The 2023 End of Year music lists thread

Resident Advisor Top Albums 2023

https://ra.co/features/4293

speaking of country ... Bandcamp's best country (and "country-ish") of 2023:

https://daily.bandcamp.com/best-of-2023/the-best-country-music-of-2023

the fader's songs of the year: https://www.thefader.com/2023/12/14/100-best-songs-2023

Raven Sings the Blues - albums

https://www.ravensingstheblues.com/2023-favorites/

part 3 from Cardiff based, GIITTV

GIITTV: Albums of the Year for 2023, 25-1
https://www.godisinthetvzine.co.uk/2023/12/15/giittv-albums-of-the-year-for-2023-25-1/

https://www.albumoftheyear.org/list/2203-god-is-in-the-tvs-albums-of-2023/

1. Corrine Bailey Rae – Black Rainbows

MAGNET, is this magazine/ music website still going, trad indie rock incoming...

MAGNET's Top 25 Albums of 2023
https://magnetmagazine.com/2023/12/14/magnets-top-25-albums-of-2023/
https://www.albumoftheyear.org/list/2200-magnets-top-25-albums-of-2023/

1. Guided by Voices - Nowhere to Go But Up

Not to be too pedantic, but technically Magnet listed all three 2023 GBV albums as their #1.

Bandcamp - The Best Electronic Music of 2023
By Joe Muggs·
https://daily.bandcamp.com/best-of-2023/the-best-electronic-music-of-2023

Complex - The Best Albums Of 2023
From smooth R&B projects to hard-hitting rap albums and an unexpected project that made its way to the top—these are Complex’s picks for the best albums of 2023.
https://www.complex.com/music/a/j-mckinney/best-albums-2023

1. Gunna, A Gift & A Curse

Wow, Magnet has Blondshell at #2, that's cool

Guardian : best vinyl album covers
https://www.theguardian.com/music/gallery/2023/nov/29/the-best-vinyl-album-covers-of-2023

Exclaim! : worst album covers
https://exclaim.ca/music/article/exclaim_worst_album_covers_of_2023

Find it funny that there are albums that appear on both lists. That said Guardian’s list is pretty bad.

Wow, those GBV albums are... fine. But to think *all three* are the very best things that came out in 2023--even if your main purview is trad indie rock!--is a sure sign you need to pack it in.

It's probably a gimmick to get people who have been checked out on GBV for a while to pay attention.

Has the 2023 Protomartyr made any year end lists yet?

Irl lol at Whiney’s preamble for best experimental albums on Stereogum

<3

I mean, I'm a huge Pollard stan and I think he's doing some really great work with GBV in recent years, I might argue he's at another career peak, but even I'd have a hard time dropping even just one of those in my top ten for the year.

Protomartyr #7 Loud and Quiet, #9 Ripcord, #15 Fastnbulbous, #49 Beats Per Minute, #73 Piccadilly.

The Quietus Tracks Of The Year 2023
https://thequietus.com/articles/33708-quietus-tracks-2023


nice to see the inclusion of Heartworms, Audiobooks, Max Tundra, Special Interest, Loraine James, Creep Show, Overmono.


The Quietus Tracks Of The Year 2023

1: John Francis Flynn – Mole In The Ground
2: Earth – Angels (The Bug Remix Feat. Flowdan)
3: Heartworms – Retributions Of An Awful Life
4: UKAEA ft. Dali de Saint Paul – Habibi
5: Lunch Money Life – Mother ((feat. Lady Lykez & Suku Ward)
6: Kylie Minogue – Padam Padam
7: Teeth Of The Sea – Megafragma
8: Yaeji – For Granted
9: Hey Colossus – You Laugh At My Face
10: Mclusky – Unpopular Parts Of A Pig
11: Lana Del Rey – A&W
12: Audiobooks – Burnt Pictures
13: Jessica Winter – Funk This Up
14: Jellyskin – Bringer Of Brine
15: Max Tundra – This Woman’s Work
16: Patrick Wolf – The Night Safari
17: Desire Marea – If You Know
18: Special interest – Concerning Peace (Machine Girl Remix)
19: Mandy, Indiana – Pinking Shears
20: Jam City – Times Square
21: Underworld – Denver Luna
22: Aphex Twin – In A Room7 F760
23: Nadine Shah – Topless Mother
24: Shit And Shine – Infinite Shite
25: William Doyle – Relentless Melt
26: Acid Klaus – You’re A Freak (Feat. Philly Piper)
27: HMLTD – The End Is Now
28: Meatraffle – Lovesong Industrial Complex
29: DRIFT. – Red Lights
30: Loraine James – 2003
31: Creep Show – Bungalow
32: Lankum – Go Dig My Grave
33: Overmono – Blow Out
34: Pangaea – Installation
35: In The Trunk – Everything Will Be Alright
36: NewJeans – Super Shy
37: Nicky Wire – Contact Sheets
38: Pole – Stechmück (Sleaford Mods rework)
39: Kelela – Enough For Love
40: Y U QT – Y'All Ready For Dis
41: Lisa O’Neill – Old Note
42: Elvin Brandhi & Lord Spikeheart – Drunk In Love
43: Slowdive – ­The Slab
44: Heinali – Kyiv Eternal
45: Yves Tumor – Echolalia
46: Sealionwman – Giselle
47: The Haxan Cloak – N/Y
48: Minor Science – Workahol
49: Jaaw Rot
50: Fifty Fifty – Cupid
51: Carmen Jaci – Oh Ah Eh Ih Ah Oh
52: Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Mr Medicine
53: Astrid – Kostarika
54: Paszka – Jade
55: Manni Dee – For Love & Money
56: Depeche Mode – Ghosts Again (Nik Colk Void Remix)
57: IFS MA – Yaksoq
58: L'Rain – New Year's UnResolution
59: Slauson Malone 1 – Voyager
60: Health – Children Of Sorrow
61: KWARP – New Arising
62: Dragonchild – LTD
63: Olivia Rodrigo – Vampire
64: Tara Clerkin Trio – Marble Walls
65: Alex Zethson – Öja
66: Enchanted Forest – Day Song
67: Klara Lewis & Nik Void – I’ll Always
68. Wacław Zimpel – Train Spotter
69: Sleaford Mods – West End Girls
70: Billy Woods & Kenny Segal – FaceTime (ft. Sam Herring)
71: Enola Gay – PTS.DUP
72: CHAI – Para Para
73: Boris & Uniform – You Are The Beginning
74: Fat White Family – Religion For One
75: WaqWaq Kingdom – Buri Buri (feat. Catu Diosis)

Relentless Melt

Everyone's favorite culture paper of record, The Economist:

https://www.economist.com/culture/2023/12/08/the-best-albums-of-2023-as-chosen-by-the-economist

The best albums of 2023, as chosen by The Economist

“Blomi”. By Susanne Sundfor
“False Lankum”. By Lankum
“Fountain Baby”. By Amaarae
“Gold”. By Cleo Sol
“Guts”. By Olivia Rodrigo
“Heavy Heavy”. By Young Fathers
“Hit Parade”. By Róisín Murphy
“Manzanita”. By Shana Cleveland
“New Vietnam and Singles”. By Civic
“Perfect Saviours”. By The Armed
“The Price of Progress”. By The Hold Steady
“The Record”. By Boygenius
“Scaring the Hoes”. By Danny Brown and JPEGMafia
“Strays”. By Margo Price
“Sundown”. By Eddie Chacon

does the anonymous economist music critic post on ilm?

Lol didn’t expect The Economist to be one of the best lists.

Late Entries
https://fastnbulbous.com/lucky-23/#late

La Rosa Noir is a Chicago band lead by Yeshi Regalado. The Chicana songwriter tells stories of the punk scene, relationships, and the loss of her mother. The dreamy post-punk/surf noir hybrid fits in perfectly with women-lead trip jam (a term I took from Peluché years ago) bands like Body Type, Goat Girl, Mere Women, Groupie and Warpaint. Still waiting for a way to actually buy the album.

1. La Rosa Noir – Arellano
2. Upper Wilds – Jupiter
3. Vanity Mirror – Puff
4. The Treasures Of Mexico – Burn the Jets
5. Volksempfänger – Attack of Sound
6. Sweat – Who Do They Think They Are?
7. Dust – et cetera, etc EP
8. Axis: Sova – Blinded by Oblivion
9. The Toads – In the Wilderness
10. Death And Vanilla – Flicker
11. Catatonic Suns – Catatonic Suns
12. Matthew ‘Doc’ Dunn – Fantastic Light
13. Cornelius – Dream in Dream

London metal record shop Crypt Of The Wizard end-of-year lists:

https://www.cryptofthewizard.com/blogs/news/end-of-year-list-2023

of course the economist would put roisin murphy on their list

Oh shit, I didn't realize Waqwaq Kingdom had a new one!! Downloading post-haste, love them.

No one posted a link to my thing so I'll do it

https://www.stereogum.com/2245430/the-10-best-experimental-albums-of-2023/lists/year-in-review/2023-in-review/

of course the economist would put roisin murphy on their list

― ufo, Monday, December 18, 2023 4:52 PM (one hour ago)

the write-up is very "which opinions, motherfucker" meme

No one posted a link to my thing so I'll do it

https://www.stereogum.com/2245430/the-10-best-experimental-albums-of-2023/lists/year-in-review/2023-in-review🕸/

thanks whiney, gonna check out the Hecker because of you— i was so disappointed in the albums after Ravedeath that i stopped paying attention
― butt dumb tight my boners got boners (the table is the table), Monday, December 18, 2023 bookmarkflaglink

It's is best since Virgins.

Phonica Records BEST OF 2023 features

https://www.phonicarecords.com/best-of-2023

The Obelisk Presents: THE BEST OF 2023 — Year in Review

https://theobelisk.net/obelisk/2023/12/18/the-best-of-2023/

Folk Radio, 100 best folk and alternative albums, unanked list. Plenty of good stuff and plenty I’ve never heard. https://www.folkradio.co.uk/2023/12/top-100-folk-alternative-albums-of-2023/

here's Ted Gioia's unranked top 100:

00. Aberdeen — Held Together
00. Christopher Adler — Landscape Traces
00. Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily — Love in Exile
00. Ambrose Akinmusire — Beauty is Enough
00. Blick Bassy — Mádibá
00. Jean-Paul Bataille — Les Cailloux
00. Betty Benedeadly & Brand Guess — At the Institute of Mentalphysics
00. Debashish Bhattacharya — The Sound of the Soul
00. Jonathan Bockelmann — Childish Mind
00. The Bombadils — Dear Friend
00. boygenius — The Record
00. Chris Brain — Steady Away
00. Alison Brown — On Banjo
00. Nora Brown and Stephanie Coleman — Lady of the Lake
00. Peter Bufano — Sunset Circus
00. Joachim Carr — Numinosum
00. Brìghde Chaimbeul — Carry Them With Us
00. Billy Childs — The Winds of Change
00. Complete Mountain Almanac — Complete Mountain Almanac
00. Concerto Caledonia — Shepherds and Tea Tables
00. Covet — Catharsis
00. Marta Del Grandi — Selva
00. John Depew — Yellow Threads
00. Alabaster DePlume — Come with Fierce Grace
00. Bokani Dyer — Radio Sechaba
00. Iye Echa & Mark Lotz — Nomykom
00. Tanya Ekanayaka — 18 Piano Sutras & 25 South Asian Pianisms
00. Faith & Harmony — I Heard the Voice
00. Natascha Falcão — Ave Mulher
00. JoAnn Falletta & Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra — Adolphus Hailstork & Danny Elfman: Concertos
00. Fendika & K-Sanchis — Gojo
00. Sullivan Fortner — Solo Game
00. Fosse, Gyan Riley, Ben Almén — Ground
00. Gao Hong and Kadialy Kouyate — Terri Kunda
00. The Gaslamp Killer & The Heliocentrics — The Gaslamp Killer Meets the Heliocentrics
00. Ricardo Dias Gomes — Muito Soul
00. Galina Grigorjeva — Music for Male-Voice Choir
00. Joel Harrison & the Stardust Reunion Band — Joel Harrison & the Stardust Reunion Band
00. Miho Hazama and M-Unit — Beyond Orbits
00. Jennifer Higdon — Duo Duel & Concerto for Orchestra
00. Marie-Luise Hinrichs — Visions
00. Lain Huuto — Valoon!
00. Ivan Ilić — Joseph Jongen: Preludes for Piano
00. Jantra — Synthesized Sudan
00. Keith Jarrett — Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
00. Rickie Lee Jones — Pieces of Treasure
00. Andrzej Karałow — Stone Music
00. Emily King — Special Occasion
00. Michalis Kouloumis, Tristan Driessens & Miriam Encinas — Music for Shepherds and Sultans
00. Bobby Lee — Endless Skyways
00. Lisel — Patterns for Auto-tuned Voices and Delay
00. Matterhorn Well — Sketches for Francis
00. Brad Mehldau — Your Mother Should Know
00. Joni Mitchell — Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 3: The Asylum Years (1972-1975)
00. Jason Moran — From the Dancehall to the Battlefield
00. Willie Nelson — Bluegrass
00. Jalen Ngonda — Come Around and Love Me
00. Novelty Island — Wallsend Weekend Television
00. Of Tropique — Buster Goes West
00. Víkingur Ólafsson — Bach: Goldberg Variations
00. Peter One — Come Back to Me
00. Gretchen Parlato & Lionel Loueke — Lean In
00. PJEV, Kit Downes & Hayden Chisholm — Medna Roso
00. Chris Potter (with Craig Taborn) — Got the Keys to the Kingdom: Live at the Village Vanguard
00. Quartet San Francisco; Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band; Take Six — Raymond Scott Reimagined
00. Hania Rani — On Giacometti
00. Rodrigo y Gabriela — In Between Thoughts…A New World
00. Raphael Rogiński — Talàn
00. Róis — Uisce Agus Bean
00. The Rolling Stones — Hackney Diamond
00. Roomful of Teeth — Rough Magic
00. Antonio Rugolo — Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Complete Italian Solo Guitar Music
00. Kim Rysstad, Arve Henriksen‎ & Tord Gustavsen — Villfarande Barn
00. Moise Sagara and John Meade — Things Come Together
00. Ryuichi Sakamoto — 12
00. Cécile McLorin Salvant — Mélusine
00. Lucas Santtana — O Paraíso
00. Adam Semijalac — Ode Dite
00. Sam Shackleton, Waclaw Zimpel & Siddhartha Belmannu — In the Cell of Dreams
00. Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Keri Fuge and Roderick Williams — Bernard Herrmann: Suite from Wuthering Heights
00. J.D. Simo — Songs from the House of Grease
00. Emilio Solla and Antonio Lizana — El Siempre Mar
00. Tyshawn Sorey (with Aaron Diehl & Matt Brewer) — Continuing
00. Dele Sosimi & the Estuary 21 — The Confluence
00. Sylvan Weekends — Outliers
00. Tashkezar — Ew'aa
00. Dan Tepfer — Bach: Inventions/Reinventions
00. Tiny Habits — Tiny Things
00. Ralph Towner — At First Light
00. Rian Treanor & Ocen James — Saccades
00. Triptides — Starlight
00. Various Artists — Tell Everybody!
00. Vox Clamantis & Jaan-Eik Tulve — Music by Henrik Ødegaard
00. Franek Warzywa & Młody Budda — Wykopki
00. Gareth Williams — Songs from the Last Page
00. Young Fathers — Heavy Heavy
00. Dhafer Youssef (with Herbie Hancock, Dave Holland, etc.) — Street of Minarets
00. Denny Zeitlin — Crazy Rhythm: Exploring George Gershwin
00. Krystian Zimerman — Karol Szymanowski: Piano Works
00. John Zorn — Quatrain

https://accidentalevolution.wordpress.com/2023/12/19/70-or-so-best-singles-of-2023/

Xchuck Eddy top 70 singles list

Good one! Lots of non-obvious choices and underrated singles.

RA - The Best Tracks of 2023
https://ra.co/features/4289

Track of the Year
DJ SWISHA - CLUB MEGAMIXXX

a link to a Spotify playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ZnFwsmho6wwFSNuEgcpoz?si=dasiRcs9QSOyJhNlMq6SSg&pi=e-AohL18m3Qv6y

blogger billdifferen always has an interesting list, grabbing from the more extreme ends of internet music. most of these i have never heard, and many i will likely choose to never hear again, but the discoveries are very much worth it.

https://billdifferen.blogspot.com/2023/12/billdifferens-top-100-songs-of-2023.html
https://billdifferen.blogspot.com/2023/12/billdifferens-top-100-songs-of-2023-pt.html

Ilxor, k4th3rin3 st. 4s4ph presents a poptimist article:

Stereogum - The Top 40 Pop Songs Of 2023
BY k4th3rin3 st. 4s4ph

https://www.stereogum.com/2245807/best-pop-songs-2023/columns/chained-to-the-rhythm/

I think the Aquarium Drunkard and Crack lists are the best I've encountered, at least as regards my personal tastes.

Brooklynvegan - 50 Best Punk Albums of 2023
https://www.brooklynvegan.com/50-best-punk-albums-of-2023/

Number 1
Home Is Where - The Whaler

It seems that the AD and RSTB lists this year have more than the usual amount of three-star sunny cosmic vibes to wade through.

The Line of Best Fit
Staff Picks 2023: The Year in Music
https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/features/staff-picks-best-albums-2023

"Best Fit editors and writers reveal their lesser-known personal favourite records of the year, from Sol Chylyd to Pure Adult and more."

Chat Pile tell us about their 10 favorite albums of 2023
https://www.brooklynvegan.com/chat-pile-tell-us-about-their-10-favorite-albums-of-2023/

good to see this one in the RA list, i love it so much ----->>>>

Spriitzz - Where R U (Ibiza Mix)

^^^ the bounciest of summer bangers with a vocal that'll get stuck in your head all weekend

Gorillla vs Bear Songs

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

That Gioia list is the only interesting one of these I've seen, big thanks for that

Chuck Eddy list has a number of African artists including
Sho Madjozi, Mr Eazi ,