Top 25 Songs of 2023

[numbersix]

Catching up on the #1s

Surf, glad to see another song in common. It's also great to have you back participating, with such eloquent descriptions of your songs. You said it better than I could, and I agree it's the best track in an excellent album. I'd never heard of Wednesday until last year, so I must delve into their back catalogue. And they're playing London in August, so I'm going to catch them live.

As always, your list was excellent, with plenty of my beloved post-punk appearing in its various guises. Lots of shared artists, like PJ Harvey, Squid, and Young Fathers, and a few fascinating post-rock bands like Deathcrash and FACS that i'll be keeping tabs on. And once again, as always, I promise myself to listen to Pile. What's a good album to start?


Chien, glad you could join us, even if only for four songs. All of them nice in various ways, but like the Lana Del Ray track it's too soft, too gentle, for a grouch like me. Be more miserable, please.

[numbersix]

Six's #1


Protomartyr: Rain Garden




If Protomartyr have a record out, you can pretty much count on them featuring high up on my songs of the year list. I've been a fan for a decade, and they're the perfect mix of post-punk, indie, rock, with an ambitious singer who can't really sing, but he can damn well write some brilliant lyrics (like Pollacrix Kid, about giving up cigarettes, or We Know the Rats, about the feeling of vulnerability when his house was broken into). 2023's album Formal Growth in the Desert saw them break new ground by embracing some country elements, particularly a slide guitar at moments. But it's this closing track which moved me most.

Post-punk is almost always a cold genre. It's intellectual, often about playing with form, the lyrics avoiding the cliches of rock and pop to address others issues, such as politics, or the limits of the mind, or whatever. Which makes this song rare, in which Joe Casey contemplates life as he stands by a rain garden, and by the end finally realises he's deserved of being loved. Musically, the song twists and turns, before finding itself in a beautiful, explosive refrain, sounding like a punk-rock Smiths. It's an incredible song from one of my favourite bands.


Here's my list

25. Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter: I Will Be With You Always
24. Aphex Twin: Blackbox Life Recorder 21F
23. Grian Chatten: Fairlies
22. Caroline Polachek: Bunny is a Rider
21. Young Fathers: Shoot Me Down
20. Swans: Paradise is Mine
19. Cumgirl8: Cicciolina
18. Yves Tumor: Meteora Blues
17. Yard Act: The Trench-coat Museum
16. Stuck: The Punisher
15. Squid: Undergrowth
14. The Murder Capital: Ethel
13. Sufjan Stevens: Will Anybody Ever Love Me?
12. Big Thief: Vampire Empire
11. Fever Ray: Kandy
10.IDLES: Dancer
9. Janelle Monae: Float
8. Mitski: Heaven
7. JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown: Scaring the Hoes
6.Wednesday: Bull Believer
5. Heartworms: 24 Hours
4. PJ Harvey: I inside the Old I Dying
3. Noname: Namesake
2. Shame: Orchid
1. Protomartyr: Rain Garden


Thanks to all of you for contributing. It's always going to be difficult knowing ol Shryke isn't around to participate, but I hope to continue doing this in his honour, and to be inspired by his never-waning enthusiasm for new music.

[transformers2]

Finally diving into the #1's

John: The synthline on this one is actually kind of cool! Unsurprisingly, I wasn't as enthusiastic about the rest of it. That being said, anytime you see an artist still delivering music that their fans excited about this deep into their career is something worth celebrating.

Leestu: Pretty solid, catchy stuff. The distorted guitar explosion in the final minute rocked.

Ron: Both the verse melody and vocal inflection on the verses sound like a slightly downbeat indie version of Katy Perry's Teenage Dream, which is really odd. Aside from that weird realization, it kind of feel flat for me.

surfer: Feel the same about this now as when six picked it. It loses a bit of its impact by sticking around for too long, but it's still a mostly effective fusion of noise rock and shoegaze that contains some moments of true greatness.

Chien: Lana Del Rey at her most-stripped back and beautiful musically. Thank you for reminding me that I need to re-listen to this record soon.

six: I know I've said this a million times, but the vocals continue to sink Protomartyr for me and at this juncture, you guys have exposed me to enough of their music for me to believe that this is something I'll never be able to get over.

[transformers2]

And to wrap things up, here are some of my favorite selections from the countdown:
Songs I was already familiar with:
Yves Tumor-Meteora Blues
JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown-Scaring the Hoes
Lana Del Rey-Grandfather, please stand on the shoulders of my father

Top discoveries:
070 Shake-Black Dress
Paranooul-Arrival
Sunfruits-Feeling Fine