The 10 Best of 2023
2023 has come to an end. I am beginning my second year of college and now, I am preparing to go to university.
This year, we have wars destroy people’s lives, the downfall of one of the biggest social media platforms at the hands of a depraved billionaire, workers going on strike, unemployment being brushed away by loosening child labor laws, wars happening, and AI becoming so potent that many people are fearing that it could destroy their futures.
In the political sphere, things are getting worse as Republicans use their power to fuel hatred towards minorities with a white supremacist as the House Speaker, and the 2024 presidential election is looking to be quite the shitshow.
However, in the music scene, it’s a bit more of a mixed bag. TikTok has effectively changed how we discover music, many greats have died including Tina Turner, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yukihiro Takahashi, and AI could affect how music is produced. However, we have seen some developments, mainly in hip-hop, where although the genre isn’t as dominant as before, listeners seem to be placing more emphasis on artistic intent and experimentality. This is also fueled by the popularity of alternative music in the mainstream, with emo getting popular despite the amount of commercialism that came with it.
Through all this, a lot of albums have been released and some have truly intrigued me while others have completely escaped my mind. This is a ranking of all the albums that have been released in 2023 that have really caught my ears.
!: Lies They Tell Our Children, Anti-Flag
This will be painful for me, but I have to get this one out of the way because for me, this was the most anticipated album of 2023. I downloaded the singles and even went to see them live. I waited all night for this band to get on stage and play in anticipation for this album.
Before the allegations, this could have easily been in the middle, because while there are many bland tracks that don’t do much, there are also some great protest songs. “IMPERIALISM” is a song that explains imperialism using a house, which is a really clever and timely way to explain imperialism to the privileged. “VICTORY OR DEATH” is a solid end-of-revolution song that really emphasizes that victory.Finally, “FIGHT FOR OUR LIVES” could have been a great anthem for so many protests.
There are also a lot of features throughout the album that are meant to prove how far this band’s reach is. Artists from bands such as Killswitch Engage, Silverstein, Bad Religion, Rise Against, and Die Toten Hosen appear in this album as features.
I am keeping this on the list to remind everyone of the allegations against the frontman, Justin Sane. This year, many horror stories have been unearthed about how Justin Sane sexually assaulted women, presenting a power fetish that made it clear how much of a fraud he is. He is now being sued by one of his victims under the Adult Survivors Act in New York.
If anyone is looking for political punk bands, I highly recommend Strike Anywhere. If you want something else, then I suggest you read on. You might find something interesting below.
10. New Blue Sun, Andre 3000
Outkast, consisting of Andre 3000 and Big Boi, is considered one of the greatest rap duos of all time, and for good reason. Not only do their disparate personalities really blend well, but they brought genres like rave and funk to new audiences in the mainstream and interpreted them in the context of the history of African-American history. Most of this was due to the stylings of Andre 3000, who pushed unorthodox themes and production to prove that he could be more than just a rapper.
After their breakup, Big Boi continued making music in the same style that he did, while Andre went on to do features in songs, a TV show on Cartoon Network, an EP called “Look Ma No Hands” in 2018 and some appearances playing flute in public. The flute proved to be most enjoyable for him, because this year, he released New Blue Sun, an album that now seeks to bring new age and ambient music to a new audience.
When listening to the album, you will find more melodic moments and strange sounds and percussion, so it’s not just a “flute” album, but a full-on new age album like Yanni. In fact, Andre not only plays a flute, but digital flutes called “wind controllers” as well, which allows for a more synthesized sound. The result is a lush sound that feels like a companion piece to ATLiens, since it has the calming space of that album with the strange memorable noises that came from it.
The production, like any Outkast work, is stellar, and the team that worked on this one really brought this project into a whole new world that evokes images of rainforests and ethereal spaces. The strange sounds are like the flora and the fauna of the space, living about Andre while he plays his flute.
However, this is much less of an ambient album as it is a statement, because the song titles are some of the longest and strangest I have seen. Everything that he wants to say is all in the song titles. The best way to sum it up is with his first song “I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a ‘Rap’ Album but This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time”. He is doing what he wants to do and not giving into the pressure of his fans and his peers. That is something that is truly respectable because it reminds us that they are not just good at one thing everybody likes. They can present a side to themselves that we don’t get to see publicly.
In fact, it reminds me of how Bill Watterson, the creator of Calvin and Hobbes, returned with a book called “The Mysteries”. I love how this year, we are seeing artists who are known for something very popular are doing something different, especially in a time when the fears of AI threaten the livelihoods of many creatives.
9. One More Time…, Blink-182
Blink-182 is back at it again, but this time they have Tom DeLonge on guitar and vocals. Blink-182 was very popular around the turn of the millennium. Due to creative differences, they soon broke up, with Mark Hoppus on bass and vocals and Travis Barker on drums creating +44 and Tom DeLonge creating Angels and Airwaves. They would come together again and again to make some albums and do tours, but after Tom DeLonge left, Blink-182 just wasn’t the same.
Now that the whole success family is back together, they have decided to go back to their sound from 1998–2003. This is the sound that introduced most people to Blink-182, and it has been an inspiration to the many artists who listened to it. It’s great to hear a song from 2023 sound like it came from the turn of the millennium.
There are some new pieces here, such as a quote that kicks off “Dance With Me”, a power pop piece with “Fell In Love”, and the track “Blink Wave” being what I thought “Always” off their untitled album would be.
The two tracks that fans, as well as I, have really been enjoying are “One More Time”, a pop-punk ballad for all the long-time fans that have grown up about 2 decades and “More Than You Know”, a song by Tom DeLonge that was originally made for Box Car Racer, but retooled to be a really cool Blink-182 song.
Despite its forgetability, this could be a great entry point to get into Blink-182. I would highly recommend listening to this along with Enema of the State, Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, and their untitled album, which is my personal favourite album.
8. Guts, Olivia Rodrigo
Olivia Rodrigo is an artist that came up this decade, and alongside Billie Eilish, they prove that we as Gen Z can be more than just a bunch of Fortnite-dancing TikTok-challenging wannabes. But while Billie’s style modernises easy-listening music, Olivia goes for ballads with a power pop sound and a hint of sass. “all-american bitch” and “bad idea right?” are absolute masterpieces of pop rock, and “ballad of a homeschool girl” and “get him back!” are pleasant surprises in an otherwise clean-sounding album.
Many songs here mix Olivia’s own issues with different sounds. “making the bed” fuses a voice longing for solutions with sounds that combine distorted guitars and chiptune synths, “get him back!” has Olivia rapping about revenge over feedback-laden rock, and “pretty isn’t pretty” is a neo-psychedelia track about beauty standards. What makes Olivia’s vocals work so well on these songs is how she plays into the struggle to form a connection with the listener.
This is a great album for anybody that’s growing up and gearing up for college. It shows Olivia’s growth as an artist as well as her maturity as a person. Olivia Rodrigo is a great entry point into the world of alternative rock, since many of her inspirations are alternative rock bands. I hope to hear more from her soon.
7. After The Magic, Parannoul
Another artist that came up this decade is Parannoul, who got popular through Bandcamp and RateYourMusic with To See The Next Part of the Dream. Two years later, he signed on to a record label, got people working with him, and released his new album. A lot of people would say that these elements will make the project worse, but what made Parannoul so fascinating is not the fact that he worked alone, but rather what he does when mixing shoegaze and post-hardcore.
With Next Part, Parannoul established that he dreamed of being a musician like those he remembered listening to. In Magic, he comes back to his dreams with a lovely, clean sound. “Polaris” and “Parade” have the flow and emotion of a hot-air balloon ride in the summer, and “Insomnia” has drumming that reminds me of drum n bass.
“Sketchbook” begins with a very night-like sound with vocoded vocals, only to be brought back into the day to create a track that is simple, buzzy, yet makes us feel like we are flying. The tracks that follow are nothing short of magical, especially the title track, where Parannoul utilises a more electronic glitch sound. This album is one of the most beautiful listening experiences you could possibly download on Bandcamp.
If you’re feeling dissatisfied with K-pop, especially the mass marketing and system of it all, then I highly recommend you download Parannoul’s discography. He is a, dare I say, magical, musician and his passion shows in each song he makes. Plus, it makes a great soundtrack to your summer.
6. you will watch me die, exciting!!excellent!!
Over the past few years, emo has seen a resurgence in popularity. Some may call it a revival, particularly because these bands seek to emulate the bands from the 90s, despite the fact that this style was still prevalent in the underground scene. It’s just been discovered after emo died down in popularity.
Some of these bands are inspired by pop punk, some are more inspired by Midwest emo, and others do something different like Parannoul or Jane Remover. Exciting!!excellent!! is an example of the latter, where this one not only takes inspiration from indie and Midwest emo, but…chiptune?
The first albums that came to mind for me were the 2009 underground work, Kawaii by colonopenbracket or Making a Scene by The Title. Those albums had chiptune with vocals over it, but this one includes guitars in tracks such as “vinyl fantasy x-2” and “become dream(rank 1)”.
Some standout tracks include “johnny nasty’s last dance”, which feels like a track straight out of the 90s but with chiptune over it, “new song!!”, which includes spoken word and a chiptune riff that ramps up with the power of the guitar, and “online!!ok”, which is a lot groovier than a lot of the more emotional tracks.
There have been some great albums released this year, but none of them have the strange DIY beauty that this one has. It’s strangely wonderful listening to the electronic sounds of a Game Boy ring out alongside the guitar and vocals. I hope nothing but the best for this artist.
5. Apoyo Emocional, Estoy Bien
Apoyo Emocional is an unexpected hit made by Estoy Bien, a rock band from Chile that makes music that takes post-hardcore and mixes it with Latino rock. The result is a sound that reminds me a lot of some of my mother’s favourite rock bands, such as Soda Stereo and Mana, while still mixing elements of 90s and 2000s alternative rock.
At the first track, people might also make comparisons to Parannoul, but when you listen further, you’ll find a lot of unexpected moments that make this album even more remarkable. “Piel” has a chorus that is screamed, which only gets harder, “Ahora” dips into experimental before the final chorus, and “Mis Manos” has vocals that maintain a spoken word consistency at the verses.
The balance between variety and consistency here is impressive, where some songs can be slow and pondering while others are experimental and a bit of fun. “Vuelves” and “Lo Difícil Se Hizo Largo”, my personal favourite dual track on the album and a good example of this. The first track is much slower than the second, which is more playful and that maintains the theme of loneliness.
This is a great album that maintains a fresh sound while being fearless in playing around and experimenting. It will take a while to get into, but when you do, you’ll love it. If you’re a Spanish speaker, or wanting to learn the language, then this is definitely a recommendation. I can’t wait to hear more from this band, and I hope they get more people listening to them.
4. Ignore Grief, Xiu Xiu
Xiu Xiu is an experimental band that mainly focuses on chaos and sadness. Over the past 2 decades, they have explored many different sounds to deal with their very taboo and morbid subject matter (seriously, this is not a band for the faint of heart). Ignore Grief decides to go for a more classical approach, with a sound that feels like the soundtrack to a German expressionist movie, if it ever had a soundtrack.
Some great cuts include “The Real Chaos Cha Cha Cha”, “666 Photos of Nothing”, and “Maybae Baeby”. One track that stood out to me is “Tarsier, Tarsier, Tarsier, Tarsier”, where there is a helicopter sound that almost feels like there is an actual helicopter above your head. “Esquerita, Little Richard” and “Border Factory” sound like songs from Xiu Xiu’s late 5 Rue Christine days with a lot more ambience. It really ties back to their industrial techno inspiration.
Something new that Xiu Xiu does is mix their brand of experimental dischordance with contemporary classical composition. “Pahrump” mixes strings and woodwinds with freeform saxophone and “Dracula Parrot, Moon Moth” does the same. “For M.”, which concludes the record, has sounds that feel like a suspenseful moment before delving into despair. The final moments of the track feel like an adventure through a glass pipe.
This is a pretty good return to form for Xiu Xiu, if not one that presents new sounds that evoke and express the macabre. If you want to get into experimental music, then this is a band that you may want to keep in the back of your head.
3. 10,000 gecs, 100 gecs
Ah, yes. 100 gecs is back at it with their crazy sounds, mainly inspired by the rock and pop artists of the Y2K era. It is a pretty harsh album, but there are still some calmer songs like “The Most Wanted Person in the United States” and “Frog on the Floor”. Then again, the best tracks go down the hardest, such as “757”, “One Million Dollars”, “mememe”, “Doritos and Fritos”, and who can forget “Billy Knows Jamie”?
“Dumbest Girl Alive”, which begins the whole album, is the coolest track because it begins with the THX Deep Note off all things. I remember taking cover from the loudness of the Deep Note when I was young, but now that I am older and I have control of the volume, I’ve learned to appreciate it and now I love hearing the direction all the notes go.
The vocals are still some of the silliest that I have ever heard, with the autotune and the noises being just as ridiculous as their personas and imagery. It’s like an exaggerated version of something that you’d find on MySpace or PureVolume. However, there are times when you’ll hear their voices without the autotune, so it’s not a total loss for those who don’t like autotune.
One interesting occurrence that happened this year was when the songs were played on Fox News. Later on, Greg Gutfeld, Fox News’ “comedian”, went on the air to praise 100 gecs and recommend them, as well as Death Grips and Mr. Bungle, to his co-hosts. It’s funny to think that a Gutfeld, of all people, would enjoy experimental music, but it’s even funnier when he openly supports 100 gecs when all Fox News has been doing this year is spreading transphobic hate.
But don’t let that dissuade you from listening to this one, because it’s still a great album. Call it chaotic, zany, or even pure drivel, 100 gecs really blew it out of the water with this one. It’s fun.
2. Carpe Tedium, Worm Quartet
This is an unexpected one, especially with the amount of microsongs, but after hearing about the one man that made this, I feel that this album has to be talked about.
Worm Quartet is a music project run by one man, Timothy Crist, also known as “ShoEboX”. He’s worked on Worm Quartet since the 2000s, and it has been featured in the Dr. Demento Show, the FuMP, and even approved by Weird Al himself. He has released many albums, this being his newest in over a decade.
Even if you haven’t listened to his back catalog, this album will still be hilarious with tracks like “Mic Stand”, “When I Was A Boy” “Entire Dog”, and “Too Old For the Pit”. There is also some great social commentary on here with the charmingly cheesy “Infobesity”, the rappadocious “Take The Fire Back”, and the greatly comedic “Brandon”.
There are also some autobiographical songs on here, such as “More of the Same”, “10 Goto 10”, and “Fueled by Angst”. These songs present his life working as a software engineer, his life with his family, and how far he has come as a musician.
The one issue that I had with the album was the microsongs, which take some getting used to because some are really short, and at worst, they can be totally confusing. However, I feel that some people might enjoy the absolute madness of some of them, such as “Can You Horse?”, “In The Mayonnaise”, and “I Don’t Want To Go To The Zoo Tonight”.
Carpe Tedium is a fantastic album that should gain more attention for its inventive lyrics and clever humour. The instrumentals will sound cheesy and the microsongs will be annoying to some, but I think that’s the charm of comedy music: it can be cheesy as gratin and still be funny as hell. In the case of Worm Quartet, he is probably one of the greatest at making listeners laugh with his oddball vocabulary and off the wall writing.
ShoEboX, even if most people know you as the Pac-Man guy on Totally Obsessed, I wish nothing but the best for you with your music.
*. Dance Mode!, Joff Bush and the music team behind “Bluey”.
This is the year that I got into Bluey after hearing so much about the praise it’s gotten from teens and adults. Of course, I listened to the album and was also anticipating this one. It’s mainly a collection of songs from the second and third season, with one half of the album being more danceable tracks and the other half being guitar-based and calmer tracks.
The team’s talent and knowledge of music really shines on this album. “Omelette” having some hidden layers that really make the music pop, “Sticky Gecko” reminds me of “Au suivant” by Jacques Brel, and “Chattermax” hints at inspiration from “Reach Out” of the popular rave compilation, Happy 2b Hardcore Volume 1.
I’m putting this as an honorable mention not just because it’s a soundtrack, but because some of the spoken word parts may be quite confusing to those who haven’t seen the show. Very few of the tracks can stand well on their own, with the three rain-related tracks, “Rain”, “Rainbow”, and “Rain(Boldly in the Pretend)” where Jazz D’Arcy sings over “Rain”, being the best of them.
But you know what? Even more than the albums, I implore you to watch the show before you listen to the albums. Both are great.
1. Scaring the Hoes, JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown
Remember the renaissance of hip-hop that I was talking about? Yeah, this, as well as New Blue Sun, might as well be at the forefront.
The phrase “scaring the hoes” is pretty self-explanatory, but the way Peggy and Danny use the phrase is to describe the hip-hop scene over the past decade or so, where trap or trap-style beats have taken over and innovation has been blocked by a production system that ends up focusing on marketability. It seems that every rapper wants to be at the
Not JPEGMAFIA, though. He wants to innovate, and when he does, he makes tracks that are industrial yet clear, complex yet simple, and for lack of a better term, absolutely zany. Samples range from Japanese commercials and anime intros to contemporary classical and a strange clapping noise that prevails the title track. Can YOU guess what it is?
JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown throw their verses on celebrities, the hip-hop industry, and JPEGMAFIA even mentions Hunter Biden. While that sounds questionable, remember that this is a guy who started an anti-police song with an audio clip of a cop getting shot. If you get this album on Bandcamp, you’ll find that the covers for this album and the “DLC Pack” include authoritarian dictators, and what scares the hoes more than shocking them?
After years of trap beats and Soundcloud rap dominating the hip hop industry, it seems that we are entering a new age for hip hop, where although it’s not as dominant as it was before, experimentation is becoming valued in the industry. This year, we have seen Bad Bunny, Lil Yatchty and Lil Uzi Vert do new things with the genre by blending other genres. Here, JPEGMAFIA keeps it in the realm of hip hop, but the beats are unlike anything you’ve heard before.
JPEGMAFIA really brought us out of the Drake era with this one, huh?
The following are other albums that interested me this year, but didn’t make the list.
-Any Joy, As Friends Rust
Great album. Not the most memorable, but good. I highly recommend their album “Won”.
-This Is Why, Paramore
Not much of a Paramore fan, but this was solid.
-Dream on Dream, Cornelius
Sounds like a mix of toconoma and Oneohtrix Point Never. I like the production, but it didn’t pique my interest way too much.
-HELLMODE, Jeff Rosenstock
This is supposed to be his DIY interpretation of 2000s pop punk. It’s pretty darn good.
-Sunday at Foxwoods, Boys Like Girls
-Rookie’s Hustle, Ada Rook
After Black Dresses broke up, it seems that Ada is doing pretty well for herself.
-72 Seasons, Metallica
Oh, look! An echo from the past century!
-Kx5, deadmau5
Oh, look! An echo from the past decade!
-Spark of Light, Michael Bolton
I only know of this guy from Office Space. Trust me, you aren’t missing anything.
-Pink Tape, Lil Uzi Vert
Here’s another piece of hip hop that attempts to be more experimental. It’s pretty impressive what is pulled off here, and I really liked the crossover between Lil Uzi Vert and Babymetal.
-The Other One, BABYMETAL
Speaking of Babymetal, this one is a concept album based around the break that the members had from music. Pretty solid.
-Let Her Burn, Rebecca Black
Yes, the Friday girl. She makes hyperpop and released this with no label. Don’t worry, she’s a way better singer than she was on her ARK Music Factory release.
-4D, Blank Banshee
He’s still around, but now he tries doing IDM.
-Quest For Fire, Don’t Get Too Close, Skrillex
One is great, the other one leaves a lot to be desired.
-Somewhere Between the Power Lines and the Palm Trees, Dogstar
Did you know that Keanu Reeves was a bass guitarist in a band?
-Chai, CHAI
City pop isn’t dead! Chai just modernised it for a new audience!
-MICHAEL, Killer Mike
Run the Jewels 5?!?!?!?!
-Rafflesia Online, Xploshi
This one was nice coming from a guy who makes surreal animations.
-Again, Oneohtrix Point Never
-After Angel, death’s dynamic shroud
-A New Tomorrow, Zulu
I’m happy to see more people of colour in punk circles.
-VOID ETERNAL, nothing,nowhere
-Miracle-Level, Deerhoof
These guys are 5 Rue Christine alumni. Cool album.
-152, Taking Back Sunday
-Past // Present // Future, Meet Me @ The Altar
-Face For The Radio, poptropicaslutz!
Odd name for a band on Epitaph, but they do some fine work.
-Se Bueno, TURQUOISEDEATH
Parannoul appears in this one, proving that he is up for collaborations! However, the rest of the album doesn’t hold up all too much.
-In My Saddest Dreams, I Am Beside You, Dreamwell
Screamo still goes on.
-It’s Black Friday, Charlie Brown, Louie Zong
Short but sweet, I interpret it as a mockery of how Peanuts has been commercialised over the years.
-The Dark Side of the Moon Redux, Roger Waters
If you wanna hear The Dark Side of the Moon with all the talking and none of the intrigue, then this is for you.
We conclude a year that has had some great releases with some echoes of the past. Experimentation played a huge role in music this year, with artists big and small showing off their inventive sounds and new perspectives. It was also a chance for many older artists to come back and present what made so many people enjoy them, and others decided to do something completely different from what they have done before.
Here’s to a new year. May we innovate, enjoy, vote Democratic so that democracy can be safe, and hope that Billy McFarland never makes Fyre Festival 2!
