Top Ten Albums of 2023

So I still haven’t made it back home so I haven’t had a chance to dig into the data living on my home music server about what I listened to in 2023, but here’s my first crack at a top ten list for the year.1

  1. “First Two Pages of Frankenstein” by The National. Was there any chance in the world this album wasn’t making this list? With most of the band off doing independent projects (notably Matt Berninger’s solo album and Dessner’s work with T-Swizzle), I’ve been a little apprehensive about the length of time it’s been since 2019’s excellent “I Am Easy To Find”. I didn’t need to be. This album is stellar, front to back. In particular, “Ice Machines” is a true throwback to the Boxer era (my favorite of their albums), and “Your Mind is Not Your Friend Again” has lived in my subconscious for months. 

  2. “Lahai” by Sampha. I first heard Sampha’s “Like the Piano” on Roon Radio when it came up a couple of times in one day, and I’ve been absolutely obsessed with that track since. This album is … great. It only came out in October and I’ve been so busy that I haven’t spent as much time with it as I plan to, but I commend it to your attention. You might not recognize his name, but you would definitely recognize some of the tracks he’s featured on.

  3. “the record” by Boygenius. I mean, I can’t imagine you haven’t heard of this album. Not a lot of legit supergroups these days, but if you’re a fan of Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, or Lucy Dacus, you should listen to this album. Even if you’re not, you should listen to this album. 

  4. “Kaytraminé” by KAYTRANADA & Aminé. I found Kaytranada via his amazing collaborations with Robert Glasper2 and I spent a lot of 2023 listening to his back catalog. Great mix of hip hop and electronica. 

  5. “Laugh Track” by The National. Not only did The National release a great album in 2023 … they released two. The title track is my fave, and if you haven’t watched the animated video you really ought to. Phoebe Bridgers and Matt Berninger’s voices are really incredibly well balanced, as we knew from a couple of previous collaborations. 

  6. “Heavy Heavy” by Young Fathers. Young Fathers are definitely an acquired taste, but I acquired it the first time I heard the spectacular “Holy Ghost” (and watched the fascinating video shot on a FLIR cam).

  7. “Light, Dark, Light Again” by Angie McMahon. McMahon was a new artist to me when I heard a great interview with her on NPR, and the album slotted into my rotation pretty immediately. 

  8. “Mid Air” by Romy. I really need to spend more time with this album; the xx were one of my favorite bands and while I’ve appreciated all of their independent projects, I’m still a little in mourning for the apparent end of the band as a band. But it’s a beautiful piece and I’m really curious to see how they all grow independently.

  9. “Arrived Anxious, Left Bored” by Flume. I’m a Flume fan. I’ll listen to any new stuff from him. This is a good piece all around, even if it lacks some of the standout qualities of “Palaces.”

  10. “New Blue Sun” by Andre 3000. I … think I like this album? It’s just a super strange one, and not what I was expecting. I spent a lot of 2023 listening to Outkast’s earliest albums and Big Boi’s independent albums (“Boomiverse” is on playlists pretty regularly for me), so this was a big departure. But I think I really like it. 


So, what did I miss that I need to check out? I was surprised to hear that I missed a new Janelle Monae album, which I’ll correct shortly. I also recently picked up “Victor” by Victor Mensa, and I want to spend more time with Ashnikko’s “Weedkiller” which may edge its way into the top ten. I’m also enjoying Dean Johnson’s “Nothing For Me, Please”, and I need to give the new Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit album a shot. 


1 I absolutely reserve the right to update this as I listen to some of the albums that I missed this year. Janelle Monae, I’m looking at you specifically.↩

2 With a thoroughly hilarious cameo by Don Cheadle.↩

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Headfi Audio for Dummies

Image
Last year I wrote a Stereo Building for Dummies post laying out the basics for a loudspeaker system. In the last couple of months I’ve gotten a few similar questions about headphones and their care and feeding, so I thought it would be worth putting together a quick outline of the basics of headphone hifi, or Headfi. I’m going to focus primarily on digital media in this post, but much of it (except the parts about DACs) will also apply to a purely analog system. I’ll start by reiterating my four rules of hi-fi audio, then get into it: You like what you like. The most important factor in judging an audio system is also the simplest: does it sound good, to you, in your space, and listening to the things you want to listen to? [1] Many of my fellow audio nerds spend a lot of time arguing about objectivity and measurements, and that seems silly to me. Do you like the $5 headphones that came with your phone? Sweet! Enjoy! Do you want to spend $25,000 on a set of Macintosh separates? Awe...
Read more

Hifiman Arya Stealth: My New Favorite Objective Open-Back

Image
  [ MSRP $1,599 , marked down pretty much everywhere to $599. Purchased for $599 + tax on Amazon in January 2025.] [ Tl;dr: I wouldn’t pay the original MSRP, but these are awesome for $599 and that seems to be the new defacto price across the internet. These are hands-down the best objective-tuned headphones I’ve ever listened to. They can be a tiny bit treble-heavy, so it’s convenient to have EQ as an option, but I basically don’t use it 99% of the time so far. In my opinion, you have to pay substantially more to compete with it in an objective headphone, though I personally prefer something like the Meze 109 Pro for $200 more.] Scores: Cost-agnostic: 9 out of 10 Denalis Cost-sensitive: 9 out of 10 Denalis Intro.  I’ve never particularly liked Hifimans. The Sundaras are one of the most recommended intro headphones in the audiophile community (behind only the Sennheiser 6XX), but for me they are really, really unpleasantly strident in the treble. Between that, their middlin...
Read more

Meze 109 Pro Review

Image
  [MSRP $799. Purchased for $799 + tax on Amazon in January 2025.] [ Tl;dr: These are my new favorite headphones, period. They’re not objective-focused; their tune is warm (and buttery, and magic), but if that’s something you’re interested in, I cannot recommend these strongly enough. They’re so good out of the box, in fact, that I’m not even using EQ on them. This is my end-game open-back, at least until I can justify trying out the Meze Empyrean 2.] Scores: Cost-agnostic: 10 out of 10 Denalis Cost-sensitive: 9 out of 10 Denalis [I know. I know.] Intro.  I’ve owned and loved a pair of the Meze x Drop 99 Noir (the Drop rebrand and recolor of the Meze 99 Classic, a widely beloved entry-level audiophile-grade closed back headphone. Because I’d loved those headphones (still my favorite closed back ), but generally prefer open-backs, and because I love Meze’s steampunk-esque aesthetic, I decided to buy myself a pair of open-backed Mezes for Christmas. There are really two ch...
Read more