Slugs Allstars Vol. 2
05 Livity Sound: Livity Sound
06 Majical Cloudz: Impersonator
07 Logos: Cold Mission
08 My Bloody Valentine: mbv
09 Bill Callahan: Dream River
10 Maxmillion Dunbar: House of Woo
Favorite Tracks of 2013:
01 The Range: "Metal Swing"
02 Sophie: "Bipp"
03 The Mole: "Lockdown Party (DJ Sprinkles Crossfaderama)"
04 Autre Ne Veut: "Play by Play"
05 DJ Rashad: "Let It Go"
06 A$AP Ferg: "Shabba (Remix)" [ft. Shabba Ranks, Busta Rhymes, and Migos]
07 Glass Candy: "Warm in the Winter"
08 Haim: "The Wire"
09 Pev: "Aztec Chant"
10 Tessela: "Hackney Parrot (Special Request VIP)"
Most Played Song of 2013: Sophie's "Bipp". It's a cotton candy jam: 97% air and sugar, with the remaining 3% a pink grotesquerie. The song lasts half as long as it should, almost as if you consumed it much too quickly. Like most treats, the mild guilt/stomachache that accompanies it is healthy, and worth it.
An Old Album I Discovered/Rediscovered This Year: Remarc's Sound Murderer, a compilation of 12"s from the enigmatic drum & bass producer, who couldn't miss for most of the 90s but has since faded from sight. A lean collection of nothing but the most mangled-in-a-blender breakbeats and threatening dancehall MCs.
Musical Highlights: Traveling to London, I bought the wrong advance club tickets; I ditched them and shuttled between Plastic People (Matias Aguayo) and a FWD>> party at Dance Tunnel (Koreless and Zinc), where the bouncer mocked my age. A long-overdue reading of Simon Reynolds' dance-music tome Energy Flash. Whispering "like I'm Sha-Shabba Ranks" softly to myself after minor professional victories. All personal attempts to mimic dancehall samples. The mostly unassuming girl who came with us to a VFW hall for karaoke after Bjork was rained out, waited two hours for her turn, and absolutely blew up Alicia Keys' "If I Ain't Got You".
Musical Lowlights: Disco naps that went long, depriving me of DJ Sprinkles and Girl Unit. Watching all manner of young producers hop on the hardcore bandwagon in real time. My failure to convince co-workers that filter disco exists.