Hey there folks. Here's a list of my 25 favorite (and therefor the best) albums of 2023.
I've been making these lists on this blog since 2013. I recently claimed that this will be last year-end albums list. I stand by that. I absolutely want to keep making music lists. And I want to keep up with new releases. But it's come to mess up the comfortable view of music I used to have.
See, I listened to 80 new albums in 2023. But also, this year, I revisited zero (0) albums from 2022. It's just hard for anything new to stick with me. Maybe it's because new music sucks, but I think it has to do with me thinking too critically to feel any momentary inspiration or enjoyment.
That being said, I'm not sure about the shelf-life of the bottom half of this list. But the stuff towards the top is stellar. Some of my favorite albums of this decade.
As usual from me, here are a few honorable mentions...
- Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit Weathervanes
- Noname Sundial
- Matana Roberts Coin Coin Chapter Five: In the garden...
And here's the actual list...
This first section is kind of a shitstorm of bands I have a love/hate relationship with. Very flawed music. Some of it too ironic for its own good. But I choose to applaud them for that. Pretty much interchangeable rankings.
25 100 gecs 10,000 gecs
24 MSPAINT Post-American
23 Home Is Where the whaler
22 shame Food for Worms
21 Model/Actriz Dogsbody
20 Hotline TNT Cartwheel
This section is much more tasteful. I have my bones to pick here, but solid listens compared to the competition. Also interchangeable rankings.
19 Kali Uchis Red Moon In Venus
18 McKinley Dixon Beloved! Paradise! Jazz?!
17 Yves Tumor Praise A Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds)
16 Amaarae Fountain Baby
15 ANOHNI and the Johnsons My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross
14 Mitski The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We
13 Gia Margaret Romantic Piano
Another interchangeable section, only these are albums I think could make my top 10 any given year. They're awesome. And I could write very long reviews of each of these.
12 Lana Del Rey Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd
11 Joanna Sternberg I've Got Me
10 Jeff Rosenstock HELLMODE
9 Wiki & Tony Seltzer 14k Figaro
8 Liturgy 93696
I think very highly of this top 7. I honestly have had a hard time connecting with new music in the 2020's. But all of these really scratched my itch. Excellent production quality, unique songwriting... I see myself coming back to this stuff in years to come. Here's another interchangeable section before we get to the very very top.
7 billy woods & Kenny Segal Maps
6 Parannoul After the Magic
5 Caroline Polachek Desire, I Want To Turn Into You
4 Armand Hammer We Buy Diabetic Test Strips
In my heart, I don't really know what my album of the year is. But it's one of these three. So yes, even my top 3 is interchangeable. But it's the strongest, most exciting top 3 I've listened to in years.
3 Lonnie Holley Oh Me Oh My
2 Kara Jackson Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love?
1 Sufjan Stevens Javelin
