Our Favorite Albums, 2023: Individual Contributor Lists & Reflections, Part 2
Tone Glow writers reflect on 2023 through albums, songs, and more
Each of our writers was asked to submit a list of their 10 favorite albums from this year. They also had the option to list their 10 favorite songs and to create another list of any 10 things of their choosing. Below, find reflections and individual lists from our contributors, listed in alphabetical order by last name.
Jinhyung Kim
I finally caught COVID this year! It sucked ass—the sickest I've been in my life. My mom visited me for a week to help me recover. It was weird having her take care of me again, after several years of more or less living on my own; it made me realize all the ways in which I both had and hadn't grown up in that time. My quality of life is more important to me now than it's ever been before, and it'll be the foremost thing on my mind going into the new year. It's been a very up and down year overall: in some ways, it's been the hardest of my life, and in others, I've never been more content. With each passing year, I find it more and more impossible to make any long stretch of time cohere into narrative sense. Lists are nice that way—order without the baggage of linearity.
Anyway: here's to 2024! Stay tuned for an imminent Tone Glow Writers Panel reboot…
My Top 10 Releases of 2023
babyMINT - Loading… FUN! (HIM International Music)
Chiquimamani-Condori - DJ E (self-released)
dj interior semiotics - 2019-2022 (self-released)
Guido Gamboa - Left-Handed Club (Rope Editions)
Junior H - $AD BOYZ 4 LIFE II (Rancho Humilde)
Éric La Casa + Seijiro Murayama - Supersédure 2 (Swarming)
Lágrimas / Habak - Split (Fiadh Productions)
Henry Martin - Concerto per un quadro di adami (Creel Pone)
The Rita + Mouths Agape - The Rita + Mouths Agape (Grisaille)
Ὁπλίτης - Ψευδομένη (Pest Productions)
My Top 10 Reads of 2023
Georgina Born - Rationalizing Culture (California, 1995)
Stephen Cohen - Bukharin and the Bolshevik Revolution (Oxford, 1980)
Arnold Hauser - The Social History of Art, Vol. 1 (Routledge, 1962)
Natilee Herren - Fluxus Forms (Chicago, 2020)
György Lukács - The Historical Novel (Nebraska, 1983)
Nathaniel Mackey - Double Trio (New Directions, 2021)
Sianne Ngai - Theory of the Gimmick (Harvard, 2020)
Shlomo Sand - The Invention of the Jewish People (Verso, 2020)
W.G. Sebald - The Rings of Saturn (New Directions, 1999)
H.H. Stuckenschmidt - Schoenberg: His Life, World, and Work (Schirmer, 1978)
Joshua Minsoo Kim
The only way I can live my life is to do a million things. I’m glad that I was able to do that this year, despite everything. It is a strange thing to exist; I’m trying to take advantage of that gift, of every second I can.
10 Favorite Albums
Chuquimamani-Condori - DJ E (self-released)
Eyes of the Amaryllis - Perceptible to Everyone (Horn of Plenty)
Michael Pisaro-Liu (Guy Vandromme / Luciana Elizondo / Adriaan Severins / Fabio Gionfrida) - A room outdoors (Elsewhere)
Tujiko Noriko - Crépuscule I & II (Editions Mego)
dan sour - Drinkers Mass (Spoor)
DJ Arana - Rock Pesado 2 (Portuga)
ML Buch - Suntub (15 Love)
Jarrod Fowler - Jarra Fowlea (Hibari)
Ken Carson - A Great Chaos (Opium / Interscope)
Ruth Anderson & Annea Lockwood - Tête-à-tête (Ergot)
10 Favorite Pop Songs
NewJeans - “OMG” (ADOR)
Tyla - “On and On” (FAX)
Dlala Thukzin ft. Zaba & Sykes - “iPlan” (self-released)
babyMINT - “Hellokittybalahcurri3 hellokitty” (HIM International Music)
Cruel Santino ft. S-smart - “FTR” (Monster Boy)
DJ Arana - “Mãe - Linda Homenagem” (Portuga)
Aprxel - “planet hollywood” (MONA)
Cheikh Footsyle & Bilou XIV - “Santal” (self-released)
Jim Legxacy - “mileys riddim” (self-released)
a.s.o. - “My Baby’s Got It Out For Me” (Low Lying)
10 Things to Remember 2023
Traveling to LA in February to review Numero Fest for The Wire, being blown away by Karate (way better live than on record), being surprised by Tsunami (about as good as on record), loving Codeine (slightly better live), and Unwound (the biggest game-changers of the whole fest), stayed with Sam Goldner
Traveling to Missouri for True/False Film Fest in March, having the best theater experience of the year while watching Claire Simon’s Our Body in a small room with couches, stayed in a hotel with Mark Cutler
Traveling to New Jersey/Boston/New York for a teacher conference/Spring Break where I saw Still House Plants and Richard Dawson, watched tons of films at the NYPL and Film-Makers Coop (which I wrote about), got an Airbnb with Brian L.
Traveling to New York the day after school ended in May to interview Hermeto Pascoal for Pioneer Works, to watch PLO Man/Underground Resistance, Surgeon, and Martin Dupont, and where I programmed my first film program called “Colordance” at the Film-Makers Coop, stayed with Crystal X.
Traveling to LA at the end of June to watch every James Herbert print and more at the Academy Film Archive as research for my book, watched Liturgy and Derek Jarman’s Blue in person finally, stayed with Sunik Kim
Pitchfork Music Festival in July here in Chicago and specifically seeing HiTech at Phở Việt for an unofficial after show, which proved to be one of the best shows of my entire life, then flying out right after to New York where I stayed with Troy S. before taking the bus to Philly for a teacher conference
Traveling to Portland in September for Sam Goldner + Steph’s wedding, which had the most beautiful vows and speeches of any wedding I’ve ever been to, stayed with Samuel McLemore
Traveling to Denver for a teacher conference in early November, where I saw Leah B. Levinson perform in Agriculture and also had the best meal of the year (potato pelmeni and stuffed pheasant at Molotov Kitschen + Cocktails), and simultaneously serving as a jury member for the San Diego Asian Film Festival, getting especially stoked by the deliberation process and awarding Best Experimental Film to Cherlyn Hsing-Hsin Liu’s Teetering Graphite
Getting a pinched nerve in November (which is ongoing…) where pain kept radiating to my right arm, consequently getting a steroid injection, and reckoning with the fact that I’m getting older and need to be smarter with my health, also thinking about all the health scares with those in my family and getting my priorities straight
All the writing that I was able to do this year, including reviews (especially Hiroshi Yoshimura, the NID Tapes, Ruth Anderson/Annea Lockwood), participating in a long-form Rolling Stone feature on the Best Korean Pop Songs of All Time, a slew of interviews I couldn’t believe I did (including A.R. Kane, Hermeto Pasocal, Martin Dupont, Ishmael Reed, Hal Hartley, Deepa Dhanraj, Deborah Stratman, Joan La Barbara, Patty Waters, Kazu Makino), allowing other writers to interview some really killer artists, and all the bits of film writing I did and facilitated this year for Tone Glow, of which there will be hopefully more next year
Sunik Kim
Music is my greatest love and one of, if not the most, beautiful forms of human expression and invention. But, as I stated in a conversation with my dear friend John: because I’ve been putting more time into political work, I find, against all expectations, that I don’t have the same spiritual or emotional attachment to making music as before—to the extent that if I had to give it up for five or ten years, it would be okay. What was once a skewed mortal dependency—I desperately chase music, allow it to torture me, to tempt me with the mirage of finality—has now morphed into a relation between equals. In the meantime, while the world allows me to continue, to persevere: the creative act has taken on a certain unfamiliar, muted quality, a new sobriety still steeped in urgency, as a direct yet mediated and highly abstracted form of expression of my still-nascent political life. This is not a self-conscious process in which I painfully “renounce” my love of music as a form of repentance or asceticism; rather, this transition was and continues to be an organic and honestly unanticipated product of my shifting commitments in life. I increasingly view the totality of my creative output as a kind of messy science, a never-ending experiment with a singular focus on consciousness: not merely “raising” it, but examining its complexities from all angles—trying, failing, and trying again to not merely inject politics into art, but to truly merge the two, a task that extends far beyond the object, the product, into those nether realms: political life, personal life, your place in an ever-shifting network of social relations, your commitments, your fears, what you choose to practice on a daily basis and who you choose to practice it with. Mao, 1942:
Our writers and artists have their literary and art work to do, but their primary task is to understand people and know them well. In this regard, how have matters stood with our writers and artists? I would say they have been lacking in knowledge and understanding; they have been like "a hero with no place to display his prowess". What does lacking in knowledge mean? Not knowing people well. The writers and artists do not have a good knowledge either of those whom they describe or of their audience; indeed they may hardly know them at all. They do not know the workers or peasants or soldiers well, and do not know the cadres well either. What does lacking in understanding mean? Not understanding the language, that is, not being familiar with the rich, lively language of the masses. Since many writers and artists stand aloof from the masses and lead empty lives, naturally they are unfamiliar with the language of the people. Accordingly, their works are not only insipid in language but often contain nondescript expressions of their own coining which run counter to popular usage. Many comrades like to talk about "a mass style". But what does it really mean? It means that the thoughts and feelings of our writers and artists should be fused with those of the masses of workers, peasants and soldiers. To achieve this fusion, they should conscientiously learn the language of the masses. How can you talk of literary and artistic creation if you find the very language of the masses largely incomprehensible? By "a hero with no place to display his prowess", we mean that your collection of great truths is not appreciated by the masses. The more you put on the airs of a veteran before the masses and play the "hero", the more you try to peddle such stuff to the masses, the less likely they are to accept it. If you want the masses to understand you, if you want to be one with the masses, you must make up your mind to undergo a long and even painful process of tempering.
Favorite Albums
Amantes del Futuro - SABOR SÓNICO II (La Roma)
Anne Gillis + XT - Our/s Bouture(s) (Art into Life)
Chuquimamani-Condori - DJ E (self-released)
Guido Gamboa - Left-Handed Club (Rope Editions)
John Wall - Cacophony (self-released)
Joshua Chuquimia Crampton - Profundo Amor (self-released)
Junior H - $AD BOYZ 4 LIFE II (Rancho Humilde)
Kyle Gann - Geometry (self-released)
Ryu Hankil + Michael Speers - PP-04 (Party Perfect!!!)
Turbo Sonidero - Lowrider Kumbias Rebajada Por Sonido Dueñez (Discos Rolas)
Matthew LaBarbera
Mix Link: “I don’t care about the avant-garde, all I care about is you!”
No ranked list from me this year. In truth, I simply haven’t put in the work, and any ranked list would feel too arbitrary on my part. I lack the zeal to commit to the whole grand production: the vertiginous spreadsheets and fatal adjudications, the hours of Soundcloud combing and Bandcamp scouring, all that top ten anglegrinding, the strategic semiotics and personal branding. By the end, a lot of lists I see feel more like some well-massaged PR efflux than a catalog of the year’s musical mirabilia. At least where I’m concerned, ‘for what?’ lacks a satisfying answer. So, have instead a mix that . . . was revealed to me. A little background:
Not too long ago, I was stalking the sands outside my little seaside getaway, the Obade, on the bitterest of days. As I wandered up and down the shore, hands in my pockets, wind whipping at the ends of my coat, my mind was likewise battered by an emotional and intellectual tumult. Pondering weighty topics, phantom lightning bolts of existential anguish wracking the soul, my head remained clogged with interpretation and menaced by all those many things that refuse validation in the field of description. All of my axiomata turned to sludge.
Exasperated, I sighed out across the gray, uncaring sea and listened to myself return distant yet doubly strong, “I need a hermeneutic for my hermeneutic!” Then, I espy on the shore, just above the retreating water, something sparkling in the shape of script. It’s seafoam, of course, yellowish and scummy, its bubbling surface slowly being winked away in the cold light. If you look at it from kind of a cant–and now I am shocked, for what is before me is not merely in the shape of script but is, in fact, completely legible. It passed immediately into comprehension, as seeing the sun tells you it is day, and entered into the archive of deep cellular knowledge, the inheritance of numberless generations.
What was it, that message chiseled into my heart like the tables of law? An extraordinarily lengthy and excruciatingly exacting set of instructions for assembling this mix, scraped up from the heart of the sea herself. Like the subject of a Searlean experiment, my charge afforded no latitude for accident or intention. Unmarred by agency and unspoiled by affectation, I hope this mix means nothing, says nothing, represents nothing, affirms nothing, signifies nothing—marks, brands, expresses, reveals, conveys, propounds, insinuates, imparts, intimates, indicates, determines, betokens, limns, suggests, implies, symbolizes, discloses, delineates, describes, evinces, evokes, denotes, and connotes nothing.
(Please also enjoy this list of movies I liked.)
Favorite Movies of the Year
Fallen Leaves (Kaurismäki, 2023)
The Cassandra Cat (Vojtěch Jasný, 1963)
Monsieur Verdoux (Chaplin, 1947)
The Lady Eve (Sturges, 1941)
Minbo (Izami, 1992)
Yelling Fire in an Empty Theater (Zuckerman, 2021)
Trenque Lauquen (Citarella, 2022)
Petite Fleur (Mitre, 2022)
Walk Up (Hong, 2022)
In the Shadow of the Blue Rascal (Clémenti, 1985)
World on a Wire (Fassbinder, 1973)
Chocolate Babies (Winter, 1996)
April Fish (Obayashi, 1986)
Leah B. Levinson
Making music with my friends is the greatest joy in my life! I am thirty. All my pathetic mistakes are moving behind me. All my greatest work lies ahead. Ha, one can hope! At the very least I might try. And I might try again. Then I might try again. As the future is uncovered, each year is more terrible and yet brighter than the last. It’s agonizing and strange. I’m alive and making a mark: a meager brush stroke or a glorious shit stain, either way it’s all the same.
A quote by Derek Jarman from a feature in LA Weekly written by Dennis Cooper in 1992:
Queer activists aren’t saying we should go live on an island somewhere to be truly queer, nor are they willing to accept the standard idea of a decent life. They’re saying an honest world is a fair but shaken one. And I’m saying something similar about film. An honest film, like an honest life, makes just enough sense on the surface to survive in a largely idiotic world, while remaining free and complicated and original underneath.
A white light swallows everything in its midst, makes the present unsustainable. I’m holding on to the activities that pass the time. They don’t only pass the time! They force me to believe there’s a life out there worth living! Each is a rung that reveals the next. Time is a rope or something like that. Here it is, the best of the year, one by one and then the next…
Five Albums
Eyes of the Amarylis - Perceptible to Everyone (Horn of Plenty)
Chuquimamani-Condori - DJ E (self-released)
galen tipton - brain scratch (self-released)
Laurel Halo - Atlas (Awe)
Kate NV - WOW (RVNG Intl.)
Ten More Albums
Tirzah - trip9love…??? (Domino)
Asher White - New Excellent Woman (Ba Da Bing)
Sylvester - Private Recordings (Dark Entries)
Darian stahl - Like an angel (Cry Like Donna)
fibril - the rot (Debacle)
Josephine Foster - Domestic Sphere (Fire)
Strapping Fieldhands - LYVE: IN CONCERTE (ever/never)
Ahl Nana - L’Orchestre National Mauritanien (Radio Martiko)
jib kidder - life’s a bitch (self-released)
Lucy Liyou - Dog Dreams (개꿈) (American Dreams)
Ten Heavy Albums
Victory Over The Sun - Dance You Monster To My Soft Song! (self-released)
Portrayal of Guilt - Devil Music (Run For Cover)
Liturgy - 93696 (Thrill Jockey)
Closet Witch - Chiaroscuro (self-released)
Anti-God Hand - Blight Year (American Dreams)
Body Void - Atrocity Machine (Prosthetic)
Ragana - Desolation’s Flower (The Flenser)
Lagrimas / Habak - Lagrimas / Habak (Persistent Vision)
Moray - The Natural World (self-released)
Genital Shame - Gathering My Wits (The Garrote)
Fifteen Movies in 2023
Querelle (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1982)
Hellbound: Hellraiser II (Tony Randel, 1988)
Nowhere (Gregg Araki, 1997)
Sunshine (Danny Boyle, 2007)
Permanent Green Light (Dennis Cooper & Zac Farley, 2018)
The Fly (Kurt Neumann, 1958)
Party Girl (Daisy von Scherler Mayer, 1995)
Ring (Hideo Nakata, 1998)
Jennifer’s Body (Karyn Kusama, 2009)
Lord of Illusions (Clive Barker, 1995)
Ginger Snaps (John Fawcett, 2000)
Exorcist II: The Heretic (John Boorman, 1977)
Halloween II (Rick Rosenthal, 1981)
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2000)
Magic Mike (Steven Soderbergh, 2012)
Jesse Locke
On a personal level, 2023 was the most difficult year I’ve ever experienced. For the majority of the past 12 months, I didn’t think I was capable of overcoming the anxiety, depression, and intrusive thoughts that possessed me like some kind of anhedonic demon. I’ll never forget the friends and loved ones who stuck with me through some truly scary times, as well as the countless people from different eras of my life who reached out to share messages of love and hope. Against all odds, and with the help of ongoing therapy, I’m proud to say that I’ve turned a corner.
There were highlights worth mentioning in 2023, like a trip to Dollywood in Tennessee, the release of my band Tough Age’s fifth album (plus our 10-year anniversary show), and a two-night showcase for my label We Are Time. My love of music now burns brighter than ever, and I’ve been trying my best to make up for lost time with a few dream interviews and writing assignments to wind down the year. These are the albums, songs, and films that helped me through it.
Favorite Albums
Pelada - Ahora Más Que Nunca (Self Released)
Joseph Shabason - Welcome to Hell (Telephone Explosion)
Lewsberg - Out and About (12XU)
En Attendant Ana - Principia (Trouble In Mind)
Chuquimamani-Condori - DJ E (self-released)
JPEGMAFIA x Danny Brown - Scaring The Hoes (AWAL)
Tyvek - Overground (Ginkgo)
Feeling Figures - Migration Magic (K/Perennial Death)
Arnold Dreyblatt - Resolve (Drag City)
Devours - Homecoming Queen (Surviving The Game)
Favorite Songs
Lewsberg - “An Ear To The Chest” (12XU)
Freak Heat Waves feat. Cindy Lee - “In A Moment Divine” (Mood Hut)
Pelada feat. Backwash - “La Gente Se Levanta” (self-released)
En Attendant Ana - “Wonder” (Trouble In Mind)
JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown - “Fentanyl Tester” (AWAL)
Devours - “Hairspin” (Surviving The Game)
Chuquimamani-Condori - “Know” (self-released)
jaimie branch - “Take Over The World” (International Anthem)
Tara Clerkin Trio - “The Turning Ground” (World of Echo)
Cupid & Psyche - “Angels on the Phone” (Felte)
Favorite First-Time Watches
All Night Long - Basil Dearden (1962)
Don’t Look Now - Nicolas Roeg (1973)
The Mighty Quinn - Carl Schenkel (1989)
Irma Vep - Oliver Assayas (1996)
Bug - William Friedkin (2006)
The Great Hip Hop Hoax - Jeanie Finlay (2013)
Bones of Crows - Marie Clements (2022)
Evil Does Not Exist - Ryusuke Hamaguchi (2023)
May December - Todd Haynes (2023)
The Old Oak - Ken Loach (2023)
Alex Mayle
We don’t invent sounds, we are allowed to encounter them; we don’t own them, they existed before we were born and will be here after we are gone.
—William Parker
Favorite Albums
Sílvia Pérez Cruz - Toda la vida, un día (Sony Music)
Kali Malone - Does Spring Hide Its Joy (Ideologic Organ)
Miharu Ogura / Karlheinz Stockhausen - Ogura Plays Stockhausen (Thanatosis)
Keiko Shichijo / Jürg Frey - Les signes passengers (Elsewhere)
Colectivo Waykicha - Sobre la tierra, en el mundo andando (self-released)
Ricardo Dias Gomes - Muito Sol (Hive Mind)
Jacques Demierre, Axel Dörner & Jonas Kocher - A Right to Silence (Meenna)
Fumio Okura, Ernesto Rodrigues, Guilherme Rodrigues & Hannes Buder - Your Dramatic Joy (Creative Sources)
Ivo Perelman, Nate Wooley, Mat Maneri, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Joe Morris & Matt Moran - Seven Skies Orchestra (Fundacja Słuchaj)
Daniel Quién - Magic Experience Band (Universal Music Group México)
Ryo Miyauchi
It’s not that I’m necessarily forgetful, or that I’m not sentimental, but it’s just easy to let all the good memories recede from view as life’s momentum pushes me through the grind. This year, looking back, it sometimes did feel like the few vacations I had were a dream. But while it gives me a feeling of awe when I take the time to reminisce, like, “wow, I really did go to Japan this year, didn’t I?”, it saddens me a little that being busy can make those important experiences like hanging out with my extended family for the first time in 5 years feel unreal, as if the sensations didn’t seep into my body enough for it to truly feel that I experienced it at all. In a sense, yes, it is like a dream in that I spend more time recollecting the pieces of a memory over and over again in hopes that none of it will slip away this time.
This is why I rely on music. Just like how the 45 of Akina Nakamori’s Nanpasen sits on my bookshelf as a souvenir from my trip, reminding me that I was indeed there and brought something home to prove it, Akina Nakamori’s “Meu Amor E” is now possessed with my memory of the lovely karaoke session I had with my dear aunt, who tried her best to nail the song’s mighty chorus. Hiroko Yakushimaru’s “Sailor Fuku To Kikanju” will evoke the izakayas of Asakusa as well as the stands set up shop in the AmeYoko bazaar, both of which were shown to me thanks to my dear cousin, who took me around Tokyo for a day. I can happily make a playlist of all these songs, from the NiziU song I caught playing at the yakitori chain to the MONGOL800 hit covered on a morning news program, and it’d be as precious as a photo album. If I can’t recall it clearly on my own, I know that my favorite records can bring back the feelings. Music helped me remember my important memories from this year, making them feel more real.
Favorite Albums
Skrillex - Quest for Fire (OWSLA / Atlantic)
YUKA NAGASE - Launchvox (Kigensho)
Yves Tumor - Praise a Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Not Between Worlds) (Warp)
Veeze - Ganger (Navy Wavy)
Overmono - Good Lies (XL)
Cero - e o (Kakubarhythm)
ExWHYZ - xANADU (EMI)
JJJ - MAKTUB (FL$Nation / AWDR / LR2)
Kessoku Band - Kessoku Band (Aniplex)
Kaneko Ayano - Towelket Wa Odayakana (1994)
Favorite Songs
Pasocom Music Club ft. Mei Takahashi - “Day After Day” (HATIHATI)
YOASOBI - “IDOL” (Sony)
Mall Boyz - “My Life” (self-released)
Minori Suzuki - “My Own Story” (Flying Dog)
Ano - “Chu, Tayousei” (Toy’s Factory)
Kana Hanazawa - “Dramatic Janakutemo” (Pony Canyon)
Dempagumi.inc - “Augmented Ojiichan” (Toy’s Factory)
KAMIYA ft. nyamura, cyber milk chan, HAKU, MANON - “GALFY4” (self-released)
NEXT GIRLZ babyMINT - “Hellokittybalahcurrihellokitty Oishii” (HIM)
Sakurazaka46 - “Sakurazuki”
Favorite Japanese Dramas
0.5. No Otoko
Kashimashi Meshi
Kinou Nani Tabeta? Season 2
Nichiyo No Yoru Guraiwa…
Ranman
Sexy Tanakasan
Daga, Jonetsu Wa Aru!
Paripi Koumei
Maikosanchi No Makanaisan
Oishii Kyushoku Season 3
Jude Noel
It’s been a chaotic year full of changes for me: I moved, started grad school, and grappled with burnout all at once. Thankfully, I still managed to work some writing and deep listening into my free time. Here’s hoping for a more relaxed 2024.
Favorite Albums
The Lemon Twigs - Everything Harmony (Captured Tracks)
Veeze - Ganger (Navy Wavy)
Bar Italia - Tracey Denim (Matador)
Avalon Emerson - & The Charm (Another Dove)
Quannnic - Stepdream (DeadAir)
RP Boo - Legacy Volume 2 (Planet Mu)
The Reds, Pinks, and Purples - The Town that Cursed Your Name (Tough Love)
Nondi_ - Flood City Trax (Planet Mu)
12 Rods - If We Stayed Alive (American Dreams)
Sextile - Push (Sacred Bones)
Favorite Songs
Bar Italia - “Nurse!” (Matador)
PinkPantheress - “Mosquito” (Warner)
PASSEPIED - “The Fossil Song” (NEHAN)
Veeze - “Safe 2” (Navy Wavy)
Jonatan leandoer96 - “July” (YEAR0001)
Izaya Tiji - “I Eat Humans” (Self-Released)
Lunchbox - “Who Dat Is” (Self-Released)
Fievel Is Glauque - “Dark Dancing” (Fat Possum)
PinkPantheress - “Angel” (Warner)
Troye Sivan - “Got Me Started” (Universal)
Daily Puzzle Games That Kept Me Sane
Gil Sansón
No use making a list for a year I’m more than glad is over, a year in which I was very much occupied with releasing my own work than in hearing music by other artists, including those I greatly appreciate (it was a great year for hip-hop, apparently). A handful of albums, for whatever reason, managed to stick in my memory enough to take the focus away from my own music (quite hard, as my work’s inertia sucks my attention exponentially, so one way or another these records made a strong impression on me). One thing I noticed is that jazz made a return to my airwaves and my picks reflect this.
So, topsy-turvy year; pretty awful for the most part, very productive for me in terms of expanding my discography and outreach. Can’t complain in that area at all, which makes the contrast with the rest of our world so much more striking that it’s impossible for me to not see this as a bit of a cosmic joke, but again, I’m willing to laugh at myself. Much gratitude to Confront, Unfathomless, Full Spectrum and Zappak for taking chances with my music.
A Handful of Albums that Stuck With Me This Year
Derek Bailey & Paul Motian - Duo in Concert (Frozen Reeds)
Meshell Ndegeocello - Virgo (Blue Note)
Matana Roberts - Coin Coin Chapter Five: In the garden… (Constellation)
Cassandra Miller, Laurence Crane, Linda Catlin Smith - Folks’ Music (Louth Contemporary Music Society)
Jürg Frey, Quatuor Bozzini, Konus Quartett - Continuité, Fragilité, Résonance (Elsewhere)
Antoine Beuger, Anastassis Philippakopoulos - floating by (Erstwhile)
Lankum - False Lankum (Rough Trade)
Eli Schoop
You can tell JMK is a teacher when he has us write a required reflection. I’m always ambivalent about doing these anyway, I don’t like mining memory for substantive recollection. I prefer the liminal. But it’s a good reminder I did cool shit this year! I interviewed Neon Indian, Liturgy and Valee! I did my first reading! I moved to fucking Brooklyn! My brain still fights with me on a daily basis and I don’t have health insurance but take what you can get eh? I’ll figure it out.
Favorite Albums
lostrushi - SISTERHOOD (self-released)
MIKE - Burning Desire (10k)
Veeze - Ganger (Navy Wavy)
Klein - Touched by an Angel (Parkwuud)
Zulu - A New Tomorrow (Flatspot)
leroy - Grave Robbing (self-released)
Chuquimamani-Condori - DJ E (self-released)
Sprain - The Lamb as Effigy (The Flenser)
RXK Nephew - Till I’m Dead (self-released)
Matana Roberts - Coin Coin Chapter Five: In the garden… (Constellation)
Favorite Songs
jim legxacy - “old place” (self-released)
Hudson Mohawke & Nikki Nair - “Demuro” (Warp)
CFCF - “Never Going Home” (BGM Solutions)
Alan Palomo - “Stay at Home DJ” (Mom + Pop)
TrapKane x Gizwop x Young Foot Soldier - “Anyway” (self-released)
Veeze - “GAIG” (Navy Wavy)
Mc LcKaiique, MC Celo BK, DJ Jeeh FDC and DJ Biel Divulga - “Quem Tá de Motão, Vou Sarrar Puta Na Marcone” (Portuga)
Tyler, the Creator - “WHARF TALK” (Columbia)
Valee x Harry Fraud ft. Action Bronson- “VIBRANT” (Srfschl / Fake Shore Drive)
JPEGMAFIA x Danny Brown - “Kingdom Hearts Key” (AWAL)
Top 10 Things I’ve Seen in New York
Strap-sucking competition at the Rosemont
Swirlies reunion at Le Poisson Rouge
Elysia and Joshua Crampton at MoMA PS1
Alan Palomo at Elsewhere
Kiernan Laveaux at Mansions
bar italia at Mercury Lounge
Popstar Benny/Vayda and the No Bells crew at Mi Sabor Cafe
Chris Smalls and Steven Donziger at Baby’s All Right
every bodega cat
guy in crown heights inexplicably pissing on someone’s car in broad daylight
Shy Clara Thompson
Grief pumps the brakes on everything. No matter how much momentum you’ve gathered, no matter how well things are going, a sudden loss will stop you in your tracks. At the beginning of the year, I lost one of my closest friends. The very next day, I received news that I lost my little niece and nephew. From that point, my vision was permanently distorted; I could only see through a tinted lens of grief. Any happy moment felt cheapened. I couldn’t help bracing for the moment it would end. Everything changed, and not for the better.
I’m finally starting to resemble a functioning person again. I’m still not doing great, but I’ve come away from the most painful period of my life with a lesson I hope to internalize for the coming year: I don’t have anything. I’m just surrounded by the results of my choices. Some things are out of my control, but a lot of the good things are there because I did something to keep them there. Friendship and community need sunlight to flourish and can wither away when you start to neglect them. Might as well keep making good choices. Nothing lasts forever, but some things can last a long time if you do a bit of upkeep.
Top 10 Albums
Asake - Work of Art (YBNL Nation)
Enji - Ulaan (Squama)
Graham Lambkin - Aphorisms (Blank Forms)
Guido Gamboa - Left-Handed Club (Rope Editions)
Jarrod Fowler - Jarra Fowlea (Hibari)
ni-hao!!!! - i!i!i!i! (self-released)
PAS TASTA - GOOD POP & GOOD POP REMIXES (self-released)
Satoshi Suzuki - Distant Travel Companion (Incidental Music)
Taku Unami - bot box boxes (Erstwhile)
Virginia Astley - The Singing Places (self-released)
Top 10 Songs
Asake - “Sunshine” (YBNL Nation)
AyooLii - “Shmackin Town” (self-released)
Cydnee with a C - “Thotty” (self-released)
Enji - “Taivshral” (Squama)
iroha - “DS” (self-released)
Kenshi Yonezu - “Spinning Globe” (SME)
PAS TASTA - “sunameri smoke” (self-released)
Ruth Anderson & Annea Lockwood - “Conversations” (Ergot)
Skeete - “Tek Buddy” (GRADUATION)
Telematic Visions - “lostdata” (self-released)
Top 5 Photos I Have Taken of Cats
Oskari Tuure
This year I was fortunate enough to celebrate multiple personal milestones – I turned 30, traveled to China again for the first time after the lockdowns, bought an apartment, and found a new direction for my career.
Favorite Albums
Ichiko Aoba - Ichiko Aoba with 12 Ensemble (Live at Milton Court) (Hermine)
Paavoharju - Yön mustia kukkia (Fonal)
NewJeans - Get Up (ADOR)
Pasocom Music Club - Fine Line (HATIHATI)
Ὁπλίτης - Ψευδομένη (Pest Productions)
Tenhi - Valkama (Prophecy)
Ryuichi Sakamoto - 12 (Milan)
Favorite Board Games I Got This Year
Ra (Reiner Knizia, 1999)
Heat: Pedal to the Metal (Asger Harding Granerud & Daniel Skjold Pedersen, 2022)
Kill Team (Elliot Hamer, 2021)
Botswana (a.k.a. Wildlife Safari, Reiner Knizia, 1994)
Sail (Akiyama Koryo & Korzu Yusei, 2023)
Evan Welsh
Thank you again to all who’ve given me even a moment of their time—I know how precious that is.
Next year in some place better.
Untitled 2023
I sometimes think it might be easier
if I didn’t care as much for songs.
The promises of expansion
in overtones, across charts
and desiccated fields.
I haven’t yet decided
if that communion
is romantic or holy.
The unending line of depiction
that moves from happening
to melody to verse
to bronze to graphite
and forward.
The myths of absence and ending:
It’ll slow down,
even out,
bend towards justice.
The stories that “raised us right.”
And we’ll tell them just like that,
unmistakable and clear,
embellishing a little further upon each recitation.
I saw it written in a bathroom stall:
“The truth… simple but elusive”
Top 10 Albums of 2023
Matana Roberts - Coin Coin Chapter Five: In the garden… (Constellation)
Chuquinanani-Condori - DJ E (self-released)
Jim Legxacy - HNPM (self-released)
jaimie branch - Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war)) (International Anthem)
Nu Jazz - Vol. I (self-released)
Armand Harmer - We Buy Diabetic Test Strips (Fat Possum)
Andrew Weathers - A Cardinal With A Sign of Blood (Full Spectrum)
Scree - Jasmine on a Night in July (Ruination)
Mike - Burning Desire (10k)
Leo Robinson - The Temple (PRAH)
Top 10 Songs of 2023
Chuquinanani-Condori - “Breathing” (self-released)
Jim Legxacy - “Block Hug” (self-released)
Freak Heat Waves ft. Cindy Lee - “In a Moment Divine” (Mood Hut)
Nu Jazz - “Lying” (self-released)
Armand Hammer - “The God’s Must Be Crazy” (Fat Possum)
jaimie branch - “burning grey” (International Anthem)
Sufjan Stevens - “Shit Talk” (Asthmatic Kitty)
YATTA - “Fully Lost, Fully Found” (PTP)
MIKE ft. Liv.e and Venna - “U think Maybe?” (10k)
Leo Robinson - “The Cormorant” (PRAH)
20 Favorite Live Shows of 2023
Final Chaos Computer Show
Yellow Swans @ LPR
Richard Dawson @ Union Pool
Still House Plants @ Shift
Bill Orcutt Quartet @ Roulette
Sediment Club, New England Patriots, Blu Anxxiety @ Chaos Computer
Amirtha Kidambi & Darius Jones’ Angels & Demons @ The Kitchen
Laraaji, Mikel Patrick Avery, & Immanuel Wilkins Trio @ The Stone
Unwound, Versus @ Irving Plaza
Wendy Eisenberg’s ‘Eye Music’ @ Roulette
Xiu Xiu, Godcaster, Gift @ LPR
Poncili Creacion, Nu Jazz, Evicshen @ Pioneer Works
YHWH Nailgun, Fantasy of a Broken Heart, Kassie Krut @ The Broadway
Lucy Liyou, Bashful Slasher, Canteen Killah @ 49 Shade
Mizu, Tim Hecker @ Pioneer Works
Darlin’, Elder Ones @ Public Records
Deerhoof, Sound of Ceres, Scarlet @ Elsewhere
Leila Bordreuil & Luke Stewart Feedback Ensemble @ Under the Kosciuszko Bridge
JJJJJerome Ellis @ National Sawdust
Carlos Truly, Nelson Bandela, Analea @ Public Records
Maxie Younger
My 2023 was fairly momentous, all things considered. While I didn’t spend as much time as I would’ve liked listening to new music, I’m happy to say that I knocked out some long-standing personal goals and made great memories along the way. I traveled back to my home country, Australia, for the first time in 14 years; I produced, packed and mailed out my own cassettes; I did a few pieces of music writing that I’m pretty proud of. I don’t have many regrets, but I want to try and invest in myself as a person rather than a collection of interests next year. Sometimes I get so myopic in what I do–my commitments, my hobbies, my relationships–that I don’t stop to consider how it all connects: how these different parts coalesce into a greater understanding of who I am, the work I want to carry out, and how I can go about prioritizing that work. Maybe this is just one of those background processes that occurs naturally over time, but I want to make more room for intentionality and thoughtful action next year rather than taking on projects just because they seem like a thing I “should” be doing.
I don’t have any strong opinions on 2023 as a year in music–like I mentioned, I didn’t devote too much time to exploring–but I’m happy that my lists here are largely a product of my connections: albums and artists recommended by friends, peers and collaborators. More than ever, my listening habits this year felt like an extension of my lived experience; so, while my picks don’t represent anything comprehensive or well-rounded, they are an effective diaristic companion to a year (mostly) well-spent. Thanks as always to Tone Glow, my favorite community of music fans on the web.
10 Albums
Aprxel – tapetumlucidum<3 (MONA)
Christian Mirande – Beautiful One Day, Perfect The Next (Regional Bears)
DJ Chad – Nu Legacy Vol. 2 (self-released)
dj interior semiotics – 2019-2022 (self-released)
DJ Manny – Hypnotized (Planet Mu)
Loraine James – Gentle Confrontation (Hyperdub)
Renee Willoughby – 33 (Irrational Tentent)
Sam Dunscombe – Two Forests (Black Truffle)
Soft Tissue – gush (GLARC)
Vayda – breeze (self-released)
10 Songs
a.s.o. - “My Baby’s Got It Out For Me” (Low Lying)
Bobbing - “A Night Alone (feat. Maddie Jay)” (Handsome Bob Brain Genius)
DJ Girl - “Gallery (feat. Malick McFly)” (Planet Mu)
DJ Manny - “Control” (Planet Mu)
Lewsberg - “Angle of Reflection” (12XU)
LSDXOXO - “Devil’s Chariot” (Because Music)
Oyubi - “i!i!bbbbBaadboi!i!” (TREKKIE TRAX)
Pontiac Streator - “swallow me” (self-released)
Stereo Out - “Mental Savage” (JGAP)
Tank Jr. - “I LOVE CLUB MUSIC !!!” (self-released)
2023:
Flamin’ hot cheetos puffs—the ones at the very bottom of the bag - when they are absolutely saturated with whatever kind of hydrogenated snack oil they use to adhere the red stuff onto the corn puff - when eating them is like eating some kind of fried state fair food
It may have only been for a day, but Jai Hindley led the Tour de France
My partner and best friend, Ruairi O’Brien, did a wonderful job mixing Maria BC’s album Spike Field
Nikki Nair played my music in a Bleep mix—woah!!
I went to a movie theater by myself for the first time! I saw Killers of the Flower Moon
Favorite non-2023 albums I heard this year: Odyssey by Todd Edwards, Life Given to Quiet Places by Oen Sujet, Asociación De Loops Para Un Dia Mejor by Boundary, #BARS by SELA., Invite to ‘Endless Latino’ by Amos & Sara
Favorite non-2023 songs: “Give It To You” by Jordan Knight, “Hypnotise #3” by 1703, “Anya Navsegda” by Ladan, “Grown Apart” by Lisa Shaw, “Wood Beez” by Scritti Politti, “Shadows” by Wagon Christ
GC Kuss, baby
Zhenzhen Yu
This year I had a writing teacher (very good) who was played by Jesse Eisenberg (badly) in an A24 movie (okay). I’ve never been taught anything more valuable about writing while, at the same time, suddenly developing a very hostile relationship with it. Doesn’t matter what the writing is—a review, an essay, a novella, a grocery list, *this* list—the words that came so easily the past years now weigh like stones I can’t lift. I have this horrible fear that this year is ground zero for something that will get worse, that I can’t fix. Hopefully, one day, I can instead look back on this year as the year of wearing too many lychee perfumes.
10 Favorite Albums
Protomartyr - Formal Growth in the Desert (Domino)
McKinley Dixon - Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? (City Slang)
Blonde Redhead - Sit Down For Dinner (Sub Pop)
Ling tosite sigure - last aurorally (Sony Music Japan)
Nuovo Testamento - Love Lines (Discoteca Italia)
Joanne Robertson - Blue Car (AD 93)
MSPAINT - Post-American (Convulse)
Jam City - Jam City Presents EFM (Mad Decent)
Vangas - Vangas (Chunklet Industries)
Chuquimamani-Condori - DJ E (self-released)
The Saw Franchise, Ranked
Saw VI
Saw X
Saw V
Saw III
Saw
Saw IV
Saw II
Saw 3D
Jigsaw
Spiral
Bonus 11: Saw the Musical off-Broadway, which I paid $20 to see and was one of the most agonizing experiences of my life.
it is june 2024 and i just finished listening to everything linked in this and the part 1 list. tone glow is the most valuable music resource operating right now. thank you <3