I’m splitting up my Album of the Month reviews this week because I have a lot of great new albums to review and a backlog of blog posts to make.
Album: Cowboy Carter Artist: Beyoncé Release Date: March 29, 2024 Label: Parkwood | Columbia Favorite Tracks:
16 Carriages
Texas Hold ‘Em
Bodyguard
Alliigator Tears
Just for Fun
Sweet ★ Honey ★ Buckiin’
Amen
Thoughts:
This is Beyoncé’s country album, of course. It’s more than country though, and parts of the album question the idea of genre in the first place, but you can also hear R&B, hip hop, folk, gospel, rock, and opera in the mix. Country legends Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson appear to offer their blessings but more importantly the featured artists include pioneering Black woman country artist Linda Martell and a younger generation of artists including Brittney Spencer, Reyna Roberts, Tanner Adell and Tiera Kennedy. Miley Cyrus and Post Malone also drop in for duets. Beyoncé covers The Beatles’ “Blackbird” and Dolly’s “Jolene” (who is compared to Becky with the good hair), as well as performing a gaggle of originals. This album is sprawling and I think it would be more focused if it were streamlined, although I can’t really say any of the tracks don’t belong. It’s a fun and varied album, and Beyoncé’s vocals are strong throughout.
I’m splitting up my Album of the Month reviews this week because I have a lot of great new albums to review and a backlog of blog posts to make.
Album: All My Friends Artist: Aoife O’Donovan Release Date: March 22, 2024 Label: Yep Roc Records Favorite Tracks:
All My Friends
Someone to Follow
America, Come
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
Thoughts:
On this concept album inspired by the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment, Aoife O’Donovan tells the story of woman’s suffrage activist Carrie Chapman Catt and ties it to the ongoing struggle for women’s equality. The opening track is particularly strong building on string arrangements and the choral vocals of the San Francisco Girls’ Chorus. O’Donovan wrote all the songs the song cycle except for the final track, a stirring cover of Bob Dylan’s “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll.”
I’m splitting up my Album of the Month reviews this week because I have a lot of great new albums to review and a backlog of blog posts to make.
Album: Three Artist: Four Tet Release Date: March 15, 2024 Label: Text Favorite Tracks:
Loved
Storm Crystals
Daydream Repeat
Three Drums
Thoughts:
Four Tet, the nom de mix of British electronic musician and producer Kieran Hebden, creates sonically dense and atmospheric tracks for his twelfth studio album, confusingly called Three. While Four Tet is known for working dance clubs, most of these tracks are more meditative than danceable, although you get yourself into a hypnotic groove on the dance floor should you choose. As an electronic music fan, I enjoy picking out the subtle changes that highlight this album’s sound.
I’m splitting up my Album of the Month reviews this week because I have a lot of great new albums to review and a backlog of blog posts to make.
Album: I Got Heaven Artist: Mannequin Pussy Release Date: March 1, 2024 Label: Epitaph Favorite Tracks:
I Got Heaven
Nothing Like
I Don’t Know You
Aching
Split Me Open
Thoughts:
Philadelphia hardcore band Mannequin Pussy’s first album in five years is themed around religion. Lead vocalist Marisa Dabice rages against the hypocrisy of conservative Christianity but also embraces a loving and erotic spirituality. Song styles blend pure guitar-thrashing rage and synth-driven melodic punk but it nothing feels out of place. The only downside to this album is that at 30 minutes in length there’s not enough of it.
I’m splitting up my Album of the Month reviews this week because I have a lot of great new albums to review and a backlog of blog posts to make.
Album: Where’s My Utopia? Artist: Yard Act Release Date: 1 March 2024 Label: Island Favorite Tracks:
An Illusion
We Make Hits
Down by the Stream
When the Laughter Stops (featuring Katy J Pearson)
Blackpool Illuminations
A Vineyard for the North
Thoughts:
The second album from the Leeds, England quartet – after 2022’s The Overload – melds the sounds of two genres that originated in the 1970s, punk and disco. Dance punk is a lot of fun, but the lyrics from front man James Smith are often reflective, so this is more than a party album.
2023 in music was a reunion with old friends as a lot of my favorite artits of all-time released new music including Algiers, Björk, Bonobo, Chuck D, Fishbone, The Go! Team, Alex Lahey, The Linda Lindas, Mitski, Janelle Monáe, The New Pornagraphers, Olivia Rodrigo , Sigur Rós, Sufjan Stevens, Yo La Tengo, and Young Fathers. Heck, even The Beatles and Rolling Stones released new music in 2023! But it wasn’t always the old friends who made my favorite albums in 2023 and this list includes several new or “new to me” artists. I reviewed 39 albums this year (see the end of this post for the full list)and probably listened to just as many I didn’t review. The following is my favorite ten albums from 2023 in alphabetical order by artists.
Over the course of my 50th year, I listened to one album from each year of my life that I hadn’t reviewed before. About a third of the albums were ones I was familiar with from owning and listening to at the time they came out. But most of the albums were new to me. I tried branch out into as many genres as possible and I think you’ll see an interesting spread of popular music styles in the albums reviewed.
Here’s the complete list of albums in chronological order.
As opposed to my usual Album of the Months posts where I review albums released in the previous month, I went back to listen to a lot of albums I had missed over the course of the year. I perused various end of year Best of 2023 lists from the New York Times, NPR, Paste, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, and Stereogum, and I reviewed a handful I think are worth checking out. I’m also including a review of Peter Gabriel’s new album which is on no end of year lists since it was just released at the beginning of December.
Album: Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love? Artist: Kara Jackson Release Date: April 14, 2023 Label: September Favorite Tracks:
dickhead blues
pawnshop
rat
why does the earth give us people to love?
Thoughts: The debut album from the Illinois-based artist Kara Jackson is rooted in folk traditions. Accompanying herself on acoustic guitar, Jackson sings about love and loss, exploring grief as the cost of loving relationships. Jackson is the former U.S. National Youth Poet Laureate and her story songs reflect a deftness with words and their multitude meanings. Rating: ***1/2
Album: Sundial Artist: Noname Release Date: August 11, 2023 Label: Noname, Inc. Favorite Tracks:
hold me down
boomboom (feat. Jimetta Rose and Voices of Creation)
namesake (feat. Ayoni)
oblivion (feat. Common and Ayoni)
Thoughts:
Chicago’s Noname (performing name of Fatimah Nyeema Warner) draws on her experience in slam poetry to deliver hip hop rhymes supported by silky smooth jazzl and gospel music. Lyrically Noname doesn’t hold back with anti-capitalist and anti-racist themes. She is not afraid to include her own complicity in her criticism.
Rating: ***1/2
Album: I Killed Your Dog Artist: L’Rain Release Date: October 13, 2023 Label: Mexican Summer Favorite Tracks:
Pet Rock
I Hate My Best Friends
r (Emote)
Uncertainty Principle
Knead Bee
Thoughts: L’Rain is the stage name for Brooklyn-based experimental music artists Taja Cheek, which honestly is a cool name already. The experimental sounds sometimes have the edge of guitar rock or vocal R&B, almost enough to sound like something more mainstream. But the collage-like arrangements and odd lyrics will disabuse you of that notion. Rating: ****
Album: I/O Artist: Peter Gabriel Release Date: 1 December 2023 Label: Real World | EMI | Republic Favorite Tracks:
Panopticom
The Court
Playing for Time
i/o
Live and Let Live
Thoughts: Peter Gabriel spent a long time working on this album, his first collection of original music since 2002, which includes tracks he’s first started recording in 1995. And even now he’s still uncertain how he wants to release this music, providing a “Bright-Side Mix” and “Dark-Side Mix” of each of the album’s 12 tracks. I don’t have an ear of an audiophile and usually can’t differentiate the differences of mixes, although I can say the “Dark-Side Mix” sounds more bass heavy. The musical style sounds like it could have been released in the late 90s/early 00s, but it doesn’t sound stale. While there’s no track that stands out as a “hit single,” it is a surprisingly cohesive album for tunes that have been futzed over for decades. The lyrics reflect upon humanity’s relationship with technology and nature, and sees deep flaws in each, but Gabriel’s tone is one of optimism. I don’t know if this will be Peter Gabriel’s final album, but if it is he’ll join David Bowie and Leonard Cohen in finishing their careers with new and complex works. And his voice still sounds great.
I am doing a deep dive into the work of the musical artist Prince. Each week until December I will post my thoughts on albums released by Prince (and his bands and side projects) focusing on one year of his career.
Today I will review Prince’s 2008 live album Indigo Nights.
Album: Indigo Nights Artist: Prince Release Date: September 30, 2008 Label: NPG Favorite Tracks:
3121
Beggin’ Woman Blues
Rock Steady (featuring Beverley Knight)
“Baby Love” (featuring Shelby J.)
Thoughts:
If Prince’s studio output in the 2000s felt uninspired, his live show was only growing more legendary. Indigo Nights documents Prince’s 21 night residency at the indigO2 night club in London in 2007 and was originally released as an extra with a coffee table book about the same series. Of course, the advantages of live performances is that Prince has his entire back catalog to pull from plus covers of songs by the likes of Aretha Franklin, Led Zeppelin, and Mother’s Finest. In addition to the songs there are intense jam sessions with Prince’s talented band and intriguing monologues from Prince himself. Guest vocalists Beverly Knight and Shelby J. add to the fun. This whole album definitely makes me regret not being in London in 2007. Sadly this was Prince’s last live album release during his lifetime.
I am doing a deep dive into the work of the musical artist Prince. Each week until December I will post my thoughts on albums released by Prince (and his bands and side projects) focusing on one year of his career.
This week I’ll be reviewing Prince’s 2007 album Planet Earth.
Album: Planet Earth Artist: Prince Release Date: July 15, 2007 Label: NPG | Columbia Favorite Tracks:
The One U Wanna C
Chelsea Rodgers
Thoughts: This album feels like more of the same. Prince, perhaps self-consciously, is trying to create a great Prince album. But what made is great albums great is that he was always trying something new. Now it’s a watered-down sound with the lyrics that have to much of the preachiness that has been his wont since the turn of the century. Anyone who got excited by seeing Prince perform his transcendent halftime show at the Super Bowl earlier in 2007 would only find a shadow of that greatness on this album. Rating: **
Panorama of the Mountains 