la lista de musica 2013

Recently, NPR published a retrospective of events in Hip Hop this year. In the preamble, the authors write,

“We all listen to music differently. What we hear is shaded by our history, our knowledge, our equipment, our mood, our taste.”

Each year I give my top ten list here (2012, 2011). It is not a list of the best songs of the year, but a list of the songs that were important to me this year. Many are not “good.” Most are not recorded in 2013. But these are the songs that were shaded by, yet helped to shape my history, knowledge, mood, and tastes this year.

extra special mention

Every year I reserve a special mention for an unconventional live musical event that I experience. This year, I defended my PhD dissertation. But somehow, being a doctor didn’t feel official until I walked into the American University gymnasium in my funny cap and gown to the sound of Scottish bagpipes. It was then that an uncontrollable smile spread across my face and I truly felt the weight of my accomplishment.

10.

In the end, I’ll always remember fondly Inti standing in his corner dj booth, pumping his fist in the air and with a giant smile on his face, singing along “I don’t care.”

9 

If I’m speaking critically, the song is shit. But it was there for me when I needed a bit of confidence.

8. 

…And then I settled into Northern Chile, and I just wanted someone to come live beside the ocean with me.

7. 

Writing a dissertation can make you go insane. Ditto for unrequited love.

6.

You do what you can until you can’t any more.

5.

Sometimes you need to feel like a ninja. Sometimes you need to feel like a primadonna. Sometimes you just need to feel young. 

4. 

Hay muchas preguntas y pocas repuestas.

3. 

It’s no secret that I have a love affair with Illimani. But hearing Wara Sinfonica with a free ticket in a special balcony box, only made my love stronger.

2. 

We all took notice almost immediately when our amada ciudad, La Paz was featured in this video. Months later, after an evening of Wara, I sat in Dumbo with Kicho almost falling asleep to my right and Gus taking Instagram pictures to my right, surrounded by people I love. And then Naughty Boy came on the big screen above us and we all lip-synced along.

1. 

Moving to Northern Chile was lonely and hard. Things just seemed to get worse and worse. But being in Jhon’s car felt different. Suddenly the world looked different from the passenger seat window. Streets that usually felt dingy suddenly glimmered in the summer sun. The highway that feels bumpy and too long from a bus seat feelt exhilaratingly curvy and fast as I stared at it through the windshield, and I wished it would go on forever. Everything feels easier, more exciting, from the car window. Being in Jhon’s car made me free. And then we turned up route 16 as the streetlights turned on, and Walk on the Wild Side came on the radio, and suddenly the whole world felt like it was an adventure waiting to happen.

...and there you have the soundtrack to my 2013