#so now it doubles as the first piece of 2023 lmao

[duskianfae]

oh, but we're lonely - so, so lonely.

[vawsculturecorner]

My Musical 2023: Musings by a girl who can't stop getting high and tweeting

PART 2: Seriously are you fucking stupid this year was great for music.

Relentless Replays:

These albums could have made the all-star list because I played them enough for it. Consider these projects as taking the silver medal on the podium; albums absolutely worth listening to and if I could chuck everything into the all-star list, I would. Alas, artificial limitations.

Antarctica - Bayang (tha Bushranger) Not content to leave 2023 without spoiling his fans, Bayang makes his catchiest, most optimistic project yet. "GANGA" is my favourite song he's released period and it sits aside a bevy of songs where you can hear how much fun went into it. Give it a bit of time to process (it was a December release after all) and this could easily be my favourite Bayang project and definitely the one that will get the most playtime because of how accessible it is.

I Was Mature For My Age But I Was Still A Child - Grouptherapy Do you also miss BH because they were formative to your growth as a person and all the allegations coming out against them have you down? If so boy howdy do I have the album for you! IWMFMA reels you in by reminding you of the Saturation era (in particular the first instalment) but doubles down on the fundamentals, swapping DIY coarseness for polished technical prowess. Bombastic, chock full of personality and incredibly versatile, there is a track for every person and every occasion here.

Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? - McKinley Dixon Mckinley Dixon made For My Mama and Everyone Who Looks Like Her, so I should not have been caught as off-guard as I was when this project was released. And yet, the first time I heard this album I was already convinced it was practically flawless. In its brevity, BPJ doesn’t skip a single beat nor miss a lick of detailing and polish, as each song feels vibrant and full of the essence of living.

April Mixtape 3 - Snow Strippers I have never been an EDM girly, but this album makes me want to go to raves, drop a tab and just space out for hours. Endlessly replayable with beautiful vocals soaked in distinct internet electronics, this album will make even the most intense introverts want to take caps and stare at glow sticks for a night. The Aux - Blockhead A cavalcade of creatively assembled instrumentals featuring a highlight reel of the underground hip-hop elite. Blockhead casually reminds you why he is one of the best producers working right now. 

Shapeless - Daine I read a lot of think pieces about the death knell of hyperpop in 2023 but with releases like Shapeless, I think people are opting to be wilfully deaf. Daine puts their whole chest into every hook on this album with beats that flutter with technological clangs and heaves. Exhilarating hyperpop euphoria Quaranta - Danny Brown Danny Brown returns with an album that has supposedly been finished for a few years - telling, considering that the emotional poignance of the album feels very specific to a point in time. Fantastic and highly consistent, it is a much more mellow album for Danny but no less quality than what we have come to expect. Guts - Olivia Rodrigo You motherfuckers tried to write this girl off as making teeny-bop music and I won't forgive you for it. Olivia Rodrigo is one of the most promising pure-pop artists of this generation. She says it on the opener - she knows her age, acts like it, and makes music that perfectly encapsulates it to boot. Sundial - Noname Lmao im sorry fuck Fantano, Noname is one the most important artists of the current day and Sundial is a testament to both her intellect and spirit, with words that prick the conscious like spears. I genuinely do not have the words to describe the beauty of a track like gospel?, nor her second verse on "balloons" which tactfully breaks down the voyeurism of black art. You almost have a responsibility to sit with this album properly.

Bite-sized Brilliance

2023 was the year of the EP and I'm so glad because they are great introductory pieces to artists or just compact packages of enjoyment.

Violet, Zion Garcia, Darling - LITERALLY EVERY FULL CIRCLE RELEASE For my coldest take so far, 2023 was the year of Full Circle. With growing attention on Western Sydney, this clique absolutely spearheaded it. Every single release from every single artist was fantastic and at least one song off each made my year favs. (there is another project that Im gonna mention in my all-star list hehe). If you want grungey RNB with vocals that smother in sensuality, listen to Dylan Atlantis. If you want creative Jazzy hip-hop from one of the brightest upcoming rappers in Aus, Zion Garcia. If you want a digital genre collage dedicated to the sounds of the city, FRIDAY* is your man. Anticipating everything this group does for the foreseeable future. GUILD I - SEVY x GRASPS x BAYANG x UNCLE KAL They really got Kal rapping again - with tracks that are this undeniably infectious, I can see how! Feel-good fun for late-night activities Another Triumph of Ghetto Engineering - Open Mike Eagle and Lilac Diesel - R.A.P FERREIRA A couple of short but sweet releases by two underground hip-hop legends that should keep fans satiated until their next major releases. Reflections on the Water, ONE7OVE, Michelangelo - Gian Santorno One of the most promising discoveries I made this year, Gian raps on the perfect instrumentals to suit their vinyl-crackle rapping and the unashamed self-dissection of themself is enthralling.

The Singles!

There were a lot of good single tracks this year! Here they are below! Yes, it's a tidal playlist - if you actually want to download it I might port it to Spotify but we really gotta stop using Spotify gang it's a 2024 out.

VAWS 2023 TOP PICKS The bolded ones are my all-stars for 2023 Again - Snow Stripers Babylon by Bus - hot take, its the best song on the standard version of Maps Be Like U - Sidney Phillip Among many of Sidney’s strengths is her ability to be so fucking endearing jesus fucking christ this song is so cute Black Knight Croatia - Too Birdz Blocked call - ARMAND HAMMER MY HEART PUMP KETAMINE Blood on my grails - Goyard Ibn Said

Bring Wet Cunt - Zheani bugging! - brakence Burn City Linkup (Hell) Butterflies- Skrillex, Four Tet, Fred Again CARDIO - 1300, SOLLYY Celibate - Danny Brown featuring MIKE The Cellar Dwellas Knew - Blockhead featuring Quelle Chris Dang - Caroline Polachek Mother made a beautiful tropical album and said hey you want some of that PC music shit too? DELRESTO (Echoes) - Travis Scott x Beyonce Dexamphetamine - BAYANG x NERDIE Double Trio - By Storm Dying in the City  - FRIDAY*  Technologic disassociation and the city’s chaotic casing as you miss your last bus out for the night ealthystay - lil ket featuring Sidney Phillips A certified hood classic banger. SELLING PGR BUT IM SMOKING MEDS ON MY OWN

Effy - Sidney Phillips I really do be Effy, I really do be Cassie.  Eternally Hateful/Young Drunk Drivers - Kirin J Callinan I could not pick because both of these songs are weirdo pop bangers and I love him for it. Fried Ice Cream - Wiki and Tony Seltzer featuring ZelooperZ GANGA - Bayang (tha bushranger) featuring LIL PIXIE I fucking love Bayang (tha bushranger) - BOYS BE YELLING GANG BUT STILL TOO BITCH TO HANG WITH GANGAS GIMMIE UR LOVE - GUILD God Loves You - Danny Brown x JPEGMAFIA The Gods Must be Crazy - ARMAND HAMMER El-p must be crazy for this beat YOU FEEL ME

Got Me Started - Troye Sivan Fantano made me mad when he said this was a cheap interpolation it's brilliant and much like the other singles from this album, quintessential summer hits for your inner gay  gospel? - Noname featuring $ilkmoney and billy woods Half-Life - Slauson Malone Homeostasis - Gian Santorno He left Nothing for the Swim Back - SKECH185 x Jeff Markey The first single I heard this year, I told you then that nothing was going to top this. Cataclysm rap for a dying century.  how i'm feeling - grouptherapy. Pretty good hbu I Believe - Caroline Polachek Rest in peace SOPHIE - I love you, thank you. I Know? - Travis Scott I'VE BEEN YOUNG - George Clanton Lethal - Frost Children Living Curfew - Aesop Rock featuring billy woods An all-star pairing with a witchy, woozy and lingering fear that tiptoes through the instrumental. Those haunting background vocals make me forget I'm even listening to a song. One of my favourite songs by both artists.  Love is Embarrassing - Olivia Rodrigo She's right you know. What's not embarrassing is singing this on top note in your car to get over your ex Making the Band (Dainty Cain) - Earl Sweatshirt Acid Hip Hop draws Earl into an era of cosmic future hip-hop - the upcoming album is shaping up to be something special Mungu (God) (Remix) - Blu, Notzz, Black Shakespeare, Bloodmoney Perez No Assumptions - SOLLYY Featuring Dylan Atlantis OPPBOY DOW - OPPBOYZ Pits of Hell - JSV The strength of empire at odds with maniacal chaos. Machiavellian rap perfection plz don't cut my wings - MIKE stuns with tragic, breathtaking beauty. The instrumental is a matrimonial fit for both his style and more solemn emotional side and he glides gracefully on this track like an angel on ice skates. An earl feature doesn’t hurt anyone either.

Prim Proper Freestyle - Zion Garcia A perfect introduction to one of the most promising rappers in Eora, if not Aus. RENO - Teether x Kuya Neil The Roach - Genisis Owsusu Running Out of Time - Paramore An ode to perpetual lateness but making your best attempt anyway Satisfy - Dylan Atlantis The sensuality of this song drips from every word like beads of sweat. An incredible song by an incredible artist Scandalous - Kavi This song could literally turn you into an internet micro-celebrity you can just breathe the controversy. Vibrant and fun as fuck, stream Kavi cause this boy is a future icon. Slap (Telegram) - Sidney Phillips, lil ket, Skracha This song is like a hybrid of three completely separate strains of internet music smashed together and turned up to 11 and its fucking beautiful and I love it So You Are Tired - Sufjan Stevens The fatigue of love in all its terrible beauty. A quiet whisper for love that lingers through the toughest of times. I hope you are ok Sufjan. START A RIOT - Breakfast Road Stay Close - Daine stunt - (when I see u) - They Hate Change The future is offering you a sneak peak, don’t avert your gaze

Sucker Free - Key Glock Sunset - Caroline Polachek Take Me There - Fielded featuring Teether Take Off - Breakfast Road That Cunt - Bootleg Baby, lil ket, Sidney Phillips Touching Yourself - The Japanese House Intoxicating sapphic serenade about women loving women (ME AND FUCKING WHO) Track one from the new Andre 3K record These song names are fucking ridiculous and I'm not as sold on this album as the rest of you but fuck me if this opener isn't soul-affirming. Troy (Cover) - TROPHIE Trophie is another artist I discovered this year and I’ve seen her perform this song about 5 times live already and it Is awe-inspiring every time I hear it  Tyler, Forever - McKinley Dixon

The Well - Behind You featuring Rako, Teether and BAYANG) where's my head at _ Basement Jaxx x 100 gecs I can’t explain to you why this is quintessentially Australian mid naughties electro-pop if it was brought screaming into 2023 but it sounds way too fucking good

You Can Be Mean to Me - Indigo De Souza Men suck and ex's also suck and we girlies deserve better. A perfect encapsulation of the part of moving on where you just roll with the gut punches, absorbing power in passing politeness