My Top 10 Albums Released in 2023
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10 • Various • The Endless Coloured Ways: The Songs of Nick Drake
A loving tribute to the talents of the late, great Nick Drake. This has a similar vibe to the sprawling 'Spirit of Talk Talk' tribute from 2012, which I still love to this day. The prompt given to participating artists was to cover their respective song in their own style and not to put too much stock in being faithful to the original. My favorite kind of cover.
9 • Paramore - This Is Why
I know very little about Paramore. I fell for (lead singer) Hayley Williams' solo album 'Petals For Armor' back in 2020 but still didn't bother to head backwards into the Paramore catalog. (So much music, so little time.) I just love the energy on 'This Is Why'. A solid pop rock album that gets better with every listen.
8 • Margaret Glaspy - Echo the Diamond
Getting back to what she does best. This may not rank as highly for me as Glaspy's 2016 debut, 'Emotions and Math', but it's considerably better than 2020's 'Devotion', where it seemed like she (or her producer?) was trying to smooth out all of the edges that made Glaspy sound unique. I just love her angular lyrics, her nearly accented vocal delivery, and her gutsy guitar playing, all of which is back to being displayed proudly on 'Echo the Diamond'.
7 • Two Fingers, Muadeep - CRONOS
This year, I spent a lot of time listening to music that "messed with my head". When it came to electronic music, the more glitchy and auditorily surprising the better. It wasn't all from 2023 but this one is, it's excellent, and it ticks all the boxes that I wanted for a good head trip. Two Fingers is the name of the more beat-driven stuff that Amon Tobin is doing these days. Muadeep is relatively new to me but, based on this collaboration, will be an artist I'll be exploring more in the future. Meanwhile, 'CRONOS' is best explored with a good pair of headphones.
6 • Foals, Dan Carey - Life Is Dub
This is a dub rendering of Foals' 2022 album, 'Life Is Yours'. That album didn't trip any major triggers for me but - oh man - this one sure does! I don't know if it's down to Dan Carey's influence (each of the tracks is subtitled "Dan Carey Dub") or if they all had a hand in it, but this thing is steeped in a thorough understanding of deep dub techniques. At the same time, the sound is unmistakably contemporary. 'Life Is Dub' quickly earned a prominent position in my previously-mentioned arsenal of "music that messed with my head".
5 • Fever Ray - Radical Romantics
Visually, Karin Dreijer is now so far out there (yes, that really is Karin on the cover) that they've lost me. The music on 'Radical Romantics' is some of their best yet, though. It feels more relaxed and less revolutionary than 2017's 'Plunge' but everything here still feels boldly adventurous. It also sounds like they're having fun. Karin reunited with brother and former partner in The Knife to not only co-produce several tracks here, but also to build a studio in Stockholm prior to recording.
4 • Lol Tolhurst x Budgie x Jacknife Lee - Los Angeles
The Cure's drummer teams up with Siouxsie & The Banshees drummer and Irish producer Garret "Jacknife" Lee for a futuristic rhythm-fest that is purposefully unlike The Cure or Banshees. Post-postpunk, anyone? The music itself is edgy, electronic, gloriously rhythmic, and adventurous. Then various featured guests take it to a whole different level. Most notable there are vocalists Bobby Gillespie (Primal Scream), James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem), Arrow de Wilde (Starcrawler), Isaac Brock (Modest Mouse), as well as The Edge (U2) contributing some very non-U2 guitar sounds.
3 • Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - Weathervanes
Yes, most new Jason Isbell albums DO tend to make it into my Top 10 albums for the years they were released. He's just that good at what he does. Likewise his band The 400 Unit. Honestly, I keep wondering how any one artist can keep up this level of consistently great songwriting and playing for as long as he has. I don't want to jinx it, though. If you don't mind a bit of twang in your tunes, 'Weathervanes' is a master class in storytelling via songs.
2 • The Clientele - I Am Not There Anymore
My #1 album for a better part of the year. At least 20 years into their career as a band, this album is probably one of their most experimental, drawing from influences in jazz, electronic, and even dub. The core sound is still The Clientele, though, without any doubt. The jangle is still there, as is the chamber-pop psychedelia and dreamy autumnal vibe throughout.
1 • Peter Gabriel - i/o
Over 20 years since his last album of new material, Gabriel started teasing us by releasing one new song on each full moon of 2023. Some tripped triggers with me, while others did not. When the entire album was released on the first day of December, everything (literally and figuratively) came together. The more I listened, the more I loved it. It's intimate, open, honest, contemplative, and joyful. Peter Gabriel has created an album that is well worth the 20+ years we had to wait for it. 'i/o' is a masterpiece.
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Interested in checking any of these out? Here's a Spotify playlist with some sample tracks from these albums...
Front Burner 2023 sample tracks
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You may have noticed that, although I've created a Top 10 here, there are a dozen album covers pictured in the collage photo. The extras are there simply because the collage needed to be 3 rows by 4 columns. However, that gave me the perfect excuse to list two runners-up to my list. They are...
The Church - The Hypnogogue
Four decades into their career and still able to create music that rates among their finest.
Boygenius - The Record
Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, and Lucy Dacus team up for an album that is far greater than the sum of its parts.
