Every year, warofnature.com selects unmissable new records. Albums that in some way stand out from the crowd. Ten of them this year. Reviewed in one sentence.
But before we get to the list, a summing up.
2023’s list features handcrafted zithers (Blue lake), shopping mall ambiences (Mandy, Indiana), noisiness (Gum Takes Tooth, Water From Your Eyes), and bedroom recordings (@). Even some shoegaze! The search for ‘new’ naturally involves avoiding old paths well trodden…but Hotline TNT’s take on Swervedriver with the treble rolled off is so beautifully crafted they won my heart; Wednesday brings a sprinkle of Pixies and Bettie Serveert to their loud/quiet/loud craft; and Yves Tumor is beating his own trail through the distorted underbrush. There’s techno-ish music too – Rrose was the stand out, but there were other superb electronic records by Avalon Emerson, Atmos Blaq, Phillipi, Aphex and Pangaea (who very nearly made the 10).
Elsewhere this year were lovely/interesting/exciting albums by Young Fathers (again), yeule, Truth Club, Sufjan, Model/Actriz, El Michaels Affair, Tzusing. Comebacks by Blur, Slowdive, Feist, Dengue Fever and Quasi. And strong contenders from legends PJ Harvey, Swans, Sparklehorse, WITCH, and Panda Bear/Sonic Boom.
Honourable mentions for being weird to Reverend Kristina Michael Hayter – whose Pentacostal doomsayings sent a shiver down the spine; Musta Huone’s Finnish Kraut experiments; and Joshua Idahen’s ‘Learn to Swim II’ – surely the best summing up of the state of play in the western world at the turn of the two-dozen.
As for singles of the year, it’s a four-way tie between Schlachtofbronx/Lady Smita’s ‘Come in’ dancehall mashup; The Rolling Stones/Lady Gaga’s ‘Primal Scream better than their best’, ‘Sweet sounds of heaven’; Dijon’s ‘Coojie’; and ANOHNI’s ‘Scapegoat’. Yes, it’s been that kind of year.
Here’s a playlist of just over 100 of the best tunes from 2023.
10. Hotline TNT – Cartwheel
A smushup of Teenage Fanclub, Swervedriver, Sugar, My Bloody Valentine and Smashing Pumpkins makes 12 tracks to play very loudly and happily.
9. Wednesday – Rat saw God
Keepsake melodies, a vocal performance of a lifetime, and guitars and size of continents.
8. @ – Mind palace music
Dirty Projectors meet Love and Sufjan Stevens in a late night folk club.
7. Water From Your Eyes – Everyone’s crushed
Teetering on the edge of falling over with armfuls of 80s synths, fuzz pedals, scissors and your dad’s one free jazz album.
6. Gum Takes Tooth – Recovery position
The button on the sampler marked ‘hell’ invokes all the evil spirits of 2023, and attacks them with sub bass, electronic tabla and whispers.
5. Yves Tumor – Praise a lord who chews but does not consume; (Or simply, hot between worlds)
Despite the production pedigree (Alan Moulder), this is not a shoegaze album – Tumor offers a sweeping, atmospheric vision that is very much his own.
4. Rrose – Please touch
A whale rolls in the black deep – bioluminescence flickers, lifeforms crackle and pop to a rhythm.
3. Blue Lake – Sun arcs
Gentle instrumentals shimmering with zither, piano, open tunings and ‘cabin in the woods’ vibes.
2. Mandy Indiana – I’ve seen a way
An industrial jackhammer of a debut – dungeon-like, apocalyptic, anti-fascist, anti-misogynist, un-pigeonholeable.
1. Deerhoof – Miracle level
The 19th Deerhoof album is their first made together in a studio…together with all-Japanese lyrics this is diverse, deeply textured, funny, heavy, danceable and completely and utterly unlike anyone else.
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