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 few days.
Favorite Albums of 2013:
01 Waxahatchee: Cerulean Salt
02 Chance the Rapper: Acid Rap
03 Kanye West: Yeezus
04 Deafheaven: Sunbather
05 Disclosure: Settle
06 My Bloody Valentine: mbv
07 Daft Punk: Random Access Memories
08 Haim: Days Are Gone
09 Kurt Vile: Wakin on a Pretty Daze
10 M.I.A.: Matangi
Favorite Tracks of 2013:
01 Courtney Barnett: "Avant Gardener"
02 Chance the Rapper: "Paranoia"
03 Haim: "Falling"
04 Young Thug: "Picacho"
05 Omar Souleyman: "Wenu Wenu"
06 Migos: "Versace"
07 Kanye West: “Blood on the Leaves”
08 Vampire Weekend: "Step"
09 Lil Durk: "Dis Ain't What U Want"
10 Bill Callahan: "Small Plane"
Most Played Song of 2013: Chance the Rapper and Action Bronson, "NaNa". Sure, it's maybe the eighth best song on Acid Rap. And Bronson's verse is, well, Bronson's verse. But that beat! I dunno, it just does something to me.
An Old Album I Discovered/Rediscovered This Year: Has to be the first Deicide album. For the longest time, my taste in metal favored the more atmospheric stuff, Isis and Darkthrone and Dopesmoker, that sort of thing. A while back, impatient from all the drifting, I started in on death metal, particularly those years on either side of 1990 when Florida was cranking it out faster than Disney Dollars. A lot of death metal's fairly samey, which stands to reason: 80% of that era's best music was laid down in the same studio in the same two or three year period. But, of all the Morrisound bands, Deicide are just a little different: not just evil, but particularly evil. Something about their extreme precision makes the whole thing all the more terrifying; next to them, Morbid Angel seem like reasonably loose dudes. But, really, it's Glenn Benton that pushes Deicide over the edge. You hear some of this stuff and think, "Ah, yes, Cookie Monster." But everything that comes out of that guy's mouth sounds beamed in from someplace very, very hot. I believe they call it Tampa.
Musical Highlights: Guess it was DJing my wedding? I know, I know. But it's not like I spent the evening behind the 1s and 2s; I rented a subwoofer, loaded up an iPod, and hoped for the best. Picking out the music you'll forever associate with the best day of your life (awww) is just a task too monumental to trust a stranger with. Well, that, and it freed up more money for booze. All told, I think it worked; seeing all our people get stupid to "Show Me Love" was worth all the hours I spent sweating over iTunes. A little tip, if you're so inclined: however much Prince you're planning on playing, triple it.
Musical Lowlights:Uncanney Valley. Still not sure what they were thinking there.