Kelela

We Let the Liquor Talk: The Top Albums and Songs of 2023

Instigating a cappella singalongs of Morgan Wallen’s hit “Last Night” at parties, backyard barbecues and amid crowds of strangers in public spaces was my favorite prank of 2023. It’s the song by which I’ll remember the year. Determining my favorite album wasn’t as easy. A dozen releases listed below spent time at the top of my albums list during 2023. Wallen’s One Thing at a Time might have been a contender, but I elect not to duplicate artists in these tabulations.

The Top Fifty Albums of 2023

1. Karol G- Mañana Será Bonito

2. Sebastian Rochford- A Short Diary

3. Bad Bunny- Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana

4. Kassa Overall- Animals

5. Billy Woods and Kenny Segal- Maps

6. Jason Moran- From the Dancehall to the Battlefield

7. Grupo Frontera- El Comienzo

8. Elle King- Come Get Your Wife

9. Hilary Hahn- Eugène Ysaÿe: Six Sonatas for Solo Violin

10. JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown- Scaring the Hoes

11. Young Fathers- Heavy Heavy

12. ANOHNI and the Johnsons- My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross

13. Sylvie Courvoisier- Chimaera

14. Lonnie Holley- Oh Me Oh My

15. Kelela- Raven

16. Joe Lovano, Marilyn Crispell and Carmen Castaldi- Our Daily Bread

17. Buddy and Julie Miller- In the Throes

18. Matt Otto- Umbra

19. Atmosphere- Talk Talk

20. Henry Threadgill- The Other One

21. Cécile McLorin Salvant- Mélusine

22. The Art Ensemble of Chicago- The Sixth Decade: From Paris to Paris

23. Armand Hammer- We Buy Diabetic Test Strips

24.Wilco- Cousin

25. Aja Monet- when the poems do what they do

26. Killer Mike- Michael

27. Bonnie “Prince” Billy- Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You

28. Laura Schuler Quartet- Sueños Paralelos

29. The Clientele- I Am Not There Anymore

30. Irreversible Entanglements- Protect Your Light

31. Sampha- Lahai

32. Tyshawn Sorey- Continuing

33. Mike Dillon & Punkadelick- Inflorescence

34. Willie Nelson- I Don’t Know a Thing About Love: The Songs of Harlan Howard

35. Zoh Amba, Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt- The Flower School

36. Rudy Royston’s Flatbed Buggy- Day

37. Christian McBride’s New Jawn- Prime

38. Mette Henriette- Drifting

39. Kali Malone- Does Spring Hide Its Joy

40. Johnathan Blake- Passage

41. King Krule- Space Heavy

42. The Necks- Travel

43. Ambrose Akinmusire- Beauty Is Enough

44. Cleo Sol- Gold

45. Jaimie Branch- Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war))

46. Tilo Weber- Tesserae

47. Lana Del Rey- Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd

48. El Michels Affair and Black Thought- Glorious Game

49. Ingrid Laubrock- The Last Quiet Place

50. Bertrand Chamayou- Letter(s) to Erik Satie

The Top Fifty Songs of 2023

1. Morgan Wallen- “Last Night”

2. Jamila Woods and duendita- “Tiny Garden”

3. Joshua Redman featuring Gabrielle Cavassa- “Chicago Blues”

4. L’Rain- "Pet Rock"

5. Meshell Ndegeocello featuring Brandee Younger and Julius Rodriguez- “Virgo”

6. That Mexican OT featuring Paul Wall and Drodi- “Johnny Dang”

7. Shirley Collins- “High and Away”

8. Military Gunn- “Do It Faster”

9. The Streets- “Gonna Hurt When This Is Over”

10. Danny Brown- “Tantor”

11. Austin Plaine- “Turn It Around”

12. Yahritza y Su Esencia- “Rositas”

13. SZA- “Kill Bill”

14. Jessie Ware- "Pearls"

15. 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne- "Presha"

16. Turnstile and BadBadNotGood-  "Underwater Boi"

17. Stik Figa with the Expert and Blu- "Uknowhut?"

18. Lauren Watkins- "Grain of Salt"

19. Carin Leon- "Primera Cita"

20. Brent Cobb- "Devil Ain't Done"

21. Joanna Sternberg- "I Will Be With You"

22. SexyyRed- "SkeeYee"

23. Tokischa- "Candy"

24. Kali Uchis- "Te Mata"

25. Cultura Profética- "Para Mí"

26. Snoh Aalegra "Wait a Little Longer"

27. Tech N9ne and the Popper- "They Know Meh"

28. Alien Nosejob- "Split Personality"

29. Camilo and Diljit Dosanjh- "Palpita"

30. Raheem DeVaughn- "Let's Fall in Love"

31. Don Omar- "Carcelero"

32. Peso Pluma- "Bye"

33. Ice Spice- "In Ha Mood"

34. 100 gecs- "Dumbest Girl Alive"

35. Big Freedia- "Gin In My System"

36. Luke Combs- "Love You Anyway"

37. Robert Glasper featuring SiR and Alex Isley- "Back to Love"

38. esperanza spalding- "Não Ao Marco Temporal"

39. Sleaford Mods- “So Trendy”

40. Noname with $ilkmoney, Billy Woods and Stout- "gospel?"

41. Maria Elena Silva- "Love, If It Is So"

42. PJ Harvey- “I Inside the Old Year Dying”

43. Sam Hunt- "Walmart"

44. Fuerza Regida and Becky G- "Te Quiero Besar"

45. Slauson Malone 1- "New Joy"

46. Bizzy Banks- "Ok Ok Ok"

47. SleazyWorld Go- "Off the Court"

48. DJ Lucas- "The Climb"

49. Megan Moroney- "Kansas Anymore"

50. Mireya Ramos & the Poor Choices with Los Texmaniacs- "There Stands the Glass"

There Stands the Glass’ top 50 performances of 2023 are listed here.

There Stands the Glass’ top albums and songs of 2022 are listed here.

February 2023 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of the trailer of Detroit Opera’s production of Charles Gounod’s “Faust” by There Stands the Glass.

Top Ten Albums of February

1. Young Fathers- Heavy Heavy

Crushed.

2. Christian McBride’s New Jawn- Prime

A1.

3. James Brandon Lewis- Eye of I

All seeing.

4. Ten City- Love Is Love

Disco revival, part one.

5. Karol G- Mañana Será Bonito

Tomorrow will be pretty.

6. Don Toliver- Love Sick

Grown and sexy.

7. Lisel- Patterns for Auto-Tuned Voices and Delay

A.I. soundtrack.

8. Gorillaz- Cracker Island

Stranded.

9. Kelela- Raven

In flight.

10. The Necks- Travel

Hear the world.


Top Ten Songs of February

1. Kelsea Ballerini- "Leave Me Again"

Alone.

2. Fuerza Regida and Becky G- "Te Quiero Besar"

Kisses.

3. Joe Louis Walker- "Don’t Walk Out That Door"

Let’s stay together.

4. Jessie Ware- "Pearls"

Disco revival, part two.

5. Hitkidd featuring Aleza, Gloss Up, Slimeroni and K Carbon- "You the Type"

Old-school fun.

6. Yeat featuring YoungBoy Never Broke Again- "Shmunk"

Kids these days.

7. Lonnie Holley featuring Moor Mother- "I Am a Part of the Wonder"

Old souls.

8. Dierks Bentley- “Heartbreak Drinking Tour”

The night life ain’t no good life.

9. The Men- “Peace of Mind”

Stooges stew.

10. Talibando featuring BabyTron- "Make the Money"

Paid in full.

Top Ten Performances of February

1. UMKC Conservatory’s “Proving Up” at Spencer Theater

My review.

2. Hermon Mehari Quartet at the Folly Theater

My review.

3. Jake Blount at the Folk Alliance International Conference:

My review.

4. Bobby Weir and the Wolf Bros at Louisville Palace

My review.

5. Verónica Valerio at the Folk Alliance International Conference

My Instagram clip.

6. Kentucky Opera’s “Cinderella” at W.L. Lyons Brown Theatre

My Instagram snapshot.

7. Voices of Mississippi at Polsky Theatre

My review.

8. Jack Wright with Ron Stabinsky at Charlotte Street Foundation

My Instagram clip.

9. Talibah Safiya at the Folk Alliance International Conference:

My Instagram snapshot.

10. NAVO Trio at Polsky Theatre

My Instagram snapshot.



The previous monthly survey is here.