The 2023 End of Year music lists thread

Man I still truly don't listen to many songs divorced from albums, never got into playlist mode on that level. Moreso with dance music, but I'm still usually listening to an EP or whatever.

Good point Moka, however if that was applied to ILM yearly poll tracks voting it would need to be significantly increased.

Something that I advocated for during the last decade re: improving the nominations and voting methodology, that unfortunately was not actioned.

In recent years I have provided nomina
tions, but not voted due to the limited restrictive voting allocations.

In December you start with your personal faves, then you listen to further suggestions i.e Expanding your listening experiences and then comes the reductive and restricted ILM poll voting system - it's just not fit for purpose. It's stuck in a stale methodology that's 15 to 20 years out of date.

I chalked up 179 different music genres according to 2023 Spotify wrapped. Listening to multiple genres each day is how I enjoy listening to music. More voting allocations particularly for tracks is required.

that’s funny, that isn’t the way i listen to or enjoy music at all

I'm finding I get less out of these lists every year. I listen through these lists and find myself thinking, "yeah, I respect the craft and all, but how does anybody actually love this? Most of it is in one ear and out the other. I'm old, though. These lists aren't meant to appeal to me.

I love music

Am I remembering wrong or did P4K used to have much longer song and album lists at the end of the year?

Meaning, the authoritative lists. (Before they added the genre lists)

On another note: I’m finding some great stuff via the eoy charts by artists on Boomkat, there’s so much though. If anyone has any particular favorite lists please share because I doubt I’ll go through each one.

Grizzly Butts (Soon to be Mystificationzine) The Top 75 Albums of the Year

https://mystificationzine.com/2023/12/21/the-top-75-albums-of-the-year-2023/

Test Pressing 2023 Round Up
https://www.testpressing.org/magazine/its-the-test-pressing-2023-round-up

individual lists from Balearic / Electronic DJs

ACL 2023 ~ The Top 20 Albums of the Year

https://acloserlisten.com/2023/12/22/acl-2023-the-top-20-albums-of-the-year/

electronic and experimental music

Test Pressing 2023 Round Up
https://www.testpressing.org/magazine/its-the-test-pressing-2023-round-up

individual lists from Balearic / Electronic DJs

― djmartian

Ah love this format of individual, concise lists. Just 5 items: Top 3 singles, top album and top reissue/old album discovery. Not as overwhelming as the boomkat lists.

that boomkat list is definitely my kinda list. stuff i've never heard. or heard of. and so much of it looks interesting. so much to dig into. too much really. and then with all those guest lists...oof. no wonder i stay away from most year-end things. i got enough on my plate! cool that my pal jake meginsky made boomkat's list. his stuff is so good. and he lives right around the corner from me. ilxor and friend-of-jake and fellow percussionist Tarfumes should be on there too! his new album is so cool.
i honestly don't know what people get out of yo la tengo at this late date. my eyes glaze over when i see stuff like that on a list. i guess its comfort food for people. like the Stones. definitely not my idea of comfort food. a kinder and gentler sonic youth for the end of the world? i guess i'm just not ready to go gentle into the bad night. too much great death metal to listen to. (and i would probably like that doomsday irish folk album on everyone's lists if i hadn't been listening to doomsday folk metal for the last 30 years. and swans for the last 40+ years...but they do the folk thing good! i will give them that. and you definitely need a gimmick if you want young hepcats to listen to trad folk in 2023. and i will definitely listen to that laurel halo on everyone's lists when i need help getting to sleep or when i'm getting a root canal.)

ylt never really fell off and have always been pretty good at worst (definitely comfort food though, yeah) but the new one is genuinely up with their very best from the 90s - i prefer it to i can hear the heart beating as one

I thought I had all the Yo La Tengo albums I would ever need but This Stupid World was top shelf; brought me back into the fold. And they bring it as hard as ever live.

that's cool. i've never been a fan even though i'm an east coast indie gen xer in good standing. when i saw it on lists you will forgive me for thinking it was once again a nostalgia vote for the tattered amerindie flag. (and when i listened to snippets i just thought "okay thats them doing what they do...got it." having said that i have no doubt they could still write more listenable/tuneful songs now than any member of SY...)

sorry writers but stores lists usually >>> mag lists

i could (and prob will) come up with 100 albums from this year that i would enthusiastically recommend. doesn’t mean they’re all 10/10 or whatever, but hey, i love listening to and sharing new music

you're such a real one vc

imo it is the sacred duty of ilm posters to listen to like, at least 50 new albums every year at a bare minimum

my listening habits were weird this year, i've listened to & enjoyed more new albums than ever but i have less clear favourites than usual so now i'm still trying to narrow down my shortlist of like 60 albums that i quite liked

imo it is the sacred duty of ilm posters to listen to like, at least 50 new albums every year at a bare minimum

Some of us work for a living.

…

It’s ok if you don’t enjoy it anymore but don’t pull the adult card

Hahaha. Fair. I wasn't meant to be quite so grumpy! Just bemoaning the days when I could actually pay proper close attention and manage a list of 30/40 albums.

i'm old enough to admit that i didn't even know that yo la tengo had a new album until i saw some of these lists last week. the only time i ever hear about them now is when they do endless VU covers with other old people in december every year. mazel tov! i did my gen x duty by watching youtubes of my neighbor lou barlow do neil young songs live with other old people in brooklyn. i liked the guy from the roots!

but mostly i don't care what year it is listening-wise. i'll get to it all eventually. i do try to keep up with metal. there is so much of it. i made a YT playlist of Decibel's top 40 this year and i just ended up listening to that Horrendous album over and over.

honestly don't know what people get out of yo la tengo at this late date. my eyes glaze over when i see stuff like that on a list. i guess its comfort food for people. like the Stones

But isn’t Boomkat programmed beats music also comfort food at this point in time [ ducks head]

There's no way I could come up with a list of 100 albums that I was really excited about that came out in one year, unless maybe I spent all my time listening to new music. To be honest, I usually struggle to come up with 10, unless it's a really strong year, which so far, this one doesn't seem to be. Because I'm lazy, I usually wait until the crush of EOY lists to come out to start looking for new releases. I think as of about a month ago, there were maybe 5 albums from this year I was excited about. As of now, maybe it's up to 10.

imo it is the sacred duty of ilm posters to listen to like, at least 50 new albums every year at a bare minimum

Probably the only list to feature Sam Smith and Donald Trump.

https://variety.com/lists/worst-songs-2023/mind-your-business-will-i-am-and-britney-spears/

“ but mostly i don't care what year it is listening-wise. i'll get to it all eventually.”

This is me with books and movies and TV (and eventually, music)

"But isn’t Boomkat programmed beats music also comfort food at this point in time [ ducks head]"

their year-end list is super-eclectic. its all over the place and has plenty of challenging stuff on it. my version of comfort food tends to be metal but if i had to pick a yo la tengo-adjacent album off of their top 100 that i would consider comfort food it would be the arnold dreyblatt album on drag city. it pushes all my old nyc nowave/minimal buttons in a way that they like to be pushed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st29rgG0i7E

Maura Johnson’s Top 10 albums (in Time) were posted above, but I think we missed her Top 10 songs (#1: “bad idea, right?”)

https://www.time.com/6548823/best-latin-songs-albums-2023/

Another critic in Time lists fave Latin pop, dance, and rock

Norman Records - Best Albums of 2023
https://www.normanrecords.com/features/best-albums/best-albums-2023/

Crack Magazine - Staff Lists 2023
https://crackmagazine.net/article/list-article/staff-lists-crack-magazine-2023/

The Crack Magazine team rewind and reflect on the year gone by. Unravelling a tapestry of moments and memories from 2023, we delve into the releases that struck a chord, the memes that made us smile, and everything in between.

long time music blogger, Dan Paton presents:

2023 In Music: New Music Top 100
https://inleaguewithpaton.blogspot.com/2023/12/2023-in-music-new-music-top-100.html?m=1

Dan is active on twitter/x, particularly each Friday with his threads on new releases

Dan Paton
https://twitter.com/DanPatonMusic

Passion of the Weiss - Best Albums of 2023

https://www.passionweiss.com/2023/12/28/pow-best-albums-2023/
https://www.albumoftheyear.org/list/2242-passion-of-the-weisss-best-albums-of-2023/

Under the Radar’s Top 100 Albums of 2023
https://www.undertheradarmag.com/news/under_the_radars_top_100_albums_of_2023

https://www.albumoftheyear.org/list/2232-under-the-radars-top-100-albums-of-2023/

Barack Obama’s Top Songs of 2023: Beyoncé, Big Thief, Mitski, and More
https://pitchfork.com/news/barack-obamas-top-songs-of-2023-beyonce-big-thief-mitski-and-more/

Karol G & Shakira: “TQG”
Zach Bryan: “I Remember Everything” [ft. Kacey Musgraves]
Dave & Central Cee: “Sprinter”
6lack: “Since I Have a Lover”
Megan Thee Stallion: “Cobra”
Blondshell - “Joiner”
Alé Araya: “Midnight Gospel” [ft. Joseph Chilliams]
Beyoncé: “America Has a Problem” [ft. Kendrick Lamar]
Tyla: “Water”
Allison Russell: “The Returner”
Davido: “Unavailable” [ft. Musa Keys]
Mitski - “My Love Mine All Mine”
Burna Boy: “Sittin’ on Top of the World” [ft. 21 Savage]
Big Thief - “Vampire Empire”
Indigo De Souza - Younger & Dumber”
Stormzy: “Toxic Trait” [ft. Fredo]
John Summit & Hayla: “Where You Are”
Yng Lvcas & Peso Pluma - “La Bebe (Remix)”
Victoria Monét - “On My Mama”
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - “Cast Iron Skillet”
Brent Faiyaz - “WY@”
Asake & Olamide - “Amapiano”
Teddy Swims - “Lose Control”
Rita Wilson & Keith Urban - “Crazy Love”
Gabe Lee - “Drink The River”
Lenny Kravitz: “Road to Freedom (From the Netflix Film ‘Rustin’)”
Jon Batiste - “It Never Went Away”
Tems - “Me & U”

post-punk.com - Best of 2023
https://post-punk.com/post-punk-com-the-best-of-2023/

post- punk, darkwave / synth pop etc

various individual lists

plus a Collective Spotify playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6llUjwhzmk026ZnodSpYtv?si=mjd8_1ApSv2IARtTSCKbpg&pi=e-GzVND1SWQUqZ

Obama shoulda put “Vampire Empire (Colbert version),” just to troll the band

Rolling Stone - The 40 Best Afropop Songs of 2023
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/the-40-best-afropop-songs-of-2023-1234929225/wurld-shake-1234933054/

Spotify playlist link:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3DNU9WHzRl4SgABfAhyBC5?si=Pu7_Jj3fTm-VRNw64XoENQ&pi=e-WHDV2wsTTTKx

do publicists pitch the Obama list? they must, right?

Obama shoulda put “Vampire Empire (Colbert version),” just to troll the band

― In my Ram’s Horn era (morrisp)

Or “Dang (Colbert version)”

I know AOTY exists now but I have always looked forward to and considered Rob Mitchum's aggregation to be the better of the two because he only includes multi-voter lists. I am also just fond of the data table view.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mlSJ5DU0RKccuNBfAgsiw-_xUApis7zC3ZjJofXyZB4/edit#gid=1927558368

It is remarkable that not one of the 44 lists ranked Javelin #1. I doubt that's ever happened before to an overall #1.

Also always enjoy perusing his "Sleepers" tab, which basically has albums that were very highly ranked on only a small number of lists. Has two of my favorites in the top ten: ML Buch & Durand Jones. Not familiar with a lot of the others.

Wilco recommends:

https://twitter.com/Wilco/status/1742251939931254830

Hmmm, they just deleted it. Not my fault.