This year was something of an abnormal year in music for me. I can't remember a year with more releases that I was excited to hear -- more than 40 in fact. Yet when it came down to deciding on my 10 favorite of the year I struggled to get to 10 that I felt were worthy of my list. I eventually got there, but that means there were far more disappointments for me in 2023 than favorites. Some of the releases were awful, but the majority were just plain average. The mediocre included releases from artists I love -- Everything But The Girl, ZZ Ward, Blur, Natalie Merchant and The Pretenders to name a few. Then there were some I enjoyed but not enough to include them on my must-listen list -- Depeche Mode, Durand Jones, Boy & Bear, and The Struts. And there were a few that flirted with my top 10 but in the end didn't quite get there -- albums from The New Pornographers, Molly Burch, Jess Williamson, Hozier, and Bethany Cosentino could be called honorable mentions.
My Favorite Albums of 2023
My Favorite Albums of 2023
My Favorite Albums of 2023
This year was something of an abnormal year in music for me. I can't remember a year with more releases that I was excited to hear -- more than 40 in fact. Yet when it came down to deciding on my 10 favorite of the year I struggled to get to 10 that I felt were worthy of my list. I eventually got there, but that means there were far more disappointments for me in 2023 than favorites. Some of the releases were awful, but the majority were just plain average. The mediocre included releases from artists I love -- Everything But The Girl, ZZ Ward, Blur, Natalie Merchant and The Pretenders to name a few. Then there were some I enjoyed but not enough to include them on my must-listen list -- Depeche Mode, Durand Jones, Boy & Bear, and The Struts. And there were a few that flirted with my top 10 but in the end didn't quite get there -- albums from The New Pornographers, Molly Burch, Jess Williamson, Hozier, and Bethany Cosentino could be called honorable mentions.