Here they are! The albums that got me through 2023. As someone with an incurable degenerative illness, music is a lifeline for me. In another lifetime, I worked in the music industry. Once a year, I still work at the merch table for Letters to Cleo at their Boston “Homecoming” shows. The rest of the time, you can find me listening to these records with a cat on my lap.
If you find yourself liking anything you find on this list, please consider supporting the artists by purchasing merch, music, catching a show, etc. My playlist of favorite tracks of 2023 can be found on Spotify.
Top Albums
30. Drop Nineteens – Hard Light Boston’s very own shoegazers reformed for their first album in over 30 years. It’s textured, evocative of the ‘90s, yet mature. On “Tarantula,” they dip into power pop with sparkling results.
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29. Sufjan Stevens – Javelin I never thought I’d be into lo-fi, indie folk music, but Sufjan Stevens’s connection to The National was too strong for me. Javelin is like a sumptuous lullaby.
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28. Gracie Abrams – Good Riddance If you’re a fan of Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License,” meet the person who inspired its sound: Gracie Abrams. And if you’re a fan of Sidney Bristow, thank Gracie’s dad. Produced by Aaron Dessner of The National, Good Riddance is wistful and delicate.
27. Parannoul (파란노을) – After the Magic Luscious dream pop from South Korea, After the Magic sounds a lot like British shoegaze, but with dynamic (emo?) keyboards and strings.
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26. Alison Goldfrapp – The Love Invention Alison Goldfrapp, who is one half of the duo Goldfrapp, goes solo on this sublime synth-pop dance record.
25. Spoon Benders – How Things Repeat Portland, Oregon’s Spoon Benders are an old-fashioned, garage, psych-rockin’ good time. Best listened to loud.
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24. Travels With Brindle – Notes from Undergrad I was hooked from the haunting first track “Something’s Wrong.” Notes from Undergrad is filled with twee-pop, ukulele-based bops. Recommended for fans of Magnetic Fields.
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23. boygenius – the record What a treat it is to have a full-length album from singer-songwriters Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus. The vocals of the three combine to produce soaring harmonies. If you get Simon and Garfunkel vibes from “Cool About It,” you’ll find that Paul Simon is credited as one of the songwriters as a tip of the hat for borrowing a bit from “The Boxer.”
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22. Mitski – The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We Mitski’s seventh album is filled with frank and heart-wrenching songs. The Land Is Inhospitable was my companion for many bouts of insomnia.
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21. SQÜRL – Silver Haze The art/drone rock project from filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, Carter Logan, and Shane Stoneback unsurprisingly evokes a cinematic world, most notably on “The End of the World.”
20. Olivia Rodrigo – GUTS The dream of the nineties is alive in Olivia Rodrigo. Some artists struggle with their sophomore effort, but not Rodrigo. GUTS is a juggernaut of pop confection. It makes no sense that I connect with her lovelorn lyrics, but I do.
19. Kristin Hersh – Clear Pond Road Raw and intimate, Kristin Hersh unfurls another potent album with Clear Pond Road.
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18. Lovina Falls – Calculating the Angle of Our Descent Valerie Forgione of Mistle Thrush returns to the Boston music scene with her new project Lovina Falls. Calculating the Angle of Our Descent is a shimmering, eclectic, alternative-pop debut.
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17. Sparks – The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte The Mael brothers’ unconventional pop has been delighting devoted fans since the early seventies and Latte is no exception. Check out their minimalist video for “The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte” starring Cate Blanchett.
16. Screaming Females – Desire Pathway It’s a bummer that this kick-ass New Jersey band called it quits in late 2023. Desire Pathway is a triumphant, rocking farewell.
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15. Madder Rose – No One Gets Hurt Ever The nineties indie rock band is back! It is so good to hear Mary Lorson’s voice on new material. The album, tinged with alt-country, is simply flawless.
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14. Slowdive – everything is alive The shoegaze outfit does not disappoint with their lush, ethereal album.
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13. The Hives – The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons What a banger from one of Sweden’s top exports! I’m sad that I missed their Boston show that was replete with glow-in-the-dark suits.
12. Ladytron – Time’s Arrow Ladytron’s seventh album is a solid, gorgeous addition to the synth-pop band’s catalog. The Liverpudlians also released the charming, surprise Christmas song “All Over by Xmas.”
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11. Queens of the Stone Age – In Times New Roman … Another top-notch rock release from Josh Homme and co. This record was one of my most played of the year. Homme has been through a lot since the last QOTSA album (divorce, death of his close friend Mark Lanegan) and you can feel the catharsis.
10. Billy Nomates – Cacti Billy Nomates AKA Tor Maries got a lot of flack for her no-frills Glastonbury performance. She performed live vocals to backing tracks and had no band. I’ve seen several solo performers take the same lo-budget approach (Poe, Peaches, various electronic musicians like Aphex Twin and Sonoio) but they weren’t under Glasto’s magnifying glass. I’ve even seen full bands “play” to backing tracks and no one’s cared/noticed. It’s a misogynistic shame because Marie’s suffered great abuse and her second album, Cacti is excellent. “Spite” was my summer anthem while “Roundabout Sadness” captured my sullen mood whenever I had a medical flare.
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9. Emma Anderson – Pearlies Emma Anderson of Lush and Sing-Sing goes solo with brilliant results. Of the post-Lush projects (including Miki Berenyi’s Piroshka), Pearlies is most likely to scratch that shoegaze/ethereal/dream pop Lush itch. It also has hints of early Goldfrapp.
8. Blur – The Ballad of Darren Blur’s latest release is filled with somber ballads and pop rock earworms. I find myself humming various songs from The Ballad of Darren all the time. It’s Britpop all grown up and it sounds brilliant. Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon are two great tastes that taste great together.
7. The National – Laugh Track Fans of The National were shocked to learn during a September concert that the band would be releasing a second album in 2023. And that they’d be releasing it digitally THAT WEEKEND! (Yes, I was a shocked fan even though I wasn’t at said concert. I caught it via Instagram Live.) Laugh Track is a fitting companion to First Two Pages of Frankenstein and includes guest vocalists Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Phoebe Bridgers, and Rosanne Cash. Standout tracks include “Space Invader” and opening track “Alphabet City.”
6. Depeche Mode – Memento Mori Depeche Mode’s first album since the death of Andy Fletcher is a rich, textured contemplation on mortality. Surviving members Dave Gahan and Martin Gore have created another sonically gorgeous gem.
5. ††† (Crosses) – Goodnight, God Bless, I Love U, Delete Chino Moreno of Deftones and Shaun Lopez of Far get their darkwave on in their goth love letter that even includes a track with *the* Robert Smith. Recommended if you like Songs of Faith and Devotion-era Depeche Mode.
4. Daughter – Stereo Mind Game Six years was a long time between Daughter albums. Thankfully, there was vocalist Elena Tonra’s soul-crushing solo debut Ex:Re to bridge the gap. Like The National, Daughter seems to have a deep connection to my brain. Stereo Mind Game is atmospheric and glistening.
Side note: my four-year-old cat, Ada, loves them. She also likes Nick Cave and Harry Styles. Ada will get right up against the speakers when those artists are on.
3. Nick Cave & Warren Ellis – Australian Carnage: Live at the Sydney Opera House My first post-Covid show was Nick Cave and Warren Ellis at the Boch Center Wang Theatre in Boston. It was a transcendent, tear-filled experience for me. At that show, and on this album, Cave and Ellis perform(ed) gentle, soulful versions of songs from the Bad Seeds’ catalog along with many of the songs from the duo’s album Carnage.
Side note: This year, I got to meet Nick Cave at a book signing for Faith, Hope and Carnage at the Harvard Bookstore and he was so very kind and empathetic.
2. Ash – Race the Night This album from the Northern Irish lads is such a perfect, power-pop album! Now they just need to come back to the States so that I can hear the new tracks live. Meanwhile, you can find me watching the hilarious video for the epic “Crashed Out Wasted” on YouTube.
1. The National – First Two Pages of Frankenstein I’m a little obsessed with The National. If you follow my Instagram, you know this. Their first (!) album of 2023 made me feel like I wasn’t alone in my depression. First Two Pages feels like a return to the eras of High Violet (2010) and Trouble Will Find Me (2013). The “Sad Dads” frontman/lyricist Matt Berninger came through a traumatic bout of writer’s block to pen this album, which features guest appearances from Sufjan Stevens, Phoebe Bridgers, and Taylor Swift.
Pop Culture Omnivore 