Well we have once again made it through another year. As such, the time for reflection and list making is upon us. Did you listen to a lot of new music this year? If you did, congratulations because 2023 happened to be a pretty great one overall in terms of pure artistry and quality recordings. Some years it’s a struggle to name 50 records that both held my attention and truly impressed. This one both came together with relative ease, and left me a little sad not everything I loved in 2023 could be included. 50 is a manageable number, plus another 10 honorable mentions because I can’t help myself. Even still, everyone from Jessy Lanza to PJ Harvey to The Armed to Lydia Loveless to Bar Italia all couldn’t quite survive the inevitable cuts and it breaks my heart.
The ultimate point of this list, and any list really, is to try and let you know both what amazing records you might have missed, but also to hopefully see if you agree or disagree with my take on things. Everyone’s taste is different, and that’s what makes it so great. So here are 50 (+10) records that meant a lot to me this year. And while I understand the spirit of the zeitgeist in including a record or two from December 2022 on some year-end lists, this isn’t one of them.
All the records listed here came out in 2023, and if you saw my year-end list from 2022 then you’d know SZA was on that. I sincerely hope you enjoy this list, and ideally make some great new discoveries along the way. Check out some albums you might not have done otherwise. Take this moment to reflect, then rest assured we’ll be right back at it again come January. Here we go, Faronheit’s Top 50 Albums of 2023.
Honorable Mention
Gia Margaret – Romantic Piano
Jane Remover – Census Designated
Jess Williamson – Time Ain’t Accidental
Margaret Glaspy – Echo the Diamond
Marnie Stern – The Comeback Kid
McKinley Dixon – Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?
Overmono – Good Lies
Sampha – Lahai
Slow Pulp – Yard
Yo La Tengo – This Stupid World
50. Youth Lagoon – Heaven is a Junkyard
49. Armand Hammer – We Buy Diabetic Test Strips
48. Chappell Roan – The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess
47. Troye Sivan – Something to Give Each Other
46. Pangaea – Changing Channels
45. Victoria Monét – Jaguar II
44. Debby Friday – Good Luck
43. Joanna Sternberg – I’ve Got Me
42. Laurel Halo – Atlas
41. Sexyy Red – Hood Hottest Princess
40. Janelle Monae – The Age of Pleasure
39. 파란노을 Parannoul – After the Magic
38. Arooj Aftab & Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily – Love in Exile
37. Kali Uchis – Red Moon in Venus
36. Feeble Little Horse – Girl With Fish
35. Hotline TNT – Cartwheel
34. DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ – Destiny
33. Liv.e – Girl in the Half Pearl
32. Sofia Kourtesis – Madres
31. Blondshell – Blondshell
30. Geese – 3D Country
29. Yaeji – With a Hammer
28. Jamila Woods – Water Made Us
27. Julie Byrne – The Greater Wings
26. Blue Lake – Sun Arcs
25. Avalon Emerson – & the Charm
24. Mitski – The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We
23. 100 gecs – 10,000 gecs
22. ANOHNI and the Johnsons – My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross
21. Nourished by Time – Erotic Probiotic 2
20. Model/Actriz – Dogsbody
19. Water From Your Eyes – Everyone’s Crushed
18. boygenius – the record
17. Kara Jackson – Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love?
16. Mandy, Indiana – i’ve seen a way
15. Kelela – Raven
14. Fever Ray – Radical Romantics
13. Lana Del Rey – Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd
12. Yves Tumor – Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds)
11. Jessie Ware – That! Feels! Good!
10. Noname – Sundial
9. yeule – softscars
8. L’Rain – I Killed Your Dog
7. billy woods & Kenny Segal – Maps
6. Sufjan Stevens – Javelin
5. Ratboys – The Window
4. Olivia Rodrigo – GUTS
3. Amaarae – Fountain Baby
2. Caroline Polachek – Desire, I Want to Turn Into You
1. Wednesday – Rat Saw God
