What a magnificent, sprawling, epic album. Overstuffed, too long, yet also just right and perfect in every way.
This album begins with Change. It's a beautiful song and asks important questions. We lost my father this year and this song came up often for me during the time he was dying. The chorus asks of those who would resist change:

Would you live forever, never die
While everything around passes?
Would you smile forever, never cry
While everything you know passes?

It's a reminder ... read more

Arguably the most surprising #1 for me that I can remember. A legitimate country album at #1 on MY list? That is an upset on par with the Jets in Super Bowl III. Margo Price made the list earlier with a really good album also, so I'm not sure what's happening here. Jess Williamson's album is a perfect storm for me in several ways:
1. I already knew a little about her, as she made an album under the name Plains last year with Waxahatchee (a personal favorite). It was solid but I really felt like ... read more

I really love this album. It just sounds good, no matter what mood I'm in. A common theme I've noticed in many of these albums I like is the genre can be hard to pin down. What is Sunny War's music? Rock? Folk? Folk Rock? Americana? Blues? Probably all of the above and then some.
I basically had to flip a coin to determine if this would be #1 and it lost a toss-up. This album is patient without being slow, and what's clear is that Sunny War knows exactly what she wants to do. She's in full ... read more

Spiritual Cramp feels like a cousin to MSPAINT (who were featured earlier in this list). Anthemic, catchy-as-hell stomps that are best played loud. Not a whole lot to say, honestly, as these songs aren't meant to be dissected or analyzed. Spiritual Cramp should be blasted in a crowded, sweaty basement where everyone's spilling drinks on each other but no one cares.

The first time I heard "I Saw" it felt like a real discovery. It sounded so fresh and exciting, different than anything I had heard in a while. While that song reminded me somewhat of TV On The Radio, Young Fathers clearly have their own thing going.
I would not have guessed this band is from Edinburgh, Scotland, but it makes more sense once you learn the band members have spent time in Liberia, Nigeria, and the US. It's clear they've been exposed to and influenced by not only a large ... read more

It took me a long time when I saw the name Youth Lagoon in my playlist to stop thinking it was going to be loud. It's not, even though I think a band named Youth Lagoon should be. No, this is positively hushed. Trevor Powers sings quietly with the creaky voice of someone who's been up about 30 hours.
Sparse pianos, gently swirling synths, and subdued percussion all make for a beautiful, understated album. This won't get your blood boiling but if you're looking to just chill and relax, this is a ... read more

I have no idea what any of these songs are about. I can't understand a word of it. So how is this my #6 album of the year? It sounds AMAZING.
These club tracks are bangers. Have a drink, put on some decent headphones, and let all your cares drift away. Several reviews have told the story about Sofia's mother being ill with cancer and not responding well to treatment. Sofia put out a plea on Instagram asking to be introduced to world-renowned neurosurgeon Peter Vajkoczy. He responded and soon ... read more

Yo La Tengo is another veteran band that came out with a shockingly good album out of nowhere this year. YLT is responsible for some of the all-time great albums in indie rock. Just try to imagine where we'd be today without 'I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One'. If you don't know about that one, you better find out.
This Stupid World is a terrific addition to their canon. These are some of their most accessible songs in a while. YLT has mastered the quiet wall of sound which extends into ... read more

You see that album title and then the first song is Hot Rotten Grass Smell and you think you know what this is. WRONG! It's way better than that!
If Nirvana were born in the trailer parks of Arkansas instead of the coastal Aberdeen, WA, they might sound a lot like this. Noisy, loud/quiet/loud dynamics, and lyrics about those living in the forgotten places in America.
That's not to say this is a downer. On the contrary, the buzzy jams obscure many of the character sketches to the point you don't ... read more

You like older Black Keys, right? And that one Japandroids album? White Stripes? Ok, so you like 2 person bands that know how to jam. Well, that's Bass Drum of Death!
Killer riffs, heavy drums, great vocals. If you don't like this, I can't help you. Not as great live as you'd hope, but the album still rocks.

It's a great act of restraint to only have one Robert Pollard album on this year's list. In addition to Circus Devils, his primary band Guided By Voices (one of the most legendary bands of all time) released 3(!) new albums in 2023.
This side project is the one that stuck for me. It has all the hallmarks of great Pollard songs with a twist of 'psychotic soul' as the cover says. Pollard has written more perfect songs under three minutes than anyone else in history, and I'm not sure that's really ... read more

If you need to run through a wall, you put this on first and turn it up to 11. Maybe technically synth-based, this isn't the feel-good vibe of Chvrches or even Little Dragon (from earlier in this list). 30 seconds of this is the aural equivalent of smelling salts. LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

The Hold Steady just keep churning out perfect vignettes of small-town characters that you've known your whole life set to sublime bar rock. That's what they do and this is another great album from them.

When it comes to rap and hip-hop, I like what I like. I've tried to get into Drake and Kendrick Lamar but it just doesn't work for me. What does work for me is, in part, dense flow set over beats that sound stripped from a Godzilla movie. DOOM is gone, but his influence remains and you can hear it in Maps.
billy woods alone is worth the price of admission, but then you add guest spots by Danny Brown, Quelle Chris, Aesop Rock, and Samuel T. Herring? 3 out of those 4 are among the best rappers ... read more

The last few years have seen older acts that we thought were long-gone pop up with some of their best work unexpectedly. Think AC/DC's terrific Power Up album. This year, that band is Depeche Mode. It's one thing to get new material from them (their first full-length since 2017) but it's a whole different thing when it's this good.
This album is as good as almost anything in their near-legendary catalog. You probably already know if you like Depeche Mode even a little bit. If you do, don't miss ... read more

This is shocking stuff: a mostly country album in 2023 that doesn't suck ass! I was really surprised how much I ended up liking this throughout the year. County Road is a song I could listen to over and over. Someone mentioned it sounded a lot like Fleetwood Mac and that was all I needed to be all in.
Radio features Sharon Etten with the great line "The only thing I have on is the radio." Go ahead and try not to like that song. You can't do it! Country's not really my jam but this one ... read more

'Anyway I Find You' is one of my favorite songs of the year. Just the right mix of melody, crunchy guitars, and great lyrics. AIFY is the 'ballad' on this album, so it's no surprise the rest of it is even fuzzier with a little harder edge. Would I have liked a little more of the former? Sure, but even one song that good is a gift. And honestly, if you're in the mood for it, the rest of this album is great when you turn it up to 11. This is not the kind of thing you listen to quietly.

A fun slice of electronic dance pop, this is really easy to enjoy. It's so sugary sweet that you might want to listen to something with a little edge as a palate cleanser, but there's nothing wrong with too much dessert. Enjoy before mom makes you eat your vegetables.

11 songs in only 26 minutes! While this album goes by quickly, it wastes no time. Big, buzzy layered guitars craft concise songs of pop perfection, the chorus rarely repeating enough for you to even figure it out and sing along before it's on to the next. If you like the band Alvvays, you might dig this.

There is just something about Lost Girls that I love. I listened to their last album Menneskekollektivet on repeat for hours during the day, letting it serve as the trance-like background to my day.
Selvutsletter is a little more focused. The songs are (mostly) much shorter and have more structure than the previous album. There's also more variety, which means the album sounds less cohesive but perhaps also more interesting, depending on your point of view. I just know I love the sound of it. ... read more