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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Random Notes, December 2023

 St. Nicholas' Day was over a week ago, but here's some candy for your shoe: 

+ A few months ago, I shared a eulogy of sorts for my aunt, Kay Allard while trying to uncover the communication breakdown behind her passing. As a last resort, my sister reached out to our lawyer to find her lawyer; a couple days later, we both had a 10 minute phone conversation with the woman handling our aunt's estate. As it turns out, both of the designated trustees in her will, her husband and my father, are both long dead. My sister has volunteered to jump in as the new trustee, and to my understanding we have some cooperation from her stepson in Florida. We may have also inherited some debt. Stay tuned. 

+ The Biden impeachment is a waste of time, energy, and money. In pandering to right-wing propaganda (and voters who gobble up said propaganda) the GOP is frittering away whatever advantages they have in Congress on an investigation where there is little evidence that connects the president to his son's various vices. 

+ In the wake of Donald Trump's "dictator on day one" remark, imagine if Trump pulls a Grover Cleveland *and* Democrats win back the House. (I'm not as optimistic about the U.S. Senate, at least right now.)

+ I almost met David Letterman! In all honestly, I was nowhere near Dave and never have, but I caught wind of his Netflix show shooting one episode in Chicago and I was on the wait list for the taping. I even cleared out my Tuesday afternoon just in case, but for naught. What could have been...

Next time: my annual year in music blog.

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My 19th Annual Thanks/No Thanks List

Late November already? Fall is more than halfway over, and I'm in my usual denial stage; I insist on wearing a fleece jacket when a winter coat would probably suffice. It's also time to reflect, and as I have for nearly two decades I give thanks (and no thanks) to the things that affect my life. This hasn't been an easy year for me or most of my closest and dearest, but sometimes it's the little things. 

Thanks: an end to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes (and those who fought and directly benefitted), reconnecting with old friends and acquaintances, reinforcing my existing friendships, and that after 13 years my Keurig still works every morning. 

No Thanks: inflation, misinformation, miscommunication, antisemitism, Islamophobia, and the ongoing GOP clown car.

Enjoy your Turkey Day, friends. 

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James Swiglo, 1956-2008

My uncle died 15 years ago last week. I blogged my raw emotions the day he was buried, almost oblivious to the history that was being made that evening. I've also discussed my, uh, inheritance. 

Uncle Jim was a flawed man, but as I said a decade and a half ago, there will never be a right way to die at 52. Part of me can imagine him now at 67, gradually turning into his father (my grandpa), a reactionary grouch. Both of them had a fearful, paranoid side. Regardless, Jim was the kinder of the two. They had a volatile relationship that was sort of patched up when my grandfather died in August 2002, though I found it weird that Jim suddenly kept Chuck in a high regard after his passing. 

Jim's passing was a tipping point in my mid-20s. I was less than a year removed from college, and I was treading water. I was back in Downers Grove, isolated and kind of flailing. I did not want to spend my entire adult life living with my folks --like he did-- so it eventually inspired me to take improv classes. Also, this was the first in a string of deaths in my immediate family, mostly in my parents' generation, extending to my aunt's passing a few months ago.

For a lot of my relatives, their time had come. In my uncle's situation, he kept his pancreatic cancer under wraps until he couldn't; I learned a few years later that he turned down treatment. He was on borrowed time anyway, he surmised, but it also jibed with his pride and his frugality. (Again, he wasn't perfect.) My uncle and mother argued over how to take care of my grandmother, and with Ma taking the reins, Grandma was able to get more thorough assistance. Given everything that has gone on in the world (and my family) since 2008, maybe this "what if" is best left to my imagination.

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Random Notes, October 2023

 An early Happy Halloween to all:

+ In the 18-plus years I've been writing this blog, I've mostly (but not entirely) avoided discussing Israel and Palestine. It's a loaded, complicated subject, and no matter how informed my opinion might be, navigating over 75 years of strife is just outside my grasp. And yet, more than a few underqualified people have been sharing their purported insight since Bibi declared war on October 7th. Ultimately, more civilians than troops are dying in a region that has only seen imperialism, genocide and generational trauma in most of our lifetimes, and the sooner is ends the better.

+ I finished my last blog post not knowing Speaker Kevin McCarthy had fired his final salvo. The historical, yet rash decision to remove McCarthy as SOTHOR, followed by three-plus weeks of inter-party bickering has left us with a legislative branch with no function. The fissures of the GOP have been laid out for all to see, with three factions: far-right silverback gorillas, conservatives that are trying to curry favor with Trump (but quietly wished they didn't), and milquetoast moderates. Until Mike Johnson was elected today, I was about to suggest someone give Hakeem Jeffries the steering wheel.

+ I went to 29 baseball games this year. Call it cacoethes; I take advantage of my free time in the summer. Seeing minor league games is budget-friendlier than the big leagues, but I still had to adhere to a budget. This year, I saw MiLB games in four new cities (Round Rock, Louisville, Lansing, MI and Charlotte) and one new indie league venue (Crestwood, IL). Next year, given how much gas and airfare cost, I will probably be a little more modest.

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Random Notes, September 2023

 I write essays when I can. In the meantime: 

+ About two weeks ago, I attended my 20-year high school reunion. I tend to get anxious about reconnecting with people I haven't seen in a long time, and this event was no exception. I went to a fairly large high school in the Chicago suburbs, and getting over 500 people to agree on a day, time, and location was a Herculean effort, so that alone made my attendance an obligation. In the end, about 125 of us had an epic reminiscence at a Loyal Order of Moose lodge, guzzling domestic beer and eating mediocre delivery pizza.

+ The first Trump-free GOP debate was a futile exercise. The second was a hot mess. The uneasy slog to an inevitable Trump-Biden rematch continues, and the race to GOP second place truly offers no winners. 

+ Not to belabor the point, but the modern GOP really *can't* get their shit together. Speaker McCarthy has done little to prevent another government shutdown; his quench for congressional power apparently means kowtowing to the fringe right. 

+ Dianne Feinstein was a liberal stalwart and one of the first LGBTQ allies on the national political stage. She'll be missed, but like Ruth Bader Ginsburg before her, she held on for far longer than she needed to and was too stubborn to just retire. 

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