Half-Year Roundup: 2023 Edition
My favorite new music from this year, so far
The year’s half over, so it’s time to take stock of things. As I mentioned when I did this last year, I keep an Excel spreadsheet that I call “INCOMING MUSIC.” I organize it all by Artist, Album Title, Release Date, Genre, and whether it’s a promo, a purchase, or just something I downloaded from somewhere. I also make notes on Coverage: whether I include it in my Stereogum jazz column, review it for The Wire or DownBeat, write about the artist for Bandcamp Daily, or write about it for Burning Ambulance.
So far, it’s been a slow year compared to last year: only about 300 albums (box sets count as a single entry) have landed here in 2023. Of those, the 50 that have given me the most pleasure are listed below, unranked, in alphabetical order. If I’ve written about a given album somewhere, or if someone’s written about it for BA, I’ve provided a link. A lot of them are also part of my Bandcamp collection, so feel free to check that out, too.
Arooj Aftab/Vijay Iyer/Shahzad Ismaily, Love in Exile (Impulse!/Verve): atmospheric improvisations from a vocalist, keyboardist and bassist; reviewed for Stereogum here
Air Raid, Fatal Encounter (High Roller): screaming, fist-pumping power metal from Sweden, discussed in this newsletter in May
Ruth Anderson & Annea Lockwood, Tête-à-Tête (Ergot): pieces by two avant-garde sound artists that document and reveal their decades-long relationship; discussed in this newsletter in May
The Art Ensemble of Chicago, The Sixth Decade — From Paris to Paris (RogueArt): A double live CD by maybe the largest version of the AEOC that’s ever taken the stage, reviewed for Stereogum here
Lakecia Benjamin, Phoenix (Whirlwind): A star-studded album by a highly touted — and deservingly so! — young alto saxophonist, reviewed for Stereogum here
Peter Brötzmann/Majid Bekkas/Hamid Drake, Catching Ghosts (ACT Music): The last Brötzmann album released in his lifetime, fusion of out jazz, blues, and Moroccan Gnawa music, discussed in this newsletter here
Bokani Dyer, Radio Sechaba (Brownswood): A wide-ranging, multifaceted, thought-provoking album from a South African keyboardist/composer; I interviewed him for Stereogum here
Enforced, War Remains (Century Media): Furious, warlike thrash from a Virginia quintet; their album covers are black-and-white, just like their worldview
Enforcer, Nostalgia (Nuclear Blast): Retro power/speed metal from Sweden — screechy vocals, fist-pumping choruses, squiggly guitar solos, IYKYK
Fire! Orchestra, Echoes (Rune Grammofon): A two-CD, nearly two-hour work by a 43-member ensemble led by saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, reviewed for Stereogum here
Asher Gamedze, Turbulence & Pulse (International Anthem/Mushroom Hour Half Hour): Mournful, intimate spiritual jazz from South Africa, reviewed for Stereogum here
Godflesh, Purge (Avalanche): The latest from this duo is as heavy as ever, but more indebted to/infatuated with hip-hop than they’ve been in years; I reviewed this for The Wire
Milford Graves, Children of the Forest (Black Editions): A previously unknown archival recording from 1976 featuring the same two saxophonists, Hugh Glover and Arthur Doyle, who played on Graves’ legendary Bäbi album; reviewed for Stereogum here
Mette Henriette, Drifting (ECM): Second album of quiet chamber jazz from a Norwegian saxophonist, reviewed for Stereogum here
Holy Tongue, Deliverance and Spiritual Warfare (Amidah): Industrial dub with spiritual/ritualistic over- and undertones, reviewed in this newsletter here
Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Archona/Aiōn (Sono Luminus): Two new extended works from composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir, discussed in this newsletter here
Ignominy, Imminent Collapse (Transcending Obscurity): Dissonant death metal from Quebec — kinda sounds like Sonic Youth meets Ulcerate; reviewed in this newsletter here
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, The Jungle (Blue Engine): A jazz symphony that journeys through a variety of moods, from urban blare to swampy blues, reviewed for Stereogum here
Ingrid Laubrock, The Last Quiet Place (Pyroclastic): A collection of pieces for sextet (saxophone, electric guitar, upright bass, violin, cello, drums) that blurs the line between jazz and contemporary classical; I interviewed Laubrock for DownBeat here
James Brandon Lewis, Eye of I (Anti-): A powerful new trio disc (sax, cello, drums) with a few guests here and there and a killer interpretation of Cecil Taylor’s “Womb Water”; reviewed for Stereogum here
Kali Malone, Does Spring Hide Its Joy (Ideologic Organ): A 3CD set of hour-long drones for tuned sine wave oscillators, guitar, and cello, reviewed in this newsletter here
Christian McBride’s New Jawn, Prime (Mack Avenue): A surprisingly raucous free jazz blowout from a usually straightahead bassist (though I did once see him back Sonny Rollins and Ornette Coleman), reviewed for Stereogum here
Megaton Sword, Might & Power (Dying Victims Productions): A fist-pumping, headbanging old-school power metal album, RIYL Manowar, Grand Magus, Crystal Viper, et al.
Memoriam, Rise to Power (Reaper Entertainment): The fifth album by this grinding, ferocious death metal band featuring ex-members of Bolt Thrower and Benediction; reviewed in this newsletter here
Metallica, 72 Seasons (Blackened Entertainment): It’s the new Metallica album. You’re either in or you’re out. Me, I’m very much in.
Jason Moran, From the Dancehall to the Battlefield (Yes): A fascinating but also just awesome reinterpretation of the music of pre-jazz bandleader James Reese Europe; I interviewed Moran about it for Stereogum here
The Necks, Travel (Northern Spy): in-studio improvisations from a venerable Australian piano trio, reviewed for Stereogum here
Javier Nero, Kemet — The Black Land (Outside In): An album of emphatic big-band orchestrations with African rhythms, reviewed for Stereogum here
Nightmarer, Deformity Adrift (Total Dissonance Worship): More dissonant death metal, this time with strong industrial and postpunk elements, reviewed in this newsletter here
Obituary, Dying of Everything (Relapse): It’s the new Obituary album. You’re either in or you’re out. Me, I’m very much in.
Linda May Han Oh, The Glass Hours (Biophilia): The latest album of avant-chamber jazz by the brilliant bassist/composer, reviewed for Stereogum here
Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, 60 Years (The Village): six previously unreleased tracks, one from each decade of this L.A. avant-jazz institution’s existence, reviewed for Stereogum here
Chris Potter, Got the Keys to the Kingdom: Live at the Village Vanguard (Label): Potter’s third live-at-the-Vanguard album, this one featuring all versions of other people’s tunes; reviewed for Stereogum here
Simona Premazzi, Wave in Gravity (S/R): The first solo album by a powerful Italian pianist; I interviewed her for DownBeat here
Éliane Radigue, 11 Dec 1980 (Important): a two-hour live radio performance of synth drones, unearthed after more than 40 years, reviewed in this newsletter here
Ted Reichman, Orgelwerke (Touch): an album of electroacoustic ambient music composed of manipulated samples from old organ LPs, reviewed in this newsletter here
Rudy Royston, Day (Greenleaf Music): Second album by a kind of hillbilly jazz quintet led by one of my favorite drummers ever, reviewed on Stereogum here
Wadada Leo Smith, Fire Illumination (Kabell): A digital-only album of searing jazz-funk-rock featuring Brandon Ross, Nels Cline, Melvin Gibbs, Bill Laswell, and others, reviewed on Stereogum here
Smoulder, Violent Creed of Vengeance (Cruz del Sur): High-energy power metal from a band led by a couple of Canadians who relocated to Finland, presumably to get even more in touch with the source
Tyshawn Sorey, Continuing (Pi): A sprawling trio album featuring pianist Aaron Diehl and bassist Matt Brewer journeying through four brilliant compositions (by Wayne Shorter, Ahmad Jamal, Harold Mabern, and Matt Dennis and Earl Brent), taking between 10 and 16 minutes to explore each one
Marcus Strickland, The Universe’s Wildest Dream (Strick Muzik): A genre-bending, Afro-futuristic album by a highly creative saxophonist; I interviewed Strickland for Stereogum here
Submerged, Fury (Ohm Resistance): an ambitious, wide-ranging double disc from an aggro drum ’n’ bass visionary; I reviewed this for The Wire (full disclosure: Submerged made an album in collaboration with Graham Haynes for Burning Ambulance Music, and you should buy it)
Surgeon, Crash Recoil (Tresor): An album of dubby, minimal techno from one of the pioneers of the form; buying it on Bandcamp gets you the individual tracks and a continuous full-album DJ mix
Tanith, Voyage (Metal Blade): Retro hard rock in a ’70s-Heart-meets-Blue Öyster Cult vein with killer male-female vocal harmonies
Isaiah J. Thompson, The Power of the Spirit (Blue Engine): classicist hard bop from an up-and-coming pianist, reviewed for Stereogum here
Henry Threadgill, The Other One (Pi): An amazing three-part suite performed by 12 musicians; reviewed for Stereogum here (and if you haven’t read Threadgill’s autobiography Easily Slip Into Another World yet, do it)
Uriah Heep, Chaos and Colour (Silver Lining Music): An incredibly strong album of high-energy rock anthems by a perennially underrated band, reviewed in this newsletter here
Greg Ward Presents Rogue Parade, Dion’s Quest (Sugah Hoof): A modern take on late ’70s/early ’80s “free funk” jazz, with some metal thrown in (the band has two electric guitarists, and they get loud); reviewed on Stereogum here
Yakuza, Sutra (Svart): The first release in over a decade from a brilliant Chicago-based avant-garde jazz-metal act
Brandee Younger, Brand New Life (Verve/Impulse!): A tribute to Dorothy Ashby and early ’90s hip-hop by the preeminent jazz harpist of the moment, reviewed on Stereogum here
That’s it for now. See you next week!
Great . Thank you.