We’re officially six months into 2023, and you know what that means: time for a mid-year playlist! Feels like it’s been an exceptionally strong year for music so far, which is really heartening in a lot of ways. Not that the past couple were poor in any way, but sometimes it’s a bit of a struggle to fill an entire playlist and other times it’s a bit heartbreaking to make cuts and remove tracks because there are strict self-made “parameters” in place and you can’t go beyond them. When I say this playlist could easily have been 150 or 200 songs total, that hopefully gives you a sense of how challenging this was to assemble.
100 songs. All of them great in their own ways. You may not love every one of them because your tastes are likely different from mine, but that’s okay! There’s always some middle ground, and that’s what we’re searching for here. Are these the 100 best songs from the first half of 2023? I wouldn’t quite put that kind of label on it. They’re ordered primarily by style, so if you don’t hit the shuffle button you’ll get sections of rock, electronic, rap, pop, experimental, R&B, etc. Skip around if you’d like. Maybe find a song or artist you recognize, then listen to a song or two before and a song or two after. I may have imposed limits on what went into the playlist, but there are no limits in how you can listen to it.
You can listen to the playlist on Spotify and YouTube, plus each song can be heard individually by clicking on it below. Mostly I just hope you enjoy this, discover some new music, and maybe play it at a party or something to impress your friends.
U.S. Girls – Futures Bet
100 gecs – Hollywood Baby
PONY – Sucker Punch
Alex Lahey – You’ll Never Get Your Money Back
Bully – Lose You (ft. Soccer Mommy)
Wednesday – Chosen to Deserve
Blondshell – Joiner
Faye Webster – But Not Kiss
Sea Lemon – Cellar
mazie – girls just wanna have sex
spill tab – Window
boygenius – $20
Momma – Bang Bang
Ratboys – The Window
Samia – Honey
Indigo De Souza – Younger & Dumber
Yves Tumor – Echolalia
Debby Friday – SO HARD TO TELL
Water From Your Eyes – Barley
Mandy, Indiana – Injury Detail
feeble little horse – Pocket
Model/Actriz – Crossing Guard
bar italia – Nurse!
Italia 90 – Harmony
Yo La Tengo – Sinatra Drive Breakdown
Black Country, New Road – Turbines/Pigs (Live at Bush Hall)
Home Is Where – yes! yes! a thousand times yes!
King Krule – Seaforth
M83 – Oceans Niagara
Thundercat – No More Lies (ft. Tame Impala)
Lil Yachty – running out of time
Blur – The Narcissist
Youth Lagoon – Idaho Alien
The Smile – Bending Hectic
Slowdive – kisses
Bruiser and Bicycle – Aerial Shipyards
Fever Ray – Shiver
Olof Dreijer – Rosa Rugosa
Squid – Undergrowth
Fireworks – Megachurch
Crumb – Dust Bunny
Lana Del Rey – A&W
Meg Baird – Will You Follow Me Home?
Lucinda Chua – Echo
Kara Jackson – dickhead blues
Braids – Evolution
Magdalena Bay – Top Dog
Jessie Ware – Pearls
Jam City – Wild n Sweet (ft. Empress Of)
Nation of Language – Stumbling Still
The Dare – Sex
Rozi Plain – Painted the Room
Miss Grit – Follow the Cyborg
MUNA – The One That Got Away
piri, Tommy Villers – updown
BAMBII – One Touch
Neggy Gemmy – Black Ferrari
Pangaea – Installation
Overmono – Is U
Yaeji – For Granted
Weval – Don’t Lose Time
yunè pinku – Night Light
Roisin Murphy – CooCool
Caroline Polachek – I Believe
Avalon Emerson – Sandrail Silhouette
KAYTRAMINÉ – 4EVA (ft. Pharrell Williams)
Doja Cat – Attention
Kali Uchis – Moonlight
Dijon – coogie
billy woods & Kenny Segal – FaceTime (ft. Samuel T. Herring)
Baby Keem – The Hillbillies (ft. Kendrick Lamar)
PinkPantheress – Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2 (ft. Ice Spice)
BigXthaPlug – Levels
TOBI – Flowers (ft. MAVI)
JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown – SCARING THE HOES
redveil – Black Enuff (ft. JPEGMAFIA)
Navy Blue – Chosen
ICECOLDBISHOP – FOCUSED
Killer Mike – SCIENTISTS & ENGINEERS (ft. Future, Andre 3000, & Eryn Allen Kane)
Dave & Central Cee – Sprinter
B. Cool-Aid – soundgood (ft. Liv.e, Jimetta Rose, & V.C.R)
Big Freedia – $100 Bill (ft. Ciara)
Bad Bunny – WHERE SHE GOES
ROSALÍA – TUYA
Nourished By Time – Daddy
Jungle – Candle Flame (ft. Erick the Architect)
Amaarae – Reckless & Sweet
Kelela – Contact
Yaya Bey – on the pisces moon
Sampha – Spirit 2.0
Janelle Monae – Lipstick Lover
Miley Cyrus – Flowers
FIFTY FIFTY – Cupid (Twin Ver.)
Olivia Rodrigo – vampire
Christine and the Queens – Tears can be so soft
Gia Margaret – Hinoki Wood
Julie Byrne – Moonless
Blue Lake – Bloom
Angel Olsen – Nothing’s Free
Susanne Sundfør – leikara ljóð
