{"id":10115,"date":"2023-12-20T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-20T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/?p=10115"},"modified":"2023-12-20T10:47:43","modified_gmt":"2023-12-20T15:47:43","slug":"top-23-albums-of-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/2023\/12\/20\/top-23-albums-of-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 23 albums of 2023."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This year turned out to be a very good one for albums, better than last year, but worse for individual tracks, which I\u2019ll talk about a little more when that ranking goes up. I was afraid I\u2019d struggle to keep up my gimmick of doing a ranking as long as the last two digits of the year, which I\u2019ve had to abandon every once in a while, but I ended up with plenty of albums to consider and spent a lot of time listening or re-listening to albums to make some of these final cuts \u2013 and to decide on the actual #1, which was very much a game-time choice. Get ready to read a lot about shoegaze and post-punk, although the very top of the list goes in a different direction entirely. Some honorable mentions include Cory Wong \u2013 Rocket<\/em>; Black Honey \u2013 A Fistful of Peaches<\/em>; Emma Anderson \u2013 Pearlies; <\/em>Queens of the Stone Age \u2013 In Times New Roman\u2026<\/em>; Speedy Ortiz \u2013 Rabbit Rabbit;<\/em> Brad \u2013 In The Moment That You’re Born<\/em>; and, of course, The Baseball Project \u2013 Grand Salami Time<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can see my previous year-end album rankings here: 2022<\/a>, 2021<\/a>, 2020<\/a>, 2019<\/a>, 2018<\/a>, 2017<\/a>, 2016<\/a>, 2015<\/a>, 2014<\/a>, 2013<\/a>, and my top albums of the 2010s<\/a>. My top 100 songs of 2023 will go up in the next day or two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

23. Egyptian Blue \u2013 A Living Commodity<\/em>.<\/strong> If I told you there was a band that cited Wire, Gang of Four, Radiohead, and Iceage as influences (which Egyptian Blue has<\/a>), you\u2019d probably imagine something a lot like this Brighton band\u2019s debut album, which wears all of these influences but weaves them into something new enough that it avoids sounding derivative of any of them. There\u2019s a tremendous energy here that powers the album, something I interpreted as the freshness of youth \u2013 but maybe that\u2019s just because I\u2019m old now \u2013 and that makes the album feel incredibly alive even though it\u2019s underpinned by a sound that\u2019s nearly 50 years old. Standouts include the title track, \u201cMatador,\u201d and \u201cSkin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

22. Deeper \u2013 Careful!<\/em><\/strong> The latest add to my list, Careful! <\/em>only hit my radar a few weeks ago when WXPN music director Dan Reed tabbed it as his #1 album of the year. (His top ten<\/a> was pretty solid overall.) Deeper\u2019s last album, Auto-Pain<\/em>, came shortly on the heels of the news that their former guitarist had killed himself, and the album\u2019s darker content reflected that. Careful!<\/em> is more upbeat, almost ebullient at times, which contrasts with the post-punk sound that they still maintain on this album \u2013 with a heavy dose of David Bowie, according to singer\/guitarist Nic Gohl. Standouts include \u201cGlare,\u201d \u201cTele,\u201d and \u201cBuild a Bridge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

21. The Hives \u2013 The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons<\/em>.<\/strong> The Hives\u2019 first new album in eleven years found the Swedish band, down just one of their original members, rejuvenated, sounding as good as they did on their first couple of records nearly twenty years ago. They announce their presence with giant riffs on the opener (and best track) \u201cBogus Operandi,\u201d and the whole album carries that same sense of bluster and grandeur. There\u2019s plenty of the muscular rock we\u2019re used to from the Hives, plus some diversions into hardcore (the one-minute \u201cTrapdoor Solution\u201d, or the slightly longer \u201cThe Bomb\u201d), These guys can rock, and they\u2019re not afraid to do so. I suppose the lesson is to lean into what you do well. Standouts include \u201cBogus Operandi,\u201d \u201cTwo Kinds of Trouble,\u201d and \u201cCountdown to Shutdown.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

20. Daughter \u2013 Stereo Mind Game<\/em>.<\/strong> This Irish trio\u2019s previous album was the soundtrack to the video game Before the Storm<\/em>, released in 2017, without so much as a single in the interim, to the point where I assumed they\u2019d hung it up. (Bands come and go so quickly these days, and because I\u2019m always trying to keep up with what\u2019s new, I tend to forget even bands I liked.) Daughter\u2019s sound was always ethereal and pensive, one of the few bands I liked who used mostly slower tempos, while here they expand their repertoire just slightly with some stronger melodies and even, dare I say, something a little upbeat like \u201cFuture Lover,\u201d one of the standout tracks along with \u201cSwim Back\u201d and \u201cBe On Your Way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

19. White Reaper \u2013 Asking for a Ride<\/em>.<\/strong> White Reaper\u2019s first three albums were all pretty similar, hard power-pop records with a punk influence but an overriding sense of melody along with a good bit of obnoxious fun in the lyrics. On their fourth record, they actually go \u2026 metal. You can\u2019t listen to the first two songs here and not think Mot\u00f6rhead or even some early Bay Area thrash, and even when White Reaper takes their foot off the gas a little bit on the album\u2019s best track, \u201cFog Machine,\u201d they just shift from early \u201880s metal to the late \u201870s metal sounds (think New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands like Maiden and Priest) from their previous records. Other standout tracks include \u201cPink Slip,\u201d \u201cBozo,\u201d and the title track. Also, if you\u2019re into more serious metal, the best albums I heard this year in that genre were Wayfarer\u2019s remarkable American Gothic<\/em>, Horrendous\u2019s Ontological Mysterium<\/em>, and Myrkur\u2019s Spine<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

18. Grian Chatten \u2013 Chaos for the Fly<\/em>.<\/strong> When I heard the lead singer of Fontaines D.C. would be doing a solo album, I assumed it would be something in the vein of his regular gig, something between punk and post-punk with a strong working-class edge \u2026 and Chatten instead delivered a thoughtful, meditative, acoustic record that\u2019s mostly his vocals and a guitar. There\u2019s a little rockabilly here in \u201cFairlies,\u201d what I can only describe as lounge music on \u201cBob\u2019s Casino,\u201d and a mournful piano track on \u201cAll of the People.\u201d Standouts include \u201cFairlies,\u201d \u201cThe Score,\u201d and \u201cLast Time Every Time Forever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

17. Belle & Sebastian \u2013 Late Developers<\/em>.<\/strong> A surprise release from the Scottish icons, just eight months after A Bit of Previous<\/em>, with their trademark wry lyrics along with sunny pop melodies with a dark undercurrent. I\u2019ve been a little surprised to see it omitted from many year-end lists, to which I attribute its release very early in the year (January 13th<\/sup>) and the way we tend to take bands this consistent for granted. Standouts include \u201cJuliet Naked,\u201d \u201cI Don\u2019t Know What You See in Me,\u201d and \u201cGive a Little Time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

16. Hotline TNT \u2013 Cartwheel<\/em>.<\/strong> Hotline TNT\u2019s second album hits during shoegaze\u2019s big moment, a revival that I\u2019m going to mention more than a few times in this list, and they\u2019re one of the most authentic to the original sound, which dates to the late 1980s and early 1990s in England, led by bands like My Bloody Valentine, Lush, Slowdive, and Ride. Cartwheel<\/em> borrows quite a bit from those last two bands, with a little H\u00fcsker D\u00fc thrown in for good measure, getting that shimmering wall of distortion sound that\u2019s intrinsic to proper shoegaze. Standouts include \u201cI Thought You\u2019d Change,\u201d \u201cOut of Town,\u201d \u201cProtocol,\u201d and \u201cSpot Me 100.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

15. The Japanese House \u2013 In the End It Always Does<\/em>.<\/strong> Amber Mary Bain wrote much of her second album in the wake of the end of a thruple that also included Art School Girlfriend (who is now in a relationship with Bain\u2019s ex, Marisa Hackman). Anyway, In the End It Always Does<\/em> showcases Bain\u2019s lovely voice over a substantial amount of piano and keyboard work, grounding the record to support its little experimentations into electronica, dream-pop, and folk, although it always comes back to her vocals for me. Standouts include \u201cBoyhood,\u201d \u201cSunshine Baby,\u201d and \u201cSad to Breathe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

14. Genesis Owusu \u2013 STRUGGLER<\/em>.<\/strong> The Ghanaian-Australian singer\/rapper Owusu\u2019s second album blends-hip-hop with sounds from the earliest era of new wave when that genre had just broken away from its punk origins, with songs that are rapped, shouted, and even sung in falsetto (the ironic \u201cSee Ya There\u201d). It\u2019s equal parts rage-rock and dance, buoyed by Owusu\u2019s charismatic delivery. Standouts include \u201cLeaving the Light,\u201d \u201cThe Roach\u201d (complete with Kafka references), \u201cFreak Boy,\u201d and \u201cStay Blessed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

13. Protomartyr \u2013 Formal Growth in the Desert<\/em>.<\/strong> This is actual post-punk, sometimes labeled post-hardcore, in 2023, and I\u2019m being a little pedantic here because I think those labels have some real utility that\u2019s lost when people just throw \u201cpost-whatever\u201d on anything. (As opposed to Post Malone, whose music should just be thrown in the trash.) Vocalist and Tigers fan Joe Casey wrote some of the lyrics about his late mother and his grieving process, while other songs focus on existential dread or environmental crises, all over a stark, often detuned guitar-heavy backing. Standouts include \u201cFor Tomorrow,\u201d \u201cElimination Dances,\u201d and \u201cFun in Hi Skool.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

12. Altin G\u00fcn \u2013 Ask<\/em>.<\/strong> I was not familiar with Anatolian rock, which blends traditional Turkish music with psychedelic rock from the late 1960s\/early 1970s, until I stumbled on this Netherlands-based outfit and their fifth album, which had a similar effect on me as Mdou Moctar\u2019s Afrique Victime<\/em>: I was mesmerized by the translation of rock guitar into totally new sounds from other musical cultures. I can\u2019t tell you much about the lyrics, but the music, which is always anchored by interesting and complex guitarwork, is enough to keep me listening even though I don\u2019t know what they\u2019re singing about. Standouts include \u201cSu Siziyor,\u201d \u201cLeylim Ley,\u201d and \u201cRakiya Su Katamam.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11. Billy Porter \u2013 Black Mona Lisa<\/em>.<\/strong> I knew of Porter from his work on Pose<\/em> and at least by reputation from his stellar work on Broadway, but when this album appeared a month ago, it was one of the more pleasant surprises of the year, as Porter brings both his vocal talents and outsized personality to this record that mixes effusive dance numbers with lyrical introspection. The 54-year-old Porter had released four previous albums, but this is his first foray into popular music, a 12-song exploration of much of his personal history through dance, disco, and funk tracks \u2013 and it is just a blast to listen to. Standouts include \u201cChildren\u201d (two versions), \u201cFunk is on the One,\u201d and \u201cBaby Was a Dancer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10. Creeper \u2013 Sanguivore<\/em>.<\/strong> Creeper\u2019s second album, Sex, Death & the Infinite Void<\/em>, was my #2 album of 2020<\/a>, and while I think this one is a little less exciting overall, it\u2019s still a very strong effort from this gothic post-punk act that, aside from one awful track, is the rare concept album that keeps you in its thrall from start to finish. (\u201cThe Ballad of Spook and Mercy\u201d is just embarrassing.) There\u2019s something extremely \u201880s about the whole endeavor \u2013 the opening bars of \u201cTeenage Sacrifice\u201d could easily be a hair-metal band circa 1987, while elsewhere they sound like they\u2019d be on tour with Heaven 17 and the Blow Monkeys about five years earlier. Standouts include \u201cSacred Blasphemy,\u201d \u201cTeenage Sacrifice,\u201d and \u201cCry to Heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9. Yves Tumor \u2013 Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds)<\/em>.<\/strong> Sean Lee Bowie\u2019s fifth album melds psychedelic rock and shoegaze-esque guitars with electronica and funk for a record that\u2019s theatrical, bombastic, and utterly compelling. It\u2019s the album everyone thinks Lil\u2019 Yachty made. Standouts include \u201cLovely Sewer,\u201d \u201cHeaven Surrounds Us Like a Hood,\u201d \u201cGod Is a Circle,\u201d and \u201cEcholalia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. Corinne Bailey Rae \u2013 Black Rainbows<\/em>. <\/strong>Rae has moved a long way from the neo-soul sound of \u201cPut Your Records On\u201d and her acclaimed self-titled debut album back in 2006. Black Rainbows<\/em> might be the most unexpected album of the year, inspired (according to Rae) by an exhibit on Black history she saw at Chicago\u2019s Stony Island Arts Bank. Her voice is still strong and carries songs whether she goes loud or smooth, but the music here is all over the place, even veering into punk\/hardcore and electronica, rather than the jazzy soul where she\u2019s typically resided. It\u2019s extremely ambitious and for the most part achieves its goals. Standouts include \u201cNew York Transit Queen,\u201d \u201cErasure,\u201d and \u201cA Spell, A Prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Slowdive \u2013 Everything is Alive<\/em>.<\/strong> Slowdive were darlings in the original shoegaze movement, with their 1993 album Souvlaki <\/em>one of the peaks of the genre, but after they shifted their sound for 1995\u2019s Pygmalion<\/em> just as Britpop was exploding, they lost their record deal and broke up for 17 years. They returned to recording with 2017\u2019s Slowdive<\/em>, a majestic return towards their initial sound, and now have followed it up with an even better album that I think translates 1990s shoegaze through a 2023 lens. I\u2019ve seen at least two stories on the current shoegaze revival from Pitchfork<\/a> (which includes a lot of artists that aren\u2019t really shoegaze) and Steregum<\/a>, both of which highlight Slowdive\u2019s place and the fact that they\u2019ve reached new commercial heights since their re-formation. Highlights include \u201calife,\u201d \u201cthe slab,\u201d and \u201cskin in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Sampha \u2013 Lahai<\/em>.<\/strong> Maybe I just missed the boat on Sampha\u2019s debut album Process<\/em>, which won him the Mercury Prize in 2017, but I am all about this album, his long-awaited follow-up, which follows a theme you\u2019ll see a lot in my top six albums \u2013 a real sense of restraint, with simpler and even minimalist arrangements that run so counter to contemporary pop standards. Sampha\u2019s higher-register voice might be drowned out by louder or richer accompaniments, but the electro-soul sounds across Lahai<\/em> tend to highlight and elevate his vocals instead. Standouts include \u201cSpirit 2.0,\u201d \u201cOnly,\u201d \u201cSuspended,\u201d and \u201cJonathan L. Seagull.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Geese \u2013 3D Country<\/em>.<\/strong> Geese\u2019s debut album Projector <\/em>felt like these then-teenagers had been locked in a room with nothing but records by Wire, Gang of Four, and Television for several months, so their follow-up record\u2019s turn into an experimental m\u00e9lange of post-punk, space country, hillbilly rock, screamo, and more genres that musicians this age have no business knowing so well was a huge surprise. Even more of a surprise was how well it works: 3D Country <\/em>could have been one big joke, but even when you can hear Geese having fun, they\u2019re still serious musicians and the craft here is evident. They get a lot of \u201cjam band\u201d labels, but I think that\u2019s more about critics who don\u2019t know how to categorize them. Standouts include \u201cCowboy Nudes,\u201d the title track, and \u201cMysterious Love,\u201d although I don\u2019t think any three tracks could give you an accurate sense of the overall sound here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Arlo Parks \u2013 My Soft Machine<\/em>.<\/strong> Parks\u2019s follow-up to her Mercury Prize-winning debut album Collapsed in Sunbeams<\/em> sees the English singer-songwriter expanding her sonic palette to include more electronic elements and richer instrumentation, but her voice and lyrics remain the heart of her music. (She even credited some surprising influences, including shoegaze pioneers My Bloody Valentine and the 2022 album Skinty Fia<\/em> by Fontaines D.C.) Standout tracks include \u201cImpurities,\u201d \u201cWeightless,\u201d \u201cDevotion,\u201d \u201cBruises,\u201d and her cover of Jai Paul\u2019s \u201cJasmine\u201d for the album\u2019s deluxe edition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Jorja Smith \u2013 falling or flying<\/em>.<\/strong> Jorja Smith is a god-damned treasure. The English chanteuse got a Mercury nomination with her 2018 debut album Lost & Found<\/em>, then teased with an eight-song EP in 2021 called Be Right Back<\/em> before returning this year with her triumphant second LP. Often miscategorized as just an R&B singer, Smith moves seamlessly across styles from soul to jazz to blues to trip-hop, but the unifying forces here are her vocals and her minimalist approach. Everything she does puts her voice front and center, and even when you know there must be myriad instrumental tracks, it sounds spare, giving the sense that you\u2019re witnessing an intimate performance \u2013 a welcome antidote to the overproduced sounds of most popular music today. Standouts include the title track, \u201cLittle Things,\u201d and \u201cTry Me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Noname \u2013 Sundial<\/em>.<\/strong> Noname appeared to have quit the music industry in November of 2019 and cancelled her sophomore album, Factory Baby<\/em>, but returned to live performances in the summer of 2022 and released a new second album, Sundial<\/em>, this past August. It\u2019s a tour de force of modern hip-hop, with some of the most intelligent lyrics you\u2019ll hear from any MC and a style that reflects the influences across rap\u2019s fifty-year history, while the music over which she drops her rhymes ranges from R&B to jazz to alternative electronic. Standout tracks include \u201cOblivion\u201d with Common and Ayoni, \u201cNamesake,\u201d and \u201cBlack Mirror.\u201d I couldn\u2019t put this album at #1, however, given the guest appearance of antisemite Jay Electronica, who even drops a reference to the Rothschilds in his verse and claims the Ukraine war is a hoax; Noname said she didn\u2019t care what people said about his inclusion, but I don\u2019t think there\u2019s ever a good reason to platform someone who expresses hateful views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Young Fathers \u2013 Heavy Heavy<\/em>.<\/strong> I loved this album when it came out, then set it aside for much of the year, then revisited it for this list \u2013 and because of their stunning performance on KEXP<\/a> \u2013 and fell in love with it again. It\u2019s experimental, exuberant, explosive, and full of great hooks. \u201cI Saw\u201d made my top 100 songs of 2022, and would be in the top 10 this year if I hadn\u2019t already included it last year, while \u201cRice,\u201d \u201cGeronimo,\u201d and \u201cDrum\u201d are all standouts. The Scottish trio started out as primarily an alternative hip-hop act, but have expanded their sound over the past twelve years to include more elements of soul, indietronica, dance, and Afrobeat in their style. They won a Mercury Prize in 2014 for their debut album Dead<\/em>, but that is now, at most, their third-best album after this and 2018\u2019s Cocoa Sugar<\/em>. Nobody sounds like Young Fathers because nobody could.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year turned out to be a very good one for albums, better than last year, but worse for individual tracks, which I\u2019ll talk about a little more when that ranking goes up. I was afraid I\u2019d struggle to keep up my gimmick of doing a ranking as long as the last two digits of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1328,359,609,167,852,747,260,919],"class_list":["post-10115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-2023-in-music","tag-alternative","tag-hip-hop","tag-indie","tag-music","tag-post-punk","tag-rankings","tag-shoegaze","entry"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10115"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10115\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10120,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10115\/revisions\/10120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}