No surrender on the journey to finding the 23 best albums of 2023- We may be lagging a little, but July & August are here!

My quest to get familiar with newer music started in 2021, when I listened to the critics choices for the best albums of the 2010s, and picked my favorites based on their choices. I did the same for 2020, picking my top 20 from the critics lists. And I started off listening to new releases each month, eventually arriving at my picks for the 21 best albums of 2021. That whole process was so amazing that I decided to do it again in 2022, listening to all the new releases and discovering the 22 best albums of 2022.

There are links to the 2020, 2021, and 2022 albums in the above-linked posts, but if you’d like an all-in playlist for each year, I have set that up on Spotify:

• 2020 top 20
• 2021 top 21
• 2022 top 22

And if you need to catch up on my voyage through 2023, the earlier posts for this year are here:

( January/February/March April May June )

In those posts, you’ll see I’ve divided things into “yes” and “maybe” categories as follows:

Yes– This represents the albums that, upon first listen, could definitely be in running for best of the year. Keep in mind that, as of this post, we have 91 “yeses”, so at least 75% of those will die on the way to the top 23. And that’s before we even get to…

Maybe– These albums have a lot to recommend them, but also something that gives me pause. I put them in their own category, because I’ve found “maybes” sometimes linger and eventually become “yeses”. As of this post, there are 109 “maybe” albums.

Now that we’ve got that established, let’s get on with my top picks from the 167 July and August new releases!

Be Your Own Pet, Mommy– Powered by the true force of nature Jemina Pearl, Be Your Own Pet released one of my favorite albums of the 00s, Get Awkward, and then promptly imploded. The ensuing years saw her grow up, start a family, and emerge even stronger and more in charge, and their old garage rock swagger plus her enhanced substance are a great combination here. Not to mention which, the album opens with a BDSM song. What’s not to like?

Cautious Clay, Karpeh– This multi-instrumentalist known for self-released bedroom pop and writing and producing for other artists branches out to the Blue Note label for a (fittingly) jazz-flavored soul sound. The music has a kind of spontaneous low-fi feedback-laden feel at times, and some interesting electronic and effects flourishes along the way. This kind of thing can be borderline for me, but the exuberance and dynamism, and an unguarded openness in the vocals and lyrics are quite winning.

Colter Wall, Little Songs– This is such a lyrically, vocally, and musically full-bodied and genuine invocation of the heyday of 70s Outlaw Country (with occasional dashes back all the way to Hank Williams) that I can barely process that it’s coming from a 28-year-old Canadian. Well done 28-year-old Canadian, and somebody let Pop Country Radio know!

Dhanji, RUAB– I love the old school soul G-funk sounding samples, the sometimes-dizzying kaleidoscope mix, and the challenging experimental sounds of this 25-year-old rapper from Ahmedabad, India. Much of it isn’t in English, and much of the time I don’t care! US hip hop could learn a thing or two about shaking things up a little from this youthful debut album.

Diners, Domino– Arizona native Blue Broderick delivers 24 minutes and ten songs worth of straight-ahead sunny rock with classic 60s chords and low fi nerdiness on this album. I am extremely pleased.

DJ K, PANICO NO SUBMUNDO– Okay, it’s almost entirely in Spanish. But darned if the hypnotic repetition, deep bass beats, and weird glitchy layers of electronic sound doesn’t weave a spell. I am told that DJ K is a Sao Paulo producer, and he works in baile funk, an electro/funk/bass subgenre that emerged in Brazil in the 80s. I am also told that he “pushes the edges of baile funk to horrorcore extremes with a style he dubs “bruxaria,” or witchcraft.” I’m telling you that I love it!

Florry, The Holey Bible– Country rock from this Philadelphia band with a 90s alt country feeling to it, but more than a dose of 70s sunshine, and playful wit in vocals, lyrics, and arrangement. All this is delivered without sacrificing the feeling of authenticity, and genuine emotion comes through on the tracks that need it.

Grace Potter, Mother Road– My Vermont home team girl Grace Potter is in peak form here- rocking, rootsy, musically tough, lyrically feisty. This is a nearly perfect fusion between formula, form, and function. And it even pretty much pulls off a conceptual through-line!

Greta Van Fleet, Starcatcher– I mean, Great Van Fleet is a forgery, right? But their forgery of Zeppelin, Rush, and other 70s hard rock luminaries on this album is so true to the original and exquisitely delivered, I can’t help but love it as a work of art in its own right. Rock on, lads!

Guided by Voices, Welshpool Frillies– Nice crunching guitar in a solidly classic vein redolent of the 60s, but sometimes sounding more 90s, and doing detours into prog rock and Bowie territory. I am not entirely sure what they’re going for here, but I love it anyway!

Half Japanese, Jump Into Love– Snarky and joyfully experimental, this reminds me of how College Rock bands of the 80s played around and had fun with their music, vocals, and lyrics. The album fits into the space between early Camper Van Beethoven and the Dead Milkmen at their weirdest, with some Wall of Voodoo thrown in. This is not accidental, as Half Japanese front-person Jad Fair has been kicking around the fringes of indie production since the late 70s. There is never an uninteresting moment here.

Homeboy Sandman, Rich– Smart, positive, and often funny left of center lyrics, a pleasant conversational flow, and a varied and clever musical mix. This Queens rapper has been around for fifteen years, and it shows in how comfortable and confident he is doing his thing here. And shows how much hip hop that relaxes a little and gets into the details of small everyday life real still has to say.

jaydes, ghetto cupid– Glitchy, fragmented, and densely layered, with elements of hip-hop, EDM, guitar samples and experimental music. The collage is made even more hallucinatory by the 17 songs flashing by in 33 minutes. Besides stylistic unity, the whole thing is held together thematically and by repeated samples and loop motifs as well. Wit, ambition, and skill mark this Florida teen as someone to keep your eye on!

Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Sticks and Stones– Willie Nelson’s son here with some good old-fashioned country (a la outlaw) and rock (a la southern rock and 70s singer songwriter). It’s not the newest sound in the world, in fact anti that, but it is a great delivery of said sound that never rings false.

Noname, Sundial– Smart metaphysical poetic hip hop, positive but with plenty of raunch and bite, with disarmingly approachable vocals and a compelling swirl in the musical mix including jazz, gospel choruses, Brill Building pop, and classic 80s beats.

Open Mike Eagle, Another Triumph of Ghetto Engineering– This Chicago MC really delivers on the album title! Great attitude and presence, a smart and interesting low fi mix, hooky and poetic with both positivity and darkness.

Osees, Intercepted Message– The venerable San Francisco indie rock band takes us on a great excursion into the more rocking side of new wave. Though the synths are cranked up too, and we get some great 808 beats in there! Deliberately lost in time, but so flawlessly done.

Palehound, Eye on the Bat– Thrashy guitar with just enough poppy melody, on point vocal phrasing during both slow/quiet and loud/fast interludes, lyrics that paint real life stories but load them with emotional meaning. Band frontperson El Kempner severely undersells when they say “it’s kind of like journal-rock, just all of my biggest fears splurted onto some vinyl, no different from writing a diary, really” but that does give you a kind of idea. This is their fourth album, and I look forward to hearing more!

PJ Harvey, I Inside the Old Year Dying– The album expands on Orlam, her epic poem about the coming of age of Ira-Abel, a young Dorset girl whose companions include the bleeding, ghostly soldier Wyman-Elvis and Orlam itself, a lamb’s eyeball that serves as the village oracle. As overdone as this sounds, the concept lends a depth that you can constantly feel but doesn’t stand in the way of getting to the songs. Which yes, are dissonant and challenging, but also strangely accessible.

PWNT, Play What’s Not There– Pop so sweet I almost get a toothache, and textures so shimmery it’s like cotton candy. There is more than a little psychedelic sheen, and I think I also detect an omnichord in there somewhere… AMG says: “L.A. musician Kosta Galanopoulos named his solo project, PWNT, after the Miles Davis credo “Play what’s not there,” the title he bestows to his sophomore album.” I say, amen!

Shamir, Homo Anxietatem– An unusual vocalist with a surging voice, music that’s equal parts new-wave, electronic dance, folk, and hard rocking (with a bonus blues song thrown in), and a powerful point of view. This Las Vegas native is a bundle of talent who has been beaming out great indie pop since 2012, and he’s showing no signs of slowing down.

Snooper, Super Snooper– Punk in a vein that reminds me of early Jam and American hardcore, but also includes playful distortion, drum machines, and sound effects reminiscent of new wave, hip hop, and electronic music. The album rips through 14 songs in 23 minutes without every losing vitality and fun. I am now more than halfway in love with this Nashville band!

Various Artists, Tell Everybody! 21st Century Juke Joint Blues from Easy Eye Sound– Since founding the Easy Eye Sound label in 2017, Dan Auerbach has produced and issued dozens of recordings. And indeed, we get Auerbach on one track, the Black keys get another, but it’s mostly filled with the label’s artists. Held together by a cohesive spirit between the musicians, this is as fine a batch of non-formulaic but utterly classic contemporary blues as you are going to find.

Voivod, Morgoth Tales– Between the band name, the album name, and an opening track named “Condemned to the Gallows”, you might be expecting something in the metal vein. And you would be right! It reminds me, favorably, of the heyday of thrash metal in the 80s, with a hint of grunge in there, and a little of the extra punch of doom metal but, glory glory hallelujah, none of the technical frigidness or orchestral flights of fancy that makes so much contemporary metal lose its vitality, and with vocals that, while properly shouty, are actually somewhat legible! Heavy and yet dynamic, dark but with wit. This Quebec thrash band that started in the 80s celebrated their 40th anniversary by recording whole new versions of deep cuts from throughout their history. This album has more than a thing or two to teach the kids these days, and it makes this sometime-metalhead very happy.

Who is She?, Goddess Energy– Sweet melodies, bright chords, driving music right on the centerline between pop and punk, and energetic charmingly artless vocals. All of this, and odes to Movie Pass, Marianne Williamson, and telling off Anne Hathaway’s haters. How can I not be smitten? This “supergroup” of members of local Seattle bands Tacocat, Lisa Prank, and Chastity Belt makes some real magic together.

Maybe

• Alice Cooper, Road– I don’t think Alice Cooper ever puts on a bad show, and that includes here. Is it a little formulaic? Sure. Is his formula rollicking metal and shock rock? Yes! There is even a kind of unifying theme/metaphor of being on the road. There’s a (well done) “Magic Bus” cover as the last track that doesn’t quite fit with the rest, but otherwise good clean (but play dirty) fun.
  
  
• Being Dead, When Horses Would Run– It has that shimmery 60s sound with 90s quirky verve, lyrics about buffaloes, horses, days off, and God, and a classic psychedelic sound effect catalog. This, of course, adds up to this Texas-based band’s album being compulsively charming and likable. Some concerns about back half pacing are the only thing keeping me from an enthusiastic “yes.”
  
  
• Bethany Cosentino, Natural Disaster– Clear as a bell vocals, wordy lyrics that wax both personal and social, and a ringing guitar wielded by someone familiar with rock, folk, and country who knows how to work its chords. This reminds me more than a little of the 90s. Cosentino is from the lo-fi duo Best Coast, and makes a great authentic-feeling sound, even if it doesn’t necessarily stand out as original.
  
  
• Bush Tetras, They Live In My Head– Excellent moody minor chords rock, somewhere between post-punk and 90s, and vocals with a haunted, plaintive edge. It turns out this New York band has been kicking around since the late 70s and was one of the early No Wave bands, which tells you why they sound like everything between. Everything in between actually derives from them!
  
  
• Diego Raposo, Yo No Era Así Pero de Ahora en Adelante, Sí– Okay, it was all in Spanish, there was one song near the end that lost me by being too lulled out, but in general I was very taken with the complex and lively mix this Dominican multi-instrumentalist and producer has going on here. Per Pitchfork “Melding jungle breakbeats, fuzzed-out electric guitar, and frantic bass with melancholy downtempo production”. Per me, yay!
  
  
• draag me, Lord of the Shithouse– The title has attitude! Musically, this outing from Spirit of the Beehive members Zack Schwartz and Corey Wichlin is making some beautiful noise, delivering a diverse (and often pleasingly unhinged and fragmented) electronic sound. It is sometimes a challenging listen and I’m not totally convinced that it hangs together enough to work as an album at its length, but the soundscapes are compelling.
  
  
• Edsel Axle, Variable Happiness– Rosali Middleman, usually a singer-songwriter, here goes for an electric-guitar instrumental album. And, if you get me minor chord-heavy, reverb-laden instrumental electric guitar, I am going to like it. Does it entirely hold together as an album? Not sure, but I do like it!
  
  
• Gaadge, Somewhere Down Below– Good bell-ringing lo-fi guitar rock with fuzzy crunch and distortion from this Pittsburgh band. Is it terribly original? No. But so well done!
  
  
• Grian Chatten, Chaos for the Fly– This debut studio album by Irish musician Grian Chatten (best known as the lead singer for Fontaines D.C.) has the raw edge of his work with them, but also a delicate orchestration arrangement. This lightens the emotional heaviness and brings new depth and subtlety, and a hint of sweetness, to his sound. I’m not sure it comes together, but it is affecting, and I never wanted to leave.
  
  
• Hiss Golden Messenger, Jump For Joy– Sunny indie rock with some 70s country rock and southern rock feeling. I kept going back and forth between thinking it sounded too samey track-to-track, and thinking it sounded beautifully classic. And since I did that to the end, that is the very definition of a “maybe”!
  
  
• Horrendous, Ontological Mysterium– Good old fashioned blistering metal that still remembers melody, has just the right technical shininess (and more than a hint of British new wave metal), and actually has somewhat approachable vocals! Is it the most original thing ever? No. But thank goodness someone is keeping metal hope alive!
  
  
• ICYTWAT, Final Boss– I love the low-fi sound of this hip-hop album with its distortion, loops, and reverb. It all sounds a little sinister and buried in feedback, and the lyrics that make it through reinforce this feeling of menace. The album takes more than occasional dips into a more conventional contemporary autotuned mumble-rap, but when it’s not doing this the sonic mix made my ears happy.
  
  
• Jon Batiste, World Music Radio– The beats! The grooves! The energy and positivity! The production that sweeps in hip-hop, rich and varied strains of soul and R&B, EDM, world rhythms! It feels simultaneously old school and fresh. All Music Guide says “Grammy-winning New Orleans pianist and singer known for his eclectic crossover music that juxtaposes jazz, soul, pop, gospel, and NOLA R&B”. I say, he’s amazing, and the only thing I’m unsure of here is the sprawl and if it holds together at the full hour+ run rate.
  
  
• Lifeguard, Crowd Can Talk/Dressed In Trenches– 2023’s Crowd Can Talk/Dressed in Trenches is the first release from Chicago trio Lifeguard that has gotten much traction outside their hometown, though you might not guess that to hear it. This collection of two EPs — one previously released, one not is full of fuzzy goodness! It has just the right mixture between harshness and some kind of melody. The second EP is harsher and noisier than the first, but both have their charms.
  
  
• PVRIS, Evergreen– Sometimes this sounds more like indie rock (in an arch intellectual version of that), more often like a dance super-mix (in a good way!), and always experimental and intelligent. I don’t know if it quite holds together, but frontperson Lynn Gunn’s presence, and the daring smarts of the whole thing kept me listening.
  
  
• Rauw Alejandro, Playa Saturno– I can’t help it, I have a soft spot in my heart for reggaeton. Actually, it may be a sweaty, pulsing spot. Either way, even with nearly nary a word of English from this Puerto Rican reggaeton master, I am here for the high energy multi-layered mix.
  
  
• Rhiannon Giddens, You’re the One– She’s got a voice! This North Carolinian musician romps through soul, blues, bluegrass, and jazz standards with a phrasing that is sometimes a little smooth to a fault, but also very authentic-feeling.
  
  
• Ruth Garbus, Alive People– Spare. Folky. Intellectual and philosophical. Abstract. Recorded live in Greenfield, Massachusetts by the, among other things, sister of Merrill Garbus from Tune-yards, though it doesn’t feel like a live album in a crowd feedback kind of way. It’s all of a tone, but so powerful, compelling, and lyrically surprising it kept bringing me back in.
  
  
• The Hives, The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons– This album is single-handedly making me believe in the 2000s garage rock revival again. And with more than a little flavor of the Jam, Stiff Little Fingers and the rockier side of post-punk. There is nothing new here. But that’s gloriously the point!
  
  
• Various Artists, Barbie The Album– If you were to picture what would be on the Barbie soundtrack, you might envision girl power icon singers and high energy dance music. You would be right about both of those! Given the nature of the film, you might also picture musings on the meaning of femininity and image/expectation versus reality. Again, you would be right. You might be surprised, though, that there are also some equally substantive takes on masculinity in the process, and an array of musical styles beyond the obvious. And it pulls off a kind of emotional arc along the way. I’m not sure yet that it totally hangs together, but for a soundtrack album to amount to a real album is no small feat!
  
  
• Veps, Oslo Park– If you tell me you’re a Norwegian 90s pop-rock influenced girl group, you can’t add more adjectives I respond positively toward. Energetic, fun, and well put together, and, if I’m not sure yet how far it rises above its derivations, I’m definitely giving it another listen!
  
  
• Your Heart Breaks, The Wrack Line– Fuzzy guitar, slow melodious chords, fun musical surprises, intelligent lyrics, and vocals with equal hints of nostalgia and whimsy. Your Heart Breaks is a project led by musician, artist, and filmmaker Clyde Petersen, and this is their first release for Kill Rock Stars. Written in collaboration with others, it’s loaded with well-deployed guests (including several delightful turns by Kimya Dawson), and for good measure, there’s even an ode to Wesley Crusher. Because it is lo-fi and low-key, the pacing sometimes lags toward the end of its hour-long run, but the considerable charms kept me tuned in.
  
  
  And there we are! Will we get September out before the end of November and then try to do October-December in a blaze of glory? Stay tuned to find out…