I have to preface this by saying that what follows is a personal list (based upon the number of iTunes plays and spins on my turntable) rather than a strictly critical one. There were a lot of records released in 2013 that I thought were truly exceptional—Kanye West’s Yeezus being an obvious one (also, Beyonce!)—but these are the ones that I actually listened to the most. I think it says something about my topsy turvy year that when I was here at home alone (which is generally all day, every day) I mostly wanted to hear things that mellowed me out or were particularly conducive to staring out the window and wondering “What have I done with my life?”

TOP 40 RECORDS OF 2013

Kurt Vile – Wakin on a Pretty Daze
Forest Swords - Engravings
Deafheaven - Sunbather
Cass McCombs – Big Wheel and Others
Bill Callahan – Dream River
Body/Head – Coming Apart
Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City
My Bloody Valentine - MBV
Boards of Canada – Tomorrow’s Harvest
Sky Ferreira – Night Time, My Time
Majical Cloudz - Impersonator
Haim – Days are Gone
Yo La Tengo - Fade
Pure Bathing Culture – Moon Tides
Low – The Invisible Way
Laura Veirs – Warp and Wend
Goldfrapp – Tales of Us
Deerhunter - Monomania
Phosphorescent - Muchacho
Jon Hopkins - Immunity
Mazzy Star – Seasons of Your Day
Darkside - Psychic
Fuck Buttons – Slow Focus
Matmos – The Marriage of the Minds
Ty Segall - Sleeper
Steve Gunn – Time Off
King Krule – 6 Feet Beneath the Moon
Perfect Pussy – I have lost all desire for feeling
Juana Molina – Wed 21
Pissed Jeans -- Honeys
Mikal Cronin -MCII
Guerilla Toss – Gay Disco
Nine Inch Nails – Hesitation Marks
Savages – Silence Yourself
Overseas - Overseas
Iceage – You’re Nothing
Parquet Courts – Light Up Gold
Black Hearted Brother – Stars Are Our Home
Daniel Avery – Drone Logic
Dead Gaze – Dead Gaze

TOP 20 MOST-PLAYED SONGS OF 2013 AROUND MY OFFICE

“Girl Called Alex” – Kurt Vile
“Thor’s Stone” – Forest Swords
“The Point of it” – Yo La Tengo
“California” – Mazzy Star
“Shirtcrush” – Kelley Deal & Her Neighbor
“Boys” – Sky Ferriera
“Mother” -- Low
“In Another Way” – My Bloody Valentine
“Home on the Range” – Cass McCombs
“Irresistable” – Deafheaven
“I” – Perfect Pussy
“Chilhood’s End” – Majical Cloudz
“Ectasy” - Iceage
“She Will” - Savages
“Black Skinhead” – Kanye West
“Stranger” - Goldfrapp
“Baby’s losing her mind” – Josh Berwanger
“Small Plane” – Bill Callahan
“Days Are Gone” - Haim
“Playboys of the Western World” - Minks

TOP 10 LIVE SHOWS OF 2013

One of the best things about my job is that I am provided the opportunity to see such a bizarre variety of music on pretty much a weekly basis. I like it when you can’t exactly predict the shows that are going to totally—and perhaps unexpectedly—blow your mind. Such was the case with going to see Celine Dion. Watching her power through an hour or so of her greatest hits from about 3 feet away was both amazing and kind of shocking. After spending hours and hours in dark clubs watching hyper serious indie rock bands do their thing, watching a bonafide pop megastar do insane vocal acrobatics right in your face is sort of a nice way to reset all of your dials.

Celine Dion (3/29/2013)
Bob Seger (4/16/2013)
Sinead O’Connor (11/8/2013)
Alice Cooper (7/18/2013)
The Breeders (3/29/2013)
Cass McCombs (9/14/2013)
Phoenix (4/5/2103)
Cat Power (1/29/2013)
Fleetwood Mac (4/8/2013)
Low (4/19/2013)

TOP 10 REISSUED RECORDS IN 2013

Patrick Cowley – School Daze
I Am The Center: Private Issue New Age Music In America 1950-1990
Seefeel – Quique (vinyl reissue)
R.E.M. – Green (25th Anniversary Edition)
Nirvana – In Utero (20th Anniversary Edition)
The Clean - Vehicle
The Breeders - LSXX
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
Jawbreaker - Bivouac
Songs: Ohia – The Magnolia Electric Co.

TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2013

There are still so many of this year’s big movies that I have yet to see (though I somehow managed to see literally EVERY B-grade horror film released on planet earth), but these are the films that I did see and that stuck with me.

Muscle Shoals
Behind the Candelabra
American Hustle
The Conjuring
Room 237
Spring Breakers
12 Years a Slave
Before Midnight
Blue Jasmine
A Band Called Death

TOP 10 BOOKS OF 2013

I am gripped by the constant fear that my brain has been turned to much by staring at a computer screen all day and reading too many Buzzfeed lists, but these books in particular reminded my why reading will always be my first love and helped me feel not quite so dumb and dull.

Metaphysical Dog (poems) – Frank Bidart
Tenth of December (stories) – George Saunders
The Disordered (poems) - Anhvu Buchanan
Writing the Record: The Village Voice and the Birth of Rock Criticism – Devon Powers
Companion Grasses (poems) – Brian Teare
Henry & Glenn Forever and Ever – Tom Neely and Friends
The Goldfinch -- Donna Tartt
Bedsit Disco Queen: How I Grew Up and Tried to be a Pop Star -- Tracey thorn
The Late Parade (Poems) – Adam Fitzgerald
White Girls – Hilton Als

TOP 10 FAVORITE INTERVIEWS OF 2013

Sitting down to do interviews with people remains my absolute favorite thing about my job and this year I had the excellent good fortune to talk to a lot of amazing humans who represent a pretty wide swath of what is happening right now in popular culture (not to mention being able to chat up a few of my own personal heroes in the process). As with my live show experience, being able to go deep for an hour or so with Celine Dion proved to be the most surreal—and the most genuinely sweet—interview experience I had all year long. She loved me back to life.

Celine Dion
Cass McCombs
Kim Gordon
Kathleen Hanna
Lupita Nyongo
Sky Ferreira
Giorgio Moroder
Jennifer Hudson
Harmony Korine
Carrie Brownstein

FAVORITE BIZARRO MOMENT OF 2013 – The Cat Show at While Columns

Being asked to show my insane (trust me, I know it’s insane) ceramic cat collection alongside actual fine artists like Mike Kelley, Matthew Barney, Richard Prince and Patti Smith was not only the most hilarious thing that happened to me over the last year (particularly when the poor art handler came to my house and had to individually wrap them all), but it was also one of the most genuinely satisfying. In a year when I found myself struggling with my own creative projects and hustling harder than I’ve probably ever had before in order to make a living as a journalist, to see this funny little hobby of mine—which has long since taken on a crazy life of its own—being celebrated in such a public forum was really moving. Not only was the crazy cat lady within me finally legitimized by the art world, but now the cats have a brand new display area in my living room since the gallery let me bring home all the special shelving they built for the show. The whole experience gives me hope that one day I can just open up my own cat-themed gallery space, throw my computer out the window, and call it a fucking day.

As always, thanks to everyone has given me so much love and support over the past year.

And here’s to a happy, healthy, cat-filled 2014 for all of us.

Best of 2013