From the Archive: Best of 2023

The albums and songs that brought me the most joy and made a positive impact on my ears in 2023.

Originally published elsewhere on January 24th, 2024.

Best 15 Albums:

1. Jason Isbell - Weathervanes

Throughout his career, Isbell has possessed a gift for observing and detailing characters in struggle, against family members, partners, society’s expectations, their own demons. He also understands the power of specificity as well as building drama through storytelling. Read the full review here.

2. boygenius - the record

Last year was the beginning of the boygenious era, and we’re all fortunate to be living in it. Seeing Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus interact in interviews, on stage, and - especially - on the record is, quite simply, one of the greatest pleasures of being a music fan in the 2020s.

3. H.C. McEntire - Every Acre

McEntire follows up the enthralling Eno Axis with the even more affecting Every Acre. The best albums create moods and worlds that surround and engulf. McEntire’s music never fails in that regard, but Every Acre opens an even deeper space to discover and explore.

4. Grace Potter - Mother Road

A rock’n’roll album that actually sounds like it’s proud to be one, Motor Road is the most joyous, celebratory album of the year.

5. Jenny Lewis - Joy’All

Lewis has crafted a moody late-night take-a-drive album that reinforces her role as one of rock’s most consistent left-field lyrical provocateurs.

6. Lucinda Williams - Stories from a Rock’n’Roll Heart

Stories From a Rock N Roll Heart is music made by the still hungry, by an artist who feels she still has something to prove. Read the full review here.

7. Margo Price - Strays

Introspective, universal, trippy: Strays keeps playing in your head long after it’s finished on your sound system. It’s Price’s definitive statement…so far.

8. Allison Rusell - The Returner

Russell’s 2023 release is a culmination of all that came before. It’s a major statement that thrills and surprises, proving she’s an artist whose name deserves to be in the conversation of the best this business has to offer.

9. Joy Oladokun - Proof of Life

The Arizona-born Oladokun’s fourth album finds her right where she should be; building on each subsequent release by digging deeper and deeper into her soul. In doing so, she weaves lyrics and sound textures that mesmerize and fascinate.

10. Rolling Stones - Hackney Diamonds

You’d be forgiven if you forget that you’re listening to an 80-year-old great-grandfather while Hackney Diamonds plays. Jagger sneers, growls, and draws out syllables to make his point. He is still the detached romantic; still the vulgar, yet gentlemanly devil still in need of some restraint. Read the full review here.

11. Wednesday - Rat Saw God

I’m a firm believer that the music that doesn’t grab you right off, that doesn’t sink in until after repeated listening, is the stuff that sticks with you the longest, that burrows deepest into your psyche. Wednesday’s Rat Saw God is the one that snuck up on me this year. Thank goodness I had the patience to accept it.

12. Jerry Joseph - Baby, You’re the Man Who Would Be King

This is Joseph’s best-sounding album to date and contains his most arresting songs. It’s an impressive performance throughout, sometimes sounding like the bastard child of Elvis Costello and Lou Reed while backed by the mid-1970s Rolling Stones. Read the full review here.

13. Durand Jones - Wait ‘til I Get Over

Is it retro? Maybe. Who cares? Louisiana’s Durand Jones puts the Indicators on hold while cooking up a hearty mix of groovy soul/r&b/funk/gospel gumbo that’s as tasty as it is inevitable.

14. Rodney Crowell - The Chicago Sessions

Crowell proves in The Chicago Sessions that both his pen and voice are still as vital as ever. Read the full review here.

15. Thelma and the Sleaze - Holey Water

This is rock’n’roll. Full throttle. Not giving a damn what anyone thinks. Holey Water, the third studio album from Thelma and the Sleaze, takes no prisoners and suffers no fools. Read the full review here.

Best Reissues:

1. Various Artists - Written in their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos

A collection that celebrates those who sat at a piano or hunkered over a guitar with a paper and pen, scrawling, singing, strumming, and pounding until inspiration hit, either at home or at 926 East McLemore Avenue in Memphis, home of the Stax Records studio. Read the full review here.

2. The Replacements - Tim [Let it Bleed Edition]

Let’s be honest. Most reissues are for die-hards, those who can spot the difference between a remaster and the original even in passing, while most casual listeners are left wondering what all the fuss is. Tim - The Let It Bleed Edition is a different beast. It strips away the original ‘80s-centric production to reveal the glorious noise and hooks underneath; an essential addition to the Replacements canon.

3. Bob Dylan - Fragments - Time Out of Mind Sessions 1996-1997 The Bootleg Series Vol. 17

With Fragments, we bear witness to the flood of inspiration that created a classic and rejuvenated a career that, 25 years on, continues to excite and inspire. Read the full review here.

4. Various Artists - Playing for the Man at the Door

Smithsonian Folkways released this treasure trove from the storied archives of Robert “Mack” McCormick, featuring folk, blues, and roots music from both obscure and legendary artists. There’s much more to come, too, so stay tuned. [For a deep dive into the archive, check out my feature in the Summer 2023 issue of No Depression available for order here.]

5. Joni Mitchell - Archives Vol. 3: The Asylum Years (1972-1975)

The third installment in Joni Mitchell’s archive series finds the legendary artist in between her Blue and jazz/fusion periods. Among the treasures found are a truly transcendent version of “You Turn Me On, I’m A Radio” with Neil Young and the Stray Gators that could’ve fit in perfectly with Harvest. And that’s just one example.