The Best Albums In 2023 That I Never Even Bothered Reviewing Because No One Reads/Needs Reviews
Friday is fun because it's music - with links and playlists. Today, music journalism is dead, though no one's mentioned it much. Here's some of my favourite albums of 2023.
I might have written four or five album reviews in 2023. Which I put down to occassionally forgetting that I’m retired/chewed-up and spat out and piecing my life back together. Old habbits, eh…
But after spending most of 2021 and 2022 in a fug of light classical, easy listening, jazz, and film scores, I’m back listening to music across the genre-spectrum. And sometimes, before the nurse reminds me I’m no longer a reviewer, I get my crayons out and draw up a few thoughts on an album that ends up in regular rotation.
I can’t really share four or five album reviews with you now, and call it a best of the year list. So instead, here are the albums I should have reviewed, if I wasn’t so godamned lazy, and/or if music journalism wasn’t dead and/or buried.
Iggy Pop: Every Loser - Every now and then Iggy makes an album. And sometimes it’s charming, and sometimes it’s a little repetitive and silly but it’s nice to know he’s still here and still doing it. This is one of the (really) charming ones.
John Cale: Mercy - At 80, John Cale released his first album in a decade, and his best in many years. I say that as a fan of almost everything he’s ever done. This is one of his very best.
Robert Forster: The Candle and The Flame - I’ve loved Robert Forster’s solo albums, and feel they’ve been getting better with each and every release. And this year’s one was so good, I forgot where I was for a second and wrote a review of it:
Caroline Polachek: Desire, I Want To Turn Into You - I liked this very much. Clever, arty pop music that kept me coming back for more. And more…
Dry Cleaning: Swampy EP - Just an EP, but arriving so swiftly on the back of a full-length album, this was certainly a treat. Love this band.
Sleaford Mods: UK GRIM - more of the same, and thank fuck for that. It also set up a really great gig from them.
Arooj Aftab/Vijay Iyer/Shahzad Ismaily: Love In Exile - Arooj Aftab’s music has been one of the great comforts in recent years. And here she collaborates with two other musicians I love very much as well. They’re coming to New Zealand next year for a series of gig too!
Natalie Merchant: Keep Your Courage - it’s no secret that I’m a huge Natalie Merchant fan. I even tried to see her gig in America. Alas it wasn’t to be. She had Covid. My ticket is still valid for May next year. Would it be rude if I lit up a Kickstarter? (I’m kidding!) Anyway, again, I forgot where my head was at for a second and tried to scribble some thoughts down about this:
Rickie Lee Jones: Pieces of Treasure - I swear that voice just barely ages. I consider almost anything by RLJ to be a piece of treasure, but this album is certainly well named. One of my favourite sets from her in a while.
Paul Simon: Seven Psalms - a couple of years ago, Paul Simon retired. And then he woke up one night and wrote down his dream, and it was an album! A seven-song cycle that plays out over 33 minutes, and just one track, and is essentially the rhythm of the universe and the soul of us all. So, you know, just the usual light subject matter one can expect from a Paul Simon joint.
Bob Dylan: Shadow Kingdom - Bob reworks his past. Paints his masterpieces all over again, and some of these arrangements really are better than the originals.
Janelle Monae: The Age of Pleasure - I’ve enjoyed every Monae album in some way, but just as she was starting to seem a little samey, this was a nice change-up.
Bettye Lavette: Lavette! I love Bettye Lavette. She’s had a wonderful run of albums across the last two decades. And I was so excited about this album I didn’t quite review it, but I basically previewed it, writing about it, and Lavette, the day it was released:
PJ Harvey: I Inside The Old Year Dying - I am there for any PJ Harvey project. I loved her scores for TV and live theatre, and her epic poem, but I particularly love the return - after a few years out - to album-delivering, song-based PJ Harvey. Genius.
Aphex Twin: Blackbox Life Recorder 21f / In a Room7 F760 EP - Aphex Twin releases anything and it’s cause for celebration. Yes, I’d love a full album, but the EPs and singles that have been teased over the last few years have been enough, because beggars should not try to be choosers.
Beverley Glenn-Copeland: The Ones Ahead - this was such a lovely surprise. A wonderful album.
Travis Scott: Utopia - Oscar loves Travis Scott. So that’s really the reason I ended up listening to this one a lot. But it made an impression. Not my usual thing, but pleasantly surprised as a result.
Kristin Hersh: Clear Pond Road - I loved this album so much, I did a very rate thing these days, I bought a copy on CD. It was signed by the artist too. Bonus! Such a great gig too:
Laufey: Bewitched - Laufey’s second album is a treat. A wonderful set of songs, so warmly delivered.
Mitski: The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We - I was so looking forward to the return of Mitski. And it was not disappointing at all!
Doja Cat: Scarlet - I have been listening to this a lot over the last few months. It peters out somewhat, but when it really hits the groove it’s a lot of fun, slinky, and enjoyable.
Oneohtrix Point Never: Again - in recent years I’ve been getting my Oneohtrix fix via Daniel Lopatin’s film scores, so it was nice to have him back under his Point Never alias.
The Rolling Stones: Hackney Diamonds - pretty much had to eat my hat on this. Told a bunch of people I couldn’t care less about a new Stones album and secretly thought it might be close to embarrasing. And look, I don’t really need to ever hear it again, but it’s the best thing they’ve done in 20+ years (low bar perhaps) and some of it harks back to Emotional Rescue, which is the album it most reminds me of; file under nice surprise.
Cat Power: Cat Power Sings Dylan - The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert - I love the source material of course. But I’m also a huge Cat Power fan, when she’s got something to say. She’s always knocked it out of the park with great covers too. And I’ve been enjoying this as a way back in to some of the older Dylan material.
Andre 3000: New Blue Sun - it just so happens, I’ve been listening to this sort of thing most mornings and late at night for years. So I’m into it. I don’t love it because it’s Andre 3000, I love it because it’s a new decent sleep/meditation album. But I also love that it happens to be Andre 3000 behind it. Coming out from his cave. Bonus!
Juliana Hatfield: Juliana Hatfield Sings ELO - been enjoying each volume in this series from Hatfield. She does a fine job of paying tribute, and putting enough of her spin on the familiar.
Khruangbin: Live At Sydney Opera House - love this band, gutted I missed the gig on this tour, so this is a nice thing to have and hear as a backup.
Peter Gabriel: i/o - taking my time with this, since Peter Gabriel took his time to release it. But I’m pretty sure I love it.
John Medeski: The Curse (Music from the Showtime Original Series) - the show is cringe. (I love it!) The music is a wonderful part of it, and proving to be wonderful on its own also.
Neil Young: Before & After - enjoying Neil Young revisiting his own back pages. So much so, I bought a subscription to Neil Young’s online archive. Which is fun. Ole Neil put Spotify down of course. So you’ll have to head to Neil’s archive or YouTube to sample the album. But it’s worth it.
Look, there are other albums I’ve loved - including the latest from The Necks (also a Spotify free zone, and best sampled as a whole, I bought the double vinyl without even hearing it first). But that’ll do for now.
See anything there you like? Hear anything for the first time that you want to add to your list/s? And what have I missed?
Hey, here’s the weekly playlist too. Plenty there to enjoy, including a couple of tracks from some of the albums mentioned in this list.