Year-End Roundup: 2023 Edition

My 50 favorite albums from July-December

The year’s almost over, and critics like me are required to provide lists as justification for our continued existence. I chose the 10 Best Jazz Albums of 2023 for Stereogum (and got 18 jazz artists to tell me their favorite records of the year), and delivered an all-metal ballot to The Wire’s annual critics’ poll, which had exactly zero impact on the ultimate results. That’s all the ranking I can stand, so it’s time to take stock of things a little more loosely. 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.

I didn’t keep as scrupulous an accounting as I’ve done in the past, so my spreadsheet only lists 490 albums (box sets count as a single entry) from 2023. Of those, the 50 that have given me the most pleasure since I published the first half of this list in July 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.

Before that, though…

Hosted by Rihards Endriksons, journalist and artistic director of Latvia’s Skaņu Mežs festival, Such Music is devoted to new works of free improvised music, either previously unheard or created specifically for the show. Since March 2023, the show has been produced in collaboration with Burning Ambulance. 

This month, you’ll get to hear an exclusive recording of a solo performance that Lebanese-French saxophonist Christine Abdelnour gave in Riga this September. The Latvian amplified trumpet/drum duo NUUN is also  introduced, and a short, retrospective mixtape of music by Mars Williams is played as a farewell to the amazing musician who left this world in November. You’ll also hear a funny story about John Malkovich and experience Christof Kurzmann singing “O Tannenbaum.” Listen on Mixcloud. 

And now, the Year-End Roundup!

Afterbirth, In But Not Of (Willowtip): progressive, occasionally jazzy, avant-garde technical death metal, wilder than you can imagine; a must-hear

Ambrose Akinmusire, Owl Song (Nonesuch): Akinmusire on trumpet, Bill Frisell on guitar, and Herlin Riley on drums; reviewed for Stereogum here

JD Allen, This (Savant): tenor sax, drums, and abstract, often creepy electronics; reviewed for Stereogum here

Zoh Amba/Chris Corsano/Bill Orcutt, The Flower School (Palilalia): free jazz meets free rock in this sax/guitar/drums trio, reviewed for Stereogum here

Fred Anderson Quartet, The Milwaukee Tapes Vol. 2 (Corbett vs Dempsey): recently unearthed archival recordings by a Chicago free jazz legend; reviewed here

Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, Dynamic Maximum Tension (Nonesuch): an absolutely incredible big-band record that’ll spin your head around, reviewed for Stereogum here

Baroness, Stone (Abraxan Hymns): burly, cranked-up rock by one of my favorite 21st century bands — I wish these guys were as popular as the fucking Foo Fighters or whoever

Beastwars, Tyranny of Distance (Destroy): New Zealand stoner rockers cover a bunch of songs by other, non-stoner-rock NZ acts, transforming them utterly in the process

Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band, Kings Highway (Stoner Hill): the first album since 2017 by drummer Blade’s jazz-meets-ambient-rock group, reviewed for Stereogum here

Johnathan Blake, Passage (Blue Note): the drummer plus alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, vibraphonist Joel Ross, keyboardist David Virelles and bassist Dezron Douglas, reviewed for Stereogum here

Blankfor.ms/Jason Moran/Marcus Gilmore, Refract (Red Hook): piano, drums, and electronics creating off-kilter but fascinating atmospheres, reviewed for Stereogum here

Jaimie Branch, Fly Or Die Fly Or Die Fly Or Die ((World War)) (International Anthem): the final studio recordings by a brilliant trumpeter and bandleader/composer; I interviewed one of her longtime collaborators for Stereogum here

Cannibal Corpse, Chaos Horrific (Metal Blade): it’s Cannibal Corpse; you’re in or you’re out, and I am definitely in; “Summoned for Sacrifice” is one of their best songs in years

Celestial Sanctuary, Insatiable Thirst For Torment (Church Road): fist-pumping, shove-your-head-through-the-wall death metal from the UK, reviewed here

Isaiah Collier, Parallel Universe (Night Dreamer): a direct-to-disc blend of CTI-esque soul jazz and spiritual free blowing, reviewed for Stereogum here

John Coltrane & Eric Dolphy, Evenings at the Village Gate (Impulse!): newly unearthed live recordings from 1961, reviewed for Stereogum here

Creation Rebel, Hostile Environment (On-U Sound): the surprising return of UK dub legends; I wrote about them here

Cruciamentum, Obsidian Refractions (Profound Lore): grimy underground death metal from a very patient band (eight years between albums) with a few atmospheric/proggy/jazzy surprises up their sleeves

Cryptopsy, As Gomorrah Burns (Nuclear Blast): a strong return to form by French-Canadian technical death metal legends, reviewed here

Kris Davis, Diatom Ribbons Live at the Village Vanguard (Pyroclastic): a live sequel to a fascinating and brilliant studio album, reviewed for Stereogum here

Aaron Diehl, Zodiac Suite (Mack Avenue): a brilliant reimagining of pianist Mary Lou Williams’ epic 12-part work; I interviewed Diehl for Stereogum here

Tomas Fujiwara, Pith (Out Of Your Head): surprisingly hard-edged music for vibraphone, cello, and drums, reviewed for Stereogum here

Lafayette Gilchrist, Undaunted (Morphius): powerhouse piano from a Baltimore player who combines jazz and go-go, reviewed for Stereogum here

Go Ahead And Die, Unhealthy Mechanisms (Nuclear Blast): the second album by Sepultura founder Max Cavalera’s grinding thrash project with his son

GridLink, Coronet Jupiter (Willowtip): arty, beautiful grindcore — each of this group’s four albums (all of which can fit on a single CD) is better than its predecessor, and this one is glorious

Matthew Halsall, An Ever Changing View (Gondwana): vibe-oriented spiritual jazz: part Chuck Mangione, part Earth, Wind & Fire, part mid ’90s Ninja Tune; I reviewed this for DownBeat

Makiko Hirabayashi Trio, Meteora (Enja): lush, melodic piano trio recorded with astonishing precision; I reviewed this for DownBeat

Robert Hood & Femi Kuti, Variations (M-Plant): a thrilling live session featuring a Detroit techno pioneer and Fela’s son creating electronic jazz-funk in real time

William Hooker, Flesh and Bones (Org Music): 21st century free jazz, old-school fire music with one eye on the future, from one of the avant-garde’s most under-celebrated drummers

Incantation, Unholy Deification (Relapse): absolute masters of doomy death metal return with their latest collection of skull-crushers, reviewed here

Irreversible Entanglements, Protect Your Light (Impulse!): a surprisingly optimistic and love-infused album by this poetry-plus-free jazz quintet; I reviewed it for Stereogum here and also wrote a cover story on them for The Wire

Kofi Flexxx, Flowers in the Dark (Native Rebel): this is a Shabaka Hutchings project, but most other details are fuzzy; reviewed for Stereogum here

Maurice Louca, Moonshine (Northern Spy): utterly confounding Egyptian spiritual jazz meets prog-rock, reviewed for Stereogum here

Mad Myth Science, Mad Myth Science (Infrequent Seams): the debut album by a fascinating, AACM-ish quartet of young players, reviewed for Stereogum here

Mat Maneri Quartet, Ash (Sunnyside): the second album by a violin-piano-bass-drums group with years, if not decades, of experience playing together, reviewed for Stereogum here

Hedvig Mollestad Weejuns, Hedvig Mollestad Weejuns (Rune Grammofon): a powerhouse new organ trio led by my favorite Norwegian guitarist, reviewed in this newsletter here

Gard Nilssen’s Supersonic Orchestra, Family (We Jazz): the second release by this Norwegian drummer’s large ensemble, reviewed for Stereogum here

Aruán Ortiz, Pastor’s Paradox (Intakt): a seven-part jazz suite featuring Don Byron, Lester St. Louis and Pheeroan akLaff, reviewed for Stereogum here

Prong, State of Emergency (Steamhammer): a strong latter-day album by a postpunk thrash crew who’ve never made a bad record; I reviewed this for The Wire, believe it or not

Matana Roberts, Coin Coin Chapter Five: In the Garden (Constellation): the latest chapter in Roberts’ planned 12-part epic about their history and ours, reviewed for Stereogum here

Knoel Scott, Celestial (Night Dreamer): solo debut (with guest Marshall Allen) by an alto saxophonist who’s been with the Sun Ra Arkestra for 40 years, reviewed for Stereogum here

Matthew Shipp, The Intrinsic Nature of Shipp (Mahakala Music): an amazing solo album even by Shipp’s standards; reviewed for Stereogum here

Spirit Adrift, Ghost at the Gallows (Century Media): gloriously fist-pumping Metal with a capital M, full of songs about grabbing life with both hands; reviewed here

Terell Stafford, Between Two Worlds (Le Coq): straightahead hard bop played by five masters of the form, reviewed for Stereogum here

Jorma Tapio & Bread For Soul, Jorma Tapio & Bread for Soul (577): a Finnish saxophonist interprets compositions by drummer Edward Vesala; reviewed for Stereogum here

Tetragrammacide, Typho-Tantric Aphorisms From The Arachneophidian Qur’an (Iron Bonehead): absolutely blasting death metal (think Vader or Vital Remains) with insane song titles drawn from Indian mythology

Tomb Mold, The Enduring Spirit (20 Buck Spin): I got in trouble for making fun of their clothes on Twitter, but these guys make amazing progressive death metal

Mark Turner Quartet, Live at the Village Vanguard (Giant Step Arts): a double live CD featuring trumpeter Jason Palmer, reviewed for Stereogum here

Various Artists, Total 23 (Kompakt): the annual compilation from the legendary German electronic label, always worth hearing

Various Artists, J Jazz Vol. 4: Deep Modern Jazz From Japan — Nippon Columbia 1968-1981 (BBE): the latest in a series of crate-digging compilations, this time focused on the output of just one label

That’s it for now. I’m gonna take a few weeks off and plan some things; the next newsletter will arrive on January 17. In the meantime, how about buying some CDs?