These are the albums of 2023 that have meant the most to us, alongside our compilations & archives of the year
It’s all Douglas Adams’s fault. You, dear reader, have arrived at our albums of the year expecting a sensible list with a round number of releases. Well, you’ve come to the wrong place because we’ve just gone and made a top 42. Honestly though, the intention wasn’t to be quirky or cause confusion or anything like that. What I will say in our defence is that these lists are really difficult to put together. However prepared you are in advance, you inevitably hear records late in the list-making day that cause you to question everything you’ve been doing up to that point. Finding room for them can be a logistical nightmare, but better that than not hearing them until the new year (that way lies a peculiarly debilitating form of backwards-running FOMO, afflicting writers for DIY music sites).
This year there were a couple of albums that crashed our list party when it was still a top 40, but we couldn’t bear to lose another two releases (we’d already cut many from the longlist). That’s when Douglas Adams came to the rescue – by which I mean that we stole his popular usage of the number 42 for our own nefarious purposes. Our albums of the year list might not equate to the meaning of life, the universe and everything, but we’re quite pleased with it nonetheless. We hope you are too.
Additionally, you’ll find a baker’s dozen of our compilations & archives of 2023. That’s just the number we picked, okay?
Thank you for continuing to read Concrete Islands this year, although I wouldn’t blame you if you skipped this introduction.
A record of the year that has nothing to do with this year:
TAD – 8-Way Santa (Sub Pop)
A special mention for TAD’s 8-Way Santa, despite the fact that it was released in 1991 and hasn’t been reissued in 2023…
I’ve been listening to a lot of grunge this year, revisiting old favourites, yes, but also investigating bands that I had maybe heard of rather than heard. TAD fast became my new favourite new-to-me band. They’re on the weightier side of the Seattle Sound, and although 8-Way Santa may not combine the heaviness of Melvins with the songcraft of The Beatles to the extent of Nirvana’s Bleach, it does boast a melodic heart while pummelling you with walls of messed-up sound. “Flame Tavern” certainly sounds like a grunge mega-hit that never was. (Stewart Gardiner)
Compilations & archives:
13.
Movietone – S/T (World of Echo)
My introduction to Movietone was the CD-only Geographic reissue of the Bristol underground band’s mid-90s debut in 2003 and I’d hoped in the years since that it would see the light of day again on vinyl. Thanks to World of Echo that has now come to pass and it’s wonderful to report that this pastoral dream machine of a record has lost none of its lustre. (Stewart Gardiner)
12.
Various Artists – With Love Volume 2: Compiled by Miche (Mr Bongo)
The second volume in Miche’s With Love series further develops that back-to-mine vibe, while still featuring individual tracks with more pounding basslines that could easily fit in a club environment. The Family Tree’s fantastic cover of Stevie Wonder’s “As” is the icing on the cake. (Suzanne George)
11.
The Vaselines – The Way of The Vaselines (Sub Pop)
Nudged into existence with a little help from Stephen Pastel and championed by Kurt Cobain, the sex before death early catalogue by DIY superstars The Vaselines doesn’t so much live up to its mythology as shrug it off completely, with songs that ignite the heart and cry out in the dark. Back in print (and first time on vinyl for the original sleeve design) courtesy of Sub Pop, with a sold out Glasgow School edition from our favourite record shop, Monorail Music, this is an essential do-it-yourself document. (Stewart Gardiner)
10.
The Lemonheads – Come on Feel the Lemonheads (Fire Archive)
Fire’s expanded thirtieth anniversary reissue of Come On Feel The Lemonheads is probably an even bigger of coming-of-music-loving-age nostalgia fest for some of us than 1992’s already reissued It’s a Shame About Ray. Whilst still a little flawed and frazzled around the original album’s fringes, the bounteous stack of appended period rarities on this fresh edition retells the whole contemporary story with satisfying completeness. (Adrian)
9.
Rex – C (Numero Group)
Lesser known than slowcore contemporaries Low or Codeine, Rex are a discovery worth making, which the good folks at Numero Group are pleased to facilitate with this timely reissue. Their particular take on somnambulant dream rock leans more heavily into Americana, so there’s a country twang to their restrained walls of quiet/noise, and the landscape of C is where the prairie is transformed into an inner vista of the soul. (Stewart Gardiner)
8.
Antietam – Antietam / Music for Elba (Self-Released)
As long-running fellow travellers of Eleventh Dream Day and Yo La Tengo, the New York-based and Louisville-bred Antietam have long been overdue some archival attention. Enter then – at last – the first ever digital Bandcamp editions of the band’s first two long-players. Fans of early-Throwing Muses, The Gun Club, X and Violent Femmes will find much to love amongst the joyously inventive and raw mash of songs on 1985’s Antietam and 1986’s Music for Elba, which are now far easier to acquire. (Adrian)
7.
The Orchids – John Peel Session 08.05.90 / John Peel Session 09.04.94 (Precious Recordings of London)
Two sessions cut by The Orchids for John Peel in 1990 and 1994, packaged-up as separate 10” EPs from the irrepressible Precious Recordings of London, provide particularly joyous jangling revelations. Debunking historical music press myths that most Sarah Records signees were insubstantial and twee, this pair of BBC studio time capsules are generously stuffed with melody and invention. (Adrian)
6.
Various Artists – Cease & Resist: Sonic Subversion & Anarcho Punk in the UK 1979-86 (Optimo Music)
There’s nothing remotely reductive about the punk rock that burns throughout Cease & Resist. The music is free, unbound by the dictates of rock n roll history. This writer was admittedly unfamiliar with the anarcho punk genre, but once again putting my trust in Optimo Music paid off. JD Twitch and Chris Low document the scene in inspiring fashion, throwing the listener in at the deep end to capture this music without boundaries. (Stewart Gardiner)
5.
Bettie Serveert – Palomine (Matador/Palomine)
Thirty or so years on – with a deluxe vinyl reissue on Matador and an even more essential 2CD version with early demos on the band’s own label – Bettie Serveert’s inaugural album feels more charming than ever. Still brimming with a blend of languorous, tumbling, twangling and churning noise swathed around the aching tones and words of Carol van Dijk, 1992’s Palomine commands an even more emotive resonance in its older age. (Adrian)
4.
Various Artists – Searchlight Moonbeam (Efficient Space)
Moments caught up in objects that contain words or music, attaining degrees of personal mythology as time winds on. You need not even still have these objects of undeniable power in your possession, for it is often their transitory trajectory within your life that allows them an allure akin to magick. Searchlight Moonbeam feels like a series of such moments particular to its curators, NTS stalwarts Time Is Away (Jack Rollo and Elaine Tierney). This is their story told through the outsider art of others, yet the distance between them and the listener is eroded by the peculiar warmth of their choices. There will be wonders as new to you as they were to me (my moment here was encountering Soft Location’s majestic “Let the Moon Get Into It”), which is more than most compilations can dream of. (Stewart Gardiner)
3.
Grant Lee Buffalo – Fuzzy (Chrysalis)
My girlfriend who let me into the world of Sonic Youth in my late teens also introduced me to Grant Lee Buffalo with their debut album, Fuzzy (on CD or perhaps even cassette). Sonic Youth went on to become my favourite band and, well, I sort of forgot about Grant Lee Buffalo. Returning to Fuzzy years later, I was knocked out by the familiarity of the work to me. It had clearly made a deep impression whether I had recognised it or not, providing an unconscious template for later excursions into Americana (I can perhaps locate my love of Songs: Ohia in that mid-90s exposure to Grant Lee Buffalo). Beloved by R.E.M. and able to hold their own amongst the noisier echelons of 1990s alternative rock, Grant Lee Buffalo were a quiet revelation and Fuzzy is one of the great records of that decade. Available again on vinyl, this is a beautiful pressing that doesn’t need any archival extras to demand your attention and command your heart. (Stewart Gardiner)
2.
Superchunk – Misfits & Mistakes: Singles, B-Sides & Strays 2007-2023 (Merge)
In Superchunk’s prolific parallel recording channels, an embarrassment of riches has continued to accumulate through the second era of the band’s abundantly creative history. Merge’s near-definitive Misfits & Mistakes box set therefore handily brings together a slew of standalone anthemic nuggets, acoustic demos, alternative versions, compelling covers, collaborations and off-piste detours, all rescued from singles, EPs, compilations and digital-only releases, into one of this year’s most big-hearted, handsome and – above all – relentlessly listenable retrospective bundles. (Adrian)
1.
Sonic Youth – Live in Brooklyn 2011 (Silver Current)
There is sonic life before death. With no signs of terminal decline, Live in Brooklyn 2011 is a vital document of the last days of Sonic Youth that feels more alive than most bands manage during their early bloom. Lee Ranaldo considers this outdoor gig in Brooklyn “the last concert,” although they were contractually obliged to play another five shows in South America. But it was their last waltz before they announced the split. The release itself is styled as a pseudo bootleg in the tradition of Dylan’s Great White Wonder and like last year’s In/Out/In it’s a reminder of how much these sonic adventurers meant (and continue to mean) to so many of us. (Stewart Gardiner)
Albums of the year:
42.
Makushin – Move into the Luminous (Blackford Hill)
This debut LP from a sort-of-supergroup – co-directed by Nancy Elizabeth, Pete Phillipson and John Thorn – is a strikingly sophisticated statement, that sublimely shifts through John Martyn-meets-Pentangle jazzy languidness; astral ruralist echoes of David Crosby’s strongest solo records, Brian Eno-like ambience, Robin Guthrie-laced guitar textures… and plenty more besides. (Adrian)
41.
Semispecific Ensemble – Everyone Is Making It Up (Optimo Music)
Free-form, studio-manipulated transmissions as if dispatched from an imaginary Glasgow outpost of International Anthem, Semispecific Ensemble make open-ended dream music that infuses cosmic jazz with underwater techno and blissed-out sound system rhythms. More genre defiance from the always bold Optimo Music. (Stewart Gardiner)
40.
Jilk – Syrup House (Castles in Space)
Whilst the also impressive It’s OK to Be Quiet (Woodford Halse) and the highly likeable Found Little Lost (Noci Miste) have respectively represented Jilk’s freest-range hybridising and most compact laptronica modes this year, this Castles in Space-curated LP is the Bristol-based collective’s outstanding mothership collection for the year. Featuring an array of vocalists and players, weaving electro-organic tapestries that adroitly take in rippling orchestrations, chambertronica, mixed shades of Tortoise and Steve Reich, throbbing motorik and somnolent lullaby-making, this is an ambitious and inviting affair. (Adrian)
39.
Olivia Rodrigo – Guts (Geffen)
Olivia Rodrigo’s second album maintains the massive pop hooks and angsty relationship lyrics while leaning further into 90s alt rock. She might have captured my thirteen-year-old daughter’s imagination first, but the infectiousness of Guts didn’t go unnoticed by the rest of the house. The fact that Rodrigo has covered Veruca Salt’s “Seether” live and The Breeders are supporting her on upcoming shows only adds to her cross-generational appeal. (Stewart Gardiner)
38.
Blur – The Ballad of Darren (Parlophone)
There’s once again a sense of renewal about Blur (resting on laurels has never been a problem for this lot), although Damon Albarn’s lyrics here probably document the end of a relationship. The new record, their first in eight years, hits the sweet spot between the hurt of personal loss and the joy of communal experience. (Stewart Gardiner)
37.
Grian Chatten – Chaos for the Fly (Partisan)
First solo album from the Fontaines DC frontman, recorded during a break from a punishing touring schedule with the band. There is no mistaking Grian’s distinct vocals and poetic lyrics, yet Chaos for the Fly is far more floaty and chilled than what we’ve come to expect from a Fontaines record. (Suzanne George)
36.
Sally Anne Morgan – Carrying (Thrill Jockey)
Morgan is a Carolina singer who also does letterpress artwork and co-runs a craft brewery. Here she blissfully inhabits a natural environment with songs caressed by drowsy fiddles or floral flute notes. (Gareth Thompson)
35.
Emma Anderson – Pearlies (Sonic Cathedral)
The ‘rejuvenated veterans’ wing of the Sonic Cathedral roster has certainly continued to thrive in 2023, with Andy Bell returning again via an experimental detour with Masal on Tidal Love Numbers and Dot Allison joining the ranks with the compellingly complex Consciousology. However, it’s been Emma Anderson’s first out-of-the-wilderness solo LP that has proved to be the most intriguing and infectious. Blending and significantly expanding upon her pre-existing skillset – previously forged in her time within Lush and Sing-Sing – the intricate but tuneful Pearlies radiates with a highly-crafted authority. (Adrian)
34.
Tara Clerkin Trio – On the Turning Ground (World of Echo)
Like an unfurling dream, Tara Clerkin Trio continue to craft outside of time music that somehow inhabits their Bristol home’s 90s outsider pop (Movietone, Crescent, Flying Saucer Attack) as well as its soundsystem culture (ever so subtly), with echoes of Broadcast, John McEntire-produced late period Pastels and Virginia Astley’s From Gardens Where We Feel Secure along the way. Listening to On the Turning Ground is akin to clambering through the wardrobe only to find yourself lost at Hanging Rock in the terrifying afternoon sun. (Stewart Gardiner)
33.
Black Duck – S/T (Thrill Jockey)
As the first studio representation of the already well-travelled Doug McCombs, Bill MacKay and Charles Rumback trio, the eponymous Black Duck long-player struck a strong and fertile balance between improvisational and structured artisanship, with scholarly nods to Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac, Suss, Ennio Morricone, Calexico, Bardo Pond and Eternal Tapestry along the way. (Adrian)
32.
Nat Myers – Yellow Peril (Easy Eye Sound)
Korean-American blues embellished with kick drums, banjo, washboard and glorious singalong refrains. (Gareth Thompson)
31.
Tomorrow Syndicate – Higher Resolution (Feral Child)
Although working with equivalent tools and themes as others in their shared sci-fi-art-pop field, there remains something distinctively soulful about Tomorrow Syndicate, that sets the band apart and which is beautifully showcased on the 29-minute Higher Resolution, arguably the Glasgow outfit’s finest non-single release to date. (Adrian)
30.
Arnold Dreyblatt & The Orchestra of Excited Strings – Resolve (Drag City)
Arnold Dreyblatt has been experimenting with sound and music since the 1970s. Championed by Jim O’Rourke and currently collaborating with Oren Ambarchi, Dreyblatt remains forward-leaning and utterly relevant. Resolve is the first record from The Orchestra of Excited Strings in more than two decades and as such deserves your undivided attention. It’s an off-kilter experience that the listener falls into like Alice or Dorothy. (Stewart Gardiner)
29.
Suzy Mangion – Days Lost to Snow (Turning Circle)
Suzy Mangion’s first vocal-led collection of songs in fifteen years unfurls wonderfully across a string of warm, intimate and inventive home studio arrangements, cross-referencing Judee Sill, Dennis Wilson, Joni Mitchell, Low’s much-missed Mimi Parker and her own work with Ghostwriter, for a highly personal yet communal comfort blanket of an album. (Adrian)
28.
Yussef Dayes – Black Classical Music (Brownswood)
London’s jazz scene has been enjoying something of a golden era recently, with a rich thread of artists and genres blending creatively to produce some outstanding work. The latest of these comes from Yussef Dayes, with his debut album Black Classical Music. Come for the Hancock and Coltrane (Alice and John) tinged arrangements and stay for the rich flow of influences: reggae, afrobeat and Latin inflections coming together to produce a comprehensive, stylistically brave and joyful debut. (Chris Bateman)
27.
Papernut Cambridge – Channel Suite (Gare du Nord)
Full of nimble musicality and self-effacing eccentricity, Channel Suite is a charmingly uplifting pleasure from the perma-morphing Papernut Cambridge, drawing in Dexys camaraderie; affectionate amalgams of Harry Nilsson and Mungo Jerry; sun-melted Ray Davies meanderings; Bowie-esque spaciness; Burt Bacharach-meets-Scott Walker grandness; studio magic tricks exposition; White Album whimsy; and a splash of early-T Rex. (Adrian)
26.
Polypores – Praedormitium (Castles in Space)
Marking the completion of his new age-tinged series for Castles in Space – following on from 2019’s Flora and 2020’s Azure – this more structurally defined trilogy-ender finds Stephen Buckley moulding his modular set-up into a variety of sound shapes that are noticeably un-synth-like in places. Traversing a wide range of entrancing environments, without ever feeling overwhelming, Praedormitium is another contender for the ‘must-keep’ section of any Polypores collection. (Adrian)
25.
Blotter Trax – Superconductor (Optimo Music)
Blotter Trax exploit the possibilities of the dancefloor, keeping it weird instead of following any genre formula. As a result, the full-strength Superconductor sounds curiously unique, although you might imagine Arthur Russell making acid house to text by William Gibson. Posthuman psychedelia for the downtown disco set then. (Stewart Gardiner)
24.
Blondshell – S/T (Partisan)
Blondshell is the musical rebirth of American singer-songwriter Sabrina Teitelbaum, following a pop incarnation that she never felt quite comfortable with. Her Veronica Mars-referencing, grunge-inspired debut as Blondshell is as sharp, angsty and irresistible as you could hope for. A pop sensibility remains, but harnessed in ways that you imagine Courtney Love might have. (Stewart Gardiner)
23.
John Fahey – Proofs & Refutations (Drag City)
Some later home recordings from the wilful genius find Fahey chanting from the guttural depths, or fingerpicking in haunting minor keys. (Gareth Thompson)
22.
Slow Pulp – Yard (Anti-)
Slow Pulp’s Midwestern take on contemporary Americana by way of 90s indie rock can be located somewhere along highways connecting The Breeders, Grant Lee Buffalo and Phoebe Bridgers. Keeping one foot in the past doesn’t trip them up, but instead gives these fuzzy anthems a timelessness that singer Emily Massey drives home each and every time. (Stewart Gardiner)
21.
Rami Atassi – Dancing Together (Ropeadope)
Chicago-based guitarist offers desert-baked rhythms and jazzy hooks, marking his arrival as a major player. (Gareth Thompson)
20.
Sweeping Promises – Good Living Is Coming for You (Sub Pop)
The Boston duo’s second LP (and first for Sub Pop) is a blow-the-cobwebs-the-fuck-away blast of high-energy DIY that falls somewhere between post-riot grrrls Le Tigre and early 2000s no wave revivalists Erase Errata. Or you might want to imagine an unholy alliance between self-obsessed and sexxee fellow Sub Poppers CSS and the falling-down-the-stairs noisemakers Die Monitr Batss. Pick yr poison. (Stewart Gardiner)
19.
Pascal Comelade / Ramon Prats / Lee Ranaldo – Velvet Serenade (Staubgold)
Friend of Sonic Youth Ignacio Julià put together this temporary trio to celebrate the launch of his Velvet Underground book, Linger On. Lee Ranaldo saw the experience as “reflecting this idea of an American guitar player and a European piano player working together the way John and Lou did in the Velvets.” Indeed, the collaboration between Ranaldo and Pascal Comelade lives up to that description in beautifully abstracted ways. Extrapolating upon themes from that most influential of bands, Velvet Serenade is a delicate tone poem that gently latches on to your consciousness. (Stewart Gardiner)
18.
Dominique Fils-Aimé – Our Roots Run Deep (Ensoul Records)
A truly gnostic vocal experience from this rising Montreal soul-poet, centred on wellness, ecology and ancestry with some divine tunes. (Gareth Thompson)
17.
Firestations – Thick Terrain (Lost Map)
Having kept their creative fires alight through the pandemic period via a series of exploratory EPs, Walthamstow’s Firestations returned to full non-home-studio recording activities with a lot of pent-up energy for more ensemble-playing propulsions. The rewarding end results presented on Thick Terrain – that pack in powerful melodic punches, intelligent wordplay, rich textural details and dexterous diversity – healthily leave you wanting more. (Adrian)
16.
Gilroy Mere – Gilden Gate (Clay Pipe Music)
Whilst kosmische-disco ensemble jamming with Aircooled and trusted sideman duties with Miki Berenyi may have taken Oliver Cherer out on the road for significant stretches of 2023, there has still been time to deliver an unashamedly abstract concept album under his Gilroy Mere alias. Splicing together strands of Robert Wyatt, Ambient-era Eno, Dead Can Dance, Tom Baker’s gothic Doctor Who years, new age atmospherics and spoken word folkloric storytelling, across two distinct but not ungainly vinyl halves, Gilden Gate is another choice Cherer collection. (Adrian)
15.
Young Fathers – Heavy Heavy (Ninja Tune)
The Edinburgh trio return with their fourth album, Heavy Heavy and if someone is yet to connect with the band, most will find it hard to turn down the swampy trip hop by way of African drumming on offer here. The finest Young Fathers outing to date, this record does not disappoint. (Suzanne George)
14.
Lewsberg – Out and About (Self-Released/12XU)
If AI could generate a near-perfect distillation of the third Velvet Underground album, Young Marble Giants, The Feelies, The Pastels and early Tindersticks singles, it might resemble something like this utterly adorable fourth album from Rotterdam’s Lewsberg. Yet, no machine-learning system could truly fabricate the warmth, wit, intimacy, romanticism and charm captured within this endlessly spinnable and defiantly human-built long-player. (Adrian)
13.
Holy Tongue – Deliverance and Spiritual Warfare (Amidah)
The only problem with drummer Valentina Magaletti’s stellar 2023 catalogue of releases from various groups was working out which we could afford to lose in our end of year review (this ultimately meant no Moin, Vanishing Twin or Better Corners). Having said that, two of her projects were always going to make the cut, including this, her beautifully heavy, weirded-out instrumental dub duo with Al Wooton, expanded to a trio with the addition of Susumu Mukai (aka Zongamin) for their debut full length. Musical addiction is ensured from the opening track “Saeta”, a mesmeric European march that prises open the doors of perception. There’s no looking back from there. (Stewart Gardiner)
12.
Chief Adjuah – Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning (Ropeadope)
The Grand Griot of New Orleans makes a divine ruckus from Louisiana folklore, gospel and rebellious rhythms. (Gareth Thompson)
11.
Lana Del Rey – Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd (Polydor/Interscope)
The idea that Lana Del Rey and David Lynch are fellow travellers is an intoxicating one that is validated by Ocean Blvd, where Lana is more concerned with creating and sustaining a mood than programming hit after hit. She even employs a couple of extended interludes early on that have attracted some criticism, but just like the floor sweeping sequence from Twin Peaks: The Return, abstraction can be a beautiful thing in its own right. There are songs to kill for of course – the title track and “A&W” for starters – and Ocean Blvd rivals Norman Fucking Rockwell! as the most fully realised statement of Lana Del Rey’s life and art. (Stewart Gardiner)
10.
Jim O’Rourke – Hands That Bind (Drag City)
These sounds – organic, eerily captivating, like masks slipping away – were crafted to support a visual narrative, but deserve a second life on their own. It was a good thing Drag City thought so too. I’ve been listening to a lot of Jim O’Rourke again recently and no matter how familiar with his sound world you become, you can never completely settle into it. He keeps it discomfiting. Every shift in room tone (on a piece such as Shutting Down Here) or grand pop rock gesture (think Insignificance and his nods to early 70s McCartney) is like coming home to where the heart slowly wastes away. Hands That Bind lives up to that premise as a place to die happy in. (Stewart Gardiner)
9.
Special Friend – Wait Until the Flames Come Rushing In (Skep Wax / Hidden Bay / Howlin Banana)
Erica Ashleson and Guillaume Siracusa’s second full-length outing as Special Friend serves up a ten track buffet of balmy left-of-the-dial melodicism. Bonded around the twosome’s close-knit harmonies, this often irresistible conception converges the sounds of Galaxie 500, Madder Rose, Yo La Tengo, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr. and Stereolab, with seemingly effortless agility. (Adrian)
8.
Apostille – Prisoners of Love and Hate (Night School)
Apostille is the solo project of Night School Records captain Michael Kasparis and Prisoners of Love and Hate is his third LP, following in the outsider electronic pop footsteps of 2018’s Choose Life but boasting an even bolder outlook and more eccentric sonic palette. Here Apostille sounds like Meatloaf let loose in the Scottish rave archives, preparing to visit the shitty disco in your dead-eyed hometown. Wild sounds, masterful songcraft and off-the-scale energy levels make for a DIY pop experience like no other. (Stewart Gardiner)
7.
The Declining Winter – Really Early, Really Late (Home Assembly / Rusted Rail)
Although a double-album that can only be properly appreciated when there is autumn leaf fall on the ground and frosty winter fields around us, this is a deeply affecting epic masterstroke from Richard Adams and co. Gliding along with the spirits of late-period Talk Talk, Labradford, Bark Psychosis, early-Warp Records, Nick Drake and Adams’s past lives elsewhere, Really Early, Really Late can now unquestionably be confirmed as 57 of the finest musical minutes released this year. (Adrian)
6.
Boygenius – The Record (Interscope)
Let’s get this straight (but not too straight): Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker are gods of indie rock. Arguments to the contrary are answered by Boygenius, a project for which they’ve had to carve out the time from influential solo careers. Their eponymous EP for Matador in 2018 suggested great things, but The Record outstrips any reasonable expectations for a debut album. The world of The Record is populated with insight and wordplay, the music going from stripped down and quietly assured to head-over-heels anthemic. To say that “Not Strong Enough” is an anthem would however be to undersell it. Starting with a domestic scene by way of early X-Files (“Black hole opened in the kitchen / Every clock’s a different time”), it goes speeding into the Springsteen-fuelled night with the impeccable punch-the-air refrain of “Always an angel, never a god.” Sing it loud. (Stewart Gardiner)
5.
Meg Baird – Furling (Drag City)
A long time in the works, but indisputably worth the wait, Meg Baird’s fourth proper solo album is a potent progression on from its predecessors. Whilst the characteristic psych-folk closeness of yore is still a strong part of the mix, the musical settings are also widened and deepened, by veering into both Tindersticks-imbued atmospherics and mid-seventies Stones funkiness, to frame Baird’s haunted layered vocals and soul-mining songcraft. Enigmatic and exquisite stuff. (Adrian)
4.
Madder Rose – No One Gets Hurt Ever (Trome Records)
Carrying on from where 2019’s terrific To Be Beautiful left off, Madder Rose’s second post-reunification record reassuringly celebrates the durable chemistry of Billy Coté, Mary Lorson, Matt Verta-Ray, Chris Giammalvo and Rick Kubic, that is all wrapped up by Coté’s consummate production and lead songwriting skills, wherein trademark melodic art rock visions are meticulously married to newer broader vistas. Long may they rebloom… (Adrian)
3.
V/Z – Suono Assente (AD93)
Dubbed-out post-punk magic from the marvellous pairing of percussionist/composer Valentina Magaletti with producer/multi-instrumentalist Zongamin. Outsider sounds are rendered as weirdo anthems with the assistance of collaborators sensitive to their unique vision, including Vanishing Twin’s Cathy Lucas (“Habadash”) and Cobey Sey (“Bites”). Suono Assente is where Peter Strickland meets the dub dancefloor, its strange moods only deepened by the speaker-rattling oscillations. A soundtrack for soundsystems that is as intoxicating as it is mysterious. (Stewart Gardiner)
2.
Lankum – False Lankum (Rough Trade)
False Lankum feels like a record I’ve always known. For me, it miraculously joins the dots between Irish folk music, To Bring You My Love-era PJ Harvey, Low’s formula-dismantling late period work, Gala Mill by The Drones and even Eraserhead. Lankum have created a new musical language carved out of traditional forms, thrillingly uprooting the past to exist in the infinite now. Tales of love and death are beautifully rendered as shadows dancing before the flames in this song cycle, with Radie Peat’s voice a clarion call in the gloom of eldritch drones and industrial clamour. Even at its quietest, False Lankum is undeniably heavy as fuck and impossible to resist. (Stewart Gardiner)
1.
PJ Harvey – I Inside the Old Year Dying (Partisan)
Listening to I Inside the Old Year Dying is walking across a winter landscape in a half-forgotten childhood novel. It is sensing magic in the air, crisp with the memory of snow. The place is one of stories, told anew but ancient as the hills. Think of Alan Moore’s Voice of the Fire or Alan Garner’s Weirdstone of Brisingamen perhaps. But this is not a novel. It’s an experimental gothic rock record, made by one of the great artists of our time.
There’s much in the way of baggage when arriving at a new PJ Harvey record of course, for hers is truly a catalogue to die for (Rid of Me, To Bring You My Love, Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea are but three that murder me every time). Harvey inhabits different personas from album to album and her work is always at the very least worthy of praise. More often than not it is unparalleled. This record’s most natural bedfellow in her catalogue is White Chalk, but here Harvey digs deeper into folklore, adapting her prose poem Orlam and its use of archaic Dorset dialect.
The words might then resist easy reading, yet do not eschew meaning, and upon further listening the sketched images become ghostly surroundings. Harvey delights in the potential wordplay from where the distant past rubs up against the 20th century (“In her satchel, Pepsi fizz” is the most endearing) and crafts a compelling folklore unique to her. Elvis is thus a pagan god who stalks the pages of the songs, rock n roll mythology given an uncanny makeover. This is world-building of the highest order, a lived-in dream made real through quietly roaring music that pulls the listener out of the present as if they were a character in Powell and Pressburger’s A Canterbury Tale.
I Inside the Old Year Dying makes daring imaginative leaps and casts a spell like no other record this year. It isn’t just another exceptional PJ Harvey album, but is a place to get lost in only to find yourself again. (Stewart Gardiner)
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