So here we are: the final Unskippables of the year! I tried to hold off on my best-of list til the very end, and I’m glad – there’s stuff in my best of list that I found as late as this weekend. Keep your ears open, pals!
Big thanks to everyone who reads/replies/sends links – this is a lot of fun every week to talk about music, but it is work, so I really appreciate the support, reads and shares.
Secondly, I have to thank my wife Lindsay, who graciously gives this newsletter a read and edit every week before it goes out, whether she’s on a call or holding a baby. She’s much smarter than me, and I’m very lucky to have her in my life (and drafts).
Below is my best of 2023 playlist (you can find the Apple Music version here), and I wrote up a few tracks in particular that I thought about all the time. I’ll see everyone again on January 16th with fresh takes – see you then and happy holidays!
Best Chorus
Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit – King of Oklahoma
“King of Oklahoma” was the chorus of 2023 that knocked me out hardest the first time I heard it. I remember listening to it on the J train and when the song dropped into halftime from the Kurt Vile overcast verse groove of the verse. Jason Isbell’s songs seem absolutely committed to the details in his lyrics – there’s almost a camera grain built into his word choice. Comparing it to say, Zack Bryan's self-titled record from this year, which I also loved, but where the details are potent but ultimately fizzle into Chainsmokers-style platitudes (we're never getting older, y'all!), everything on Weathervanes feels committed to the reality within the song, generalities be damned. In a year where some of the biggest songs felt like they were cruising on vibe or a bare-minimum refrain, “King of Oklahoma” was a defiantly large, and easily my favorite chorus of the year.
Runners up: “Padam Padam,” “get him back” “Hey Driver,” “Not Strong Enough”
Best Reunion
Fever Ray – Kandy
It was a great year if you’re a fan of the siblings Dreijer. Not only did Olof return with an excellent solo EP, filled to the brim with his signature sense of synthesis, but he provided a critical assist on Karin’s new LP Radical Romantics as Fever Ray. “Kandy” isn’t the best song on the album – that honor goes to the soaring “Carbon Dioxide” – but it’s so thrilling to hear the Dreijers working together doing what they do best. “Kandy” lurches and creeps in the same manner as their best songs, giving weight and space to Karin’s leering vocal performance. I hope they work together again soon, but their tracks this year felt like a gift.
Best TiKTok Song
DJ Crazy Times – Planet Of The Bass (just the tiktok clip, not the full version)
There was a period this summer where I talked to every musician I knew about “Planet Of The Bass,” the viral Eurodance parody track. I was mostly amazed that nostalgia for a very specific moment of 90s electronic music broke through as arguably the song of the summer in 2023. Now the full version of the song strangely took weeks to release, and was nowhere near as fun or as fresh as the original clip, but for some reason this was the song I thought about most this summer, and was the one that felt like the biggest argument for how TikTok could still change what it means to break through with a song. Truly a testament to the power of stupidity, “Planet of the Bass” made a glorious moment of campy togetherness happen – it was enough of a joke for the normies to feel in on an internet thing, but it was spot-on enough to go off with old heads. After all, women are my favorite guy
Runners up: “Sitting”
Best Riff
Spiritual Cramp – Better Off This Way
Was it just me or was it a big year for RIFFS? Olivia Rodrigo’s GUTS obviously was the guitar-laden centerpiece of pop music this year, but beyond that, the Hives had a lovely comeback with their record and tour, Metallica dropped a very long but very riffy album as they toured stadiums, and bands like Militarie Gun continued to spread the post-Turnstile gospel of the expanding ouvre of post-hardcore rock. All I know is I listened to Spiritual Cramp’s “Better Off This Way” a million times in a row, and it's awesomely dumb, heavy power never ceased to work for me.
Runners up: “Paper Machete,” “bad idea right?” “Countdown to Shutdown,” “Eraser”
Best Comeback
Everything But The Girl – Run A Red Light
I loved Everything But The Girl’s new record Fuse so much, half because their songwriting was completely un-dulled over their hiatus, but because it was so wonderfully out of step with everything else happening. When I wrote up “Run A Red Light” back in April, it reminded me of a refreshing blast of a bygone era:
Every track has the absolute confidence of the 18.99 CD era, as if they’re unfolding to an audience listening to the album all the way through after buying it at Tower Records. Dressed in crisp, simple tones, Fuse feels fresh *because* of how unbothered the record seems with whatever else is happening in music in 2023.
Best Collaboration
U.S. Girls – Only Daedalus
I liked the new U.S. Girls record Bless This Mess plenty, but I absolutely loved the two tracks produced with Holy Ghost! member/producer Alex Frankel. “Only Daedalus” and “So Typically Now” brought all the sleek touches and synth burbles Frankel is uniquely best at, and put them in service of Meghan Remy's sharp songwriting and understated presence on the mic. I want them to do a whole record together ASAP as Frankel's propulsive beat making and classic tone choices are a perfect complement to Ramy’s singing and songwriting.
Best CHUNE
Shit Robot feat. Mutado Pintado – Superstar
One of the things I was most excited about this year was the return of James Murphy as a mix engineer, specifically on the work he did on the Shit Robot 5 Songs EP. A lot of my favorite tunes from DFA weren’t the big hits, but the weird singles tucked away on their compilations or one off 12 inches that showed off the sound of their studio and the way that James and Co. were thinking about sound. “Superstar” in particular really hit for me as you can hear the dub mentality of Murphy’s mix bring the arrangement to life, but I've also been a long time fan of Mutado Pintado. I'm praying this means there's more James mixes coming from DFA in the future in between the NYC Borough tours.
Runners Up: "My Barn My Rules,” “Birth4000,” “Weightless,” “Little Things (Nia Archives Remix),” “Fold”
Best NYC record
Model/Actriz – Slate
So much happened in New York this year! Even Jack Antonoff got in on the discourse. talking about the value of Dimes Square to The Face Magazine. His criticism aside, it was fun seeing a bunch of new bands from New York make a splash, and some more established ones hit their groove. Brooklyn’s Model/Actriz in particular dropped an incredibly potent record this year with Dogsbody. I had the first third of that record on repeat after it came out – it was so physical, so immediate, and delightfully nasty. It was nice to hear a band that's been playing in NYC for a while really find their voice on record and match the ferocity of their already legendary live shows.