Undomondo's Best of 2023
This year's best according to moi, in a lot of genres and an unhealthy amount of music. Also a new 150+ song playlist with the best songs I've listened to this year.
Hey all, can’t believe I’m still doing this thing!!!
I think by now it’s only for personal reasons, as in today’s world, we all know there aren’t any definitive authorities, it’s all subjective, and lists are a privilege, so nobody really cares about lists/best of’s anymore. However I listen to a lot of music all year, and it’s an exercise of some sort finally to go through and remember stuff, and share them with the public as some sort of pointer in time.
So, just think of these as my little pointers in music to you should you want to check them out. Top 15 albums for me has been the most significant songs/pieces/music whatever I’ve heard produced this year among many genres and albums, and whatever music you like to listen to, I’d recommend you to listen to these at least once and don’t miss them.
The rest is fairly obvious, I tried to group them according to broader genres. Some more popular genres, artists may not be represented, because I don’t listen/haven’t listened to them. If I’m missing something that I would be enjoying please let me know. I wish I had time to write about each seperately and tell you what I liked about it, but I have a life you know!
I’ve also made a 170 song playlist with my faves off this year, some singles/one-hits that haven’t been on the best of lists are here as well. So, here you go! Hope you like it and find some great music, this thing takes time to listen/write copy/proofread etc. if you find a few good albums, I’d be more than happy if you write me back!
Top 15 albums in all genres.
Lankum - False Lankum
Dina Ögon - Oas
Cleo Sol - Gold
Eddie Chacon - Sundown
Jungle - Volcano
Larry June & The Alchemist - The Great Escape
Noname - Sundial
Young Fathers - Heavy Heavy
Sofia Kourtesis - Madres
Dødheimsgard - Black Medium Current
Sunny War - Anarchist Gospel
Jaimie Branch - Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((World War 3))
Jonnine - Maritz
Delrei - Desolation and Radiation
André 3000 - New Blue Sun
Top 10 Indie/Rock/Garage Rock
Young Fathers - Heavy Heavy
Protomartyr - Formal Growth in the Desert
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - PetroDragonic Apocalypse
Glyders - Maria’s Hunt
Osees - Intercepted Message
Slowdive - Everything is Alive
Yo La Tengo - This Stupid World
Death Valley Girls - Islands in the Sky
Marnie Stern - The Comeback Kid
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - V
Top 10 Folk/Country/Americana/Indie
Lankum - False Lankum
Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter - Saved!
Hiss Golden Messenger - Jump for Joy
Nighttime - Keeper is the Heart
Sunny War - Anarchist Gospel
Woods - Perennial
Susanne Sundfør - Blómi
Lisa O’Neill - All of this is Chance
boygenius - the record
Sonny & the Sunsets - Self Awareness Through Macrame
Top 10 Electro Pop/Electronic/Dance/Pop
Jonnine - Maritz
Laura Groves - Radio Red
Lael Neale - Star Eaters Delight
Avalon Emerson - & The Charm
Belbury Poly - The Path
Lost Girls - Selvutsletter
Nabihah Iqbal - DREAMER
Caroline Polachek - Desire, I want to turn into you
Jessie Ware - That!Feels Good
Mega Bog - End of Everything
Paul St. Hilaire — Tikiman Vol. 1
Top 10 House / Disco / Dance / Techno
Sofia Kourtesis - Madres
Barry Can’t Swim - Sunsleeper
Godblesscomputers - Faded Views
Session Victim - Low Key, Low Pressure
Carrier - Neither Curve Nor Edge EP
Overmono - Good Lies
Tomorrow Comes the Harvest - Evolution
Macchiato - Jeans in Moet
Girls Chat Room - Sleep Mask
Ron Morelli - Heart Stopper
Top Non English Pop
Dina Ögon - Oas
Lucas Santtana - O Paraiso
Pambikallio - Parc de Pambi
Y La Bamba - Lucha
Ana Frango Elétrico - Me Chama de Gato Que Eu Sou Sua
Titanic - Vidrio
Top Soul/Funk/Neo Soul/ R&B
Cleo Sol - Gold
Eddie Chacon - Sundown
Jungle - Volcano
Sampha - Lahai
Meshell Ndegeocello - The Omnichord Real Book
St Francis Hotel & Liam Bailey - Enfant Terrible
Yazmin Lacey - Voice Notes
ANOHNI - My Back Was a Bridge for you to Cross
Souleance - Beautiful
Coco Maria - Club Coco
Top Hip-Hop
Noname - Sundial
Larry June & The Alchemist - The Great Escape
Janelle Monáe - The Age of Pleasure
Armand Hammer - We Buy Diabetic Test Strips
DJ Muggs - Soul Assasins 3: Death Valley
billy woods & Kenny Segal - Maps?
Madlib, Meyhem Lauren & DJ Muggs - Champagne for Breakfast
Open Mike Eagle - Another Triumph of Ghetto Engineering
Oddisee - How Far
Earl Sweatshirt & The Alchemist - VOIR DIRE
Top 10 World Music and related
Sissoko, Segal, Parisien, Peirani - Les Égarés
Brìghde Chaimbeul - Carry Them with Us
Kayhan Kalhor & Toumani Diabaté - The Sky Is The Same Colour Everywhere
African Head Charge - A Trip to Bolgatanga
Dudu Tassa & Jonny Greenwood - Jarak Qaribak
Ali Farka Touré - Voyageur
Omar Sosa & Tiganá Santana - Iroko
Shackleton & Wacław Zimpel with Siddhartha Belmannu - In the Cell of Dreams
Jantra - Synthesized Sudan
WITCH - Zango
Top Jazz/Nu Jazz/Fusion
Jaimie Branch - Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((World War 3))
André 3000 - New Blue Sun
Brad Mehldau - Your Mother Should Know: Brad Mehldau Plays the Beatles
Yussef Dayes - Black Classical Music
Brandee Younger - Brand New Life
Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, Shahzad Ismaily - Love in Exile
Cécile McLorin Salvant - Mélusine
Alfa Mist - Variables
Bushman’s Revenge - All the Better for Seeing You
Gogo Penguin - Everything is Going to be OK
Avantgarde/Ambient/Drone/Experimental/New Age
DELREI - Desolation and Radiation
Beverly Glenn-Copeland - The Ones Ahead
Rich Hinman - Memorial
Colin Stetson - When we were that what wept for the sea
Greg Foat & Gigi Masin - Dolphin
Gareth Quinn Redmond - Ar Ais Arís a/o Umcheol
Ryuichi Sakamoto - 12
Joe Hisaishi & Royal Philharmonic Orchestra — A Symphonic Celebration (Music from the Studio Ghibli Films of Hayao Miyazaki)
David Toop & Lawrence English - The Shell That Speaks the sea
Early Fern - Perpetual Care
Galya Bisengalieva - Polygon
Top Metal/Hardcore/Grindcore etc.
Dødheimsgard - Black Medium Current
Incantation - Unholy Deification
GridLink - Coronet Juniper
Gorod - The Orb
Panopticon - The Rime of Memory
Ahab - The Coral Tombs
Myrkur - Spine
Tomb Mold - The Enduring Spirit
Suffocation - Hymns From the Apocrypha
Fossilization - Leprous Daylight
Total Hate - Marching Towards Humanicide
Endstille - DetoNation
Pigs x7 - Land of Sleeper
Nightmarer - Deformity Adrift
Blindfolded and Led to the Woods - Rejecting Obliteration
Woe - Legacies of Frailty
Wolves in Winter - The Calling Quiet
Loma Prieta - Last
Hellripper - Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags
Zulu - A New Tomorrow