There weren’t many, but here’s what I did for Pitchfork this year:
Tennis: Cape Dory
In which I demonstrate that I have room to improve when writing about records that aren’t very good.
Destroyer: Kaputt
I think I belabored the connection to Death of a Ladies Man but felt OK about this otherwise.
Julianna Barwick: The Magic Place
I wrote this on an airplane and just before boarding sent my first-ever Tweet.
Harald Grosskopf: Synthesist
I remember enjoying writing this—I was in my living room and listening to the vinyl and flipping it over every 20 minutes provided a nice rhythm.
Colin Stetson: New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges
I used Freedom to write this and I feel like I wrote the first draft in about 50 minutes. Maybe it shows. I had been doing a lot of thinking about the record beforehand though.
Bibio: Mind Bokeh
Remember writing this while laying on my back on my couch. Could have been better.
Cold Cave: Cherish the Light Years
This I wrote in a couple hours in bed before work.
Grouper A I A : Alien Observer / A I A : Dream Loss
The best thing about writing this review was having the full Grouper catalog on my iPod for a couple of weeks.
Beastie Boys: Hot Sauce Committee Part Two
One of the better reviews I wrote this year I think even though the record was nothing special. Had a lot of thoughts on the Beastie Boys rattling around.
Mark McGuire A Young Person’s Guide to Mark McGuire
Another one I wrote in bed after getting up early before work. Love this record.
Woods Sun and Shade
An underrated band and I wish I’d written something better about them.
Bon Iver Bon Iver
This was a big one. I wrote part of it on a plane and part of in a hotel when I was in New York for a week. I realized afterwards that Bon Iver is more divisive than I had initially realized. This record means a lot to me.
How to Dress Well Just Once EP
What I most remember from this is listening to “Decisions” while waiting for a plane at La Guardia. I tweeted something about that too and now I feel like an idiot for doing so.
Balam Acab Wander / Wonder
Another one I wrote using Freedom, first draft in less than an hour. I’m usually slow so for me this is a big deal. LP is better than you probably think.
Winter Family Red Sugar
I’ve never been very interested in “turning people on to cool things they haven’t heard” but I sort of tried with this LP this year. Winter Family is important to me but probably 200 people in the world care who they are. If you want to be into something good that no one you know has ever heard of, you could do much worse.
Girls Father, Son, Holy Ghost
Like Bon Iver, I love this record but a lot of my peers don’t hear it like I do. I wrote a chunk of this on a plane. Reading negative reaction to this album and my review, I had this idea that if I had only been a better writer everyone would understand. A good motivator, I think.
Youth Lagoon The Year of Hibernation
I went in early, about 6:30 am, and wrote this before work. Feel like I got about 80% there which for me isn’t bad.
Julianna Barwick The Matrimony Remixes EP
A weak and pointless release with a review to match.
The Beach Boys The Smile Sessions
Wrote most of this on a plane. It was big and intimidating but also enjoyable and ultimately I was happy with how it turned out.
Oneohtrix Point Never Replica
Tremendous fun to write this. Not sure if I did it justice but had a blast trying.
Ursula Bogner Sonne = Blackbox
One of those records that I probably like more than anyone else in the world does and I like writing about records like that.
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