2013 Poopzus Albums of 2013
10) Queens of the Stone Age – …Like Clockwork
11) Danny Brown – Old
12) Kurt Vile – Wakin’ on a Pretty Daze
13) Deafieaven – Sunbather
14) A$AP Rocky – Long Live A$AP
15) The Men – New Moon
Pop Culture Debates of 2013
Team Kirnmel > Team Kanye
Team Miley > Team Sinead (and Palmer, and Sufjan, and your Aunt)
Just Calling People By Their Name To Denote Support > Placing “Team” In Front of Their Name To Denote Support
Anything but GIFs > GIFs
Blurred Lines > Get Lucky
Respecting but Strongly Disliking Lebron > Hating Lebron
Richard Sherman’s Kind of a Dick > Richard Sherman’s a Thug
Fat Rob Kardashiari > Not Fat Rob Kardashian
Moving Pictures of 2013
1) The Wolf of Wall Street; 2) Spring Breakers; 3) This Is The End; 4) Drinking Buddies; 5) Blue Jasmine (note: I saw very few movies this year)
Songs of 2013
Call it latent ADD, or just omniexistent laziness, but for me, this year was more about songs than the albums they were on. These were my favorites:
“Song for Zula” — Phosphorescent — finding warmth between the lines of song where love doesn’t burn but discomfits seems a fool’s errand. And somehow, the southern charm of a damaged gentleman whose heart is wild, and whose bones are steam, makes you pull yourself up by the present and try again. And again, and again…
“Sea Legs” — Run the Jewels – so much was made of Kendrick’s “Control” verse (and rightfully so as it murdered all in its wake), but zero attention was paid to this equally caustic (and far more economic) take down of the reigning royalty of hip-hop delivered by the incomparable Killer Mike (“there will be no Mercy me’s/there were be no reprieve for the thieves/there will be no respect for Thrones/no master mastered these bones/your idols all are my rivals/I rival all of your idols/I stand on towers like Eifel/I rifle down all your idols/niggas will perish in Paris/niggas is nothin’ but parrots/I write for the writers that write for the liars that impress you and your parents.”). Stone cold.
“The Wire” – HAIM – MARC BOLAN IS ALIVE AND WELL AND CO-WRITING SONGS WITH THREE SISTERS FROM CALIFORNIA!
“400 Lux” – Lorde – free from saccharine but still holding your hand the whole way home, this sly, sunlight referencing track takes the genre of “like songs” to a happy place spent killing the time every teenager seems to have. Tropicana does always taste better when it’s brought for you.
“Honey” — Torres — with pain in every electric pluck of her guitar, Mackenzie Scott reflects on the open wounds of a closed love; gnawing with her nails as the distortion grows to a deafening thunder that blankets everything but her caterwauls of angst and shouts of regret. It’s the total feel good song of the year.
“Hive” — Earl Sweatshirt (featuring Vince Staples $ Casey Veggies) — though the subject matter on our first exposure to the pairing of Sweatshirt and Staples was certainly more than cringe worthy (2010’s “epaR”), the chemistry was undeniable. Three years later, Earl’s monotone mixes with Staples’s smirk worthy deliver even better than before, and thankfully, no women were violated in the construction of this song.
“Diane Youizg” — Vampire Weekend — the summer’s most spastic earworm has the kind of three-minute pop staying power to transcend seasons and to undoubtedly soundtrack movie trailers for years to come. So that’s something, ya know?
“Wrecking Ball” — Miley Cyrus – I haven’t seen the video though I am quite aware of its concept; seeing it would probably deflate the song of all emotion and certainly of any gravitas. But little aspects such as the careful word choice of “want” over “love” lend legitimacy to an artist striving so hard for such. It’s a glimpse of potential, and of a future that is hopefully void of hammer licking shtick. (alternate blurb: I JUST LIKE THIS SONG, OK?!)
“Wild for the Night” – A$AP Rocky (feat. Skrillex and Birdy Nain Nam) – it’s not A$AP’s best song by any stretch, but it is definitely his most fun and that has as much to do with his damn witty club prowling observations (“6 shots got me feeling like Pac, boy!”) as it does Skrillex’s laser heavy production.
“Stoned and Starving” – Parquet Courts – had “Paperback Writer” been penned two months after it was, it may have sounded a lot more subdued and a lot more like this: a three note riff and an afternoon in Ridgewood, Queens serve as the backdrop for a song that focuses on boredom without being boring. Get this band some Munchos.
Kevin Falahee Astoria, NY