The 2023 End of Year music lists thread

overrated in comparison to how *you* feel about the album, it should be noted.

it's pretty common these days for pop albums which are merely good, solid, decent, etc. to be received by the critical consensus as instant classics. but at least their standards there are higher than they often still are with indie rock lol

Guts is currently #50 in the aggregate list (1 top 25; 2 other); not looking like much danger of it being "overrated."

it's pretty common these days for pop albums which are merely good, solid, decent, etc. to be received by the critical consensus as instant classics. but at least their standards there are higher than they often still are with indie rock lol

who says Guts is "merely good, solid, decent"?

“It” referring to “gyac as Valued Poster,” not to gyac herself.

Spotify Wrapped 2023: team behind much-anticipated music moment share their story
https://www.thedrum.com/news/2023/11/29/spotify-wrapped-2023-team-behind-much-anticipated-music-moment-share-their-story🕸

Another first for this year is the ‘Sound Town’ feature. “We know that listening habits are shared in really surprising ways across communities around the world,” explains Emily Galloway, head of personalization design at the streaming platform. “To celebrate that, we are bringing you Sound Town, which matches you to a city and is based on your listening and shared artists affinity.” This means that users can go check out a new place that they might not have considered visiting before and meet like-minded people.

Weird, I also got Burlington

turns out if you listen to more than two milwaukee rap mixtapes your sound town becomes milwaukee

Canadian music website Exclaim

Exclaim!'s 50 Best Albums of 2023
https://exclaim.ca/music/article/exclaim_50_best_albums_of_2023

AOTY Summary
https://www.albumoftheyear.org/list/2120-exclaims-50-best-albums-of-2023/

1. Caroline Polachek
Desire, I Want to Turn Into You

the aggregate is turning out how one would suspect-- Polachek, Sufjan, LDR, boygenius, GUTS, PJ Harvey, Mitski in top 10.

not sure what Lankum is

Huh, I got Burlington too.

Everyone should listen to Lankum. The Loud & Quiet blurb is a good primer:

Although they’ve been around in one form or another for 20 years now, Dublin’s Lankum have been developing their own version of traditional folk music in its current form since their 2017 album, Between The Earth And Sky, when they started to push ancient songs into new places by accentuating the droning elements of the music by adding heavy sounds more synonymous with metal and hardcore. In our end of year cover feature with the group, singer Radie Peat noted how their following album, 2019’s The Livelong Day, perhaps took things too far, making it too bleak for her to listen to. False Lankum has been a recalibration, and the band have rightfully been rewarded for hitting a sweet spot between noise and dread and space and peace. It’s a record that is worlds deep, and if 2023 has had anything going for it, it’s the fact that an album so dense and uncompromising has provided a band like this with their breakout year after two decades of musical exploration. False Lankum looked like being our album of the year as soon as it was released, and it is.

Spotify Wrapped 2023: team behind much-anticipated music moment share their story
https://www.thedrum.com/news/2023/11/29/spotify-wrapped-2023-team-behind-much-anticipated-music-moment-share-their-story🕸

Another first for this year is the ‘Sound Town’ feature. “We know that listening habits are shared in really surprising ways across communities around the world,” explains Emily Galloway, head of personalization design at the streaming platform. “To celebrate that, we are bringing you Sound Town, which matches you to a city and is based on your listening and shared artists affinity.” This means that users can go check out a new place that they might not have considered visiting before and meet like-minded people.

Had never (before or after the wrapped reveal) considered visiting Burlington.
― lethbridge-pfunkboy (hardcore dilettante), Wednesday, November 29, 2023 9:44 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

spotify told me i need to go to vilnius, lithuania

lankum album is v good, as is the loud and quiet listed john francis flynn album on a similar vein

rolling stone: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-2023-1234879538

I either had forgotten so many of these albums or never knew about them

Welcome new Spotify Burlingtonians!

To avoid other boygenius fans, simply walk the streets of your new paradise, where the most popular bands are still AC/DC and RATT

— Dan Chiasson (@dchiasso) November 30, 2023

xxpost the year was so good we put a 2022 record at #1

gorilla vs bear: https://www.gorillavsbear.net/gorilla-vs-bears-albums-of-2023/

Well "Guts" has jumped up considerably in the aggregrate today

It's cool that the RS list has Blondshell at #11... hope she shows up on more lists.

New Blue Sun at #6

Popmatters - THE 10 BEST AMBIENT ALBUMS OF 2023
https://www.popmatters.com/best-ambient-albums-of-2023

GvB consistently giving the best eoy lists

I know we all have our preferences, but RS putting Ocean Blvd way down at #21 (right beneath the Janelle Monáe album, of all things) is irritating.

oh my god are you okay

what is Ocean Blvd

a place above a tunnel, apparently

If the UK critical consensus is forming around Lankum, then for once I’m delighted. It’s an outstanding album, sonically gorgeous, and easily the most original take I’ve heard on traditional music I’ve heard in years.

Researching all year for the podcast has played havoc with my Unwrapped; I got a video message from Calvin Harris thanking me for my support! (Also, apparently I need to visit Newcastle. At least it’s not far away.)

what is Ocean Blvd

― alpine static, Thursday, November 30, 2023 3:21 PM (forty-six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

An Eric Clapton album I think

My top artist was Ryuichi Sakamoto. Spotify asked if I wanted to send him a message.

i'm sure they have an AI Ryuichi ready to receive it

I only use Spotify if absolutely necessary for work, so my top artists are mostly shit I hate but have to write about. I got a personal message from right wing country dumbass Creed Fisher.

I listen on Tidal, and only open Spotify when I need to paste a streaming link into an article.

Music fucking sucks now

Agreed. You should leave this messageboard and join us at music sucks now dot com

the only thing i hate more than music is people putting music in a list

not sure what Lankum is

irish folk as played by swans

I got Berkeley instead of Burlington, even though boygenius was in my top 5. Maybe having De La Soul as #1 did that?

(the De La thank-you video is v charming fwiw)

Sounds like you all need to set your GPS units to Ocean Blvd, stat...

not sure what Lankum is

― Beyond Goo and Evol (President Keyes)

https://daily.bandcamp.com/best-folk/the-best-folk-music-on-bandcamp-march-2023
https://daily.bandcamp.com/scene-report/new-dark-folk-uk-ireland-scene-report
https://daily.bandcamp.com/resonance/lankum-between-the-earth-and-sky-essay

Nourished by Time a deserving #1 on the gorilla vs. bear list.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/30/arts/music/best-albums-2023.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

3 NY Times writers top albums

Pareles - has Karol G on his list

Caramanica has Asake

Zoladz has Water From Your Eyes

Really happy with ML Buch at #2 at gorilla vs bear. Great album.

gorilla vs bear is always one of the best lists because their taste aligns decently with mine but they always still have a ton of stuff i haven't heard to dig through

One of the jazzheads, UK leading Jazz music magazine: Jazzwise

Jazzwise Albums of the Year 2023

https://www.jazzwise.com/features/article/jazzwise-albums-of-the-year-2023

Top 20 and further 80 Albums listed that were voted by the critics.

That Popmatters ambient list posted up thread by DJ Martian is nice

gvb list has that wonderful being dead album, and might just share a number 1 with my eventual list

xpost to whoever said this was a "light" year- yep, my spotify wrapped was about 90% catalogue things and stuff from last year i was late on. there was definitely some new music this year that i'm very enthusiastic about. just... man, this year was kinda bunk, wasn't it?

(and a retort to the "favorites"-
sufjan stevens has always been insufferable. time for some good old fashioned racism: the same music by a not white person would be rightfully ignored.
lana del rey is intentional self-parody and, while i live and die by a cynical mind, i can't have that shit spewed back at mr in my pop music. it's just too far. she cain't sang no matter, anydamnway.
jessie ware + beyonce are the perfect type of milquetoast garbage for these and the exact kind of music i hate.)

sza dominating is, i guess, not going to happen. the curse of the late season album release.

Austin, we finally agree on something music-wise— Sufjan sucks and always has

the same music by a not white person would be rightfully ignored.

kinda boggled at how wrong this is

i respect that they're now at the point where most of those are just totally inscrutable

"boygenius is for fake indie girls who like kelly clarkson" is the most comprehensible one and I still don't really get it - which part is the punchline?

still I clicked and read the whole thing despite knowing how shit it would be so they win

Feel like it's trying to be too clever, or maybe it hits much more for gen z readers and I'm just not exactly hip enough to fully get most of it.

https://accidentalevolution.wordpress.com/2024/01/05/150-best-albums-of-2023/

Chuck Eddy 150 fave albums of 2023 plus a long essay . His list has a fair amount of jazz and his self described most ever albums from African based artists. Eddy is into artists from the Nyege Nyege label much more than popular afropop/ afrobeats btw

Noz's list of his fave rap went up a day or two ago, for the goons/high BPM people (and lurkers)

https://noz.agency/rap23.html

The Finest Kiss

https://finestkiss.wordpress.com/2024/01/02/2023-albums/