Hello Everybody!
This is the 15th Year of doing this end of year list. You can see all of the lists HERE. I love doing it throughout the year and then put this together at the end of the year. What keeps me doing this is that it drives me to find new music and I always have a unique variety filled with new artists/bands I never heard of previously. I will always do this and hope anyone who clicks through the list finds something they like. We are putting the final touches on the 2023 End of Year Zine as well. We will have those printed in the next week or so. Those can be found on our site, in our Big Cartel Store, and at local shops around NWI. The more you support, the more often we will put on music and zines. 2024 is already shaping up to be an amazing year for music. Can’t wait!
The 100 songs are on Spotify: J + R Best of 2023
As always, please let me know your favorites for the year. I can’t hear everything. From what I’ve heard, here are my lists.
Enjoy.
All 15 of the J + R Best of Lists HERE
25. Kara Jackson – Why Does the Earth Give Us People To Love?
24. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – V
23. Aesop Rock – Integrated Tech Solutions
22. Danny Brown – Quaranta
21. Black Thought/El Michaels Affair – Glorious Game
20. Kurt Vile – Back to Moon Beach
19. Nourished by Time – EP 2
18. Killer Mike – Michael
17. Gorillaz – Cracker Island
16. The Alchemist/Larry June – The Great Escape
15. Open Mike Eagle – another triumph in ghetto engineering
14. The Lemon Twigs – Everything Harmony
13. Jenny Lewis – Joy’All
12. Indigo De Souza – All of This Will End
11. Tennis – Pollen
10. Mach-Hommy/Tha God Fahim – Notorious Dump Legends Vol. 2
9. Geese – 3D Country
8. Sampha – Lahai
7. Blockhead – The Aux
6. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit – Weathervanes
5. McKinley Dixon – Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?
4. Genesis Owusu – STRUGGLER
3. billy woods/Kenny Segal – Maps
2. Local Natives – Time Will Wait For No One
1.Sufjan Stevens – Javelin
Best Album of 2023
Sufjan Stevens – Javelin
My #1 Album of the Year comes from multi-instrumentalist legend, Sufjan Stevens, Javelin. This album is so beautiful, sad, heartfelt, and a masterpiece. Sufjan has been making his beautiful brand of music for over 20 years now. His music is always layered, well composed, and well recorded. Javelin is no different. This album is my favorite since Carrie and Lowell and Come on Feel the Illinoise Both of which would make it on my top albums of all time if I were to ever make that type of list. This album’s subject matter is sad and deeply personal. Sufjan was and is going through the grief of the loss of his partner along with having his own medical issues. He captures it perfectly on this project with a gentleness at times (“Will Anybody Ever Love Me?”) and ultimate power at others (“Shit Talk”). The first words of the album are “Goodbye Evergreen” which sets the mood and also is a heart-wrenching opening. We can all relate to loss of love. Sufjan is able to express this pain and hurt in such a beautiful and meaningful way. I highly recommend this album. I genuinely think it is a masterpiece.
100. Nourished by Time – “Shed That Fear”
99. Young Fathers – “Drum”
98. Kara Jackson – “pawnshop”
97. Indigo De Souza – “You Can Be Mean”
96. billy woods/Kenny Segal – “Soft Landing”
95. JPEGMAFIA/Danny Brown – “Scaring the H#@s”
94. Home is Where – “yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!”
93. King Krule – “Seaforth”
92. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – “Layla”
91. Danny Brown – “Celibate” ft. MIKE
90. Tennis – “Forbidden Doors”
89. Sufjan Stevens – “Goodbye Evergreen”
88. Fever Ray – “Shiver”
87. Ratboys – “The Window”
86. The Lemon Twigs – “Any Time of Day”
85. Armand Hammer – “The Gods Must Be Crazy” ft. El-P
84. Teezo Touchdown – “Sweet” ft. Foushee
83. Dave – “Sprinter” ft. Central Cee
82. Feist – “Love Who We Are Meant To”
81. Kara Jackson – “dickhead blues”
80. Blonde Redhead – “Snowman”
79. Mitski – “My Love Mine All Mine”
78. billy woods/Kenny Segal – “Year Zero” ft. Danny Brown
77. ANOHNI – “It Must Change”
76. feeble little horse – “Freak”
75. Zach Bryan – “I Remember Everything” ft. Kacey Musgraves
74. The Alchemist/Larry June – “Solid Plan”
73. El Michels Affair/Black Thought – “Grateful”
72. Killer Mike – “DON’T LET THE DEVIL” ft. El-P, thankugoodsir
71. Turnstile/BADBADNOTGOOD – “Mystery”
70. Tierra Whack – “Chanel Pit”
69. Lola Young – “Conceited”
68. Open Mike Eagle – “the grade prize…” ft. Video Dave, STILL RIFT
67. El Michels Affair/Black Thought – “The Weather”
66. MIKE/Wiki/The Alchemist – “Mayors a Cop”
65. Romy – “Loveher”
64. Danny Brown – “Bass Jam”
63. Sampha – “Dancing Circles”
62. boygenius – “Emily I’m Sorry”
61. Kurt Vile – “Another good year for the roses”
60. Noname – “namesake”
59. Indigo De Souza – “The Water”
58. McKinley Dixon – “Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?” ft. Ms. Jaylin Brown
57. Girl and Girl – “Dance Now”
56. Olivia Rodrigo – “vampire”
55. Mac DeMarco – “20200817 Proud True Toyota”
54. Home Is Where – “floral organs”
53. King Krule – “Flimsier”
52. Girl and Girl – “All I See”
51. Local Natives – “NYE”
50. billy woods/Kenny Segal – “FaceTime” ft. Samuel T. Herring
49. Latern – “Every Moment”
48. Aesop Rock – “Kyanite Toothpick” ft. Hanni El Khatib
47. Local Natives – “Desert Snow”
46. Blockhead – “Now That’s…Posse Cut” ft. Bruiser Wolf, Danny Brown, billy woods, Despot
45. Mustafa – “Name of God”
44. Big Thief – “Vampire Empire”
43. Tyler, The Creator – “DOGTOOTH”
42. The National – “Eucalyptus”
41. Fever Ray – “What They Call Us”
40. Caroline Rose – “Love Song For Myself”
39. Mach-Hommy/Tha God Fahim – “From Vailsburg to Vaudeville”
38. The Alchemist/Larry June – “Art Talk” ft. Boldy James
37. Paramore – “This Is Why”
36. Genesis Owusu – “The Old Man”
35. Gorillaz – “Cracker Island” ft. Tame Impala/Bootie Brown
34. Feist – “Hiding Out in The Open”
33. Gorillaz – “Cracker Island” ft. Thundercat
32. Lana Del Rey – “Let The Light In” ft. Father John Misty
31. slowthai – “Sooner”
30. boygenius – “Emily I’m Sorry”
29. Caroline Rose – “Everywhere I Go I Bring the Rain”
28. The National – “Tropic Morning News”
27. Tennis – “Let’s Make a Mistake Tonight”
26. The Alchemist/Larry – “Palisades, CA”
25. Blockhead – “Papi Seeds” ft. Bruiser Wolf”
24. Geese – “Cowboy Nudes”
23. McKinley Dixon – “Sun, I Rise” ft. Angelica Garcia
22. Genesis Owusu – “The Roach”
21. Baby Keem/Kendrick Lamar – “The Hllbillies”
20. Mach-Hommy/Tha God Fahim – “Bad Hands”
19. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – “Nadja”
18. Nourished by Time – “Daddy”
17. Troye Sivan – “Rush”
16. Jenny Lewis – “Psychos”
15. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – “King of Oklahoma”
14. Geese – “3D Country”
13. Sufjan Stevens – “Shit Talk”
12. Killer Mike – “SCIENTISTS & ENGINEERS” ft. Andre 3000/Future/Eryn Allen Kane
11. Sampha – “Spirit 2.0”
10. jonatan leandoer96/Frederik Valentin – “Rivers of Another Town”
9. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – “Save the World”
8. Geese – “I See Myself”
7. McKinley Dixon – “Run, Run, Run”
6. Local Natives – “Empty Mansions”
5. Indigo De Souza – “Smog”
4.Genesis Owusu – “Leaving The Light”
3. Thundercat/Tame Impala – “No More Lies”
2. The Lemon Twigs – “Corner Of My Eye”
1.Sufjan Stevens – “Will Anybody Ever Love Me?”
Check out all of the songs here on this Spotify List – CLICK HERE
Albums/Artists I look forward to coming out with material in 2024 – Confirmed
Bruiser Wolf
Faye Webster
IDLES
MGMT
Helado Negro
Future Islands
All of the J + R Best of Lists HERE
Buy the J + R Best of 2023 Zine Here – It includes a bunch of extras art, best books and friend lists.
Best Book of 2023 by @ranchgarlicstik
Best Video Games of 2023 According to Dale Skalba
The year 2023 was a year to behold for those who enjoy video games. In the modern “review” era we live in, it was unprecedented how many quality games were released. Many legendary franchises had high quality releases that lived up to the hype and maybe none bigger than The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Nintendo managed to take their landmark release, Breath of the Wild, and make a sequel that improved on it in just about every possible way with new mechanics allowing an unparalleled amount of creativity. Staying on the topic of Nintendo, after a highly successful box office appearance, Mario made his return but in a brand new 2D platformer with Super Mario Wonder. After nearly four decades, Nintendo still manages to reinvent and come up with something fresh with Mario. Outside of the two tent pole franchises, the long awaited Pikmin 4 was finally released in 2023 to generally positive fanfare.
Outside of Nintendo, there was still no shortage of massive releases in 2023. The iconic Final Fantasy franchise released its latest numbered entry with Final Fantasy XVI. Despite returning to its high fantasy roots, XVI went with more of an action approach over a classic RPG approach. Despite some shortcomings, I found it to be in a step in the right direction and with its more mature plot line, I wonder if development began in the middle of the Game of Thrones zeitgeist. 2005’s legendary Resident Evil 4 got the remake treatment that Capcom has been giving previous titles in the series. Despite having a massive shadow to stand in, the remake managed to stand shoulder to shoulder with the original with enough differences to ensure the 2005 version can bring a unique experience.
Spider-Man 2 and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor established two quality second acts for major licensed titles. Chained Echoes and Sea of Stars scratch any dormant itches that 90s SNES RPG fans might have. Speaking of the 90s, Street Fighter (Street Fighter 6) and Mortal Kombat (Mortal Kombat 1) both had new releases showing they still have what it takes to stand tall. Finally, I can’t finish without mentioning the game that was many’s best of the year, Baldur’s Gate 3. I barely scratched the surface myself, but amount of ambition and content for a release without any sort of predatory anti consumer practices is something that would be more welcome. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you manage to get invested in BG3, no question you’ll have a great and fully immersive and unique experience.
Justin Christopher Poulin
Songs:
1. Nourished By Time – “The Fields”
2. Jessie Ware – “Begin Again”
3. Noname – “namesake”
4. Mitski – “My Love Mine All Mine”
5. Lana Del Rey – “A&W”
Albums:
1. billy woods & Kenny Segal – Maps
2. Jeff Rosenstock – HELLMODE
3. M. Sage – Paradise Crick
4. Loraine James – Gentle Confrontation
5. Agriculture – Agriculture
Rodney Waxton
FAVORITE 2023 ALBUMS
01 – JPEGMafia & Danny Brown – SCARING THE HOES
02 – Babytron – 6
03 – LaRussell – Hustlenomics
04 – Westside Gunn – And Then You Pray For Me
05 – Larry June & The Alchemist – The Great Escape
06 – Mickey Diamond – Death Threats
07 – Estee Nack – Nacksaw Jim Duggan
08 – billy woods & Kenny Segal – Maps
09 – Conway the Machine – Won’t He Do It
10 – Earl Sweatshirt – Voir Dier
Cocktails + Culture – Virtina S.
Zack Fox – “Dummy”
Ai could neva-The Dragon Sisters – “Ai could neva”
Doja Cat – “Paint the Town Red”
Queens of the Stone Age – “Paper Machete”
Sexy Red – “Skeeyee”
Earl Sweatshirt, The Alchemist, Vince Staples – “The Caliphate”
Alec Boyd
Andre 3000 – New Blue Sun
Andy Shauf – Norm
Being Dead – When Horses Would Run
Cut Worms – Cut Worms
Feist – Multitudes
Lil Yachty – Let’s Start Here
Mac DeMarco – Five East Hot Dogs
Noname – Sundial
Nude Party – Ride On
Olivia Rodrigo – GUTS
Jim Warner
Ironsides – Chasing Light
Alanna Royale – Trouble Is
Larry June & The Alchemist – The Great Escape
Jpeg Mafia & Danny Brown – Scaring the Hoes
Kendra Morris – I am What I’m Waiting For
Panopticon – The Rime of Memory
None – Inevitable
El Michels Affair & Black Thought – The Glorious Game
Yussef Dayes – Black Classical Music
Bully – Lucky For You
Keith Gough
1. Bell Witch – Future’s Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate
2. Krallice – Porous Resonance Abyss
3. Panopticon – The Rime of Memory
4. Downfall of Gaia – Silhouettes of Disgust
5. Wreathe – The Land Is Not An Idol God
6. Ulthar – Anthronomicon / Helionomicon
7. Katatonia – Sky Void of Stars
8. Horsewhip – Consume and Burn
9. Svalbard – The Weight of the Mask
10. With Honor – Boundless
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