[music]

Alison Stewart: This is All Of It. I'm Alison Stewart, live from the WNYC studios in SoHo. Thank you so much for sharing part of your day with us. What was the best song you heard this year? Maybe you loved Olivia Rodrigo's new breakup ballad Vampire, or maybe preferred Big Thief's Vampire Empire.

Millions bopped along SZA's threat to take out her ex Kill Bill and the trio Boygenius filled Forest Hill Stadium here in New York everyone rocking out to their song, Not Strong Enough. You could find all of those tracks and 96 more on Pitchfork's list of the top 100 songs of the year, which we're going to discuss now with Pitchfork Editor-in-Chief Puja Patel. Hi Puja.

Puja Patel: Hi Alison.

Alison Stewart: Listeners, we want to hear from you. What was the best song you heard this year, or maybe an artist you discovered for the first time that you want to recommend? What was the top song or top artist this year for you? This is a judgment-free zone, by the way, when it comes to music. 212-433-9692, 212-433-WNYC. You can call in and join us on air, or you can text to us at that number. Our social media is available for you as well @AllOfItWNYC. Puja, when you all are putting this list together, what's the criteria you are using?

Puja Patel: Well, first of all, it is an insane process, I have to say. We listen to thousands and thousands of songs and albums, and we reflect on the things that the site has already covered. Best new musics, which are the albums that we've designated to be canon for the year and then how they've grown on us over the years.

We like to really focus on things that feel exciting and experimental and push their respective genres forward, but also just you have to feel the emotional oomph. I feel like we try to corral all of those things through hours and hours and weeks and spreadsheets of conversation into this list every year.

Alison Stewart: All right. I'm going to throw the skunk at the table question.

Puja Patel: Yes.

Alison Stewart: What about commercial viability and popularity? Does that factor into the song, whether it was one that charted or got a lot of airplay or streams?

Puja Patel: That's a good question. I think it factors in as much as the emotional impact part does. If it has become a song that is magnetic in the air and you just hear it everywhere you know if that is irritating or if you're like, "Oh, hell yes, this is back on again." I think that that commercial viability definitely comes into play, but you really feel good or bad about it, and that directs you.

Alison Stewart: I think I know the song on the list that qualifies as that, but I'm going to ask you. What song do you think falls in that category?

Puja Patel: Boy's a liar.

Alison Stewart: I was going [unintelligible 00:03:16].

Puja Patel: Oh, incredible songs. It's the Song of the Summer.

Alison Stewart: Let's get into the top 10. Number six, SZA's Kill Bill. This album was huge. This is the huge music event album of the year. It's up for eight Grammys, very long track list, all kinds of different sounds, sonically very rich. You named Kill Bill as the sixth-best Song of the Year. Let's listen to it for people who don't know and we can talk about it on the other side.

Puja Patel: Sure.

[MUSIC - SZA: Kill Bill]

Alison Stewart: Of all the songs on that album, why did you pick this one, Puja?

Puja Patel: I think that that song is Shakespearean. It is comedy, it is tragedy. That opening line, "I'm still a fan, though I was salty," lays it all out there but I think that it's honestly SZA at some of her funniest. That is the most relatable part of that song. It just really hooks you. "I did all of this on no drugs, I did it sober. I'll kill you tonight." I feel like just the cutting lyricism and how funny and sharp SZA is on that song made it the highlight of the album for me.

Alison Stewart: At number five. We have Olivia Rodrigo, Get Him Back. There's always that question, sophomore album, will it be as good as the freshman album? Because that first album is the album that people have been wanting to make forever and ever. It's got all their best material, all their energy, that debut energy. Sophomore album sometimes can be a little bit floppy, or flimsy. Your thoughts on this album?

Puja Patel: I thought this album was incredible. If anything, I thought that this was even stronger than Sour, which I loved because Olivia is in her kiss-off era. She is on the other side of the heartbreak and she is in her empowerment core. This album is laced with the '90s and grunge and aughts throwback vibes that we are here for. Yes, I loved this album.

Alison Stewart: Get him back is a hilarious double entendre because it could be like, "Oh, I want to get him back," or "Oh, I'm going to get him back."

Puja Patel: It is perfect. I feel like it has such a stadium romp to it. It's very matter-of-fact. Either way, something will happen good or bad for him, and wait to see and find out for yourself.

Alison Stewart: Let's listen to Olivia Rodrigo with Get Him Back.

[MUSIC - Olivia Rodrigo: Get Him Back]

Alison Stewart: All right. Olivia Rodrigo is 20 years old at this point. What impresses you about her songwriting given how young she is?

Puja Patel: Similarly, I am really drawn to anyone who can be cutting, use so many of those double entendres, like you said, and be funny and nuanced in how they reference pop music. Even on this one song, you can hear this element of Taylor Swiftian, We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together. You can hear some of the Bleachers and Slay Bell throwback reference points. You can hear that wrapping lyricism that was popular in the Kreayshawn era back in the early aughts. I think that she pulls from so many different places and then makes it feel entirely new.

Alison Stewart: Let's get to some of our listeners' contributions. Liz Twixed us, "Too Little, Too Late, Too Bad, from Rhiannon Giddens." Thank you for that contribution. "Best song I've heard this year from Afrobeats artist King Promise titled Terminator." Also got a text that they really like Bonnie Raitt's, Just Like That. I think that was the year before, but we'll take it. Also Immune by Jensen McRae. Let's take Scott calling in from Pearl River, New York. Hi Scott, thanks for calling in. What's your favorite music from the year?

Scott: Hey, Alison, how's it going?

Alison Stewart: Moving forward.

Scott: I would say my favorite song that is probably double the amount of plays I have compared to all my other songs combined this year is If I Had by Don Toliver, who's a pretty well-known producer in hip hop and R&B, and this song is definitely more R&B, but I'm really obsessed with songs that strike that perfect balance of simple, but yet still so musical. As soon as you turn it on, you'll hear that baseline just really kick in. The lyrics are really simple. Then there's this awesome feature by Charlie Wilson at the end of it. It's incredible.

Alison Stewart: Oh, you had me at baseline. Scott, thanks for calling in. Let's talk to, I think it's Vino calling in from New York. Hi Vino.

Vino: Hey Alison. I love your show. Thanks for taking my call. The best song I've heard this year is a song my daughter released. She graduated from the Berkeley College of Music this year.

Alison Stewart: Oh.

Vino: The song is called I Wait and she shot the video around Brooklyn and Downtown New York City. It's a beautiful video and she did the music herself and the lyrics, and it's been my favorite.

Alison Stewart: Well, first of all, congratulations on graduating from Berkeley College of Music. That's a huge accomplishment. What is your daughter's name?

Vino: Kallisti. K-A-L-L-I-S-T-I

Alison Stewart: Thank you for calling in. We like the big mom energy around here. Appreciate the shout-out from mom. My guest is Puja Patel, editor-in-chief of Pitchfork. We're talking about the 100 best songs of 2023. Puja, wouldn't that be great if in three years we're talking about Kallisti as having one of the big songs a year?

Puja Patel: Absolutely.

Alison Stewart: Could be. You never know. Everybody has to start somewhere.

Puja Patel: Also a Jensen McRae fan, so it was nice to see that shout-out.

Alison Stewart: Absolutely. Number four, Noname, Namesake, Noname is not afraid to get political or even controversial in her music. What is she addressing in the song?

Puja Patel: Well, this album Sundial is incredible. As you said, Noname has a history of being very forthright about her feelings, about capitalism, about the government, about the commodification of Black art and Black artists. In this song, I think she is really trying to nail down the, honestly, jarring and surreal and disassociative effect that I think many of us can relate to of living a relatively decent life as the world is crumbling around you. She addresses living life under capitalism and taking some of, I would say, our biggest pop stars to task for what they're willing and not willing to do.

Alison Stewart: Let's hear Noname and the song namesake.

[MUSIC - Noname: Namesake]

Puja Patel: Her flow is impressive. I got to say, her flow is incredible.

Alison Stewart: It's impressive. At number three, Sufjan Stevens, Will Anybody Ever Love Me? in the writeup your colleague Ryan Dombal says, "Casually tossing the song into the sad pile and waiting for it to soundtrack your next breakup doesn't do it justice." What elevates the song from the sad breakup ballad?

Puja Patel: Well, I think first of all, Sufjan Stevens is the master of writing the really heart-wrenching, emotional deep dive song. With the release of this album Javelin, he actually shared something quite personal, which is that he was dedicating this album to his partner Evans Richardson, who had passed away earlier in the year.

In listening to the song, which has a lot of that beautiful guitalin finger-plucking that you might know from older eras of Sufjan, you also hear these cinematic choral choirs come into this. By the end of the song, this desperate plea of like, "Am I lovable, will anyone love me?" turns into, and I think Ryan wrote this too, almost as this plea to the heavens. It's almost like a prayer by the end. It's just stunningly beautiful.

Alison Stewart: Let's listen.

[MUSIC - Sufjan Stevens: Will Anybody Ever Love Me?]

Alison Stewart: Sufjan Stevens, Will Anybody Ever Love Me? We are talking about the 100 best songs of 2023. It's Pitchfork's annual list. We're talking to its editor-in-chief Puja Patel. If you'd like to join this conversation and tell us about what your favorite song of 2023 was, give us a call 212-433-9692, 212-433-WNYC. You can join us on air or you can text to us at that number. Also, our social media is available @AllOfItWNYC, after the break we'll get to number two and number one and maybe we'll share our favorites of the year as well. This is All Of It.

[music]

This is All Of It on WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. My guest is Puja Patel, editor-in-chief of Pitchfork. We're talking about their list of the 100 best songs of 2023. Of course, we want to hear about what you think is the best song of 2023. 212-433-9692, 212-433-WNYC. Maybe there's a song or an artist that really touched you this year. You can call in and join us on air or you can text to us at that number or you can reach out on social media @AllOfItWNYC. Okay, we reached number two and number one. Number two is PinkPantheress and Ice Spice 'Boy's a Liar Pt. 2'. This is two artists who broke through big this year. I think people know a lot about Ice Spice, so I want to ask, what's the backstory on PinkPantheress?

Puja Patel: PinkPantheress is this artist who came in hot last year because of her embrace of what we are calling the Zoomer Embrace of Drum and Bass where she melded these old throwback dance electronica sounds with these more cutesy teen rap and vocals.

Alison Stewart: Then this was the year that Ice Spice became a huge star. What do you think is key to her appeal?

Puja Patel: She is everything. She is New York as they come, which is I think why she has hit so big here personally but this PinkPantheress song came out last year and when Ice Spice jumped on Boy's a Liar, it flipped the entire song into something completely different. What used to be this gentle raver reflection on a scumbag. You add Ice Spice to it. She is like, "Girl get on board. You do not need this man." It's the conversation you hear on the bus, it's the conversation you over here at the grocery store, at the salon, and it completely flipped on its head and became universal.

Alison Stewart: Let's hear Boy's a Liar from PinkPantheress and Ice Spice.

[MUSIC - PinkPantheress and Ice Spice: Boy's a Liar Pt. 2]

Alison Stewart: We've got, "Best song Catcher, Behind a Bleeding Heart." Got a text there also the second-- Oh, wait, no. You know what? Actually, I'm going to go to a call. Let's go to Linda from Maplewood, New Jersey. Hi Linda, thanks for calling in.

Linda: Hi, how are you?

Alison Stewart: Doing well. You're on the air.

Linda: Okay, great. I love Måneskin. They're so fantastic. Saw them live on The Bowery Ballroom and just an amazing show. My favorite song of theirs is I Want to Be Your Slave, also The Loneliest. Very, very talented young group of kids.

Alison Stewart: Love that you called in. Thank you so much. We got a text that leads us to your number one song on your list, Puja, Lana Del Rey, A&W, Best Song of the Year. We didn't even set that one up. Why did Lana Del Rey wind up being the number one song on the Pitchfork list?

Puja Patel: I think Lana as an artist has the unique ability to really encapsulate what it feels like to be a woman in America through these nostalgic, long, expansive, dreamy landscapes. This song felt like a culmination of many of her different eras. You hear this sprawling, nuanced, incisive songwriting and it's daydreamy. Then it completely turns a little past halfway into the song into a rap, into some kind of completely other manifestation of what the song could be.

I think what's really telling, coming off of a year where the big story was Roe v. Wade being overturned, the song is about, in her words, the experience of being an American hoe. It's a fever dream, a stream-of-consciousness epic that grapples with who women are, who they perform to be, and the paranoia of just being perceived. There's something that's so earnest, and vulnerable, and chaotic about this song that it feels like it mirrors a lot of how we are feeling right now.

Alison Stewart: Here's at number one, Lana Del Rey, A&W.

[MUSIC - Lana Del Rey: A&W]

I haven't done a cartwheel since I was nine

I haven't seen my mother in a long, long time

I mean, look at me

Look at the length of my hair, and my face, the shape of my body

Do you really think I give a damn

What I do after years of just hearing them talking?

I say I live in Rosemead, really, I'm at the Ramada

It doesn't really matter, doesn't really, really matter

Call him up, Come into my bedroom

Alison Stewart: Lana Del Rey at number one. We got a text, “My favorite new song of this year is I'm Confident that I'm Insecure by Lawrence. I just found out about them this August and ended up driving six hours from Ontario, Canada to Syracuse to see their headline show. Excited to hear them play on the show.” Lawrence are set up in Studio 5. I'm going to run over there in just a minute so we can get them going. Puja, before I head on over, do you have a personal song of 2023, or what was your most played, if I can ask?

Puja Patel: I will say, most of the list is on my personal favorites, but Caroline Polacheck's, I Believe, is in my very, very top of the year.

Alison Stewart: We're going to go out on what the algorithm tells me is the song I played the most, I believe it. It's going to be Adi Oasis's, Get it Got it. Puja Patel from Pitchfork, thank you so much for joining us.

Puja Patel: Thank you, Alison. Great to be here.

Alison Stewart: Lawrence is right around the bend, but I'll give Get it Got it just another play before the year's out.

[MUSIC - Adi Oasis: Get it Got it]

 

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