#Home is Where

[thatshitkrejci]

Favorite Albums of 2023

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[ruiditos]

everyday feels like 9/11 - Home is Where (2023)

this counterfeit reality, a perfect copy of a forgery. & after all these years i still look a lot like me. you’re your own tapeworm: every night, sunlight moonlights as moonlight. mirrors mirroring mirrors; teeth growing under teeth.

[chill-band-folder]

Home Is Where - floral organs (2023)

[mescher-core]

I only listened to 9/10 on 9/10 so thats why Jeff is on there wouldve definitely had my history teachers new album on here but last.fm hasnt detected it yet

[a-poem-and-a-song]

ada limón / home is where

[ohgodmusic]

Climbing trees older than anyone alive We braid our intestines together Spitting teeth into each other's mouths Back and forth until we make a smile

- "floral organs", The Whaler (2023), Home is Where

[doyoulikethisemoband]

[butchsnoopyy]

home is where FOREVER AMD EVER!!!!!

[punkrockmixtapes]

Listen/purchase: everyday feels like 9/11 by Home Is Where

this counterfeit reality, a perfect copy of a forgery. & after all these years i still look a lot like me.

[ruiditos]

daytona 500 - Home Is Where (2023)

i saw dale earnhardt pushin a shoppin cart from the wal-mart on the tracks of daytona speedway. heard him say, “the first to lose the race always comes in second place.”

[scumnoise]

home is where | long distance conjoined twins

hey, samantha, let’s trespass vacant properties we claim are our bodies. there are birds on telephone lines where your heart’s supposed to be; all in even rows but no electricity flows.

[confessionsofabargainbinaddict]

My Favorite Albums of 2023*

*not necessarily from 2023

Last year, I decided that, instead of limiting my "favorite" list to just the past year, I would broaden the scope to include any CD I acquired that year, whether it was released that year or not. Over the past 12 months, I've added 155 CDs to the already over-burdened collection (which may seem like a lot but it's down from 260 last year, so I believe some praise is due). These are my favorite 9, in alphabetical order by album title.

Foo Fighters - But Here We Are

"Times Like These," whether he intended it to be or not, was one of the very few, great post-9/11 songs. And while I might expect that from Springsteen, Grohl didn't immediately spring to mind as a voice of comfort and empathy, so the song's impact may have actually been a bit greater than something akin to "The Rising" (which, don't get me wrong, is an amazing song). And now, a couple decades later, it shouldn't be surprising that a Foo Fighters album dealing with intense and intimate grief would also be stunning, but, like before, I certainly wasn't expecting it and also, like before, I've turned to it a hell of a lot more than I would have thought.

Caroline Polachek - Desire, I Want To Turn Into You

You know those albums where you really like a bunch of the songs but not all of them but you also know that, with each repeated listen, you're going to find ways into the songs you didn't like as much on previous listens and come up with reasons why you actually do like those songs and therefore, think the entire album is brilliant? Yeah, this is one of those albums.

billy woods and kenny segal - maps

Let me preface this by saying that I am years late to the billy woods party, so I do not have any way of comparing this to his previous, abundant discography, but if it is at all indicative of the rest of his work, I have some major catching up to do! woods is a top notch lyricist with a clear love of language and the ways in which it can be structured. His metaphors and imagery are complex and layered but never so obtuse that they alienate the listener. And all of this verbal brilliance is nestled comfortably on segal's inviting but never settled production. I'll come back to this one often.

Stevie Wonder - Original Musiquarium I

I'm not normally a fan of "best of" compilations but this one, with the addition of the four unreleased tracks capping each "side," is so well put together and clearly thought through, I'm thrilled to have it as a part of my collection. Plus, it's really hard to ever go wrong with Stevie.

Laura Mvula - Pink Noise

Roughly 5 years ago, I heard "She," and was blown away. I added Sing to the Moon to my discogs want list but never got around to snagging a copy. About 3 years ago, I heard "Got Me" and decided to be a bit more active in trying to acquire a copy of Pink Noise, but I think there were some transatlantic issues because nothing seemed to be remotely affordable. Fast forward to midway through this year, the album miraculously pops up on Amazon for under 10 bucks and a day or two later, I'm finally blessed with these 10 fiercely intelligent yet uncompromisingly catchy pop bangers.

Pool Kids - Pool Kids

It's mathy, it's tappy, it's stupidly technical, but if you strip that all away, at its heart, these are 12 solid pop-punk/emo songs. So while the base effort is already worthwhile, the tremendous musicality turns them into something truly special.

Atmosphere - Sad Clown Bad Fall 10

Okay, so it's only 5 tracks but hear me out. I was introduced to Slug and Ant through their brief stint with Epitaph Records and their, imho, brilliant album, Seven's Travels. Over the years, I've picked up an Atmosphere album here and there, but my takeaways have been lackluster and I started to wonder whether they were just a one-off in my book. And then I found this at a used record store in Seattle, and it not only reignited the flame but made me want to revisit the rest of my collection. That's pretty impressive for only 16 minutes of music.

Triple Fast Action - Triple Fast Action

Triple Fast Action were probably the favorite band your favorite 90's alt-rock band (The Colour and the Shape was, apparently, greatly influenced by Broadcaster) and with only two albums to their name, it was a wonderful surprise to discover this treasure trove of unreleased and rare tracks, most of which were recorded in their rehearsal studio. While not everything is great, there's a general bittersweet air hovering around this 2-disc compilation - they could have been big, but for whatever reason, the stars didn't align. At least we now have so much more music.

Ratboys - The Window

Ratboys aren't reinventing the wheel here. They pull upon most of the major indie rock tropes of the past couple of years (Americana, pop-punk, prog rock...) but even with the genre hopping, the album shifts seamlessly from track to track and always feels authentic. What would we do with a new wheel anyway? Wouldn't you rather just get the top-of-the-line version?

Other assorted 2023 stuff

Favorite Albums NOT acquired in 2023:

Proper. - The Great American Novel

Tigers Jaw - I Don't Care How You Remember Me

Elvis Costello - Brutal Youth

Face to Face - Face to Face

Florence + The Machine - High As Hope

Beauty Pill - The Unsustainable Lifestyle

Favorite Live Bands seen in 2023:

The Verve Pipe (City Winery - 4/23)

Home Is Where (Elsewhere - 7/8)

Four Year Strong (Rocks Off Concert Cruise - 10/15)

The Hold Steady (Brooklyn Bowl - 11/30)

Favorite Movies watched in 2023:

Soft and Quiet

Poor Things

Shotgun Wedding

Pearl

Favorite TV Shows watched in 2023:

Alice in Borderland (Season 1)

The Fall of the House of Usher

The Curse

This is Pop

Channel Zero (Seasons 1 and 2)

Evil (Seasons 1 and 2)

The Last of Us

Favorite Books read in 2023:

Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry

In the Dream House - Carmen Maria Machado

Wraith - Joe Hill and Charles Paul Wilson III

Favorite Podcasts listened to in 2023:

Fearful Symmetry

Love and Radio

Detoxcity

U Springing Springsteen on My Bean?

"Finn and the Bell" episode of Radiolab

"Wake" episode of The Memory Palace

[chimera-obscurant]

The Greatest Crossover in History

[gonetoheaven]

glass imitates gardens like a siren song to the robins