Here goes my Top 10 Albums of 2023!
10.
Another great album from Stevens. With aching vocals and gentle, prickly guitars, this one wades deep into love and mortality.
9.
Alto saxophonist Benjamin rises up on this record--so vibrant and alive, with spoken word spots from the likes of Angela Davis and Sonia Sanchez.
8.
Even if Mitchell isn't offering up any new material per se, this recording from the 2022 Newport Folk Festival is a vital part of her discography. She sounds so gorgeous here. The return to "Both Sides Now," a weeper.
7.
DID YOU KNOW THAT THERE’S A TUNNEL UNDER OCEAN BLVD
Features some of Del Rey's best work: smooth and eerie duets with Jon Batiste and Father John Misty on "Candy Necklace" and "Let the Light In," and the epic "A&W"--one of her most adventurous songs.
6.
A celebration of sun-drenched production and quirk. Every track is catchy, enduring still after lots and lots of plays throughout the year, especially the wistful "Silent Running" and pooling electronica of "Tarantula."
5.
This is one of the most rigorous albums of the year: the deliveries (a brilliant collab between two skilled rappers) and the extravagant samplings constantly keep you on your toes and knock you out.
4.
THE LAND IS INHOSPITABLE AND SO ARE WE
Unquestionably beautiful.
3.
Tight deliveries and production; the lyrics are imbued with wry humor, pain, and sly commentary. Crazy good.
2.
Got to this one late in the year and was immediately hooked. Brown's album is one from the perspective of a somewhat worn, but still vibrant, 40-something on music and modern life. That this came out in the same year as his collab with JPEGMafia is astonishing.
1.
If there's a perfect pop-dance album, this would be one of them! With crisp instrumentations, transitions and strong, soaring vocals, Ware gives up a dose of disco joy and unbridled exuberance.
My Spotify playlist of favorite tracks from 2023 are below!
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