The music released even in the first half of 2023 was so great that had some bizarre event prevented the release of any more albums, I would have been quite happy with my mid-year best-of list. But that’s not what happened. More and excellent records kept coming, leading to a veritable Hunger Games between beloved albums and artists to arrive at the list below. It’s a little hard to precisely define why one album will stay on this list versus another that will move to a genre-specific list. It’s based on an instinctual gut reaction that might boil down to: if I have to remind myself to listen to it, rather than just reaching for it time and time again, that’s probably a sign.
Since this is also my first “Best Of” cycle on Substack - and many thanks to all the new subscribers! - I should probably explain what is about to happen. The Top 25 comes first, with the following genre-specific lists rolling out over the next several weeks:
Classical
Electronic
Hip Hop, R&B & Reggae
Jazz, Latin & Global
Rock, Folk, Etc.
Out Of The Past
Note that there is a great deal of variety within each of these lists, with the genre designations acting as broad directional arrows to lead you to certain moods, types of instrumentation, and musical structures. Occasionally, when the sounds are very eclectic, the inclusion of an artist or album in one genre or another qualifies as a best guess based on my long history of making mix-tapes and playlists.
As far as what kind of year it was in general, I notice that my Of Note playlist (848 songs/72 hours) on Spotify is roughly the same as last year (892 songs/72 hours), with many of those songs representing an album I listened to and liked and the others singles unconnected to an album. My favorites among those will be included on the lists above, which are unranked and fluctuate in quantity from year to year. According to Spotify, I used the service for 63,034 minutes to listen to 9,409 songs by 3,096 artists across 112 genres - which doesn’t count Bandcamp or YouTube streams and plays of vinyl, CDs, or cassettes. All in all, a pretty average year at AnEarful!
And what of the results of that brutal contest in the arena of my mind? In the end, 16 of the records on my “So Far” list hung in there to remain on the Top 25. Seven of the nine new ones were released after June with only Everyone’s Crushed, which took its sweet time - and a live performance - to get under my skin and Stella Kola, which was unknown to me until I saw them open for Leah Senior, sailing in from earlier in the year. This gives me some comfort that I am at least nominally keeping up with the good stuff as it comes out. Hopefully I’ve helped you do the same!
Ok, let’s get into it. If I’ve already written about an album, I’ll link to that piece and include a quote. Click play on the playlist here or below to listen along and find your next favorite album.
The Clientele - I Am Not There Anymore In 2017, I marveled at this long-running British band’s stunning return, after seven years, with Music For The Age Of Miracles, which became my #1 album that year. Even so, the last thing I expected was another terrific album, this time only a mere six years after that one. But here we have it: their eighth studio album - and first double - and it’s an absolute masterpiece. Perhaps most remarkably, for a band with a very distinctive sound derived from the likes of The Zombies, Love, and Felt, the trio of Alasdair MacLean (guitar, electronics, vocals), Mark Keen (drums, keyboards), and James Hornsey (bass, piano) have innovated within that perhaps more than on any other album. The band’s purchase of their first computer (fact!) and MacLean’s love of hip hop, especially as heard from passing cars while at the playground with his kids, has led him to employing loops and beats (including sub-bass rumbles) to enrich the sound. This is all boldly announced on Fables Of The Silverlink, the eight-minute opening track - the longest of their career - which combines muscular cello, drum machines, baroque horns, and Spanish vocals by Alicia Macanás in a suite-like structure that is both unlike anything they’ve ever done and quintessentially The Clientele.
As on Music For The Age Of Miracles, there are instrumentals by Keen sprinkled throughout the album, but the acuity of his melodic invention has only grown in the intervening years, to a near Satie-esque level of spare beauty. Melody is also also at the heart of MacLean’s genius as a songwriter, with song after song unfurling instantly memorable but sophisticated tunes that quickly become addictive. In song after song, and perhaps most notably in Lady Grey, Blue Over Blue, and Claire’s Not Real, the way the verse propels your ear to the chorus provides a thrill not unlike discovering the idea of “song” for the first time.
Being a double album has also given them extra room to pursue their artier side, such as on My Childhood, which features an angular string arrangement accompanying spoken word by Jessica Griffin of the Would Be Goods. But tracks like that and Keen’s instrumentals just throw the pure pop brilliance of MacLean’s songs into high relief. Is it even possible for a band to make their best album 30+ years into their career? On I Am Not There Anymore, The Clientele answer that question firmly in the affirmative. It’s also possible for them to make new fans, as happened to my friend on Facebook who decided to give them a try after seeing them on a different best-of list. Having given up on UK guitar bands after “Brit-pap” (his words) he found himself falling in love with The Clientele. Now he has tickets to see them in concert! Could that happen to you? There’s only one way to find out…Tiny Ruins - Ceremony
“The setting for the songs is as exquisite as the writing, with a crystal-clarity to the production…”Omar Ahmad - Inheritance
“Perhaps most sublime - and emotionally engaging - is Omar Ahmad’s debut album…”Mutual Benefit - Growing At The Edges When I included 2016’s Skip A Sinking Stone on my 100 Best Albums Of The 2010s, I noted, “Heartfelt, witty, and melodically rich, the occasionally spectral folk-rock songs of Jordan Lee were a central pleasure of the decade…” and his work has only grown since that album and 2018’s Thunder Follows The Light, reaching a new efflorescence here. Some of the expansive feeling on Growing At The Edges may be due to having new collaborators in Gabriel Birnbaum, of Wilder Maker and other endeavors, who plays lyrical sax and contributes in other ways, and Concetta Abbate, whose string arrangements (and strings!) are glorious and never merely decorative.
Finding new friends and being more assured in the studio would be immaterial if Lee hadn’t written such a captivating batch of songs in the first place. Several songs - especially the title track, Untying A Knot, Wasteland Companions - are career-best compositions, with a structural invention and strength that could see the melodic material alone blown up to any size of ensemble, including an orchestra. Instrumentals Remembering A Dream, Winter Sun, Cloudless Sky, and Signal To Bloom are all effectively chamber music already. Then there’s Little Ways, a modern take on what used to be called Country And Western, complete with a horse-rider’s lope to the rhythm and a chill-inducing guitar solo from Florist’s Jonnie Baker. It was a reminder that Mutual Benefit’s first masterpiece was an EP called The Cowboy’s Prayer!
Lyrically, Lee has only grown more direct while losing none of the poetic craft he’s demonstrated in the past. Being such a delicate, passionate vocalist makes it easier to absorb bomb-drops like Untying A Knot’s refrain: “so I’m parting with a hollow version/what I thought I knew/that it’s not just about how we grow/but what we can undo.” If you’re not already a devotee of Jordan Lee and Mutual Benefit, that is something you should undo ASAP by playing this wondrous album.Earl Sweatshirt & The Alchemist - Voir Dire
“His words continue to be a resonant blend of surrealism, straight talk, and street-talk - and when he nails it…he really nails it.”Lael Neale - Star Eaters Delight
“The Omnichord…is still at the heart of her sound, but she and collaborator Guy Blakeslee, have grown more inventive and adventurous in what they surround it with.”Reiko Füting - Mechthild
“But the piece just seems to exist, as wondrous and impenetrable as the carved stone of the church where it premiered.”Fruit Bats - A River Running To Your Heart
“Their sonic vision is not unrelated to the previous album, but expands on it, adding synths, brisker tempos, brightly colored backing vocals, and more layers of sound.”Elana Low - Petrixora
“There’s never been a better time to become an Elana Low fan - what are you waiting for?”
Note: See also Low’s fantastic single, Goldest Hour, also released this year.Anna Thorvaldsdottir - Archora/Aion
“This feast of an album presents committed, gripping, world-premiere recordings of two pieces by the Icelandic master, for whom the orchestra itself is her most natural instrument.”
Note: See also: Atmospheriques, Vol. 1, which features the world-premiere recording of Thorvaldsdottir’s Catamorphosis.Anna St. Louis - In The Air
“But she’s also gone ahead and written Phone, a classic pop song that will stick in your head in the best way.”Gecko Turner - Somebody From Badajoz
“It’s like a meal that’s all the richer for every ingredient being so carefully chosen.”Youth Lagoon - Heaven Is A Junkyard
“But ultimately, it’s the full package of sound, songs, and voice that resonates, with Powers exploring heavy topics…with a fearless and poetic grace.”Scott L. Miller & Zeitgeist - Coincident
“…when Horton exclaims “Go to the fringes! Go there!” it feels like a course has been set for the album to explore the unknown and bring back these marvelous sounds.”Baby Cool - Earthling On The Road To Self Love
“Grace Cuell has crafted a sound with a sublimely light touch as Baby Cool.”Stephen Vitiello & Bill Seaman - The Clear Distance
“It feels like daybreak, the sun through trees, that first day of good weather after a week of rain.”Adrianne Munden-Dixon - Lung
“…this debut solo album finds the Desdemona violinist stepping out in exemplary fashion.”
See also: The Vines version of Lung, with composer Cassie Wieland electronics and vocals.Water From Your Eyes - Everyone’s Crushed
“While the template had been set since the beginning, with Rachel Brown’s cool vocals and opaque lyrics complemented by [Nate] Amos’s mesmeric grooves and offbeat pop hooks, the new album finds them at their most focused.”
Note: See also Crushed By Everyone, a collection of killer remixes by the band and friends that is an absolute blast.Feeble Little Horse - Girl With Fish
“Their songwriting is laser-focused here and the sonic curation is incredibly precise.”Stella Kola - s/t
“Having now listened to their self-titled debut several times, I’m happy to say that everything I experienced that night was REAL.”Leah Senior - The Music That I Make
“But there is no question that she has honed her craft to a fine point on the latest album and should become a favorite for anyone who values beautiful, poetic songs well sung and played.”Geese - 3D Country
“Even more remarkably, the wider they cast their stylistic net, the more they seem themselves.”
See also: More net-casting on the 4D Country EP. One of our great live bands.Guilty Simpson & Uncommon Nasa - Escalation
“Escalation is an addictive listen so clear some space in your schedule to put it on repeat.”Boygenius - The Record
“A true songwriting partnership, Boygenius’ The Record is a masterful collection of folky pop-rock that brings out the best in all of them.”The Thing - Here’s The Thing
“…full of snappy, catchy, urgent songs bristling with sharp riffs and driving rhythms.”
Any new favorites for you here? Let me know by leaving a comment!
From the archives:
Best Of 2021: The Top 25
Best Of 2020: The Top 25
Best Of 2019: The Top 25
Best Of 2018: The Top 25
Best Of 2017: The Top 25
Best Of 2016: The Top 20
Best Of 15: The Top 20
Best Of 14 (Part 1)
Best Of 14 (Part 2)
Best Of 2013
The Best Of 12: Part One
The Best Of 12: Part Two
The Best Of 11
Best Of Ten
A Blog Is Born: Best Of 2009