
Exactly one year ago I rode a wave of motivation & created this blog. Friends definitively funnier than me joined in & used this space to write god knows what. Over 7,000 people visited, which is a number both comically meager & relatively impressive. I’m almost positive the majority of those clicks were directed to that time Ryan Wells wrote a novella about SyFy Original Movies or when Natty Morrison ranked the numbers 1 to 5 from 1 to 5.
By the fall this budding space for creativity shrank to a monthly post wrapping up the best songs released over a given month – which judging by the stats – nobody gave a shit about. This was both strange and disheartening considering how many conversations I’ve had that went something…no..EXACTLY like this:
Matt: Hi friend, what have you been listening to lately?
Friend: Oh Matt, it’s really difficult to keep up with current music, because unlike you I have obligations to meet where it would be difficult to give the proper attention or effort into digging up current releases. If only there was….
Matt: Fret not, companion! I actually go to the trouble of assembling the freshest of musical content in a streamable, one-click format on my blog!
Friend: What you’re telling me has changed my life. I don’t want to go throwing around a diluted term like “hero” around, because what’s a hero these days? But quite honestly, I’m struggling to find a term that so accurately describes how much your blog is going to change my life from this moment forward.
Me: That’s extremely flattering. Tell your friends!
Friend: I already have. We’re canceling our weekend out on the town to head over to our friend Mark’s. You don’t know mark, but we chose him because he has the largest computer monitor with a relatively decent sound system. Of course he obliged because a monthly recap of music is exactly what he’s been looking for as well. This site is primed for the big time Matt. Prepare yourself.
Flash forward to any given month of Cool Songs playlists drawing roughly 8 clicks total, which I’m pretty sure was just my girlfriend refreshing the page to make me feel better.
So you guys must be fucking ITCHING to see my recap of the top 50+ songs from the entire goddamn year. That’s something you definitely have the time to sit down and digest while listening to the roughly 2 hour playlist.
Soak it in y’all. This is probably the last published piece this space will ever see, because I too have joined the ranks of the obligated.
(Most spaces take the time to throw down a few of their favorites albums of the year as well. This would have been exceedingly difficult considering I spent most of 2013 listening to albums from 2008 & 1998. I really liked these though)
Earl Sweatshirt: Doris
Parquet Courts: Light Up Gold
Chance The Rapper: Acid Rap
Tree: Sunday School II, When Church Lets Out
James Blake: Overgrown
DJ Rashad: Double Cup
Everything Burial ever does
Thundercat: Apocalypse
Vampire Weekend: Modern Vampires of The City
Top 50 Tracks of 2013
Honorable Mentions:
Male Bonding – The Itch
The National – I Need My Girl
CHVRCHES – We Sink
Kid Cudi – Afterwords (Bring Yo Friends) feat. Michael Bolton
Kanye West – Blood on The Leaves
Big Sean – Control feat. Kendrick Lamar & Jay Electronica
Le1f – Damn Son
RAC – Let Go (Ft. Kele & MNDR)
Bear//Face – Voyeur (James Blake RMX)
Jacques Greene – On Your Side (How To Dress Well RMX)
PLOY – X I X
The Haxan Cloak – The Mirror Reflecting (Pt. 2)
Toro y Moi – So Many Details
Parquet Courts – Borrowed Time
Merchandise – Anxiety’s Door
PVT – Casual Success
Nowhere – Dead Alive
Tree – The King
James Blake – Life Round Here
Justin Timberlake – Blue Ocean Floor
Fuck Buttons – The Red Wing
1. Drake – Hold On, We’re Going Home
2. Four Tet – Suit & Tie (Justin Timberlake RMX)
3. Evil Nine feat. Danny Brown – Black Brad Pitt
4. Mount Kimbie – Made To Stray
5. Chance The Rapper + Nosaj Thing – Paranoia
6. Parquet Courts – Master of My Craft
7. James Blake – Retrograde
8. Earl Sweatshirt feat. Vince Staples – Hive
9. Twin Shadow – Old Love/New Love
10. SoHN – Lessons
11. Dungeonesse – Shucks
12. Vampire Weekend – Ya Hey
13. Chance The Rapper – Chain Smoker
14. The Preatures – Is This How You Feel?
15. Danny Brown + Paul White – ODB
16. Arcade Fire – Afterlife
17. DJ Rashad – Let u No
18. Future feat. Drake – Fo Real
19. Pusha T feat. Rick Ross – Millions
20. Hudson Mohawke – White Noise (Disclosure RMX)
21. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – So Good At Being in Trouble
22. Vampire Weekend – Hannah Hunt
23. Dreamboats – Chinchilla
24. Four Tet – Straight & Arrow (FaltyDL RMX)
25. Local Natives – You & I (Local Natives RMX)
26. Earl Sweatshirt feat. Frank Ocean – Sunday
27. BAIO – Welterweight
28. Movement – Us
29. Kanye West – Bound 2
30. TREE – Most Successful
31. La Luz – Brainwash
32. Lyla Foy – Shoestring
33. Diplo – Will Calls (Grizzly Bear RMX)
34. Wampire – The Hearse
35. Torres – Honey
36. Holy Ghost! – Okay
37. Celestial Shore – Valerie
38. Romare – Taste of Honey
39. Summer Camp – Fresh
40. Mac DeMarco – Young Blood
41. The Men – Electric
42. Justin Timberlake – Mirrors
43. Young Thug – Picacho
44. Disclosure – When a Fire Starts to Burn
45. Lindstrom – Gun Shy (Grizzly Bear RMX)
46. A$AP Rocky feat. Drake 2 Chainz & Kendrick Lamar – Fuckin Problems
47. Still Corners – Berlin Lovers
48. Of Montreal – She Ain’t Speakin Now
49. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – From The Sun
50. Sky Ferreira – You’re Not The One






