the top 50 best albums of 2023

You know, I’ve talked before about how this list can feel most like the ‘professional obligation’… but truth be told, after the pretty intense emotional process of assembling my list of the best songs of 2023, sometimes there’s a benefit that comes with professional obligation - the strong emotions are there, but they’re dispersed over so much more art that by necessity for categorization it requires a more businesslike approach. And hey, when the albums as a whole feel better, I sure as hell cannot complain?

But let’s get into that, because the jury seems to have been split on whether 2023 was a strong year for music. In my opinion… well, as always, it depends on genre, but I’d argue if you were looking for the mainstream to deliver high quality across the board, you were probably struggling, with probably the closest genre to coming through being country and how much of that was even covered by my peers and colleagues. But I’d argue that just outside of mainstream promotion both pop and R&B had pretty strong years, with metal delivering a sneaky strong year if you knew where to look - and of course, country was on an absolute heater this year following 2022. Hell, for electronic music I’d also say it was better than expected, and same for certain stripes of punk and emo. But of course the conversation everyone wants to have is whether or not rap had a bad year and… yeah, in the mainstream, it was absolutely rough, I agree, and I think if you struggle with the current, thorny strain of underground rap that’s critically popular right now and aren’t looking to dig, you might have issues. I personally didn’t have that issue, but I also have broader context, because if you want to look at a genre that seemed to have an abysmal year, it was rock - if you weren’t looking in the weirder, less-accessible experimental pockets or just went for metal outright, this year was rough.

But with all of that set up - and with the acknowledgement that there will be EPs on this list because I don’t put them in their own separate list, a bunch of albums can have comparable runtimes to EPs these days, and they have to have a higher killer-to-filler threshold to even get close - I should mention that despite covering fewer albums in 2023 overall - just under two hundred - I still had enough to comfortably flesh out a year-end list of great music and had to make cuts. And one album you won’t see on this list is the newest Noname project, where I could go in at length at all the baggage around that exacerbated by current politics and entirely too many publications putting it high on their lists for… let’s call them dubious reasons, but to me this got a lot simpler and echoes what I said in my last list: she doesn’t want the platform, and to make everyone’s life easier I’m more than happy to oblige. So with that out of the way…

50. ‘Family Ties’ by Charles Wesley Godwin

50. This is one of those cases where I’m kicking myself for getting to Charles Wesley Godwin two years late and blowing the opportunity to put him higher on a different list for a better album - I don’t think I have a good enough excuse for that. But while I think the extended runtime and single-minded focus can mute some of its great impact, Godwin still delivers an excellently produced, emotionally evocative indie country project where family responsibility is both weight and joy. Also features one of the best covers you’ll hear all year!

49. I’ve cooled on this Swans project, despite being a very welcome uptick from leaving, meaning. - the extended drone / sound collage piece near its end made it tough to revisit even for an act known for crushing length… but this album isn’t as crushing, probably one of their softest and most melodically meditative in years as they reckon with a curdled blur of bluesy emotions in the wake of inevitable demise. It’s strange to say this is one of Swans’ most personal projects in recent memory - certainly one reminiscent of their past - but it was certainly stirring enough to get here and have to beg for nothing.

48. There are going to be folks who think this deserves to be higher, and I understand why - easily Jeff Rosenstock’s best album… probably since WORRY., with hooks for days and a more optimistic fervour to look ahead while not underselling the brutally difficult reality of trying to push for systemic change and encountering everything and everyone standing in his way, both internally and externally, from society at large down to the friends who let you down. And when the production pops so well… call it a refinement over a reinvention, but this is a journey through hell worth taking!

47. And speaking of refinement over reinvention, I can argue that on the basis of ‘Train To Harlem’ alone that Korine notched their spot on this list, but there’s more to highlight beyond terrific hooks and New Order worship for this throwback synthpop band. The hooks really pop with the more prominent guitarwork, and while the pettier emo side can wear on me, Korine can sell that melodrama and that gives them a certain scrappy charm I appreciate. Not the only goth-tinged throwback synth act on this list, but even if I can’t tell whether the title is ‘tear’ or ‘tear’, they’re absolutely deserving.

46. Funnily enough these next two albums I covered in close proximity and it’s hard to escape the feeling that there’s been a well-executed shift that you wish stuck more consistently. Jaime Wyatt is the first with her pivot towards a very distinct era of country soul that may feel a bit too familiar, but she’s such an enrapturing vocal presence with ridiculously well-produced grooves and lived-in writing that would feel relevant either now or fifty years ago that it doesn’t matter. The hooks cooling a bit on me is the reason this fell here, but for swaggering queer country, this certainly does feel good!

45. ‘The Devil I Know’ by Ashley McBryde

45. Look, it’s not Ashley McBryde’s fault that Music Row didn’t know how to handle Lindeville at all, and I’d be lying to say that a swerve back towards radio conventionality with Jay Joyce on production wasn’t a disappointment. That said, the best compositions on this album really do stick out and has helped this grow on me and knock it into a higher tier, a hard-living road album that features all manner of devils to be overcome where Joyce was smart enough to get out of the way of the better slow-burn performances. And considering Music Row doesn’t appear to know what to do with this either… whatever, that’s their loss, this is still great!

44. This album grew on me in ways I did not expect - maybe it was the utterly wild concept at its core or how the sound picked its roots from glittery emo and then rammed them into a much more diverse southern palette of Americana, or how the lyrical detail could feel so resplendently queer and visceral. But I think with Home Is Where it runs a bit deeper - when you have an album where the underlying subtext is the creeping numbness to facing daily trauma where it should not be getting worse every day, that has resonance if you spend any amount of time online, and yet the dogged drive to keep going forward and trying adds a certain bloody romance to it all. I wasn’t sure this would stick with me when I reviewed it… it’s going to wind up one of my favourite emo albums of the year!

43. ‘Dance You Monster To My Soft Song’ by Victory Over The Sun

43. And speaking of queer, genre-bending, thunderously visceral music, we have this black and jazz metal project, where I’m tempted to say ‘Liturgy done right’ and leave it at that, but that overlooks why this works so well - it has a sense of groove, the eclectic instrumentation feels well-blended and not just used for agonized migraine fuel, which also translates to more interesting and tactile writing. This was a project I didn’t revisit a lot in 2023, but it was absolutely one that has only grown more rewarding as the year progressed - their best work to date, absolutely slept on, if you’re prepared you should give it a shot!

42. ‘I Inside The Old Year Dying’ by PJ Harvey

42. And while we’re on the topic of exceedingly strange and challenging albums this year, this is PJ Harvey pushing the envelope into easily her most fey and poetic album to date, a hazy meditation of old English, misty folklore, and pure nightmare fuel that serves as the thematic expansion to her 2022 book of poetry that could often feel just as obtuse when it doesn’t horrify you to your core. It has the feel of a faerie tale where the sexually charged paganism and dream logic run wild, the side project that got too deep into the weeds but I’m enough of a literature nerd to be engrossed regardless. Honestly it held up way more than I thought it would, lasted more than just pure curiosity… you won’t hear anything else like it this past year, and for once, that’s a compliment!

41. Whereas here… how is it that Zach Bryan’s EPs are just consistently better than his full-length albums, this is two years in a row for that! And no, this isn’t better than Summertime Blues and there’s no single song better than ‘I Remember Everything’, but in only five songs Bryan manages to weave a haggard touring love story with guest appearance from Bon Iver and Noah Kahan that worked way better than they probably should, while still keeping that ragged indie country texture but far more consistent production. I do find the ending a little thin and like all of his EPs it has me wishing he could have a full album stick the landing, but if this is what he gets when he’s moving slow and careful, I’ll take it.

40. Tim Hecker set out to prove something with No Highs… which is weird to say about an ambient composer but it’s valid in challenging the low-effort ambient gunk that’s clogged streaming for years now. And he pulled it off with his best album in a decade - an album of concentrated anti-climax built to unnerve and destabilize audiences looking to be relaxed or thrilled, a masterclass of building tension with every jagged synth and saxophone warble. Yes, I know, I’m on my ambient bullshit, but in a genre built off of postmodern deconstruction, Hecker gave the double bird to commodification and showed there are more layers to be torn down.

39. I think this is the latest entry on this list, and a great companion piece to Korine’s album, but House of Harm stuck more for me: the mix feels more robust and melodic, the whirling ambiguities of the dancefloor hookups feel more charged, the throwback darkwave vibes are more burnished and smoldering. Yeah, on the surface it doesn’t appear to have a ton of dimensionality, but when the hooks pop this hard and the melodrama has some tangible theatricality and flair…yeah, I’ll play along.

38. …sexiest project of the year, and I don’t think it’s particularly close, with Karen Jonas delivering her best written, produced, and performed album since 2016 for a smoky and very adult slow-burn project, drenched in cosmopolitan detail but also earnest emotionality and a sense of tangible stakes for every deeply textured romance. Like with Tim Hecker before it, this is the sort of album this isn’t exactly immediate - it absolutely rewards one taking their time… and for this sort of sound and subject matter, how could I ask for anything less?

37. God, this was one of the most pleasant surprises of 2023 for me; Ron Gallo returns with the sizzling, remarkably sharp garage rock where he broke through in the mid-to-late 2010s, along with the social satire that has just as much self-effacing humour and tangible empathy but more teeth this time. I don’t want to say Gallo lost his way with the throwback psychedelic experiments, which add some decent texture and atmosphere as accents to many of these songs - but when the hooks and writing have more muscle, this belongs in the foreground!

36. Full disclosure, I did not expect this would make my year-end list after I reviewed it - Danny Brown delivering his most downbeat, haggard, and self-reflective album where age, drug abuse, infidelity, and lack of more tangible success hangs heavy over him, to the point where in the context of this album the kookier moments don’t register as strongly, especially compared to his other album this year. But once you get away from that comparison, Quaranta is really rewarding, with deeply felt, honest recollections and insight juxtaposed with slow-burn but still sticky and textured production, with more thematic weight in questioning what all of this is worth… and then finding an answer. He may have reached his 40s… and I can only see more on the horizon.

35. And on the flipside we have an EP of utterly wild bangers careening with youthful energy that feel custom built for the festival - and I should know, I was in the pit at Osheaga when redveil played most of them! But I also think there are factors that have gone overlooked on playing w/ fire - playing “a” game but doing it his way to maintain his freedom and autonomy, alongside his ridiculously strong melodic sensibilities and killer production! I know a lot of folks who slept on this EP thinking it wasn’t anything distinct or special because he didn’t default to the brands or play the game - I think he’s run out of fucks to give with you lot, because this kicks ass!

34. ‘Hold My Beer, Vol. 3’ by Randy Rogers & Wade Bowen

34. In a year where I put out a two hour video essay and had a significant segment lionizing Texas country, I really could have just played this sequel EP where Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen team up again for some of their strongest work in nearly a decade. The two have always had great chemistry and rollicking charm, and this project feels like the sort of summer celebration that leaves you wishing for more, with plenty of humour, pathos, Texas pride and barroom stompers to go around. This didn’t get nearly enough shine outside of a very specific indie country circle this year - hold my beer so I can correct that!

33. ‘North Georgia Rounder’ by Pony Bradshaw

33. This also did not get a ton of shine outside of a very limited indie country circle… but in fairness, Pony Bradshaw is the sort of understated and layered poet where that might be expected, and this compilation of EPs packaged for a project this year was certainly challenging. The arrangements are warmer and thicker and feel all the more organic, the sort of songs with the tempo and cutting poetry to really sink in for every meandering but intensely detailed dirt road snapshot. Again, I’m a little surprised that this made my list, but when so many cuts refused to stop occupying my mind… yeah, deceptively difficult to ignore.

32. ‘Formal Growth In The Desert’ by Protomartyr

32. It feels weird that after nearly a decade of being exasperated with ‘not fully getting’ Protomartyr and their thorny, overwritten post-punk, they take a swerve near desert rock and really connect for me… and most of the fans don’t agree at all! I don’t want to say it’s their loss, but Protomartyr found something special amidst the wreckage and pedal steel here - an album all about facing endings and new beginnings amidst creaking and ossifying systems in a living death, apropos for a band out of Detroit especially this year and I’m trying desperately not to jinx the Lions here! Thorny and cerebral but with enough hooks to kick more ass than you’d expect, it might feel a bit short but packs the right punch, I’ll take it.

31. ‘The Age Of Pleasure’ by Janelle Monae

31. And speaking of stylistic swerves… it kind of breaks my heart how many people wrote off Janelle Monae and this album this year, as they easily deliver their most free-spirited and direct project of their career - no, I wouldn’t put it among their best, but when you’ve released three seminal genre-bending R&B records, you have a right to make a breezy summer album that contains so much of the textured genre-experimentation and lyrical subtext converted into text! Perhaps it was the victim of poor timing - or an album that dropped on the exact same day with similar themes in the same genre that wound up being better - but The Age Of Pleasure was a delirious blast of fun this summer; easily holds up!

30. ‘Rolling Up The Welcome Mat’ by Kelsea Ballerini

30. So a quick note of clarification, I know that Kelsea Ballerini would kind of expand this EP in a separate release this year with a few mixing changes and one more song; I’m sticking with the original here. And that shouldnl’t be a problem because this is handily her best work to date and easily some of the best pop country you’ll hear all year, an EP chronicling the collapse of her marriage and path to move on with spare but cutting detail with remarkably well-balanced atmospherics where the influence doesn’t overpower the heartbreak. Of course Music Row slept on this - you shouldn’t.

29. ‘We Buy Diabetic Test Strips’ by Armand Hammer

29. So on the topic of albums I did not expect would be on my list, let alone this high, I still feel like I don’t fully grasp this Armand Hammer project beyond the unease and unstable dread lurking at its core, the feeling of living within systems and modes of discourse you don’t understand and they’re not going to make it easier for the trouble… mostly because they don’t seem like they’re in full control either. Call it Stockholm syndrome how many times I was pulled back by the challenging production and every guest verse that seemed to be goading me to keep going, or how I’m fairly convinced this is ELUCID’s best performance on record, or how once again Armand Hammer keep the quotables flowing, but if Haram was them highlighting the language to communicate amidst an increasingly messy reality, this shows the creeping dread when it breaks down… and I think I’m about to keep buying it.

28. But switching back to surprises from out of nowhere, the fact that Sundy Best not only got back together for a surprise album of terrific indie country, but also delivered all the same warm flavour, humour, and heartwrenching moments balanced with older, newfound maturity was a genuine treat. This is an album where the challenge is inherent in the title: it wants you to find reasons to embrace it as feel good music, and getting over yourself along the way, and be it the harmonies, the cajon, or the fact that they write one hell of a ballad that gets me every time, I’m so thrilled that they’re back!

27. And speaking of surprises, at least for me this felt like it came out of nowhere: Model/Actriz delivering a riotous storm of tangibly queer and impressively visceral noise rock and dance punk to shake the foundations of every hookup, where the nightclub debauchery isn’t just presumed, it’s guaranteed. And yeah, it bangs like you would not believe, but I also think Model/Actriz gets a lot from the quivering, tender but hard-living emotive pathos at its core, an album that knows its underground roots and celebrates them with careening abandon. In other words, the album fucks - get onboard!

26.I’m more pleased than I probably should be at that transition, but here we are: Mesarthim swinging for the fences with gloriously silly space-themed symphonic black metal, where the melodic hooks are ear candy for days; decidedly less sexy but when the blasts of synth and tremolo shredding are this potent, it’s hard to complain! The funny thing is that Mesarthim isn’t doing anything all that different from previous projects, but the compositional refinement and production have absolutely taken a leap over the years, and this… yeah, something special

And that’s half of our list thus far… for the top 25 there’s going to be a bit more preamble and detail, flesh out a little more…

25. I’m still not fully sure how to quantify my emotions around this album, and I know I’m not the only critic in that predicament as someone who was underwhelmed by her full-length debut in 2020 but really liked this as a total shock. And I don’t want to chalk it up to getting a major label budget as the only substantive shift in sound and approach - mostly because there is more going on - and thus…

Fountain Baby had an uphill battle for me - I didn’t really like Amaarae’s voice and it’s not like the content shows a lot of depth. But this is a classic example of knowing one’s limitations and then adding as much flair and polish around them as you possibly can: between the utterly gorgeous and diverse production that careens across R&B and afrobeat, and a focus on tighter hooks and more refined song structure, the vivid, humid melodrama leaps off the page. Hell, I’ll even give the writing a shoutout for more subtle emotional nuance than I initially gave it credit - there’s detail between the lines that shows real emotional intelligence around the flexing. A popular critical choice, to be sure… but for this brand of R&B, she get it.

24. There was a time a few years back where I was starting to get worried about this artist - oh, he made great music in his very specific niche, but it was starting to hit a lot of very familiar notes, and the subtlest of change-ups can only take you so far, especially after a decade of greatness. I did not expect this.

Jason Eady swerving to make a straight-up country blues album kind of blows my mind - and indeed, it’s the sort of genre swerve that could have backfired for a performer more known for his songwriting than groove or feel - and to be blunt, he doesn’t have the pipes to really sell this. But again, this is a case of understanding limitations and ensuring everything else around him is top-notch - the production in particular has a lot of swagger and colour, certainly tasteful but with the veteran confidence to not overplay his hand, and Eady probably has some of his most adventurous songwriting since his self titled album six years ago! I don’t think Eady is going to become a blues man any time soon, but I can recognize an experiment that stuck the landing - highly underrated, excellent album!

23. …yeah, this is higher than it probably should be - call it a case of the best moments carrying it - but when the best moments are this great, it’s going to be worth it.

23. ‘First Two Pages of Frankenstein’ by The National

In retrospect, The National had a weird year: following up on all the popular acclaim that has come with the mainstream discovering their influence with their poppiest album to date - and hey, they have great pop instincts, and outside of using their collaborators a little more, this album has some sneaky excellent hooks - which promptly alienated the fanbase that expected a rock album so they dropped a second less good album this year to placate them. I used to think if Berninger and Dessner picked the best songs from both albums they’d have a new standout, but I also think the fanbase is becoming increasingly divided on what would even fill that niche - as it is, ‘Tropic Morning News’ guaranteed this album would place here, I think a lot of the critique has been misguided for a band in their elder statemen years, this is still pretty great!

22. I came around to this project later than I would prefer - it was a critical darling in certain circles, I think the repeated recommendations from NotRealMusic was what really put this on my radar… and yeah, in a year where house music came up with real surprises, this was the debut I didn’t know I needed!

For a project that to most is just built for dance, Sofia Kourtesis is doing a lot - not only has her production picked up a swell and scope that places her near the bigger leagues, with diverse percussion texture to create an expanse that feels international, but that’s reflected in the themes as well. This is an album where finding new communities across the world is central, but also has the presence to demand others accept you as you are rather than subsume to a family unit that would rather you be something else, where the difficulties of culture clash feel magnified and very human for it. A complete leap from her EPs, I still feel late to the party with this album, but it’s a joy to take in every time!

21. …I’ll say it, I’m happy that Lori McKenna is bringing some real teeth back to her stories, because in a year full of great country music, I wouldn’t want her to get lost in the shuffle!

I’ve been covering Lori McKenna since 2016, and I often feel a little bad when I’m as sharply critical as I am - she’s still one of the best songwriters working today, a fearsome presence with legit classics under her belt, and while I’m measuring her against those, it can lose perspective that this is still top tier material. Thankfully this album is really strong, taking her mature and deeply affecting looks at small town America and placing more of her stories outside of herself, where for as stable and happy as she might be, trying to influence or help others in their struggles can be very trying, and the more heartland rock she infuses with the faster tempos and sharper hooks only amplifies that sense of urgency. It’s a very maternal sentiment, but Lori McKenna has been making very maternal albums for years now, and I wouldn’t have it any other way - excellent project!

20. But you know, sticking with those small towns and hyper-detailed, messy analysis that can get a little too real…

This was the year that underscores clicked for me, and they did it by creating their own world that feels like a dark reflection of our own… but honestly, not too far afield and that makes it even darker. The sheer increase in scope is enough to provoke marvel - the production and composition both took notable leaps as the sharper hooks rip out from the blur of glitch pop, careening samples, noise, and offbeat Americana - but when you clue into the stories being told of the three distinct protagonists and all the dark crevasses underscores exposes in both melodrama and thematic complexity, where numbness in an ossified and malignant system only papers over the nightmare. Stridently emotional, distinctly unnerving - the boundaries underscores blows through seems to unnerve even her - but also layered and accessible, this is Our Town disemboweled by Gen Z, and all the better for it - you won’t hear anything else quite like it in 2023, and the potential it showcases is mindboggling - good luck!

19. Let’s switch it up to something that might be a bit more comfortable… honestly, to the point where I’m still shocked that outside of specific R&B circles it didn’t get more acclaim…

19. ‘I Thought It’d Be Different’ by Rory

Rory has been teasing this album for years over multiple podcasts, where I knew thanks to his connection with Emotional Oranges that it’d be good, but I wasn’t prepared for just how much he could deliver. With an all-star cast of R&B crooners and rappers, what amazes me is how much quality work Rory gets from all of them with a commitment to thematic focus that is underappreciated: like with Emotional Oranges, the focus on organic groove is paramount, along with the drama that requires maturity to handle, as well as the emotive human reality of those who slip up along the way. I would call it a showcase of great networking and taste, but Rory is smart enough to know that leaning into the vibes and underplaying the grand wealth of talent will get him the discerning audience and cred that can be worth a lot more long-term. One of my absolute favourites to put on this year and share to all my older friends who love great R&B - in the end, I don’t know if I expected something different, but I’m very pleased with what we got.

18. Sometimes you look back on albums and think, ‘you know, if this had been released a little earlier or later, this could have ruled a certain season’ - in this case, this could have ruled my summer in 2023 if it had come out in June. But the benefit of house when it becomes sheer pop ear candy… that can last a lot longer…

Romy delivers her long-awaited solo project away from The xx - although Jamie xx swings around for a quick assist - but what has gone criminally undersold with this project is Fred again… producing a lot of it, who even after seeing this year live at Osheaga I’m not the hugest fan, but he’s a natural fit for Romy’s soft-spoken yearning, for his shuffling grooves to make her queer love stories feel immense. I’ve come to realize that my favourite house music is built for festivals and Romy and Fred again… are a natural pair - it can feel a bit slight and backwards looking in moments, but for this brand of mainstream house and indie pop, that comes with the territory? I’ll freely admit the promotion of this album didn’t do it many favours - my review being later than I’d like didn’t help either - but this was absolutely joyous and every electronic fan I shared this with adored it; that’s high praise, this is special!

17. …yeah, you can call me a fanboy all you want - the majority of you did not give this the time of day, much less “get” this album, I stand by that!

Dessa’s pop experiments have prompted a lot of questions, mostly because she’s such a potent rapper that experimenting in R&B, trap, indie pop, and even pop rock on this album felt like steps away from her greatest strengths. And hell, it’s hard for me to disagree… but it’s also part of the point: this is an album all about deflection and getting away from your emotional baggage, trying on every disguise that never quite fits… until you’re forced to confront the most raw reality of where you truly are. And the fact that she managed to stick the landing on as many of her experiments as she did is something to behold - she’s still routinely the smartest person in the room, but she’s battling old demons and this is probably the closest to putting them to rest, even if she goes to some weird territory to do it. And no, it’s not better than Chime or A Badly Broken Code - you might not know this, but it’s difficult to surpass two of the best albums of the 2010s while you’re still very much independent! In the mean time, even as a lesser entry that demands you put in the work, Bury The Lede is criminally underrated with a few of the best songs of 2023 - I stand by it.

16. And you know, speaking about one of the smartest MCs in the room delivering blistering metacommentary alongside the genre-pushing bangers…

16. ‘Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?’ by McKinley Dixon

I’ll fully admit that I’ve bounced around with this album in 2023, because it is brilliant in its gorgeous production, its jazzy flourishes, and McKinley Dixon showcasing a ridiculous amount of talent as a rapper, which was extremely gratifying to observe the rest of the rap world acknowledge more loudly this year. I personally don’t think it’s better than 2021’s landmark For My Mama And Everyone Who Look Like Her - I’m a few years away from declaring it a classic but that can very well happen - and indeed you can tell like with Bury The Lede McKinley Dixon is expanding on previous themes and iconography, but here he’s probably at his most accessible, all the while making songs that can swerve wildly and deliver so much emotional resonance. I’m thrilled to see he’s getting the recognition he rightly deserves while still showing boundless talent and potential; beloved, indeed.

15. When I was putting together my list, I was a little stunned this wound up so high. I’m still comfortable calling it is his best in years… and he did it with a subtle swerve you wouldn’t quite expect…

15. ‘Integrated Tech Solutions’ by Aesop Rock

I don’t need to go off at length about Aesop Rock as a rapper - where I will go off is how much he’s improved as a songwriter and producer; the grooves pick up so much texture and eclectic swagger, his hooks have only gotten sharper, and he’s embraced more of a conversational style that once you get a handle on his vocabulary, Aesop Rock’s personal musings are so richly compelling! For an album that sets itself up to be examining technology as more of a concept album, the fascinating swerve comes in how it explores ‘technology’ as a philosophical framing of everything that we would want to plug in and fix the systems and things that fill our lives but where raw, imperfect, often messy humanity has to do instead, which leads to his most emotionally evocative album since The Impossible Kid. It’s shaggy, it’s frequently hilarious but often biting, billy woods is an inspired guest, and with a dash of brilliant metacommentary to boot that shows Aes’ wisdom and humility, this is a project that despite its length only grew on me further. I’ll repeat myself - this album is a solution to problems we didn’t know we had!

14. When this album was first recommended by a friend of mine, she called it ‘Spectrum Pulse-core’. I’m not going to say she was entirely right, but….

There’s a part of me that wants to put Hamish Hawk in the same category as a Tenant From Zero or even Alex Cameron - offbeat, almost deliberate throwbacks to sophistipop where impeccably composed and deeply romantic men with great voices and fantastic production go through existential crises through a lot of overwritten self-referential songs that are as hilarious as they are affecting. Hamish Hawk’s energy is different, though - maybe it’s the Scottish side coming through in how the arrangements feel a little more prim and composed for him to completely fall apart, and Hamish Hawk’s knack for detail, huge hooks, and taking a few more risks at his own expense makes Angel Numbers endlessly compelling. Imagine your mid-80s crooner having an anticapitalist streak and a nervous breakdown and this album - fucking outstanding, slept on by all but a few critics, highly recommended!

13. I’m comfortable with the number of pop albums on this list - I’m not stranger to pop music, I may have higher or unique standards for it, but when the genre has a good year, I’m going to reward it… even if the mainstream won’t. And if you want the biggest example of that fumbling in 2023…

13. ‘The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess’ by Chappell Roan

Chappell Roan is a goddamn superstar, and this debut album proves it: a huge voice, great pop sensibilities that can play to riotous queer debauchery and genuinely tender scenes, production that frankly punches above what I expected from Dan Nigro, and the fact that she was on Atlantic and they dropped her because they couldn’t figure out how to promote her properly… I don’t care if it was midway in 2020, someone should get fired for that! But that only helps contribute to this album’s charm: it’s scrappy and leans a little too hard into its theatricality that reminds me of early Marina & The Diamonds in a great way, but the camp feels authentic and the songs are solid as hell to boot. All the leftover theatre kids who became music writers adore this album… and so do I, can’t wait to hear more!

12. …you know, when I first reviewed this album, there was a part of me that recognized the accessibility of its winding structure and thought it would eventually cool on me, certainly not among his best. But over six months later…

Alright, so let me stake my claim: this is not my favourite billy woods album, I have too strong of an emotional connection to Hiding Places or Church to really challenge that, and History Will Absolve Me and Aeithopes are stellar in their own right for dense themes and impeccable atmosphere. That said, Maps is easily billy woods’ most accessible album, by far his easiest to revisit, and guess what only kept growing on me with time and more listens! Kenny Segal’s production is shambling and ramshackle but has a lot of subtle melodic character to balance the grit and darkness, and billy woods is endlessly entertaining as a writer for his observational travelogue even before you get the emotional resonance that highlights how said maps must eventually take him home, where the personal journey is the undercurrent that makes every strange misadventure and detour pick up weight. Everyone has already told you this is one of the best rap albums of the year… frankly, I’m just happy that I ‘got’ billy woods enough years ago to join the party.

11. So I said before that when this album made my midyear list, I was making up for lost time, because quite frankly her debut should have made my list in 2019 - hell, going back to her first project before going solo, maybe those albums deserve another look as well. But while it dropped well early of its season, this was my album of the summer… and it was glorious!

11. ‘Desire, I Want To Turn Into You’ by Caroline Polachek

I hope all of you get that when I complain about the pop charts and how listless and underwhelming they can be, I’m not speaking in a vacuum with just context informed by history - no, I’m also looking at Caroline Polachek dropping an album of absolute bangers where she made a play for accessibility with wild diversity in instrumentation and real pop flair in its duel between ego and superego, and wondering who the fuck fumbled the ball! I almost don’t even know what to say at this point - the critics adore this and for good reason, Polachek has her proven festival bonafides, and when your pop album feels so tropical, forward-thinking, and gorgeously produced in pulling the glassy gems from hyperpop and shooting into the stars, you’re getting a cut of that magic. I can see this being one of those pop albums that stands the test of time, never getting the right appreciation in its era but endlessly influential… in the mean time, it’s something special.

10. Whereas here…. I’m not surprised this struggled to make year-end lists, because it demanded you put in the work. And while it was daunting and difficult to revisit… it was worth it.

The unfortunate comparison that Algiers will suffer to their self-titled debut and The Underside Of Power is a function not just of the genre shift, but making the most challenging album of their career, and not just in terms of sound as they branched further from post-punk and gospel towards noise and sound collage and hip-hop on a record that can feel like a stalking behemoth. No, the real challenge came with the content, where instead of an influx of bangers Algiers expected you to do the reading for the structural and emotional struggles that come with a proper systemic revolution, where it’s not quite light on the other side, but a promise of something so much bigger. I know there are a lot of folks who didn’t care for the structure or diminished populism - that’s why it has slipped a bit for me - but this is one of those projects that only gets better the more you put into it, and throughout this entire year… it’s worth staying shook.

9. Let’s not mince words, I was worried that when they changed labels, this wouldn’t work. I was wrong - oh, was I wrong!

Svalbard signs to the closest thing to a major in metal, and they deliver a project of pure, thunderous ear candy. And while I could nitpick some of the old texture that feels compromised in the shift, the choice to double down on anthemic melody meant that the band could also delivered more refined focus and diversity in other areas. And I love the thematic arc, showing the nuance that comes in the choice and brutal reality of hiding one’s pain and emotionality, and the crises of empathy in a larger world that erupt from it, not just in how they can help others, but how they can best help and seek help for themselves. That’s a benefit of having melodies this sweet - despite how hard the journey is, at least the thunderous shredding can drag you forward. I’m a bit annoyed this didn’t show up for more metalheads and rock fans, it’s the closest thing to mainstream rock that worked for me all year, but if you haven’t heard it, it’s a weight worth carrying.

8. I found this album very late in 2023, a lot later than I should have. And I still struggle to accurately describe it - there’s just this feeling that I’m missing context and I’m getting it wrong, but it’s brilliant and I want to keep sharing it with everyone because maybe someone will have the context I’m missing. And when I say ‘brilliant’… I mean this high on my list.

8. ‘Erotic Probiotic 2’ by Nourished By Time

I want to say this Nourished By Time album is my top R&B project of 2023… but that would involve calling this R&B and I don’t think that’s right! It’s got touches of that sound, sure, but there’s also soul and 80s freestyle, and hypnagogic pop with the outsider tinge that reminds me Ariel Pink and I don’t want to make that comparison because I’m fairly certain this guy wasn’t at the Capitol on January 6th! But it goes beyond that, I love how rock solid the compositions are here within a texture that feels so unique, gleaming and soulful but also shambling and offkilter, with writing that has so much character and thematic weight. I know this has been getting a lot of critical acclaim, but this feels like the sort of album you find on the edges of the internet in a weird Bandcamp hole and it’s all the more special for its novelty, but also because it’s really well-written and performed, there’s an organic character that really stuck for me. Easily the strangest album I’ve put on a year-end list… possibly ever, but I get the feeling more is coming, and I can’t wait to hear it!

7. It’s a testament to how special this album is that even after it looks like she’s clear of the other side and brighter things are on the horizon, the journey to finally get there remains this powerful.

Kesha finished off her record deal with RCA and Kemosabe with perhaps not her best album, but by far her most important, introspective, and devastating, an experiment in psychedelic art pop that is unlike few things you’ll ever hear as it takes her deconstructed side to the absolute limit through a haze of grappling with abuse, being silenced, depression, and being discarded by an industry that’s treated you and your art like garbage when you just wanted to be happy. But if this is trash there is so much treasure at its core - easily her most consistent production, Kesha’s most emotionally raw and evocative performance, and writing that will take you to that brink. And in 2024 as she teases a big single with Lil Nas X, free of her abuser and the record label he owns… maybe the brighter times are just around the corner!

6. The funny thing about making lists like this - at least for me - is that you’re forced to consider themes that echo across a number of albums that you might not notice at the time. So when I discovered this is one of multiple albums about trying to help someone through their own internal strife, within an isolated atmosphere that touches on Americana…

I think everyone was a little worried when Spanish Love Songs pivoted from the pop punk and emo of Brave Faces Everyone to this, not the least being that album is one of the best of this decade thus far and will probably be celebrated as a classic. And I can’t say this is on that level, but it’s way closer than some have alleged, as the same rock solid formula of killer vocals, huge hooks, and writing to rip your guts out remain at the core of this band. They just opted for the windswept, coarse Americana and indie rock that’s a natural fit alongside midwestern emo, willing to not just be self-critical, but also expand on the angst that wracked a project rooted in dire times. I can only hope the momentum keeps up, because when the best songs go this hard and they show a willingness to embrace more complicated thematic depth… hell, I can find some joy in that!

5. When I first reviewed this album, I did not expect it to last and grow on me the way it did. Hell, in a different time when I gave out scores, I probably would have stuck this is a lower tier and had some bizarre stubbornness allowing it to get this high. Thankfully we’ve all grown and matured… right?

5. ‘Scaring The Hoes’ by Danny Brown & JPEGMAFIA

I’ll say it, this is my favourite rap album of the year, and only partially because I saw JPEGMAFIA perform significant chunks of it live! And indeed, the mixing is something to get through - definitely a barrier to entry - but frankly this album is all about those self-imposed barriers of good taste and decorum and not scaring the hoes getting flattened with a wrecking ball. An utterly demented listen that wound up on my workout playlist persistently… and for anyone I could convince to play it with any regularity, where the punchlines are hilarious and the production is wildly innovative especially given the constraints of the equipment Peggy was using, and that’s before redveil shows up and fits into their world seamlessly which only makes me happier that he has good people around him. Look, I know sometimes I give off this energy anyway - this album just makes me happy and in a year like this, I’ll take it in spades!

4. And speaking of albums that I kind of needed this year… to the surprise of absolutely nobody who knows me…

You can make a credible argument that this is Ruston Kelly’s messiest album to date, from its sequencing to its production to its slapdash emotional core that isn’t a divorce album but one of healing and reconciliation… and thus it makes all the sense in the world that it’s messy as hell. But if there’s a project where Ruston Kelly barrels forth into that desire to make something better and damn all the costs, find that core within himself and then trudge the cold black mile, it’s this one, with some of his best ever hooks and songs to boot. And in a year where Ruston Kelly’s presence doesn’t feel that far away from what’s breaking in the mainstream right now… he made the album to do it; there’ll be a song or two that will go viral on Tiktok inside two years beyond his cover of ‘All Too Well’, y’all know it’s coming - be prepared!

3. I can’t help but chuckle a bit to see this so high on my list - not because it’s not brilliant, it absolutely is, and if you’ve talked to many indie country fans and critics worth their salt, it’s either this or one other project on this list that took their top spot. And while I’m not sure if this is his best… it’s the sort of project that felt like a leap we all knew he was capable of making; it’s just thrilling to see him stick the landing and be rewarded for it.

Gabe Lee’s Drink The River is so special that I’m still floored Music Row hasn’t decided to make him a thing - if the goddamn former President is putting him on the list of the best songs of 2023, how is Nashville still dropping the ball here? But enough whinging - for an album this warmly produced, homespun, overflowing with mature pathos and wry charm and gorgeous melody, he deserves better and I want to see and hear it. It’s the more settled side of Honky Tonk Hell that I’ll admit I might love a bit more for the diversity of barnburners, but Lee’s songwriting chops have grown by leaps and bounds, the production is stellar, where you almost don’t notice how brisk of a list it is for so much quality to spring from the pages. If this was your favourite album of the year, I get it - Gabe Lee keeps getting better and he’s only seeing more recognition for it, let’s keep those opportunities wide open.

2. So I’ll admit that between this album and Gabe Lee, it was extremely close - honestly going back and forth for the past several months, mostly because despite their wildly different approach and sound and stylism and genre, there is some common ground: they both are rooted in tradition, they’re the most comfortable they’ve ever felt with a genuine sense of humour, the production is top notch, and the best hooks just shine with great charismatic performances at the core. In the end, she doesn’t have the better individual song, but as a whole….

This came out of nowhere in 2023 for me - I was never into Jessie Ware before the year, I thought What’s Your Pleasure?! was really overrated - but with That! Feels Good!, I finally got it, and this was my feel good album in 2023, a throwback to 70s disco that’s modern enough to flex some genre exploration but also finally allows Ware to cut loose as a legit diva. The grooves are stellar, the arrangements are stunning, the writing hits the balance between cheeky, luxurious, and genuinely yearning, and the compositional flow is masterful, the sort of album that has you wondering why Jessie Ware wasn’t doing this a decade ago! But I know why: this sort of throwback would not have garnered the same sort of muted critical acclaim she got early on - the pop zeitgeist is now firmly here and she more than met the moment. I know for some it’s too tasteful or too much of a throwback - trust someone who inherited a legit stack of disco and R&B vinyl from his father, I can tell the difference - but even if she is, it was an album that put a smile on my face every single time regardless; I’m not discounting that.

1. There are years where I wonder, when I give out a perfect score even in a time where I’ve discontinued scores, whether the album would hold up, or whether I was premature in that assessment. And then I got to making year-end lists, and when I realized outside of the three songs I included among my best of 2023 I could easily have five more credible entries… yeah, I’m comfortable saying I didn’t make a mistake. And y’all know what’s coming.

1. ‘Weathervanes’ by Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit

This album feels not just like a culmination of a decade of emotional growth, but contains multitudes - not just in terms of its sound in how much it sprawls across classic rock, Americana, southern rock, and indie country, but the layered emotional dynamic that comes with someone reckoning with the bigger picture; if Reunions was forcing it, Weathervanes shows him ready to take the dive. And when you factor in that he also took on production duties for the first time in over a decade and the sound picks up so much organic warmth and character as the hooks pile in… again, it was hard for me to pick favourites, and everyone I shared this with found their own and for wildly different reasons. And while in my review I commented on the thematic tragedy at this album’s core - that for as much as Isbell seems aware of everything that can and must be done to make things better, he’s only just one very flawed man and the power he’s been granted would never have been enough - I think in retrospect it’s not so much tragedy but an understanding of where the wind must be blowing, where he can’t shape its passage but he might be able to, perhaps, guide a way. Best album of 2023, I don’t think it’s particularly close, and while I did give it a perfect score and think it could very well become a classic, time can make fools of us all, and Isbell certainly knows that. For now… let’s hope that the miles of 2024 ahead of us help satiate a dream.

the top 50 best albums of 2023

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - january 13, 2024

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - january 6, 2024 (VIDEO)