the buff who fell to earth

My favorite albums of 2023. Also, my only blog post of the year.  

I might do a thread with the list here later, but there are over 40 albums already, and I'd probably just end up adding more since I keep adding to my Discogs list...

https://musingsofbuffyleigh.wordpress.com/2023/12/27/needing-to-feel-something-true/

#AOTY #AOTY2023

Needing to feel / something true

This year sucked (understatement of ever), but at least the music didn’t. Here are the albums released in 2023 that I loved (along with a couple from other years that deserved mention). I hop…

kaKofonie Of si(gh)lenS
Dec 29, 2023 at 5:46pmWeb
Show threadthe buff who fell to earthDec 29, 2023
@jake4480 Here it is!
Show threadthe buff who fell to earthDec 30, 2023

Okay, here's my list in list form. I did 10 categories to get away from ranking them all though, so here's my 40ish "Top 10", with one category per toot. Bandcamp links are in blog post.  

Category 1: Most intense albums of the year

Rye – Всё (atmospheric black metal/blackgaze)

#JeremyDutcher – Motewolonuwok (neo-Indigenous/neoclassical)

#ANOHNI and the Johnsons – My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross (pop soul/art pop)

#SufjanStevens – Javelin (indie)

#AOTY #AOTY2023

Show threadthe buff who fell to earthDec 30, 2023

Category 2: Most chill albums of the year

#AcidKing – Beyond Vision (stoner metal/doom)

Midwife & Vyva Melinkolya – Orbweaving (shoegaze)

#SigurRós – ÁTTA (postrock)

#Zoon – Bekka Ma’iingan (moccasin gaze)

#AOTY #AOTY2023

Show threadthe buff who fell to earthDec 30, 2023

Category 3: Pure fun

#Blackbraid – Blackbraid II (Indigenous black metal)

#Marthe – Further In Evil (black metal/crust punk)

#ÁrstíðirLífsins – Hermalausaz (pagan black metal)

#Mizmor – Prosaic (black metal/blackened doom)

#JalenNgonda – Come Around And Love Me (soul)

#AOTY #AOTY2023

Show threadthe buff who fell to earthDec 30, 2023

Category 4: Longest albums of the year

#BellWitch – Future’s Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate (doom)

#André3000 – New Blue Sun (ambient/new age/soul jazz)

#Eremit – Wearer of Numerous Forms (doom)

Honorable mention: #DollyParton – Rockstar

#AOTY #AOTY2023

Show threadthe buff who fell to earthDec 30, 2023

Category 5: Most hell(fire and brimstone)ish albums of the year

#RASánchez – L’ottava Sfera (doom jazz/funeral jazz)

#ReverendKristinMichaelHayter – SAVED! (experimental)

#Khanate – To Be Cruel (doom/drone metal)

#AOTY #AOTY2023

Show threadthe buff who fell to earthDec 30, 2023

Category 6: Angriest albums of the year

#Ragana – Desolation’s Flower (blackened doom/blackened screamo)

#BigBrave – nature morte (postmetal)

#Ushangvagush – Pestmo’qon (Indigenous black metal)

#AOTY #AOTY2023

Show threadthe buff who fell to earthDec 30, 2023

Category 7: Peter, Paul, and Not Mary

#PeterGabriel – i/o (rock)

#PaulSimon – Seven Psalms (folk)

#BlindGuardian – The God Machine (power metal) (2022 release, but I didn't hear it until after 2022 list season)

#AOTY #AOTY2023

Show threadthe buff who fell to earthDec 30, 2023

Category 8: Experimental eclectic awesomeness

#JaimieBranch – Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war)) (free jazz)

Ky – Power Is The Pharmacy (experimental noise)

#AllHandsMakeLight – “Darling The Dawn” (experimental art rock)

#LonnieHolley – Oh Me Oh My (blues/soul/folk)

#Sanam – Aykathani Malakon صنم – أيقظني ملاكٌ (postfolk/postrock/free jazz/krautrock)

#AOTY #AOTY2023

Show threadthe buff who fell to earthDec 30, 2023

Category 9: Prettiest albums of the year

#vvilderness – Path (atmospheric black metal)

#JoQuail – Invocation and Supplication (neoclassical)

#ARCHE – Transitions (funeral doom)

#MarinaHerlop – Nekkuja (experimental/avant garde electronic)

#AOTY #AOTY2023

Show threadthe buff who fell to earthDec 30, 2023

Category 10: The Nottingham Twang

#MaȟpíyaLúta – Wowahwala (Indigenous black metal)

#SQÜRL – Silver Haze (experimental/drone)

#MongTong – Tao Fire 道火 (experimental/electronic)

#DonnyMcCaslin – I Want More (electronic jazz)

#AOTY #AOTY2023

Show threadthe buff who fell to earthDec 30, 2023

Okay, and extra last category, top EPs:

#Ufomammut – Crookhead (psychedelic metal)

#Marthe/The Lord – The Eye of Destiny (drone metal)

#WolvesInTheThroneRoom – Crypt of Ancestral Knowledge (atmospheric black metal)

#AOTY #AOTY2023

Show threadschoppenaasDec 30, 2023
@buffyleigh lovely lists! Lot of unknown albums to check out before the year ends 😅
Show threadthe buff who fell to earthDec 30, 2023
@schoppenaas Live dangerously, save some for next year! 
Show threadSamDec 30, 2023
@buffyleigh Ooh, I'd somehow missed that Jo Quail piece getting released, I love her work. Thanks for mentioning it!
Show threadthe buff who fell to earthDec 30, 2023
@sentynel No problem! It's two separate 3-song cycles, but released at the same time I believe. Both are really really lovely.
Show threadCrone Cold Kate SherrodDec 30, 2023
@buffyleigh I'm listening to Sanam's album right now and digging it!
Show threadthe buff who fell to earthDec 30, 2023
@KateOfMind Awesome! I think I need that one on vinyl, it's just fantastic.
Show threadCrone Cold Kate SherrodDec 30, 2023
@buffyleigh It really is! It gets so eerie. I especially like the drum sounds, and that voice!
Show threadDavid W. JonesJun 9, 2024
@buffyleigh
Hmm. Try this one:
Frolic in brine, goblins be thine
https://youtube.com/watch?v=9rXIl9ER9n8
One track, approximately 11 hours long.
@n69n
Aairria: Frolic in brine, goblins be thine

YouTube
Show threadthe buff who fell to earthJun 9, 2024
@dancingtreefrog That list was specific to albums released in 2023, but whoa!
Show threadDavid W. JonesJun 9, 2024
@buffyleigh I figured that, but people forget.
There's also a Grateful Dead track someone put together called Dark Star 1972. Dark Star is a song that the bend played a lot. Its live performance usually consisted of the first verse, an extended instrumental improvisation, then the third verse. Someone went through all the band's live recordings from 1972 and put together a recording of opening verse, improvisations from each show, and closing verse. 11 hours, 42 minutes.
http://archive.org/details/DarkStar_1972
Dark Star 1972 : Grateful Dead : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Grateful Dead - 30 Dark Star performances from 1972 mixed into a single recording!Length: 11hrs 42minMy goal was to merge all Dark Star performances from 1972...

Internet Archive
Show threadDavid W. JonesJun 9, 2024
@buffyleigh I also used to have a link to a YouTube channel (I think) that was a continuous feed of algorithmically-generated doom or death metal. I think they discontinued that a few years ago. Theoretically, it never had "finished" length. 😀
Show threadJake in the desertDec 29, 2023
@buffyleigh this was a great list! Love the categories (Peter, Paul and not Mary 🤣) - and some WITTR action! Heck yeah. That Blackbraid was super good too. And Acid King was a really cool listen.
Show threadthe buff who fell to earthDec 29, 2023
@jake4480 I feel like I should switch my list to a solstice schedule or something though. I typically listen to so many new albums in December and usually can't spend enough time with them before I publish, not really fair when there are albums I've listened to almost the entire year (e.g. Acid King).
Show threadJake in the desertDec 29, 2023
@buffyleigh 🤣 I'm STILL finding albums that came out the last couple days, it's true. Some things get missed when they come out so late in the year!
Show threadthe buff who fell to earthDec 29, 2023
@jake4480 Even if not late in the year! Like the new Blind Guardian came out September 2022 and I didn't hear it until after I published last year's list. Even big releases like that can pass me by completely.
Show thread[MARX_IN_SPACE]Dec 30, 2023
@buffyleigh Fantastic list. That Rye album is soooo good, I hope to include it in my top ten list tomorrow.
Show threadthe buff who fell to earthDec 30, 2023
@otherdog Right?! I’m interested to see who else makes the list!
Show threadfck_brdgmsDec 30, 2023
@buffyleigh eremit <3
Show threadthe buff who fell to earthDec 30, 2023
@fck_brdgms Seems like everyone is sleeping on the Eremit.
Show threadtroutboyDec 31, 2023

@buffyleigh I feel like that jaimie branch album is missing off of a lot of lists. Or maybe I’m just looking at the wrong lists!

Great shout on the Mong Tong LP too. 👍

Show threadthe buff who fell to earthDec 31, 2023

@troutboy I found the jaimie branch via a list (can't remember which one, but a bigger one?), so maybe there wasn't much hype when it was released?

And yay! No one seems to know Mong Tong. They're an instant vinyl preorder for me.

Show threadtroutboyJan 3, 2024

@buffyleigh Yeah, looking it up, it does look like it made a few ‘end of 2023 lists’ in some bigger publications, so maybe I just missed those!

You might have already come across it, but thought that this was a pretty cool jaimie branch interview, and one of her last apparently https://pioneerworks.org/broadcast/hank-shteamer-jaimie-branch

Mong Tong are great! Only came across them through Wwww Prairie who I think share the odd band member!

"Let's Get Up in the Air and See What It's All About" | Broadcast

A final interview with jaimie branch (1983-2022) on the music of her life and pushing culture forward.

"Let's Get Up in the Air and See What It's All About" | Broadcast
Show threadthe buff who fell to earthJan 3, 2024
@troutboy Aww that’s such a great interview, thanks for sharing it! 😢