Favorite Music from 2023

a standalone shelf of vinyl records with a turntable, cassette tape drawers and a bust of Lionel Richie painted like Ace Frehley from KISS sitting on top. another shelf mounted to the wall has various records on display
35mm Summilux Pre-ASPH / Leica M10-P

I thought I’d put together a little post on some favorite music for 2023. This year felt like I listened to a lot less than last year, which is understandable given that work has been a rollercoaster. There is so much music that should probably be listed here that I just haven’t gotten to yet. I love this time of year for all of the music reviews, that’s usually where I catch up on things. But I’ll keep my lists honest with no intentions of updating it after digging into other lists later.

Initially I wanted to create an interesting layout template for this specific type of post, but I never got around to it. A redesign is slowly in the works, so maybe next year.

New discoveries

There are three artists in particular this year that I’d never heard of before, and I can’t stop listening to them since. First would be Nolan Potter and his Nightmare Band. I went to see Impending Joy open for Nolan Potter, but left the show after Impending Joy’s set. Huge mistake. I started listening to Nolan Potter a lot afterwards and have been kicking myself in the ass for leaving that show since. Music Is Dead and Nightmare Forever are both a good blend of psych-rock, pop, progressive and experimental. The latest album titled Honey is a bit different. I’ve only listened to it once straight through. It is similar, and there’s a story with spoken words over the music for a lot of the album.

The second artist that I can’t stop listening to since I heard about them this year is Misha Panfilov. Panfilov is a highly prolific jazz, rock, funk, soul and maybe more composer. Days As Echoes has been on repeat for the last couple of months this year. It actually took me a while to start going through more of his work (which is a lot) because I could not stop listening to that album. He put out Atlantico this year which is also very much worth listening to. There’s so much more to listen to in his ever-expanding catalog and I’ve been really enjoying getting to know his work. His new band Penza Penza also put out Electricolorized this year, and if you’re into funky jams, this is for you.

DOOM GONG is a band that just popped up on a November release radar playlist on Spotify. I’d never heard of this band before, and whoa. Whoooaaa. So. Got. Dang. Good. Their second full length album titled DREAM BEHEMOTH seems much more polished than the first. A lovely blend of jazz, progressive and indie rock and I can’t wait for more. I predict each album will be a level-up from the last. There’s a lot of talent in this group so expect some great things.

New albums

This year saw a tremendous amount of incredible music released. I don’t think I could or should list every single album that I dug, but I will hit on some of the ones that really stood out.

  • Fuse - Everything But The Girl
  • Fantasy - M83
  • Saturnian Bloodstorm - Lamp of Murmuur
  • That! Feels Good! - Jessie Ware
  • With Dreams of Hereafter - Hole Dweller
  • The Love Invention - Alison Goldfrapp
  • PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation - King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
  • The Silver Cord - King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
  • The Enduring Spirit - Tomb Mold
  • Eternal Sorcery - One of Nine
  • New Blue Sun - Andre 3000
  • Integrated Tech Solutions - Aesop Rock
  • Atlantico - Misha Panfilov
  • Electricolorized - Penza Penza
  • DREAM BEHEMOTH - DOOM GONG
  • Ebony Pendant - Ebony Pendant
  • The Nighthold - Vargrav

New singles / EPs / Splits

  • Luminescent Bridge - Blood Incantation
  • Starpath - Dream Unending / Worm
  • Trade - Bullant
  • Baby again.. - Fred again.. / Skrillex / Four Tet
  • (Sk)A-Punk - Jeff Rosenstock
  • New Heart Designs - Turnstile / BADBADNOTGOOD
  • Return To Centaurus - Mildlife
  • Sour Soul - Alain Goraguer
  • Dry Pond - Impending Joy
  • Sunbursting - Bibio
  • Blackbox Life Recorder 21f / in a room7 F760 - Aphex Twin

Shows

  • Impending Joy - Snug Harbor
  • Mayhem / Blood Incantation / Gorguts - The Fillmore
  • Hallas - The Pour House
  • M83 - The Anthem
  • The Flaming Lips - The Fillmore
  • Blood Incantation - The Underground

Playlist

Every year I start a new playlist titled New Listens Discovery that is full of anything that I really liked this year. That does mean a lot of new releases for the current year, but also a handful of songs I’ve just never heard before and really enjoyed.