My Favorite Albums of 2023

This list represents my favorite albums of 2023. I don’t like the “best of” terminology because I acknowledge I’ve missed a lot of great stuff. But these are my favorites among the albums I did consume during the past 12 months.

Click here to see my favorite songs of 2023.

Good to Me – Shannon Curtis

The past 12 months marked my first calendar year in the fediverse as a Mastodon user. However, I also have a music persona, Ferocious Designs, that also has a presence there. I participated in Fedivision 2023 and my music is regularly played on RadioFreeFedi.net, alongside the amazingly talented Shannon Curtis. Shannon and I have interacted a bit, especially ahead of her September 9 show at the Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville, Pa. I really tried to get there, but a family event popped up on the calendar the next morning and both would have involved long drives to Pennsylvania and back to New Jersey. Her very 80s-influenced album, Good to Me, checks so many of my boxes.

Love You Anyway – Devon Gilfillian

I have been a huge fan of Philly area-native Devon Gilfillian since seeing him at the 2018 XPoNential Music Festival in Camden, N.J. I didn’t know much about him or his music at the time, but I was captivated by his live performance and immediately became a fan. Love You Anyway is both soulful and experimental, at times, and it works beautifully.

the record – boygenius

The debut full-length album from supergroup boygenius, consisting of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus, is on everyone’s “best of 2023” list, so of course it shows up here. Have to admit, I haven’t listened to it much in the past few months because WXPN has played so much of it, I haven’t felt the need to. But I did listen to it a lot when it first came out at the end of March 2023, and it still resonates.

World of Hassle – Alan Palomo

Alan Palomo shed his Neon Indian moniker and returned with his first studio album since 2015’s Vega Int’l Night School. While still retaining the electronic quirkiness of his Neon Indian days, World of Hassle has a bit more of a mainstream funk/pop sound. It is an absolute banger. And how could I not like an album that features a song like “Stay-At-Home DJ,” which name-drops both Prefab Sprout AND Talk Talk?   

Tired Hearts – BAILEN

NYC sibling trio BAILEN has been one of my favorite music acts for a few years now. WXPN was playing them a lot in 2019, when they released their debut album, Thrilled to Be Here, featuring “I Was Wrong”, “Your Love is All I Know” and “Something Tells Me.” They were slated to play the 2020 XPoNential Music Festival and going into that year, BAILEN was THE band I really wanted to see in 2020. And, of course, instead I saw zero bands in 2020 (thanks, COVID!). But they played an outdoor venue in South Jersey in June 2021, so they were the first band I saw live in the pandemic era. Anyway, they released the exquisite Tired Hearts earlier this year, and it has a pretty epic title track.

What Matters Most – Ben Folds

Ben Folds is one of my top-5 favorite artists of all time. I’ve seen him live — solo with just a piano, with Ben Folds Five, with his own bands, with an orchestra and even with a chamber ensemble — nearly 30 times since December 2001. His 2023 album, What Matters Most, has been oddly overlooked by many, even though it was his first studio album release since 2015’s collaboration with the yMusic ensemble, So There. Maybe people were turned off by the pandemic themes of some of the songs (“But Wait, There’s More”; “Winslow Gardens”; “Back to Anonymous”)? The hilarious “Exhausting Lover” managed to attract non-comm radio play after the first single “Winslow Gardens” failed to gain traction. Whatever…(and ever, amen)…I can’t imagine not enjoying a Ben Folds album, and What Matters Most is no different.

Pollen – Tennis

I am so glad I discovered Tennis a little over a decade ago. Their music is just such a mood, and their 2023 release, Pollen, is no different. Every track is outstanding, but I’ll go with “One Night with the Valet” here. Still haven’t seen them live and I need to correct that at some point.

Rio – Trevor Rabin

Trevor Rabin was part of the Yes lineup that gave the world “Owner of a Lonely Heart” and the albums 90125, Big Generator, and Talk. He was also part of the ultra-Yes lineup that toured to support the patchwork Union album that combined the might of Yes at the time (Rabin, Chris Squire, Alan White and Tony Kaye) with wayward Yes members Jon Anderson, Bill Bruford, Rick Wakeman and Steve Howe (who had formed ABWH). For nearly 30 years, Rabin turned his focus on composing music for several major films, especially those produced by Jerry Bruckenheimer. Rabin released a solo album in 1989, called Can’t Look Away, which is one of my all-time favorites. But his next solo album came 23 years later with the mostly instrumental Jacaranda In 2012 (Liz Constantine sang on the song “Rescue,” while Rabin contributed “a little vocal”). In 2023, Rabin released Rio, his first solo studio effort with vocals since Can’t Look Away in 1989 — a 34-year gap! And, honestly, it sounds like the best Yes album in years. The first single and lead track, “Big Mistakes,” seems straight off of the 1994 Yes album, Talk, the last one to feature Rabin. The sprawling, cinematic “Oklahoma” is stunning. The entire album is a brilliant return for Mr. Rabin.

Invisible Ink – Charlie Hall

Charlie Hall wasn’t born in Philadelphia, but he has become a fixture in the Philly music scene over the last decade and a half. He is the drummer for the Grammy-winning band The War on Drugs, who called Philly home for years. He has also collaborated with my favorite current band, Lo Moon, and is the producer for both Christmas albums released by The Philly Specials, a group headed up by Philadelphia Eagles offensive linemen Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata. Hall’s mostly instrumental debut solo album, Invisible Ink, is fantastic and freakin’ great driving music. While a lot of the atmospherics of The War on Drugs’ sound is present, sometimes the album drifts into late 80s, early 90s new age. Honestly, there are times when I think the album has taken me to a lost Patrick O’Hearn recording…and that is fine by me. Would love to hear some of this on The Weather Channel’s Local on the 8s forecast!

Blondshell – Blondshell

Blondshell is the self-titled debut album by the current music project of Sabrina Mae Teitelbaum, and it is absolutely brilliant from start to finish. I mean, right off the bat, it starts off with the song, “Veronica Mars,” named after a show that my wife, Alison, loved. Back when we first started dating, I often used to come over and watch it with her. When I did, I would sometimes ask why someone as smart and resourceful as Veronica would be attracted to a manipulative, selfish jerk like Logan, Alison would reply: “Because he’s hot.” And, sure enough, one of the lyrics from the song “Veronica Mars” is literally “Logan’s a dick/I’m learning that’s hot.” Anyway, that song drew me in and the rest just brings you deeper and deeper into it. Oh, and Lo Moon‘s Sam Stewart plays guitar on the album.

Guts – Olivia Rodrigo

I normally don’t listen to mainstream music acts. It takes a special talent to crossover from that world into mine…and Olivia Rodrigo has made that crossing. GUTS is just awesome. I actually checked out the first single and lead track, “vampire,” after Lo Moon‘s Matt Lowell mentioned that their drummer Sterling Laws played on it. Not only that, but Lo Moon guitarist Sam Stewart also plays on it! Sam and Sterling played on multiple tracks on GUTS and served as engineer on some others. (Yep, three albums in a row with a Lo Moon connection!) Well, of course, the song is amazing so I made sure to check out the entire album when it was released. And every freaking track is a killer. “ballad of a homeschooled girl” is my favorite song on the album, but I’ll share the video for “vampire” here to represent GUTS.

Strays – Margo Price

It wasn’t until recently that I was reminded that Strays by Margo Price actually came out in 2023. It was released in mid-January, so it goes way back to the beginning of the year. Strays is another brilliant scorcher from the ultimate badass, Miss Margo Price. There is actually a second album released by Price in 2023, Strays II, which is an expanded version of the first album and included the title track.

i/o – Peter Gabriel

Of course, Peter Gabriel, my favorite music artist of all time would be high on my list of favorite albums of the year. I mean, it has been 21 years since his last studio album of new material (2002’s Up) so you might be surprised to learn it’s not my VERY favorite album of 2023. Don’t get me wrong, I love the album, but the best thing about Gabriel’s discography is that most of his releases are explorations of sounds and genres. This one is just a bit weak in that department. It’s kind of funny that I’ve read reviews of Gabriel’s work in the past that use “lack of cohesion” as a negative aspect, but I have always found that quality to be a plus. So, with i/o, my criticism is that the album is maybe too cohesive. Yes, there are some genre shifts, but they are more subtle than what I’m used to from PG. I like to be taken all over the place, to some extent. This one falls just short of being my favorite album of 2023. That honor goes to…

That! Feels Good – Jessie Ware

I was only vaguely aware of Jessie Ware because of my consumption of media from the UK. After she released her latest album, That! Feels Good, last spring, I started seeing a decent amount of praise for it so I decided to check it out. And, damn, if it didn’t immediately become a favorite. It is loaded with 70s and 80s disco influences, as well as a fair share of 90s house music touches. And Ware’s vocal performances are spectacular. For this post, I’m using the lyric video for the title track to represent the album. But on my list of my favorite songs of 2023, you will find what I think is the best track on the album, “Begin Again.”