This is what happened: In 2021 I set out to catch up on newer music. I listened to the critics choices for the best albums of the 2010s, and picked my favorites. I did the same for 2020, picking my top 20 from the critics most highly rated albums. And I listened to new releases monthly in 2021, eventually picking the 21 best albums of 2021. That was so much fun that I decided to do it again in 2022 and 2023, listening each month and picking out the 22 best albums of 2022 and the 23 best albums of 2023.

There are links to the albums in those posts above, but if you’d like a one-stop playlist, I’ve got that set up in Spotify for the 2021 top 21 and the 2022 top 22, and in YouTube Music for 23 Best Albums of 2023. (Eventually I’ll move the 2021 and 2022 lists to YouTube, because artists are asking us to avoid Spotify for very good reasons.)

Okay, so now you know what was happening. Well guess what? It’s happening again! Here are the previous editions if you missed them:

( January February )

A quick word on the “yes” and “maybe” categories I’ve sorted things into, before we get going with February:

Yes– This isn’t a guarantee, but it represents the albums that, upon first listen, I think could definitely be in running for best of the year.

Maybe– These albums have something to recommend them, but also something that gives me pause. I’m putting them in their own category, because I have found “maybes” sometimes linger and eventually become “yeses”.

All set? Then let us get on with my top picks from 111 new releases that I listened to from March!

1010Benja, Ten Total– This Kansas City singer and producer makes hip hop and at times heartbreakingly sweet pop on overdrive. “I like that Luciferian rebellion that Muddy Waters was holding down, that you would hear from [Jimi Hendrix]…That, just, nasty stuff I guess. Unhinged. Like coming right out of the belly of the beast. Like a bat out of hell.” So says 1010Benja about what he was aiming for here, and what he achieved is a frenetic pace with a blender of references and influences and musical mix elements outside of the ordinary.

Adrianne Lenker, Bright Future– This is Adrianne Lenker’s sixth solo album (in addition to five as lead of Big Thief), and she is firing on all cylinders. The density and emotional honesty of the lyrics is perfectly paired with the unadorned vocal delivery and spare acoustic/country setting, but full of surprises that expand the pallet.

Alejandro Escovedo, Echo Dancing– Escovedo had already played a vital role in punk (with the Nuns), roots rock (the True Believers), and alt-country. For 2024’s Echo Dancing, Escovedo takes a romp through his own songbook cutting new versions of fourteen songs from his back catalog. What results is driving guitar, minor chords, reverb, and a sound somewhere in a SF & LA circa 1978 punk, LA cowpunk, and Lou Reed story poems greater universe. I love it!

Alena Spanger, Fire Escape– The music has a stripped-down simplicity with elements of new wave and new age, and the vocals have a deceptive delicacy with surprising outbursts. The sprightliness of the approach belies the emotional depth of the lyrics. Between all these elements, the spell that Brooklyn-based Spanger is weaving here definitely pulled me in.

Anja Huwe, Codes– Abstract, yet powerful, driving, and affecting, set from Anja Huwe. It feels like it has the thematic and musical unity you want for a proper album as well. Huwe was the leader of influential post-punk/goth group Xmal Deutschland for the entirety of the 1980s, and has since become a noted visual artist, as well as a television producer.

Beyonce, Cowboy Carter– This is so much more than just her “country album”. Though much of it, to be sure, is country inflected, Beyonce consciously plays with not only that genre, but picks up multiple other genres and meditations on genre itself along the way, delivering a shimmering set of varied pop songs. The results are so solid that even the guest stars (always a perilous undertaking in terms of album tone and consistency) and the 78-minute run length didn’t shake me!

Cindy Lee, Diamond Jubilee– We’re told that Cindy Lee is “the drag queen hypnagogic pop project of Canadian musician Patrick Flegel”. Okay, what the heck is hypnagogic pop? Apparently, it is “pop or psychedelic music that evokes cultural memory and nostalgia for the popular entertainment of the past”. More specifically, I read that this album, their seventh, is, “Built on strains of ’50s girl group pop, lush ’60s psychedelia, itchy ’70s radio rock, lo-fi ’90s clutter and sparkling production choices grafted on from some alternate universe.” I’ve borrowed a lot of words to give you a sense of the layers of excellence on display here and to justify my plug for a two-hour long album. In track after intriguing track, it really does justify the length and keep one listening!

Daniel Romano, Too Hot to Sleep– The hearkening back to seventies rock here is really well done! It’s mostly in a classic vein but does venture into a very convincing original punk and Stooges-style proto-punk as well. AMG tells me Romano is an “Eccentric Canadian singer/songwriter whose versatile stylistic range has included punk, classic pop, countrypolitan, and psych-rock” who has been releasing albums since 2010. I’ll be on the lookout for more from him!

Gary Clark, Jr., JPEG RAW– It’s got hip hop in its DNA, but the heavy guitar mix and soul feeling of the flow on the first track certainly catches attention as well. The opening track calls for a revolution, and darned if the sound doesn’t deliver- jazz, blues, booming soul, hip hop, and rock all cross paths herein a way that feels organic. It reminds me in a way of Prince and Lenny Kravitz, and with Valerie June, Stevie Wonder, and George Clinton on the guest list, the ambitious eclectic approach of this Texas guitarist is confirmed.

gglum, The Garden Dream– The Garden Dream is the full-length debut of gglum, the performance alias of London’s Ella Smoker, a songwriter who started making home eight-track recordings in her teens inspired by alternative artists like Elliott Smith, the Microphones, Phil Elverum, Adrianne Lenker and Big Thief, and Alex G. It’s guitar-driven pop with a distorted sheen, attitude, and fun.

Holiday Ghosts, Coat of Arms– They know how to jangly guitar, crack boom drum, and elemental driving rock chord progression! There’s a kind of naivete to the music, but they also turn in surprising sophistication in places without it sounding slick. This is the fifth album from this southern England band, and something tells me they’re into something good.

Kahil El’Zabar & Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, Open Me, a Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit – Those of you who follow regularly know that jazz can be a hard sell for me. This jazz orchestra for their 50th anniversary put out what the leader calls “Great Black Music”: “a strong rhythmic foundation, innovative harmonics and counterpoint, well-balanced interplay and cacophony amongst the players, strong individual soloist, highly developed and studied ensemble dynamics, an in-depth grasp of music history, originality, fearlessness, and deep spirituality.” Well, despite my jazz skepticism, and an hour and twenty run time, I entirely agree- it’s richness, variability, and yet unity of spirit carry it through.

Ministry, Hopiumforthemasses– Who would have thought that a new Ministry album would be one of the freshest things this month? It does, it’s true, sound like the nineties in the guitar crunching and dense layers of sound. It’s also focused on the present moment though, with furious dissent.

Moor Mother, The Great Bailout– Black Encyclopedia of the Air by Moor Mother, aka American poet, musician and activist Camae Ayewa, was one of my favorites of 2021, so I come to this well-disposed. What I found was a powerful exploration of the construction of racism in the British Empire, delivered with poetry and a musical mix that’s equal parts experimental, electronic, and jazz. While abstract, it gets under the skin, and compels further listening.

Sheer Mag, Playing Favorites– A lot of people this year are in the space somewhere between jangly eighties alt guitar and punk throwback. But this Philadelphia band stands out with the reverb turned up, youthful enthusiasm, a classic rock vibe on the way, and a powerhouse of a frontwoman in Tina Halladay. I love it when the kids make me believe in rock again!

The Messthetics & James Brandon Lewis, The Messthetics & James Brandon Lewis– “The Fugazi rhythm section with a master jazz saxophonist and guitarist” sounds like a good concept. Everything you might think of from that description is what the fuck it sounds like, and it’s pretty amazing. Hardcore jazz! Call me crazy, but I think this works!

Vial, Burnout– I love it when young punks with a hint of metal remind me why I love young punks with a hint of metal! Plenty of snark, lots of girl power, and great hooks from this Minneapolis trio.

Maybe

• Anysia Kym, Truest– From the distorted and disorienting start you know there’s creative ambition here. Glitchy beats, kaleidoscope mix, and unexpected juxtapositions of vocals and music are all on display. If it doesn’t totally feel together, the sonic exploration is still welcome. More bright young artists like this and we might get somewhere!
  
  
• Bleachers, Bleachers– Rollicking good fun, it sounds classic of an era that’s hard to pin down. Artsy 00s indie? Earnest 80s alt? Eighties jazzy top forty? At times it’s all of these. And if my reservation is that it sounds a little too smooth, well, as the project of songwriter and record producer Jack Antonoff who has been all over the sound of the 10s and 20s, that kind of makes sense.
  
  
• Boeckner, Boeckner!– Canadian singer and songwriter Dan Boeckner is a veteran of multiple Montreal indie rock bands and known for his fondness for the alt eighties. Here on his debut solo album, he carries that forward with sterling results- these songs sound so familiar and anthemic. Not the most original sound, but very well done.
  
  
• Cakes da Killa, Black Sheep– Jazzy mix, fresh beats, and dynamically varied flow. “Black Sheep, Cakes’ third studio album, acknowledges that lonely position of belonging to no single tribe: too queer for hetero bar-for-bar New York rappers, too much of a rapper for mainstream queer pop. But the album is a confident compendium of breathless performances, bombastic personality, and thrilling genre collages. It is more akin to a victory lap, an unbothered mission statement from someone who knows what he deserves, and who’s going to laugh in your face as he tells you.” It’s not stupendous, but it does what it needs to, and these days that’s worth its weight in gold.
  
  
• Charles Moothart, Black Holes Don’t Choke– Some good old fashioned sleazy glammy rock and roll from this San Francisco-based garage rock impresario. It’s not the newest thing in the world, but boy is he good at it!
  
  
• Dent May, What’s for Breakfast?– Clever and buoyant pop, somewhere between new wave and 70s AM radio. It’s a little formulaic in that way, but well and sincerely done.
  
  
• DragonForce, Warp-Speed Warriors– Okay, look! Yes, it’s cheesy retro metal. But so well and earnestly done, I succumbed to its charms. Someone in the UK still knows how to rock!
  
  
• Gossip, Real Power– Rick Rubin produced this, and between that and my general esteem for the Gossip, I was in. At first, I found it lacking a little of the snap and boom I was expecting, but the charms of what Beth Ditto can do grew on me. It’s both powerful and varied!
  
  
• Kim Gordon, The Collective– Of course I’m going to give this a careful listen. And indeed, it sounds not unlike what you might expect from one of the powerhouses behind Sonic Youth- dense, elliptical, challenging, but also dynamic and playful. It does tend more toward the abstract side of her body of work, which gives me pause about repeat listenability, but the artistry is undeniable.
  
  
• Sao Paulo NTS, Funk.BR– Funk.BR – São Paulo, a new compilation from the label wing of London radio station NTS, brings together Brazilian funk stars and newcomers like DJ Dayeh and DJ Bonekinha Iraquiana. The twenty-two tracks, all previously unreleased, chart the rise of the mandelão sound. Brazilian Funk is one of my favorite still under the radar genres of electronic music, and this is a great sampler. Fun, sinister, hilarious, and so many fresh musical directions forward.
  
  
• Sarah Shook & the Disarmers, Revelations– Shock here delivers more of her countrified rock (rockified country?) with solid songs, hooks, and verve through such songs as one where a motherfucker is promised that they’ll get what they deserve. The band really knows how to work their reverb and minor chords as well. It doesn’t totally wow, but it works solidly from start to finish, delivers some wow moments along the way, and I’ll definitely be listening again.
  
  
• SAVAK, Flavors of Paradise– Jangly and biting guitar, sometimes getting into a new wave or more American guitar heavy side of 80s alt. And the thing that most strikes me is the consistent energy track to track. There’s also the literate lyrics (one song titled “Will Get Fooled Again” gives you an idea of the wavelength). This Brooklyn-based indie rock outfit is a kind of “supergroup” formed out of past and present members of are bands the Obits, Edsel, the Cops, and Holy Fuck. And if it doesn’t get a lot beyond its influences, it is skillfully done.
  
  
• Sierra Ferrell, Trail of Flowers– As fine a bunch of bluegrass-inflected country songs as one could ask for from this Nashville musician. It’s not blazing new trails, but the footsteps are sure for the path it is treading.
  
  
• The Dandy Warhols, Rockmaker– Still Dandy and still Warhol! On this album I feel like the garage rock revival never ended, and that’s pretty welcome given musical trends of the past few years. Not the most original thing ever, but fuzzy churning vaguely sleazy guitar songs make me happy.
  
  
• The Secret Sisters, Mind, Man, Medicine– Americana with great hooks and shimmering vocal lushness. The tone doesn’t change a lot, and it doesn’t feel finished, but the contents are good.
  
  
• Tierra Whack, World Wide Whack– The spare mix, and off kilter vocals and arrangements are winning. It does lean a little too much toward autotune, but in this context it’s understandable as a mix element. And it doesn’t feel totally together, but that’s part of the charm of the experimental mix. Long may she Whack!
  
  
• Waxahatchee, Tigers Blood– I wasn’t sure this sounded materially different from her last album. Except I really liked her last album. And, as happened last timen, she kept reminding me of Edie Brickell and, unlike last time, Lucinda Williams. Does it rise above? Or is it “merely” really good? Regardless, it grew more charming as it went!
  
  
• Yard Act, Where’s My Utopia– There’s a concept overlay to this album which I’m not sure about, but I do always admire ambition, and their post-punk version of UK rock feels fresh and snappy.
  
  
• Yung Lean & Bladee, Psykos– Hip hop? Ornately produced bedroom pop? Left field power ballads? This duo between Swedish indie artists sounds like all of that. If it’s a little too muted for greatness, it’s consistently interesting the whole way through.

And so we have completed Q1 before the end of the first month of Q3. Onward!