2023: Music in Review

A year ending in 3 usually means some major milestones in my family unit, and so it was that we welcomed a new addition, just two weeks shy of our firstborn's 10th birthday. It seems unbelievable that we have a kid celebrating the same anniversaries as Boards of Canada's most recent album, Beyonce and Yeezus, but such is the passage of time. As I usually gripe, there are too few hours in a day to squeeze in the bounty of albums on offer, and 2023 was a bumper crop - if nothing that screams "masterpiece", then an absurd breadth of great releases, such that I could easily have done a top 75 or even 100 list. It was tempting to list them in alphabetical order since so many of them were so close that any could have come out on top with no qualms, but then where's the fun? Consider the below list a collection of excellent albums and pick your own fave.

As is now standard, please see the below Spotify playlist of selections from the top 50 albums, presented in descending order. My feelings about streaming and using this platform could probably fill another page, but for convenience, there is hardly anything better. Please enjoy skimming and I hope you find something you like!

Albums of the Year

50. Roisin Murphy, Hit Parade

Derailed by one of the greatest self-owns in recent music history, Murphy's new album was entirely produced by the godlike DJ Koze and brings the best of their two sounds into a perfect blend of upbeat, hypnotic and slightly off-kilter club music. You can't account for personal politics, but for music to make your feet move while your brain is hard at work, you could hardly do better this year.

49. Hotline TNT, Cartwheel

Shoegaze continues its stranglehold as the ancient genre of choice for today's youth, and Will Anderson's project brings a particularly flavorful strain of it, slowing the tempos down occasionally so the vague themes of thwarted true love can be heard in the cacophony of guitars and distant melodies.

48. Romy, Mid Air

Finally proving that the xx kids were really clubbers at heart, Romy lets her flag fly high on this collection of dance tracks and club heaters, all lust and shy bravado and bright lights. She courted disaster by placing "mid" in the album title (see: Junior Boys, Begone Dull Care) but came out with a stunner.

47. DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ, Destiny

There are only so many hours in a day, but chances are good you'll press play and eventually devote four hours of yours to DJ Sabrina's blissed-out voyage, a sort of "Avalanches for the 'beats to study to' era", endless variations on the same theme unfolding like a summer night you never want to end.

46. yeule, softscars

Yeule's experiments in post-humanism (in body and sound) reach an exciting new place with this collection of electronic experiments and nu-metal flourishes, a thoroughly 21st-century mix of influences that may age terribly in future years but sounds cutting edge now. It is their exploration of pathos and overcoming pain that elevate this from a mere genre exercise to something timeless.

45. Bully, Lucky For You

Alicia Bognanno's project has been making righteous noise for years, and now that Bully is a solo project in all but name, she unleashes her most potent blast of throwback 90s alt-rock yet, a full-throated collection of diaristic songs with the immediacy of a summer afternoon from 1994.

44. Overmono, Good Lies

The Russell brothers Tom and Ed stepped into the pop-dance vacuum with their fat-free debut of euphoric hooks and elegant beats, a garage throwback with plenty of modern trap leanings, sped-up vocals and clean sound design. Functional, yes, but also a terrific time.

43. King Krule, Space Heavy

Yet another in a run of consistently excellent releases, Archy Marshall works with a warmer palette but explores the same depths of modern anomie on the fourth Krule album, crafting a typically overwhelming atmosphere of sound that needs to be taken in uninterruptedly.

42. Young Fathers, Heavy Heavy

No strangers to exploring our dread times, the Scottish trio went full-out into uplifting joy on their fourth album, their shortest but ultimately most enjoyable record. Voices overwhelm as they stampede over the arrangements, and their opening set for Depeche Mode in the autumn was one of my favorite live sets of the past few years. May these fathers remain forever young.

41. PinkPantheress, Heaven knows

The pop singer came to prominence via her drum'n'bass edits on TikTok but don't hold such an ignominious start against her - her debut proves her to be a real deal of 21st century post-genre alchemy, a little bit of UK garage and R&B and d'n'b thrown together into musings on starcrossed lovers. We'll see how it holds up in 2033 but for now an essential slice of pop culture.

40. Shackleton, The Scandal of Time

Sam Shackleton is in the enviable position of releasing so much great music that it is hard to keep up. In 2023 he released three collaborative albums (Death By Tickling with Scotch Rolex, In the Cell of Dreams with Waclaw Zimpel, and Choose Mortality as Flesh & the Dream with Heather Leigh), but I chose this solo effort, informed by German folk songs and spooky as a foggy forest at midnight, to represent his fruitful year; rest assured that any of the above are well worth your time.

39. boygenius, The Record

As much as people gripe about their politics and image and gatekeeping fans, you can't deny that boygenius looked like they were having a blast all year, three extremely talented songwriters bringing their individual strengths to the table, basking in each other's company and celebrating their accomplishments as they leveled up to whatever passes for indie superstardom in 2023. The songs tend to be a bit too mid-tempo for me, but there is solid gold songwriting all over this thing, and it's the closest album we got to a "future classic" designation.

38. Lankum, False Lankum

Traditional Irish folk's very own OK Computer. What may be recognizable song structures are shot through with panic-inducing drone dread, unsparing storytelling and emotional devastation; there is nothing false here.

37. Boldy James, Indiana Jones

We should have known that it would take something unnatural to slow Boldy down from his epic run of the past few years; lo and behold, a serious car crash in January laid him low, though he of course managed to release this collaboration with producer RichGains a mere week later. Psychedelic and sample-based production that perfectly complements Boldy's laconic flow – his only album in 2023 but he made it count.

36. Laurel Halo, Atlas

Although she is well known for her Hyperdub releases of wildly off-kilter electronics, Halo is in fact an accomplished pianist and ambient composer, and her first album for her own Awe label is closest to her 2018 album Raw Silk Uncut Wood, ethereal and formless, a journey that rewards close listening as you try to distinguish where acoustic ends and electronic begins.

35. Debby Friday, GOOD LUCK

More the product of hard work and give-a-toss attitude than the title, the Toronto producer's debut is indebted to the early Aughts' electroclash movement, as she makes a glorious racket of queasy noise and ice-cold monologues. A surprising but worthy recipient of Canada's Polaris Prize as album of the year, play this one loud.

34. L'Rain, I Killed Your Dog

An attempt at making the "white dad rock" she never listened to but spent some time playing in guitar bands, the Brooklyn experimental artist L'Rain hit upon a glorious mix of her typical electronic music and more immediate rock/folk sound, with an album title meant to evoke a feeling from the listener. Mission accomplished on all counts.

33. Jessy Lanza, Love Hallucination

The Canadian producer places no steps wrong on her fourth album for Hyperdub, once again co-produced by fellow Hamiltonian and Junior Boy Jeremy Greenspan - further baby steps into the pop sphere, with some of her most direct (the self-deprecating "I Hate Myself" or the Janet-esque "Marathon") and strongest work to date. More of the same, please!

32. Slowdive, Everything Is Alive

The shoegaze legends, if not in fact the progenitors, made a surprise return in 2017 and followed that album up with another strong batch of tracks that hit the sweet spot like no other, alternately blissfully zoned out and utterly pop-sticky. My only minor qualm is how often the songs fade out, one of the laziest production/songwriting techniques possible, but otherwise who would complain about more gems from the 'dive?

31. Pangaea, Changing Channels

The Hessle Audio label has always been known for its studied and brainy approach to techno and bass music, so what a thrill to hear label head Pangaea (the lesser-known producer behind fellow founders Ben UFO and Pearson Sound) unleash this brief blast of euphoric dance music for the feet – luridly day-glo and relentless, and at only 32 minutes begging for an immediate replay. "Ah so"? "Hessle"? Whatever was being chanted in lead track "Installation", it was the earworm of the year.

30. MSPAINT, Post-American

Hardcore has been thriving in recent years and a new slate of artists are coming through with colorful cross-genre experiments, with the Mississippi synth-punk band MSPAINT bursting forth on their debut. Deedee sounds uncannily like a young Zack de la Rocha barking into your face as his band kicks up a swirling mess of furious slam-dance rhythms and synth textures, an utterly exhilarating mess.

29. Evian Christ, Revanchist

After over a decade of sterling trap-related production for the likes of Tinashe, Danny Brown and Kanye, Evian has finally dropped his solo debut, a love letter to the wide-eyed and lambasted trance he grew up listening to. An unlikely Warp Records release, but nostalgia is a powerful factor, and you can't argue with the exquisite sound design and sustained energy.

28. Blur, The Ballad of Darren

We had them, and we lost them. Twice. Damon Albarn has confirmed that the blessed reunion is now indeed at an end, Blur having come together to play some gigs and record a fantastic and mature late-career reflection on their place in the rock firmament, immaculately produced and wistful. A heck of a way to bow out, at least until the next reunion.

27. Wata Igarashi, Agartha

As much a student of krautrock as a cutting-edge DJ, Igarashi's album for famed electronic lable Kompakt is a stroke of mixing genius, throwing moody ambience into his breakbeats, an exploration of sound worthy of the Berlin school and as much a dancefloor killer as a home listening treat.

26. The Clientele, I Am Not There Anymore

The perennially underrated songsmiths from London (of which I am majorly guilty, having jumped off the bandwagon after '07 or so) dropped a stunning double-LP length collection of ambitious and complex pop, orchestral and far more progressive than most bands who labor under that designation.

25. Jessie Ware, That! Feels Good!

What might have been a COVID-inspired detour into club music on 2020's What's Your Pleasure has become a full-throated pursuit for Ware, as she doubles down on the passion and beats of that album on this collection of horny anthems, about embracing and pursuing pleasure in uncertain times.

24. Andre 3000, New Blue Sun

The hardest shit Andre could pull in 2023 is giving us a few days' warning, after 17 years of no Outkast music and breathless anticipation he would return full-time to rap, of his debut solo album: a 90-minute jazz flute odyssey. Playfully tagged "no bars" on the physical edition, this new age work is alternately meditative, repetitive, lulling and aloof, like every bad hipster-LA stereotype come to life. He has given his youth to rap and his bona fides are set in stone; like a true iconoclast, why shouldn't he wander restlessly in search of enlightenment with his woodwind instruments?

23. Fever Ray, Radical Romantics

Imagine having the heft to enlist Oscar-winners Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross to co-produce a menacing, earwormy track aimed at your kid's high-school bully? Fever Ray has surprised before, but that move straddled the line of good taste; luckily, the rest of the album is another batch of her sex-positive dread pop, searching for love and acceptance in liminal spaces.

22. Tirzah, trip9love...???

Once you get over the distraction of every song having the exact same beat at varying tempos, Tirzah's third album (co-produced with Oscar-nominated friend Micah Levy) is a collection of typically Tirzah sentiments of love and confusion, sometimes so raw that it can be hard to play without feeling like an intruder. Haunting and essential.

21. Armand Hammer, We Buy Diabetic Test Strips

Once again, billy woods and ELUCID team up for a hard knock album with production from JPEGMAFIA and El-P, and spiritual instruments from the likes of Shabaka Hutchins and Max Heath, a collection of haunted vibes and granular snapshots of societal dysfunction, profound and profoundly abstract.

20. Peter Gabriel, i/o

The inimitable (though many have tried) Peter Gabriel did it his own way in 2023, giving us the slowest album rollout possible – one new song every month. The end result is a triple-disc behemoth, with three separate mixes by Spike Stent (Bright/Side) and Tchad Blake (Dark/Side), as well as a Blu-ray In/Side mix. Beyond the gimmick, these tracks are vintage Gabriel, calling back to his 80s triumphs with various musical motifs and his ageless voice. Art rock for the olds, teaching the youth how to do it.

19. Yaeji, With a Hammer

The breathlessly awaited debut from the DJ did not disappoint, taking a hammer to her sound and pairing wind instruments with sugary synths, catchy lyrics with chaotic breaks. The path forward is bright and promising.

18. PJ Harvey, I Inside the Old Year Dying

A semi-concept album that ties in to her collection of poetry written in an old Dorset dialect, Polly Jean did not disappoint with her first new album in six years, a close cousin to 2007's spooky White Chalk with her future-folk approach leavened by quiet reflection and mystery.

17. James Blake, Playing Robots Into Heaven

Mr. Blake has been a sketchy albums artist since the beginning, possibly forever marred by my expectation that he would roam around the sound of the CYMK EP. Lo and behold, 13 years later he delivers a work that could stand with that early work, his inimitable cooing pressed close to his sharp drum programming and basslines, "sad boy in the corner of the club" perfection.

16. Loraine James, Gentle Confrontation

The London producer has never shied away from bringing in tales of personal life, and her largest album yet is a vulnerable and beguiling tapestry of glitchy beats, hushed ambience and raw stories, utilizing elements from the past three decades of electronic to create a seamless whole. As her third straight excellent album in a row, she may be in a danger of being taken for granted.

15. Lana Del Rey, Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd

Sure it is an interminably long album, but sometimes you have to have patience for an expansive vision, and in her attempt to throw her arms around America, Lana's vision is grander than most. Coming across like the most Lana album yet, it marries her lyrical flourishes about American life and plaintive piano ballads with the scratchy trip-hop of her early years – the result is magic.

14. Danny Brown & JPEGMAFIA, SCARING THE HOES / Danny Brown, Quaranta

In an age of self-care, it was alternately thrilling and worrying to hear Danny Brown go so hard on this collaborative album with fellow hip-hop auteur Peggy – was he still struggling with his demons? How could that frantic and discordant (though wildly entertaining) atmosphere be sustained? On the late-year release Quaranta, Brown indicated that he was in a hard place at the time of recording the HOES album, and the more sober and jazzy production showed us a mature Danny coming to grips with his mentality and society's ills. Viewed as a dichotomy of one of our best rappers in 2023, it presents a complex picture but leaves us with a ton of great music.

13. Yves Tumor, Praise a Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume (or Simply Hot Between Worlds)

Tumor's latest salvo and its nigh-unintelligible title has been out for so long that it already feels like a classic - the freaky glam-electro mix that he has been working on since signing to Warp Records is reaching its peak, and this collection of bops is undeniable. One of our key artists striving for greatness.

12. Actress, LXXXVIII

Darren Cunningham has been responsible for some of my favorite electronic albums of the past decade-and-a-half (Splazsh was AOTY in 2010 and R.I.P. was top 5 in 2012), so it's no surprise that he continues his mastery of sound design and world-building on this new chess-informed work, creating a baffling work that is alternately heady and accessible, immersing you while keeping you at arm's length.

11. James Holden, Imagine This Is a High Dimensional Space of All Possibilities

An egalitarian forest rave of freedom, Holden's new album is a return to form as he throws doses of a variety of dance genres into a glowing pastoral whole, a mystic journey to the heart of the grassy dancefloor.

10. Sampha, Lahai

It's been a lengthy six years since Sampha's Mercury-winning debut and he wastes no time in reintroducing us into his singular world; lushly produced and primarily concerned with interconnectedness and praising the women in his life, the new father's new album is another one to treasure, though hopefully without so long a wait next time.

9. Carly Rae Jepsen, The Loveliest Time

Nobody is infallible, and Carly probably got this era backwards, as last year's more subdued and introspective The Loneliest Time played more like a B-sides collection, whereas this onslaught of euphoric pop is her best work since E-MO-TION. Everything you love about her, from the titanic choruses to the carefully considered lyrics, is on full display here and make this an essential party album.

8. Sufjan Stevens, Javelin

Marrying the stark storytelling of Carrie & Lowell with the electronics of Age of Adz, along with his public battle with a neurological disease and the death of his long-time partner, Sufjan absolutely ripped at the heartstrings in 2023 with this instant classic of pained emotions, soothing melodies and his richly developing voice. Wishing all the best to one of our treasures.

7. Wednesday, Rat Saw God

The North Carolina band could be called "bootgaze", their mix of alt-country flavor and torrential shoegaze culminating in the titanic second track "Bull Believer", which threatens to overshadow the entire album - luckily, the following eight tracks are all marvels of lyrical acuity and prickly songwriting. A marvelous effort from a marvelous band.

6. Kenny Segal & billy woods, Maps

Is there a better writer than billy woods these days? By most counts, he has dropped at least 5 albums of absolutely incredible words in the past couple of years, and this collaboration with producer Kenny Segal stands tall amongst them, an album about the road and roads not taken. Stuffed with stellar production and perfect performances for a tour de force album of the best that modern rap has to offer.

5. Sofia Kourtesis, Madres

Pleasuredome techno, with a communal and personal edge, as Kourtesis explores the familial unit mentioned in the title, along with naming a song after the doctor who helped with her mother's illness. As many producers rush to rehash the past, this is a truly timeless collection that showcases how some of the finest and most forward-looking electronic music these days is coming from Latin and South America.

4. Ratboys, The Window

Few images lingered in the mind this year like the elderly couple, at the height of the pandemic, separated by the titular window as the husband helplessly watches his wife die. A country-flavored indie rock album with peerless lyrics - absolutely essential.

3. Mandy, Indiana, i've seen a way

The heaviest music need not necessarily be strictly metal; case in point, the debut from this Manchester-based band with French vocalist Valentine Caulfield, creating an unholy mess of EBM, post-punk and noise, abstract lyrics with the occasional skin-peeling shrieks buried in the mix. They may have seen a way but we have to crawl through the abyss of despair first. C'est magnifique.

2. Caroline Polachek, Desire, I Want To Turn Into You

A glorious attempt to synthesize the feeling of falling in love, this album sees former Chairlift singer Polachek graduate from "secret weapon to the stars" to "star in her own right", the type of huge swing for the fences effort that only the bravest visionaries attempt. Trip-hop beats, flamenco guitars, bagpipe solos and a Dido-Grimes-Caroline triptych from heaven make this an easy contender for decade's end.

1. Kelela, RAVEN

It was tempting to write off Kelela's long-awaited return as a disappointingly soft album, lacking the club bangers she made her name on. But as the year progressed, the more bewitching RAVEN became. This is a safe space to celebrate Black queer love; an album-length exploration of how the patriarchy harms male intimacy and vulnerability; feminine, sad, lusting and desiring; a self-contained world ultimately bending towards joy; a healing balm for bruised hearts.

Honorable Mentions

Depeche Mode, Memento Mori
By all rights, the synth-pop overlords could have called it a day when Andy Fletcher passed away; instead, they roared back with another triumphant set of great songs and a typically excellent tour. Viva Depeche.

Oneohtrix Point Never, Again
The Hollywood composer returned with his baggiest album to date, giving us tons of great material at the expense of his usual laser focused themes.

Mitski, The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We
One of those artists who I really should be all over and ranking in my top 10, this is the closest Mitski has gotten to a capital-G great album, and with her consistency over the past decade, maybe her next one will hit the jackpot.

Olivia Rodrigo, GUTS
Brimming with theater-kid energy and songwriting chops, Rodrigo and her close collaborator Dan Nigro take her Sour sound one step closer to perfection.

NewJeans, Get Up
It's a mere EP, but what an EP - like a sugar-coated bulldozer smashing your frontal cortex, 12 minutes of zone-5-heart-rate pop perfection.

Sigur Ros, ATTA
To still be getting new Sigur Ros music this far into the 21st century they helped define is a blessing, even if the album is maybe too ambient to truly register.

Christine and the Queens, PARANOÏA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE
When is too much too much? Christine and the Queens attempt to find out on this massive triple-disc set of killer ideas and overwhelming ideas and Madonna's best features in probably forever.

Black Country, New Road, Live at Bush Hall
The British supergroup may have lost their singer, but not a step, as they continue their progression into one of the century's all-timers; the only blurry line is whether this should be classified a live album, even though it is all original brand-new tracks, recorded live.

Alison Goldfrapp, The Love Invention
Ms. Goldfrapp's first solo album under her own (full) name was a sirens-out dance record with all the thrills and little of the nuance of something like Supernature.

Animal Collective, Isn't It Now?
In my feels, but late-career AnCo is turning out some impressive LPs of their smoothed-out sound.

Reissues, etc.

The Replacements, Tim: Let It Bleed Edition
One of the most notoriously muddy productions is given a startling new mix by Ed Stasium that is one of the few that could be labeled "essential". Basically a brand-new album, and one that makes you really wonder "what if", what could the Mats have become with this mix out in 1985.

Ricardo Villalobos, Alcachofa
The Chilean-German super-producer's eternally timeless 2003 debut has been repressed (for the first time in over a decade) by Perlon with bonus tracks from the Alcachofa EP and spread across eight sides of thick vinyl. You won't find this on your streamer.

The Beatles, "Now and Then" / 1962-1966 / 1967-1970
The Beatles were around as a recording unit for only eight years, but their work will be reissued and re-sold for the next eight centuries. Utilizing a snatch of piano and vocals from a mid-70s home recording from John, they used "AI technology" to separate the elements, used some George guitars from the aborted attempt to record the song in the mid-90s, and finished it with some muscular 2023-era production. Is it good? It hardly matters (though I quite like it) - you bought into the hype and re-bought the newly expanded Red and Blue compilations and kept the Beatles train chugging along.

Worst

With the fragmentation of music consumption and a wide range of blogs to read, it's fairly easy to avoid getting an earful of trash these days. Sure, turn on the radio and it's a grim death march, and wading into Instagram and their recycled TikToks of bottom-feeding regurgitation and utterly generic algo-beats is guaranteed misery. The culture wars spilled onto the pop charts over the summer and resulted in two absolutely putrid songs reaching the top of the charts. I don't follow the Hot 100 religiously but it is pretty hard not to notice Miley's very mid "Flowers" dominating the early part of the year, then Morgan Wallen's utter dreck "Last Night" returning to the top again and again over a ridiculous 16 weeks, and finally getting the burnt turds of the Jason Aldean and Oliver Anthony Music (future Jeopardy! answer) songs crashing the party; instant contenders for worst chart-toppers ever. If you've studied the history of the charts (or at least follow Stereogum's ongoing The Number Ones column), you'll know that it is rarely, if ever, the most cutting-edge pop music ruling the actual pop charts, but this year seemed a particularly dire example.
How long since U2 has been on the cutting edge? On the celebration for their 1991 album Achtung Baby at the brand-new Vegas monstrosity the Sphere, they answer the question (although I am one of the few Pop apologists). If you squint hard enough, you could forgive Songs of Surrender as a fascinating study in the passage of time and how we hear old songs, with Bono's richer but more limited vocals interpreting updated lyrics, rather than a callow cash-in without Larry Mullen behind the kit as he recovers from surgery. As stated above, I remain a pretty staunch U2 apologist and believe they could still surprise us with a great album, but it seems increasingly unlikely.

I suppose I could complain about the fascistic rule of Time Magazine's Person of the Year Taylor Swift over literally all forms of human life in the west, from the on-going re-recordings of past work (the uncanny valley drop-off of 1989: Taylor's Version) to her billion-dollar-grossing Eras tour (mass hysteria and spectacle on par with Nuremberg) and brief dominance of the box office (the blockbuster "Eras Tour" movie), with her list of triumphs in 2023 reading like the consolidation of power before WWII broke out, but what good would it possibly do? We are fascinated by billionaires because those numbers are incomprehensible and because "girl power" or some such. As Pennsylvania decreed, this is the Taylor Swift Era and we are just lucky to be living through it. There were also some trash new albums from perennial contenders like Drake, Ed Sheeran and Nicki Minaj but no need to bring those up.

As always, the passing of artists young and old tends to be the worst news of the year and this space offers me a chance to look back and pay tribute to them. Here is an abridged list of those we lost in 2023.

Gangsta Boo (January 1) - the vastly underrated and hard-as-nails rapper was only 43.
Jeff Beck (January 10) - I had eternally mis-ranked Beck as a typical "old white English blues guy", so what a trip to learn of his jazz fusion chops; he was 78.
Lisa Marie Presley (January 12) - Elvis' daughter and erstwhile pop star died suddenly at 54.
Van Conner (January 17) - the former Screaming Trees bassist was 55.
David Crosby (January 18) - hardly the most upstanding guy, but what a voice and songwriter; he was 81.
Tom Verlaine (January 28) - the New York legend behind Television and an array of solo albums was 73.
Burt Bacharach (February 8) - as many classic songs written as there are stars in the sky, Mr. Burt Bacharach was 94.
Wayne Shorter (March 2) - the saxophone in Miles' Second Great Quintet who also worked with Weather Report and Joni Mitchell, he was 89.
Ryuichi Sakamoto (March 28) - the legendary keyboardist and composer was 71 and had gracefully orchestrated his own wake.
Seymour Stein (April 2) - the founder of Sire Records and signee of acts like Talking Heads and Madonna was 80.
Paul Cattermole (April 6) - one of the boys of S Club 7, he was only 46.
Mark Stewart (April 21) - the post-punk singer and songwriter for the Pop Group was 62.
Harry Belafonte (April 25) - an American civil rights icon and fantastic singer, he was 96.
Gordon Lightfoot (May 1) - Canadian folk-rock royalty was 84.
Andy Rourke (May 19) - the bassist who was the secret sauce in the Smiths' success, Rourke was 59.
Tina Turner (May 24) - as iconic as they come, the legendary singer and performer, your private dancer, was 83.
Astrud Gilberto (June 5) - a pillar of internationally recognized samba and bossa nova music, the singer was 83.
Blackie Onassis (June 13) - the Urge Overkill drummer was 57.
Teresa Taylor (June 18) - the Butthole Surfers drummer and legendary "Madonna pap smear" cameo from Richard Linklater's "Slacker" was 60.
Rick Froberg (June 30) - the post-hardcore singer and guitarist behind acts like Drive Like Jehu, Obits, and Hot Snakes, Forberg was still vital and only 55.
Jane Birkin (July 16) - the French pop singer was 76.
Tony Bennett (July 21) - the iconic singer went hard to his final days and came to rest at 96.

Sinead O'Connor (July 26) - the most tragic passing of the year. O'Connor was an unearthly talent who refused to compromise with the state of the world as she saw it, and when the shine came off her pop stardom, she was rejected as few others ever have been. She continued to record and perform, and her voice was one-of-a-kind; she struggled in later years and was only 56.

Sixto Rodriguez (August 8) - the American cult legend who became the subject of an Oscar-winning documentary and subsequent revival was 81.
Robbie Robertson (August 9) - the legendary Band guitarist and long-time Scorsese collaborator was 80.
Magoo (August 13) - Timbaland's right hand man, the rapper was only 50.
Gary Young (August 17) - Pavement's drummer in their Enchanted era was 70.
Brian McBride (August 27) the multi-instrumentalist behind ambient giants Stars of the Lid was only 53.
Jimmy Buffett (September 1) - not much of a factor for me but it was nice to see someone stay in their lane and enjoy it; off to Margaritaville at 76.
Steve Harwell (September 4) - rag on Smash Mouth all you want, but did you sing all-time jams like "Walkin' On the Sun" and "All Star"? No, so sit down and respect Mr. Harwell, who was only 56.

Shane McGowan (November 30) - it's hard to believe that the legendarily hard-living Pogues singer and way underrated songwriter (seriously, "A Rainy Day in Soho"? "Fairytale in New York"? "The Old Main Drag"? Get outta here) actually made it to 65.

Denny Laine (December 5) - the Moody Blues and Wings guitarist was 79.
Amp Fiddler (December 17) - the funk legend and educator was 65.

Thanks for sticking around and see you all in 2024!

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50. Roisin Murphy, Hit Parade		Derailed by one of the greatest self-owns in recent music history, Murphy's new album was entirely produced by the godlike DJ Koze and brings the best of their two sounds into a perfect blend of upbeat, hypnotic and slightly off-kilter club music. You can't account for personal politics, but for music to make your feet move while your brain is hard at work, you could hardly do better this year.
49. Hotline TNT, Cartwheel		Shoegaze continues its stranglehold as the ancient genre of choice for today's youth, and Will Anderson's project brings a particularly flavorful strain of it, slowing the tempos down occasionally so the vague themes of thwarted true love can be heard in the cacophony of guitars and distant melodies.
48. Romy, Mid Air		Finally proving that the xx kids were really clubbers at heart, Romy lets her flag fly high on this collection of dance tracks and club heaters, all lust and shy bravado and bright lights. She courted disaster by placing "mid" in the album title (see: Junior Boys, Begone Dull Care) but came out with a stunner.
47. DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ, Destiny		There are only so many hours in a day, but chances are good you'll press play and eventually devote four hours of yours to DJ Sabrina's blissed-out voyage, a sort of "Avalanches for the 'beats to study to' era", endless variations on the same theme unfolding like a summer night you never want to end.
46. yeule, softscars		Yeule's experiments in post-humanism (in body and sound) reach an exciting new place with this collection of electronic experiments and nu-metal flourishes, a thoroughly 21st-century mix of influences that may age terribly in future years but sounds cutting edge now. It is their exploration of pathos and overcoming pain that elevate this from a mere genre exercise to something timeless.
45. Bully, Lucky For You		Alicia Bognanno's project has been making righteous noise for years, and now that Bully is a solo project in all but name, she unleashes her most potent blast of throwback 90s alt-rock yet, a full-throated collection of diaristic songs with the immediacy of a summer afternoon from 1994.
44. Overmono, Good Lies		The Russell brothers Tom and Ed stepped into the pop-dance vacuum with their fat-free debut of euphoric hooks and elegant beats, a garage throwback with plenty of modern trap leanings, sped-up vocals and clean sound design. Functional, yes, but also a terrific time.
43. King Krule, Space Heavy		Yet another in a run of consistently excellent releases, Archy Marshall works with a warmer palette but explores the same depths of modern anomie on the fourth Krule album, crafting a typically overwhelming atmosphere of sound that needs to be taken in uninterruptedly.
42. Young Fathers, Heavy Heavy		No strangers to exploring our dread times, the Scottish trio went full-out into uplifting joy on their fourth album, their shortest but ultimately most enjoyable record. Voices overwhelm as they stampede over the arrangements, and their opening set for Depeche Mode in the autumn was one of my favorite live sets of the past few years. May these fathers remain forever young.
41. PinkPantheress, Heaven knows		The pop singer came to prominence via her drum'n'bass edits on TikTok but don't hold such an ignominious start against her - her debut proves her to be a real deal of 21st century post-genre alchemy, a little bit of UK garage and R&B and d'n'b thrown together into musings on starcrossed lovers. We'll see how it holds up in 2033 but for now an essential slice of pop culture.
40. Shackleton, The Scandal of Time		Sam Shackleton is in the enviable position of releasing so much great music that it is hard to keep up. In 2023 he released three collaborative albums (Death By Tickling with Scotch Rolex, In the Cell of Dreams with Waclaw Zimpel, and Choose Mortality as Flesh & the Dream with Heather Leigh), but I chose this solo effort, informed by German folk songs and spooky as a foggy forest at midnight, to represent his fruitful year; rest assured that any of the above are well worth your time.
39. boygenius, The Record		As much as people gripe about their politics and image and gatekeeping fans, you can't deny that boygenius looked like they were having a blast all year, three extremely talented songwriters bringing their individual strengths to the table, basking in each other's company and celebrating their accomplishments as they leveled up to whatever passes for indie superstardom in 2023. The songs tend to be a bit too mid-tempo for me, but there is solid gold songwriting all over this thing, and it's the closest album we got to a "future classic" designation.
38. Lankum, False Lankum		Traditional Irish folk's very own OK Computer. What may be recognizable song structures are shot through with panic-inducing drone dread, unsparing storytelling and emotional devastation; there is nothing false here.
37. Boldy James, Indiana Jones		We should have known that it would take something unnatural to slow Boldy down from his epic run of the past few years; lo and behold, a serious car crash in January laid him low, though he of course managed to release this collaboration with producer RichGains a mere week later. Psychedelic and sample-based production that perfectly complements Boldy's laconic flow – his only album in 2023 but he made it count.
36. Laurel Halo, Atlas		Although she is well known for her Hyperdub releases of wildly off-kilter electronics, Halo is in fact an accomplished pianist and ambient composer, and her first album for her own Awe label is closest to her 2018 album Raw Silk Uncut Wood, ethereal and formless, a journey that rewards close listening as you try to distinguish where acoustic ends and electronic begins.
35. Debby Friday, GOOD LUCK		More the product of hard work and give-a-toss attitude than the title, the Toronto producer's debut is indebted to the early Aughts' electroclash movement, as she makes a glorious racket of queasy noise and ice-cold monologues. A surprising but worthy recipient of Canada's Polaris Prize as album of the year, play this one loud.
34. L'Rain, I Killed Your Dog		An attempt at making the "white dad rock" she never listened to but spent some time playing in guitar bands, the Brooklyn experimental artist L'Rain hit upon a glorious mix of her typical electronic music and more immediate rock/folk sound, with an album title meant to evoke a feeling from the listener. Mission accomplished on all counts.
33. Jessy Lanza, Love Hallucination		The Canadian producer places no steps wrong on her fourth album for Hyperdub, once again co-produced by fellow Hamiltonian and Junior Boy Jeremy Greenspan - further baby steps into the pop sphere, with some of her most direct (the self-deprecating "I Hate Myself" or the Janet-esque "Marathon") and strongest work to date. More of the same, please!
32. Slowdive, Everything Is Alive		The shoegaze legends, if not in fact the progenitors, made a surprise return in 2017 and followed that album up with another strong batch of tracks that hit the sweet spot like no other, alternately blissfully zoned out and utterly pop-sticky. My only minor qualm is how often the songs fade out, one of the laziest production/songwriting techniques possible, but otherwise who would complain about more gems from the 'dive?
31. Pangaea, Changing Channels		The Hessle Audio label has always been known for its studied and brainy approach to techno and bass music, so what a thrill to hear label head Pangaea (the lesser-known producer behind fellow founders Ben UFO and Pearson Sound) unleash this brief blast of euphoric dance music for the feet – luridly day-glo and relentless, and at only 32 minutes begging for an immediate replay. "Ah so"? "Hessle"? Whatever was being chanted in lead track "Installation", it was the earworm of the year.
30. MSPAINT, Post-American		Hardcore has been thriving in recent years and a new slate of artists are coming through with colorful cross-genre experiments, with the Mississippi synth-punk band MSPAINT bursting forth on their debut. Deedee sounds uncannily like a young Zack de la Rocha barking into your face as his band kicks up a swirling mess of furious slam-dance rhythms and synth textures, an utterly exhilarating mess.
29. Evian Christ, Revanchist		After over a decade of sterling trap-related production for the likes of Tinashe, Danny Brown and Kanye, Evian has finally dropped his solo debut, a love letter to the wide-eyed and lambasted trance he grew up listening to. An unlikely Warp Records release, but nostalgia is a powerful factor, and you can't argue with the exquisite sound design and sustained energy.
28. Blur, The Ballad of Darren		We had them, and we lost them. Twice. Damon Albarn has confirmed that the blessed reunion is now indeed at an end, Blur having come together to play some gigs and record a fantastic and mature late-career reflection on their place in the rock firmament, immaculately produced and wistful. A heck of a way to bow out, at least until the next reunion.
27. Wata Igarashi, Agartha		As much a student of krautrock as a cutting-edge DJ, Igarashi's album for famed electronic lable Kompakt is a stroke of mixing genius, throwing moody ambience into his breakbeats, an exploration of sound worthy of the Berlin school and as much a dancefloor killer as a home listening treat.
26. The Clientele, I Am Not There Anymore		The perennially underrated songsmiths from London (of which I am majorly guilty, having jumped off the bandwagon after '07 or so) dropped a stunning double-LP length collection of ambitious and complex pop, orchestral and far more progressive than most bands who labor under that designation.
25. Jessie Ware, That! Feels Good!		What might have been a COVID-inspired detour into club music on 2020's What's Your Pleasure has become a full-throated pursuit for Ware, as she doubles down on the passion and beats of that album on this collection of horny anthems, about embracing and pursuing pleasure in uncertain times.
24. Andre 3000, New Blue Sun		The hardest shit Andre could pull in 2023 is giving us a few days' warning, after 17 years of no Outkast music and breathless anticipation he would return full-time to rap, of his debut solo album: a 90-minute jazz flute odyssey. Playfully tagged "no bars" on the physical edition, this new age work is alternately meditative, repetitive, lulling and aloof, like every bad hipster-LA stereotype come to life. He has given his youth to rap and his bona fides are set in stone; like a true iconoclast, why shouldn't he wander restlessly in search of enlightenment with his woodwind instruments?
23. Fever Ray, Radical Romantics		Imagine having the heft to enlist Oscar-winners Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross to co-produce a menacing, earwormy track aimed at your kid's high-school bully? Fever Ray has surprised before, but that move straddled the line of good taste; luckily, the rest of the album is another batch of her sex-positive dread pop, searching for love and acceptance in liminal spaces.
22. Tirzah, trip9love...???		Once you get over the distraction of every song having the exact same beat at varying tempos, Tirzah's third album (co-produced with Oscar-nominated friend Micah Levy) is a collection of typically Tirzah sentiments of love and confusion, sometimes so raw that it can be hard to play without feeling like an intruder. Haunting and essential.
21. Armand Hammer, We Buy Diabetic Test Strips		Once again, billy woods and ELUCID team up for a hard knock album with production from JPEGMAFIA and El-P, and spiritual instruments from the likes of Shabaka Hutchins and Max Heath, a collection of haunted vibes and granular snapshots of societal dysfunction, profound and profoundly abstract.
20. Peter Gabriel, i/o		The inimitable (though many have tried) Peter Gabriel did it his own way in 2023, giving us the slowest album rollout possible – one new song every month. The end result is a triple-disc behemoth, with three separate mixes by Spike Stent (Bright/Side) and Tchad Blake (Dark/Side), as well as a Blu-ray In/Side mix. Beyond the gimmick, these tracks are vintage Gabriel, calling back to his 80s triumphs with various musical motifs and his ageless voice. Art rock for the olds, teaching the youth how to do it.
19. Yaeji, With a Hammer		The breathlessly awaited debut from the DJ did not disappoint, taking a hammer to her sound and pairing wind instruments with sugary synths, catchy lyrics with chaotic breaks. The path forward is bright and promising.
18. PJ Harvey, I Inside the Old Year Dying		A semi-concept album that ties in to her collection of poetry written in an old Dorset dialect, Polly Jean did not disappoint with her first new album in six years, a close cousin to 2007's spooky White Chalk with her future-folk approach leavened by quiet reflection and mystery.
17. James Blake, Playing Robots Into Heaven		Mr. Blake has been a sketchy albums artist since the beginning, possibly forever marred by my expectation that he would roam around the sound of the CYMK EP. Lo and behold, 13 years later he delivers a work that could stand with that early work, his inimitable cooing pressed close to his sharp drum programming and basslines, "sad boy in the corner of the club" perfection.
16. Loraine James, Gentle Confrontation		The London producer has never shied away from bringing in tales of personal life, and her largest album yet is a vulnerable and beguiling tapestry of glitchy beats, hushed ambience and raw stories, utilizing elements from the past three decades of electronic to create a seamless whole. As her third straight excellent album in a row, she may be in a danger of being taken for granted.
15. Lana Del Rey, Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd		Sure it is an interminably long album, but sometimes you have to have patience for an expansive vision, and in her attempt to throw her arms around America, Lana's vision is grander than most. Coming across like the most Lana album yet, it marries her lyrical flourishes about American life and plaintive piano ballads with the scratchy trip-hop of her early years – the result is magic.
14. Danny Brown & JPEGMAFIA, SCARING THE HOES / Danny Brown, Quaranta		In an age of self-care, it was alternately thrilling and worrying to hear Danny Brown go so hard on this collaborative album with fellow hip-hop auteur Peggy – was he still struggling with his demons? How could that frantic and discordant (though wildly entertaining) atmosphere be sustained? On the late-year release Quaranta, Brown indicated that he was in a hard place at the time of recording the HOES album, and the more sober and jazzy production showed us a mature Danny coming to grips with his mentality and society's ills. Viewed as a dichotomy of one of our best rappers in 2023, it presents a complex picture but leaves us with a ton of great music.
13. Yves Tumor, Praise a Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume (or Simply Hot Between Worlds)		Tumor's latest salvo and its nigh-unintelligible title has been out for so long that it already feels like a classic - the freaky glam-electro mix that he has been working on since signing to Warp Records is reaching its peak, and this collection of bops is undeniable. One of our key artists striving for greatness.
12. Actress, LXXXVIII		Darren Cunningham has been responsible for some of my favorite electronic albums of the past decade-and-a-half (Splazsh was AOTY in 2010 and R.I.P. was top 5 in 2012), so it's no surprise that he continues his mastery of sound design and world-building on this new chess-informed work, creating a baffling work that is alternately heady and accessible, immersing you while keeping you at arm's length.
11. James Holden, Imagine This Is a High Dimensional Space of All Possibilities		An egalitarian forest rave of freedom, Holden's new album is a return to form as he throws doses of a variety of dance genres into a glowing pastoral whole, a mystic journey to the heart of the grassy dancefloor.
10. Sampha, Lahai		It's been a lengthy six years since Sampha's Mercury-winning debut and he wastes no time in reintroducing us into his singular world; lushly produced and primarily concerned with interconnectedness and praising the women in his life, the new father's new album is another one to treasure, though hopefully without so long a wait next time.
9. Carly Rae Jepsen, The Loveliest Time		Nobody is infallible, and Carly probably got this era backwards, as last year's more subdued and introspective The Loneliest Time played more like a B-sides collection, whereas this onslaught of euphoric pop is her best work since E-MO-TION. Everything you love about her, from the titanic choruses to the carefully considered lyrics, is on full display here and make this an essential party album.
8. Sufjan Stevens, Javelin		Marrying the stark storytelling of Carrie & Lowell with the electronics of Age of Adz, along with his public battle with a neurological disease and the death of his long-time partner, Sufjan absolutely ripped at the heartstrings in 2023 with this instant classic of pained emotions, soothing melodies and his richly developing voice. Wishing all the best to one of our treasures.
7. Wednesday, Rat Saw God		The North Carolina band could be called "bootgaze", their mix of alt-country flavor and torrential shoegaze culminating in the titanic second track "Bull Believer", which threatens to overshadow the entire album - luckily, the following eight tracks are all marvels of lyrical acuity and prickly songwriting. A marvelous effort from a marvelous band.
6. Kenny Segal & billy woods, Maps		Is there a better writer than billy woods these days? By most counts, he has dropped at least 5 albums of absolutely incredible words in the past couple of years, and this collaboration with producer Kenny Segal stands tall amongst them, an album about the road and roads not taken. Stuffed with stellar production and perfect performances for a tour de force album of the best that modern rap has to offer.
5. Sofia Kourtesis, Madres		Pleasuredome techno, with a communal and personal edge, as Kourtesis explores the familial unit mentioned in the title, along with naming a song after the doctor who helped with her mother's illness. As many producers rush to rehash the past, this is a truly timeless collection that showcases how some of the finest and most forward-looking electronic music these days is coming from Latin and South America.
4. Ratboys, The Window		Few images lingered in the mind this year like the elderly couple, at the height of the pandemic, separated by the titular window as the husband helplessly watches his wife die. A country-flavored indie rock album with peerless lyrics - absolutely essential.
3. Mandy, Indiana, i've seen a way		The heaviest music need not necessarily be strictly metal; case in point, the debut from this Manchester-based band with French vocalist Valentine Caulfield, creating an unholy mess of EBM, post-punk and noise, abstract lyrics with the occasional skin-peeling shrieks buried in the mix. They may have seen a way but we have to crawl through the abyss of despair first. C'est magnifique.
2. Caroline Polachek, Desire, I Want To Turn Into You		A glorious attempt to synthesize the feeling of falling in love, this album sees former Chairlift singer Polachek graduate from "secret weapon to the stars" to "star in her own right", the type of huge swing for the fences effort that only the bravest visionaries attempt. Trip-hop beats, flamenco guitars, bagpipe solos and a Dido-Grimes-Caroline triptych from heaven make this an easy contender for decade's end.
1. Kelela, RAVEN		It was tempting to write off Kelela's long-awaited return as a disappointingly soft album, lacking the club bangers she made her name on. But as the year progressed, the more bewitching RAVEN became. This is a safe space to celebrate Black queer love; an album-length exploration of how the patriarchy harms male intimacy and vulnerability; feminine, sad, lusting and desiring; a self-contained world ultimately bending towards joy; a healing balm for bruised hearts.