Welcome to UNSLUMP! Here's 2023's Top 7.
Welcome to UNSLUMP! Here's 2023's Top 7.
Pouring one out for a year filled with good music- Here are this year's top 7!
What’s cooking? Welcome to UNSLUMP! The Music Recommendation substack. If you’re getting this email, that means you are finding yourself in a music SLUMP (bad), and I am here to give you some recommendations (good)!
Fear not, if you don’t like my recommendations, that is totally okay, you can even tell me “Jess, I hated that song,” and that is good because in the words of rock writer Jim DeRogatis: “Everyone’s a critic!”
In my own short life, I find myself constantly seeking out new stuff, and then sharing said stuff! 2023 was filled with a LOT of great albums, and before kicking off this newsletter officially in 2024, I thought it would be fun to share my personal top tracks of 2023.
Follow along on Spotify. (Sorry, Apple Music users).
7 - Nation of Language - Sole Obsession (Strange Disciple)
For fans of: New Order, The Human League, aerobics, slam dancing
My biggest dream is the revival of 80’s New Wave, and man oh man, Brooklyn-based Nation of Language is doing just that, and they are doing a great job at it. New Wave bands like Depeche Mode and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark were my first real foray into obsessive music listening, and Nation Of Language feels like a band that can fit in right there with the greats! Their 2023 album Strange Disciple, released in September, was the perfect counterpart to the colder fall weather.
6 - Oneohtrix Point Never - A Barely Lit Path (Again)
For fans of: Daft Punk, Kraftwerk, film soundtracks, roller coasters
Oneohtrix Point Never (OPN) was new to me this year, but Again is the tenth album released by powerhouse Daniel Lopatin, who has previously collaborated with a lot of stars: The Weeknd, Soccer Mommy and FKA twigs to name a few. This album reminds me more of performance art than anything else, I can imagine seeing it performed in a museum. It’s so incredibly cinematic, it gives me a little bit of Trent Reznor energy (and he’s my favorite.) The music is ever-evolving, morphing between ambient and glitch/industrial. Robots in love vibes.
5 - Indigo De Souza - Smog (All of This Will End)
For fans of: Disney channel originals, drum machines, that part of Twenty-One Pilot’s hit song Car Radio where it starts going really hard
I’ll admit it, I’m a diehard Indigo fan, she’s an artist that I would give it all up in a heartbeat in order to go on tour with (Indigo, need any stagehands?). It’s crazy that MJ Lenderman began as the drummer for this band! All of This Will End is an album that largely went under the radar this year, but was amazing nonetheless. De Souza’s songwriting is so to the point, her hooks are HOOKING, and she’s so honest up on stage that you can’t help feeling kinship and connection with her. #RealRecognizeReal
4 - Liv.e - Wild Animals (Girl In the Half Pearl)
For fans of: Clue (the board game), slumber parties, Amy Winehouse, long leather jackets, manipulation via overt sexuality
Do you ever listen to an album and feel the urge to stomp on a man? Sorry to men, but Girl In the Half Pearl is an oasis of empowerment, creative sampling and production all wrapped into the perfect R&B packaging. Hailee Williams (Paramore???? jk), better known by her stage name Liv.e (pronounced “liv”), blends experimental jazz, D’Angelo-eque neo-soul and spoken word on her sophomore album. She is also really cool and only 25 so I like to think we could hang out (maybe she can join me and Indigo De Souza for coffee).
3 - billy woods, Kenny Segal- Blue Smoke (Maps)
For fans of: Korean barbecue, road trips, Roy Hargrove, groovy basslines
This song is just so smoooooooth. This whole album slapped so hard, truly just a beautiful project from start to finish. Maps, the twelfth studio album from billy woods, and the second produced in full with Kenny Segal (see 2019’s Hiding Places), is all about traveling and finding your home- a message that really resonated with me this year as I geared up for a cross-country move from D.C. to Seattle. Maps does a lovely job of weaving in jazz with hip hop, making it a great place to start for a more casual hip hop .listener. The production is so tight!!! Another standout track is the lead single, Facetime. This album also rocks because billy woods talks a lot about food!!!
2 - L’Rain - I Killed Your Dog (I Killed Your Dog)
For fans of: abolishing pet Instagrams, Animal Collective, ghost tours, dreamy reverb, vocal manipulation
“I really love animals, especially dogs, and everywhere that we were recording, there was always a studio dog… I mean, it’s horrible, it’s horrible. [laughs] But it also evokes so many things that I’m thinking about all at once. Like, is it empowerment? Is it like, you wronged me and I’m going to wrong you? Do I feel sorry about it? Do I not feel sorry about it? Am I evil? Am I not? Was it a mistake?”
L’Rain’s 2023 release was so much fun. It scratches the experimental itch and feels curated as you move through the entire album. Other standouts include I Hate My Best Friends and Uncertainty Principle. Plus, a hilarious visualizer (embedded here).
1 - Feeble Little Horse - Pocket
For fans of: noise!!!, Water From Your Eyes, My Bloody Valentine, Horsegirl, “Modest Mouse pumped through a fuzz pedal”
Do you wanna be in my pocket? It’s gotta be one of the catchiest hooks I’ve heard in a while, landing this album at the top (bottom?) of my 2023 list. With a runtime of 27 minutes, it’s an easy album to play on repeat, and man, did I do that!! Other favorite tracks: Steamroller and Tin Man. Even though Feeble Little Horse cancelled their show in D.C. (still sad about it), this album is one of a kind.
Okay!
That wraps up the very first UNSLUMP! Let me know what you thought of this year’s releases, I’d love to know your favorites! Leave a comment, text me, send an email or postcard, I’ll take it allllll!
Until 2024- Keep listening to great music!
Jess