Best of 2023

 

 

The Un-Herd Music Top 50 of 2023

1. Sparklehorse Bird Machine

Thirteen years posthumous, a final statement curated and patched together with obvious love and respect for the quirky genius of Mark Linkous. Miraculous it exists at all; wholly miraculous it's so good.

2. Art Bergmann ShadowWalk

 

Where previous album took a macro view of the end of life, this one goes micro & personal. Harrowing, unflinching, courageous, honest. Nudges itself in same continuum that includes lodestar masterworks like Sister Lovers and Plastic Ono Band.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Low Cut Connie Art Dealers

 

Adam Weiner's adherence to traditional rock values (in this case, the same early R&B/Rock&Roll forces that forged the likes of Springsteen and Graham Parker) may repel trend-chasers, but that doesn't mean Low Cut Connie can't be the rest-of-us's favorite band.
 

 

 

 

 

 

4. The Delta Riggs The Real Electric

 

Grafts standard indie rock influences to an appreciation for disco bass lines (& occasional employment of hip hop rhythms) and somehow discovers something immensely satisfying and sincere.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Geese 3D Country

 

A modern rock album that fits in exactly nowhere (and not even close to the genre suggested in the title). Eclectic, expert, indescribable, genre-less. And all the better for it. Companion EP "4D Country" delivers similar quality.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Lydia Loveless Nothing's Gonna Stand In My Way Again

 

This'll get filed under alt.country, which is fair enough, but the way Loveless wittily and mercilessly lacerates herself like a female Paul Westerberg is all rock 'n' roll.
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Ten Tonnes Dancing, Alone

 

Pop wunderkind Ethan Barnett flirts with ancient verities like classic songcraft, undeniable hooks, and earnest reflection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. Meyerman Happy To See You

 

Last release was a 2011 UHM top ten, and this unexpected re-emergence hits the same heights. Lyrical concerns now lean into sincerity as much as smartassery, but their power-poppin' rock-out w/ hooks-out gameplan gloriously remains.
 
 

 

 

 

 

9. Pat Todd & the RankOutsiders Sons of the City Ditch

 

A Saints-like horn section on one track and a cover of David Johansen's elegy for the Dolls "Donna" make this typically bangin' collision of Johnnies Cash & Thunders stand out from previous discs.
 

 

 

 

 

 

10. Barrence Whitfield & the Savages Glory

 

This band's blistering garage rock approach to soul, blues, & rock has been coming up aces for 4 decades and they're still ready to take on all comers. And, lo, how that sax doth honk.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11. Autogramm  Music That Humans Can Play

12. Belleville  Before I Go

13. The Blips  The Blips Again

14. Lion Island  Pilot Termination Kiosk

15. Odd Robot  Deathmates

16. Black Pumas  Chronicles of a Diamond

17. Foxy Shazam  Dark Blue Night

18. The Church  The Hypnogogue

19. Diamond Dogs  About the Hardest Nut to Crack

20. The Midnight Callers  Rattled Humming Heart

21.  The Hangmen  Stories to Tell

22.  The Jim Jones All-Stars  Ain't No Peril

23.  Bar Italia  Tracey Denim

24.  Spacey Jane  Here Comes Everybody

25.  Mason Lowe  Morning People

26.  Trench Dogs Stockholmiana

27.  Island of Love Island of Love

28.  Olivia Jean  Raving Ghost

29.  The Men New York City

30.  Crocodiles  Upside Down In Heaven

 

31.  Uni Boys  Buy This Now!

32.  Sunny War  Anarchist Gospel

33.  Dwarves  Concept Album

34.  Bass Drum of Death  Say I Won't

35.  The Whiffs  Scratch 'n' Sniff 

36.  Kurt Baker  Rock 'n' Roll Club

37.  The 1981  Move On

38.  Alex Lahey The Answer is Always Yes

39.  EUT  Be My Reactor

40.  Miss Chain & the Broken Heels Storms

41.  Durand Jones  Wait Til I Get Over

42.  The Pearl Harts  Love, Chaos

43.  Worriers  Trust Your Gut

44.  Twin Temple  God is Dead

45.  Baba Ali  Laugh Like A Bomb

46.  Somerdale  Let's Get Started

47.  Nude Party  Rides On

48.  Backstreet Girls  In Lust We Trust

49.  Class  If You've Got Nothing

50.  Rich Ragany & the Digressions  What We Do (To Not Let Go)

I Heard That Up On Mars They're Building Homes

1. Low Cut C0nnie Sleaze Me On

2. De1ta Riggs Solution

3. Spark1ehorse Evening Star Supercharger

4. Geese Gravity Blues

5. Midnight Ca11ers Baby Let Me Be

6. Barrence Whitfie1d Hey Miss Glynis

7. Diam0nd Dogs Wring It Out

8. Meyerman Happy to See You

9. Ten T0nnes Drowning in the Deep End

10. Lydia Love1ess Poor Boy

11. Jim Jones A11-Stars It's Your Voodoo Working

12. The Hangmen Behind the Wheel

13. Uni B0ys I Don't Believe in Love

14. The B1ips Who Took My Baby Away

15. Miss Chain & the Broken Hee1s Wild Wind

16. Lion Is1and Broken Arrow

17. Autogramm Born Losers

18. Twin Temp1e Burn Your Bible

19. Trench D0gs Skulldug and Headsick

20. The Whiffs I Didn't Need You To Know

21. 0dd Robot Temporary Bachelor Does Mundane Things

22. Be11evi11e Hanging Around

23. Art Bergmann Cut 'n' Paste

24. B1ack Pumas Rock and Roll