I don’t think of myself as a weirdo. Yet when my friend Chris Haghirian repeatedly insisted my cultural predilections are extremely unusual during a taping of his Eight One Sixty program did I begin to suspect that maybe I am abnormal. Attempting to justify my listening habits, I recall blurting out something like “all music is for all people.” My appearance on Chris’ show will air at 6 p.m. CST Tuesday, December 19, on 90.9 The Bridge and will stream in perpetuity at the station’s site.
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.
July 2023 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency
Top Ten Albums of July (as of July 25)
1. Anohni and the Johnsons- My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross
Sacral.
2. Zoh Amba, Chris Corsano and Bill Orcutt- The Flower School
Superlative skronk.
3. Hilary Hahn- Eugène Ysaÿe: Six Sonatas for Solo Violin
Sublime scraping.
4. African Head Charge- A Trip to Bolgatanga
Positive vibration.
5. Immy Owusu- LO-LIFE!
Goofball Afrobeat.
6. Mahalia- IRL
Back to life, back to reality.
7. Shapednoise- Absurd Matter
Dank discord.
8. Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band- Kings Highway
Scenic.
9. Black Milk- Everybody Good?
It remains to be seen.
10. Charif Megarbane- Marzipan
Lebanese lounge.
Top Ten Songs of July (as of July 25)
1. Joshua Redman with Gabrielle Cavassa- “Chicago Blues”
All things go.
2. Jamila Woods- "Tiny Garden"
Watered and weeded.
3. Robert Glasper featuring SiR and Alex Isley- "Back to Love"
Slow jam.
4. claire rousay- "Sigh In My Ear"
I hear a symphony.
5. Ryan Castro and Peso Pluma- "Quema"
Fiery.
6. Aluna featuring Tchami and Kareen Lomax- "Running Blind"
Rhythm is gonna get you.
7. JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown- "Guess What B*tch, We Back H*e!"
Knock knock.
8. PJ Harvey- "Seem an I"
Might a you.
9. Colter Wall- "Honky Tonk Nighthawk"
Swinging doors.
10. That Mexican OT featuring Lefty sm- "Barrio"
Still tippin’.
Top Performances of July (as of July 25)
1. The Smile and Robert Stillman at the Midland Theater
2. The Salvation Choir at Theis Park
3. Henrique Eisenmann and Eugene Friesen at the 1900 Building
4. Rob Magill with Marshall Trammell, Alber with Alex Mallett, and Krista Kopper, Aaron Osborne and Evan Verplough at Farewell
5. Final Gasp, Persona and New Obsessions at Howdy
My Instagram clips are here, here and here.
6. Eli Wallace with Ben Baker, Seth Andrew Davis, Aaron Osborne and Evan Verploegh at Stray Cat Film Center
7. The American Legion Band of Greater Kansas City at American Legion Post 370
8. Mike Horan and Scott Tichenor at the Market at Meadowbrook
9. Natalie Prauser and Marty Bush at Mike Kelly’s Westsider
10. Lee Walter Redding at Volker Park
The previous monthly survey is here.