The GB Album Club Presents... What's Your Favorite Album of 2023? (Or Thing You Listened to For the First Time in 2023?)

Hey y'all. We're on holiday break here at the GB Album Club. Holidays and family and shit. However, here's a space to write a few thoughts on your favorite album of 2023 if you've got 'em. Was it a thing from this year? Was it a thing from a previous year? What do you got? And hey, if you want to catch up on the cycle thus far, here's what we've done:

• Crime in Stereo is Dead by Crime in Stereo
• Within the Realm of a Dying Sun by Dead Can Dance
• I'm Your Man by Leonard Cohen
• The Miraculous Mandarin by Béla Bartók

Anyway, what's your favorite music experience of 2023?

My Favorite Album of 2023: Hellmode by Jeff Rosenstock (yes, I know Fantano beat me to it, get off me)

One of my closest friends was laid off twice this year.

The first job was a work-from-home position in market research. It wasn't a particularly inspiring job and as a perpetual people pleaser, she was often put in a position where she was the one picking up other people's slack. But it paid the bills and it didn't consume her entire waking life. Then some clients ended their contracts with the company and they had to tighten their belts so they sent her packing. Demoralized, she took a role in the family business, which was launching a new arm. She took a managerial role, and though the work was exhausting and frequently psychotic, she loved it. It felt like things were finally on the upswing and that she had finally found her calling. Or at least something that felt right. Then the money behind the operation arbitrarily decided the new venture wasn't making enough profit and pulled the plug. For the record, it was, but that doesn't matter now. She still has to start all over again.

Her boyfriend, another dear friend of mine, was also laid off this year. This was his third lay-off in a row. After this job fell through, he had a contract gig that lasted a few months, but that ran its course and once again he's on the hunt. He's never shown a lot of rage or despair over being tossed around like this, and I hope with everything I have that's because of his disposition. But if I'm being honest, I don't think that's the case. I think he's just used to this.

I have two other dear friends who weren't laid off themselves, but their offices were decimated thanks in large part to mergers and "standard industry practices." One of them works in TV and the other in video games. (I'll let you figure out whose office was effected by which.) They were close with the people they worked with, and then one day they were gone ("Thanos-ed," as one of them put it), and my video game friend agreed to write four letters of recommendation the day after. They both still have jobs, but in industries as unstable and uncaring as TV and video games, I'm sure they can feel the sword hanging over their heads, scraping their skin and constantly hovering.

I'm an aspiring screenwriter, and I spent six months this year on the picket lines with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA. I heard horror story after horror story from all these artists who came out to pursue their dreams, dreams I share with them, and in return, the industry conspired to rob them of fair pay, sustainable hours, and a future while working them like dogs and treating them like vermin. They even plotted in broad daylight to drag things out long enough to starve union members out of their homes. This industry that I'm actively trying to be a part of. This industry that will come for me once I am. It makes me want to scream.

I can feel the fury and heartbreak over what's happening to my friends and peers eating away at me, and these feelings have grown harder and harder to contain. They've been seeping out and finding their way into other arenas of my life to the point where I've spent most of my therapy sessions this year talking about it. My therapist constantly reminds me that none of this is in my control and that there's only so much energy I can and should spend keeping that anger alive. She's right. But that knowledge in and of itself doesn't feel like enough.

Hellmode is an album, at least in part, about the hopelessness that comes with the realization that all your dreams and aspirations are tied to capitalism. A system I spent this year watching destroy seemingly everything and everyone I care about. A system I have no choice but to avail myself of, as well as the pure burnout from having to exist within its confines.

But it's also an album about healing from that knowledge. About finding happiness and community within these walls. Cherishing the little moments where all is calm and you're able to recognize joy when it's right in front of you. The fact that the people in your life matter, and you matter, despite everything around you constantly shouting otherwise.

It's the album I needed the most in 2023. I'll probably continue to need it for the rest of my life, or at least what it has to say. And it certainly doesn't hurt that it's also a pretty fucking great pop punk album!

Favorite Songs: "Liked U Better," "Doubt," "3 Summers"

https://jeffrosenstock.bandcamp.com/album/hellmode

The Rest of My Favorites From 2023

• McKinley Dixon, Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?
• Meshell Ndegeocello, The Omnichord Real Book
• JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown, SCARING THE HOES
• Sampha, Lahai
• Sufjan Stevens, Javelin
• Kara Jackson, Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love
• feeble little horse, Girl with Fish
• Lil Ugly Mane, Singles Collection 2022
• Alice Longyu Gao, Let’s Hope Heteros Fail, Learn, and Retire
• RUNNERS-UP: False Lankum by Lankum and SAVED! by Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter (They're both frequently scary albums exploring the horror lingering at the roots of their respective folk genres, Irish folk and Appalachian hymns respectively, and I don't know which one I like more so I said "fuck it" and put them both on.)

Favorite Non-2023 Album I Listened to for the First Time in 2023: Heaven or Las Vegas by The Cocteau Twins

I don't have a lot to say here, it's just fucking gorgeous.

Ooh an excuse to write about music.

This year has been an odd year for me when it comes to listening to music. For the last five years or so I've been mostly listening to a mix of newish indie rock, alternative rock, old pop music (lots of 80s stuff as I love new wave), and indie synth pop but out of nowhere this year I got way back into metal (specifically Finnish metal? The last time I regularly listened to metal was around 2016) and started listening to a lot of music I hadn't heard in years. I still listened to some new things but also a couple new to me things.

Content warnings for addiction, alcoholism, and/or death in blurbs marked by a *

boygenius: the album

recommended tracks: "Not Strong Enough", "Anti-Curse", "Cool About It"

I'm a huge Julien Baker mark (I loved Phoebe Bridgers' and Lucy Dacus' various releases but Julien is my favourite). Her music is on a different level and I genuinely view her as one of the best songwriters of this century so far (she's also a wicked good guitar player). But holy moly is her solo output depressing to listen to (Her song "Go Home" off her debut is absolutely devastating. I have to be in a certain mood to listen to it) so I always look forward to hearing her music in other contexts. The boygenius EP Julien, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus released in 2018 was incredible. My immediate thought upon hearing the EP was "Somebody needs to give these three a budget". That's what this album is. It's a truly great album and will probably be showing up on a lot of Album of The Year lists. The most popular track off it, "Not Strong Enough" has been getting a fair amount of attention and it fully deserves it. These three are all amazing songwriters in their own rights, but together they seem to push each other to another level. I'm so happy to see them getting the success they deserve.

100 gecs: 10000 gecs

recommended tracks: "Dumbest Girl Alive", "757", "I Got My Tooth Removed", "One Million Dollars"

You know you're in for a ride when an album starts with the THX riser followed by a bunch of gunshots. This album starts at 200 mph and never slows down. It's got it all: ska, nu-metal, Skrillex-esque "Purple Lamborghini" yoinks, and a whole lot more. This album is both complete nonsense but also extremely impressive. Both Laura Les and Dylan Brady are amazing producers and have a lot of range. Every song is entirely different from the previous one but somehow it all works. It's difficult to write about this album because everything I write sounds ridiculous. It's probably best to just go listen to it.

Skrillex: Quest For Fire and Don't Get To Close*

recommended tracks: "Butterflies", "RATATA", "Leave Me Like This", "Still Here (with the ones that I came with)", "Good Space", "XENA"

I was one of those people that got in on the ground floor of Sonny Moore's switch from metalcore to electronic music. I recently resurrected my old iPod and found basically all of his output from before he got super big. I've always viewed Sonny as a truly exceptional producer and have never been able to find somebody as complete as him when he's on his game.

But therein lies the issue. After his album Recess from 2014 was kind of disappointing, he went on a tear of doing kinda dull work with a bunch of mainstream musicians (Bieber, Travis Scott, J Balvin, etc.) and that album with Diplo. It seemed like something was off. Every once in a while he would put something out that had that spark of old Sonny but it was extremely rare. He revealed earlier this year that after the death of his mother in 2015 he started spiraling downward and drinking heavily. It was only part way through last year that he was truly able to get back up on his feet.

The result of all this is a pair of albums released one day apart. Not all songs on these albums are good (I remain convinced he does the Bieber tracks to pay for the ability to make the weird house music he does with Boyz Noize. Seriously, look up "Fine Day Anthem" that they put out earlier this year. It rules), but the songs that are good are REALLY good. When I heard "Good Space", "XENA" (which features Palestinian singer Nai Barghouti. It's a really cool track), and "Still Here (with the ones that I came with)" I remember thinking "Holy shit he's actually back". Since the release, he's put out a bunch of other new music that's been largely great. It seems like Sonny Moore is finally back and I couldn't be happier for him.

Yumi Zouma: EP IV

recommended tracks: "KPR", "be okay", though it's an EP and there's only four tracks so just give them all a go

I'm mostly just using this as an excuse to write about the kiwi band Yumi Zouma. I love them so much. Everything they put out is gold and this new EP from a few weeks ago is no exception. This is the most "the vibes are immaculate" band. They're a hybrid indie pop/synth pop band but with an extremely unique sound. Their album "Present Tense" released in March of 2022 got me through a lot of really rough times and their song "In Camera" is in my top five favourite songs.

Seriously, go listen to "KPR". It's so good.

Slowdive: everything is alive

recommended tracks: "alife", "kisses", "the slab"

I don't have a ton to say about this one. It's a good album. I just find it hilarious that the zoomers are getting into shoegaze since apparently this album is huge with a certain crowd.

Warmen: Here For None*

recommended tracks: "Hell On Four Wheels", "Warmen Are Here For None", "A World Of Pain", "Night Terrors"

When I found out Alexi Laiho from Children of Bodom died in early 2021, I was shocked but having been out of the metal scene for a while, didn't know the context. Because of how overwhelming everything was at the time, I didn't look into it. It didn't really hit me until earlier this summer and I think I've been grieving him ever since. I was driving up to our family cabin and needed something to listen to. I randomly put on a metal playlist that was last updated in 2016 according to Spotify. After a couple other songs played, Children of Bodom's "Follow The Reaper" came on and everything came flooding back. Children of Bodom was my favourite band in high school. I still have their first six albums completely memorized. They occupied 17 of the top 25 most listened song slots on my old iPod (the band Ensiferum occupied 4 other slots. More on that later) I suddenly found myself listening to them a lot again.

After I got home from the cabin, I decided to look into what happened with the band. It was pretty sad (I'll get into it more in the next blurb) but also made me wonder what the rest of the band were up to. Most of the band was working on various projects but one thing caught my eye immediately.

Janne Wirman, the keyboard player from Bodom and one of the biggest reasons they sounded so unique, had fired up his side project, Warmen (a pun based on his and his brother's last name. His brother Antti is also in the band and toured with Bodom as a fill-in guitar player) again but as a main band. I was immediately intrigued. Then I found out that he had brought in Petri Lindroos from the folk metal band Ensiferum (you may also know him from the melodic death metal band Norther) to do guitar and vocals. I was 1000% sold immediately. Pete has always been my second favourite Finnish metal frontman after Alexi and having him work with folks from Bodom was basically fantasy booking for me.

The result is the album Here For None, which blends Bodom-style synths with a mix of death metal and hardcore. It's a fun album from start to finish but a few of the tracks really stick out. "Hell On Four Wheels" is basically a Bodom song but the band otherwise goes for their own sound rather than just cribbing Bodom (other than the 80s slasher film synths found throughout the album but, well, it's Janne so he can do whatever the hell he wants) and it works extremely well. I've been listening to the whole album quite a bit the last few months.

The band's been touring all of the various metal venues in Finland and getting attention because of how good they are. Given this iteration of the band doesn't have a huge number of songs and the previous version of the band was mostly instrumental, they've been mixing in Bodom tracks at the end their setlists as an explicit tribute to Alexi (they put up an "In Memory of..." picture of the Wirman brothers with Alexi at venues with projectors). There's been videos of them playing and it's pretty wild. Petri has been playing Alexi's parts on songs and acing it. These semi-covers are so good that people are now calling for the remaining members of Bodom to do a tribute tour with him doing Alexi's stuff (Seriously, check this cover of Bodom's "Sixpounder" out. Pete, the guy with the Jackson Rhoads guitar, playing is ridiculously good for how difficult that song is to play and do vocals on at the same time. Warning for flashing stage lights).

Children of Bodom: Hexed (from 2019)*

recommended tracks: "Hexed", "Under Grass and Clover", "Platitudes and Barren Words", "Say Never Look Back", "Glass Houses"

Oof. This is a rough one to write about. I heard that Hexed was a "return to form" album when it was released back in 2018 but I was not into metal at all at the time so I never heard it. After catching up on what had transpired with the band since I had last listened to them in 2016, I gave the album a go. It's a fantastic album. It's also extremely tough to listen to.

Alexi Laiho died of complications relating to organ failure caused by his years of serious substance addiction. The band revealed that he had told them that he had these health problems but also that he was done fighting with his addiction and was going to keep drinking instead of trying to stop even if it eventually killed him. Addiction was a long-running struggle for Alexi. The early Bodom albums Follow The Reaper and Hatebreeder are largely about Alexi's mental health and addiction struggles. The rest of the band tried everything to convince him to try to get sober, from firing their other guitar player, who also drank heavily and they believed was influencing Alexi, to eventually taking legal ownership of the band then ending the band in hopes that Alexi would use this as a wake-up call. It didn't work. Instead Alexi started a new band called Bodom After Midnight that only put out a few songs before he died. By all accounts, Alexi was known for being extremely kind to fans and being a hugely funny and down-to-earth person when away from the stage so to find out all of this was pretty rough for me. I had heard rumours in 2015 or so that he'd started drinking again but I didn't know it was that bad.

With all of this context I listened to the album. It's easily Bodom's best album since Are You Dead Yet?. "Under Grass and Clover" is up there with Bodom's best songs. It's a song about both his recognition of how destructive his alcoholism was to his life and also about how much he struggled with trying to get sober. In an interview he said the song was about how when he was abusing alcohol the worst in the 2000s he would feel like death when he had withdrawal symptoms but it's clear now that he was also talking about the present and his various failed attempts to get sober. Several other tracks on the album also are about Alexi's recognition that the end of the line may be coming for him soon and also how tired he is of people offering to help him without actually helping him. There is a level of self-loathing in the lyrics that hadn't been in Bodom songs since 2000's Follow The Reaper, which was written when Alexi was at his previous worst mentally.

As a piece of music, it's a great album. After a couple albums of rather unexciting guitar work, Bodom's guitar theatrics are back at their best. The album is consistently good in a way that Bodom's records hadn't been since 2008 or so. But I still have to be in the right headspace to listen to it because it's too rough otherwise. It's both the perfect swansong for my favourite band but also a huge bummer.

@ben_h: So I have a long list of 2023 albums I liked overall to consider for a list. (I catalog basically any/all art I consume one way or another.) boygenius and 100 Gecs are both on that list, and I had a particularly painful time cutting the former from the top 10 I'm writing elsewhere. Might post that here once I'm done.

Julien Baker was also my way into boygenius. I was also a fan of all three, but I went into Sprained Ankle blind and it ripped my guts out.

I don't have time to do a big write up, but my top 5 most listened to albums last year are

Heartbeat Highway by Canons

Formentera II by Metric

Screen Violence by CHVRCHES

This Is Why by Paramore

If I could make it go quiet by girl in red

Not sure how I missed this thread, but Hellmode was also my album of the year! Probably the most enthused I've been about my #1 album since 2016 (Goodness by The Hotelier). I'm still sorting out most of my list, but I've been mentally preparing a blog post for it.

Another album that blew me away was the posthumous Sparklehorse release (Bird Machine). Mark Linkous' brother and sister-in-law found a mostly finished album, added minimal content, and produced it in a really haunting way. There are songs recorded in 2009 that feel like they're coming straight from another world. "Kind Ghosts" in particular is incredibly heartbreaking and my favorite song of the year.