My Top 10 Albums of 2023
I’m not sure what it was about this year specifically, but I found myself listening to more albums in their entirety than ever before. And DANG, what a year to start doing so. Even way back in April I felt like 2023 had a ton of heavy hitters worth talking about, and the year wasn’t even half over yet. I’m even starting a blog tab on my portfolio just to surface my thoughts on the matter - I can’t remember the last time I’ve sat down and written something that wasn’t an obligation on my part.
Before I get into the list, let me set proper expectations for what to expect here:
I am not a writer. I’m just some goofball who loves music and I want to write about it the same way I would talk about it. I’ll do my best to make sure this is as readable as can be, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.
This list is going to be extremely biased. I am not trying to make some analytical run-down of what albums this year were the most well-executed. I’m barely educated enough on music to talk about the things I like personally - I’m not going to fumble my way through trying to sound smart about music. I like what I like, and I just want to share that with you!
Each album will have a little blurb of my thoughts and also a SoundCloud player to one of my favorite songs from the album. So if you’re scrolling through this, you’ve got 0 excuse to not at least give each one a brief listen. :)
Sound good? Sweet! Now let’s get into it.
10. Gorillaz - Cracker Island
It’s hard for me to dislike a Gorillaz album and Cracker Island is, simply put, just good. As expected with any Gorillaz album, there are some all-star collaborations on this project like Tame Impala on New Gold, Stevie Nicks on Oil, and Thundercat on the titular Cracker Island. Even outside of those, there are some solid solo-Gorillaz songs like my personal favorite on the album: Tarantula. And to top it off, there was the Deluxe version giving us one of the dumbest bangers of the year with Captain Chicken. (Side note: how dare they drop the Deluxe version right after I ordered a vinyl of the album.) Where this album falls flat though is that none of the songs are like, “WOAH!”. They’re all, like I said before, just good. And while you can interpret that as this album being a bit generic (true tbh), I think there’s incredible value in that! Mass appeal means I can share these songs with my family and not have to worry about them turning down the volume while we’re in the car.
9. Lil Texas - TOO FAST
This album is NOT for everyone. Hell, the entire genre of hardcore isn’t palatable for most, and a few years ago even I didn’t really get the appeal. But suddenly something just clicked with me especially with Lil Texas. It’s just how blatantly upfront and honest his music is with what it’s trying to be (see: this album is literally called Too Fast). It’s also probably the fact that my taste in music can often be boiled down to “the faster, the better”. We Need A Doctor is one of my favorite songs of the year, but other songs like Riot or Heavy Mad have that signature punchiness that no other genre delivers. Fun fact: I almost actually excluded this album from my list despite liking it so much because I was worried people would be like “Leo… what is this…” But that’s not the point of this list. I like what I like, and if you don’t like it too, that’s fine - I just want to share with y’all!
8. ALEPH - SEPULCHRE
ALEPH is an artist I found back in 2017 with his first project titled Vol. 1. Even back then, ALEPH had a grip on sound design that was unrivaled. This is twice or even thrice as true with SEPULCHRE. Every listen of every song brings something new as you pick up on different pockets of the tracks. This is also a rare album where I can truly say it has something for everyone (unless you have a personal vendetta against electronic music in which case you aren’t going to like every single album on this list). Honestly, I’ve sat here trying to compartmentalize different tracks for your convenience but every single one just covers so much ground. If you want to know my favorite song on the album, look at the first three words of this sentence (haha get it the song is called IF U WANT haha do you get it). This whole album is such a beautifully and meticulously hand-crafted journey that I encourage you to experience.
7. Metaroom - OXIDIZED ARCHIVE
I’ve been listening to electronic music since when I first started caring about music. Synths and computers just have such infinite possibilities - there’s really no way to tell what the “next step” is within this massive genre. Metaroom masterfully embraces this unpredictability in a way that’s made them one of my favorite artists currently. Just listen to EMMAROOT followed by Cloudswallower - the outro of the former and the intro of the latter are so different in energy yet they’re sonically cohesive. And even within each song it feels like every 5 seconds I’m being taken for a loop but without ever losing me. I will cede that some of the songs on this album might be a bit too hectic and fast for most, but for me this is what I rely on to keep me energized throughout the day. Maybe that’s telling of my suspected undiagnosed ADHD. Probably. Definitely.
6. Frost Children - SPEED RUN
Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Leo, these last two albums are awesome! But, I need something with lyrics and words; I want to sing along!” Look no further than Speed Run by Frost Children. The variety that they bring to this album is all over the place in the best way possible. ALL I GOT gives you mellow hints of traditional pop music , immediately followed by the frantic energy of OBSESSED, and then suddenly we’re in a remix/cover of a song from Super Smash Bros. with SERPENT? Where the hell even am I?! The way this album moves you from one place to another through the stark differences in each song is fitting of the title Speed Run, but never does any track on this album feel like it doesn’t fit among the rest. It’s a rare treat finding an album and an artist that can execute something like that so well, all the while keeping such a signature and solid identity unique to themselves.
5. 100 gecs - 10,000 gecs
I did not go into 2023 expecting to have a hyperpop album featuring nu metal and ska tracks in my top 10 list, but I should have known better knowing that 100 gecs are who they are. For those who don’t know what hyperpop is, I’d recommend listening to 757 or Dumbest Girl Alive off of this album. But those aren’t even my personal favorite tracks off this album, which is astonishing considering that hyperpop is probably my favorite genre right now. No, my favorite song on this album is Billy Knows Jamie, a nu metal song, which is a genre a single song of exposure to (this one). This album is just so all over the place, but it’s all so FUN and energetic in the best ways possible. Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned Frog On The Floor. Maybe I shouldn’t… maybe that’s one that you should just listen to with zero expectations.
4. Nitepunk - HUMAN
During the period where Festival of Legends, the expansion I led for Hearthstone, was all that I wanted to talk about on Twitter, someone recommended this album to me. On my first few listens, I thought it was alright, but nothing more. Over time I just kept coming back to songs like MTV and Point - there was something about them that I couldn’t get enough of. Eventually, I saw that Nitepunk was hosting his first debut show nearby and I knew I had to go. Oh my GOD am I glad I went. To this day, that show is still the single best show I’ve ever been to. It might honestly be one of the best live events of any kind I’ve ever been to. The energy coming from both the music itself and the crowd is permanently printed into my memory. I long for the day that Nitepunk plays another show near me so I can feel that same energy again. To the person that showed me this album, thank you.
3. underscores - Wallsocket
Underscores is special for me - I’ve been listening to her music since she had less than a few hundred followers on SoundCloud. Seeing her grow as an artist in terms of both her following and her talent has been amazing to see. Every project she releases creates a new ceiling for her to break, and it’s impressive that she does so consistently. When Cops and robbers dropped as a single, I distinctly remember being both excited and worried. Excited since this meant new fantastic music was on the horizon, but worried because my expectations were already through the roof from that single. Man, was I so happy to be so wrong. Every single song on this album is damn near perfect, with Johnny johnny johnny standing above the rest. My only complaint is that underscores had to schedule her tour shows near me for the one week all year that I was out of the country. Which is literally not even a complaint so yeah, this album slaps.
2. Skrillex - Quest for Fire
This one right here is just plain unfair. When someone as seasoned in the industry as Skrillex drops an album, it feels like it’s already expected to be a winner. Quest For Fire is a pretty stark departure from what Skrillex is known for, but I welcome it with open arms. I feel like his older dubstep/”brostep” stuff, while great, has been pretty fully explored from the entire movement his albums spawned. This album feels so fresh but still has that Skrillex-y attitude to it. One unfortunate thing about this album is that I genuinely can’t choose a favorite song from it. XENA, TOO BIZARRE (juked), Tears, Leave Me Like This - if I keep going I’ll just be naming the entire album. The thing that proves to me that this album is deserving of being #2 on this list is that my car could only play CDs for most of this year, and most of that time was spent listening to just this album. Even after what literally several months of just this album while driving, I’m still not sick of any of the songs.
1. JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown - SCARING THE HOES
If you had told a Leo from any year prior to this one that his favorite album of 2023 would be a hip hop album, he wouldn’t believe you. But this isn’t just some hip hop album, it’s entirely its own thing. Every single track on this is so unique and different than anything else I’ve heard within the genre ever. And what’s funny is that I didn’t consider myself to be a huge fan of either of these artists prior to this year. I liked some JPEGMAFIA songs from his older projects, which lead to Lean Beef Patty popping up on my Twitter feed at some point. When the album dropped, songs like Garbage Pale Kids and Burfict! hit too hard to not put on repeat nonstop. This whole album feels like its pushing the boundaries on what to expect from the genre, and I hope that JPEG and Danny don’t stop pushing. Oh, and fun fact: this whole thing was made on a Roland SP-404SX, a sampler from 2009. That’s hardware older than most current high schoolers.
And there we have it! What an amazing year for music. I hope you enjoyed reading through my recommendations, opinions, and thoughts, and I especially hope I was able to show you something new that you’re adding to your playlists.
Here’s to hoping that 2024 has as many gems as 2023!
