Best Albums of 2023
Moving cities and working remotely meant that I’ve had a lot more time to discover new music in 2023 (read: I have no friends). Whittling this list down to fifty proved difficult! (Sorry Lana, Liv.e, Oneohtrix Point Never, Julie Bryne, Upsammy and others).
I don’t have anything big to say about ‘what music meant in 2023’ other than it meant a lot, as it always does. But there were some fun trends. Log drums were everywhere. Club sounds from South Africa, Uganda, Nigeria and Brazil all rightfully garnered more mainstream attention. Electronic music got shinier, glossier and sillier. Country, both brilliant and utterly terrible, took over the charts. Finland made a classic Eurovision song. Ambient was bloody everywhere, even on Andre 3000 albums. Oh yeah, that happened, too. It was a fun year, at least for music.
Here are my fifty favourite albums of the year. I’ll be posting my favourite songs, as well as my Bylines of 2023 soon.
Much love to you. x
50. Anthony Naples - Orbs
49. Ratboys - The Window
48. King Krule - sPacE hEavy
47. Helena Deland - Goodnight Summerland
46. Danny Brown - Quaranta
45. Greg Mendez - Greg Mendez (no relation)
44. Cloth - Secret Measure
43. Jeff Rosenstock - HELLMODE
42. Kara Jackson - Why Does The Earth Give Us People To Love?
41. Pangaea - Changing Channels
40. AUNTY RAYZOR - Viral Wreckage [Album of the Week]
39. Comfort - What's Bad Enough?
38. Parannoul - After the Magic
37. debby friday - Good Luck
36. Shapednoise - Absurd Matter [Album of the Week]
35. Jam City - Jam City Presents EFM
34. Kate NV - WOW [Album of the Week]
33. Asake - Work Of Art
32. Hitech - DÉTWAT
31. Wednesday - Rat Saw God
30. Ryuichi Sakamoto - 12
29. CMAT - Crazymad, For Me
28. Young Fathers - Heavy Heavy
27. Caroline Polachek - Desire, I Want to Turn Into You
26. Mike - Burning Desire
25. Purelink - Signs
Signs is the record equivalent of lying down in the field from The Windows XP Desktop background. Its high-definition utopian reimagining of ambient techno holds its own against the genre’s heavyweights like Gas and Luomo. The Chicago trio have made a peaceful and surprising vista, and their best record so far. [Ambient techno; the sound of 1999 and also 2023]
24. Pink Siifu & Turich Benjy - It's Too Quiet..'!!
As usual, there were a couple Pink Siifu records I could have chosen. His range is unbelievable. While the stoned practice-room vibe of Leather Blvd with Ahwlee was impressive, it’s his full-length collaboration with Turich Benjy that hit hardest for me. It’s Too Quiet..’!! is a wild and charismatic offering that switches moods on the fly. It’s dense and lavish. Part of the fun is trying to predict what they’ll cook up next. You’re nearly always wrong. [Southern rap; soul; trap; experimental]
23. feeble little horse - Girl With Fish
Undoubtedly one of the most exciting “guitar records” of the year, Girl with Fish also crams constant earworms into its 26 minutes. The band’s scrappy and charming approach has been honed so artfully here, and it doesn’t hurt that I’ve been humming ‘do you wanna be in my pocket’ for months now. [indie rock; Post-Alex-G bangers; sounds like Brooklyn but it’s really Pittsburgh]
22. underscores - Wallsocket
I’m embarrassed to admit that I’d half-dismissed this record before putting it on. There are a lot of buzzy hyperpop records getting heaped with effusive praise in 2023. How wrong I was! underscores write funny, bleak and bit-crushed songs set in the middlest of middle-America. April Harper Grey unearth’s late 2000s pop-trash for her own devices. Its dense concept worms its way into your brain as you repeat the songs, simply because of how fun they are. Good Luck! [Indie pop; hyperpop; what the teen on the bus is listening to]
21. Sofia Kourtesis - Madres
Sofia Kourtesis is the kind of musician who is easy to root for. She writes warm and empathetic dance music that takes pain and turns it into catharsis. She’s an impeccable live performer, and has worked in the background in the industry for a while. I was excited for her debut record, for all these reasons, but I wasn’t expecting it to be as good as it is. Kourtesis makes music that’s all about emotion and ecstasy (not that kind, but also kind of). Every decision is fine-tuned to allow the listener to feel it. [House; Latin electronic; good vibes]
20. Chini.png - El día libre de Polux
Indie rock is at its best when it feels like a true alternative. Many of the biggest rock acts today doggedly relive their past - or worse, the past of other better bands. This leads to conservative and boring records. Sorry, The National, you made me feel old this year. This wonky and creative rock record is a real gem, in no small part because Chini.png follows her own impulses. It’s not about the individual sounds - the record pulls from psych textures your average Tame Impala fan would get into - but it’s the enthusiasm, diversity and energy that’s brought to every track. [Chilean Indie Rock; goodsongs.png]
19. Surgeon - Crash Recoil
Four decades into his career as a producer and DJ, Anthony Child is still exciting and surprising. These tracks began their life as live improvisations. They retain that risk/reward spirit on record. Metallic squeals and churns become familiar patterns that keep the momentum flowing. Ideas are stretched to breaking point. Limitations are used as an advantage. It’s masterful. [electronic; it basically sounds like the album cover]
18. Yeule - softscars
I wrote a capsule review of this record back when it was released. Often, when you’ve got 200 words to play with, you can either be very general (“it’s good!”) or very specific (“this idea is cool!”). For my softscars review, I decided to focus on Yeule’s AI persona, and why it works where many others (Grimes) fall short. In retrospect, that might have been underselling just how brilliant this album is, on all the various levels. For one, Yeule is outgrowing that description. This is a deeply human record about alienation, self-acceptance, the body and the mind. That it uses robotics and AI to get across some of its themes is secondary. It creates a thematic barrier so that listeners are forced to lean in and pay attention. When they do, there’s a human on the other side. [dreampop; shoegaze; violent tenderness]
17. Brìghde Chaimbeul - Carry Them with Us
Brìghde Chaimbeul emphasises the beauty and hypnotism that are inherent to pipes, at least in the right hands. Carry Them With Us is timeless and of the present. Its elegance and darkness is rare within modern pipe records. After all, they aren’t the easiest things to engineer. This is in part thanks to her partnership with Colin Stetson, who has long brought beauty, guts and bluster to his own instrumental records. All emphasis is understandably on Chaimbeul as a player. She carries the whole set on her shoulders. Her writing and playing stuns constantly, which is maybe why its impact is being felt outside of trad’s immediate circle. [trad; handpipes; a great album with a terrible cover]
16. L'Rain - I Killed Your Dog [Full Review]
L’Rain has jokingly called I Killed Your Dog her “basic bitch” record. I can’t wait to hear her sophisticated bitch album, because this is a record that gives and gives. It’s stuffed with ideas, inversions and emotions. It’s a chillout record for chronic overthinkers, and my favourite thing to write about all year. You can find my full review above. [indie rock; psych; experimental; an apocalyptic take on sunshine pop]
15. ML Buch - Suntub
To use the title of a Kim Gordon essay, music on the internet has no context. Often, that’s to its detriment. Songs are flattened when stacked next to unrelated songs as playlist fodder. But sometimes, it can be a benefit. The wandering, alien textures on Suntub make you sit up and pay attention. The mystery of what it is and who made it might add to the charm. But Suntub only gets better when you have that context, when you’re familiar with Danish songwriter ML Buch’s work. For example, most of the vocals were recorded in her car, as close to the sea as she could get. If you felt like you were drifting away while listening, is comforting to know she was too. [Dreampop; instrumental guitar jams; there’s a song called ‘Flames Shards Goo’ on it]
14. John Francis Flynn - Look Over the Wall, See the Sky
Part of your job if you’re an Irish folk musician like John Francis Flynn is to preserve the bones of the songs you covering for new generations. Even when altering everything but the lyrics, which he often does, he carries the soul of these tunes, along with all the time, dirt and decay that’s come since. Flynn deconstructs and recontextualises songs from Ireland’s recent and ancient past. Like early influence Shane MacGowan, he can disarm you with a slurred, mumbling delivery. Through these are stories of loneliness and despair, it’s the communal connection that’s felt most. [Irish folk; traditional; glass of midori, anyone?]
13. Nihiloxica - Source Of Denial [Full Review]
With rising costs and precarious travel options, touring life is tougher for all. It's harder for people from countries like Uganda who work as part of a global outfit. Slow and intentionally convoluted immigration practices make it near-impossible for musicians to work freely across borders. Nihiloxica had a whole UK tour cancelled in 2022 because of visa issues, overseen by a profit-driven 'service centre' which manages queries for a growing number of countries. The process was debilitating for the band, and dehumanising for its members. In response, they made Source Of Denial, a tense and compelling suite of tracks which challenges the detached and evil immigration systems of Britain and beyond. [Bugandan Drums Meets UK Bass; “Wait is this metal?”]
12. Maria BC - Spike Field
Spike Field is an album built on moments of clarity. Its eerie landscapes swirl around like jumbled thoughts, until they click into place and reveal a clear emotion. These moments are some of the most emotionally affecting pieces of music I’ve heard this year. Sometimes, it’s a depressive fog lifting. Other times, it’s anger building to rage. Maria BC’s stunning writing and singing capture it all. [Indie Folk; Glitch; For fans of Grouper and nuclear warning signs]
11. amaarae - Fountain Baby
Slick, sugary and inventive, Fountain Baby is everything you could want from a pop record. Pulling from various strains of international club music, art pop and punk, Amaarae underlines herself as a commanding pop polymath. Her sweet soprano vocal delivers mammoth hooks, and makes filthy lines sound charming and innocent. It’s the kind of thing that’ll make a pasty 28-year-old say “her mind” on the bus, completely unembarrassed. [Art Pop; Afropop; there’s a song on here about Astrology and I STILL like it]
10. Chuquimamani-Condori - DJ E
DJ E is a record that’ll make you burst out crying for what seems like no reason. It’s dense. It overwhelms. There’s thrill in its unwieldy unmastered mix. But that’s not usually enough to make me cry. After many listens, I’ve realised that DJ E presents all emotions at once. Shock, loss, nostalgia, ecstasy, perseverance, hilarity, everything. That’s what hits you. Inspired by the Andean music of their heritage, E Crampton Chuquimia has perhaps made a career-best record. As they write for Fact, “this is the sound of our water ceremonies…the 40 bands playing their melodies at once to recreate the cacophony of the first aurora and the call of the morning star Venus.” [Sound Collage; Midi flutes to cry to]
9. Lankum - False Lankum
It’s been lovely to see Lankum breakthrough so far into their career, with an album as dark and doomy as anything they’ve done. What sets False Lankum apart is the breathing space. Songs like ‘Newcastle’ are as comforting and peaceful as they are because of the apocalyptic atmosphere around them. On ‘The New York Trader’ and ‘Lord Abore and Mary Flynn’, they strip away the atmosphere and thrill through their interplay and skills as harmonisers. [Irish Folk; “wait is this metal?”]
8. Sampha - Lahai
Lahai is about striving for perfection - perfect love, perfect morals, perfect music - and why that might be missing the point. Sampha learns how to put more faith in others and himself, and how to be caught by those around him instead of constantly moving upwards. It’s a gorgeous record that captures the feeling of flying, as used in his extended Johnathon L. Seagull flight motif. If that all sounds a bit self-help-y, I get you. Records of this size can often feel ‘Important’ rather than any fun to listen to, but the passion in these songs makes them nothing other than a blast. Kwake Bass’s incredible drum performances are worth a listen on their own. [Art Pop; Neo-Soul; Self Help but good]
7. Sufjan Stevens - Javelin
We’d understand if Sufjan Stevens lost his optimism with all that the world has thrown at him, but Javelin stands as a celebration of beauty, hope and creation as much as it is a painful personal excavation. There’s love and connection built into it. Even his voice is surrounded by other voices and instruments. It also stands as his strongest collection of songs since Illinois. I knew I was going to live with it on first listen. [Indie Folk (sad); Chamber pop (sad); no it’s not metal, (it’s sad)]
6. Nourished By Time - Erotic Probiotic 2
Transmitting straight to your soul from his parent's basement in Baltimore, Nourished By Time is going to make you feel good. On Erotic Probiotic 2, he uses the dusty bedroom pop aesthetic for his own devices, showcasing his ingenuity and heart through infectious and occasionally goofy songs. Written during a bout of depression at the tail end of a relationship, the record wrestles for positivity and joy. It’s a raw outpouring of expression. Like he sings, “You gotta shed that fear of passin' away / In order to live your life every day”. [Art Pop; Bedroom Pop; post-Dean Blunt indie; terrible album name; great album name;]
5. Nondi_ - Flood City Trax
Nondi_ found her passion for footwork and Detroit techno through the internet. Like many young people, her interest began outside of the club setting, and so her imagination filled in the gaps. Rather than having to present something functional for the dancefloor, she makes personal, diaristic and off-kilter songs that are as adventurous and as they are conceptual. Flood City Trax was made about her home of Johnstown, and the feeling of isolation that comes from living in a poor area. She captures the anxiety and decay of her surroundings, but also the dreams of the future that come from having a spark of creativity. It’s an exciting and singular listen. [Footwork; Techno; Ambient but like the opposite of Eno]
4. James Holden - Imagine This Is A High Dimensional Space of All Possibilities
Seeing this album performed live cemented its brilliance, for me. Holden envisaged the record as a chance to explore uncynical and naive dance music fun. It was the record he’d wanted to make since he was a teenager. If a jam feels good, he’ll keep it riding for ten minutes. Or, he might just melt the drums away and explore stunning pad sounds for a while. With its invention, optimism and quiet spirituality, Holden captures the wonder you might feel when hearing dance music for the first time. He makes it still feel like a secret. Teenage James would be proud. [Electronic; Wahey, it’s Ambient]
3. Kelela - Raven
As BPMs rise in the clubs, Kelela is slowing down. As she wrote on Raven’s announcement: “I started this process from the feeling of isolation and alienation I’ve always had as a Black femme in dance music, despite its Black origins. Raven is my first breath in the dark”. It’s a bold mission statement, and one that she nails with commanding vocals, assured production choices and a focus on vulnerability as a source of power. If you allow yourself to slow down with her, and sink into the deep pool of this record, your eyes will adjust to the dark soon enough. She succeeds by following no one’s orders but her own. [Electronic; R&B; Ambient but **nty]
2. ANOHNI and the Johnsons - My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross [Full Review]
ANOHNI’s return to her ‘and the Johnsons’ moniker is a classic protest record that rallys for the planet and for the marginalised. Her brash and direct lyrical style is devastating throughout, like on the opening moments of ‘Scapegoat’: ‘You’re so killable / Just so killable / It’s not personal / just the way you were born’” Written in one-take sessions with a jam band, her performances match these lines with urgency and panic. Pain colours My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross, but there’s also an abundance of life, and an outstretched hand. ANOHNI documents it all, to nourish those who move forward. [Art Pop; Soul; I Can’t Believe It’s Not Ambient!]
1. Billy Woods & Kenny Segal - Maps [Full Review]
Billy Woods will not be at soundcheck. On Maps, the Brooklyn rapper is a world-wise curmudgeon, maintaining his humanity in the no man's land of overseas touring. Instead of glamorous boat trips and afterparties, it’s EasyJet layovers, gentrified weed and missed FaceTime calls. Touring is tough for any independent musician. It’s even tougher when dealing with ‘survivor’s guilt with a side of buyer’s remorse’, as he raps on NYC Tapwater.
His frequent production partner Kenny Segal matches the dread, humour and heart found in the lyrics with grit–flecked beats. Like Nas/Hit-Boy or Little Simz/Inflo, the duo have a rare bond. It’s allowed them to create a tone and story that’s all their own.
There are, of course, countless quotables and killer punchlines with a writer as sharp as Woods. Every beat delivers. We expect that, now. But what’s made Maps connect beyond his cult fanbase is its focused themes and personal approach. Never has Woods sounded more open than when rapping about taking his kid to the park after a hectic tour. Moments like Agriculture and Hangman are emotional gut-punches that explain and elevate his slippery and standoffish demeanour. And after the twentieth listen, it’s still revealing secrets. [Hip-Hop; Curmudgeon raps for smoking alone in a cardigan]
