2023 Top 10 albums

And a sneak peek at the rest

It’s that time. Time for those terminally obsessed with taxonomical tedium to wield what little influence they have over annual listening habits. Hoping to jump the gun on all the other lists, lists that will largely resemble each other. This one will not. Hello!

I’ll unleash and unlock a larger list once I’m done, but for now, for paid subscribers only, here are the 10 records that rose to the top for me, followed by playlists for Tidal, Apple and Sp*t*fy.

Not the best, not the most culturally significant, but the albums I played on repeat, the ones that brought the most inspiration, catharis and/or comfort. The ones that took me to the mountain and back.

It’s a motley crew of Turks, trad country, torch songs, future jazz, foot-stompin’ rock’n’n’roll, folk music melding traditions from Mali and Iran, middle-age Toronto melancholy, mushroom-inspired Americana anthems, revitalized Zamrock, and one all-time legend with a return to form.

Pssst, a bit late for Black Friday, but:

Here we go, top 10 of 2023 in alphabetical order…