WMUC Best Albums of 2023

With the combined expertise and labor of music team and a 3.5 hours bloodbath of a deliberation, we are finally ready to present our...

BEST ALBUMS ROUNDUP OF 2023!

Well, before we get into our opinions, what do the people think? This year, we surveyed the people of UMD for their favorite albums, and here is the result!

1. SCARING THE HOES - JPEGMAFIA, Danny Brown
2. the record- boygenius
3. GUTS - Olivia Rodrigo
4. Let’s Start Here. - Lil Yachty
5. SOS - SZA
6. The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We - Mitski
7. This Is Why - Paramore
8. Fountain Baby - Amaarae
9. Unreal Unearth - Hozier
10. Rat Saw God - Wednesday
11. 1989 (Taylor’s Version) - Taylor Swift
12. Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd - Lana Del Rey
13. Heaven Knows - PinkPantheress
14. UTOPIA - Travis Scott
15. Desire, I Want to Turn Into You - Caroline Polachek
16. softscars - yeule
17. Maps - billy woods, Kenny Segal
18. Red Moon in Venus - Kali Uchis
19. 3D Country - Geese
20. Census Designated - Jane Remover

Did your own favorites manage to land on the list? The top six make a lot of sense to me, capturing all of the most loved indie, pop, and hip-hop releases of the year. If you're already familiar with most of these albums, fret not! Our own list ended up sharing six releases with the people's choice list.

In compiling the WMUC list, we asked ourselves: does the album either expand or redefine the boundaries of music or perfects an existing sound? When we look back at the album in the future, will the album stand as a timeless classic or a charming time capsule of 2023? And perhaps more important than all: is this, among the sea of amazing releases, the music we want to share with the world the most?  We ended up with a mix of albums that are both popular and nuanced as well as niche and foreign releases that deserve more love. At the end of this newsletter, you'll find a playlist that contains all of our favorite tracks from each release.

Without further ado, here's our list.

Again - Oneohtrix Point Never

On my first listen to Daniel Lopatin’s newest release, I had to double check I was listening to the right album. Met with disharmonious symphonic strings, Again starts off with the unexpected in “Elseware,” which in reality, should’ve been expected considering this is Oneohtrix Point Never. Lopatin has been creating experiment electronic sounds for over a decade, and yet each album provides a new view into what he is capable of creating – in this case, a hyper-modern world that somehow simultaneously forces nostalgia on the listener.

In Again, the culmination of the reflective three album trilogy that started with Garden of Delete, Lopatin is continuing this exploration. His interest in playing with AI software, pushing it to its limits, is seen throughout. Whereas other artists may feel threatened by AI, Lopatin doesn’t shy away, but instead he seems to find absurdity in its capabilities and lack thereof, as showcased in the speech-like but entirely incomprehensible AI vocals in “The Body Trail.” This absurdity is complemented through the combination of beautiful acoustic orchestral string and ambient sounds of nature. As if that wasn’t enough for the listener, the album additionally features grungy electric guitar, church organs, and nostalgic essences of vaporwave synth throughout. Again is undoubtedly a wild ride, packed full of so much texture that I’m sure there will be more to find on every listen.  -J.R.

Genre: Progressive Electronic

Favorite Tracks: Krumville, Nightmare Paint

Recommend if you like: Death's Dynamic Shroud, Xiu Xiu, Tim Hecker

We Buy Diabetic Test Strips - Armand Hammer

Brooklyn duo Armand Hammer embrace sonic maximalism in their new album We Buy Diabetic Test Strips as they bring together rappers and producers from across the experimental hip-hop landscape to craft a cryptic, disorienting experience that will leave you coming back again and again. Unlike their previous release Haram, singularly produced by The Alchemist, We Buy Diabetic Test Strips is a collage of different personalities from the Backwoodz label extended universe, each producing their own unique soundscapes for Armand Hammer’s billy woods and ELUCID to navigate. The first leg of the album is largely produced by JPEGMAFIA, a surprising but welcome collaboration given their history, and Peggy delivers with intricately layered, dynamic production that somehow manages to move from a dreamlike trance to Spanish guitar samples to rolling synths. Backwoodz-affiliated producers pick up where Peggy left off, but each adding their own flair, like Black Noi$e on “Don’t Lose Your Job,” leaning into a relaxed jazz sample that complements woods and guest Pink Siifu perfectly.

Lyrically, Armand Hammer is in top form. ELUCID brings enigmatic bars that spit in the face of clear-cut interpretations while woods delivers bleak observations on society’s increasing dysfunction. Initially, the LP seems to lack a cohesive message, but glimpses of cultural deterioration, systemic racism, and marginalization from the duo and their guests unite the record as a dissection of America’s dystopia. Armand Hammer excels at challenging listeners with dense, poignant verses that demand your attention and showcases diverse production that rivals any other rap album of the past year. -A.C.

Genre: Experimental Hip Hop

Recommend if you like: JPEGMAFIA, Earl Sweatshirt, Westside Gunn

Favorite tracks: Trauma Mic, The Gods Might Be Crazy, The Key Is Under the Mat

*1 - Rắn Cạp Đuôi

*1 sounds like the audio recordings of a drone exploring an alien ecosystem. The first few songs are dense and aggressive, like a rainforest of noise. “What Cherubs,” for example, uses calm nature sounds to lure you into a sense of security, before hitting you with a violent ooze of industrial noise that attacks your ears while high pitched synths complement and soothe you at the same time, all before giving way to a calming final minute composed of chill percussion and heavenly vocals. This trend carries through to “Bloody,” where we’re thrown around by tough and aggressive breakbeats for a minute and a half before being given the relief of a calming strings section. This calmness transfers to “Untitled 2,” being almost entirely ambient noise and rapturous vocals, to then be thrown back against the wall with “Pressure.”

This album is not for everyone. In places, it is rough and uncompromising, and yet in others it is kind and accommodating. *1 constantly surprises you with new sounds and new emotions, and yet everything melds together in a way where nothing feels out of place. Despite being such a new group, Rắn Cạp Đuôi bats way out of their league, with projects like this pushing boundaries for themselves and the genre, making room for other artists to follow in their wake. - F.B.

Genre: Glitch

Recommend if you like: Arca, Oneohtrix Point Never, The Books

Favorite tracks: Straws, What Cherubs, Bugs Life

Crash Recoil - Surgeon

For UK industrial techno veteran Surgeon, studio recordings, a process of self-censoring and second guessing, can feel even more performative and restraining than live performances. With his most recent album Crash Recoil, Surgeon arranges the sound sources and sequences he improvised live at clubs, the products of pure adrenaline and instant feedback loops with the dance floor. The thrilling danger of jamming on modular gears to hundreds, if not thousands, of feral club-goers instantiates as stripped-down mechanical kick and bass lines and crackling high hats. The tracks are often characterized by slow melodic grooves that never vary by a single note for five straight minutes, but you hear a multitude of effect automations sluggishly dragging them through murky, uncertain depths. In contrast to live sets, Crash Recoil is also exquisitely mixed and mastered, bringing you a great sense of space that live-recordings couldn’t.

Due to the culture’s emphasis on the visceral clubbing experience, “real” dance music has had limited cross-pollination with the broader music community. Surgeon has been a pioneer for his genre since the 90s, and Crash Recoil is european techno’s greatest offering to 2023. More people ought to expose themselves to this, learn to adapt to its unique sensibilities if needed. Make this your call to enter the industrial wasteland; surrender your body to its hypnotic trance. -J.L.

Genre: Techno

Recommend if you like: Regis, Robert Hood

Favorite Tracks: Masks & Archetypes, Subcultures

Ooh Rap I Ya - George Clanton

Beyond all typical measures of comparing music, the vibe is what differentiates George Clanton’s latest album, Ooh Rap I Ya. From the beginning of the first track on the album, “Everything I Want,” you are bombarded with walls of synth sounds, which come down and envelop you like a tractor beam from an alien spaceship. The lush soundscapes continue through the rest of the album, revealing the influences of 90’s inspired genres like chillwave and vapor that have appeared in some of George Clanton’s previous works. But despite these similarities, Ooh Rap I Ya manages to distinguish itself as more of an evolution of George Clanton’s sound than just a continuation, with songs that feel more full and all-encompassing.

George Clanton has made waves in the indie electronica scene with his past albums, but this album will solidify him as an anchor moving forward. Constantly innovating and producing some of the most fun tracks of the year, Clanton’s latest feels like driving off into a warm sunset the summer after your high school senior year, where you didn’t really know what was going on but everything just felt alright. - F.B.

Genre: Chillwave

Recommend if you like: Neggy Gemmy, Kero Kero Bonito, death’s dynamic shroud

Favorite Tracks: Everything I Want, I Been Young, Vapor King / SubReal

Scaring the Hoes - JPEGMAFIA, Danny Brown

Scaring the Hoes needs no introduction at this point. Every critic and music fan who spends a bit too much time online has already sung the praises of this album to such a degree that it’s hard not to feel that it’s overrated in some way. But to deny the chemistry between two of the most prominent names in underground hip hop today, coming together to create a record that combines both artists' separate skill sets in a wholly unique and compelling way, just feels wrong. The record consistently features strange and fantastic beats, with bars from both rappers that are boastful, self-deprecating, vulgar, and honestly hilarious all at the same time.

Scaring the Hoes might not be for everyone, and that’s what makes it special. It’s abrasive in sound and production and eccentric in lyricism. The record hardly takes itself seriously, but at the same time, it has a massive feeling of importance. Despite just over a dozen well rapped and creatively produced tracks, JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown have been cemented in the eyes of many as one of the best hip hop duos in recent memory, and with this record, set a precedent for artists to be uncompromising in their sound in find success with the music they want to make. The hoes may be scared, but I’m not scared to say that this is one of the best albums of the year.  -P.G.

Genre: Experimental Hip Hop, Hardcore Hip Hop

Recommend if you like: Injury Reserve, BROCKHAMPTON, Lil Ugly Mane

Favorite Tracks: Burfict!, God Loves You, SCARING THE HOES

The Land is Inhospitable and so are We - Mitski

Singer-songwriter and indie darling Mitski has been on a strong upward trajectory since the release of her 2018 album Be The Cowboy. She saw a slight dip in 2022 after Laurel Hell, where the album’s single, “Love Me More” flopped (within the framework of Mitski’s discography and her other singles— even though this track was less popular, it still amassed over 41 million streams).

The whole world was watching.  Millions and millions of gay teenagers were waiting for their next “Washing Machine Heart.” They needed something yearnful, something heartwrenching, and something damn catchy. Enter, “My Love Mine All Mine.”

The single off of The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We skyrocketed in popularity, completely clearing “Nobody” and becoming the second most listened-to song in Mitski’s discography. The rest of the album follows the tune of the muted, gentle track, relying on acoustics and a more organic sound in contrast to the synth-pop that made her so popular.

It’s clear that Mitski is becoming uncomfortable with her fame— she’s said in interviews that she sometimes feels exploited by the way her fans consume her music, almost trauma dumping by-proxy. Over her previous six albums, she’d strayed away from the poetic bedroom indie she made in college to make popstar ballads and headline music festivals, but on The Land, it feels like Mitski has finally come home. - M.S.

Genre: Singer-songwriter

Recommend if you like: Ethel Cain, boygenius, Lana Del Rey

Favorite tracks: Heaven, My Love Mine All Mine

Dogsbody - Model/Actriz

DANCE PUNK’S NOT DEAD! If the dance-punkers of the old–Gang of Four, LCD Soundsystem, etc.–noticed a common simplicity and exploitation of repetitive patterns between Punk and Disco, Model/Actriz found the hammering aggression and chaotic soundscape punk has always shared with industrial techno. The band discovered a simple yet effective formula in Dogsbody, with lead singer Cole Haden delivering his speech-like and emotionally charged vocals, dragging every other word as the rapid and rhythmic Nine Inch Nails like instrumentals rage on. The noise element is far from a mere aesthetic of loudness. Compared to most guitar-oriented music, the album overflows with intriguing sounds and production choices.

Because of the surrounding music landscape, it’s hard not to place Model/Actriz as a Brooklyn offspring of the wave of experimental post-punk coming out of the UK right now. However, not even considering Dogsbody unparalleled danceability, who else here is comparing their body counts to that of mosquitos’ and referencing Lady Gaga? Model/Actriz brings a much needed reminder of the roots of noise and experimental music in queer expression. If you look past the alien dreariness of the sounds, Dogsbody’s subject matters are surprisingly approachable and grounded. Haden monologues on love, sex, and yearning, along with the pain they bring to us all.  -J.L.

Genre: Noise Rock, Dance Punk

Recommend if you like: LCD Soundsystem, Lightning Bolt, black midi

Favorite Tracks: Mosquito, Amaranth

Burning Desire - MIKE

Surprise released on Friday the Thirteenth with an old-school, horror poster styled album cover, Burning Desire sees MIKE recount the hauntings of trauma, the curse of relentless pursuits, and the alienation of life in New York City. On “U Think Maybe?,” MIKE raps, “Autumn remind me of horrors from the past lore / Trauma behind / I’m crawling with the mask torn / Faults that define me / Balling with your last born.” He watches himself become an uncanny outcast and a sinful zealot under life’s burdens, declaring himself to be “Michael Myers but with Dreads” on “What U Say U Are.”

Behind the strong horror concept is a bundle of consistently thrilling tracks. More so than any of his previous releases, Burning Desire can be said to be a “pure” rap album that showcases MIKE’s prowess on the mic beyond his skills as a boundary pushing producer. With his signature style of poetic lethargy, MIKE invites listeners to decipher his introspective verses but does not push away those who just need a soundtrack to zone out to. MIKE’s production is smooth and eclectic as always. On U Think Maybe, MIKE raps over some beautiful saxophone and neo-soul samples, while African Sex Freak Fantasy uses a brain-scratching, subtle industrial beat.

MIKE fully matured as a rapper on Burning Desire, sounding entirely comfortable on his own experimental beats and spoke from deep and personal places.   - J.L.

This review is taken from October Release Radar

Genre: Abstract Hip Hop

Recommend if you like: Earl Sweatshirt, Navy Blue, Maxo

Favorite Tracks: U Think Maybe?, Let’s Have a Ball, African Sex Freak Fantasy

Nebulous You - Della Zyr

Della Zyr melds together seemingly contradictory trends in Korean indie–the playful folktronica of Mid-Air Thief and the depressive shoegaze of Parannoul–in order to bless us with possibly the most beautiful and nuanced dream pop project of the year. The artist wears her influence on her sleeve, but Nebulous You doesn’t sound like something any of the artists she covered on her Youtube channel could have made. Della Zyr excels at the shoegaze core and updates the genre’s lo-fi aesthetics to the 21st century by introducing mellow glitching synth lines, digital skipping effects, and more. Despite much of the album being bathed in white noise textures, her graceful, crystalline vocals always reverberate clearly across your head. Most impressively, the project’s 40-minute runtime is divided only across four tracks. Della Zyr doesn’t just find interesting guitar tones and call it a day like some bands choose to do; rather, she writes grand, melodic progressions into each song, fading in and out whole ensembles of textures and folk instruments.

Released last winter, I find myself drawn back to the Nebulous You again at the end of this year. It feels like being trapped indoors and dreaming of Spring, longing for rebirth. Longing for the world to make sense soon. Longing. -J.L.

Genre: Dream Pop

Recommend if you like: Parannoul, Mid-Air Thief, Asian Glow

Favorite Tracks: Concerto

Me chama de gato que eu sou sua - Ana Frango Elétrico

Me Chama De Gato Que Eu Sou Sua might just be the funkiest album of the year. The only thing you want to do when listening to this album is get lost into the notes and beats of the instruments and singing. Ana Frango Electrico infuses her own colorful imagination mixed in with MPB, also known as Musica Popularia Brazilia, to create some of the most personality driven songs of 2023. The more danceable songs, displayed at the beginning and latter halves of the album, stay fast paced with every single note and vocal being a staccato, keeping the funk at a fast pace; this is why songs like “Dela,” “Dr. Sabe Tubo,” and the most exciting track “Electric Fish” remain so danceable. Ana still takes pride in their home country however, as songs like Nuvem Vermelha and Insista em Min slow things down and are reminiscent of classic Brazilian film scores.

A vibrant array of synths, guitars, and horns fills in the blanks for each song in order for each song to stand on their own pedestal. While this album may not revolutionize the funk genre, it instead serves as a celebration and a gateway into the radiant world of Brazilian pop. -N.R

Genre: MPB, Jazz-Funk

Recommend if you like: PLUMA, Taeko Ohnuki, Stereolab

Favorite Tracks: Electric Fish, Insista em mim

Lahai - Sampha

Sampha made his name as a phenomenal vocalist from landing features with Kendrick Lamar, Kanye, and many others, but his newest album, Lahai, also proves him to be one of the best R&B producers working today. The British artist draws closely from the electronic scene of his home country, infusing his beats with Garage and Dubstep influences. His instrumentation feels layered and airy, coupled with unusual and interesting progressions through each track. When much of contemporary R&B is preoccupied with achieving a polished sleekness, Lahai manages to be both refined and innovative. The album secures its place in history while offering eminent enjoyability to the present mass audience.  - J.L.

Genre: Alternative-R&B

Favorite Tracks: Suspended, Dancing Circles

Recommend if you like: Jamie XX, SBTRKT

softscars - yeule

Yeule has stumbled upon a rather inventive direction to their usual glitchy ambience with softscars. Emerging from the comfort of their electronica asylum, they’ve introduced elements of dream pop, indie, and dare I say… Shoegaze. The glitchy piano arrangement kicking off the album is quickly interrupted by an eruption of distorted guitars, a sharp two-step drumbeat, and vocals that juxtapose the soft-spoken artist you once knew. This dissonance may send fans for a loop, but it provides the listener a glimpse into a uniquely transformative moment for yeule. Songs like the aptly named “software update” stick out, operating as a middle ground between the old self-proclaimed glitch princess and a new, more eclectic artist. The track starts off with quietly sung lyrics and gently strummed acoustic chords. Halfway through, distortion is introduced until it builds into a hypnotic drone. While it’s understandable some fans may be apprehensive to this new sound, others may relish in the fact that there is a halftime switch on songs like “daizies.”

The lyrics are heartfelt and genuine as well, provoking the listener to take a glimpse into their deep introspection. They shift from speaking on self-indulgence to harshly self-scrutinizing in an organic and relatable fashion. With softscars, yeule steps into a new direction, showcasing their versatility and skill in navigating uncharted musical territories. -C.S.

Genre: Dream Pop, Indietronica

Favorite Tracks: sofscars, dazies,

Recommend if you like: Kero Kero Bonito, Sweet Trip, George Clanton

3D Country - Geese

3D Country showcases a band being bolder and finding their own sound, with more than enough gusto to pull it off. Geese’s debut, Projector (2021), was a passion project meant as a last hurrah for a five piece of highschool friends. However, on 3D Country, the restrained mix of dance and post-punk is scrapped for different influences including indie rock, post-hadcore, bluegrass, classic rock, and egg punk. Opener “2122” and title track “3D Country” call back to blues rock legends Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones. “Cowboy Nudes” and “I See Myself” could qualify as Cage the Elephant or Foxygen songs, but with arguably more charisma, flamboyance and off-the-walls vocals. “Undoer” and “Mysterious Love” fit within the album seamlessly despite coming across as multi-faceted punk tracks, more so comparable to UK post-punk outfits black midi and IDLES. Tasteful arrangements of strings, piano, and/or choir find their way on the majority of this record, including the three closing tracks. The chaotic culmination of sounds and influences that 3D Country offers make for an incredibly enjoyable and consistent LP.

There is an immense amount of promise behind a band like Geese, and 3D Country will only be the start. Even though it’s not the most boundary-pushing or unique record of the year, it’s bold and not afraid to blend genres that typically don’t end up on the same album. Additionally, the members of the band graduated high school only three years ago and already having an album of this quality under their belt is truly impressive.  -G.H.

Genre: Indie Rock, Art Punk

Favorite Tracks: 2122, 3D Country

Recommend if You Like: Foxygen, The Voidz, Wednesday

trip9love​.​.​.​?​?​? - Tirzah

On trip9love…???, Tirzah and long-time collaborator Mica Levi embrace repetition in a unique blend of RnB and trap as they circle around the remains of failed relationships, lamenting the loss of those they once held dear. Self-described as occupying a “lazy club fantasy zone,” Levi masterfully crafts the sonic world of trip9love…??? to feel cold and desolate by using the same drum machine, same piano, and even the same underlying trap beat. It’s a creative risk that few would attempt, but Levi threads the needle perfectly with mesmerizing piano loops and strategic mixing such that it is hard to tell initially that almost all the songs share the same skeleton; the beat is incredibly versatile, featuring a hard-hitting kick drum and sharp hi-hats that can instantly impart momentum into Tirzah’s haunting vocals. Tirzah matches Levi by abandoning traditional song structure and instead choosing to latch onto these obsessive, disjointed choruses that are incredibly memorable. Drenched in reverb and delay, Tirzah’s vocal performances float to the top of the layers of grimy electric guitar and piano loops.

In the moments where the drums are stripped back, the club instantly collapses into an uncomfortably claustrophobic space as Tirzah intimately confesses feelings of betrayal, inadequacy, and desperation. trip9love..??? is an album that quietly demands your attention, transporting listeners into Tirzah’s personal, hypnotic nightclub in a way that few albums can. -A.C.

Genre: Experimental RnB, Trap

Favorites: F22, their Love, 2 D I C U V

Recommend if You Like: Smerz, Dean Blunt, Inga Copeland

Javelin - Sufjan Stevens

For the first time since Carrie and Lowell in 2015, Sufjan Stevens returns once again to his folk sound as a singer-songwriter on Javelin. In this newest release, we’re met with Stevens at his finest, sharing stories of love and loss and echoes of hope. The album is released in the aftermath of the passing of Steven’s long-time partner, for whom the album is dedicated.

In classic Stevens-style, this album is an intimate and heartbreaking reminiscence. The opening track is the hardest hitter, “Goodbye Evergreen” is a heartfelt farewell, beginning with his signature soft vocals and piano building slowly into a crescendo of massive synth chords and intricate euphony of bells and light percussion that builds in intensity over the repeated lyrics “Goodbye Evergreen, you know I love you.” This album is a beautiful return to the sound that iconified Sufjan Stevens, plucked folk guitars and piano, unique percussion and wind instruments and chorus lines, synthesizers and electronic percussion paired with unabashed and often blunt lyricism. This album offers a glimpse into Steven’s retrospection, both the good and the bad, but while the subject matter may be heavy, the tracks mostly end on a high note, offering a sense of hope, even when all seems lost. -J.R.

Genre: Indie Folk

Recommend if you like: Mount Eerie, Phoebe Bridgers, Iron & Wine

Favorite Tracks: Goodbye Evergreen, Shit Talk

Cartwheel - Hotline TNT

Indie stalwart Will Anderson and Hotline TNT have arrived at the perfect mix of twang, pop, grunge, and edge with their most recent project Cartwheel. In an attempt to distance himself from “Stoner-gaze” and his previous project Weed, Anderson created Hotline TNT. The project served as a departure from his previous project’s usual loud yet apathetic sound, featuring upbeat songs with major chord resolutions and even a sampler of sorts on the track “Casper.” Slowly, Anderson incorporated techniques like neck-bends, twangy pentatonic riffs, and a rather dynamic vocal range.

Cartwheel can be seen as a magnum opus created after years of musical trial and error on Will Anderson’s part. The project features most, if not all of the aforementioned techniques. Songs like “I Thought You’d Change” or “I Know You” are ripe with gorgeous major chord resolutions and drawling pentatonic riffs. On the other hand, tracks like “BMX'' and “Spot Me 100” feature a welcome yet clashing mix of distorted guitars and electronic elements. Riddled throughout are Andersonian neck bends, sprawling progressions, and a vocal performance that could easily be called his best. Even the suitably named interlude “That Was My Life” sounds like a track off DC Hope, with a comforting synth arrangement behind lo-fi sampled vocals. For lifelong fans of Anderson and his musical endeavors, it is no question why this project made our list. - C.S.

Genre: Shoegaze/Alt-Rock

Recommend if you like: Weed, Glare, Trauma Ray

Favorite Tracks: I Thought You’d Change, I Know You, BMX

共同的土地 (A Mutual Ground) - 缺省 (Default)

There were two paths that Chinese band Default could have gone. The first path was to continue embracing the shoegaze tropes that served as their introduction to the world, as seen on their 2017 debut California Nebula. Or, they could play the music that they believe reflects their true souls, trading chaotic instrumentation with haunting melodies and peaceful acoustics. And that’s just what Default has done with A Mutual Ground.

A Mutual Ground’s biggest deviation comes from its songwriting. Gone are the heavy riffs and crashes of keys, replaced by the calm and sweeping articulation of Hirome, one which swiftly carries the listener along each track like a thick gust of wind. This is all while a lush background of strings and percussion support her voice in order to create a truly transcendental experience. One doesn’t have to translate the original Chinese lyrics to understand what the band is trying to convey. This is the music that they have been holding back, and now they are letting go of the self-doubt and identity crisis that plagued them with previous releases. For the listeners, this is one of the finest tuned singer-songwriter albums of the year; for Default, this is them growing up. -N.R.

Genre: Indie Folk, Indie Rock

Favorite Tracks: 回环的梦境, Leave Now Breathe Now

Recommend if you like: Fleet Foxes, Broken Social Scene, Mogwai

Maps - billy woods & Kenny Segal

In their travel diary turned album Maps, Brooklyn rapper billy woods and producer Kenny Segal reflect in a series of vignettes describing the mundane and surreal nature of life on the road. As expected, woods delivers with his characteristic mixture of cynical humor, pointed observations, and doomer sensibilities all wrapped up in carefully considered wordplay. For example, on “Year Zero,” woods laments “You can't fix stupid / apes stood and walked into the future / march of progress end hunchbacked in front the computer / sooner or later it's gon' be two unrelated active shooters.” Unlike previous releases, though, Maps is decidedly the most accessible introduction to the rapper’s abstract discography as woods describes his new destinations in magnified, sensory detail and Segal lays down diverse, jazzy instrumentals that give woods space to ruminate. Indeed, despite four years passing between their previous collaboration Hiding Places and Maps, Segal remains a perfect complement to woods and his musings.  Ranging from spacey horns on “Bad Dreams Are Only Dreams” to the wild hi-hats and walking bass on “Blue Smoke,” Segal’s production encapsulates the atmosphere around woods in impressionistic detail.

Found amidst the transitions between long car rides, shoddy flights on easyJet, and stock hotel rooms, is the conclusion that as woods searches for the familiar comforts of home in his new surroundings, his home and consequently, his self, is changed irrevocably. On the penultimate track, “NYC Tapwater,” woods finally returns to a New York City that has changed in his absence. While the dynamic and sometimes wicked nature of the city has remained the same, he notices new tenants and expensive stores that have taken root in his neighborhood while the Brooklyn he once knew has drained away. -A.C.

Genre: Abstract Hip-Hop

Favorite Tracks: NYC Tapwater, Year Zero, Soft Landing

Recommend if you like: Earl Sweatshirt, MIKE, Mach-Hommy

Rat Saw God - Wednesday

Countrygazers… RISE! 2023 has been your year, and Wednesday has blazed the trail. The five-piece band that originated from the mind of Karly Hartzman completely revolutionized the scene, breaking through into the indie mainstream with their release Rat Saw God.

Marked by the twang of lap steel and guitar from folk music and fused with the layered distortion of shoegaze, Wednesday has been meticulously curating their sound for the last five years. This album represents that journey in a technically perfect and polished package. Something about it is nostalgic, not dissimilar to finding something that was once a family heirloom at a thrift store. It’s for every weird kid that grew up in rural suburbia— for farm country expats who’ve found themselves at state school.

Rat Saw God has something for every insufferable radio kid across the spectrum. Songs like “Bull Believer” and “TV in the Gas Pump” encapsulate ‘90s shoegaze à la My Bloody Valentine. “Got Shocked” and “Turkey Vultures” are for the folksy indieheads, and “Chosen to Deserve” and “Quarry” blend the elements of both. The sound on here is cohesive for an album that is derivative of so many different influences, almost like it has existed in the musical canon for decades. Whatever is going on in the minds of Hartzman and her weird little Asheville band, I need them to keep it coming. -M.S.

Genre: Indie Rock, Countrygaze

Favorite Tracks: Bull Believer

Recommend If You Like: Mannequin Pussy, Slow Pulp, The Smashing Pumpkins

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And that was our list! Hope you either found something cool to check out or have your pre-existing opinions affirmed. If you want to explore our list in another way, check out this playlist. Let's hope for another great year of music everyone!

This newsletter is produced by Justin Li (Music Director), Chris Savani (Ass. Music Director), Freddie Briden (Ass. Music Director), with additional contributions from Akash Choudhary, Joselyn Rodriguez, Molly Szymanski, Griffin Hevesy, Nick Redford, and Paul Gracie.