Best Music 🎵 of 2023!

the best part of this bit to me so far is that my pretty much far and away #1 album of the year hasn't even once gotten a mention in any of these end-of-year lists...not a #52, not an honorable mention...

so clearly I'm the asshole trying too hard.

but also #TeamNeverLankum
Book marking this for when they are your favorite band five years from now.
 
Book marking this for when they are your favorite band five years from now.
I will personally send you a dozen...nay, two dozen...LPs of your choosing should that day ever arise.

I just can't. I tried. it's like the direction was "what if we stripped away the most redeeming quality of Irish folk music...the fun and upbeat energy ideally for a night of carousing...and made it denser than a dirge with all the fun and length of a Swans album"
 
I will personally send you a dozen...nay, two dozen...LPs of your choosing should that day ever arise.

I just can't. I tried. it's like the direction was "what if we stripped away the most redeeming quality of Irish folk music...the fun and upbeat energy ideally for a night of carousing...and made it denser than a dirge with all the fun and length of a Swans album"

I mean there’s always been a lot more to traditional Irish music than jigs and reels and the no arm dancing! Ballads and laments have always been equally as significant.
 
Q4 Update

Total 2023 releases (albums/EPs/mixtapes) listened to as of Dec 1: 141 219 300 360

At the end of 2023 new listening. Only listened to 30 releases in each October and November. December is usually an unremarkable month for music in my experience so that'll get skipped this year. This quarter chart has been reduced even further, shrinking from a 3x5 to a 3x4. Entries are alphabetized by band name/artist last name.

Is it true that Billy Woods the most unstoppable man on Earth? Fuck me, this man is like Stephen Curry in his prime; elevating his game every passing year.

Good year for art pop + electronic. Maybe even better than good.

Ultimately not feeling jazz much this year, with only four (at most) releases making my top50 overall.

2023Q4Favorites.png

Armand Hammer - We Buy Diabetic Test Strips [abstract hip hop, experimental hip hop, drumless]
Cleo Sol - Gold [neo-soul, gospel]
Ana Frango Elétrico - Me Chama De Gato Que Eu Sou Sua [sophisti-pop, boogie, jazz-funk]
Honestly Same - Hot Plate Daily [avant-garde, experimental, ambient]

L'Rain - I Killed Your Dog [neo-psychedelia, psychedelic soul, art pop]
Lemon Quartet - ArtsFest [ambient, avant-garde jazz]
Maria BC - Spike Field [psychedelic folk, ambient]
MIKE - Burning Desire [abstract hip hop]

Sofia Kourtesis - Madres [deep house, Latin house, microhouse]
Hinako Omori - stillness, softness... [ambient pop, ambient, art pop]
Pangaea - Changing Channels [UK bass, tech house]
Sampha - Lahai [alternative R&B, neo-soul, UK bass]
 
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