The older I get, the harder it gets to put together a year-end list. Not because I’m becoming more musically discriminating in my dotage. Quite the opposite. Every year, I find countless new (and old) artists, albums and genres to add to my ever-expanding playlist — and it becomes increasingly difficult to narrow down my choices to anything approaching a reasonable number. This massive, multi-part list of 123 albums is as close as I could get this year. It’s far from definitive, but it’s the best I can do. To read more about these albums, click on the cover art or check out the Tinnitist TV page, where I interviewed plenty of these acts. See you in 2024.
Peter Gabriel
i/o
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “i/o is 12 tracks of grace, gravity and great beauty that provide welcome confirmation of not only Peter Gabriel’s ongoing ability to write stop-you-in-your-tracks songs but also of that thrilling voice, still perfectly, delightfully intact. Throughout the album, the intelligent and thoughtful — and often thought-provoking — songs tackle life and the universe. Our connection to the world around us — ‘I’m just a part of everything’ Peter sings on the title track — is a recurring motif, but so too are the passing of time, mortality and grief, alongside injustice, surveillance and the roots of terrorism. This is not a solemn record, though. While reflective, the mood is never despondent; i/o is musically adventurous, often joyous and ultimately full of hope, topped off as it is, by the rousingly optimistic closing song, Live and Let Live.”
Ghost Woman
Anne, If
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “For the past couple of years Ghost Woman have been songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Evan Uschenko’s outlet for his interest in songwriting and recording, which began after a number of years spent playing as a sideman in various Canadian indie ensembles, most notably in The Michael Rault Band, a group that displays a similar affinity for perfectly dialed, partially yesteryear-looking guitar pop. Anne, If presents a slightly more expansive vision of what Ghost Woman can offer. The sound of Anne, If is certainly in keeping with past output: The music was performed and recorded (almost) entirely by Uschenko himself on his trusty Tascam 388 tape recorder, during what he describes as a “strange new chapter” in his life, living in a large, expansive house with nothing to do except record music, watch old VHS movies and cook meals over an open fire in the backyard. “The ability to be making sounds and recording at any time of the day had a big influence on the way I worked and what was produced.”
Ghost Woman
Hindsight Is 50/50
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Despite Hindsight Is 50/50 being the third album from Ghost Woman in 18 months, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Evan Uschenko believes that this is the first album that “finally captures the true nature of the band.” He elaborates: “The first two albums were never meant to be albums. They are like pages from diaries that have long since been burned. With the introduction of Ille van Dessel as co-writer/drummer, the project feels like it has a direction.” Fair enough. Recorded mostly live in three days at the analogue Kerwax studios in Brittany, France by Christophe Chavanon (The Good Damn), Hindsight displays a confidence and assurance that feels built upon the band’s eponymous 2022 debut and the followup Anne, If. Overall, there is a darker, denser feel compared to previous releases, but Uschenko says the sound and vibe here are closer to what the project was supposed to be when it started in 2016.”
Margaret Glaspy
Echo The Diamond
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The third full-length from Margaret Glaspy, Echo The Diamond emerged from a deliberate stripping-away of artifice to reveal life for all its harsh truths and ineffable beauty. Like the precious gem of its title, the result is an object of startling luminosity, one capable of cutting through the most elaborately constructed façades. “This record came from trying to meet life on life’s terms, instead of looking for a happy ending in everything,” says the New York-based musician. “The whole experience of creating it felt like effortless catharsis.” This time around, Glaspy worked with drummer/percussionist David King of The Bad Plus and bassist Chris Morrissey (Andrew Bird, Lucius, Ben Kweller), recording at Reservoir Studios in Manhattan and embracing an intentionally unfussy process that left plenty of room for spontaneity. Anchored in the raw yet mesmerizing vocal presence and impressionistic guitar work she’s brought to the stage in touring with the likes of Spoon and Wilco, Echo The Diamond holds entirely true to the spirit of its lyrical explorations, presenting a selection of songs both unvarnished and revelatory.”
Goat
Medicine
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “It is hard to know how many times the mythology and mystery of Goat’s backstory can be written about. Thankfully, new release Medicine does away with any need to dwell on the past, marking their return with a more introspective, slightly mellower psych-folk sound that remains recognisably them. There is a consistently restrained, warm feel across the whole work, and the band suggest that the overall theme of the album is about “the impermanence of life in different ways: Sickness, relationships, love, death and how our time is finite.” At times the album’s sound has nods to classic Swedish ’70s psych / prog / folk acts such as Arbete & Fritid, Charlie & Esdor and Träd, Gräs & Stenar. Vakna takes on this influence, progressing across nearly six minutes of swaying, warping guitar solos, without ever breaking out into chaos.”
Guided By Voices
Nowhere To Go But Up
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Nowhere To Go But Up is Guided By Voices’ third album of 2023 (and 39th overall) and is a sprawling, wild adventure — even for these guys. With virtually no choruses and just two repeated lyrics in 40 minutes, Nowhere To Go But Up captures Robert Pollard at his most audacious and unafraid. Is it one of the most fully realized works that Guided By Voices has created? That’s for future generations to debate. But you can be sure of this: Nowhere To Go But Up showcases an expert rock band at the top of their game, on a roll and unstoppable. Following their monumental 40th Anniversary Celebration in Dayton, GBV begin their fifth decade with a bang!”
Guided by Voices
Welshpool Frillies
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In case you hadn’t noticed, Robert Pollard has a very strong work ethic. With most of their touring canceled due to the pandemic and then a fractured kneecap, Guided By Voices kept busy in the studio, recording and releasing eight albums in the past three years and garnering piles of rave reviews in the process. The pandemic records were particularly notable and unique in that the band members recorded most of their instruments individually in separate cities. Welshpool Frillies, the ever-prolific and always-active band’s second release of 2023, finds the gang back together. Cut in a Brooklyn basement with producer Travis Harrison, much of the album was recorded live to tape. The catchy earworms in these new songs are undeniable, as the kinetic energy of the band is captured in its most raw and pure form. The album is brash, no-frills, and punky, inspired by the wiliness of ’90s-era GBV, specifically the Scalping The Guru compilation that Pollard put together in 2022.”
Glen Hansard
All That Was East Is West Of Me Now
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “All That Was East Is West Of Me Now is by turns noisy and meditative, sprawling and hypnotic. It is easily Glen Hansard’s most rock record since Burn The Maps-era of The Frames. The title, which Hansard says stems from the “sudden realization that there’s more behind than ahead,” suggests a survey from a great height, taking in terrain travelled and that which is still to be discovered. While the passage of time may be a central theme, the narrative of the album’s eight tracks focus more on the promise for the future than thoughts of regret or nostalgia. The recording of All That Was East Is West Of Me Now came together in the weeks that followed the band’s residency and was produced by long time co-conspirator David Odlum (Tinariwen, Sam Smith) at his home studio on the outskirts of Dublin. The process of recording, as of songwriting, “must be an intuitive leap into what feels right…” says Hansard, “When it feels right, I usually run from it, mix it quickly before it collapses.”
Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter
Saved!
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Saved! is an apocalyptic revelation on the complex, sometimes ugly, always nonlinear process of healing. Herein, Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter documents an earnest attempt to achieve salvation through the tenets of charismatic Christianity, focusing on the Pentecostal-Holiness Movement, which dictate that one’s closeness to God is demonstrated through transcendental personal experience. Sonically and thematically, the record is both a logical conclusion to and a significant departure from Hayter’s previous work as Lingua Ignota. Mirroring her personal evolution away from pain, she sheds the moniker that made her successful for its unflinching expression of lived trauma and instead builds herself anew, claiming her full given name, determined to see value within. Musically, while she continues to use historical avant-garde technique and formal constraints superimposed over accessible frameworks, she also strips down her instrumentation and degrades audio to provide a sense of musicological antiquity. Similar to Lingua Ignota, the record is steeped in pathos, but now the wrath of God gives way to His deliverance: “His boundless love shall make you whole.”
Thee Headcoats
Irregularis (The Great Hiatus)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The undisputed kings of garage-rock are back! It’s been 22 years since the last Headcoats album, but now Billy Childish, Bruce Brand and Johnny Johnson are back with a brand-new studio album! Yes, you read that correctly! Irregularis (The Great Hiatus) was recorded last year at Ranscombe Studios in Rochester.”
The Hives
The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Hives on hiatus? Surely not? Believe it or not, it’s true. But even though it has been over 10 years since the Swedish band’s last album — 2012’s Lex Hives — anyone fearing they have fallen into the aging rock cliche of an act touring on past glories can rest easy. Yes, The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons is The Hives’ first full album in over a decade, but as its macabre title hints, the reason for the band’s absence from the studio has been uniquely and suitably Hives. Of course, the group did not disappeared completely following their last long player. Along with several singles — including 2019’s double A-side I’m Alive / Good Samaritan — a live album and a series of global tours, to the outside world The Hives were still setting the pace. Yet inside the band, the lack of a new record was concerning… as was the increasingly long absence of The Hives’ founder, mentor and songwriter, the limelight-shunning Randy Fitzsimmons. As the title of the new record tells you, there was a problem… though possibly not the one you think.”
The Hold Steady
The Price Of Progress
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Formed in 2003, The Hold Steady have released eight albums, numerous singles and played over 1000 shows. The Price Of Progress is the ninth studio album from the band, released on the band’s Positive Jams label. The Price Of Progress arrives as The Hold Steady mark the 20th anniversary of their foundation bringing new ideas, sounds, and textures to a still-evolving canon of studio album releases that began with 2004’s Almost Killed Me. The album was produced by longtime collaborator Josh Kaufman at The Clubhouse in Rhinebeck, N.Y., and mixed by D. James Goodwin. The Price Of Progress stands as their most sonically expansive record thus far, while also remaining unmistakably The Hold Steady, showcasing narrative rock ’n’ roll tales of ordinary people struggling and surviving in a modern world. The front and back of the album cover feature photographs by renowned Minneapolis based photographer Alec Soth.”
Ida Mae
Thunder Above You
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Let Ida Mae take you on a joyride across the vast American expanse. Be introduced to all manner of eccentric characters along the way — drunken poets, fallen oligarchs, heartbroken country music stars — and revel in the chaos and carnage of a world on the brink. This is the British folk-rock duo’s spectacular third album, Thunder Above You. Recorded in just seven days, Thunder Above You marks the most significant creative period in Ida Mae’s astounding career to date. It followed months of touring the states with legendary artists including Willie Nelson and Lucinda Williams, driving from clubs to arena shows and, all the while, being inspired by the dramatic landscapes that surrounded them.”
Watch my interview with Ida Mae HERE.
Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit
Weathervanes
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “A Jason Isbell record always lands like a decoder ring in the ears and hearts of his audience, a soundtrack to his world and magically to theirs, too. Weathervanes carries the same revelatory power. This is a storyteller at the peak of his craft, observing his fellow wanderers, looking inside and trying to understand, reducing a universe to four minutes. He shrinks life small enough to name the fear and then strip it away, helping his listeners make sense of how two plus two stops equaling four once you reach a certain age — and carry a certain amount of scars. “There is something about boundaries on this record,” Isbell says. “As you mature, you still attempt to keep the ability to love somebody fully and completely while you’re growing into an adult and learning how to love yourself.”
KEN mode
Void
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “KEN mode don’t mess around. Their new album, Void is the companion piece to 2022’s Null album — both of which were written and produced at the same time throughout the pandemic, and recorded by Andrew Schneider in the fall of 2021. According to frontman Jesse Matthewson, “it conveys the overwhelming sadness and disappointment of the rollout of 2021, after the initial crazed shock of 2020. The material demanded a slightly more melancholy feel, and we wanted to explore more melody on the exit from this project.” Having said that, it’s still a KEN mode album. And as you might expect, the quartet came out of the suffering of the pandemic with fire and fury, ready to unleash it on the world wherever they see fit. Lucky for fans, that’s mostly their eardrums.”
Watch my interview with Jesse Matthewson HERE.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
Petrodragonic Apocalypse; Or, Dawn Of Eternal Night: An Annihilation Of Planet Earth And The Beginning Of Merciless Damnation
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard rock out on their 24th album, PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation. It is the group’s second full-length album excursion into thrash — following 2019’s Infest The Rats’ Nest — though, as you might expect, PetroDragonic Apocalypse… is no mere retread of Rats’ Nest’s gory glories, but rather a full evolutionary step all of its own. This one is for all the people out there who wanna watch the world burn.”
Lemon Twigs
Everything Harmony
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In Everything Harmony, the fourth full-length studio release from New York’s The Lemon Twigs, the prodigiously talented brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario offer 13 original servings of beauty that showcase an emotional depth and musical sophistication far beyond their years as a band, let alone as young men. While they eagerly devour musical influences from everything and everywhere, they have somehow arrived at a cohesive and dynamic sound that speaks to our troubled times. Having bounded onto the music scene with their precocious 2016 debut Do Hollywood, they threw caution to the wind two years later on their followup Go To School. By the time of their third album, Songs For The General Public (2020), The Lemon Twigs had begun to pull from a wide range of multigenerational inspirations, expertly darting from twee chamber pop balladry to full on glam punk, mixing plaintive singer-songwriter confessionals with an almost-Syd Barrett-level sense of outré pop. In an interview from the time, they expressed an interest in creating “something really beautiful sounding” based on vocal harmonies and developing their combined melodic sensibilities into a setting where “the sounds were as important as the songs.”
Jenny Lewis
Joy’All
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Joy’All, the fifth solo album from Jenny Lewis and the followup to 2019’s critically acclaimed On The Line, finds the singer-songwriter embarking on a new era in a new town — and on a new label, as she joins the iconic roster of Blue Note/Capitol Records. “I started writing some of these songs on the road, pre-pandemic,” Lewis recalls, “and then put them aside as the world shut down. Then, from my home in Nashville in early 2021, I joined a week-long virtual songwriting workshop with a handful of amazing artists, hosted by Beck. The challenge was to write one song every day for seven days, with guidelines from Beck. The guidelines would be prompts like ‘write a song with 1-4-5 chord progression,’ ‘write a song with only cliches,’ or ‘write in free-form style.’ The first song I submitted to the group was Puppy And A Truck.” As the days progressed, the assignments kept coming in and Jenny ended up writing a good portion of Joy’All.”
Terra Lightfoot
Healing Power
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “On Healing Power, Terra Lightfoot showcases her considerable clout as a pop-rock songsmith, delivering a dozen stunning tracks that together represent a career high. The album is her third outing with producer Gus van Go, and it is tribute to her creative ambitions and capacity that the collaboration is yet another quantum leap in her artistic development. “There was a sense of freedom, both personally and creatively, that struck me while I was writing this record,” Lightfoot says. “Once I got back into the studio with Gus, having already made two records with him, there was an undeniable comfort and workflow that we just fell into. We are super-productive together in the studio. I also seem to get my best vocal takes with Gus behind the board. We built this record pretty quickly together with the band on call whenever we needed them.”
The Lords Of Altamont
To Hell With Tomorrow The Lords Are Now!
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “To Hell With Tomorrow The Lords Are Now! is The Lords Of Altamont’s first live album — recorded not from the stage but in the studio, with every mic and preamp in the house peaking in the red. This isn’t another vague, distant-sounding live album with senseless stage banter and songs doctored up in post-production — this is more like an episode of Live At The BBC or a Peel Session. The band carefully chose songs that show who they are today, as well as where they have been for the last 23 years. Preproduction took a day, recording took a day — and then it was done. The result: An album that captures the true feeling of a Lords live recording with a no-nonsense approach. Sorry, kids — there are no stickers, no fake tattoos, and no autographs, just raw, live rock ’n’ roll.”
Lydia Loveless
Nothing’s Gonna Stand in My Way Again
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Nothing’s Gonna Stand In My Way Again continues the evolution of Lydia Loveless. The artist who once sang that she would rather stay home and drink gallons of wine is now on the other end of the bottle, where a bit of resignation resides. She sings on Feel: “I’m getting older and my jets are starting to cool, if I ever get sober it’s really over for you fools.” Though a melancholic weight rests on the record — as it was written after the breakup with her longtime boyfriend and following a period of isolation and depression during the pandemic — it also feels like a triumphant moment from an artist who’s continuing her stride. Loveless has always been a brutally honest songwriter, one whose articulation of love, heartbreak and bad habits is wrapped not only in catchy melodies but also her finesse with words.”
Low Cut Connie
Art Dealers
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “This record is all kink and no shame,” says Adam Weiner, the mastermind behind South Philadelphia rock ‘n’ roll outfit Low Cut Connie. “With Low Cut Connie, I try to create a safe space for you to just absolutely get your freak on.” And on the band’s latest album Art Dealers, that space sits right in the heart of the Big Apple. The album is a love letter to Lou Reed and Patti Smith’s New York, and the reckless abandon of “the art life” laid against a gritty, decaying American backdrop. Arriving at the intersection of sleazy and soulful, the eighth album from Weiner is a 13-song collection of risky, romantic, life-affirming anthems dedicated to a total liberation of body, spirit, gender and sexuality in the face of an increasingly tense political age.”
Lucero
Should’ve Learned By Now
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The search for one’s identity is a lifelong process that every individual must go through. Who someone is today is not the person they were yesterday nor who they may be tomorrow. Despite those changes, there is a general idea of a defined sense of self. No matter what happens, it is that small yet solid and grounding definition of self that continues to drive us forward in our search for identity and whatever may come with it. It would be difficult to find any artist who understands that better than the band Lucero. Since forming in Memphis in the late ’90s, Lucero’s base musical hallmarks have remained similar to the band’s initial sound established with their first record The Attic Tapes. In the history of their expansive discography, Lucero have evolved and embraced everything from southern rock to Stax-inspired Memphis soul, whilst simultaneously maintaining their distinctive sonic foundations. Over 20 years later, dedicated fans of the group still flock to hear the band’s punchy driving rhythms, punk-rooted guitar licks, and lyrics that evoke the whiskey-drenched sentimentality of Americana singer-songwriters. As expected of any band built to survive, Lucero have welcomed change over the course of their career, but it has always been on their terms.”
