2023 Top Albums
Here we go again! |
| 25 |  | Dark Sines
The Space Time Paradox
Ambient/Drone: encapsulates taking a nice quiet hike on a cold rainy autumn day. There’s a warmth beneath these layers, and some flutter synths to provide a gentle sparkle. |
| 24 |  | Boygenius
the record
Indie/Folk Rock: There is a captain planet esque energy flows powerful through this trios harmonies and songwriting. I feel like boygenius found out my personal insecurities and wrote “not strong enough” about me. |
| 23 |  | Hotel Neon
Hotel Neon 10: Reworks
Ambient/Drone: This philly trio re-record their grey, lo-fi, and hazy album. The updated version adds more color (as in, a more varied grey) for a more immersive sound. |
| 22 |  | Story of the Year
Tear Me to Pieces
Post-Hardcore/Pop-Punk/Alternative: SOTY jump on the nostalgia train, taking the blueprint from Page Avenue and pairing it with their current sound. Guitarist Ryan Phillips continues be the band’s secret weapon with providing fun bouncy riffs and ethereal dreamy layering. |
| 21 |  | perspectiv
Year One
Prog/Metal/Chiptunes: Perspectiv continues to keep things fresh with excellent songwriting and his production chops: marrying the fun riffage, the fun piccolo snare-led drums, and video game infused/chip-tunes synths. Genuinely feels like I’m playing a new throwback sonic game that has never been released. |
| 20 |  | Rebecca Black
Let Her Burn
Electro-Pop/Hyperpop: I’ll admit maybe I’m just a sucker for a good redemption arc: we’ve come a long way (12 years) from that “song”. Let Her Burn is a surprisingly dynamic album production wise ranging from the metal-pop-breakbeat inspired “destroy me”, the sort of dub-step-y “crumbs”, and the 80’s inspired “sick to my stomach”: Black rides along these tracks vocally with ease. |
| 19 |  | Jaimie Branch
Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war))
Jazz/Avant-Garde: Mr. Jeremy Klein (famed former TMT writer and current real estate blogger) got me into this record a few days ago, and it comes crashing into this list last minute. I’m still taking in this album but it really takes you on a journey, blistering big jazz energy with some sort of punk folk leanings. Thanks for the great send off Jaimie, RIP. |
| 18 |  | Grandbrothers
Late Reflections
Post-Classical/Electronic: The piano bending duo make an album in a cathedral, the beats are stripped back for more piano layering, string and synth pads. Arguably making their most emotionally arresting album to date. The powerful closer “Boy In the storm” makes me realize I can remain something bright and bold in a dark world, even if I continue to feel small. |
| 17 |  | Alan Palomo
World of Hassle
Electronic/Synth Pop: Do you like sax solos, cheesy multilingual vocals drenched in reverb, phat synths, hip-shaking midi beats? Give this a shot! But, do stay for the second half where Palomino slows things down for fun, sunset at the beach-ballad vibes. You know, the part of the album where you take your main squeeze for another pina colada at the beach bar and see where the evening takes you. |
| 16 |  | Thrice
The Artist in the Ambulance (Revisited)
Post-Hardcore/Rock: Frustrated with the overblown mixing of the original 2003 mix: Thrice rerecord their album 20 years later, giving it a more raw sound, and quite frankly, more balls. It’s a shame that many of these politically charged lyrics remain so relevant. |
| 15 |  | From Overseas & zakè
Demain, dès l’aube
Ambient/Drone: Zake keeps dropping a multitude of amazing drone albums every year. The one he made with from overseas is the one that stuck with me., the album artwork representing the bed of pillow clouds you will float on when you listen to this. Was my go to album for medical chart review during work. |
| 14 |  | Jessie Ware
That! Feels Good!
Pop/Disco/Dance: Jessie Takes a victory lap following WYP with TFG. Jessie leans harder into the disco, dancing, and sexy with this one. Absolutely addicted bass thumping of freak me now to Jessie’s scandalous lyrics on shake the bottle. Jessie you silver tongue devil you. |
| 13 |  | Holding Absence
The Noble Art of Self-Destruction
Post-Hardcore/Alternative: Holding Absence build on the sound of their last album into a more tighter listening experience with the noble art of self-destruction. For an album that leans so emo it has an undeniable sense of optimism to it: embracing your imperfections is the theme of much of the album. And honeymoon is basically what if Mylo Xyolo era cold play wrote a poppy post-hardcore love ballad. |
| 12 |  | Spiritbox
The Fear of Fear
Metalcore/Progressive/Alternative: Spiritbox surprisingly go back to their heavier roots on this latest EP, but bring in the smarter/leaner song-writing of eternal blue/rotoscope. Mike and Courtney’s guitar and vocal performances respectively, continue to be absolutely top-notch for the genre. |
| 11 |  | Hammock
Love in the Void
Post-Rock/Ambient/Shoegaze: Hammock go back to their roots with their more traditional ambient post-rock band setup with clear cut guitar layering and spacious drums/vocals. Stand-outs for me include “undoing”, and the heart wrenching “denial of endings”. The latter song made me cry, not going to lie. |
| 10 |  | The Japanese House
In the End It Always Does
Folk/Dream Pop/Yacht Rock?: Randomly, a number of heavier artists recommended this album in their IG stories (all complete separately and unaffiliated). I always found people who enjoy heavy music enjoying softer type music to be appealing. In the end it always does holds a surprisingly restrain feel the duration of the record: but it feels choked with a ton of emotion-between Bain’s vocal performances, and the varied instrumentation. Bain instrumentally pulls between pop, folk, electronica, ambient, a little vague trap? “Sad to breathe” is basically how I feel when I have to sleep in bed and my wife Is working a night shift |
| 9 |  | Underoath
VOYEURIST | Digital Ghost
Metalcore/Post-Hardcore/Experimental: Underoath’s live album performance of Voyeurist completely blows the original studio release out of the water. The songs are given a Devin-Townsend stadium sounding feel, but where as Devin’s song feel deliberately constructed, U/O leaves room for letting all the noise to saturate the experience. Spencer’s vocals sound so good here, and when he goes for the br00tals, ugh. |
| 8 |  | Aesop Rock
Integrated Tech Solutions
Hip-Hop/Experimental: There’s a quote from Andre 3k stating that he hasn’t nothing to rap about because of his age. Putting aside how he feels creatively: If he’s reading this-I’d like to point you to Ace’s latest album ITS. Rap’s wordiest lyricist of all time (at least according to the internet) is nearing 50 and continues to make smart, abstract yet thought provoking, mature, and occasionally snarky raps. Genuinely some amazing story-telling allover this album: the passing of time and technology with “mindful solutionism”, recalling the time he met Mr.T in “100 feet tall”, and the hilarious yet heartbreaking break in tale of “Aggressive Steven.” If you want a smart hip-hop album that is going to tickle your cerebral, I’d be surprised if you found a record better than ITS. |
| 7 |  | Pachyman
Switched-On
Reggae/Soul/Dub: Discovered this per the recommendation of a stranger turned acquaintance at my local brewery. WOW talk about the surprise of the year for me. An absolutely fun-vibey-record to match driving around the dusty farm town of Visalia, California. This is a record that really thrives from its track flow-that keeps you locked into its aesthetic from it’s reggae leaning “lovers” to the ocean’s movie series inspired closer “you looked at me”. |
| 6 |  | Aviations
Luminaria
Progressive/Metal/Piano Rock: Imagine you took the contortionist and incorporate a classical trained pianist into the fold: you have Aviations. Adventurous Progressive Metal with a strong flourish of classically entwined piano playing. Hot take but Coma is basically the prog “bohemian rhapsody” of 2023, the journey and genre hopping the song takes you on it’s 10-minute ride is absolutely breath-taking, with great lyrics that match the frustration many artists feel with getting stuck seeking perfection. |
| 5 |  | Kelsea Ballerini
Rolling Up the Welcome Mat
Country/Pop: Kelsea’s clap-back divorce EP is a strong set of tunes. Ballerini & producer Alysa Vanderheym really strike gold with the production: giving the album an airy , cozy, and vulnerable back-drop. Kelsea really lets it all out, Blindsided is subtly one of the most savage songs I’ve heard all year. The EP for me is a cautionary tale on the importance of the work needed in marriages, but also a reminder to not stick through something that is clearly unhealthy for both (or even one) party. (The updated EP includes some track extensions and the awesome new ending track. |
| 4 |  | Armand Hammer
We Buy Diabetic Test Strips
Hip-hop/Abstract/Experimental: Mr. 3k I’d like to refer you to album 2 in regards to aging and continuing to rap. Armand Hammer continue their brand of rapping about living in poor neighborhoods, challenges related to social class, race, economic struggles, and even co-parenting kids amongst that environment. The hazy and abstract production that runs throughout feels deliberately jarring as if you’re flowing in and out of conscious. Further complicated with intricate word-play by Woods, Euclid, and the guest features. I have yet to fully process all these songs lyrically (Idk if I ever will) but man, what a raw yet beautiful album. |
| 3 |  | Will Wiesenfeld, Baths & Geotic
Bee and Puppycat Soundtrack
Electro-pop/chillwave/soundtrack: Bee and Puppycat is an animated cartoon series my wife and I obsessed over last year on Netflix. It’s trippy and surreal visuals and storytelling was absolutely engulfing. Truthfully: it was amazing cozy/snuggle TV watching. Considering the nature of the show, the soundtrack plays a crucial role with accenting the aesthetics the show was aiming for. The cutesy, cozy, and occasionally quirky electro-pop soundtrack was released this year and became my wife and I go to soundtrack for a lot of our travelling this year. The soundtrack works really well on its own, but would recommend you to see the show. |
| 2 |  | Ryuichi Sakamoto
12
Ambient/Experimental/Post-Classical: The closing chapter to Sakamoto’s music career ends with 12-a loose ambient/post-classical album built around Sakamoto improvising on the piano/synths with light ambient flourishes. Context is key because the album dropped three months before he passed away from cancer. The pieces here don’t even have titles, just the dates they were written, similar to diary posts. On 12, the curtain has gone down and it is he and he alone at the keys, probably playing with some awareness knowing he was making some of the last pieces of his career. On 20211201 he lets his labored breathing become part of the sound while he plays the piano. Bowie’s Blackstar and even Jaimie Branch’s albums feel like grandiose send offs full of color and explosiveness. Sakamoto on 12, in his signature style, takes a quiet bow and fades into the after as you hear the final twinkling chimes. RIP Maestro |
| 1 |  | Sleep Token
Take Me Back to Eden
Metal/Prog/Pop: Why don’t we end this list controversially? Yes, I un-ironically love the hell out of this album. ST perfect their Prog Metal meets pop hybrid on TMBTE. The the marriage of the vocals, flourishing piano/strings/synths, the mean lean guitar/bass riffage, and the absolutely insane and powerful drumming all further complimented by the masterful production make for an absolutely powerful listen. Amongst the criticism there is a lot of complaining about how “over-produced” the album is. While I wouldn’t deny the studio polish, I feel it matches extremely well allowing for the performances to feel dreamy, other-worldly, and strikingly emotional. Yea sure, all the songs basically deal with love, relationships, or some level of introspection. I would argue, if you feel like those things don’t feel like internal world earth-shattering events, what kind of life are you living? The title track remains my favorite song and is entralling. |
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