Albums you like from 2023

[SGR]

I'm diggin' the new Chemical Brothers album, For That Beautiful Feeling

[Lexi Darling]

I'm diggin' the new Chemical Brothers album, For That Beautiful Feeling

Ah, dope. Didn't know they had new stuff out. I don't think I ever listened to their previous one either. That track is pretty cool, love that aggressive bass that comes in in the middle.

[SGR]

Ah, dope. Didn't know they had new stuff out. I don't think I ever listened to their previous one either. That track is pretty cool, love that aggressive bass that comes in in the middle.

Yup, on first listen, this latest album is probably just about as good as their previous album, if not a little better in my book. Definitely worth checking out.

[fire]

From bandcamp:
Volume 1 - A Curious Dance
By
Paddi Benson, Grace Lemon & James Patrick Gavin
Released 28.09.2023
Listening now, so far enjoyed it.
I think Marie Monday will like it.

[Marie Monday]

Various Artists - Surfin' The Great Lakes: Kay Bank Studio Surf Sides of the 1960s (2023)

oh nice, I should check this out. Love this Vaqueros song:

[Psy-Fi]

Alanna Royale - Trouble Is (2023)

New album from Alanna Royale. Contemporary soul songs with a vintage vibe. Nothing mind-blowing here that would qualify it as a must-have among soul aficionados but a good listen all the way through.

[Suburban Placeholder?]

Some of my favourites from this year...


Primal Scream - Reverberations (Travelling In Time)
A collection of a couple of early radio sessions and their first singles. Bobby Gillespie has said this is the debut album that they should have released.


The Hives - The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons
A real return to form after a decade long absence. Not particularly original or profound, but it's a hell of a lot of fun and only clocks in at 30 minutes long so it doesn't outstay it's welcome.
Let's all party like it's 2004!!!!!


Nancy Sinatra - Keep Walkin': Singles, Demos & Rarities 1965-1978
Does a great job of adding the stuff absent from her 'Start Walkin' compilation from 2021.
Leaving off The City Never Sleeps At Night, The Last Of The Secret Agents and Sugar Me from that album? I mean seriously, what the hell were they thinking. And also adds a bunch of interesting curios too.
Love a bit of Nancy.


Monika Roscher Bigband - Witchy Activities and the Maple Death
Take some pop, rock, jazz, trip hop, psychedelia and a whole bunch of other stuff. Add in a female singer with a German accent about as strong as Klaus Meine from Scorpions and then add A F*CKING ENORMOUS HORN SECTION!!!!!!!!!!!!
You really need to check this shit out.


Genesis Owusu - STRUGGLER
I discovered his first album Smiling With No Teeth from 2021 a couple of months back. Luckily for me after I'd listened to that album and loved it I discovered he'd released this album virtually THAT SAME WEEK!!!!!
He's a rapper from Ghana bought up in Australia and the first album mixed early 80s synth pop & post punk with modern Hip Hop. His current album has a wider range of influences and is a great record, but I still think his debut is better.

This is probably the best Hip Hop song I have heard since Death Grips in 2012.


Jon Savage's 1980-1982 (The Art Of Things To Come)
Jon Savage is easily one of my favourite music writers. Back in 1992 I bought his book England's Dreaming about Punk Rock back when I really only knew about the Pistols, Clash & Damned. That book opened my eyes from everything from proto punk to post punk in the UK and around the world. It was that book that introduced me to the likes of Pere Ubu, Magazine, Devo, The Tubes and, well.... basically how long have you got?
Not to mention a whole load of great punk bands.
He's been doing these compilations for Ace Records for a few years now, this is the 8th in the series which started off covering the mid 60s and worked it's way through the 70s to get to this one.
This compilation isn't about genres, you need to have a real open mind listening to this one. This is basically a snapshot of what was happening at that time from mainstream to underground and everything in between. That's why you have Donna Summer and Public Image LTD, Grace Jones and The Cure, Giorgio Moroder and The Cars, Grandmaster Flash and Orange Juice and so on and so on.

[Lexi Darling]

Carbon Based Lifeforms - Seeker (2023)

Catching up on recent releases and saw CBL had a new one out. Somehow I didn't hear about it in June when it was released. This album feels a bit more upbeat and robust in terms of the bass and percussive elements being more present, though I tend to prefer their stuff when it is dronier and lighter on the beats. There's a bit of everything here though. I think it's a good release that was a lovely soundtrack to my morning.

[jimmy jazz]

Cas just released his debut album.

Some background: Been doing music for about 20 years but stopped to run his pharmacy company. He is affiliated with Grime but I wouldn't say his music is Grime. It's like alternative Hip-Hop but a bit different. He's pretty unique. He's kept his face hidden with masks so nobody really knows who he is.

Some of his work:

Interview with him: https://theface.com/music/casisdead-interview-album-deadcorp-famous-last-words

The album - https://music.apple.com/us/album/famous-last-words/1701628038

[grindy]

Gnarly, dissonant tech death. Love the sound.
Don't love the singing, but it's not bad either, just not as interesting as the music.

[Saulaac]

Donny Benét. Described as a post-disco pop crooner. First single of a new album "Infinite Desires" coming out next year.

I'm hooked and I think I could learn some dance moves from this guy. It has whiffs of Tania Maria's 'Come With Me' and EWF's 'September'.

And what a nice bridge at 2:36. Original and melodic.

Donny Benét - Multiply

[ribbons]

^ Why is this song stuck in my head now?

Donny, slap me with that bass line and fill me with your love.  

[Saulaac]

^ Why is this song stuck in my head now?

Donny, slap me with that bass line and fill me with your love.  

I'm sure big Don has many fans queueing up to tickle his ivories   
This and also his previous album 'Le Piano' are very catchy. I read somewhere he uses a Prophet 5 to get those funky chords worked up. Luscious.

[ribbons]

I'm sure big Don has many fans queueing up to tickle his ivories   
This and also his previous album 'Le Piano' are very catchy. I read somewhere he uses a Prophet 5 to get those funky chords worked up. Luscious.

I want to run arpeggios along his lapels. 

I was listening to Le Piano on the train this morning and really liked it.  By the time I finished, I was craving "Cappuccino".    Donny is seriously a fine bass player, keyboardist and composer.  Not easy to manage sincerity and kitsch at the same time, but he succeeds.  I've read he's been influenced by the Japanese artists Hiroshi Yoshimura, Yoshio Suzuki and Ryuichi Sakamoto -- Sakamoto's mastery of the Prophet 5, Yoshimura's tasteful use of the Yamaha DX7 and Suzuki's use of the LinnDrum and Roland TR-808 in tandem with piano and double bass.

Thanks for introducing me to The Don, @Saulaac - something tells me I'll be exploring him for a while. 

[Saulaac]

^ And the track "Passenger" is also a good one for your train journeys. I thought I was listening to the 1982 Tron soundtrack for a moment there.

That's interesting regarding the Japanese masters. I don't enough about them. There's a lot of keyboard knowledge on here with Mrs. Waffles, Guybrush and Key owning keyboards and maybe yourself? (as far as I've read). I need to get one myself and get back to where I left off as a teenager.

Suffice to say, if/when I change my avatar image, it may have to be the Le Don in a sophisticated pose like this one!:


Reminds me of another favourite, the Mizell Brothers  :