The 2023 End of Year music lists thread

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

usually annoyed by the ldr love in these lists but this was far and away her best album imo

Manchester's Piccadilly Records

Piccadilly Records EOY Review Top 100 Albums Of The Year.
https://www.piccadillyrecords.com/counter/feature.php?feature=1378

1 - SLOWDIVE
EVERYTHING IS ALIVE
DEAD OCEANS

2 - NABIHAH IQBAL
DREAMER
NINJA TUNE

selective highlights

10.OVERMONO - GOOD LIES
XL

11. NOURISHED BY TIME - EROTIC PROBIOTIC 2
SCENIC ROUTE

15 - CAROLINE POLACHEK
DESIRE, I WANT TO TURN INTO YOU
PERPETUAL NOVICE

21 - YUSSEF DAYES
BLACK CLASSICAL MUSIC
BROWNSWOOD

23 - THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS
FOR THAT BEAUTIFUL FEELING
EMI

26 - SAY SHE SHE
SILVER
KARMA CHIEF RECORDS

27 - JAMES HOLDEN
IMAGINE THIS IS A HIGH DIMENSIONAL SPACE OF ALL POSSIBILITIES
BORDER COMMUNITY

40 - HARP
ALBION
BELLA UNION

42 - MANDY, INDIANA
I'VE SEEN A WAY
FIRE TALK

45 - GOGO PENGUIN
EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE OKAY
XXIM

58 - ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER
AGAIN
WARP

71 - LADYTRON
TIME'S ARROW
COOKING VINYL

80 - SOFIA KOURTESIS
MADRES
NINJA TUNE

82 - ALISON GOLDFRAPP
THE LOVE INVENTION
SKINT

91 - FOREST SWORDS
BOLTED
NINJA TUNE

re:

40 - HARP
ALBION
BELLA UNION

Tim Smith (ex-Midlake) tells us how The Cure, Cocteau Twins, The Sundays & more influenced his solo debut as Harp
https://www.brooklynvegan.com/tim-smith-ex-midlake-tells-us-how-the-cure-cocteau-twins-the-sundays-more-influenced-his-solo-debut-as-harp/

usually annoyed by the ldr love in these lists but this was far and away her best album imo

It’s one of the best albums I’ve ever heard! Like the Big Thief album was last year.

I’m not ashamed to stan for my favorites… I’ve never loved music as much as some of the music I’ve loved in the past 10 years, for whatever reason

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.

everyone's just going to let this go? i am not a sufjan fan but i'm not sure how "people only like him because he's white" is your main criticism (btw the album is dedicated to his dead black life partner)

The Finest Kiss

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