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Last Active 01-09-23 1:15 am
Joined 04-20-15
Review Comments 24,389
| A Boney 2023
It has been quite a while since I did a dedicated year-end list - I always want to but it always becomes a more daunting task than I feel like tackling. So I'm taking a somewhat different approach, only ranking my top 10 albums of the year and including some top songs as well as favorite non-new release discoveries. This allows me to focus on only the music that made the biggest impact on me this year, and also allowed for more variety in the type of descriptions I could write. I also think this will be a more interesting retrospective to look back on as it represents more broadly what my listening was like in 2023 than a list of strictly 2023 albums would. | | 39 |  | Public Image Ltd.
Album
TOP NON-2023 RELEASES
Most impactful artists/albums that I listened to in 2023 who did not release new music this year or that were not released in 2023. Listed loosely in order of relative preference and level of impact on my listening this year. | | 38 |  | Jefre Cantu-Ledesma
Love is a Stream
This is pretty much the platonic ideal of "ambient shoegaze." This album has such a great mixture of textures. There aren't many particular standout moments but as a whole this was one of my most listened releases of the year and a great example of the ability of sound to manifest the nebulous nature of specific emotions or sensations - this music sounds exactly like what the album and track titles describe. | | 37 |  | Old Saw
Country Tropics
The platonic ideal of ambient Americana. Insofar as there is a current movement in this genre, I think this group has perfected it, particularly on their 2021 release Country Tropics. Some of the other stuff associated with the ambient Americana label is just instrumental rather than truly ambient (like most of William Tyler's work - not a knock on him, I adore his work, but it's not ambient for the most part), while some other stuff is ambient but is a bit too surface-level "pleasant" or simple in its composition to really resonate with me (Suss and North Americans, for example), but Old Saw, like most of my other ambient favorites on this list, manage to draw out really poignant emotions with their soundscapes, and not always comfortable ones. | | 36 |  | Kali Malone
Does Spring Hide Its Joy
Cheating a bit here as I discovered her work in 2022 and she did have a 2023 release but it didn't make the list elsewhere and I continued to listen to her very consistently over the course of the year. Malone's approach to drone and minimalism composition has been extremely instrumental in helping me appreciate these genres which have become a cornerstone of my listening in the past year and a half. | | 35 |  | Caladan Brood
Echoes Of Battle
Alongside ambient/drone, metal was an area I explored quite a bit in 2023 (mostly within the realm of black metal, though more recently I have started branching out to other extreme metal styles). This album has been on my radar for a long time as I am a big fan of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series, and this artist and album are specifically based on the lore and emotions of that massive work. There is no way one album could possibly encapsulate the range and complexity of ideas and emotions that the novels do, but this does a great job regardless. It's a little cheesy for sure but something about it it just works. Pure fun. | | 34 |  | Ved Buens Ende
Written In Waters
My other favorite metal discovery of the year is a much more challenging one. I kind of hated this on the first couple listens but something about its off-kilter melodies and riffs gradually clicked. It has a great, twisted, and oddly addictive atmosphere that manages to be weird and unsettling without being overly heavy or aggressive. | | 33 |  | Karate
Unsolved
This one feels a bit weird to include as I only got into it in the last month of the year, and this artist seems destined to be big for me in 2024, but I couldn't resist including this album. Like Acetone, this is a band where you can really hear them condensing their unique interests. Slowcore/indie rock is their foundation but the way they blend that style with a jazz sensibility is pretty genius. At first the drawn-out, noodly bits of this put me off a bit but over time it has clicked. It's clear this is an incredibly talented group of musicians and like others I am really excited to explore the rest of their work in the coming months. | | 32 |  | Felicia Atkinson and Jefre Cantu-Ledesma
Limpid as the Solitudes
Yet another ambient/drone release that had a big impact on me. I particularly love the use of field recordings and other found sounds in a way that emphasizes the timbre and texture of sounds while remaining distinctly "musical" in its composition. It's just such a lovely, warm sound. | | 31 |  | Tim Hecker
Radio Amor
I had heard some Hecker before 2023 but this was the year I really dived into his discography, making him my second most scrobbled artist of the year. His is some of my favorite music to read to; he creates such great atmospheres through his melding of unique textures that conjure an impressive sense of emotion without using explicit melodies (at least as not the foundation of the music). A big part of this year for me was identifying my preferences in the realm of drone and ambient music and I think Hecker's is my favorite style as far as music that lands more distinctly on the ambient rather than the drone side of that equation. I still have several of his albums to listen to and I look forward to continuing to listen to them through 2024. | | 30 |  | Fugazi
Fugazi
2023 was the year I finally checked Fugazi, and I really enjoyed their discography. Theirs is certainly a very consistent set of work and pretty much everything they did is really great. However, I found myself mildly underwhelmed by them in that there wasn't a single album that truly stood out or clicked with me to the level of an all-time favorite. Red Medicine and The Argument come close and could get there over time if I continue to listen to them. Still, I loved the experience of exploring them and am glad to have their work as part of my foundational knowledge since lot of music I love was distinctly influenced by Fugazi. | | 29 |  | Acetone
Acetone
I have still only heard two of this band's albums, but they're both among my absolute favorites I've discovered in recent years, and I intend to savor the rest of their discography (I already own the full discog reissue box set which was released in 2023). I just love a band that carves out a unique sound or style and thoroughly explores the limits of it and that's exactly what Acetone does. Slowcore is the cornerstone of their style but I love the way they fuse it with alt-country, straightforward indie and dream pop, slacker rock, and psych influences. Their music just really resonates with me and I have no doubt they will become an all-time favorite once I have completed their discography. | | 28 | | Public Image Ltd.
Album
HONORABLE MENTION TRACKS
Ten of my favorite/most listened tracks released in 2023 that are not on one of my top ten releases. One per artist. Listed in order of scrobbles. | | 27 |  | Sluice
Radial Gate
"Acts 9:3"
19 scrobbles
The best Bill Callahan song not released by Bill Callahan. Nothing more to say (though dig that guitar solo midway through if you're not convinced yet). | | 26 |  | Tim Hecker
No Highs
"Total Garbage"
20 scrobbles
As seen elsewhere, Tim Hecker was one of my biggest artists of 2023, but I actually didn't quite love his 2023 release as a whole. This track, however, is a standout - the shifting textures with a scratchy violin-like sound at the forefront is just wonderful and haunting. | | 25 |  | Yo La Tengo
This Stupid World
"Aselestine"
21 scrobbles
Nothing new here, just Yo La Tengo doing Yo La Tengo, but as far as their straightforward pretty folky mode goes it doesn't really get any better than this. Georgia Hubley is a godsend. | | 24 |  | Slowdive
Everything is Alive
"Skin in the Game"
23 scrobbles
When looking at my most listened songs of the year, I was a bit surprised to see this as my most listened track from Everything Is Alive - an album I really enjoyed but found underwhelming at times. The consensus standout tracks seem to be the album's bookends (and I do enjoy those, particularly "shanty" which is probably the most unique song on the album), as well as the lovely simple pop of "kisses," but I do think "skin in the game" is my personal favorite. I love the woozy, somewhat off-kilter feeling generated by the guitars in the verses, Neil Halstead's lead vocal is great as are Rachel Goswell's contributions, and the way the gorgeous melodic guitar bursts out in the song's climax/outro is very satisfying. | | 23 |  | Anohni and the Johnsons
My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross
"Scapegoat"
23 scrobbles
My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross was my first experience with ANOHNI, and I really loved that album as a whole; it just missed my top ten of the year. This song, though, is the most special. I like the minimal, slowcore-influenced portions of the album the most and this is the best of those, putting full emphasis on ANOHNI's haunting vocals and disturbing lyrics, all building up to a powerful climax. | | 22 |  | Sparklehorse
Bird Machine
"Kind Ghosts"
25 scrobbles
Bird Machine was such a wonderful release, and I'm so happy that we have it. "Kind Ghosts" is definitely my highlight, it's just a perfect Sparklehorse song in every way and I like to think that Mark Linkous would be happy for his fans to have it. | | 21 |  | Florry
The Holey Bible
"Cowgirl in a Ditch"
25 scrobbles
My scrobbles for this song are somewhat inflated due to its being on both of Florry's 2023 releases, but I do really love the song. It just has such an irresistibly fun, goofy swagger to it and a great classic country rock guitar line. I spent 2+ weeks out of the country over the summer and when I got back I was delighted to sing along to this. Plus, bonus points for the David Berman reference.
"Out on American highways
Is where I wanna walk
Whenever I feel homesick
I lift my thumb to God!" | | 20 |  | Hotline TNT
Cartwheel
"I Thought You'd Change"
27 scrobbles
Another purely fun song, this is the peak of the shoegaze/power pop fusion Hotline TNT go for throughout Cartwheel. I can't remember the last time I listened to a single song on repeat as many times as I have this one. | | 19 |  | The National
Laugh Track
"Turn Off the House"
32 scrobbles
I was tempted to put "Space Invader" on this list instead; realistically, that one is the best song The National released this year, but I decided to honor my listens and admit that "Turn Off the House" is my favorite track between the generally tepid FTPoF and the generally excellent Laugh Track. It's all about the drums with this one. The way they drive the song reminds me of something like "Brainy" from their classic era. I still can’t say this would crack my top 30 National songs but at least they can still fairly reliably pump out tunes like this. | | 18 |  | Grave Saddles
There You Ain't
"Willie Nelson Golfing Dream #3"
46 scrobbles
There is nothing special in the songwriting here, it's just one short verse and one chorus that repeat twice pretty much identically in this sub-3 minute song, but when you have a monster of a hook like this song does, sometimes that's all you need, and it's not worth wasting any more time than necessary to get there. It's all about that feeling of excitement you get at the start of a new relationship and accordingly the song simply basks in that feeling. Slacker countrygaze pop doesn't get any better than this. | | 17 | | Public Image Ltd.
Album
TOP TEN ALBUMS OF 2023
My ten favorite albums released in the year, loosely ranked. | | 16 |  | Oldstar
On the Run
#10
There were a few albums in contention for this spot and my main reason for selecting this one is somewhat arbitrary: I have struck up a mild Internet friendship with this artist via their Instagram DMs. But that aside, I think On the Run is really great. Where oldstar's previous releases were pleasant, above average in the current crop of heavily Duster-influenced artists, this album demonstrates a much stronger country rock influence that puts it more in the sphere of slacker country/bootgaze like MJ Lenderman, and it's all the better for it. The shift to country brings with it more distinct songwriting, and while these songs don't rewrite the book by any means, they benefit from strong melodies, great chord progressions, and poignant lyrics, all tied up in a slick 30-minute package with a great track flow. | | 15 |  | Titanic (MEX)
Vidrio
#9
The only backlog discovery from my listening during the slower December release schedule to break its way into my top ten, this is also the farthest from my typical wheelhouse to make the list. I'm still not quite sure how to classify this but it falls somewhere at the intersection of jazz, modern classical, art pop, and post-rock. I just love the way it all comes together, and every track is a bit different despite working from most of the same instrumental foundations. This was my first experience with Mabe Fratti, and it won't be my last: her vocals and cello playing are fantastic across this release, and I look forward to digging into her back catalogue in 2024. I also really love the "in the room" sound of the recording (think the sound of Talk Talk's last two albums, which is probably not an accident due to the similarity of some of this album to those foundational works). | | 14 |  | Shame (UK)
Food For Worms
#8
Read my review. ;D | | 13 |  | Maria BC
Spike Field
#7
I really enjoyed Maria BC's 2022 debut Hyaline, and I attended a mesmerizing live performance the same year, but Spike Field is where their music really clicked with me. There are a lot of artists making Grouper-esque dreamy/ambient folk right now but I find a lot of that stuff tends to just drift by me without leaving much of an impression. Not so with Spike Field. Most prominent are the vocals and guitar playing, both excellent: the guitar lines are hypnotic and deliberately paced, and Maria BC's classically trained mezzo-soprano singing has a power and force, despite its delicacy, that helps them stand out. I also really love the use of occasional electroacoustic/glitch elements that keep things from being too smooth, and the album has a wonderful flow across its two halves. They even find space for some stabs at more straight-up indie folk ("Still" is the song Phoebe Bridgers wishes she could write). Just a fantastic album and one I hope to cherish for a long time | | 12 |  | Cory Hanson
Western Cum
#6
My top 2023 album by an artist who was new to me, like many albums here this was something of a creeper. It's all about that glorious guitar playing; there are good songs here too, don't get me wrong, but this is an album that sets out to ROCK and barely lets up over the course of its runtime. Best of all is the monumental "Driving Through Heaven" which is a sort of album in microcosm, it's just a wonderful journey that does a good job sounding like its title. However, seeing Hanson live was pretty key for me, he played the album straight through which really solidified my understanding of this album as an almost prog rock suite. I'm glad I picked up the album on vinyl after the show, not just because Hanson drew a hilarious doodle on the cover, but also because I'm confident this is an immersive experience I'll enjoy returning to again and again. | | 11 |  | MJ Lenderman
Live And Loose!
#5
Another album I debated whether I should put on this list since it's basically a live rendition of 2022's incredible Boat Songs with most of the highlights from 2021's Ghost of Your Guitar Solo mixed in. But this is a worthwhile release in its own right, probably the definitive document of this era of Lenderman's career. I've seen Lenderman live twice and this does an excellent job of capturing the experience of his live show. Lots of this is pretty true to the album versions, but pretty much every song is as good as or better than the corresponding studio recording. It certainly has the better version of "Rudolph" (the one new solo song Lenderman released this year), as well as the best version of "Knockin'" which may be my favorite Lenderman recording yet. I'll still listen to Lenderman's studio releases, but I think as a single package this is probably his most consistent yet and feels appropriately "2023" enough to earn a spot here. | | 10 |  | Empty Country
Empty Country II
#4
I have a bit of a complicated relationship with Joseph D'Agostino's music. His songwriting pretty much always takes many listens to click for me, but when it clicks it tends to click big time, and this album was no exception to that. Simply put, he's at his best here - the album is filled with wonderful, emotional, and dense songwriting. It's art rock in the truest sense; D'Agostino goes for all the big feelings that a great rock album should hit but packs tons of craft into it. Occasionally it can sound overly belabored, but this becomes less of an issue as one becomes more familiar with the music here. There are layers upon layers in the production, song structures, and lyrics that I still feel I'm only scratching the surface of. It's hard to recommend this album but I feel it is worth the investment it takes to appreciate it. | | 9 |  | Sufjan Stevens
Javelin
#3
Sufjan Stevens has long since passed the point in his career where anything he makes is inevitably going to be discussed in terms of how it relates to his previous works, and given Stevens’ status as one of the rare truly prolific artists to emerge in the last few decades, as well as one of the most lauded, that’s a hell of a lot of material for a new release to stack up to. Yet Javelin does so effortlessly, and already seems destined to reach a similar status as Stevens’ consensus classics. On first brush, both in terms of its sound and in the context of the multiple tragedies that Stevens experienced in the months leading up to its release, the album seems clearly to be a follow-up to his 2015 indie folk masterwork Carrie and Lowell. And this is true, in a way, but further analysis reveals Javelin to have its own identity, even if pretty much every idea it presents has been explored by Stevens at some point in his career. | | 8 | | Sufjan Stevens
Javelin
While this is, at heart, a folk album, with most songs featuring prominent acoustic lines as their primary grounding, alongside Stevens’ personal (and often heartbreaking) lyrics and vocals, the reality is more complicated. Most of these songs build gradually over the course of their runtimes, adorned by lush arrangements complemented by electronics which end up dominating significant portions of the tracks, as well as gorgeous, reflective ambient passages. Never as bombastic as much of 2010’s indietronica opus The Age of Adz or some of Stevens’ various other electronic works, these developments never undermine the emotional impact of these songs and indeed serve well to underscore the scale of the feelings Stevens expresses here. Crucial as well is the consistent presence of choir vocals which prevent the album from sounding quite as lonely as something like Carrie and Lowell. | | 7 | | Sufjan Stevens
Javelin
All these elements together ensure that Javelin is a balanced listen; never a light one, mind you, but there are plenty moments of uplifting beauty and hints of optimism. It all makes for a simply gorgeous 42 minutes, nary an unnecessary moment to be found (which cannot be said of many of Stevens’ other releases) that deserves to be known as one of Stevens’ crowning achievements. Hell, it might just be his best ever. | | 6 |  | Jason Isbell
Weathervanes
#2
Jason Isbell is one of my favorite artists (my username on RYM and some other sites is a reference to one of his song titles), with Southeastern being one of top ten albums of all time, but I have had somewhat mixed feelings on his most recent couple albums, which, despite having a handful of brilliant moments, often felt relatively stale and complacent. Fortunately, Weathervanes is an absolute return to form, featuring greater musical variety and consistently gripping lyricism. What we got here was a much more band-oriented effort, Isbell allowing The 400 Unit to show off their chops more frequently, particularly in the final two tracks which stretch out to 6 and 7 minutes, respectively. This, combined with the hour-long runtime, makes Weathervanes the closest an Isbell solo album has sounded to Drive-By Truckers. | | 5 | | Jason Isbell
Weathervanes
There's a great balance of rockers and more acoustic oriented songs, and the band really allow themselves to loosen up, incorporating a wider variety of instruments than on the recent 400 Unit albums. It's worth noting that this is the first time Isbell has self-produced an album after working with Dave Cobb for his last four records, making Weathervanes the first time Isbell has had absolute creative control over his work as both songwriter and producer and releasing the album on his own label. This control seems to have provided the extra push Isbell needed to truly revitalize his work. | | 4 | | Jason Isbell
Weathervanes
But most importantly, this is simply an excellent collection of songs, filled to the brim with compelling stories and evocative language that unravel themselves gradually over repeat listens. Isbell casts his pen outward more consistently than on his last couple efforts, portraying a variety of characters and experiences but always keeping them deeply personal through his use of first and second person perspective. Like the Truckers, Isbell paints an intricate and complicated portrait of Southern life and experiences. A couple of mildly underwhelming moments hinder this from quite reaching the level of a classic, but it is nonetheless another masterwork from Isbell. | | 3 |  | Wednesday
Rat Saw God
#1
As if anything else could be my album of the year. I was already in love with Wednesday before Rat Saw God came out, but this album truly cemented them as my favorite band of the 2020s so far. Wednesday exists at pretty much the perfect intersection of my favorite styles of music - raw slacker indie rock combined with noisy shoegaze and the personal, place-oriented songwriting of country - and manage to bring together the best parts of all of them. I adore Karly Hartzman's gutsy, passionate singing which perfectly matches the raw grittiness of her storytelling and imagery. Like Isbell and Drive-By Truckers (who are wonderfully name-dropped in "Bath County") before her, Hartzman creates a complicated mural of Southern life and youth, though with a more earnest attitude and an intensely personal approach. | | 2 | | Wednesday
Rat Saw God
Her lyrics are more impressionistic; much like the monthly videos the band posts, what you get in many of these songs are snippets, gathered together into something resembling a narrative, if not always a particularly clean one. This ability to do so much with so little is what makes Hartzman's songwriting truly special.
But crucially, as the album cover demonstrates, Wednesday is a *band*, and the other members' contributions are no less essential. Xandy Chelmis' noisy lap steel playing, for example, not only grounds the band in country instrumentation even in places where the sound doesn't particularly draw from that genre's typical idioms, but also brings a great innovation to the shoegaze aspect of the music. MJ Lenderman's lead guitar always sounds great, as are his backing vocal contributions here, and Alan Miller and Margo Schultz's rhythm section always provides a strong foundation, pounding and gentle as necessary. | | 1 | | Wednesday
Rat Saw God
They all come together as a powerful unit, moments like the rapidly speeding-up introduction of "Got Shocked" showing just how well they can listen to and play off of each other to create the range of backings needed for Hartzman's emotions. Wednesday had already done great things with Twin Plagues and their covers album, but Rat Saw God marked the moment where the final piece clicked, and they made a classic. | |
theBoneyKing
01.07.24 | Thanks for reading!
The real homies saw it on RYM first. ;-P | Sunnyvale
01.07.24 | Awesome list Boney!
Three of your top ten albums (Wednesday, Jason Isbell, and Maria BC) are in my top twenty-five for the year, and some great song picks as well. | DoofDoof
01.07.24 | The finished list! Will give this a proper read later on, good work | Ryus
01.07.24 | i also checked and enjoyed 33 recently
i liked it even though the opener is literally just cortez the killer | theBoneyKing
01.07.24 | Thanks folks!
Yeah Ry that was my initial reaction to that song too but I’ve grown to love it in its own right | Ryus
01.07.24 | haha yeah i still like it a lot but it was just kind of jarring on first listen. i was like wtf ive heard this before
need to check that atkinson/cantu-ledesma. 13 looks nice as well | AsleepInTheBack
01.07.24 | I am not a real one but this is an nice list pos | theBoneyKing
01.08.24 | It’s ok Asleep you are still a certified homie | DoofDoof
01.08.24 | Great blurbs for the Isbell and Wednesday albums
Also: I still haven't got to 15 but will soon, just need to remember at the right time :) | theBoneyKing
01.08.24 | Thanks! I went “all out” on those two since I wrote the list on rym where there’s no character limit.
Curious what you’ll think of Titanic, it’s definitely one the crept up on me. | Icebloom
01.09.24 | Cool list. Agreed a lot on that Turn off the House writeup - also one of my favourites, and I see the comparison with Brainy. Skin in the Game is probably my least favourite of the new Slowdive album, don't like Neil's vocals on that one. 14 (or #8) sounds interesting, gonna add to my list | nickisnotarapper
01.09.24 | Really enjoyed reading your takes on Wednesday / MJ Lenderman and Jason Isbell.
You inspired me to check out MJ's live album which I'm loving, thank you! | theBoneyKing
01.10.24 | Fair take on Skin in the Game, Ice. Idk, the song just works for me. Hope you enjoy the Shame album if you do check it out, they're a popular band but an oddly underrated one imo. I expect you'd enjoy the Maria BC quite a bit as well, if you haven't heard that.
Thanks nick! A lot of ink has already been spent by many people on those albums (especially Wednesday), so I'm glad I had a could add something to the conversation. :D | DoofDoof
01.10.24 | The Titanic has won me over, would have made my top 30 I think | theBoneyKing
01.11.24 | We love to see it | BlazinBlitzer
01.16.24 | The appreciation for Jason Isbell is well deserved and Weathervanes is for sure his best since Southeastern. | theBoneyKing
01.17.24 | Thanks Blaze! Incredible album indeed. |
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