Best of 2023
My favorite things from 2023.
I have long wanted to do a recap of my favorite music and entertainment of the past year, but my ADHD or something else (pretty much always ADHD) gets in the way and the post becomes yet another collection of thoughts that stay somewhere deep in the back of my brain, only to be spoken of when I randomly rank albums with my wife or talk about our favorite shows.
So in the spirit of an intentional and driven 2024, I’m here to rank my favorite things from 2023. Let’s start!
Music - My Favorite Albums of 2023
1. RAYE - My 21st Century Blues
In 2023, there were albums that I listened to more often, but none had the craft, the passion, and the overall talent that Raye put into her first full-length album My 21st Century Blues. Raye is an artist that is elite at every aspect of being a musician - Unbelievable singer? Check. Raw and biting lyrics? Check. Diverse musicianship and genre-blending? Check and check! The way she produces biting takedowns of assholes in the music industry in songs like “Hard Out Here.” and “Ice Cream Man.” then deftly transitions to introspection on tracks like the viral hit “Escapism.” and the stunning “Body Dysmorphia.” while finding time to celebrate love in songs like “Worth It.” is as cohesive a story any artist can hope to achieve.
Choice Cuts: “Hard Out Here.” “Escapism.” “Flip a Switch.” “Worth It.”
Salem Ilese was a surprise addition to my favorite artists in 2023, as her catchy and cheeky song “Strongly Worded Letter” came across my Instagram feed and I decided to take a deeper listen to her catalog. Turns out that she had a semi-viral hit “Mad at Disney” a few years ago and has continued to churn out well-crafted pop hits that borrow elements from pop-punk and center around clever wordplay. Lucky for me, after I discovered her she announced this album containing a number of her already released songs and a bunch of new ones as well. It all comes together in the first song, “The Trailer” where she gives a preview of most of the songs on the album before transitioning to an introductory ballad about how trailers give away too much of the plot. I was sold from that point on and this album became my most listened to in 2023.
Choice Cuts: “The Trailer” “2much2think” “don’t shop when ur hungry !!” “Strongly Worded Letter” “Whiplash” (From the deluxe version)
Olivia doesn’t need much introduction to anyone who knows anything about popular music, but GUTS certainly needs time to digest for those who might have expected more pop ballads with a dose of pop-punk in her sophomore album. Instead, Olivia flips the expectation and leans more into the punk and rock elements that she dabbled with in her first album Sour and smartly separates herself from her peers by producing a more dynamic, electric, and bold collection of songs that still gives us enough emotional balladry to get us in our feelings while playing around with a number of different vocal tones as she shifts styles. At some points I couldn’t believe I was listening to the same singer on the same album. I’m not sure if Guts ranks higher than Sour for me, but it’s awfully close. While Sour was very cohesive, Guts is probably more relatable, even to a 35-year-old dad like myself, which is a marvel in itself.
Choice Cuts: “bad idea right?” “ballad of a homeschooled girl” “logical” “teenage dream”
4. Maisie Peters - The Good Witch
Maisie Peters is another artist who drew inspiration from Taylor Swift’s lyrical prowess and has since established her own brand of cheeky, raw, and brilliant lyrics sung over an endless exploration of genres while maintaining all the hallmarks of pop that reel you in. The Good Witch is a brilliant evolution from her debut You Signed Up For This that takes more risks, gets even more honest, and manages to keep your body moving while taking well-placed breaks to deliver her trademark singer/songwriter style ballads. There’s not many artists this fun, this honest, and this talented at bringing all the disparate elements together than Maisie Peters.
Choice Cuts: “Coming Of Age” “Watch” “BSC” “Run” “Yoko” (from the deluxe version)
One thing you can’t say about Paramore is that they have gotten stale or complacent. While the band member changes have been well documented, the stylistic differences - especially across their last 3 albums - have been stark. This Is Why picks things up where their last album After Laughter ended and takes things in a more aggressive, progressive, and almost grungy direction. I won’t lie that the my initial listen of the album left me a bit nonplussed, but as I dug in deeper the layers of musicianship revealed to be a poignant, angry, complicated tale of millennials living in the world today. Hayley’s voice isn’t featured as prominently in the past to make way for drummer Zac’s underrated percussion and guitarist Taylor’s progressive styles to get equal billing. Still, Hayley’s vocal delivery is as great as ever and doesn’t need big, belting moments to drive home the emotion she feels singing these lyrics.
Choice Cuts: “Running Out Of Time” “Big Man, Little Dignity” “You First” “Crave”
6. Fall Out Boy - So Much (For) Stardust
Fall Out Boy’s So Much (For) Stardust was a revelation for me. A band I thought I had outgrown came back with a vintage, but evolved collection of songs that give you everything you can ask of Fall Out Boy. The fact that my 5-year-old son had this as his favorite album (likely of his entire life to this point) gave me a lot more listens than I might have had otherwise. What’s surprising is that the songs rarely ever got stale to me, from the bombastic opener “Love From The Other Song” all the way to the equally thrilling title track closer, this album is a celebration of the intricate (bordering on ridiculous) lyricism, driving pop and rock blend of the band, and Patrick’s iconic voice delivering yet another gem in the impressive discography of Fall Out Boy. Hold on, I think my son is asking me to play this album again.
Choice Cuts: “Love From The Other Side” “Hold Me Like a Grudge” “Flu Game” “I Am My Own Muse”
When I played the first single “Eat The Acid” from Gag Order, I was floored. There’s never been a Kesha track that sounded like this. The lyrics, the sound, and especially her voice were visceral. I enjoyed Kesha’s previous album High Road (2020) but felt that it lacked some of the honesty that we had come to expect after the groundbreaking Rainbow (2017) had revealed the true artist underneath all the fun, dance pop she had produced prior to all her trauma and struggles from working with Dr. Luke. Gag Order is Kesha’s final declaration to that difficult era of her career and her life that she can hopefully move forward from. What is remarkable about this album is how well the unconventional approach works, with songs like “Only Love Can Save Us Now” capturing some of that old Kesha magic while tracks like “Fine Line” and “Living In My Head” experiment with a stripped down, raw approach. The album ends with two remarkable ballads that remind us of Kesha’s rock and country roots and put a bow on the album that probably took me most by surprise in 2023.
Choice Cuts: “Eat The Acid” “Fine Line” “All I Need Is You” “Happy”
8. Lily & Madeleine - Nite Swim
I’ve been lucky to follow these two sisters for the entirely of their career which has spanned over a decade of beautiful folk and indie piano and guitar driven music punctuated by their effervescent blood harmonies. Nite Swim is the titular sisters’ first album since 2019, now as independent artists. The album is produced by their long time collaborator Shannon Hayden, who also plays all of the violin and cello parts throughout. The result of the time off and new approach is a fuller sound that levels up their consistently beautiful arrangements and the way their alto and soprano voices play off each other to take you on a metaphorical night swim.
Choice Cuts: “Rolling Rock” “Good Things” “Ocean Ave” “Lost Boys”
Another group of sisters returning after a long hiatus to produce an excellent comeback album, Joseph brings their pop-folk sound back with a renewed energy. Opener “Waves Crash” slowly crescendos with a driving percussion and tight 3-part blood harmony to lead into the title single, “The Sun”, a pop anthem similar to their most popular song, “White Flag”. The album doesn’t slow down from that point - touching on self-healing following a breakup, daily anxieties, and new forays into romance. What never stops is the driving force of these songs, keeping you engaged until the sisters slow things down with a positive note on album closer “Love Is Flowing”.
Choice Cuts: “The Sun” “Fireworks” “Slow Dance” “Nervous System”
10. Blink-182 - One More Time...
When the original lineup reunited (not actually the original, but the core trio of Tom, Mark, and Travis) to release the cheeky single “Edging” late in 2022, I was cautiously excited for a Blink-182 album in years. While I appreciated the albums with Matt Skiba replacing Tom, I learned that Tom’s distinct voice and guitar style were so ostensively Blink-182 that I couldn’t ever love the band the same way without him. So when the album opens with “Anthem Part 3”, it’s clear the band realized this and went back to what has always made Blink-182, Blink-182. There’s not much I can capture around the feelings One More Time… gave me that isn’t brilliantly captured in this review by Jason Tate - but what I can say is that the album achieves so much of what I no longer thought was possible with this band. Are there some songs I don’t care for? Yes. But overall this album brought me right back to those nights as a teenager feeling pissed off and wanting to joke it all away.
Choice Cuts: “Anthem Part 3” “When We Were Young” “Blink Wave” “Childhood”
11. Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness - Tilt At The Wind No More
12. City & Colour - The Love Still Held Me Near
14. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - Weathervanes
15. Thrice - The Artist in the Ambulance (Revisited)
16. Alana Springsteen - Twenty Something
17. Trousdale - Out of My Mind
18. Madison Beer - Silence Between Songs
19. Foo Fighters - But Here We Are
20. The Japanese House - In The End It Always Does
My 11-20 albums were all worthy of being in my top 10. A good theme amongst these albums is a resurgence of quality, from Andrew McMahon’s best album in years to City & Colour’s beautiful ode to grief and finding light. Taking Back Sunday surprised me almost as much as any artist with an extremely fun and polished album. Jason Isabel finally found his way into my listening rotation after years of being intrigued by his songwriting. Thrice released one of the better re-recordings of an album you can find, especially one as iconic and influential as The Artist in the Ambulance.
Alana Springsteen might be my one my favorite new country artists with a well-crafted debut album. Trousdale was another surprise new artist that I found late in the year but quickly climbed my rankings, they feel like a modern day The Chicks. Madison Beer was an artist I decided to check out this year and was pleasantly surprised by her moving voice and atmosphere. The Foo Fighters released a beautiful album in the wake of grief. The Japanese House, another artist who found her way into my rotation this year, released an indie gem.
22. Nightly - wear your heart out
25. The National - First Two Pages of Frankenstein
26. Daughter - Stereo Mind Game
27. Claire Rosinkranz - Just Because
28. Lauren Spencer Smith - Mirror
Rounding out my top 30 are a number of critically acclaimed albums that I didn’t spend as much time with as I’d like. Sufjan Stevens released an astounding album that might be higher on re-rank as I have more time with it. Nightly captured the pop synth sound in a pleasing way. Nickel Creek came back from another long hiatus to release a purely enjoyable bluegrass album. boygenius found their way into my rotation after I had been put off by them for a while. The National impressed with two albums, but First Two Pages of Frankenstein hit a higher mark with some excellent collaborations. Daughter returned from a 5-year absence to bring more indie-folk goodness. Claire Rosinkranz and Lauren Spencer Smith were a couple of Gen-Z female artists that I started listening to and who grew on me quickly. Finally, Chris Stapleton and Zach Bryan impressed as a mainstays in the “good” country genre.
Music - Favorite EPs
Anberlin – Convinced
Conner Price - Till Next Time
Emei - Scatterbrain
Josie Dunne - Marco!
Juliet Ivy - playpen
Kelsea Ballerini – Rolling Up the Welcome Mat
Kenzie Cait - Buffalo
Manchester Orchestra – The Valley of Vision
Sigrid – The Hype
sundial - The Roaring Twenties
Yellowcard - Childhood Eyes
Zach Bryan – Boys of Faith
A number of artists I’ve been a big fan of for some time came back not with albums, but excellent EPs that deserve mention above. I also discovered a number of other artists through these EPs. Anberlin and Yellowcard continued the theme of comebacks and resurgence of bands I liked in my youth. Conner Price hooked me with all his Instagram skits and got me into his music. Emei brought some attitude to her take on pop, while Josie Dunne’s excellent EP got me to dip into her back catalog as one of my most listened to artists of 2023. Kelsea Ballerini gave me another country artist to admire. Kenzie Cait and Juliet Ivy were two more young female singer/songwriters I enjoyed discovering this year. Sigrid teased with an excellent but too-short EP and sundial did the same with their EP.
Music - Honorable Mentions
There’s a lot of good stuff in these honorable mentions. 2023 was a fantastic year for music, both for artists I discovered and for artists that I’ve been with for a while. The idea that some of these albums couldn’t crack my top 30 is a testament to the excellent output of music in 2023.
Holly Humberstone - Paint My Bedroom Black
Carly Rae Jepsen - The Loveliest Time
Caitlyn Smith - High & Low
The National - Laugh Track
Boys Like Girls - Sunday at Foxwoods
Rhiannon Giddens - You're the One
Angie McMahon - Light, Dark, Light Again
Demi Lovato - Revamped
Patrick Droney - Subtitles for Feelings
Pony - Velveteen
Ed Sheeran - minus (-)
Ed Sheeran - Autumn Variations
Ellie Goulding - Higher Than Heaven
Caroline Polachek - Desire, I Want To Turn Into You
All Time Low - Tell Me I'm Alive
The Aces - I've Loved You For So Long
Birdy - Portraits
Jason Mraz - Mystical Magical Rhythmical Radical Ride
Kenzie Cait - Innocence
Kelly Clarkson - Chemistry
Janelle Monae - The Age of Pleasure
Arrows in Action - Built to Last
Story of the Year - Tear Me to Pieces
The Used - Toxic Positivity
The War and Treaty - Lover's Game
P!nk - TRUSTFALL
NF - HOPE
Queens of the Stone Age - In Times New Roman
Taylor Swift - Speak Now (TV)
Taylor Swift - 1989 (TV)
Turnpike Troubadours - A Cat in the Rain
Spanish Love Songs - No Joy
Gorillaz - Cracker Island
The Dear Hunter - Migrant Returned
Bebe Rexha - Bebe
Ava Max - Diamonds & Dancefloors
Chris Farren - Doom Singer
Jason Hawk Harris - Thin Places
Gracie Abrams - Good Riddance
Dave Hause - Drive It Like It's Stolen
Chad Perrone - What Would I Leave You With?
The Young Hearts - Somewhere Through the Night
Ratboys - The Window
Megan Moroney - Lucky
Maine, The - The Maine
Miley Cyrus - Endless Summer Vacation
Lori McKenna - 1988
Laufey - Bewitched
Koyo - Would You Miss It?
FRND CRCL - Suburban Dictionary
Tate McRae - THINK LATER
Ruston Kelly - The Weakness
Origami Angel - The Brightest Days
Tyler Posey - Unravel
Jonas Brothers - The Album
Movies I Enjoyed
Barbie
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
A Haunting in Venice
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Elemental
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
I’m admittedly very bad at keeping up with movies. The few I see in theaters are usually for our kids and any others are ones that can fit into one of the weekly nights I have with my wife. We usually spend those nights watching shows so movies rarely make the cut. That being said, Across the Spider-Verse was easily my favorite movie of 2023, with Barbie a close second. The animation in Spider-Verse is so incredible and the story, music, and voice-acting were all top-notch. I cannot wait for the next one.
Television I Enjoyed
The Last of Us
Shrinking
Ted Lasso
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off
Mayfair Witches
That 90’s Show
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
The Great
Ginny & Georgia
Servant
You
Shadow & Bone
Succession
The Witcher
Only Murders in the Building
Sex Education
Loki
I kept up a little better with TV this year, but during the last few months of the year my wife and I opted to rewatch Friends. After Matthew Perry’s passing, rewatching that show served as a really nice familiar, funny show that kept us in good spirits. I’ve been so burnt out on job searching that it became harder to invest into new shows.
The Last Of Us ended up being the best video game adaptation ever and exceeded even my high expectations. Ted Lasso ended its run as a very comfy show for me to watch that made me smile, which is all I could’ve asked. Maisel and The Great ended their runs spectacularly. You and Servant were pulpy, twisted fun. I didn’t really watch the Marvel or Star Wars shows this year, which is both a reflection of the waning quality of these IPs and my waning interest.
Video Games I Enjoyed
Final Fantasy XVI (PS5)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (PS5)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch)
Hogwarts Legacy (PS5, Xbox, PC, Switch)
Fire Emblem Engage (Switch)
Blanc (Switch, PC)
Wild Hearts (PS5, Xbox, PC)
Oxenfree II: Lost Signals (PS5, Switch, PC)
Sea of Stars (PC, PS5, Xbox, Switch
Lies of P (PC, PS5, Xbox)
Tchia (PS5)
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (expansion) (PS5, Xbox, PC)
God of War: Ragnorok - Valhalla (expansion) (PS5)
2023 was a good year for video games. I always spend too much time playing the newest, never-improving Madden NFL games because I love playing as my favorite team and winning the Super Bowl, but it’s not time well spent. Despite that, this year had a couple of expected gems like Spider-Man 2 and Tears of the Kingdom with some unexpected titles I really enjoyed like Final Fantasy XVI and the expansions to God of War and Cyberpunk 2077. There were a number of fun indie games released as well and plenty of others I didn’t get around to playing in 2023 (looking at you Resident Evil and Baldur’s Gate III!) that I’m sure I’ll enjoy in the near future when they go on sale.
Most Anticipated in 2024
Whew, that’s quite a list! I would be remiss if I didn’t end this by looking ahead to some of my most anticipated releases in this coming year.
Music
Green Day - Saviors
Ariana Grande - Eternal Sunshine
Norah Jones - Visions
Sum 41 - Heaven :x: Hell
Dua Lipa
Billie Eilish
Lil Nas X
Katie Pruitt
Blu Detiger
Salem Ilese
Josie Dunn
Selena Gomez
Taylor Swift
Halsey
Kacey Musgraves
Clario
TV
Echo (Disney+)
True Detective: Night Country (Max)
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Prime)
Avatar: The Last Airbender (Netflix)
Fallout (Prime)
Bridgerton (Netflix)
House of the Dragon (Max)
Wednesday (Netflix)
You (Netflix)
Orphan Black: Echoes (AMC)
Movies
Argylle
Madame Web (I’m cautiously excited for this based on the actors)
Inside Out 2
Deadpool 3
Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse
Beetlejuice 2
Wicked Part 1
Video Games
Skull and Bones
Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth
Rise of the Ronin
Star Wars Outlaws
Marvel’s Wolverine
The Casting of Frank Stone
Hades 2
Thank you so much for reading and letting me share my favorite things. Till next year!