2023 AOTY So Far

Last year's thread proved popular as a means to share favorites (known and unsung alike) through to EOY voting season, so I figured it was worth another go. This time I've created a google doc to keep track of the "AOTY So Far" lists I've come across; happy to add to it -- if there are non-genre-specific lists you think are worthwhile, please post them here.

Thus far I've seen lists from Exclaim, Pitchfork, Spin, and Treble. I've combined those with lists I was already keeping of Allmusic's Editor's Choice albums that received at least 4.5 stars, anything on AOTY or Metacritic with at least an 85 (updated as of today), and anything Pitchfork and Paste have given at least an 8.0/80. Below are the albums that check at least 2 of those boxes (Artist - Album - Count) -- see the doc for the full list. Admittedly somewhat arbitrary, but I think a decent representation of what's been getting acclaim so far this year...

Jessie Ware - That! Feels Good! - 8
Wednesday - Rat Saw God - 8
billy woods / Kenny Segal - Maps - 6
Boygenius - The Record - 6
Caroline Polachek - Desire, I Want to Turn Into You - 6
Kelela - Raven - 6
Yo La Tengo - This Stupid World - 6
Yves Tumor - Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds) - 6
Fever Ray - Radical Romantics - 5
Paramore - This is Why - 5
Water from Your Eyes - Everyone's Crushed - 5
Feist - Multitudes - 4
JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown - Scaring the Hoes - 4
Lana Del Rey - Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd - 4
Liturgy - 93696 - 4
Model/Actriz - Dogsbody - 4
Yaeji - With a Hammer - 4
100 gecs - 10,000 gecs - 3
Arooj Aftab/Vijay Iyer/Shahzad Ismaily - Love in Exile - 3
Cecile McLorin Salvant - Melusine - 3
Depeche Mode - Memento Mori - 3
Foo Fighters - But Here We Are - 3
Kali Malone - Does Spring Hide Its Joy - 3
Kara Jackson - Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love? - 3
Lankum - False Lankum - 3
Liv.e - Girl in the Half Pearl - 3
Mandy, Indiana - I've Seen a Way - 3
Angel Bat Dawid - Requiem for Jazz - 2
Avalon Emerson - & the Charm - 2
BIG|BRAVE - nature morte - 2
Black Belt Eagle Scout - The Land, The Water, The Sky - 2
Brian Dunne - Loser on the Ropes - 2
Bully - Lucky For You - 2
Debby Friday - Good Luck - 2
Durand Jones - Wait Til I Get Over - 2
ICECOLDBISHOP - Generational Curse - 2
Iris DeMent - Workin' on a World - 2
James Yorkston / Nina Persson / The Second Hand Orchestra - The Great White Sea Eagle - 2
Kali Uchis - Red Moon in Venus - 2
Kate NV - WOW - 2
Lonnie Holley - Oh Me Oh My - 2
Maxo - Even God Has a Sense of Humor - 2
Mega Bog - End of Everything - 2
Nickel Creek - Celebrants - 2
Nourished By Time - Erotic Probiotic 2 - 2
Parannoul - After the Magic - 2
Protomartyr - Formal Growth in the Desert - 2
Ryuichi Sakamoto - 12 - 2
Susanne Sundfor - Blomi - 2
The Lemon Twigs - Everything Harmony - 2
Tujiko Noriko - Crepuscule I & II - 2
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - V - 2
Young Fathers - Heavy Heavy - 2

The Tubs' Dead Meat

Theres about 6 jousting for position tbh

Yo La Tengo - This Stupid World
Billy Woods - Maps
Caroline Polachek - Desire, I Want To Turn Into You
Oozing Wound - We Cater For Cowards
Mark Barrott - Johatsu
bar italia - Tracey Denim

I'll make a proper list when I'm more with it, but Avalon Emerson fans should also check out the Nabihah Iqbal album imo

The Tubs - Dead Meat

This year's not yielded a whole lot that's made go whoa as of yet, but there's a few records that have really captured my attention and are highly likely to make my list (this is an ordered list btw)

Rắn Cạp Đuôi - *1
Billy Woods - Maps
Kelela - Raven
Weval - Remember
Snow Ghosts - The Fell
Heavy Heavy - Young Fathers
Andrea - Due in Color
Overmono - Good Lies

Laurel Canyon - S/T
Billy Woods - Maps
Kassa Overall - Animals
Young Fathers - Heavy Heavy
The Tubs - Dead Meat
Algiers - Shook
Lisa O'Neill - All Of This Is Chance
Ben Howard - Is It?

Laurel Canyon - S/T
Billy Woods - Maps
Kassa Overall - Animals
Young Fathers - Heavy Heavy
The Tubs - Dead Meat
Algiers - Shook
Lisa O'Neill - All Of This Is Chance
Ben Howard - Is It?

oops soz

Ooh ooh also the YLT

Sylvie Courvoisier & Cory Smythe - The Rite of Spring: Spectre D’un Songe

the Stravinsky estate wouldn't let SC do improvised interpretations of his work but it is still fucking fantastic!

rob OTM I was gonna mention the Iqbal album on the Real Lies thread as there's some overlap there (not that surprising given 'Zone 1 To 6000')

Is it just me, or is this a very poetically rich crop of AOTY titles? e.g.

Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love?
Everything Harmony
Everyone's Crushed

Love in Exile
Maps
The Land, the Water, the Sky
This is Why

WOW
This Stupid World
But Here We Are
Scaring the Hoes
With a Hammer

Even God Has a Sense of Humor
Rat Saw God
Heavy Heavy

Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd

Lucky for You
I've Seen a Way

Raven
Wait Til I Get Over

All of This is Chance
Is It?

Have thought of a bunch of other albums I should have mentioned, will save most for the end of year final list but Durand Jones' solo LP Wait Till I Get Over is fantastic, and feels really overlooked in the press thus far

Of things not already mentioned (many of which I like):

William Tyler and the Impossible Truth — Secret Stratosphere
Rose City Band — Garden Party

in the art-pop corner:

Fire-Toolz - I am upset because I see something that is not there (this is my AOTYSF)
Katie Gately - Fawn/Brute
Algiers - Shook

in the avant-black-metal corner:

Kostnateni - Upal
Liturgy - 93696
Victory Over The Sun - Dance, You Monster, To My Soft Song
Thantifaxath - Hive Mind Narcosis
Dodheimsgard - Black Medium Current

in the hip-hop corner YES IM GONNA LISTEN TO THE NEW BILLY WOODS SOON also koenig apparently that's good too anyway

RXKNephew - Till I'm Dead

in the gecs corner

Alice Longyu Gao - Let's Hope Heteros Fail, Learn, And Retire

William Tyler and the Impossible Truth — Secret Stratosphere
Rose City Band — Garden Party

Thanks for the heads up on these; the William Tyler has a Kraftwerk cover!

The one I keep going back to is Katie Gately. Other than that I've really liked the Rian Treanor/Ocen James album and I gave the new Depeche Mode a surprisingly high amount of listens.

some great albums on here that i haven't seen mentioned yet, incl. fireworks, bigxthaplug, boldy james & richgains, and zulu

https://www.stereogum.com/2225527/best-albums-of-2023-first-half/lists/album-list/

a few of mine already mentioned, adding: James Holden - Imagine This Is A High Dimensional Space Of All Possibilities

Albums not mentioned that might be AOTY for me:

The Necks - Travel
Holly Waxwing - The New Pastoral
Coen - Slop, Drop & Roll (Maloca)
Kendrick Scott - Corridors
Mark Giuliana - Mischief

Also: Indigo de Souza - All of This Will End

There have been lots of amazing dance EPs too. And although it's too unassuming for 'AOTY', I sure have listened to Mac DeMarco's 'Five Easy Hot Dogs' a lot.

niontay - dontay's inferno, there's a great album

A few that haven't been mentioned:

Eddie Chacon - Sundown
Meg Baird - Furling
Swami Sound - Back in the Day
Jim Legxacy - Homeless N*gga Pop Music
Westerman - An Inbuilt Fault
Khanate - To Be Cruel

o yeah I need to hear the Jim Legxacy

I need to listen to a lot of the albums in here.

So far my favorite albums are the Avalon Emerson and Eddie Chacon.

A few I’ve enjoyed a lot, in no particular order.

EBTG - Fuse
Nabihah Iqbal - Dreamer
Sparks - The Girl is Crying in her Latte
Belle & Sebastian - Late Developers
Billy NoMates- Cacti
The Orb - Prism
Rodney Crowell - Ready to Move On
New Pornographers - Last and Beautiful
Lucinda Chua - Yian

chua and ebtg are high up on my list as well

some great albums on here that i haven't seen mentioned yet, incl. fireworks, bigxthaplug, boldy james & richgains, and zulu

https://www.stereogum.com/2225527/best-albums-of-2023-first-half/lists/album-list/

― ludicrously capacious bag (voodoo chili), Tuesday, June 6, 2023 11:16 AM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Thanks, I'll work on getting this added to the doc.

Delightfully surprised at how much love the new Feist album is getting on these lists. It is wonderful.

this the tubs record rules, thx ilm

yes, I am loving this

B Cool Aid - Leather Boulevard

top 3 probably Melati ESP, EBTG, and NBT (Nourished By Time)

Xiao Yun - Purple Garden
(it's a reissue, and not sure it's really aoty material, but I'm digging it for the time being...)

the William Tyler has a Kraftwerk cover!

Yeah I love that.

With everyone doing this after 5 months of the year, it should pretty clearly include December. Pitchfork rightly listed SZA (Dec 9) - no others?

The 2022 End of Year music lists thread

^ no SZA here.

my answer is easily Polachek, but thanks for the handy homework references!

i haven't been keeping up with stuff very well this year but it feels like a weaker than average year so far idk

everyone needs to hear the jim legxacy though

jim legxacy album is truly great, still think the best songs on it came out in 2022 tho

Updated the spreadsheet with BSF lists from The Guardian, Vulture, and Stereogum plus everything that's been mentioned so far here in an "ILM" column.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lzSEKqspuhsXRiJx_klRxL6PRIFsSJK3F4qo0Nw_sK8/edit?usp=sharing

The new consensus (Artist - Album - Count of Lists/Mentions):

billy woods / Kenny Segal - Maps - 10
Jessie Ware - That! Feels Good! - 10
Kelela - Raven - 10
Wednesday - Rat Saw God - 10
Yo La Tengo - This Stupid World - 10
Caroline Polachek - Desire, I Want to Turn Into You - 9
Boygenius - The Record - 8
Yves Tumor - Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds) - 8
Lana Del Rey - Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd - 7
Paramore - This is Why - 7
Yaeji - With a Hammer - 7
Feist - Multitudes - 6
Fever Ray - Radical Romantics - 6
JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown - Scaring the Hoes - 6
Water from Your Eyes - Everyone's Crushed - 6

best of all it's basically a concept album about how awesome one of my favourite parts of London is xp

have yet to be mentioned:

john cale - mercy (board seems cool on this one but i revisited it last week and it made me feel like i was trapped in gelatin, rules so much)
pile - all fiction (ppl ignore this incredibly creative and cool rock record at their peril)
the mars volta - que dios te maldiga mi corazon
krallice - porous resonance abyss
maara - the ancient truth
fall out boy - so much (for) stardust
narrow head - moments of clarity
kesha - gag order

I haven’t heard much new music lately but I’m with you on mercy it’s his best in 20 years for me (I was gonna say I’ve been pretty cold on stuff he’s done since hobosapiens, which I adore, but I forgot the reworked mfans & the circus live album)

the mars volta - que dios te maldiga mi corazon

forgot to mention this but it will easily be top 5 for me this year

An album I'm enjoying start to finish: En Attendant Ana - Principia. Indie with echoes of Stereolab, Broadcast, and motorik.
https://enattendantana.bandcamp.com/album/principia

Another mention for Lisa O'Neill who I love, but also...

Dina Ögon, Oas - random Spotify discovery from earlier in the year, really coming into its own now summer is beginning. Immaculate, smooth, baroque jazzpop from Stockholm, just the right side of too cute.

Hamish Hawk, Angel Numbers - terrific Scottish sophistipop which has grown on me a lot since my initial disappointment.

Langendorf Utd, Yeahno Yowouw Land - gorgeous Ethiopiquey jazz from Swedish saxophonist who's played with James Yorkston etc.

David Brewis, The Soft Struggles - makes a strong case for Sunderland as the new Canterbury scene, lovely, wistful, astralweeksy chamberfolk.

Jim Ghedi & Toby Hay - sublime, duelling, twangling acoustic guitars from Yorkshire and Wales.

Felicita, Spalarkle - moreish, wonky hyperpop. Occasionally like Virginia Astley signed to PC Music.

Dina Ögon, Oas

this one was good, twisty turny, immaculately produced lounge pop

Haven't seen anyone mention...

Yaeji - With a Hammer -- inventive, diverse electronic album with Korean and English female vocals, some drum n bass, some techno, some club
Kara Jackson - Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love? -- was very impressed with this but have to revisit. Don't know anything that sounds quite like it, but heard a bit of Leonhard Cohen and maybe Fiona Apple in it. Stark folk rock with poetic, blunt lyrics.

Stereogum's list from yesterday has Yaeji at #12 fwiw
https://www.stereogum.com/2225527/best-albums-of-2023-first-half/lists/album-list/

I liked all her previous releases but was bored with it. Maybe I'll give it another spin.

oh sorry I guess you meant mentions here. Her count of list placements above isn't bad.

Man, not sure what it is, but I haven't been able to reconnect with Yaeji the way I did with her first couple EPs. New one is nice imo, but that's about it.

I love "raingurl" but the album is a bit of a snooze.

Man, not sure what it is, but I haven't been able to reconnect with Yaeji the way I did with her first couple EPs.

Maybe Nick Sylvester's production is actually good and underrated

Interesting because I have had the opposite experience with her music -- didn't see what all the fuss was about with the EPs but really enjoyed the album.

Also think the spreadsheet was locked. Would appreciate if one of you can verify it's working now.

Can't quite remember what albums came out this year but have definitely enjoying...

Abracadabra - Shapes & Colors
Water From Your Eyes - Everyone's Crushed

that water from your eyes album is really good yes

At the moment:

Tanith - Voyage (mystical and proggy 70s-ish hard rock - great vibes)
Aindulmedir - Star Lore (dark and wintry ambient synth)
Deerhoof - Miracle-Level

My five favourites so far

Blawan - Dismantled Into Juice (EP)
Galen Tipton - Brain Scratch
Avey Tare - 7s
Depeche Mode - Momento Mori
Yves Tumor - Praise a Lord

Jim Ghedi & Toby Hay - sublime, duelling, twangling acoustic guitars from Yorkshire and Wales

Nice to see mention of this record. One of my top picks for the year so far alongside:

Alberto Lizarralde - "Haizeyxe"
Annelies Monsere - Mares
Marlene Ribeiro - Toquei no Sol
Waclaw Zimpel - Train Spotter

avalon emerson, eddie chacon, and billy woods

don't blame anyone for checking out on Kool Keith's spotty output years ago but "Serpent" produced by Real Bad Man is really great

avalon emerson, eddie chacon, and billy woods

― LaMDA barry-stanners (||||||||)

Are you me? Those might also be my current top 3

Avalon Emerson & the Charm - s/t
Decisive Pink - Ticket To Fame
Kali Malone - Does Spring Hide Its Joy
Jessie Ware - That! Feels Good!
Everything But The Girl - Fuse
MSPAINT - Post-American
Susanne Sundfør - Blómi

& some NZ releases:
Grecco Romank - Wet Exit (industrial/EBM with opera and rave flourishes, best live act in NZ right now)
Maxine Funke - River Said (first half is lysergic folk, while the second half splits the difference between Arthur Russell & Alistair Galbraith)
Guardian Singles - Feed Me To The Doves (propulsive post-punk owing more to the Pacific Northwest than Flying Nun; cute Priit Pärn-esque rotoscoped music video)
Jonathan Bree - Pre-Code Hollywood (slinky Scott Walker moves with Nile Rodgers cameoing)

My favourites so far:

Avalon Emerson – & the Charm
Caroline Polachek - Desire...
Tiny Ruins - Ceremony
Yves Tumor - Praise a Lord....
Jessie Ware - That! Feels Good!
James Holden – Imagine This is a High Dimensional Space of All Possibilities

cosign the Decisive Pink album. lovely.

and the Bar Italia album.

yeah I just heard that bar Italia really great stuff, late period blonde redhead vibes sometimes

and Feeble Little Horse! my favorite discovery of this mid-year thing we all do.

Maxine Funke - River Said (first half is lysergic folk, while the second half splits the difference between Arthur Russell & Alistair Galbraith)

Ooh, I loved her previous record, a discovery from a previous ILM poll

oh, also:
Mui Zyu - Rotten Bun for an Eggless Century

This thread is due for an update, or ILM has been completely derailed and gotten a stiff neck from looking backwards and downwards.

I'm discovering the Canto Ostinato 4-piano piece from Simeon ten Holt through Erik Hall's version with a piano / Rhodes piano / Hammond organ. At best it's like minimal classic prog, at worst it's an entrancing music box, actually scratch that, it's just a mesmerizing piece.

still The Tubs

Id add these to my shortlist above:

Lankum - False Lankum
The Clientele - I am not there anymore
Nabihah Iqbal - DREAMER

probably norm by andy shauf for me. pretty much a perfect album. hopefully the new sparklehorse record tomorrow will knock it off its perch

Mine will def be:
The Japanese House - In The End It Always Does

Followed by:
feeble little horse - Girl with Fish
Blake Mills w/ Chris Weisman - Jelly Road
Westerman - An Inbuilt Fault
Natural Information Society w/ Ari Brown - Since Time Is Gravity
George Winstone w/ Ben Monder - Odysseus
David Lord - Forest Standards, Vol. 3
Thomas Bangalter - Mythologies
Rezzett - Meant Like This
Chris Speed Trio - Despite Obstacles
Trickster - Live In Brooklyn
Sam Weinberg Trio w/ Chris Lightcap & Tom Rainey - Implicatures
John Edwards/Andrew Lisle/Dirk Serries/Colin Webster - Out Of Nowhere
VoidCeremony - Threads Of Unknowing
Incantation - Unholy Deification
Conjureth - The Parasitic Chambers
Ulthar - Anthronomicon
Moufang/Czamanski - Recreational Kraut
Nondi_ - Flood City Trax
Tim Hecker - No Highs
Tirzah - trip9love...???

Reissues/archival releases:
No-Neck Blues Band - Niente Piu Canzoni
Rick White - Eric's Trip Demos (92-95)
Arthur Russell - Picture Of Bunny Rabbit
Sam Gendel - Pass If Music
Nana Vasconcelos/Nelson Angelo/Novelli - Nana, Nelson Angelo, Novelli

Jute Gyte and Tirzah simuldrop has def shaken up my standings, Fire-Toolz still on top tho

This has really been a difficult year for me, there are a handful of albums I enjoy, but nothing truly great. I think I need to find some new genre to get obsessed with.

tirzah
amaarae
pj harvey
meshell ndegeocello
laura groves
avalon emerson
kelela
jessy lanza
ratboys
julie byrne
zach bryan

Some recent albums deserving of love

Modern Cosmology - What Will You Grow Now?
Alison Goldfrapp - The Love Invention
Belbury Poly - The Path
Blank Banshee - 4D
George Clanton - Ooh Rap I Ya
Jaimie Branch - Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war)

Currently leaning:
Flesh and the Dream - Choose Mortality

some i haven't seen here yet:

beatings are in the body - st
being dead - when horses would run
ben howard - is it?
asher gamedze - turbulence and pulse
philippe brach - les gens qu'on aime
bernice - cruisin'
jana horn - the window is the dream

Here are some favorites that I haven't posted on this thread yet:

Kurt Rosenwinkel - Undercover: Live at the Village Vanguard
Brian Blade & the Fellowship Band - Kings Highway
v/a - I Am A Pilgrim: Doc Watson at 100
Hudson Mohawke & Nikki Nair - Set the Roof EP
Nakibembe Embaire Group (Nyege Nyge)
Maxine Funke - River Said
Tristan Arp - End of a Line or Part of a Circle? EP
Metrist - Pollen III (Timedance)
Daniel Ake - Green Thumb
Lukas Traxel - One-Eyed Daruma

co-sign that being dead album

also would be remiss if i didn't list my two most-listened albums of the summer

babyface ray - summer's mine
veeze - ganger

Noname deserves a mention

The Tubs - Dead Meat
&
billy woods/Kenny Segal - Maps

are solidly my top 2

My most listened to for last few months:

Amaarare - Fountain Baby
Carly Rae Jepsen - The Loveliest Time
JIM - Love Makes Magic
Ben Howard - Is It?
Nabihah Iqbal - Dreamer
Django Django - Off Planet Pts 1-4
The Clientele - I Am Not There Anymore
Overmono - Good Lies

this is my corny head in the sand list

rezzett - live at stand by
mpu101 - mpu103
nimu - picture in picture
life expectancy - decline
exhibition - the last laugh
örnatorpet - evigt främmande, evigt fjärran
ascended dead - evenfall of the apocalypse
randolph & mortimer - the incomplete truth
cloud forest protection agency - c.f.p.a vol. ii
golden hallway music - rules & chance vol. 3
billy woods and kenny segal - maps
asymetric80 - blood lies
rae sremmurd - sremm 4 life
lana del rey - did you know that there’s a tunnel under ocean blvd
kassem mosse - workshop 32
hans peter neergård - til deg
boldy james, richgains - indiana jones

one more:

wave temples - panama shift

this slowdive album is a major contender for me. I've listened to it an awful lot considering it came out a week ago.

BC Camplight - The Last Rotation Of Earth

the tubs - dead meat

Jaimie Branch - Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war)

― Muad'Doob (Moodles)

+1

Strong year in the country space so far. Two favorites I haven't seen mentioned yet are Jessye DeSilva's Renovations and Rhiannon Giddens' You're the One.

Probably the Tubs, but I have found my self listening to a lot of the Wednesday Rat Saw God record as of late.

Tee Vee Repairmann - What’s on TV?
Yo La Tengo - This Stupid World
Acid Mothers Temple - Paralyzed Genius Brain
Tropical Fuck Storm - Submersive Behaviour
OSEES - Intercepted Message

I haven't heard too many albums but so far I'm enjoying Reuben Vaun Smith, Jarak Qaribak, A-Star, Ruger, Empire State Bastard and Chemical Brothers

I should really write that properly:

Reuben Vaun Smith - Da Cuckoo Ya Ya
Dudu Tassa & Johnny Greenwood - Jarak Qaribak
A-Star - King of Afrodance
Ruger - RU The World
Empire State Bastard - Rivers of Heresy
Chemical Brothers - For That Beautiful Feeling

Digging this Tee Vee Repairmann record. Not breaking a whole lotta new ground but it's a fun and relatable.

Tinashe!

Chief Adjuah

cool list:

Another mention for Lisa O'Neill who I love, but also...

Dina Ögon, Oas - random Spotify discovery from earlier in the year, really coming into its own now summer is beginning. Immaculate, smooth, baroque jazzpop from Stockholm, just the right side of too cute.

Hamish Hawk, Angel Numbers - terrific Scottish sophistipop which has grown on me a lot since my initial disappointment.

Langendorf Utd, Yeahno Yowouw Land - gorgeous Ethiopiquey jazz from Swedish saxophonist who's played with James Yorkston etc.

David Brewis, The Soft Struggles - makes a strong case for Sunderland as the new Canterbury scene, lovely, wistful, astralweeksy chamberfolk.

Jim Ghedi & Toby Hay - sublime, duelling, twangling acoustic guitars from Yorkshire and Wales.

Felicita, Spalarkle - moreish, wonky hyperpop. Occasionally like Virginia Astley signed to PC Music.

― Piedie Gimbel, Wednesday, June 7, 2023 11:38 AM (three months ago) bookmarkflaglink

Updated my google doc for anyone interested. Still tilts towards stuff released in the first half of the year because of the "Best So Far" lists but I've added all the new additions from the other sources:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lzSEKqspuhsXRiJx_klRxL6PRIFsSJK3F4qo0Nw_sK8/edit?usp=sharing

These are the albums repped by at least two sources that are not mentioned in the first post above:

Julie Byrne - The Greater Wings
Joanna Sternberg - I've Got Me
The Clientele - I Am Not There Anymore
Feeble Little Horse - Girl With Fish
ANOHNI and the Johnsons - My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross
bar italia - Tracey Denim
Black Country, New Road - Live at Bush Hall
Corinne Bailey Rae - Black Rainbows
Home is Where - The Whaler
Jaimie Branch - Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war))
Mitski - The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We
Olivia Rodrigo - Guts
Roisin Murphy - Hit Parade
Algiers - SHOOK
Amaarae - Fountain Baby
Andy Shauf - Norm
Arthur Russell - Picture of Bunny Rabbit
Asake - Work of Art
Blake Mills - Jelly Road
Blue Lake - Sun Arcs
Everything But the Girl - Fuse
Fires in the Distance - Air Not Meant for Us
GEL - Only Constant
Idris Ackamoor & the Pyramids - Afro Futuristic Dreams
James Holden - Imagine This Is a High Dimensional Space of All Possibilities
Jeff Rosenstock - HELLMODE
Jess Williamson - Time Ain't Accidental
Kylie Minogue - Tension
m83 - Fantasy
Margo Cilker - Valley of Heart's Delight
Militarie Gun - Life Under the Gun
MSPAINT - Post-American
Neil Young - Chrome Dreams
Noname - Sundial
Overmono - Good Lies
PJ Harvey - I Inside the Old Year Dying
Ratboys - The Window
Screaming Females - Desire Pathway
Sexyy Red - Hood Hottest Princess
Sparklehorse - Bird Machine
Superviolet - Infinite Spring
U.S. Girls - Bless This Mess
Veeze - Ganger
Victoria Monet - Jaguar II
Yeule - Softscars
Youth Lagoon - Heaven is a Junkyard
Yussef Dayes - Black Classical Music
Zulu - A New Tomorrow

Favorites so far, no particular order:

Laurel Halo
Billy Woods & Kenny Segal
Lankum
Sweeping Promises
Slowdive
Joanna Sternberg
Julie Byrne
Avalon Emerson
Yo La Tengo
Lana Del Rey

Bubbling under:
Amaare
The Tubs
Nourished by Time
En Attendant Anna
Everything But the Girl
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
Kelela

a lot of records came out in the past month that shot up to the top of my list: corinne bailey rae, laurel halo, tinashe, tomb mold, code orange

Faves so far:

1. Julie Byrne
2. Kara Jackson

Everything else:

Agriculture
Anti-God Hand
Austere
bdrmm
Beach Fossils
Black Belt Eagle Scout
Zach Bryan
Chief Adjuah
Indigo de Souza
Elvis Depressedly
Eternal Dust
Gaadge
Liturgy
Miserere Luminis
Slowdive
Subsonic Eye
Ukandanz
Wednesday
Billy Woods & Kenny Segal
yeule

enjoying the new a.s.o.

xp great top two.

A few favs I haven't seen mentioned (outside of the lists):

Asake - Work of Art
Brennen Leigh - Ain't Through Honky Tonkin' Yet
Fenne Lily - Big Picture
Lori McKenna - 1988
Margo Cilker - Valley of Heart's Delight
Olivia Rodrigo - Guts
Skee Mask - B
Whitney Rose - Rosie
Yaeji - With a Hammer - 4

Haven't seen it mentioned on this thread yet but deserves to be:

Jonny Nash - Point of Entry

Shoegaze ambient-folk? Anyway, sublime album from the Melody As Truth head honcho and Gaussian Curve member

Das Koolies - DK.01

Super Furry Animals back with a vengeance, without Gruff. Somehow it works. Just a mad, mad, long, fun album.

my list as of today

Gorod, The Orb
Blood Ceremony, The Old Ways Remain
Weep, Life in Shades of Grey
Winger, Resurrect Me
Godflesh, Purge
Ndegeocello, The Omnichord Real Book
Fall Out Boy, So Much for Stardust
Scott Tuma, Nobody's Music
Alkaloid, Numen
Quavo, Rocket Power
Marty Stuart, Altitude
Anna Colom, Cayana
Allison Miller, Rivers in Our Veins
Frozen Crown, Call of the North
SinHeresy, Event Horizon

"Life in Shades of Grey" is an EP though really.

enjoying the new a.s.o.

― LaMDA barry-stanners (||||||||)

Nice Trip-hop throwback album. Also one half of ASO is Tornado Wallace, who makes great music too.

Listening to the James Holden now for the first time. This is great stuff. All wobbly and spacey, like if you put the orb from the Orb inside the tangerine from Tangerine Dream

nowhere else to really post about this as i'm still trying to figure how to genre them but--- even if it's brand new and just a 12 minute ep, idc because the new luna luna is absolute disco pop perfection and my favorite thing of the year so far. maybe their best material yet. the ep just came out on friday, but 3 of the songs had been on preview for at least a few weeks. ALLNIGHTIBEENLIVINALIEYEAH! oh my god, it's so good.

only on spotify for now.

tubs

yup ... Tubs

yes, tubs, checked out the album thanks to ilx and it rules

just listening to the new Laurel Halo for the first time but pretty sure this will be up there, I am going to be listening to this a lot

graham lambkin / james rushford - gondolas (erstwhile 095-2)

https://erstwhilerecords.bandcamp.com/album/gondolas

sorry for the double post. bought a physical copy of gondolas back in mid-august. to my surprise, the entire digital version was unlocked. i could go on about this album (jon abbey would most likely prefer that i don't) but i'm wiped out. it's a great listen.

tubs

― flopson, Sunday, 1 October 2023 4:25 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

yup ... Tubs

― alpine static, Sunday, 1 October 2023 9:24 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

yes, tubs

whole thread should just be a 200 post sequence of this

Hasn't felt like a classic year to me, or maybe/probably I've just been paying less attention. Standouts so far are the Laura Groves and Lana Del Rey. Always love Susanne Sundfor obv and the middle half is my Half-AOTY, but it's missing the other bit. Will use this thread to catch up!

Matthew Halsall - An Ever Changing View
spiritual jazz going on ambient, nature and trumpet

but also The Clientele, Eddie Chacon, Hayden Pedigo, North Americans, Mac DeMarco, Rogê and Blue Lake

Just heard the new Deena Abdelwahed, absolutely brilliant. Will be up there.

good call on the Hayden Pedigo. i should add a list of folk/country/acoustic/etc stuff. busy w/ "real" work at the moment, however.

The Kara Jackson is phenomenal I agree. I still haven’t listened to the Julie Byrne in full.

PG Six "Murmurs & Whispers"

Matthew Halsall - An Ever Changing View

this is great, thanks!

I had missed the earlier Tubs enthusiasm, thanks for the reminder — good album.

been meaning to start a Tubs thread

Defcee - The Golem of Brooklyn Soundtrack

https://defcee.bandcamp.com/album/the-golem-of-brooklyn-original-soundtrack

really cool/unique project:

The Golem of Brooklyn Original Soundtrack is a companion piece to Adam Mansbach's new novel of the same name. Defcee uses the book and its characters to examine Jewish-American culture in all its beauty, ugliness, and the spaces in between. The album is fully produced by Messiah Musik, who worked hand in hand with Defcee to execute the vision sonically and thematically. The album will be released on September 29th via Closed Sessions.

Hamish Hawk, Angel Numbers - terrific Scottish sophistipop which has grown on me a lot since my initial disappointment.

this didn't really grab me but I checked out his 2021 album Heavy Elevator and really digging it, they are fairly similar actually these songs seem better imo

I'm finding it difficult to keep in my head, let alone order into a hierarchy, all the good new music I've heard this year, so this is very provisional/incomplete, but here's an off the cuff top ten:

Corinne Bailey Rae - Black Rainbows
Amaarae - Fountain Baby
Sarina Bellaouel - Al Hadr
Flesh and The Dream - Choose Mortality
Julie Byne - The Greater Wings
Kesha - Gag Order
Tinashe - BB/ANG3L
Baaba Maal - Being
Bullant - Late Life Circ
Sarathy Korwar - KAL (Real World)

Need to give that Baaba Maal a go -- dug the track I heard. Thanks for the reminder. Haven't heard much positivity about the Kesha album -- what's it like?

Fractured confessional modern pop I guess - like trying to make a version of My Teenage Dream Ended that is less stressful to listen to (though still a little bit stressful) and works as more than a curio.

Based on first listen, add the new Call Super album to the above list

The preview tracks on bandcamp sound great

I'm finding it difficult to keep in my head, let alone order into a hierarchy, all the good new music I've heard this year, so this is very provisional/incomplete, but here's an off the cuff top ten:

Corinne Bailey Rae - Black Rainbows
Amaarae - Fountain Baby
Sarina Bellaouel - Al Hadr
Flesh and The Dream - Choose Mortality
Julie Byne - The Greater Wings
Kesha - Gag Order
Tinashe - BB/ANG3L
Baaba Maal - Being
Bullant - Late Life Circ
Sarathy Korwar - KAL (Real World)

― Tim F

Yay for Tinashe and Amaarae, hope they make the rounds come eoy lists… I haven’t heard the rest but read good things about them. Cool looking list.

Amaarae - Fountain Baby
Kelela - Raven
Romy - Mid-Air
Laura Groves - Radio Red
Lucinda Chua - YIAN
Hannah Jadagu - Aperture
Kah-Lo - Pain/Pleasure
Julie Byrne - The Greater Wings
Susanne Sundfør - blómi
Christine & the Queens - PARANOÏA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE
Gayance - Mascarade
Jessy Lanza - Love Hallucination
Victoria Monét - Jaguar II
Corinne Bailey Rae - Black Rainbows
Tennis - Pollen
DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ - Destiny

Great list monotony. Lots of my favourites there, especially Romy, Susanne Sundfør, Christine & The Queens, Victoria Monét, Laura Groves, Corinne Bailey Rae and Tennis.

Other albums I've played a lot:

Caroline Polachek
Carly Rae Jepsen
Paramore
Mitski
Olivia Rodrigo
Anohni & The Johnsons
Kali Uchis
Jessie Ware (think I'm one of the few on here who didn't think this was a major disappointment)
Sparks
Koleżanka
Eddie Chacon
Avalon Emerson
Kylie
Jake Shears

Feels like it has been a stronger year than the last couple overall.

thanks. Should've added Say She She to my list as well.

I like-to-love all the other albums on monotony's list (esp. Kelela, Laura, Lucinda, Hannah and Jessy) except the Kah-Lo and Gayance which I haven't heard. Nice to see someone/anyone big up Hannah Jadagu.

bunch of stuff I love on monotony and KP's lists, adding a couple of EPs I've enjoyed:

NewJeans - Get Up
Patrick Wolf - The Night Safari

Yay for Tinashe and Amaarae, hope they make the rounds come eoy lists

I'd be very surprised if they don't. Both will certainly be high up on my ballot

Mary Lattimore's new album is out today and already looks set to feature on my eoy list.

Recent great ones for me:

Daniel Villarreal (w/Jeff Parker & Anna Butterss) - Lados B
Barker - Unfixed EP
John Zorn (Brian Barsella / Ches Smith / Jorge Roeder / Julian Lage) - Full Fathom Five
DJ Znobia - Inventor vol. 1 (Nyege Nyege)
Autechre - Sydney 8/27/2023 bootleg

Haven't seen it mentioned on this thread yet but deserves to be:

Jonny Nash - Point of Entry

Shoegaze ambient-folk? Anyway, sublime album from the Melody As Truth head honcho and Gaussian Curve member

yes!

Seeing more and more support for the DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ album, which will rank high for me. Great interview here:

https://last-donut-of-the-night.ghost.io/dj-sabrina-the-teenage-dj-interview/

liquid mike

In this entire thread there's only one mention of Meshell Ndegeocello??????????

the new Corrine Bailey Ray is up there for me now

no mention of ANOHNI + the Johnsons yet?

Others for me:

Billy Woods / Maps
Daniel Villarreal / Lados B
Yussef Dayes / Black Classical Music
Aaron Dooley / International Disassociation of

Daniela Pes - Spira is my top pick so far.

Also on my list: Caroline Polachek, M Sage and Raymomd Zander, maybe the new OPN (but I'll need more time with that one).

3 standouts this year are sufjan, jim legxacy, and corinne bailey rae

i have been bad at keeping up with things this year but it feels a bit weaker than most years. plenty that's good but little that i've really loved and listened to obsessively

Gevaudan - Umbra

Man, this goes to show that there's still so much you can do with Sabbath-esque slow/doomy/sludgy/Sabbathy metal. It's brimming with riffs and ideas. Rocketed into my top albums this year

Huh, hadn’t heard about that one dog latin, but sounds up my alley.

that’s $12.09 USD, plus $18.13 shipping for United States.

Yikes. Guess I'll stick with streaming.

no mention of ANOHNI + the Johnsons yet?

― fetter, Friday, October 20, 2023 1:51 AM (six days ago) bookmarkflaglink

First of theirs I've swooned over.

Tirzah album is so so good, rocketed straight to the top, thank you ilm

it's high up my own rankings, to illustrate how pan-ILM it truly is

Craven Faults "Standers" is probably my favourite, so far. Lana Del Ray's "Did You Know ..." also played a lot. Excited for the Tirzah album, too.

DewSoCozy & Tubesock Cam - The Adventures of Tubesock Cam and the Green Bandit

super fun, energetic and oddball rap record, classic era feel without feeling retro

Clearly a man of excellent taste

ok best of 2023

piotr kurek peach blossom
7038634357 neo seven
dane law gurum triads
sydney spann sending up a spiral of
tirzah trip9love...???
ml buch suntub
jim legxacy hnpm
ragana desolation's flower
catherine christer hennix solo for tamburium
joanne robertson blue car

more

— tom (@HowToDressWell) November 6, 2023

that's a cool list!! been looking those up on bandcamp

Love ML Buch, still digging into this latest one

Yeah, love to see ML Buch mentioned. New one perhaps not as good as Skinned, but still lovely. Good writeup in Pitchfork today too.

Album of the year is still Fire-toolz to me. Danish album of the year is Fraads.

ml buch album is sounding wonderful, thanks for the heads up

Hennix is also on my albums list, great stuff

Thanks for the heads up re: new ML Buch! Had already heard and loved "Fleshless Hand"--her approach to my ears is kinda like a PC Music take on His Name Is Alive uncanny valley deadpan singing and guitar playing/production

I'm cooped up in COVID self-iso, so I just resigned myself to tabulating my EOY lists super-early, apologies for their length but they're not as extensive as past years' have been:

POP/ROCK
1) THE JAPANESE HOUSE - In The End It Always Does
2) TIRZAH - trip9love...???
3) BLAKE MILLS (W/ CHRIS WEISMAN) - Jelly Road
4) feeble little horse - Girl with Fish
5) HOTLINE TNT - Cartwheel
6) WESTERMAN - An Inbuilt Fault
7) WRAITH OF KHAN - Slow Drain
8) on4world - In Rainbow Roads

REISSUES/ARCHIVAL RELEASES
1) THE REPLACEMENTS - Tim: Let It Bleed edition (Ed Stasium mix)
2) ARTHUR RUSSELL - Picture Of Bunny Rabbit
3) NANA VASCONCELOS/NELSON ANGELO/NOVELLI - Nana, Nelson Angelo, Novelli
4) AD HOC - Corpse
5) NO-NECK BLUES BAND - Niente Piu Canzoni
6) RICK WHITE - Eric's Trip Demos (92-95)
7) JOHN McGUIRE - Vanishing Points/A Cappella

METAL
1) INCANTATION - Unholy Deification
2) WORMHOLE - Almost Human
3) CONJURETH - The Parasitic Chambers
4) VOIDCEREMONY - Threads Of Unknowing
5) ULTHAR - Anthronomicon

JAZZ/FREE IMPROVISATION/MODERN CLASSICAL
1) THOMAS BANGALTER - Mythologies
2) NATURAL INFORMATION SOCIETY - Since Time Is Gravity
3) CHRIS SPEED TRIO - Despite Obstacles
4) TRICKSTER - Live In Brooklyn
5) GEORGE WINSTONE (W/ BEN MONDER) - Odysseus
6) SAM WEINBERG TRIO (W/ CHRIS LIGHTCAP & TOM RAINEY) - Implicatures
7) DAVID LORD - Forest Standards, Vol. 3
8) JOHN EDWARDS/ANDREW LISLE/DIRK SERRIES/COLIN WEBSTER - Out Of Nowhere
9) TED CROSBY - Stationary Movements
10) KIND MIND - S/T (2023)
11) SHOO - Horn
12) SANDY EWEN - Solo

ELECTRONIC/EXPERIMENTAL
1) MM/KM - Ich sehe Vasen
2) REZZETT - Meant Like This/Boshly
3) SUN ARAW - Super Coracle
4) MOUFANG/CZAMANSKI - Recreational Kraut
5) OFF WORLD - 3
6) ARP - The Enormous Room
7) SAM GENDEL - Pass If Music
8) TIM HECKER - No Highs
9) NONDI_ - Flood City Trax

Rezzett’s live at stand by also from this year is really great too

In this entire thread there's only one mention of Meshell Ndegeocello??????????

― ⓓⓡ (Johnny Fever), Thursday, October 19, 2023 11:25 PM (three weeks ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah I feel like as recently as ten years ago an album like this would have been consensus top 5

out of the traps, first it's Uncut's EOY 2023 list ...time for someone to start a new thread.

Uncut's 75 Best Albums of 2023
https://www.albumoftheyear.org/list/2098-uncuts-75-best-albums-of-2023/

obvious clue
Number 1 is an Irish band starting with L

more

Number 10 Welsh man in his 80s

Number 12 legendary 90 shoegazer band

Number 29 Basildon's finest

Number 59 legendary US art pop band that were formed in the 60s

Listening to the Rezzett album now. This is pretty great! Any other rec's for bobbins or hard dance album out this year?

That Uncut list is... weird, but happy to see Yo La Tengo so high and the Jim Ghedi/Toby Hay love.

brooklynvegan with a summary list of the Uncut list

https://www.brooklynvegan.com/uncuts-top-75-albums-of-2023/

I still need to check out the MM/KM (Kassem Mosse) record. I like the other Rezzett album from this year (Meant Like This) even more than the live one, all on Trilogy Tapes.

Here's some other dance music to check out:

Judgitzu - Sator Arepo (Nyege Nyege)
Rhyw - Mister Melt EP
Cocktail Party Effect - Fixing the Roof EP (Nervous Horizon)
Barker - Unfixed EP
Metrist - Pollen pt. III (Timedance)

Also so much other great stuff on those labels, Principe, etc.

I've enjoyed the two Wallace EPs from this year xps

What is the rush with these things? Do they really get more traffic if they publish on 11/9 instead of later on?

Well Uncut is still mostly a print mag, so presumably they have to gather their list in time for printing and it inevitably gets leaked, so they don't bother to protect it.

no leak, magazine on sale today in the UK.

Ahh, thanks. Usually takes awhile to show up here so I wasn't aware it was out today.

I thought it might be similar to when the Decibel list used to get leaked, to the point that they just started embracing it and leaking it themselves before the issue hits stands.

Uncut Magazine, new issue details

The new @uncutmagazine is in shops and available here: https://t.co/vLnk39eaom. @bobdylan! Review Of 2023! @thebeatles! @PJHarveyUK! @PaulSimonMusic! @TheKinks! @shirleyeCollins! @therealjohncale! @arooj_aftab! The Necks! @dinosaurjr! @CorinneBRae! @forsternet! Best Of 2023 CD! pic.twitter.com/lPkNS9QhrQ

— Uncut Magazine (@uncutmagazine) November 9, 2023

Rhyw - Mister Melt EP

100% co-sign on this

I need to check that out, I've enjoyed a bunch of previous stuff from Rhyw

x-post - I presume it's the December issue but I'd also imagine that advertisers like a best of list now, in time for Christmas (I'd imagine there's a spike in sales, to varying degrees, from appearing on the list).

Looks like Mojo's list is out: https://www.brooklynvegan.com/mojos-top-75-albums-of-2023/

ILM favourites The Tubs at #40

Sorry, didn't see this thread but ILM has had a dedicated thread since it began:

The 2023 End of Year music lists thread

Album I did the art for is Mojo's #18 as well their Electronic(a) Album Of the Year.

Tried hearing the Lankum album and after 5 or so tracks I realized this is 100% not my thing.

the greatest jam astronauts in the world are back

https://sunwatchers.bandcamp.com/album/music-is-victory-over-time

I have only listened to it once, this morning, but Claire M Singer's Saor knocked me completely over today. Incredible patient slow organic ambient.

AZ - Truth Be Told (produced by Buckwild)

Ted Gioia:

https://www.honest-broker.com/p/the-best-recordings-of-2023-honorable

Fuck wrong thread

Finally getting to the Sabrina the Teenage DJ album, it's so good. Strong candidate for my albums list.

first discovery from recent year-end lists (specifically the crack mag list) that's totally kicked my ass: the purelink album

I loved the S/T Purelink EP from last year (especially the unofficial cover of “Take Care”) but haven’t listened to the new album yet.

I'm finding it difficult to keep in my head, let alone order into a hierarchy, all the good new music I've heard this year, so this is very provisional/incomplete, but here's an off the cuff top ten:

Corinne Bailey Rae - Black Rainbows
Amaarae - Fountain Baby
Sarina Bellaouel - Al Hadr
Flesh and The Dream - Choose Mortality
Julie Byne - The Greater Wings
Kesha - Gag Order
Tinashe - BB/ANG3L
Baaba Maal - Being
Bullant - Late Life Circ
Sarathy Korwar - KAL (Real World)

― Tim F, Thursday, 5 October 2023 19:39 (two months ago) bookmarkflaglink

I was surprised to discover that several of these (Sabrina Bellaouel, Bullant, Sarathy Korwar) have not been mentioned anywhere on ILM other than in the above post. In that spirit (and while I continue to defer actually finalising any proper best of list), here are a few of my other favourite unmentioned/unloved albums of 2023:

Sam Goku - The Things We See When We Look Closer
Popular Music - Minor Works
Faizal Mostrixx - Mutations
Ao - Ao Mar
Shafiq Husayn - So Gold
Thomas Azier - The Inventory of Our Desire
Hinako Omori - stillness, softness...
Thom Gill - Eat The Wind
Lance Gurisik - Cull Portal
Melati ESP - hipernatural
Minihi - Stasis Loops

thom gill album is nice, kind of a slower/gentler cousin to fievel is glauque. love his beverly glenn copeland remix from a couple years ago

thanks for the recs tim, so far thom gill and shafiq husayn are very nice.

Thom is a wizard--I also highly recommend Bernice, the band he's in from here in Toronto where Robin Dann is the singer-songwriter and he's mainly on keys instead of guitar.

Also relating to him, when I heard the new Blake Mills/Chris Weisman collab (a personal EOY highlight), BM's vocal style on it immediately made me think of TG fwiw

my AOTY so far that i haven't seen mentioned often or at all:

V/A - Gespensterland
Andrew Osterhoudt - Out Together
Froid Dub - Deep Blue Bass
Philipp Otterbach - The Dahlem Diaries
Girls Chat Room - Sleep Mask
Headman - DeTurning
The Creative Technology Consortium - Panoramic Coloursound
Jon Iverson meets Prins Emanuel, Golden Ivy & Inre Kretsen Grupp
Troth - Forget the Curse
Holy Tongue - Deliverance and Spirtual Warfare
De Ambassade - The Fool
Kaukolampi - Inside the Sphere
Randolph & Mortimer - The Incomplete Truth
DJ Bone - FURTHER
Blotter Trax - Superconducter
Jonny Nash - Point of Entry
Golden Hallway Music - Rules & Chance Vol. 3
Fantastic Twins - Two is Not a Number
Paul St. Hilaire - Tikiman Vol. 1
E.L.I. - Built to Thrill
Actress - LXXXVIII
The Other Others - s/t
MATRiXXMAN - Dust World
XIII - Permanent Rain

first discovery from recent year-end lists (specifically the crack mag list) that's totally kicked my ass: the purelink album

― ivy., Tuesday, December 5, 2023 8:10 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

seconded

xp Nice list, Karl. Lots of titles new to me. Thanks!

yes thanks Karl, always enjoy your picks. That Randolph & Mortimer album rules, doesn’t it? Great industrial/ebm/skinny puppy type stuff.

Clearly I've got some more listening to do before declaring my Real AOTY, but here's my Uproxx ballot:

*write-in
*Algiers/Shook (Deluxe)

Bob Dylan/Shadow Kingdom

*Daniel Villarreal/Lados B

Jaimie Branch/Fly Or Die Fly Or Die Fly Or Die ((world war))

Jlin/Perspective

Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog/Connection

Meshell Ndegeocello/The Omnichord Real Book

PJ Harvey/I Inside The Old Year

*Sunwatchers/Music Is Victory Over Time

Willie Nelson/I Don't Know A Thing About Love: The Songs of Harlan Howard

No songs, didn't have time.

xp <3 sawdust & brimstead. yes that album is a ripper!

jonny nash album is spectacular

Too early to make lists imo, Trilogy Tapes alone will probably release five more records this year.

haha otm

Catching up on stuff and the Hotline TNT and Ratboys albums are the blasts of energetic rock brilliance I didn't know I needed at this moment.

Girls Chat Room - Sleep Mask

lmao this is a gem

Really enjoying Sally Anne Morgan's album, which I've seen in lower reaches of some lists. Droney Appalachian folk-rock. Ripley Johnson guests on a cover of "Diamond Joe," whole thing is really nice.

xp yes! i mean 'look at these friennnnnndddsss, there's nothin like em nowhere!' a few weeks ago i had the privelege of djing an all day hardcore/metal show and telling my friend standing next to me i'm about to hit these fools with a track called 'tv turkey'

the self-titled album by Dead Pioneers, nothing else this year came close for me

Totally agree Chris, both albums are spectacular but, for me, The Window is on another level. I first came across it from listening to Wednesday and immediately loved it, whereas i just can get with that Wednesday record at all.

I also prefer The Window to the Wednesday album. More melodic and closer to, say, Waxahatchee.

Nom your AOTY noms over on the EOY noms thread: ILM's 2023 End of Year Tracks & Albums Poll / NOMINATIONS THREAD

the country album of the year is the kelsea ballerini ep