The best albums of 2023, according to bands and artists
It’s been a year of billionaires in doomed submersibles, crusty aliens in Mexico, and a steady stream of despairing catastrophes. Musically, it’s equally been a mixed bag in every which way. Venues continue to close their doors in alarming numbers, and artists feel the pinch like never before, but thankfully, there have still been masterpieces aplenty, and to complete the eclecticism, no set genre seems to be in-trend.
In our own appraisal, we championed H Hawkline’s masterful Milk For Flowers as the finest record of 2023. But we’re not too egotistical to think that ours is the only independent word that counts. With that in mind, we reached out to some of the bands currently breaking through and asked them for their favourite albums this year. As expected, it’s yet another mixed bag.
We put this smorgasbord of delights down to the internet. It’s dispersed old scenes, doing away with cliques in favour of greater individualism. Thus, rather than playing what’s hot in your area, musicians are footloose and fancy-free. When this is coupled with the lack of cash in the capitalist world at the moment, in alternative music, there has also been a notable switch in motives for many.
“I have enough money to survive. I’m not wildly rich. But I have enough,“ Ryan Dann of Holland Patent Public Library recently told us when discussing the environment and motives of the modern musician. “I try and really live what I think of as the ideal artistic life. It is not just a hobby, or a side hustle or a main hustle. It’s just every part of your day is integrated with this creative project.“
Therefore, we’re seeing more and more passion projects and raking in the rewards of diverse artistic sincerity. “Everything that’s coming into you, you’re trying to figure out how to integrate it with your motivation, your career, your creative energy. So, when I get to write music, that’s the fulfilment of that ideal. As much as possible, I have tried to structure my life to facilitate that,“ Dann continues in an affirming fashion.
Seemingly, many more have followed suit, and they were all happy enough to heap praise upon their peers when we asked them to name their favourite album of 2023. With extra points for Benefits, who slightly mistook the assignment and also waxed lyrical about Rivers of Heresy, stating: “It’s brutal slabs of metal, righteous and angry but interspersed with moments of absolute psyche beauty. I love it because it’s the sound of amazing (and familiar) musicians pushing themselves in directions that you wouldn’t necessarily expect them to be. It’s uncomfortable and perfect.”
And one last thing: as a Christmas bonus, we’ve wrapped up the suggestions in a playlist at the foot of the piece. Enjoy. And thank you for reading Far Out this year.
The best albums of 2023:
- Aniexty Replacement Therapy – The Lottery Winners (selected by About Faces)
- Blue Car – Joanne Robertson (selected by Florence Rose)
- Cartwheel – Hotline TNT (selected by Cheerless)
- Dead Meat – The Tubs (selected by Mt Misery)
- Drop Cherries – Billie Marten (selected by Flyte)
- Everything Harmony – The Lemon Twigs (selected by Mt Misery)
- Heaven Is a Junkyard – Youth Lagoon (selected by Ratboys)
- I Am The River, The River Is Me – Jen Cloher (Selected by Maple Glider)
- I Don’t Know – Bdrmm (selected by Cheerless)
- Javelin – Sufjan Stevens (selected by Middle Kids)
- Lahai – Sampha (selected by About Faces)
- New Blue Sun – Andre 3000 (selected by Hot Garbage)
- Rivers of Heresy – Empire State Bastard (selected by Benefits)
- Severance – Guilt Trip (selected by Jetski)
- Source of Denial – Nihiloxica (selevted by Eugene Dubon)
- Sunburn – Dominic Fike (selected by About Faces)
- Sundial – Noname (selected by Saint Saviour)
- The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons – The Hives (selected by FIDLAR)
- The Land is Inhospitable and So Are You – Mitski (selected by Florence Rose)
- Upopo Sanke – Umeko Ando (selected by H Hawkline)
