That Wonderful Year in Music... 2023

No bones about it, 2023 was a freewheeling and unpredictable year for music. It was a year of hard left turns, reunions, unlikely collaborations, and several releases that were better than they had any right to be. This year's list is as expansive as it's ever been, yet I'm sure there are omissions. This was also an abnormally strong year for jazz; in fact, I'd argue my favorite album of the year was technically a jazz recording. Let's dig in:

BEST ROCK/POP ALBUMS

1. Guts, Olivia Rodrigo. After recording one of the more impressive pop debuts in recent

memory (2021’s Sour, also a high finisher on my annual list) Rodrigo continues to straddle

the line between adolescence and adulthood, yet emerges as an even stronger songwriter.

Her not-quite-sophomoric sophomore effort leans more toward the vicious punk-pop of “Good

4 U” than the reflective balladry of “Driver’s License.” Rather than keep hitting mid-2000s

nostalgia in the stomach, Rodrigo builds something familiar yet new.

2. Javelin, Sufjan Stevens. Spiritual themes are nothing new in Stevens’ oeuvre. Love and

heartbreak are not unfamiliar topics in music. Put together, however, Stevens creates his

most idyllic and engagingly ethereal work in a good while. Nine of the ten songs are Stevens’

own (the album closer is a Neil Young cover) and Sufjan plays every instrument except on

one track; Stevens’ DIY, unaccompanied approach to songcraft is an intriguing bookend to

his 2003 breakthrough Michigan, but the drama feels organic and less pretentious.

3. 10,000 gecs, 100 gecs. A gloriously cacophonous prank of an album. Two savants make

top-tier hyperpop, veering and jutting around for 27 unpredictable minutes, spoofing

everything from ska to doo-wop. It’s a feast for the ears, in the sense that one appreciates

filet mignon and White Castle on the same plate.

4. Desire, I Want To Turn Into You, Caroline Polachek 5. Let's Start Here, Lil Yachty 6. The Record, Boygenius 7. Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. Lana Del Rey 8. Leaving, Fran 9. The First Two Pages of Frankenstein, The National 10. Food For Worms, Shame 11. Stereo Mind Game, Daughter 12. Norm, Andy Shauf 13. The Age of Pleasure, Janelle Monae 14. Scaring the Hoes, JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown 15. Unreal Unearth, Hozier 16. Sundial, Noname 17. Red Moon in Venus, Kali Uchis 18. Water Made Us, Jamila Woods 19. The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We, Mitski 20. Playing Robots Into Heaven, James Blake

Honorable Mention: Cousin, Wilco.

Best Album, Senior Division: The Rolling Stones’ anti-nostalgic Hackney Diamonds

Second Best Album, Senior Division: Paul Simon’s Old Testament pivot, Seven Psalms

Third Best Album, Senior Division: Bob Dylan (Taylor’s Version), aka Shadow Kingdom

Best Song, Senior Division: The Beatles’ AI-assisted “Now and Then”

Worst… Everything, Senior Division: Roger Waters’ mumbly, unnecessary re-recording of Dark Side of the Moon

BEST JAZZ ALBUMS

1. Fly or Die III (world war), Jaimie Branch. A posthumous release (Branch died suddenly in 2022, when this was in post-production), the third album from her Fly of Die ensemble wasn’t necessarily intended to cap a trilogy. What a way to go out, though: everything about this album is vibrant and teeming with life. Branch lets her punk-jazz freak flag fly, seamlessly inserting some psychedelic accents. I finished listening in exhilaration, which soon turned to melancholy, as III only teased at what a Fly or Die IV would’ve sounded like.

2. Mélusine, Cecile McLorin Salvant

3. Triogram, Triogram

4. Your Mother Should Know, Brad Mehldau

5. Brand New Life, Brandee Younger

6. Solo, Benny Green

7. In Real Time, Artemis

8. Book of Queens, Krasno/Moore Project

9. After Dark, Chris Hazelton

10. New Blue Sun, Andre 3000

Best Jazz Reissue: Evenings at the Village Gate, John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy

BEST SINGLES

"The Drop," Sports Team

"Evergreen," Mount Joy

"brrr," Kim Petras

"Nothing's Free," Angel Olson

"This Is Why," Paramore

"Wings of Time," Tame Impala

"No More Lies," Thundercat feat. Tame Impala

"Ring of Past," Men I Trust

"Slipstream," Django Django

"Mermaid Vampire," Susto

"One Like You," LP

"Forgiving Ties," Deer Tick

"Nothing Matters," The Last Dinner Party

“Angelcover,” The New Pornographers

“Sometimes,” Mannequin Pussy

BEST VIDEOS

1. “VOID,” Melanie Martinez. Surreal, gross, WTF… unforgettable.

2. "Back On 74," Jungle. Sometimes a great video doesn't need a complex premise. This British duo has a history of making clips with insane choreography, and this time they really outdid themselves.

3. "What They Call Us," Fever Ray. This reminds me of some of my old temp jobs.

4. "Make Way," Protomartyr. I mean, it's science, right?

5. "Free Yourself," Jessie Ware. Madonna might have faded into sad irrelevance, but the artists she influenced have carried the torch and then some. 

Honorable Mentions: "Feel Good," by Slowthai (Surprise!) and "Anything To Be With You," by Carly Rae Jepsen (It's hard for me to say no to any clip that was shot in Chicago at 3 AM).

Your thoughts?

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That Wonderful Year in Music... 2021

  

Remember what I said last December about how arts and culture frequently mirrors its time and surroundings? 2021 was a slog, only marginally better than 2020, but not without its slow-burn trauma and various frustrations. Bands finally started performing live again, and festivals returned in a smaller, wonkier fashion. The true output of 2020’s duress blossomed in ‘21, not only in music but most forms of media. This was the strongest year for pop music in a good while, but indie rock and rap also had some highlights. For all my personal stuff this year, however, Spotify remained a refuge, and I’m glad I paid to listen to all of this without commercial interruption.

BEST POP/ROCK ALBUMS:

1. Jubilee, Japanese Breakfast. Don’t let radio overplay of “Be Sweet” perturb you. This throwback to early 2000s chamber-pop is a delightful mix of melodically immediate songs and gorgeous songwriting, with surprises at every turn. Between this and her well-received memoir, Michelle Zauner had an incomparable 2021. 

2. For The First Time, Black Country, New Road. 2021’s most fascinating debut album uses punk as a base for this British septet’s uncanny musicianship and myriad experiments. The leadoff track “Instrumental” is celebratory klezmer, which segues into “Athens, France,” a track that evokes late 80s indie rock heroes Slint. A second album is already in post-production and set for a February 2022 release, and I can’t wait.

3. SOUR, Olivia Rodrigo. If my #2 album was the most fascinating debut, then SOUR was the most revelatory. Without delving into the “voice of Gen Z” cliché that critics overused, this is a pop record as self-aware as any in recent memory, devoid of filler and a solid sampler of Rodrigo’s varying musical tastes. “Drivers License” is a gorgeous ballad, and “Good 4 U” is a deliriously brutal emo-punk breakup song.

4. Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, Little Simz

5. Any Shape You Take, Indigo De Souza

6. Collapsed in Sunbeams, Arlo Parks

7. Valentine, Snail Mail

8. Call Me If You Get Lost, Tyler the Creator

9. Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land, Marina

10. 30, Adele. After six years of relative silence –give or take an embarrassing Instagram post or left-field SNL hosting stint– the British singer’s fourth LP is her most intimate and unguarded work. Ms. Adkins is a divorced mom now, and she’s going through some stuff. “Easy on Me” breaks down the split, while “I Drink Wine” pairs well with early Elton John. 

Honorable Mentions: Conversation Peace, Damu The Fudgemunk; Cool Dry Place, Katy Kirby; Bless My Psyche, Sincere Engineer; Soursob [EP], Soursob; Ignorance, The Weather Station.

BEST JAZZ ALBUMS

1. Promises, Pharaoh Sanders & Floating Points. Even when an album is only jazz in the loosest sense –this could arguably be an electronica album, or classical, or as Yusef Lateef would call it, just music– this was an album about healing when we needed it most. The 80-something Sanders juts from one idea to another, with Floating Points (British composer Sam Shepherd) building a lush sonic playground that the sax great can bounce around on.

2. Sounds from the Ancestors, Kenny Garrett

3. Uneasy, Vijay Iyer/Linda May Han Oh/Tyshawn Sorey

4. Metamorphosis, John Moulder

5. Luna '68, The City Champs

Honorable Mention: Triangle (Formwela 1-3) [EP], Esperanza Spaulding.

BEST SONGS (outside of the albums previously mentioned)

"Girls & Boys," Viagra Boys

"Impostor," Miss Grit

"All You Ever Wanted," Rag n' Bone Man

"Fire for You," Cannons

"Pay Your Way In Pain," St. Vincent 

"Hey Michael," Wallice

"Remember That Night?" Sara Kays

"Rainforest," Noname

"Scratchcard Lanyard," Dry Cleaning

"Lilys," Warpaint

"City Wide," Sean Danger Smith

"Midnight Wine," Shannon & The Clams

"Folie a Deux," Mach-Hommy feat. Westside Gunn

"Freaks," Surf Curse

"Jeff Goldblum," Mattiel

"Telepath," Manchester Orchestra

"The Hardest Cut," Spoon

"Paranoia Party," Frances Forever 

"BFIOU," Birds of Maya

"Right on Time," Brandi Carlile

BEST VIDEOS

1. "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)," Lil Nas X. The devil made him do it.  

2. "If You Say The Word," Radiohead. You really can't expect any Radiohead clip to be happy-go-lucky. This satire of late-stage capitalism is somewhat ambiguous about who is the hunter, but there's little questioning who's the hunted.

3. "Delusions of Grandeur," Bad Waitress. Not *quite* a "Midsommar" pastiche, but damn, this Toronto quartet can hit the power chords.

4. "Arrows," Red Fang. Ooh, a sword! 

5. "Worry With You," Sleater-Kinney. The best video of 2021 clearly inspired by the early days of the 2020 pandemic.

Honorable Mentions: "Be Sweet," Japanese Breakfast (“Friday nights on UPN”) and "Chaise Lounge," Wet Leg (Is this considered cottage-core?)

Your thoughts?

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