2023-12-31 11:26:21
So many great albums, so little space: like the EP section, they would have Honorable Mentions They might be bursting at the seams in 2023 – but will still be strictly limited to 15 mentions of favorite albums outside of the regular top 50.
| HM | EPs | 50 – 41 | 40 – 31 | 30 – 21 | 20 – 11 | 10 – 01 | The Playlist |
Meredith Bates – Tesseract
Review | Spotify
„My first language was music.“ says the Canadian Meredith Bates and continues: “I love to create things slowly… slow builds that layer in sounds with spaciousness. My personal sound is measured and layered. I create immersive sonic spaces that are representative of the world around us.“
Somewhere in the depressing reality between ambient and post-rock, on her second album Tesseract, Bates formulates long, abstract sound poems that, recorded in just a day and a half in Vanvouver, seem like labyrinthine odysseys, detaching themselves from physicality and simultaneously immersing themselves in one’s own mind.
Was einen faszinierenden Sog entwickelt, dem man das Ringen mit der eigenen Komfortzone jedoch kaum anmerkt: „The longest track on the album is 45 minutes and was recorded live without any edits in post. My goal was to play for longer than I was comfortable and I pushed myself to really go into a flow state and leave my thinking, judging brain behind, so that I might listen deeply into the music and react to it.“
Church of Misery – Born Under a Bad Sign
Review | Spotify
The following still applies: never were Church of Misery better than in the first years of its existence. What is also true: It has been a long time since the band led by bassist and songwriter Tatsuo Mikami (as the only remaining founding member) has performed in a stronger form than at the veritable rebirth Born Under a Mad Sign: Original singer Kazuhiro Asaeda and the (ex)Eternal Elysium-Axis of Toshiaki Umemura and Yukito Okazaki implement their leader’s doom stoner ideas with the true crime concept loop more compellingly than most other incarnations of the band, while the song material shakes the massive heavy riffs from the wrist, until the neck muscles are flattened.
Another fact: With a less sterile drum sound – wouldn’t you know better if it came from a can – you would have to Born Under a Mad Sign are much higher up on this list.
Daisy Jones & The Six – Aurora
Review | Spotify
Would the pleasing format radio pop rock from Aurora don’t carry the baggage of being the supposed mega-seller uber-album of a fictional band from a cheesy series with the king’s granddaughter in the lead role, then all the harmless songs here would probably be more convincing.
Not until you free yourself from the idea that the eleven tracks on the record are theoretically Fleetwood Mac-Homage were conceived (but then sound far too modern and produced with a smooth, high gloss), the result still works because Blake Mills (who is the producer of Feist, Fiona Apple or Alabama Shakes (who, by the way, recently had time once more for a solo album under his own name) ultimately simply delivered great songs as substance, which are pleasantly uncomplicated as easy listening catchy tunes to lift the mood, much too bad for an irrelevant guilty pleasure playlist, and regarding the nostalgic, melancholic background soundtrack for the washing up – and also the series Daisy Jones & The Six in themselves – have outgrown.
DJ Muggs – Soul Assassins 3: Death Valley
Review | Spotify
Published there DJ Muggs What feels like a dozen albums, collaborations and productions every year, none of which are weak; So many of which really underline Lawrence Muggerud’s class without making it obtrusive; and, especially since 2018, has compiled a discography that has been growing almost non-stop and is unparalleled in its consistency.
But there is rarely really much wind around it.
Which is also due to the fact that the 55-year-old legend puts his skills to the service of the cause so unspectacularly. Subversive beats and the pedestals on which the features are enthroned are allowed to shine – in the case of Soul Assassins 3: Death Valleythe successor of Muggs Presents… The Soul Assassins Chapter I (1997), Muggs Presents Soul Assassins II (2000) and intermediate sharing DJ Muggs Presents Soul Assassins: Intermission (2009) and Soul Assassins: Murder Day (2018), by the way, these are none other than, among others Ghostface Killah, Westside Gunn, Roc Marciano, Rome Streetz, Ceelo Green, Domo Genesis, Method Man, Slick Rick, B-Real, Ice Cube and MC Ren: what a subtle spectacle, wonderfully unfashionable!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmG_9et-D-o
Vincent Neil Emerson – The Golden Crystal Kingdom
Review | Spotify
Willie Nelson celebrated his 90s impressively alongside two new albums and Iris DeMent made a proper comeback Turnpike Troubadours an even greater one. Gabe Lee and The War & Treaty have finally established themselves in the front row of the scene, while Cilker and Price can argue regarding who is currently the best Margo in the country business, Brent Cobb and Jason Isbell underline their status. The stars of (current Elvis-doing) Tyler Childers and (live veteran) Charley Crockett continue to rise, while Nick Shoulders, Daniel Donato and Charles Wesley Godwin are finally getting more attention.
In the shadow of all these things, Vincent Neil Emerson is meanwhile continuing to support his more prominent friends, where his music feels like it is becoming more and more serious and (apart from a few rocky outbursts) calmer, calmer and more profound – just listen to his interpretation of Time of the Cottonwood Trees or that Original Time of the Rambler. These are songs that don’t have to prove anything to anyone, and from that knowledge they cultivate greatness with understatement.
Eremit – Wearer of Numerous Forms
Review | Spotify
Shortly following Bell Witch the almost 83 minute running time of the only song from Future’s Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate announced and a Disintegrate that made it seem like a short-distance stroll on paper alone Hermit with Wearer of Numerous Forms and whose 3 monumental pieces, which devour 133 minutes, have their “Hold My Beer“-Moment.
But the mass here is not a gimmicky gimmick, but rather the means to an end in order to be able to properly articulate and carry the substance of a record, which appears like the mystical doom and sludge equivalent of an epic that is aware of its scope: Hermit Through the desire to make listening to music an act of strength, they have now achieved reference status – which even the frustrating experiences in distributing the limited (and super stylish) vinyl version (hopefully only the exception to the rule in my personal case) might hardly tarnish .
Peter Gabriel – i/o
Review | Spotify
The waiting time between two regular studio albums increases almost exponentially, but every second of it is worth it: i/o is from the strong opener Panopticom another masterpiece from the Brit – even if following just under a month (and presumably not even following the fragmented full moon release enjoyment spread over 2023) it is difficult to definitively assess how big it actually is. So that’s why Honorable Mentionsas a shot in the dark in the middle of the regular charts.
But without seeming as cerebral or uptight as the long period in which the album was created (including the decision between the… [Go Bright Side!]-Mixes want to refuse volume) is the tenth solo album from Gabriel twenty-one years later UP basically nothing that makes it difficult for the fan. About simply great pop songs like the title track, Four Kinds of Horses, Road to Joy or those of Paul Simon Olive Tree is enthroned that is so touching Playing for Time over a beautifully balanced, varied and detailed sum of ethereal artistry. i/o seems like a familiar homecoming that feels fresh and (self-)referential, as if the 73-year-old had never been away.
Ohzora Kimishima – No Public Sounds
Review | Spotify
Already that would be published in January 映帶する煙 (Eitai suru kemuri) was best in the ambient, dreamy, gently enveloping pop mode (just listen as a demonstration 19℃) and also the style collage added at the end of the year No Public Sounds impresses when Ohzora Kimishima uses calm, ethereal expressions like in the middle section movie and Curtainsfinds.
Like the androgynous Japanese artist’s presumably only second studio album (at least if you rely on Western websites and streaming services as a source) following a wave of pretty fantastic standalone singles around it, a colorful potpourri of rock, funk, snippets of electronic programming including psychedelic excerpts and offers intimately plucked folk miniatures, but it is a varied and well-rounded affair (even if the entire discography still works better when packed into a playlist when played randomly). The experimental backbone of the songs does not shy away from pleasant accessibility, there is a quirky pragmatism in which catchy melodies with strange facets are captured and thus leave you latently disoriented.
One of the most enjoyable personal discoveries of the year!
Damian Lewis – Mission Creep
Review | Spotify
As an actor who also wants to live out his passion as a musician, Damian Lewis not only shares his professional fate with David Duchovny.
No, following his solo debut has already been relatively celebrated at this point and the sometimes bluesy, sometimes folky and sometimes leaning back, jazzy rocking singer-songwriter pieces by Mission Creep Having proven to be a nonchalant and persistent companion throughout the summer, Lewis can now find a place in the local scene with his debut work Honorable Mentions show – what Fox Mulder Incidentally, he only succeeded with his third work.
In a strong year for music, Lewis, led by London alto saxophonist Giacomo Smith Kansas Smitty’s House Band very stylishly reinforced in the back, at least immediately established as a competent songwriter and idiosyncratic singer, who manages the potential classic/dad rock hits so easily and even suggests that Mission Creep at least in relevant circles (well, somehow Rolling Stonesmagazine clientele?) had caught more wind, there would be a different name on the grotesque album cover.
Simon Linsteadt – Mud Season
Review | Spotify
You certainly don’t have to blame Simon Linsteadt for being involved Mud Season to have recorded a particularly original album. Let alone one with a stringent arc of suspense.
However, in a year that was extremely productive even by his standards (which yielded so many great discoveries), the man from Maine has managed to create a disarmingly pleasant collection of songs over 19 songs or 62 minutes, ranging from tasteful Elliott Smith nods to vocoder-altered ones Wilco-References allow the short folk, singer-songwriter and bluegrass bites to all drip authentically from the ether.
Mud Season is first and foremost unobtrusive and secondly by no means inconsequential or characterless, which is why, thirdly, along with its subtle ear-pleasers, it is also interesting enough to be the ideal accompanying background soundtrack for so many of the past months, even beyond the mild, sunny days.
Nas – Magic 3
Review | Spotify
Was following Nasirthe underwhelming interlude with Kanye West in his 2018 album series, the assessment of the rap legend’s status outside of loyal fan circles is still largely located in such a way that Nas following his iconic debut Illmatic was primarily concerned with disappointing, but has had an incredibly productive run with the producer Hit-Boy Not only did the perspective in many places change to a failure-free, consistently impressive discography, but above all it also ensured a new lease of life in the creative life of Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones before his 50th birthday: 6 albums (3 parts King‘s Disease3 To you Magic) the two worked together for a long time and created a segment in the work of Nas created that congenially combined the balancing act between modern staging and timeless content – and which was now pulled in a high phase, before signs of fatigue might appear in the comfort zone. Everything done right. Again and once more.
Queens of the Stone Age – In Times New Roman...
Review | Spotify
Much has been written regarding what a triumphant comeback In Times New Roman… according to the mediocre Villains but be; how smoothly rumbling around the corner songwriting Josh Homme (following the mudslinging separation from Brody Dalle) finally shakes his hips once more with natural snappiness; how well the self-produced sound emphasizes the band’s strengths and how magnificent Mark Rankin’s mix reinforces all of this (please just listen to how the gang keeps withdrawing, the sonic dynamics assuming an acceptance of calm in the amplitudes, alone Sicily a truly magnificent articulation by the rock band celebrated with effective string arrangements); and how good they are Queens In addition, Live is finally back once more – with this verdict you can probably trust Dave Grohl, who also delivered an impressive return to form.
Everything is rightly happening, but what is rarely raved regarding is the performance of exceptional drummer Jon Theodore, a decade following he joined the band Queens has also arrived on record in the band’s structure, plays so appropriately for the song material and yet swirls a crazy dynamic into every second that the underlying energy of this eighth album is captivating just because it’s so exciting to hear what embellishments Theodore has put into it small corners and edges.
Sarmat – Determined To Strike
Review | Spotify
Imperial Triumphants (Paranoid Android, A Night in Tunisia, Jacob‘s Ladder, Motorbreath and Nefereti comprehensive) cover singles series has become more of an ambivalently received collection. According to reports, large parts of the New York fans had a lot more fun with it Sarmatianthe new project from bassist Steve Blanko with, among others Artificial Brain-Guitarist Oleg Zalman, from the first, 17 minute (non-album) debut single Dubious Disk up to the first long player Determined to Strike finally within direct reach of Imperial Triumphant happened, but there was no discussion regarding the raison d’être: the avant-garde was further transformed into tech-metal and that Obscura-Focal point shifted, jazz does not come from the distinguished grandeur of the golden 20s, but from an instinctive roughness that mutates, lives and breathes in a free-spirited way.
The rest is done by progressive songs that reach the sweaty point in a compact way through a complex performance.
See You Next Tuesday – Distractions
Review | Spotify
Hand on heart: the reports that began in 2015 regarding the reunion of the former MySpace scene high-flyers See You Next Tuesday were largely apathetic at this point; the interest in the comeback, which was actually firmly cast in the form of a third studio album, initially only aroused mild interest.
That Distractions It was therefore unforeseeable that it would be so addictive with its mature, hungry, snarling mix of brutal math, grind and deathcore. But the quartet around Mailman Drew Slavik and Howler Chris Fox are simply playing for their lives here, rushing the best songs of their career across the finish line with a flattening precision that feels more like the starting point for a second musical life, the original run from 2004 until 2009 now looks like a warm-up lap.
But also quite honestly: the anticipation of the upcoming remix record Relapses is still within limits.
Spotlights – Alchemy for the Dead
Review | Spotify
I have no idea how this really absurd artwork, which might have caused eye cancer even in the 90s, was allowed to pass the Brooklyn band’s otherwise reliable quality control from an aesthetic point of view. But otherwise fulfilled Alchemy for the Dead – exactly how it is Seance EP as Herold practically promised – all the hopes that one had in the successor to the already so successful 2019 predecessor Love & Decay has set.
Sarah and Mario Quintero, along with drummer Chris Enriquez, vary what has long been a signature sound Spotlights-Essence less than that they effectively get to the point, bringing the symbiosis of longing shoegaze, heavy alternative rock and melancholic post metal to life in a concise way that the result takes on such a fulfilling form, especially in its atmospheric effect, that you feel beyond their former harshness into the world of Spotlights loses.
There are hardly any wishes left unfulfilled. Except that the band is resuming their cover series from 2020.
| HM | EPs | 50 – 41 | 40 – 31 | 30 – 21 | 20 – 11 | 10 – 01 | The Playlist |
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