As always, compiled from albums that released in 2023 that I picked up and listened to extensively (or less so, based on where they ended up on this list.) Without further ado, here it is:
Honorable Mentions
Troye Sivan - "Something To Give Each Other" - starts out with a bang with the lead single "Rush" but falters heavily in the last half - a classic case of spending the best track too early and it shows.
Matchbox 20 - "Where The Light Goes" - An album that has no business even existing now, even according to the band, but if you are a fan of catchy 90's-flavored mom/dad rock (as I am) you will find something to like here.
Barenaked Ladies - "In Flight" - A solid collection, if only that it feels like going through the motions a bit - and it lacks a driving, propulsive track as immediately catchy and addictive as "New Disaster" from their previous album "Detour De Force."
5.Fall Out Boy - "So Much For Stardust"
It may have been the chilly reception to their last album "Mania" that provided the wake up call the band needed. Mania may have been the "phone 1 last album in to get the hell out of the contract" move with Island. Whatever the case, the band sounds like they remember how to be themselves again on this disc, turning in a straight forward collection of pop punk numbers. The collection lags a little in the final third, but overall a return to form and well worth a listen.
4.Pink - "Trustfall"
Arriving as it did after Pink having taken a hiatus from recording and touring, Trustfall is a sure step up from its predecessor "Hurts 2B Human" - which delved into so many different styles, that it felt like an album in search of a theme, a feeling. Trustfall is much more orderly, opening with "When I Get There" a softly moving ode to her recently departed father. Pink wisely places the lead single (and highlight song) right in the middle of the track listing, as "Never Gonna Not Dance Again" shines and chugs along. Some have ripped on it for sounding too much like JT's "Can't Stop The Feeling", and while the production methods of Max Martin are all too obvious, it isn't something I would call a problem. Quite the opposite. Chris Stapleton joins Pink for a soft-flow duet on album closer "Just Say I'm Sorry", a nice way to wrap things up.
3.Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - "Council Skies"
Fresh off his first greatest hits album since striking out as a solo act (truly a sign of how stubbornly old school he is, since most bands in the here and now don't really release greatest hits albums with quite the same fervor as they did in the pre internet days.), Noel Gallagher is back with a a new album, and it feels very back to basics. Where on "Who Built The Moon?" he veered off into techno-space-synth dalliances, and more so on his 3 between album EP's - here he seems to have remembered that while all that digital frippery can be a fun swerve, writing a solid barn burner on rock guitar and drums can be just as rewarding (See the stomper of a title track for proof of this.) The inclusion of mid-section track "Trying To Find A World That's Been And Gone - Part 1" is somewhat puzzling. It is a very warm hearted, friendly track, yet having been used as a teaser release prior to the album coming out, one would have thought he would have waited till a more fleshed out version was found - what is here sounds like a demo, the beginning of a more finished idea. The always welcome inclusion of Johnny Marr on guitar elevates propulsive foot-stompers like "Pretty Boy." Overall, a short, but refreshing collection of both pensive and more rollicking numbers, proving that Gallagher hasn't forgotten how to do his kind of music the classic way.
2.Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - "Weathervanes"
For the first time since Southeaastern, Isbell and his band the 400 Unit recorded an album produced not by Dave Cobb, but by Isbell himself. The difference is immediately apparent with the striking, insistent drums that ring out as the album opens with "Death Wish" - a song whose feeling sets the stage for the album to come. With the polish stripped away, most of these songs sound like you're sitting right there in the studio listening along while they record them, and it makes each one so much more inviting, rough edges and all there to be heard. Isbell continues his strong streak at weaving searing commentary into his music, especially in "Save The World" (a paranoid-sounding, high energy number lamenting how numb we've all become to school shootings.) "Cast Iron Skillet" is just as devastating, only this time playing it quiet, with little more than soft guitar and accordion riding in the background. There is a sense that some of what would have been B-sides on previous albums made the cut where they would not have before ("Vestavia Hills" and "This Ain't It") - but this is no dealbreaker, just an odd choice when compared to his last few collections. Still well recommended overall.
1.Aesop Rock - "Integrated Tech Solutions"
I didn't think he could do it again after the front to back gold mine that was "Spirt World Field Guide" but he did. Once again, there is a unifying theme, set off perfectly with the hilarious parody advertisement that opens the album with is rapturous descriptions of "Machine learning and on-site scrum sessions" followed by a classic radio-sped-up disclaimer where the end says it all: "ITS is not a cult." On album opener proper "Mindful Solutionism", a starting-in-caveman days and rolling on to the present day whirlwind ride through technological advances of all kinds, spun out with the gleeful non sequitir-heavy wordplay Aesop Rock has always been known for. Even so, he manages to keep each verse tight, avoiding the word salad that colored some of his earlier albums. 2 of the albums' gems occur near the midpoint - "Time Moves Differently Here" which spins a languid, hazy ode to every kind of junk food you've ever imagined, and perhaps some you never did. It's 1 of those "this shouldn't work as a song, yet somehow it does" moments. Having the absolute banger of a line "Large milkshake / not the boys to the yard kind." doesn't hurt. Moving on, "Aggressive Steven" spins the tale of Rock coming home only to find a tweaker has broken into his apartment, and the subsequent attempt to talk the individual down off the metaphorical ledge, a story by turns entertaining and also heartbreaking. If this album has a unifying theme, it is not just the influence of technology and all its pros and cons, but also a world-weary realization of the frailty age can bring and finding ways to deal with it. This duality, along with how long I had this album on repeat for several weeks after its release, serve to earn it its place at the top of the list.