Sunday, January 14, 2024

Best of 2023

 

 

 
The Un-Herd Music Top 50 of 2023

1. Sparklehorse Bird Machine
Thirteen
years posthumous, a final statement curated and patched together with obvious love and respect for the quirky genius of Mark Linkous. Miraculous it exists at all; wholly miraculous it's so good.





2. Art Bergmann ShadowWalk
Where previous album took a macro view of the end of life, this one goes micro & personal. Harrowing, unflinching, courageous, honest. Nudges itself in same continuum that includes lodestar masterworks like Sister Lovers and Plastic Ono Band.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3. Low Cut Connie Art Dealers
Adam Weiner's adherence to traditional rock values (in this case, the same early R&B/Rock&Roll forces that forged the likes of Springsteen and Graham Parker) may repel trend-chasers, but that doesn't mean Low Cut Connie can't be the rest-of-us's favorite band.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4. The Delta Riggs The Real Electric
Grafts standard indie rock influences to an appreciation for disco bass lines (& occasional employment of hip hop rhythms) and somehow discovers something immensely satisfying and sincere.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5. Geese 3D Country
A modern rock album that fits in exactly nowhere (and not even close to the genre suggested in the title). Eclectic, expert, indescribable, genre-less. And all the better for it. Companion EP "4D Country" delivers similar quality.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
6. Lydia Loveless Nothing's Gonna Stand In My Way Again
This'll get filed under alt.country, which is fair enough, but the way Loveless wittily and mercilessly lacerates herself like a female Paul Westerberg is all rock 'n' roll.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7. Ten Tonnes Dancing, Alone
Pop wunderkind Ethan Barnett flirts with ancient verities like classic songcraft, undeniable hooks, and earnest reflection.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8. Meyerman Happy To See You
Last release was a 2011 UHM top ten, and this unexpected re-emergence hits the same heights. Lyrical concerns now lean into sincerity as much as smartassery, but their power-poppin' rock-out w/ hooks-out gameplan gloriously remains.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
9. Pat Todd & the RankOutsiders Sons of the City Ditch
A Saints-like horn section on one track and a cover of David Johansen's elegy for the Dolls "Donna" make this typically bangin' collision of Johnnies Cash & Thunders stand out from previous discs.
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
10. Barrence Whitfield & the Savages Glory
This band's blistering garage rock approach to soul, blues, & rock has been coming up aces for 4 decades and they're still ready to take on all comers. And, lo, how that sax doth honk.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
11. Autogramm  Music That Humans Can Play
12. Belleville  Before I Go
13. The Blips  The Blips Again
14. Lion Island  Pilot Termination Kiosk
15. Odd Robot  Deathmates
16. Black Pumas  Chronicles of a Diamond
17. Foxy Shazam  Dark Blue Night
18. The Church  The Hypnogogue
19. Diamond Dogs  About the Hardest Nut to Crack
20. The Midnight Callers  Rattled Humming Heart

21.  The Hangmen  Stories to Tell
22.  The Jim Jones All-Stars  Ain't No Peril
23.  Bar Italia  Tracey Denim
24.  Spacey Jane  Here Comes Everybody
25.  Mason Lowe  Morning People
26.  Trench Dogs Stockholmiana
27.  Island of Love Island of Love
28.  Olivia Jean  Raving Ghost
29.  The Men New York City
30.  Crocodiles  Upside Down In Heaven
 
31.  Uni Boys  Buy This Now!
32.  Sunny War  Anarchist Gospel
33.  Dwarves  Concept Album
34.  Bass Drum of Death  Say I Won't
35.  The Whiffs  Scratch 'n' Sniff 
36.  Kurt Baker  Rock 'n' Roll Club
37.  The 1981  Move On
38.  Alex Lahey The Answer is Always Yes
39.  EUT  Be My Reactor
40.  Miss Chain & the Broken Heels Storms

41.  Durand Jones  Wait Til I Get Over
42.  The Pearl Harts  Love, Chaos
43.  Worriers  Trust Your Gut
44.  Twin Temple  God is Dead
45.  Baba Ali  Laugh Like A Bomb
46.  Somerdale  Let's Get Started
47.  Nude Party  Rides On
48.  Backstreet Girls  In Lust We Trust
49.  Class  If You've Got Nothing
50.  Rich Ragany & the Digressions  What We Do (To Not Let Go)


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