100 gecs - 10,000 gecs
Review
The gecs finally came back after four years with what is likely their best album yet! They have kept the same spirit as before, but have also brought in quite a few new sounds to their euphoric chaos! They did this by bringing more punk and rock influenced sounds into their style of maniacal songwriting about frogs and being dumb. The hooks here pop more than they ever have, the songs themselves progress more as well, and their vocal performances as a whole balance fitting the music and being weird perfectly! At only 10 songs and 26 minutes, it’s a perfect length to play over and over. 10,000 gecs is another amazing thrill ride through one of the most creative groups currently in music.
Favorite Moment: The outro of “Billy Knows Jaime”
Selling Point: Chaos with some of the catchiest hooks all year
Janelle Monáe - The Age of Pleasure
Review
As expected, this is my least favorite Janelle Monáe album. But, my least favorite Janelle Monáe album is still an enjoyable, boisterous, and catchy listening experience! Janelle said that this album was made for her friends to feel as free as possible while they party together. Now, what Janelle and her friend’s definition of being as free as possible is the complete opposite of what mine is. Her’s is to feel as sexually free and liberated as possible, so much so that even the the gatefold of the vinyl is just a big pair of breasts. Mine would literally have nothing sexual in it, so that does make this album very hard to identify with lyrically, but Janelle is still musically top tier. The horns all over this album from Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 elevate everything else on the album. It feels like a party on a remote island, and Janelle has even said in an interview that they made all of the songs during parties with their friends. Even with this seemingly unorthodox creation method, The Age of Pleasure still manages to work significantly better as a whole than any one individual track. These songs flow together to make one 32-minute jam-fest!
Favorite Moment: The horns on “Champagne Shit”
Selling Point: One of music’s best artists putting out maybe their most digestible album where they haven’t overthought any of it
Ryan Beatty - Calico
Review
I’ve been aware of Ryan Beatty since his features on Brockhampton’s seminole 2017 Saturation series, but none of his solo music has stopped me in my tracks until this album. Calico might be the most beautiful album I’ve heard all year! He has always been inspired by Frank Ocean, and it’s no different here. The way his vocals are layered is right up Frank’s alley, but that’s nothing new for Ryan. What makes this album different is he has Ethan Gruska to arrange the entire thing. Ethan is most known for his work on Phoebe Bridgers’s albums, especially on Punisher. That same minimalist production applies to this album, even more so. There is rarely much more on here besides light instrumentals and Ryan’s voice, but Ethan is able to make sure that every single instrument is placed carefully. While the album did take a couple listens to fully click with me because the entire thing is ballads, this has become one of my favorite albums of the year so far!
Favorite Moment: The chorus on “Little Faith”
Selling Point: Maybe the most beautiful album you’ll hear all year
Kesha - Gag Order
Review
Kesha’s career has shifted dramatically following her legal battles with famed producer Dr. Luke. Even now, they only officially settled a couple days ago. This album, Gag Order, is not the first one released about the incident, but it is the most honest. She stays away from specifics, but the emotion here is clearly based on the toll that Dr. Luke and the trials had on her. Songs like “Eat The Acid” and “Hate Me Harder” are so honest they are hard to listen to. But even though the subject matter here is the most important, this album is also Kesha at her most sonically adventurous. “Only Love Can Save Us Now” mixes gospel, electronics, hip-hop, and even industrial elements into one messy, but fantastic, track. “Peace & Quiet” shows Kesha drowned in autotune so much so that it feels like an early Charli XCX or 100 gecs song. It’s not a sound I ever thought of Kesha doing, but it ends up being really great! Gag Order might not be the easiest album to listen to, but it’s a fantastic listen and easily my favorite thing I’ve ever heard from Kesha!
Favorite Moment: The choir in “Only Love Can Save Us Now”
Selling point: The most vulnerable she’s ever been and the most innovative production as well
ICECOLDBISHOP - Generational Curse
Review
ICECOLDBISHOP has been featured on songs I’ve enjoyed for years now, but no project has materialized until 2023’s Generational Curse. This project is clearly inspired by Kendrick Lamar, but ICECOLDBISHOP is still able to differentiate himself fairly easily. While it is slightly conceptual, utilizes different high-pitched voices, and is somewhat west-coast sounding, this album is way more energetic than any Kendrick album. This entire project feels like the current day equivalent to a classic g-funk album! There is plenty of meaning in these lyrics, as they look at the generational drug use and gun violence that happened where he grew up. Even something as simple as saying, “I know what crack smells like,” exemplifies the differences in childhood that each of us has. I know I have no idea what crack smells like, and I doubt almost anyone reading this does either, but he talks about knowing what it smelt like since he was young and could smell it coming from the alley on his walk home from school. It just shows how different everyone’s life is and how some people grew up. Generational Curse is one of the best debut albums I’ve heard in 2023!
Favorite Moment: The beat switch on “D.A.R.E.”
Selling Point: Conceptual, but somewhat easy listening west coast hip-hop
Larry June & The Alchemist - The Great Escape
Review
The Alchemist really is a cheat code! No matter what the vibe is, Alchemist can match it. This time, it’s supposed to represent a luxurious morning on the beach, and every single beat on here fits that feeling! Everything on here feels lavish. It’s like sipping orange juice out of a $200 champagne glass while overlooking the ocean. Larry June is extremely chill on the microphone, arguably too much so. He never wows, but it always fits the beat. Either way, the features on here all kill it, especially Big Sean on “Palisades, CA”. Big Sean really needs to lock in and do a full project with Alchemist because he sounded absolutely incredible on his feature! In fact, the features tend to outshine Larry on almost every occasion, but for some reason, it doesn’t bother me. As great as this album normally sounds, it sounds even better in the heat of the summer!
Favorite Moment: Big Sean’s verse on “Palisades, CA”
Selling Point: An easy-listening album to play in the summer
Lil Yachty - Let’s Start Here
Review
It’s still shocking to me that Lil Yachty has released an album that sounds like this! This psychedelic rock-inspired album sounds like it could have come from the 1970s. Even though it couldn’t have been made without people like Pink Floyd making the music they did, Lil Yachty still put his own little twist on it. Sure, Yachty’s vocals aren't great most of the time, but the production that surrounds him is always fantastic. “The Black Seminole” sounds straight from the 70s, especially with the guitar solo and Diana Gordon’s powerful vocals. Something like “Running out of Time” has a bit more current day indie-pop influence that shows that Yachty isn’t just trying to completely copy Dark Side of the Moon. Sure, Let’s Start Here isn’t perfect, but it’s still probably the most surprising left turn in music so far this year!
Favorite Moment: The guitar solo of “The Black Seminole”
Selling Point: A throwback to psych-rock of the 70s, but with a modern edge
billy woods & Kenny Segal - Maps
Review
Billy woods really is on a legendary run when it comes to underground hip-hop. This is his third full length album in the last 13 months, and all three could easily be any other artist's best work. This time, woods works with producer Kenny Segal as a follow-up to their 2019 project, Hiding Places. The production here is much more jazzy than that project, which is nice that it doesn’t feel like they are retreading the exact same sound. Woods’s lyrics are unparalleled, as usual. Both when it comes to one-liners and full tracks, woods is on another level. “Year Zero” is one of my favorite tracks all year! Both billy woods and Danny Brown eviscerate this meandering, menacing beat. Woods may have the best line on the track with, “My taxes pay police brutality settlements,” but Danny Brown’s two-minute verse might be better than every verse he had on Scaring The Hoes. The whole album has a theme of traveling while touring after the pandemic, which includes direct references to touring. For example, the track “Soundcheck” has woods explicitly saying, “I will not be at soundcheck”. At this point, there is no telling where woods will go next, but I’m sure it will make everyone’s brains melt.
Favorite Moment: Everything about the track “Year Zero” with Danny Brown
Selling Point: The most meaningful and dense lyrics made while traveling
Raye - My 21st Century Blues
Review
Raye’s story is one that is all too common. Signed to a major label when she was only a teenager, her music was consistently shelved so she could write songs for other artists. While she was featuring on plenty of electronic artists’ songs and writing for artists like Beyonce and Hailee Steinfeld, her solo music was being held hostage by the label. This led to many problems for her, including drug addiction, eating disorders, and body dysmorphia. These also came after a producer from the record label sexually assaulted her. All of this coalesced into her being released from her record label in 2021, and her debut album, My 21st Century Blues, being released independently at the beginning of 2023. Not only is it my personal favorite pop album of the year so far, but it also made her significantly more popular than she ever was while on the major label. Raye has even opened up for SZA, Kali Uchis, and Lewis Capaldi in 2023 alone! Raye is finally getting the attention she deserves from this album, listen to it!
Favorite Moment: Her falsetto during the chorus of “Mary Jane”
Selling Point: One of the most thoughtful and emotional pop albums I’ve heard in a long time
Daniel Caesar - Never Enough
Review
Freudian is easily one of my favorite R&B of the 2010s and even though the follow up didn’t hit the mark in the same way, Never Enough is a step in the right direction. This album takes more inspiration from traditional R&B and soul music. “Do You Like Me?” has production from Raphael Saadiq, who has produced classic R&B songs for decades. “Always” has a familiar sound to it, but he still does it beautifully! “Shot My Baby” is Daniel’s take on the familiar theme of someone killing their cheating partner. Both SZA and D’angelo have done this type of song, and Daniel’s version stands up to those! “Cool” is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve heard this year, especially in the piano and the subtle string additions. Daniel’s voice just isn’t fair to other musicians either. Something about his voice is just unbeatable. It’s the definition of silky smooth. I don’t know I would call it a return to form because Case Study 01 still had some great songs on it, but Never Enough firmly puts him in the conversation for the best current day R&B artist.
Favorite Moment: The vocal performance on “Cool”
Selling: A great R&B album
Yves Tumor - Praise A Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds)
Review
I try not to use hyperboles, so what I will say is that Yves Tumor is one of the artists that makes me excited for the future of rock music. The energy here is similar to what rock music is supposed to be, but Yves is actually pushing the sonics forward. There are elements of glam rock, art rock, psychedelic, indie, and even noise rock. For example, a song like “Meteora Blues” goes from a classic indie instrumental to these stadium sized rock riffs that any grunge artist could have used in the 90s. It’s a combination of sounds not many artists use, and Yves does plenty of shifts like this all over the album. Yves themselves also embodies the boundary breaking ideology of rock music, being a non-binary, queer, Black artist is seen as hostile in nature to many people in the country. So by just being themselves, Yves is breaking boundaries. But they are even more so invested in breaking the sonic boundaries rock music has seemed to have fallen into.
Favorite Moment: The chorus of “Heaven Surrounds Us Like A Hood”
Selling Point: Experimental, but accessible rock music
Skrillex - Quest For Fire
Review
This is, by far, my most played album of 2023! It was the perfect length for a drive and walk from home to class. It was detailed enough to listen to it dozens of times, but easy listening enough to not be completely occupied while driving. Skrillex also was part of a last second Coachella fill in for Frank Ocean, which I was lucky enough to see. So now when I listen to it, all I can hear are the memories of that performance. Even with all of these things, it’s still an objectively fantastic electronic album! Skrillex’s production is the obvious stand out. He combines many familiar sounds with some alien noises to create some fantastic all around songs. The songs are not just gearing up for the drop, but are instead fully realized tracks jam-packed with great melodies. Skrillex, and Quest For Fire specifically, is the music that has defined my 2023 so far!
Favorite Moment: The congos on “Xena”
Selling Point: Anthemic; electronic music
Channel Tres - Real Cultural Shit
Review
Channel Tres is only getting better with each project he releases. His self-proclaimed genre of hip-house is a perfect mesh that he’s only getting better at. No matter if it was a JPEGMAFIA or a Tyler, the Creator future, he was able to meld anyone into his sound. Unlike his previous ones, this EP is a solo project, and he carries it perfectly! He balances the more house-driven tracks with some rapping on a track or two. Even though it’s fairly similar and unique, I do wonder how he’ll translate this to the full length project. As entertaining as this is, I do wonder if he had the same sound for more than double the length if I would enjoy it as much, but I have faith that Channel can advance this sound even more in the future.
Favorite Moment: The drop of “Just Can’t Get Enough”
Selling Point: House music for any occasion
Boygenius - The Record
Review
Indie supergroup Boygenius reunited this year to give us their debut album, The Record. The group is made up of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus. Each of them had made waves in the indie scene, and Phoebe has broken out into mainstream stardom as well. This album doesn’t push the boundary for any of them, but it features fantastic songs in all of their sounds! Lucy Dacus shines on the incredible “True Blue” and the sonically and lyrically gorgeous “We’re In Love”. “Emily I’m Sorry” sounds like a Punisher throwaway, but Phoebe still makes it work! Julien shines the most on the upbeat tracks such as “Satanist” and “Anti-Curse”. The very specific lyrics they have specialized in is back yet again. Just a couple personal favorites are on “Cool About It” when Phoebe says, “Once, I took your medication to see what it feels like, and now I have to act like I can’t read your mind,” and Lucy Dacus saying, “Will you be a nihilist with me? If nothing matters, man, that’s a relief,” on “Satanist”. This album has only grown on me with the months of listening, and I hope it will for the rest of the year!
Favorite Moment: The line, “When you don’t know who you are, you fuck around and find out” on “True Blue”.
Selling Point: Some of the best indie artists coming together to make a fantastic album!
JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown - Scaring The Hoes
Review
This was a match made in heaven. Having these two underground rap icons come together for a full length project was heavily anticipated by fans of both, and thankfully, it lived up to the expectations! JPEGMAFIA’s production here is unlike anything he’s done before, but it keeps his style of chaotic and experimental hip-hop. It’s something that even throughout his decade of wild hip-hop creating, I’ve never heard Danny Brown on anything like this, but he’s still able to flow on these beats somehow. Lyrically, they don’t touch on many deep topics, but the production here grabs the listener more than anything else this year. It’s a truly mind-boggling listen to figure out how they were able to create this!
Favorite Moment: The fuzzed out guitars coming in on “Garbage Pale Kids”
Selling Point: The wildest hip-hop album you’ll hear all year
King Krule - Space Heavy
Review
This album is a perfect example of being better than a sum of its parts. It’s really hard to pull any individual moments away from this album, but the whole 45-minute experience just reinforces everything. Many songs here are very loose on structure and short on time, but the ambiance of the album experience is what makes Space Heavy great! Everything on here is shrouded in darkness, even when it seems like it wouldn’t be. For example, “Hamburgerphobia” seems like it would be a lighthearted track, but it’s lyrically about crippling anxiety and a breakup. There are plenty of other examples throughout these 15-tracks. In a way, it reminds me of Solange’s When I Get Home or Frank Ocean’s Endless because of how everything comes together to create something greater than the sum of its parts. I can’t wait to continue to unravel this tapestry.
Favorite Moment: The chorus on “Seaforth”
Selling Point: Cohesive, jazzy indie album
Eprom - Syntheism
Review
I only knew Eprom from his work on Flume’s 2019 masterpiece mixtape, Hi This is Flume. Syntheism is his first solo album in almost a decade, and it luckily lived up to what I hoped to hear from him! He does what I always want the most from electronic artists, which is to make me wonder how this sound is even possible. A song like “Remorse” does that easily, especially with the filtered-introduction sound collage for the first couple minutes. Not only does he play with sounds, but he also messes with tempos, like on the track “X-Fade Strategy”. It’s actually a fairly accessible track, but the tempo is constantly changing, which makes it hard to grasp. The album has enough similar sounds to let the listener know there’s a theme, but every song has enough different elements to it that makes it stand out. It’s only been out a couple weeks, but I can’t wait to continue diving deeper into this producer’s paradise.
Favorite Moment: The first drop on “What’s Her Name”
Selling Point: Futuristic electronic music
Deb Never - Thank You For Attending
Review
Deb Never is back with her final EP before her debut album! These songs may not be quite as hard-hitting emotionally as her previous project, but these are still six songs that showcase her talents nicely. “Momentary Sweetheart” is a smooth-tempo indie anthem of the highest power, whereas “5 O’Clock” is a full out indie banger. “Mania & Bliss” shows her experimenting with autotune to mixed results, but the second half of the track really brings it around. “Say” was performed at her show opening for Keshi last March I was lucky enough to see, and it’s only grown on me since. It’s an extremely simple song based around some minimal guitars and drums, but it works because of Deb’s voice. These songs definitely don’t personally connect with me like her last project, but Thank You For Attending is a welcome step forward to her debut album! I just feel lucky enough to tell Deb how much the songs meant to me in March at the show.
Favorite Moment: The chorus on “Momentary Sweetheart”
Selling Point: Another helping of Deb’s indie songs that are both happy and sad
Angel Electronics - Ultra Paradise
Review
I still don’t understand how this project didn’t blow up. At the time of writing, they currently have just over 1,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. Sure, that’s not nobody, but that’s nothing in the grand scheme of things. A five year old who also made weird electronic music in the past hasn’t released a song in multiple years, and she still has over 10 times the amount of monthly listeners than Angel Electronics! But no matter, this album is still a blast all these months later! The hooks pop, Ada’s screaming vocals are there just enough to give it character, and the heavy guitars all combine into something unique and known at the same time. It gives off the same feeling as video game or anime opening songs, but the songwriting is tighter and heavier than those tracks. Ada and Ash absolutely kill it here!
Favorite Moment: The production on “Party Girl”
Selling Point: Brutal wave euphoria
Navy Blue - Ways of Knowing
Review
The introspection of Navy Blue never takes a break. At only 26 years old, he has experienced more trauma than most people have at that time, and he is special at expressing it. He somehow makes the heart wrenching relatable, no matter if the listener has experienced something similar or not. He’s able to make the most depressing thing poetic, such as this line on “Life’s Terms” where he says, “This broken heart that I'm repairing. I declare growth, in my despair I wasn't near hope. Feelings get evoked. I'm going real slow, at the speed of how my tears flow.” Even with all the depressing moments, this album is not as hard to listen to as one would expect. It’s certainly not an easy listen, but it’s not as difficult as expected. Navy Blue is a fantastic artist that will always express his feelings for people to relate to.
Favorite Moment: “How come I'm hurting in my twenties?” on “Life’s Terms”
Selling Point: Emotional, thought-provoking music
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