The year is winding out. I read these top albums lists and barely know any of the acts mentioned. Nor do I care that much. Band names are always two words, like 'shoe store' or 'make believe' or 'under water' or worse, wet leg, or dry cleaning, or japanese breakfast, or something that. The moment you've heard it, you've already forgotten. Names of hip hop artists are even more difficult to remember. Even the ones I like. There's always a small letter and an oddly-placed period and clearly wrong spelling and hey let's put a dash in the name too. And people making music are either too fucking old and should be in bed, or just basically Jack Antonoff who somehow is famous and rich despite being exactly as talented as a lesser Eagle (maybe Don Felder?). And how many times can one say "Well, I really respect Taylor Swift for her business acumen and her performing talents but I don't get her music" before you are arrested for behaving like an old man yelling at a cloud? Also, Andre 3000 released a record of flute music so whatever.
So with that out of the way, here's some shit.
Music
Honestly,
I can't remember listening to more than a handful of albums that
actually came out this year. But the ones that I liked include:
Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, and Shahzad Ismaily - Love in Exile: This was surprisingly durable in my imagination in that I expected to forget it once I heard it once, but it was also, um, quite inspired for being essentially soundtrack music, and I think a lot of that has to do with Vijay Iyer who is not one to journey into muzak. I've already written about it but it's definitely at the top end of my favorite albums of the year.
Clark - Sus Dog: I've also written about this, which scratches my itch for mainstream electronic music. I've loved Clark since his self-titled album was one of my favorite albums from 2014. Here, he sings (!), which may or may not be your cup of tea. Just noticed that Bleep picked it as one of its top 10 albums of the year.
Katie Gately - Fawn/Brute: One reviewer says it's "beguilingly disordered pop," and yeah, it is at times chaotic, especially from someone who supposedly likes Billy Joel (cough), but LA-based Katie Gately's music is definitely an acquired listen, it's not 'easy' music -- YET repeated listens rewards as you enter her world and submerge yourself.
Lankum - False Lankum: I write about Lankum here but honestly I'll say it again, if Michael Gira suddenly got interested in 16th Irish folk parables, this might be it.
Chris Mars - The Average Album: I am pretty sure I am one of five people who actually heard this album. Even Wikipedia doesn't list it, but this is artist (and former Replacements drummer) Chris Mars' sixth solo album, released only his website. Basic 70s-era guitar-pop, a little bit like the Kinks, this will scratch your itch for meat-and-potatoes rock'n'roll with a twist.
Janelle Monáe - The Age of Pleasure: The fourth album from her, it has a bit of Afrobeat (it features Fela Kuti's son, Seun Kuti on it) and reggae overtones, but it's still distinctly a Janelle Monáe record: R&B pop for the charts which doesn't shy away from studio experimentation and genre mixing.
Olivia Rodrigo - Guts: If you like '90s girl band rock, you will like this, an album you can hear from beginning to end without getting bored. Surprisingly hilarious and sharp lyrics.
Skinshape - Craterellus Tubaeformis: Not much to say about Skinshape that I haven't already said before, but I think here William Dorey takes his music into a vibe that I can confidently say is like early Traffic-- think of the fabulous second album from Traffic from 1968 with Steve Winwood and Dave Mason vying to produce the perfect pastoral pop. This album by Skinshape is just so so so good.
Slowdive - Everything Is Alive: A rare band who have been producing fantastic music during the reunion / reformation era. (I would include Mission of Burma and Dinosaur Jr in that category, Pixies not so much). They still sound dreamy as ever but I actually think the hooks are possibly as good (or even better) than they ever were. The first track "alife" is just the loveliest dream-pop entry into their canon.
Sparklehorse - Bird Machine: OK, I'm not sure what to say about this because the death of Mark Linkous still chokes me up. But yeah, his family (I think?) scraped up his last set of tracks which were apparently meant for an album before he killed himself in 2010. I think they also souped some of it up, added instrumentation, and/or vocals. And this is what we have. I have mixed feelings about it all, but as a snapshot of "what-might-have-been" it's still great to hear 'new' Sparklehorse.
Yves Tumor - Praise a Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume: Incredibly eclectic and able to navigate across multiple genres--rock, pop, glam, electronic music, soul, and R&B--this is a beautiful pop record. Check out "Heaven Surrounds Us Like a Hood" or "Echolalia."
Yo La Tengo - This Stupid World: What can you say about Yo La Tengo that hasn't already been said before? Record Collection Rock. Dependable. Noisy. Quiet. Hanukah. For a taste of this awesome record, check out their live set on KEXP. Also the absolutely cool-as-fuck song "Fallout" from the new album.
Compilations
Various Artists - Barbie the Album: Besides the most awesome "Dance the Night" by the incomparable Dua Lipa which I write about here, this album has some unqualified bangers by Charlie XCX, Tame Impala, and Haim as well as a ballad-ish composition by Billie Eilish. In an era when no one cares about soundtracks, this was pretty good.
Various Artists - Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3: Awesome Mix Vol. 3: Who would have ever thought that a Replacements song from Let It Be
would end up in a Marvel movie? But it did! If you watched this movie,
you will know the exact moment that Paul Westerberg kicks in with "How
smart are you?" Other inspired tracks by Radiohead, Spacehog, Flaming
Lips, X, The The, and Beastie Boys, this soundtrack was really created
by and for GenX men have lost their place in the cultural zeitgeist.
Also, a great Florence + the Machine track ("Dog Days Are Over") from her early days, actually her first album Lungs perfectly placed in the movie. We miss you Florence.
Music that I listened to a lot in 2023 but did not actually come out in 2023
- Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works Volume II (1994)
- Beyoncé - Renaissance (2022)
- De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising (1989)
- Fishmans - Long Season (1999)
- Fleetwood Mac - Then Play On (1969)
- Grizzly Bear - Shields (2012)
- PJ Harvey - B-Sides, Demos, & Rarities (2022)
- Julia Holter - Aviary (2018)
- Crusaders - Street Life (1979)
- Daniel Lopatin - Uncut Gems (2019)
- Curtis Mayfield - Curtis (1970)
- Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV (2008)
- The Pentangle - Basket of Light (1969)
- Pink Floyd - The Early Years 1970/1971/1972 (2016)
- Secret Machines - Now Here is Nowhere (2004)
- Seefeel - Rupt + Flex 94-96 (2021)
- The Smile - A Light for Attracting Attention (2022)
- This Mortal Coil - Filigree & Shadow (1986)
- This Mortal Coil - Blood (1991)
- Throwing Muses - The Curse (1992)
- Pete Townshend - Lifehouse Chronicles (2000)
- The Velvet Underground - 1969 (2017)
- Various Artists - OHM+: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music: 1948-1980 (2005)
- Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Way Down in the Rust Bucket (2021)
Reissues that I liked
- The Replacements - Tim (Let It Bleed edition) (4 disc set)
- The Who - Who's Next | Life House (10 disc set)
Shows I saw this year
The Church - March 30, 2023 at Gramercy Theater, NYC
Pinback - April 30, 2023 at Bowery Ballroom, NYC
Halsey - June 21, 2023 at NJ Pac, Newark
The Smile - July 7, 2023 at Forest Hills Stadium, NYC
Beyoncé - July 12, 2023 at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia
Elvis Costello & The Imposters / Nick Lowe - July 13, 2023 at Beacon Theater, NYC
The Pretenders - August 16, 2023 at Bowery Ballroom, NYC
Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, and Shahzad Ismaily - September 14, 2023 at Town Hall, NYC
Explosions in the Sky - October 7, 2023 at Bowery Ballroom, NYCTV shows that I sort of liked this year
- Beef - further proof that Steven Yeun is a fantastic actor with enormous range.
- Black Mirror (Season 6) - a bit uneven, with each episode starting with a promise and a premise but often not landing quite well. The first episode called "Joan is Awful" was good.
- Gen V (Season 1) - absurdly violent and gross, the show is like a cross between Dawson's Creek and Reservoir Dogs with some added moralizing about the media's hunger for the next big thing.
- For All Mankind (Season 4) - As silly as ever but it has kept my attention with various commentaries on class warfare, corporate greed, and the irredeemably evil malevolence of communist Russia.
- Invincible (Season 2) - Ah, back for another round at it. Very satisfying until the season suddenly stopped after a baffling four episodes. We have to wait for God-only-knows how much long for "Part 2" of Season 2. Idiots. Also, another Steven Yeun vehicle.
- The Last of Us (Season 1) - Fabulous show with Pedro Pascal showing his actor chops. The ending of the season, in which Pascal's character does unspeakably horrible things to save his ward, played by Bella Ramsey, left a bad taste in my mouth. How can we root for you if you suck?
- Loki (Season 2) - Has there been a show that is so fucking confusing, yet it delivers a deeply satisfying and emotionally resonant story of life and death and the choices we make? Well done, Marvel.
- Succession (Season 4) - The king of gobbledygook shows, in which characters speak in half sentence parables of obscure pop culture references sprinkled with obscenities galore -- this was a fantastic show about rich people who uniformly suck.
- Winning Time (Season 2) - Another brilliant show, undeservedly canceled, a highly stylized period piece on early eighties LA culture. I am not one for shows about sports but this is both a capsule of elite sports glitz and a perfect example of history-as-entertainment-as-history, with just enough grounding in "truth" to let you think you were really watching the playoffs in 1981.
Movies I liked this year
(5) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
(dir. Gunn) - An emotional entry and addition to the Marvel canon, this
movie also kind of stands apart from the Marvel canon. Each character
in the team gets an emotionally rewarding story, but especially Rocket
Raccoon who has more pathos than, I don't know, Robert Oppenheimer. And
the story arc for Nebula was as under-the-radar as it was
touching--broken child who remains broken but finds a new broken home to
fix.
(4) Anatomy of a Fall (dir. Triet) - A death happens, but who was responsible? We watch the movie hoping for clues but the real story is not necessarily the mystery of the death but the relationship at the heart of it, a relationship past its prime, the ones that most of us inhabit, the ones where deep resentments remain unsaid, until a moment of release allows us to expel, reveal, hurl all our grievances in an explosion of psychic violence. This is also a feminist movie and one that reveals in subtle ways how the inequalities in a relationship are usually invisible to the male, especially the sensitive artist male whose whole persona depends on being hip to such politics. Devastating.
(3) Oppenheimer
(dir. Nolan) - Probably the third best movie of the year? I'm not sure I
would assign this movie as a historian of science but it is a brilliant
portrait of a deeply damaged individual who held a lot of power. I am
wary of great-man biopics but this avoided the
'rise-and-fall-and-then-triumph' tropes of biopics by leaving the story
incomplete in one sense. There is no redemption, just muted acceptance.
Beautifully shot and everyone wears very very nice clothes. Also, hats.
(2) Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (dir.
Dos Santos, Powers & Thompson) - Ah, the prodigal son, Miles
Morales, returns to captivate us, with another round of dazzle and
sparkle. The second in a supposed trilogy, the multiverse story is
heading towards, I think, one of the biggest conundrums of the Marvel
superhero archetype: does our hero need to have suffered in order to be
our hero? In other words, is Spider-Man still a Spider-Man if Gwen
Stacey never dies? I guess we'll find out. The second best movie of the
year.
(1) The Holdovers
(dir. Payne) - Perhaps the best movie of the year, for me anyway, a
wonderful character study of the lives of three misfits stuck with each
other over a Christmas break (in 1970) in a small town in New England.
The premise hardly sounds interesting but it is beautifully rendered
with appropriate pathos and fealty to recreating that particular moment
in American life. It is a movie about the sadness that inhabits us that
bubbles to the surface during holidays when we are forced to confront
the stuff that is indelible, the stuff that never goes away.
Movies I also liked
- Barbie (dir. Gerwig) - I don't have much to say beyond the fact that it was both (slightly) subversive but also fun, a liberal feminist manifesto with a gentle critique of capitalism that is also at the same time participating in capitalism.
- The Creator (dir. Edwards) - Yet another one of those sci-fi movies that looks gorgeous, has an intriguing premise, checks off the 'vibes' quotient, but then doesn't land the third act. AI can be sentient and have feelings. OK. But I still hate ChatGPT.
- Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (dir. Daley & Goldstein) - Just a super fun movie, there is nothing to ponder here that is deeper than a moat surrounding an imaginary castle. Rewarding upon repeat watch.
- Godzilla Minus One (dir. Yamazaki) - A movie of gargantuan proportions by which I mean the Godzilla was fucking huge, this movie is a clever merger of the metaphor of the Godzilla story (nuclear anxiety) into the literal story of the monster itself (monster attack Japan). At times, it feels like the plot of a Bollywood movie with a whole redemption arc but what did you expect?
- The Killer (dir. Fincher) - Skillful. Clinical. This movie is also a vibes movie (in the words of Patrick H Willems). If there's tension in the movie, it's from the promise of extreme violence at any given moment. Because the movie evokes no emotion at all, I wonder if Fincher's goal was to make a movie where you felt exactly like the protagonist - emotionless with a helping of sociopathy.
- Killers of the Flower Moon (dir. Scorcese) - I liked it. I thought Robert De Niro's was probably the best performance.
- The Marvels (dir. DaCosta) - I liked it! Especially the Ms Marvel/Kamala Khan bits. I sense that the exact same movie could have come out in a different year and it would have been a success. Timing is everything.
- Saltburn (dir. Fennell) - Not unlike other classic tales of the less privileged who gets access to the world of the privileged and then shenanigans ensue - this is also a tale of sociopathy, narrated by said sociopath. The movie has some repellent moments, mostly about body fluids, but otherwise the joy of the story is really in the process of slowly unveiling the horrible truth that you know and suspect in your heart is true.
