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christopblog · 8 months

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Album of the Year 2023

I did it last year so I guess I'm running it back

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Lankum - False /Lankum Totally not my usual vibe, found this one through RYM front page. Was met with a genuinely great, unique take on Irish folk/maritime music with a heavy helping of drone in the mix. It's a pretty perfect combination, creating a sort of hypnotic gothic pirate vibe that I enjoy quite a bit. Favorite tracks: Go Dig My Grave, The New York Trader (boat song, for the boat song fuckers), Lord Abore and Mary Flynn.

Carly Rae Jepsen - The Lovliest Time I wasn't surprised when this dropped, Carly's been doing this pattern for her last few albums, where she releases a sort of B-side version about a year after the last. Real chris-heads might remember that I had The Lonliest Time, her last studio album, in my honorable mention section last year, so this seems at least consistent. However, I can firmly say that I like this album quite a bit more than The Lonliest Time, I think it's a pretty significant improvement in songwriting and production. Just track for track a better experience, and one of my favorite Carly projects in years. Favorite tracks: Kamikaze, Kollage, Shadow, Psychedelic Switch, Come Over

McKinley Dixon - Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? Unlike the other two, I'm confident in saying this is the number 11 spot, barely edged out by some of the material I liked a little bit more. There's a chance my taste shifts slightly in the next year and this goes way up on the list. I haven't heard much of anything from east coast Jazz Rap artist McKinley Dixon til this project blew up in RYM/nerd music circles, so I gave it a listen. A really tight little album with some excellent production and bars, a couple of genuinely beautiful songs. I'm a fan now, and I'll absolutely be checking out his future projects. Favorite tracks: Sun, I Rise , Run, Run, Run , Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? Sun, I Rise is one of my top singles of the year, for the record.

TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2023:

10. I'm Cheating: Vylet Pony - Carousel and I Was The Loner of Paradise Valley

Vylet Pony continues her streak of appearing in my top 10 album lists by consistently releasing genuinely great new music. Originally, I was going to have her new big studio album, Carousel, in my honorable mentions, but then she dropped a mixtape called I Was The Loner of Paradise Valley about 2 weeks before the end of December. Was I really gonna try to put two different Vylet Pony projects on this list? Especially when, if I'm being honest, I liked the mixtape a bit more than the main album? So, here I am cheating by kind of throwing them together and just labeling this slot "Vylet Pony's contribution to music this year". I'll give both projects some individual attention. Carousel is a cinematic concept album that gives off dark carnival vibes, and deals mostly about facing the darkness inside of you, or the concept of your "Shadow". I think, conceptually, it's much weaker than her last narrative based concept album, Fish Whisperer . It ends up feeling a little overlong, overly dramatic (this is pun because there is a song called flair for the dramatic haha), and a little overwrought at times. However, I think when it hits, it HITS, and she's got a few tracks on here that I'd rank among her best of all time. Still a great project overall that I find myself liking more as time goes on despite my initial misgivings. Favorite tracks: Pony Rock! , Constellation Cradle, Brohoof, Crush Kill Destroy Swag, The Carrion Child, Flair for the Dramatic, Creekflow I Was The Loner of Paradise Valley in turn is a much more quiet and introspective affair, but the songwriting and production is incredibly consistent all the way through. Less individual highlights, but it works much better as an album experience. This one is new and still settling in my brain, so I have less to say about it, but I was quite impressed by it initially at least. Favorite tracks: ECR, Cross, Paintbucket, Brother, Are You Proud of Me?

9. Jessie Ware - That! Feels Good!

After blowing all of our collective minds with her pop disco masterpiece What's Your Pleasure in 2020, Jessie took her time cooking up a follow up, finally releasing the highly anticipated album this past April. I have a bit of a complex relationship with this album, I definitely don't find it as magnetic and sticky as What's Your Pleasure, I still have a hard time remembering singles off of this one if I think back to it, but every single time I sit down and listen to it I have a blast. It's still an excellent collection of extremely catchy, brilliantly produced, sexy disco pop tracks, even if I'd rate it slightly under her last album overall. Regardless, this is some seriously impressive consistency from Jessie, and I wish more people explored this kind of sound because it fucking rules. Great stuff. Favorite Tracks: Free Yourself, Hello Love, These Lips

8. Lil Yachty - Let's Start Here.Easy winner of my most improved artist award, and also winner of my absolutely out of left field award too. If you'd told me a trap artist who, despite a few breakout singles, hadn't really put out anything that great (sorry yachty fans) would pivot into a hybrid psychedelic rock/rap album with heavy soul and stoner rock influences I would have accused you of shitposting. This shouldn't work but it absolutely does, pretty much the whole way through. Yachty's style of autotuned rap and vocals just sit really well in the mix against the slower paced instrumental, letting these big walls of sound build up into some really cool climaxes. Also has a great use of features, some of the guest vocalists on this are killer. I think Yachty has always had a pretty unique singing voice, and this is the best he's ever sounded by far. Excited to see if he'll stick with this style or move on, either way, I'm just glad something this experimental and weird exists. Favorite Tracks: the BLACK seminole, THE zone~, IVE OFFICIALLY LOST VISION, REACH THE SUNSHINE also shoutouts to Poland, it wasn't on this album but it's just as good as anything else on here.

7. Caroline Palochek - Desire, I Want to Turn Into You

She's back, babyy! This was a highly anticipated album for 2023, I really loved her solo debut album Pang when I first heard it back in 2019. She's got an incredible voice, insane vocal control and mastery, and is able to create this luscious sound, with all kinds of little mini vocal runs and intunation tricks. Next level stuff, and she's doing it on Art Pop/Hyperpop tracks that sound like they should be playing on the radio (not derogatory in any way, just impressive). The production is almost the real star of this album, I think it's even better than Pang in that regard, just an excellently mixed and writing project front to back. We get a great range from EDM Dance Pop to a little Flamenco flair in Sunset, to a more choral piece like Hopedrunk Everasking. Insane range, and her voice is the star in every track, she just can't help but kill the performance. I gotta go see her live sometime to see if she can do this in person consistently, it's nuts. I might like this one more than Pang tbh, hard to say. Favorite Tracks: Sunset, I Believe, Blood and Butter, Hopedrunk Everlasting, Billions

6. Paramore - This is Why

Okay I have to admit something here, this is the first Paramore album I've listened to all the way through. I was a little too young back in the day and just rocked a couple of their more popular singles, but after this one it makes me wanna go back and check out the full backlog. What a great comeback album! I know a lot of people really liked their other comeback album, After Laughter, which I tried to listen to this year and just completely bounced off of for some reason. I think maybe because it leans too much into pop and less into the alt-rock/ pop punk that you'd normally expect from Paramore. Thankfully, This is Why is very much that classic sound, but updated for modern times. Hayley Williams still sounds as good as she did back in the day, and we've been blessed with an excellent collection of new songs that are just an absolute blast to listen to. These songs are fun, punchy, and have some real heart behind them as well. There's so much range on this project, from the stellar opening title track This is Why, to the playful and tongue in cheek Running Out of Time, which all are reminiscent of the original Paramore sound. The back half features some stellar rock ballads, like Liar and Crave, capping out with a great buildup on Thick Skull. You can tell Paramore's grown up a little bit, and they're making music for their audience of now 20-40 year olds, and they're even better for it. This one grew on me big time throughout the year, I could see it doing even more. Favorite tracks: This is Why, The News, Running Out of Time, You First, Liar (this is my favorite), Crave

5. PinkPantheress - Heaven Knows

Yes, this is the "Boys a Liar Pt. 2" girl if you have tiktok or listen to the radio ever, that song is everywhere for a reason. I've been a huge fan of PinkPantheress since I heard a single from her debut mixtape To Hell With It , then listened to the rest of the album and found it equally amazing. I think this girl's a huge up and coming talent, especially for how young she is, and I've been consistently impressed at her ability to make these short, absurdly catchy, memorable little drum and bass tracks with her lovely angelic voice on top. I think while To Hell With It edges out this new album when it comes to production and instrumentation, her lyrics are way more impactful and poignant here on Heaven Knows , there's some serious weight to a few of these tracks. Mosquito is kind of a masterpiece in this regard, how it's able to marry the lyrics of a girl being too attached to someone, draining them like a mosquito, with these little whistles in the mix that sound almost like an insect buzzing around. It just matches the feel of the words perfectly. Then you have Ophelia, an incredibly haunting song about getting murdered via forced drowning, but you wouldn't guess if you weren't paying attention, it sounds more like a melancholic break-up song. And then the last proper track on the album, Capable of Love is maybe the best song she's made so far. I'm glad this one turned out so well, and she's quickly cementing herself as one of my favorite new artists this decades. Deserves all the popularity she gets, Boys a Liar is a stellar single too. Favorite tracks: Another Life, Mosquito, The Aisle, Ophelia, Capable of Love, Boy's a Liar Pt. 2

4. Parannoul - After the Magic

I've got a bit of a complicated relationship with Parannoul since they debuted and became a RYM darling a couple of years ago, mainly with their breakout hit To See the Next Part of the Dream , an album I definitely enjoyed but didn't necessarily love. It was clearly very well put together, lowfi shoegaze/noise rock album with a lot of heart and soul put into it, but it never quite clicked with me. After the Magic brings about a much more clean, less low-fi feel to it, really highlighting how incredibly well composed these songs are, and I think that was the missing piece for me. I was pretty blown away on first listen by this one, just a great collection of tracks with deep, layered sound throughout. It's a frequently beautiful, awe-inspiring experience that I highly reccomend. I need to get around to listening to the live version, which is currently rated as the RYM 7th greatest live performance of all time. Excited to keep listening to more from this dude! Favorite tracks: Polaris, Insomnia, We Shine at Night, After the Magic

3.JPEGMAFIA x Danny Brown - Scaring the Hoes

If Peggy drops you know it's on the list, and he's continuing his insane streak of AOTY contender releases this year with a collab album with eccletic rapper Danny Brown. I've always liked Danny when I've heard him on features, but admittedly haven't gone back and listened to his most iconic albums. I think his wacky voice and great flow really works as a contrast to Peggy's more aggressive vocals, but while I enjoyed most of his verses I always tended to come away from each track thinking Peggy outshone him. Maybe just a personal taste thing, hard to say. Regardless, this thing is fucking loaded with bangers front to back, featuring some of Peggy's best production to date. There really just isn't anyone who approaches the kind of sound he goes for in his music, he's dominating his own lane in the best way possible. StH brings wit, speed, precision, and intensity front to back. And apparently Peggy meant to drop a solo album at the end of 23 too? Ridiculous creative output, mans can't be stopped. Extremely pumped for whatever he's dropping this year too, I'm sure you'll be reading about it here next year. Favorite tracks: Steppa Pig, Garbage Pale Kids, Burfict!, Kingdom Hearts Key, God Loves You

2. Mitski - The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We

You hear that? It's the sound of me praising God above because the GOAT is back in form. Look, I was a little worried when Mitski dropped Laurel Hell last year. Real fans might have noticed that album was totally absent from my year-end list for 22, not even an HM nod. And that's because it was... as much as I loathe to say it, as much as I wish it weren't the case... it was... tragically... mid. A few really strong singles that I still love and the rest just kind of blurs together, nowhere near the same bite and impact her lyrics and songwriting usually brings. And that was after a 4 year hiatus, so I thought it'd be ages if I even got another one. Not the case! Mitski's back and she's got a completely new sound, ditching entirely the more electropop/synthpop leanings of Laurel Hell and embracing an indie folk sound leaning hard on Americana, and dare I say it... country? Listen to the first chords of Heaven and tell me that's not got all the trappings of a proper country ballad. Speaking of, holy shit, what a song! Has to be her best in years, maybe even since Nobody. Just absolutely stunningly gorgeous. I think what I was really missing from a lot of Laurel was lyricism, and Inhospitable is chock full of poignant, extremely memorable lines front to back. "Sometimes a drink feels like faaaaamilyyyyyy" "a whoooole cake, all for me" "you believe me like a god, I betray you like a man". That's what I expect out of Mitski, and I am so incredibly happy to say that Laurel was an outlier (a half decent one, too) and that she's still in her prime as one of the greatest songwriters of her generation. It's a little too bad about this next one, or I think this would have sealed the deal for AOTY. Favorite tracks: Bug Like an Angel, Heaven, I Don't Like My Mind, The Deal, My Love Mine All Mine, Star, I'm Your Man, I Love Me After You

Ichiko Aoba - Ichiko Aoba With 12 Ensemble (Live at Milton Court)

I'm not gonna do some bullshit cheating thing where I list this in a separate category because it's a live album, I think that'd be disrespectful to what this album accomplishes. I'll state the obvious up front, yes, this was the year in which I traveled thousands of miles collectively to go see her live twice, and that was after seeing her live for the first time in October of 22. This was a bucket list item for me that I hadn't expected to cross off anytime soon, because it's my opinion that Ichiko is best experienced live, and I'd already made that opinion before getting to have that experience myself just based on her live albums. 0% is probably still my favorite album of all time, Pneuma is up there, and Gift at Sogetsu Hall won an AOTY from me when it came out too. Perhaps I'm too biased not to automatically put a new live Ichiko album at the top of this list now that I've been lucky and blessed enough to experience her in person multiple times, and that's okay. It's an ethereal, otherworldly, perfect experience that I will never forget. HOWEVER. This is not just another live Ichiko album, and I will attempt to rationalize why it deserves the top spot, and this level of distinction. Ichiko typically performs solo with her guitar, with a few notable exceptions (like Pneuma). Her last studio album, Windswept Adan featured, for the first time, a full instrumentation for many of the songs, allowing us to hear what Ichiko sounds like with a backing track. And while I don't necessarily love Adan more than her solo projects, I think the sound curated on that album is wholly unique in her discography, and it makes for some of her dreamiest, beautiful work to date. Milton Court is essentially a live album version of Adan, and it's actually not the first, as she released a solo live album covering the Adan songs in 2021 that is incredible, and I honestly enjoy a bit more than the studio recordings. And despite having heard these songs many, many times, in many different versions, including live in person, I can confidently say that Milton Court is the best they have ever sounded, with the backing of 12 Ensemble out of London. Never at any point do the instrumentalists overshadow Ichiko, her guitar, or her vocals, instead they are able to accompany her as she gives what has to be a top 3 lifetime performance across these thirteen tracks. In particular, this rendition of Dawn in the Adan and Asleep Among Endives are pure perfection, otherworldly bliss. The craziest thing is that compared to the rest of her body of work, the songs on Adan aren't even necessarily my favorites, even if I do love them. That in mind, I can confidently say that Milton Court is my second favorite work from Ichiko, behind 0%. These renditions and performances are just that good. Easiest AOTY of my life. Favorite track: literally all of the, particularly Sagu Palm's Song, Dawn in the Adan, and Asleep Among the Endives.

#albumoftheyear #2023album

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