A Year in Music | 2023
Lists are often approached with a certain sense of cynicism and for good reason—things are left out, biases are exposed, varying pressures assumed. For me, list making has always been a way in which to understand my vantage point within a complex media landscape and as a way to take in and appreciate each year as it goes by with intention. It’s also a very effective way to account for the obsessive amount of music I take in each year. As a graphic designer a lot of my time is spent at the computer and during that time I am usually listening to music. The lists that follow are albums that came out in 2023 that I spent the most time with, enjoyed the most, and/or thought were the most compelling/groundbreaking. The albums in these lists are considered to be personal favorites, as opposed to what I think is the best. There’s nothing definitive here. I try not to repeat any artist in order to include more variety. I don’t use streaming services. The links for these albums will go directly to their Bandcamp pages. If the artist doesn’t have a Bandcamp page, you can search for the music yourself. I hope you enjoy!
50 ALBUMS |10 SONGS | 25 EPS | YEAR END MIXES | SOUNDTRACKS | ETC
50 ALBUMS
1.
Armand Hammer
We Buy Diabetic Test Strips
Backwoodz Studioz
2.
Caroline Polachek
Desire I Want to Turn Into You
Sony
3.
Liturgy
93696
Thrill Jockey
4.
Liv.e
Girl in the Half Pearl
In Real Life
5.
Yo La Tengo
This Stupid World
Matador
6.
Fatboi Sharif x Steel Tipped Dove
Decay
Backwoodz Studioz
7.
Janelle Monáe
The Age of Pleasure
Wondaland
8.
Sufjan Stevens
Javelin
Asthmatic Kitty
9.
Khanate
To Be Cruel
Sacred Bones
10.
Mandy, Indiana
i’ve seen a way
Fire Talk
11.
JPEGMAFIA x Danny Brown
SCARING THE HOES
AWAL Recordings America
12.
Oxbow
Love’s Holiday
Ipecac
13.
Lana Del Rey
Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd
Interscope
14.
Gel
Only Constant
Convulse
15.
Lonnie Holley
Oh Me Oh My
Jagjaguwar
16.
Krallice
Porous Resonance Abyss
self-released
17.
Clark
Sus Dog/Cave Dog
Throttle Records
18.
Blut Aus Nord
Disharmonium: Nahab
Debemur Morti Productions
19.
The Necks
Travel
Nothern Spy
20.
Oneohtrix Point Never
Again
Warp
21.
Róisín Murphy x DJ Koze
Hit Parade
Ninja Tune
22.
Protomartyr
Formal Growth in the Desert
Domino
23.
Sofia Kourtesis
Madres
Ninja Tune
24.
Amaarae
Fountain Baby
Interscope
25.
Yves Tumor
Praise a Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (or Simply, Hot Between Worlds)
Warp
26.
Everything But the Girl
FUSE
Virgin
27.
100 gecs
10,000 gecs
Dog Show
28.
DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ
Destiny
Spells on the Telly
29.
boygenius
the record
Interscope
30.
Noname
Sundial
.no/name records
31.
The Mountain Goats
Jenny from Thebes
Merge
32.
PJ Harvey
I Inside the Old Year Dying
Partisan
33.
Water From Your Eyes
Everyone’s Crushed
Matador
34.
Sunrot
THE UNFAILING ROPE
Prosthetic Records
35.
Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter
SAVED!
Perpetual Flame Ministries
36.
A. Savage
Several Songs About Fire
Rough Trade
37.
DJ K
PANICO NO SUBMUNDO
Nyege Nyege Tapes
38.
Lost Girls
Selvutsletter
Smalltown Supersound
39.
Kelela
Raven
Warp
40.
Fever Ray
Radical Romantics
Rabid
41.
Bella Boo
DreamySpaceyBlue
Studio Barnhus
42.
Bríi
Último Ancestral Comum
Flowing Downward
43.
Overmono
Good Lies
XL
44.
Olivia Rodrigo
GUTS
Geffen
45.
Kool A.D.
Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction
self-released
46.
Irreversible Entanglements
Protect Your Light
Impulse!
47.
Snõõper
Super Snõõper
Third Man Records
48.
V/Z
Suono Assente
AD 93
49.
Blockhead
The Aux
Backwoodz Studioz
50.
André 3000
New Blue Sun
Epic
10 SONGS
1.
Kieran Hebden & William Tyler
”Darkness, Darkness“
© Psychic Hotline
2.
Oneohtrix Point Never
”A Barely Lit Path”
© Warp
3.
billy woods x Kenny Segal
”Year Zero” [f- Danny Brown]
© Backwoodz Studioz
4.
Olof Dreijer
”Rosa Rugosa”
© Universal
5.
Snõõper
”Running”
© Third Man
6.
Janelle Monáe
”Float” [f- Seun Kuti + Egypt 80]
© Wondaland
7.
Lana Del Rey
”A&W”
© Interscope
8.
Caroline Polachek
”Dang”
© Sony
9.
Nikki Nair
”Can’t Wait”
© Studio Barnhus
10.
Yo La Tengo
”This Stupid World”
© Matador
25 EPS
1.
Kieran Hebden & William Tyler
Darkness, Darkness / No Services
Psychic Hotline
2.
WTCHCRFT
Wet Lung
UMAY
3.
Bella Boo
Looney Talks
Studio Barnhus
4.
Crookers
I Hope This EP Finds You Well
Pretty Weird
5.
Olof Dreijer
Rosa Rugosa EP
Hessle Audio
6.
Spekki Webu
Euclidean Doorway
Beyond the Bridge
7.
badsista
GUETO CLUB
TraTraTrax
8.
Rhyw
Mister Melt
One Eye Witness
9.
Aphex Twin
Blackbox Life Recorder 21f
/ In a Room7 F760
Warp
10.
LADYMONIX
Welcome 2 My House
Studio Barnhus
11.
Rube
Rube
self-released
12.
Cole Pulice
If I Don’t See You in the Future,I’ll See You in the Pasture
Longform Edition
13.
My Heart, an Inverted Flame
Until the Soil
self-released
14.
Jlin
Perspective
Planet Mu
15.
Karenn
Everything is Curly
VOAM
16.
Sina XX
Adjib
UMAY
17.
Moin
Clocked Off
AD 93
18.
VA
9.09
Pretty Weird
19.
Florentino
Kilometro Quinze
XL
20.
Nikki Nair
Extra Playtime
Future Classic
21.
mclusky
unpopular parts of a pig
/ the digger you deep
self-released
22.
ZelooperZ
Might Not Make It
self-released
23.
Nightmares on Wax
CLUB E.A.S.E. #1–3
Warp
24.
Peder Mannerfelt
The Benefits of Living in a Hole
VOAM
25.
Giant Swan
Fantasy Food EP
PRAH
YEAR END MIXES
0:00:00 - The Mountain Goats “New Tattoo”
0:04:37 - boygenius “$20”
0:07:55 - Protomartyr “Fun in Hi Skool”
0:10:35 - Fucked Up “Nothing’s Immortal”
0:13:32 - 100 gecs “Hollywood Baby”
0:16:39 - Olivia Rodrigo “all-american bitch”
0:19:22 - Yves Tumor “Operator”
0:22:37 - Marnie Stern “Forward”
0:24:28 - A. Savage “Le Grand Balloon”
0:30:32 - Yo La Tengo “Aselestine”
0:34:16 - Lana Del Rey “Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd”
0:38:53 - PJ Harvey “Prayer at the Gate”
0:42:56 - Big Thief “Vampire Empire”
0:46:06 - Sufjan Stevens “Will Anybody Ever Love Me?”
0:50:13 - Animal Collective “Stride Rite”
0:54:57 - Amaarae “Sex, Violence, Suicide”
0:59:07 - Snõõper “Unable”
1:00:39 - Protomartyr “We Know the Rats”
1:03:33 - Mega Bog “The Clown”
1:07:52 - Fever Ray “What They Call Us”
1:12:14 - Caroline Polachek “Blood and Butter”
1:16:40 - Yves Tumor “Purified By the Fire”
1:19:47 - Water from Your Eyes “Remember Not My Name”
1:23:04 - slowdive “kisses”
1:26:55 - L’Rain “5 to 8 Hours a Day (WWwaG)”
1:31:11 - Yo La Tengo “Miles Away”
2023 Year End Summations, Pt. 1
The house is empty but the work remains
0:00:00 - Oneohtrix Point Never “Again” [f- Jim O’Rourke]
0:04:39 - Kate NV “oni (they)”
0:08:54 - V/Z “Suono Assente”
0:13:37 - Clark “Alyosha”
0:17:56 - Burial “Unknown Summer”
0:26:58 - Dean Hurley “We’re Not Going Through With it”
0:31:24 - Björk “Oral” [f- Rosalía prod. Sega Bodega]
0:35:04 - Mort Garson “Music for Advertising #7”
0:35:05 - Oneohtrix Point Never “Nightmare Paint”[f- Jeff Gitelman]
0:40:40 - Dylan Beale “Unused 2”
0:44:19 - Avalon Emerson “Dreamliner”
0:49:22 - Lost Girls “Seawhite”
0:58:52 - Tim Hecker “Winter Cop”
1:01:21 - Lord of the Isles “For a Burning World” [f- Ellen Renton]
1:07:09 - Dean Hurley “Earthly Possessions”
1:08:56 - André 3000 “Ninety Three ‘Til Infinity and Beyoncé”
1:12:24 - Clark “Disappeared Forest”
1:15:22 - Eartheater “Crushing”
1:19:47 - Daniel Rossen & Christopher Bear “Across the Ocean”
1:24:14 - Jlin “Duality”
1:30:32 - The Necks “Bloodstream”
1:48:50 - Irreversible Entanglements “Nuclear War” [Sun Ra cover]
2023 Year End Summations, Pt. 2
For a burning world
0:00:00 - Sunrot “Descent”
0:02:46 - Oxbow “Dead Ahead”
0:06:40 - mclusky “fan learning difficulties”
0:08:54 - Senza “Due Glutton”
0:12:11 - Mandy, Indiana “Pinking Shears”
0:14:40 - 100 gecs “Billy Knows Jamie”
0:17:24 - Liturgy “93696”
0:32:16 - Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter “HOW CAN I KEEP FROM SINGING”
0:40:10 - The Lord † Marthe “Wisps of the Black Serpent”
0:45:55 - Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs “Ultimate Hammer”
0:50:44 - Gel “Attainable”
0:52:26 - Ulthar “Flesh Propulsion”
0:58:07 - Krallice “Porous Resonance Abyss part II”
1:05:03 - Blut Aus Nord “Queen of the Dead Dimension”
1:10:34 - Godflesh “Mythology of Self”
1:15:32 - Fatboi Sharif + Steel Tipped Dove “Think Pieces”
1:19:29 - Sunrot “Gutter” [f- Bryan Funck & Emily McWilliams]
1:25:30 - Khanate “To Be Cruel”
2023 Year End Summations, Pt. 3
”Please no religion or politics at the dinner table…”
0:00:00 - Mort Garson “Black Eye (End Credits)”
0:02:13 - Danny Brown “Tantor” [prod. The Alchemist]
0:04:36 - Armand Hammer “Trauma Mic” [f- Pink Siifu, prod. DJ Haram]
0:07:07 - ZelooperZ “Whitney Hueston” [prod. Dilip]
0:10:01 - JPEGMafia x Danny Brown “SCARING THE HOES”
0:12:22 - 100 gecs “The Most Wanted Person in the United States”
0:14:55 - Liv.e “Snowing!”
0:18:26 - Kali Uchis “Moonlight” [prod. Cashmere Cat & Benny Blanco]
0:21:33 - Amaarae “Water From Wine”
0:24:03 - Blockhead “Sad Vampire” [f- Brian Ennals]
0:27:05 - Kool A.D. “I’M A VIRGO RISING”
0:33:03 - Earl Sweatshirt + The Alchemist “Vin Skully”
0:34:55 - Fatboi Sharif + Roper Williams “Alligator Stew”
0:37:42 - Armand Hammer “Don’t Lose Your Job” [f- Pink Siifu & Moor Mother, prod. Black Noise & Jeff Markey]
0:42:04 - Jamila Woods “Tiny Garden” [f- duendita]
0:46:15 - Blockhead “AAU Tournaments” [f- billy woods & Navy Blue]
0:50:49 - Noname “namesake” [prod. Slimwav]
0:53:46 - Liv.e “Gardetto”
0:56:38 - Overmono “Vermonly”
0:59:12 - Fatboi Sharif + Steel Tipped Dove “Brandon Lee”
1:02:10 - Kelela “Closure” [prod. LSDXOXO & Bambii]
1:05:38 - Björk “Ovule” [Sega Bodega Remix f- Shygirl]
1:09:22 - Janelle Monáe “Phenomenal” [f- Doechii]
1:12:58 - BAMBII “WICKED GYAL” [f- Lady Lykez]
1:16:28 - JPEGMafia x Danny Brown “Steppa Pig”
1:19:46 - Sleaford Mods “Rhythms of Class”
1:24:46 - Overmono “Feelings Plain”
1:27:33 - Lonnie Holley “I Am a Part of the Wonder” [f- Moor Mother]
1:33:18 - billy woods & Kenny Segal “The Layover”
1:36:04 - Irreversible Entanglements “Degrees of Freedom”
1:42:53 - Sunrot “Love”
2023 Year End Summations, Pt. 4
Degrees of Freedom
0:00:00 - Disconscious “Air”
0:01:07 - Fontaines D.C. “In ár gCroíthe go deo (Orbital Remix)”
0:05:19 - Charlie Sparks “The Vacant Heart”
0:09:04 - Sina XX “Adjib”
0:14:05 - SJAYY “ICE SPICE - DELI (SJAYY Remix)”
0:16:16 - Verraco “jajaja”
0:20:48 - WTCHCRFT “2 Myself”
0:24:13 - Heliobolus “Altyicern”
0:26:19 - Judgitzu “Sator Arepo”
0:30:57 - Spekki Webu “Photic Shift”
0:37:32 - five possible worlds “sag er ihr jetzt”
0:44:42 - Disconscious “Elevator Up”
0:45:33 - Mandy, Indiana “Drag [Crashed]”
0:49:37 - Chloé Robinson + DJ ADHD “Want U”
0:54:33 - BLCK MAMBA “What U Gonna Do” [f- Rouge]
0:57:33 - Joy Orbison “ladywell”
1:03:25 - Bella Boo “Feel It”
1:08:45 - Troye Sivan “Got Me Started”
1:12:02 - Galcher Lustwerk “Atomic Eye”
1:16:16 - Pangaea “Installation”
1:19:40 - Rhyw “Spritz”
1:24:57 - DJ K “Erva Venenosa” [f- MC Zudo Boladão & MC Menor Douglinhas]
1:28:35 - Disconscious “Shopping Delirium”
1:30:39 - Lost Girls “Jeg Slutter Meg Selv”
1:37:19 - Róisín Murphy & DJ Koze “Can’t Replicate”
1:42:57 - Bella Boo “Summertime”
1:46:57 - Galcher Lustwerk “Stimming”
1:51:05 - Eli Escobar “Something Inside of Me”
1:54:36 - Sofia Kourtesis “Funkhaus”
1:58:56 - Floating Points “Birth4000 (Extended)”
2:06:16 - Bruxa Cósmica “BXB”
2:08:35 - badsista “VEM PRA ZONA LESTE”
2:11:06 - Karenn “Feeling Horizontal”
2:15:27 - Dylan Beale “Cyber”
2:18:48 - Rhyw “Engine Track”
2:23:35 - DJ LOVE “Flip the Funk”
2:28:51 - Overmono “Blow Out”
2:32:24 - Skrillex “Rumble” [f- Fred Again & Flowdan]
2:34:29 - Disconscious “Fountain Plaza”
2:39:04 - evryn “Rain Tears”
2023 Year End Summations, Pt. 5
The Adventures of Zip-Zip and Putt-Putt
SOUNDTRACKS
Bobby Krlic
Beau is Afraid
A24 Music
John Medeski & Daniel Lopatin
The Curse
Milan Records
DJ Muggs & Dean Hurley
Divinity
Sacred Bones
Courtney Barnett
End of the Day
Milk! Records
Earth
Even Hell Has its Heroes
self-released
Jeff Russo
Fargo: Year 5
Music on Vinyl
Tim Hecker
Infinity Pool
Death Waltz Recording Company
Dean Hurley
The Mustic
Criterion
Daniel Rossen & Christopher Bear
Past Lives
A24 Music
Trent Reznor + Atticus Ross
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
The Null Corporation
COMPILATIONS, LIVE ALBUMS, REISSUES, REMIX ALBUMS
Alan Braxe, Fred Falke & Friends The Upper Cuts [2023 Edition] [Smuggler’s Way]
Animal Collective Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished [2023 Remaster] [Domino]
Arthur Russel Picture of Bunny Rabbit [Audika]
Ben Seretan, Matt Evans, Elori Saxl & John Thayer At 7am (live at 24 HR DRONE) [self-released]
Bill Evans Treasures: Solo, Trio and Orchestra Recordings from Denmark 1965-1969 [Elemental Music]
Bob Dylan The Bootleg Series, Vol. 17: Fragments - Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997) [Columbia]
Brainiac The Predator Nominate EP [2023 Reissue] [Touch & Go]
The Breeders Last Splash [30th Anniversary Edition] [4AD]
Dirty Projectors + Björk Mount Wittenberg Orca [2023 Expanded Edition] [Domino]
Disconscious Hologram Plaza + 3 [10 years anniversary edition] [Mental Groove]
Duster Remote Echoes [2023 Compilation] [Numero Group]
Earth Earth 2.23 Special Lower Frequency Mix [Sub Pop]
Four Tet Live at Alexandra Palace London, 24th May 2023 [Text]*
Grain We'll Hide Away: Complete Recordings 1993-1995 [Solid Brass]
Green Day Dookie [30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition] [Reprise]
Hella Hold Your Horse is [2023 Deluxe Reissue] [5 Rue Christine]
Hüsker Dü Tonite Longhorn [2023 Compilation] [Reflex]
Jockstrap I<3UQTINVU [Rough Trade]
John Coltrane & Eric Dolphy Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy [Impulse!]
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Demos vol. 5 + vol. 6 [self-released]
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Live at Red Rocks '22 [self-released]
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Live in Chicago '23 [self-released]
Les Rallizes Dénudés CITTA' '93 [2023 Reissue] [Temporal Drift]*
Lingua Ignota The End: Live at Islington Assembly Hall [Perpetual Flame Ministries]
Liv.e & Ben Hixon GITHPREMIXEDITION [self-released]
Martin Rev The Sum of Our Wounds (Cassette Recordings 1973–85) [Bureau B]
Melvins Throbbing Jazz Gristle Funk Hits [Amphetamine Reptile]
Milford Graves with Arthur Doyle & Hugh Glover Children of the Forest [Black Editions Archive]
Mort Garson Journey to the Moon and Beyond [Sacred Bones]*
Mort Garson Black Eye (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Sacred Bones]
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis Australian Carnage: Live at the Sydney Opera House [Goliath]
Nina Simone You've Got to Learn: Live at the 1966 Newport Jazz Festival [Verve]
Nmesh Appearance Settings: Volume 02 (2016-2019)[self-released]
Nmesh Dressed for Excess: A Collection of Corporate Bangers [self-released]
on4word In Rainbow Roads [self-released]
on4word OK Nintendo 64 [self-released]
Panda Bear & Sonic Boom Reset in Dub [Domino]
Pet Shop Boys Smash: The Singles 1985–2020 [Parlophone]
Pharoah Sanders Harvest Time Live 1977 [Luaka Bop]
Pharoah Sanders Pharoah [Luaka Bop]
Pharoah Sanders Live at Fabrik Hamburg 1980 [Jazzline]
Portishead Roseland NYC Live 25 [UMC]*
The Replacements Tim: Let It Bleed Edition [2023 Box Set] [Sire]
Silver Apples & Makoto Kawabata Mirage [Important]
Sonic Youth Live in Brooklyn, NY - 2011/08/12 [self-released]
Sonny Rollins Go West!: The Contemporary Records Albums [Craft Recordings]
SPELLLING SPELLLING & The Mystery School [Sacred Bones]
Suicide A Way of Life [35th Anniversary Edition] [Mute]
Sylvester Disco Heat: The Fantasy Years 1977-1981 [Real Gone Music]
Sylvester Private Recordings, August 1970 [Dark Entries]
Talking Heads Stop Making Sense [2023 Deluxe Edition] [Sire]
Thurston Moore, Samara Lubelski & Bill Nace Live at the Stone — December 4th, 2018 [Daksina]
Tom Waits Swordfishtrombones [2023 Remaster] [Island]
Tom Waits Rain Dogs [2023 Remaster] [Island]
Tom Waits Frank’s Wild Years [2023 Remaster] [Island]
Yo La Tengo The Bunker Sessions [Matador]
VA As-Shams Archive Vol. 1: South African Jazz, Funk & Soul 1975-1982 [As-Shams/The Sun Records]
VA Balladeers, Redefined [Secret Voice]
VA BOOMBOX YO!: Early Independent Hip Hop, Electro and Disco Rap 1979–83 [Soul Jazz]
VA Cherry Stars Collide: Dream Pop, Shoegaze & Ethereal Rock 1986-1995 [Cherry Red]
VA Come Together: Adventures on the Indie Dancefloor 1989-1992 [Cherry Red]
VA Deviation Street: High Times in Ladbroke Grove 1967-1975 [Grapefruit Records]
VA DJs Di Guetto [Principe Discos]
VA Ears of the People: Ekonting Songs from Senegal and the Gambia [Smithsonian Folkways Recordings]
VA FADER & Friends: Volume 1 [FADER]
VA Future Bounce Club Series: Vol 2 [Future Bounce]
VA Grave Neighbors V.7 [Middle-Man Records]
VA High Bias: Backwoodz Studios [Backwoodz Studios]
VA Holy Church of the Ecstatic Soul - A Higher Power: Gospel, Funk & Soul at the Crossroads 1971-83 [Soul Jazz]
VA Joyful Noise Halloween Party, Vol. 1 [Joyful Noise]
VA Light in the Attic & Friends [Light in the Attic]
VA Lounge Psychédélique: The Best of Lounge & Exotica 1954–2022 [Two Piers]*
VA Mehmet Aslan presents Senza Decoro: Liebe + Anarchia / Switzerland 1980–1990 [Strut]
VA Musik Music Musique 3.0 — 1982: Synth Pop on the Air [Cherry Red]
VA The NID Tapes: Electronic Music from India 1969–1972 [The state51 Conspiracy]
VA Pacific Breeze 3: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1975–1986 [Light in the Attic]
VA Red Hot & Ra : Nuclear War [Red Hot]
VA Richard Sen presents Dream the Dream: UK techno, breakbeat and house 1990-1994 [Dance Music From Planet Earth]
VA Silberland, Vol. 2: The Driving Side of Kosmische Musik 1974-1984 [Bureau B]
VA Soul'd Out: The Complete Wattstax Collection [Craft Recordings]
VA SPACE FUNK 2: Afro Futurist Electro Funk in Space 1976–84 [Soul Jazz]
VA STUDIO ONE: Space-Age Dub Special (Intergalactic Dub from 13 Brentford Road) [Soul Jazz]
VA Tongues Faster Than Drums [WFMU 2023 Marathon Premium] [WFMU]
VA Visions and Prophetic Dreams, Vol. 2: A Vangelis Tribute [No Problema Tapes]
VA Zum Audio Vol. 5 [Zum Audio]
Tools used
digital
Adobe Photoshop
Apple Pages
Apple Music app
Bandcamp
Soundcloud