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.
Favorite Tracks of 2013:
01 Autre Ne Veut: "Play by Play"
02 Peverelist & Kowton: "Raw Code"
03 Drake: "Hold On, We're Going Home"
04 Tessela: "Hackney Parrot"
05 Ciara: "Body Party"
06 Rich Homie Quan: "Type of Way"
07 Blood Orange: "You're Not Good Enough"
08 Paul Woolford: "Untitled"
09 Sophie: "Bipp"
10 Galcher Lustwerk: "Put On"
Favorite Albums of 2013:
01 Autre Ne Veut: Anxiety
02 Kanye West: Yeezus
03 Jessy Lanza: Pull My Hair Back
04 Logos: Cold Mission
05 DJ Koze: Amygdala
06 Special Request: Soul Music
07 Natasha Kmeto: Crisis
08 Drake: Nothing Was the Same
09 Nils Frahm: Spaces
10 Blue Hawaii: Untogether
Your Most Played Song of 2013: Autre Ne Veut, "A Lie." The searing but strangely overlooked centerpiece of an album that often feels like you're living inside someone's head during a panic attack, "A Lie" is Anxiety's most patient moment, but that doesn't make it any less wrenching. A torch song at heart, the twangy steel guitars lend the it mid-70s glow totally uncharacteristic of the rest of the album, and the impossible-to-understand lyrics don't make it any more congruous, but then unleaded emotion was never meant to be coherent.
An Old Album I Discovered/Rediscovered This Year: Bruce Springsteen, Born In The USA. I've been having Springsteen piped into my ears since before I can remember, and I've always been pretty in love with his peak era through to Nebraska, but I could never really hear past the obnoxious gloss on this one. 2013 felt like the year where any reservations I had about even the most prefab of pop music seemed to melt away into a glorious pool of sickly sweet sludge, so maybe that's it. And when it comes down to it, you really can't beat "Dancing In The Dark".
Musical Highlights: Learning that karaoke is the best pastime. Repeatedly growing tired of clubbing only to see a DJ who would change everything for me all over again. Watching Vancouver reassemble itself in the wake of venue closures, and watching crews like Hybridity and Mood Hut blossom beautifully. Listening to Mariah Carey & Miguel's "#Beautiful" on repeat on a sunny day in Victoria Park in London. Seeing Kraftwerk play in a giant hangar at Sónar in Barcelona. Gay pride weekend at Berghain. Seeing Pantha Du Prince play with the Bell Orchestra at the Maison Symphonique in Montreal, which was maybe the best concert I've ever seen. Welcoming the resurgence of jungle-influenced sounds with open and eager arms. Drinking heart-stopping amounts of Red Bull at Movement in Detroit while making fun of Dubfire's set. Scratching a lot of DJ beards. Dancing to "Dancing In The Dark" in the basement of a castle with two separate pairs dressed up as Nigella and Saatchi. Experiencing the true feeling of community at Decibel Festival in Seattle. Tripping over Pharmakon's mic cable as she stalked through a crowd in Pittsburgh.
Musical Lowlights: Wrestling over whether I loved or hated "We Can't Stop". Trying not to get swept up in an increasingly ridiculous critics' echo chamber. Losing my favourite, and perhaps most formative, nightclub/venue space. Learning more and more about the corporate machine behind electronic music (even the most "underground") and becoming increasingly disheartened. Seeing Disclosure five times in three days at SXSW. Eating a Doritos Taco Bell taco at SXSW. Encroaching cynicism.