My favorite music of 2023

Here we go!

There’s a line in a song by the band Clem Snide (who are great if you don’t know them!) that goes like this: “Your favorite music/Well, it just makes you sad.”

That’s me.

I am drawn to sad songs — about loss and despair and longing. My wife has always made fun of me about it, and urged me to listen to something, well, more upbeat.

But I like what I like!

Every year for the last 7 or so, I have made a list of the albums I loved in the past 365 days.

To be clear: This is not an attempt to say this is the BEST music of the last year. I am not a music critic — and don’t pretend to be one.

Instead this is just the music I found myself coming back to again and again as the year went on. (For those who don’t know, I listen to a LOT of music — basically at all times when I am writing and thinking of writing.)

Below is my list for this year — in no particular order.

What did I miss? What album (or song) did you really listen to like crazy this year? PLEASE put them in the comment section. I am always looking for new music to listen to!

• “Weathervanes” by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit: I believe that Isbell is the best songwriter of his generation. And this album is his best since “Southeastern,” his seminal 2013 album. (The 10-year anniversary re-issue is worth a listen.) My current favorite track on the new album is “King of Oklahoma” but that changes almost by the week.

• “Javelin” by Sufjan Stevens: I like the quiet contemplative version of Stevens the best. (Think “Carrie & Lowell” era.) And we get that in spades on “Javelin.” This is a place where my view and that of the world of music critics unite; this was one of the best reviewed records of the year. (Do people still call them “records”?)

• “Romantic Piano” by Gia Margaret: I LOVED Margaret’s 2020 album called “Mia Gargaret.” It was mostly wordless — she lost her voice in 2019 while touring — but entirely beautiful. This follow-up was even better. Ambient music at its very best (and Gia even sings on one song!).

• “History Books” by The Gaslight Anthem. I had always heard about this band but never really listened to their music. Until this year and this album. The title track got them the most attention (thanks to a guest appearance by some guy named Bruce Springsteen) but the whole album is great. And, this one was my gateway to more of their music — including the amazing “The ‘59 Sound.”

• “Haunted Mountain” by Buck Meek: Big Thief may be the most critically acclaimed band of the last 10 years (taking that title from Radiohead). Meek is the guitarist for Big Thief — and yet I don’t think his solo album got nearly enough attention from the critics. (Bob Boilen did list it as one of his favorite albums. Because Bob rocks.) This is a beautiful listen. And while Meek’s lilting voice takes some getting used to, I grew to really like it.

• “The Record” by boygenius: I got into this super-group through Phoebe Bridgers, who absolutely rules. But on this album — the first full-length release from the group — I found myself gravitating more to the songs sung by her bandmates: Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus. I dare you to listen to “Cool About It” and not have that song stuck in your head for days.

• “The Land is Inhospitable and so are We” by Mitski. I first got introduced to Mitski with her 2016 album “Puberty 2” and, in particular, her song “My Body’s Made of Crushed Little Stars.” (That song freaking rocks.) “The Land” is my favorite album of hers since then. The depth in the songwriting, the brooding musicality…it’s all awesome.

• “Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd?” by Lana del Rey: I would never before have described myself as a BIG fan of Lana del Rey. (She’s got plenty of those and doesn’t need me anyway!) But, damned if I don’t love everything she puts out! This album is brilliant — punctuated, for me, by “Candy Necklace,” the song she does with Jon Batiste.

• “False Lankum” by Lankum: One word to describe this album? “Haunting.” I had never heard of this Irish group before 2023 but man am I glad I found them. “Go Dig My Grave,” a folk traditional that kicks off the album, is 8 minutes of dark beauty.

• “First Two Pages of Frankenstein” by The National: The National put out two albums this year. “Frankenstein” came first and, to my mind, was the superior effort. The band has a very distinctive sound that you either like or, well, don’t. I am in the former category. This album is full of guest stars including songs with Sufjan Stevens and Phoebe Bridgers.

• “Secret Life” by Brian Eno and Fred Again: I am a sucker for anything Eno does. (He literally invented ambient music. He invented it!) This album sounds like I think a dream would sound — muffled, like you are moving through peanut butter. My favorite song? “Come on Home” — a remix of the late John Prine’s “Summer’s End.”

• “The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert” by Cat Power: I’ve liked — but not loved —the music of Chan Marshall aka Cat Power my whole adult life. But, her note-by-note cover of Bob Dylan’s 1966 concert — one of the most famous ever recorded — is INCREDIBLE. Like in the original, “Visions of Johanna” is the standout.

• “Cousin” by Wilco: For much of the late 1990s and ALL of the 2000s, Wilco was my favorite band. Over the last decade or so, I’ve had a mixed relationship with their music. The albums they released had songs I love but, for the most part, I wasn’t enthralled. “Cousin” is the 2nd Wilco album in the last 2 years (“Cruel Country” came out in 2022) that has really spoken to me — again.