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 Denzel Curry: "Threatz" [ft. Yung Simmie and Robb Bank$]
02 Daft Punk: "Lose Yourself to Dance" [ft. Pharrell]
03 Future: "Karate Chop" [ft. Casino]
04 Deniro Farrar: "Big Tookie"
05 Chance the Rapper: "Good Ass Intro" [ft. BJ the Chicago Kid]
06 Daft Punk: "Doin' It Right" [ft. Panda Bear]
07 Drake: "All Me" [ft. 2 Chainz and Big Sean]
08 2 Chainz: "Feds Watching" [ft. Pharrell]
09 Majical Cloudz: "Childhood's End"
10 Austra: "Home"
Favorite Albums of 2013:
01 Kanye West: Yeezus
02 Deafheaven: Sunbather
03 Denzel Curry: Nostalgic 64
04 The Men: New Moon
05 Daft Punk: Random Access Memories
06 Vampire Weekend: Modern Vampires of the City
07 Run the Jewels: Run the Jewels
08 Drake: Nothing Was the Same
09 Earl Sweatshirt: Doris
10 Chance the Rapper: Acid Rap
Most Played Song of 2013: Deniro Farrar, "Big Tookie". In my review of Deniro’s The Patriarch, I likened "Big Tookie" to Rick Ross’ "B.M.F.", two great songs inspired by famed gangsters, but I still sold it short. Ryan Hemsworth’s beat is as simple as they come—a producer friend of mine remade it in a couple minutes on his phone—and that directness, plus Deniro’s hook and snarly verses, make the song so replayable.
An Old Album I Discovered/Rediscovered This Year: Young Buck, Straight Outta Cashville. "Shawty Wanna Ride" was one of my first rap-radio encounters a decade ago, but I never got into the album as a whole until the past couple years, and more so than ever this year. Buck was doing undulating goon-rap when that was a more marketable prospect nationally, and he was on center stage with 50 Cent and Lloyd Banks as a member of G-Unit. Beats-wise, a lineup of producers less famous than Dr. Dre borrowed a lot from Dre’s slamming style of the time, though there’s more guitar and a crunk influence.
Musical Highlights: Driving around on gorgeous spring days listening to Acid Rap. Picking up the guitar again and regaining a reasonable amount of skill after years of atrophy. Following Kanye’s madness from rant to rant and tense radio interview to tense radio interview. My dorky Bob Dylan-based trip in July: Seeing him (plus My Morning Jacket, Wilco, and Richard Thompson as the "Americanarama Festival of Music") in his birthplace of Duluth, MN, and driving the hour to visit his childhood home and high school in near-ish Hibbing.
Musical Lowlights: Seeing the infamous Danny Brown blowjob show but not realizing what was happening at the time. Damaging about 25 LPs due to heat. Saying goodbye to Lou Reed.