2023 Year in Review
I didn't do a written analysis of my top songs this year. I started with that last year and really got rabbit-holed in it. I wanted to get this year's list out earlier so I just compiled my favorite 55 (or so) songs in this playlist. I was intentional with the order of the first 50 songs and after that, I kept songs I really loved or added new songs at the end (I reserve the right to keep adding to it and/or editing it!).
A few music-related things I really enjoyed this year...
Steven Hyden
As I described to my buddy Casey, “Steven Hyden is one of us.” He’s around our age, is as passionate about music as us, and a lot of our favorite bands are his favorite bands. He also writes about a lot of bands that I don't know that I end up really liking. I read his book about Pearl Jam last year. As a super fan of the band for their entire existence, I wasn’t sure there was much for me to learn from it. But Hyden does so much more than just tell the story. He’s really good at placing it in the cultural context of what life was like when these things were happening.
I read his book about Radiohead’s Kid A this year and had a similar experience. That was such a seminal album at a seminal time in the internet’s history. This book really helped me reflect on how rapidly things have evolved since this album was released, which isn’t always easy to do when you are constantly trying to keep pace with the technological current.
His monthly list of new music he likes on UPROXX is even more diverse and eclectic and is a must-read for me each month. It reaffirms a lot of things I like, but is almost always 75% new stuff that I don’t know, but usually really like. As mentioned, he’s one of us.
Live Albums
Three great live albums came out late this year. The first was a show that I had the opportunity to attend at Chicago’s Thalia Hall - Neal Francis’ Francis Comes Alive. This show was a full-on celebratory party atmosphere, complete with costumes and an 11-piece band, including a mini-choir and a horns section. His music is so much fun and really…ahem….comes alive in this setting. He had a lot of fun with the rollout of the album as well, including a premiere of the concert film at the Music Box Theater (I’m sure he was inspired by Think Tank Comedy’s premiere there a few years back!).
Instrumental guitar virtuoso William Tyler also released a career-spanning live set in March, Secret Stratosphere. His song “Highway Anxiety” remains track #1 on my playlist for when I’m having anxiety, and he puts some cool delay effects on this live version that makes it even more surreal. This set closes out with a thrashing “Area Code 601,” which is the heaviest I’ve heard the usually mellow Tyler get, and the result is AWESOME.
Tyler describes this closer as a “Hawkwind meets Charlie Daniels number,” which sent me down a Hawkwind rabbit hole (I had previously never heard of them). They were a revolving cast of characters that included Lemmy (from Motorhead), Ginger Baker (the iconic drummer from Cream and other bands), and many more stellar musicians. They are credited as co-founders of Space Rock. This rabbit hole just became a black hole!
Another live release is from MJ Lenderman, which is a burner, full of perfect guitar tones and slacker rock anthems. It includes two new songs (“Knockin” and “Rudolph”) that he has only recently released as singles to date. His album from last year (which made this list) is also heavily featured with a boozy, barroom vibe that loosens these songs even more.
Finally, as a bonus add-on, Willie Nelson just released a live recording of his 90th birthday party, Long Story Short. This marathon set features dozens of epic guests, from Snoop Dogg to Bob Weir, with Keith Richards, Beck, Neil Young, Margo Price, and many more. It's a celebration of an American icon, featuring many peers (the ones who are still with us) as well as many artists who were influenced by his epic career.
A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs Podcast
Jeff Tweedy turned me onto this podcast through his Starship Casual Substack email subscription. You can sign up for a free version of Tweedy's Starship Casual to receive a ~weekly email from himwith musings from the road, updates on what’s inspiring him, Wilco gear talk, and more (there’s a paid version as well, where Tweedy shares many unreleased demos and solo acoustic versions of songs as well…but the free version does it for me).
Back to this podcast though - it is awesome. It begins with the songs and genres that were the earliest influences on Rock ‘n’ Roll and then delves into the early most influential songs from the Rock 'n' Roll canon. It’s like an endless rabbit hole of Rock ‘n’ Roll that will lead you down many other paths as well. The early episodes range from 30 to 60 minutes, but once he gets to the more Golden Era of Rock, he extends them out, sometimes beyond two hours (as of this writing, he is currently on episode 170, which is about Van Morrison’s “Astral Weeks”).
A Flourishing Chicago Music Scene
One thing I wish I had done a better job of while living in Chicago was tapping into the local music scene. There weren’t a lot of bands to emerge from Chicago during my time there (Twin Peaks, Whitney, Chance the Rapper, and the Smith Westerns all come to mind), but the indie scene there is currently on a heater. Dehd has been around for a few years now and has released a couple of great albums. Same with Neal Francis. There’s a new wave on the rise that includes Ratboys (who released a top album for me in 2023, keep reading to find out where it lands), Horsegirl, Deeper, Kara Jackson, Lifeguard, and Friko (whose 2024 release is at the top of my most anticipated albums of 2024 list). I’d love to see any of these bands at a classic Chicago smaller venue - Empty Bottle, Subterranean, Schubas, etc. Let's go!
Album of the Year - Radiohead, In Rainbows*
You might immediately be wondering how In Rainbows, Radiohead’s album from 2006 is the 2023 Album of the Year. It wasn’t even reissued, so it’s not like some new version came out that could provide an asterisked victory. This is actually a plug for the Dissect podcast, which did a track-by-track breakdown of In Rainbows.
This podcast is, quite simply, one of the most brilliant things I have ever listened to. It made me a better Radiohead fan, a better In Rainbows fan, a better music fan, a better musician, and more appreciative of music and art in general. It shines a spotlight on what makes Radiohead so brilliant, technically and emotionally.
They delve into Radiohead’s history, their process, the instruments that make the many sounds and layers on the album, and explore bigger themes happening in and around the album. Episode 8 (about the song “Reckoner,” which previously hadn’t done much for me) is one of the most provocative analyses of art I have ever heard. The same can be said for the episode about album closer “Videotape.” Listen to this podcast, and tell me that In Rainbows doesn’t feel like a brand new album (and the best new album you’ve heard this year).
*Don’t worry, I have a top album that’s actually from this year, keep reading to get there.
Honorable Mention Albums
Rolling Stones, Hackney Diamonds
The Stones released their best album since....the '70s? There are some incredible songs on this album. The lead single, “Angry,” was a banger. “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” is an all-time great song, period (I hope it becomes the new official song of Hell’s Angels’ funerals). The acoustic country honk-ified “Dreamy Skies” sounds like it’s pulled from one of their peak albums of the ’70s. The highlight for me though is “Depending on You.” It just has such a great yearning, especially in the vocal (HOW does Mick still sound the exact same at the age of 80?!? He’s amazing here and his back and forth with Lady Gaga in “SSoH” is blissful).
There are some duds, but hey, one of the worst songs features Paul McCartney….a freaking Beatle!!! With the Stones!!!!! They close it out with a minimalist blues cover of “Rolling Stone Blues,” which is where they got their name. This move seems to telegraph or at least wonder if this could be their last album. I’m sure the recent death of Charlie Watt was a time of reflection and reckoning for the band. Of course, the Stones will live forever, but if this album is any indication, I'd love to hear a few more new albums before they hang it up.
Wunderkind producer Andrew Watt was at the helm for this album, and he’s done it again. He has worked with everyone from Post Malone to Ozzie Osbourne, to Eddie Vedder, to Paul McCartney to Stevie Wonder….I could go on. He’s also producing Pearl Jam’s next album which has me really excited for 2024.
Sunny War, Anarchist Gospel - I really liked this album, especially the lead single, “No Reason.” It’s solid across the board and features collaborators that include Jim James, David Rawlings, and Allison Russell. Definitely worth a listen, and keep an eye on her output in the future.
Top 15 Albums of 2023
15. Sufjan Stevens - Javelin
This is a really heavy offering in every regard. Sometimes, Sufjan just can’t catch a break. He dedicated this album to his partner who passed away earlier this year. As if that wouldn’t be heart-wrenching enough, he later revealed that he’s suffering from Guillain-Barré syndrome—a rare auto-immune disorder. At first when the debut single dropped and was titled, “Will Anyone Ever Love Me?,” I thought, “Really?!?” But in the context above, such a sentiment feels warranted.
The last time Sufjan suffered from a similarly debilitating illness, he gave us the Age of Adz. This album plays more like a cross between Illinois and Age of Adz. There are tranquil, melodic moments, and full-on electronic freakouts. It’s a wild ride that I’m honestly still unpacking (Age of Adz took months, this one may take longer). Also, the album-closing cover of Neil Young’s Harvest deep cut is equally beautiful due to Sufjan’s lush soundscapes he creates, but also in how it showcases the simplicity and beauty of the lyrics.
14. Wednesday - Rat Saw God
I love the soaring guitars and musical prowess of the band. The lyrics and vocals don’t always do it for me though. This is more likely on me than them, being a 43-year-old dude doesn’t always lend itself to listening to lyrics about watching someone play Mortal Combat. Unlike MJ Lenderman (who is also a guitarist in this band), the lyrics often focus on the mundane, but don’t drive home bigger picture issues when you dig into them. This doesn’t read as a super positive review, but it was still one of the best things I heard this year. “Chosen to Deserve” and “Quarry” absolutely rule.
Sometimes I am reluctant to recommend this band to people because the vocals can get a little emo-y and/or whiney, and sometimes downright sound like Mindy Tindle (with all due respect to Mindy). The good here far outweighs the bad though.
13. Colter Wall - Little Songs
This is Wall’s best album since his debut. I’ve described his voice as sounding like Johnny Cash’s grandpa, and that hasn’t changed. There are so many great songs here and he sounds very comfortable and self-assured on this outing. Early singles “Little Songs” and “Corraling the Blues” are among his best.
12. Doug Paisley - Say What You Like
Paisley has been putting out some great singer/songwriter albums for years now. He popped on my radar when opening for Dr. Dog on a tour, and his song “Drinking with a Friend” is a beautiful love letter to just that (seriously, if you don’t drink, I wouldn’t listen to this song, because it will make you want to…with a friend).
For this album, he rounds out his sound a bit for a little bit of a J.J. Cale spooky sound. Sidenote: You may not think you know J.J. Cale, but trust me, you do. A quick glance at his catalog may make you think he loved covering Clapton songs, but then you realize that he actually wrote “Cocaine” and “After Midnight,” among other classics like “Call Me the Breeze”. Beyond that, he, along with Leon Russell and a few others, is credited with being a founder of the “Tulsa Sound.”
I digress. Back to Doug Paisley, I hope he continues to pursue this vibe because when he does so on this album, it truly shines.
11. Animal Collective - Isn’t It Now?
This is Animal Collective’s best release since their masterpiece, Merriweather Post Pavilion. It features so many fun moments and great payoffs. AC is at its best when songs feel more fully collaborative, and those pieces really shine here. AC will try your patience at times, but there is almost always a worthy payoff, like the climax of “Genies Open,” which lifts off into a bouncy, blissful ride amongst the clouds. Even the 22-minute “Defeat” offers an incredibly catchy mid-section (it churns to life around the 9-minute mark) that will get stuck in your head for days before it drifts off into underwater oblivion.
10. Rose City Band - Garden Party
If you blend some bouncy Grateful Dead vibes with some pedal steel, and some meandering guitar jams, you’re probably going to make this list. Ripley Johnson is at it again with Rose City Band (one of his three awesome bands, I’ve written extensively about him before, but also check out Wooden Shjips and Moon Duo if you haven’t already). The album opener sums up the vibe of this one really well. It kicks off with a bouncing, happy ditty before it shifts and drifts off into an expansive landscape with a guitar/pedal steel breakdown to close it out.
The ironically titled “Slow Burn” (there are many much slower burns on this album) and “Porch Boogie” keep the tempo moving early on, and he opens up the landscape and song lengths later in the album, closing it out with three straight 6+ minute jams. “Mariposa” might be the highlight of the entire album, a seven-and-a-half-minute jam that builds and builds to glory. I’m well aware that I used the word “landscape" multiple times here, and that was intentional. This was a perfect soundtrack for Liz and my road trip across the Great American West this summer.
9. Peter Gabriel - i/0
This was a late addition that I’m still processing. Gabriel released a song on each full moon of 2023, but the full album didn’t come to fruition until November. That being said, upon the first listen, I knew it was one of the best things I heard in 2023. And it should be, it’s rumored that Gabriel has been working on this album for 28 years (!!!). “Panopticon” and “Road to Joy” were immediate standouts. “Olive Tree” features a huge pop chorus that will catch you quickly, and remind you of Gabriel’s 80’s heyday. What struck me about the songs in between was the tenderness in many of them. A good example is the album’s title track, which is so simple, humble, and vulnerable in its message.
I was never much of a Gabriel/Genesis fan growing up. Sadly, my musical consciousness of Genesis came to be around the silly “I Can’t Dance” era, long after Gabriel had left the band (I do remember his Sledgehammer video from when I was a very young child and being mesmerized by it. It was quintessential Mtv at the time). Just like it’s never too late to release a brilliant album (even 28 years later), it’s never too late to find a window into a brilliant artist’s late-career masterpiece. I’m excited to dig deeper into his previous work now as well.
My only knock here is that he did the dumb thing where he released three versions of the album all at once (much like Tyler Childers last year). Unlike Childers, who only offered a triple version of the album on vinyl, Gabriel offers a single version on wax. But still, just give us one version of the album upfront, and then release the other mixes later.
8. Lana Del Ray - Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd
Lana is great but has never really hit me before this album. This is an expansive (maybe bloated at times) outing, but the highs more than make up for the lows. She transcends genre and classification, going from straightforward piano ballads to whatever genre you want to call “Peppers.” There are so many incredible moments and dynamics happening here that you can forgive her for including a 4:36 minute snippet of a sermon from mega-church pastor, Judah Smith. No one else is making music like this. I don’t know if it’s the future, but it couldn’t possibly feel more like the present.
7. Joanna Sternberg - I’ve Got Me
This album feels like a cross between Daniel Johnston and Carole King. Sternberg grew up in NYC in an artist conclave and self-describes themselves as “autistic and A.D.H.D.” There is a stark vulnerability and simplicity to these songs, and what may first appear as childlike innocence reveals itself to be heavy, self-deprecating, and questioning of some big (and fundamental) topics.
This one isn’t for everyone (it’ll definitely hit for empathy junkies like me out there), but listen to the title track and “People are Toys to You” and you’ll know pretty quickly whether it is or not. Whether you love the performance or not, I think you be able to appreciate the incredible hooks and bounciness of these sometimes spiteful, bubblegum anthems.
I feel like 10 years from now, there will be a tribute album to this album where a bunch of huge indie artists cover these songs, and we’ll all celebrate their incredible, simplistic beauty. I’m just trying to enjoy it in the meantime as well.
*Bonus points for the album artwork here. Sternberg hand-draws all of the album artwork, including a large foldout of the lyrics.
6. Bully - Lucky for You
A couple of singles (“Lose You” ft. Soccer Mommy and “Days Move Slow”) from this one that got a heavy rotation on Sirius XMU really put this band on my radar. This one has some serious ’90s alternative anthemic leanings, with epic guitar tones and awesome angsty lyrics and vocals. My pal Corey introduced me to their previous catalog as well, which really stacks up.
5. Ratboys - The Window
While Wednesday garnered a lot of (mostly deserved) hype this year, there was another female-led indie band that really settled in for me - Chicago’s own Ratboys! I first heard of this band on one of Steven Hyden’s monthly lists when he shared the 8-minute-plus epic, “Black Earth, WI.” This song is so awesome. Any time a meandering guitar solo can settle in on a riff and drive it home until it becomes a full-on sing-along chorus, I’m going to be on board.
Beyond that epic, song-of-the-year-worthy beast, there are many other juicy guitar rock songs here. “Morning Zoo” features a glistening guitar lead line over a more mid-tempo churn. “Crossed That Line” is two minutes of driven frantic bliss with a couple of scorching guitar solos, and “It’s Alive” is a single-ready ballad with a soaring chorus. I love the haunted guitar lines that appear in the musical interludes and solos as well. “Black Earth, WI” remains the highlight though, and is worth every second of its build once that guitar solo hits the sweet spot. After that, there’s no turning back.
4. Young Fathers - Heavy Heavy
This one has been on my list all year long and was probably my favorite album of the year until about the midway point. It’s primal and frantic at times, and hypnotic at others. Lead single “I Saw” caught me earlier, and is definitely in the former category, and album opener “Rice” (in the latter category) might be just as good. “Tell Somebody” seems destined to be a show opener (or intro music as they walk on) and “Geronimo” is another highlight.
I am eager to see these guys live (check out their full KEXP performance here or a full set at a festival here). They are currently opening for Depeche Mode, but have a headlining show at the Vic in Chicago on April 11th. Who’s coming with me??
3. Cory Hanson - Western…
I’ll start this off by saying that I hate this album title (I omitted part of it here) and album cover. It was so dumb that I refused to buy the vinyl copy of it. That being said, the riff-heavy guitar rock on this one made it a top-three album of the year for me. So many great road rock jams. Hanson has shifted gears a few times on previous albums, but I hope he stays in this vein a bit longer (and chooses better album titles moving forward). Thanks to fellow C-ville-ian, Justin Cotton for turning me on to this scorching rock 'n' roll album.
2. Bonny Doon - Let There Be Music
My pal Casey put these guys on my radar after they were the backing band for Waxahatchee’s masterpiece, Saint Cloud. This is a smooth offering full of great songs from top to bottom. It kind of has a Kurt Vile on uppers vibe, slacker folk rock with some pretty great lyrics when you dig in. Highlights include “Crooked Creek” and “Let There Be Music,” but it’s all so dang good. There's not a ton to say here, just really good vibes all around.
1. Jason Isbell - Weathervanes
Before the release of Weathervanes, I had been up and down on Isbell. Every album he has released has been great, but I was kind of tired of it, both the studio and live shows. However, he just had an epic year, maybe the most epic of his prolific career. HBO released a revealing and raw documentary about the making of his previous album - directed by Sam Jones, who has made a pretty good rock doc or two before. He also STARRED in a Scorsese instant classic, Killers of the Flower Moon (when I heard he was in it, I presumed it was a bit part in it as a bandmember or something, but he was a major player, even squaring off against Leonardo DiCaprio in one gripping scene).
That would be a pretty prolific year for most artists, especially when stepping away from the microphone and guitar to step in front of the camera. But, not Isbell apparently. He went ahead and also released what may be the best album of his career…yes, it may be better than THAT album. Oh yeah, Isbell also released a deluxe reissue of THAT album for its 10th anniversary.
Weathervanes is a dense ride. It opens with a tale about a suicidal partner and continues with more tales of opioid addiction, women who got away, and school shootings. That’s all in its first half. But Isbell’s writing is at its best, and the band is better than they’ve ever been (in studio and live, more on the latter…later).
The album opener, “Deathwish,” is an incredible way to kick things off (although Jack White’s solo acoustic version of this song may be even better…it sounds like he wrote it). There is some really cool percussion happening on this one and throughout the album as well. Isbell's vocals have rarely sounded more confident than on “Middle of the Morning,” which was unintentionally my most-played song this year.
There are many other highlights including rocker “When We Were Close” which recaps Isbell’s friendship with the gone-way-too-soon Justin Townes Earle (check out this clip of Townes on Letterman…you may recognize that guitar player on the left). This song features one of Isbell’s most anthemic choruses, something that’s sometimes lacking in his catalog (“Be Afraid” and “Cumberland Gap” had big rocking choruses, but I don’t find myself wanting to sing along to them).
The most stunning song here is "Cast Iron Skillet." Upon my first few listens, I presumed it was all one story. But after more listens and reading a few interviews, I realized that each section is its own sad story. Isbell has stated that as a kid he was basically told that you never, under any circumstances wash a cast-iron skillet, but later in life, he realized it's ok to do so (some may still disagree!).
This song takes that small lesson, and turns it into a metaphor for the many things we are told when we are young that may instead be local folklore or "the way things are around here." It's soul-crushing, and it was soul-crushing before I even knew the full meaning. I saw him play this song this summer and full-on cried the entire time in front of my 10 or so friends who joined me that day. I didn't even care. It was that damn good.
I mentioned this album is dense, but it’s also deep with some of its best tracks on the back half. "Vestavia Hills'" spare arrangement leaves plenty of room for the guitars to breathe throughout its slow burn. The last two songs on the album, “This Ain’t It” and “Miles” were absolute highlights of his live set in Indy this summer. His band has expanded, with Will Johnson (Centro-matic, Monsters of Folk, New Multitudes, and more) playing multiple instruments, including a second drum kit on “Miles” and others. It was the most invigorating Isbell set I've ever seen.
This album is a new tent-pole in the Isbell oeuvre - a high point in his career that comes close to being his greatest of all time (Southeastern, aka THAT album is tough to top for so many reasons). It may take another 10 years to figure out if this is his best, but there's no doubt that this was my album of the year, and that it was the most prolific year of Isbell's incredible career.
P.S. I bought that Cory Hanson album on vinyl. It’s just too damn good. No regerts! 🤪
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