#Kenny Segal

[cristalconnors]

ALBUMS OF THE YEAR, 2023

Best Songs of 2023 can be found here.

Honorable Mentions (alphabetical): Black Rainbows, Corinne Bailey Rae // Heaven is a Junkyard, Youth Lagoon // Love in Exile, Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, Shahzad Ismaily // New Blue Sun, André 3000 // Radical Romantics, Fever Ray // Rat Saw God, Wednesday // SAVED!!!, Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter // Scaring the Hoes, JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown // This Stupid World, Yo La Tengo // trip9love…???, Tirzah // With a Hammer, Yaeji // WOW, Kate NV

20. *1, RẮN CẠP ĐUÔI

19. GIRL WITH FISH, FEEBLE LITTLE HORSE

18. THE LAND IS INHOSPITABLE AND SO ARE WE, MITSKI

17. ATLAS, LAUREL HALO

16. BURNING DESIRE, MIKE

15. CENSUS DESIGNATED, JANE REMOVER

14. WHY DOES THE EARTH GIVE US PEOPLE TO LOVE?, KARA JACKSON

13. DESIRE, I WANT TO TURN INTO YOU, CAROLINE POLACHEK

12. OH ME OH MY, LONNIE HOLLEY

11. DID YOU KNOW THAT THERE’S A TUNNEL UNDER OCEAN BLVD, LANA DEL REY

10. SUNTUB, ML BUCH

9. PICTURE OF BUNNY RABBIT, ARTHUR RUSSELL

8. SPACE HEAVY, KING KRULE

7. RAVEN, KELELA

6. PRAISE A LORD WHO CHEWS BUT WHICH DOES NOT CONSUME; (OR SIMPLY, HOT BETWEEN WORLDS), YVES TUMOR

5. MY BACK WAS A BRIDGE FOR YOU TO CROSS, ANOHNI AND THE JOHNSONS

4. MAPS, BILLY WOODS & KENNY SEGAL

3. JAVELIN, SUFJAN STEVENS

2. FOUNTAIN BABY, AMAARAE

1. SOFTSCARS, YEULE

[beatsforbrothels]

billy woods & Kenny Segal - Dumbwaiter

[dustedmagazine]

K-the-I??? & Kenny Segal — Genuine Dexterity (Backwoodz Studioz)

It was a pleasant surprise when the announcement came through that Billy Woods’ Backwoodz Studioz had a late-year release in store from Kiki Ceac and Kenny Segal. Anyone paying attention to hip-hop in the last 10 years well knows Segal’s name, most likely via Woods’ acclaimed Hiding Places and Maps. But anyone paying attention to hip-hop in the last 20 years will recognize Ceac’s peculiar K-the-I??? nom de plume from releases on Mush, Ninjatune and Big Dada. Memories are short in the rap game, though, so if anything, Genuine Dexterity serves as a welcome reintroduction to one of the finer artists working downstream from Def Jux’s late-1990s breakout.

Like others in the Backwoodz orbit, K-the-I??? has weathered the whims of hip-hop taste making over a timeline that’s taken him from Cambridge, Mass to L.A. to Chicago to Berlin and back again. He took a mid-2010s sabbatical from music altogether. As he noted in an illuminating interview with Caltrops Press over the summer, his writing has gone from paper and pen to freestyles on a phone that then get printed out so he can read them clearly from behind the mic. He’s a fan of Broadcast and Mach-Hommy alike. This is a dude who knows what it means to be older, wiser, more focused, less provincial.

It shows in the rhymes and rhythms of Genuine Dexterity. “Ionosphere” sets the album in motion as it will continue, and it’s clear right from the off that K has not come to play around — these rhymes are razor-sharp. One thing that’s always impressed me dating back to my first brush with him on 2006’s Broken Love Letter is the clarity of his vocal delivery for such high speeds of tongue-twisting spitting. If anything, what it conveys is a sense of engagement, that K is locked all the way in; you can get him rifling through his verses before pulling up the reins to make sure you notice how easily he says his mission statement: “I bet I can touch the sky so easily / even if you don’t believe in me.” Features from formidable emcees like ShrapKnel, Open Mike Eagle and Fatboi Sharif do nothing to deter this attentiveness.

For his own part, Segal aids and abets with some of his better recent beats. While K’s tearing the mic apart alongside both Woods and Armand Hammer compatriot Elucid on “Spellcasted Television,” Segal lays down a beat to match with scrawling guitar that weds spacey synths and claustrophobically dirty percussion; it recalls nothing so much as the best El-P productions. Vinyl crackle lines the sax-wailing, vibraphone-inflected “Warhammer.” More jazz sampling, this time featuring a busy bassline and more horns, hit on “Crushed Heavenly.” Rubber-band oscillations straight out of a 1950s sci-fi film drive the verses of “Season of the Sickness” before the bass weight hits for the chorus. A bubblingly bucolic, RJD2-esque downtempo tone colors “Immediate Imminent Immunity.” Together with K and company tying it all together, the album works as one despite its occasionally surprising sonic ventures.

There’s a loose union of antediluvian hip-hop vets out there — Run the Jewels, the Backwoodz crew, Open Mike, Roc Marciano, Shabazz Palaces, you know these names — that in recent years have found a modicum of fame while maintaining a respectable semblance of artistic integrity. With Genuine Dexterity, it’s safe to add K-the-I??? to that list. The game, as it turns out, needed him.

Patrick Masterson

[hit-song-showdown]

My favorite songs of 2023

I am putting together my favorite songs released in 2023. I started off doing a project where I listened to as many new albums as I could (and recording my findings in a spreadsheet), but that project tapered off around June when my move + school year started. But even though I wasn't able to listen to every album that came out, I still came out of 2023 with some of my favorite musical projects of all time. Also as another disclaimer: I am not a professional music writer.

I am also limiting this list to 1 song per album/project.

1. Scaring the Hoes by JPEGMafia and Danny Brown. I wish I could go back and experience again what happened to my brain when I first heard this track so I could properly convey it with text. When I first saw this project was announced, I knew it would take over my life. When I heard this track before the album was released, I knew I would have to form some kind of religion around it. The reason why I'm limiting this list to one track per album is because Scaring the Hoes has 14 tracks so I wouldn't be able to fit them all (other songs I would have given the number 1 spot include Burfict!, Shut Yo Bitch Ass Up/Muddy Waters, God Loves You, and Kingdom Hearts Key). But the title track is the perfect introduction. It's less of a single and more of a thesis statement for the entire project. The production throughout this album is incredible, but STH hits different. The rhythmic, almost menacing handclaps (fun fact: those aren't handclaps--that's the sound my asscheeks make when this song comes on) and the horn sample which I can only describe as Blood Money era Tom Waitsian, it is by far my favorite beat of 2023. Combined with Danny and JPEG's charisma and the way they bounce back and forth, this song is a shot of adrenaline straight to the heart. Also I saw them live and that experience elevated a 10/10 to a 20/10 for me.

2. Prof. Aronnax' Descent into the Vast Oceans by Ahab. I started seriously listening to German nautical funeral doom metal band, Ahab around early 2022 so this was the first new release I got to experience. Even though I loved what I heard previously, nothing could have prepared me for this. The opening track is everything I want from a doom metal song. It starts out with a frantic onslaught of screaming and inhuman growls before mellowing out into a serene instrumental before the mournful vocals kick in. It really feels like the initial shock of your body slamming into the water, then having to slowly drift among the waves as your muscles give out and you're taken deeper into the depths. That's what I like about doom metal: it's music to decay to. This track (and by extension this album) hooked me from a story-telling perspective right away, which shouldn't be a surprise as it was based on Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. The story presented in this album intrigued me so much that I had to read the book for myself. Then I read it again. Then I read two different translations. Now I'm working on a visual novel adaptation. I know metrics for album rankings are subjective, so I'm willing to give an album an extra bump if it gets me to read a 19th century novel at least five times in less than two months and learn Python coding. (Other tracks I would have included: the album is at its strongest as a single listening experience, but I especially enjoyed Mobilis in Mobili and Ægri Somnia).

3. What A Man by Debby Friday. This is a track off of Nigerian-Canadian electronic musician Debby Friday's first album Good Luck and holy shit, what a debut. This is such a well-formed project I can't believe it. I was already enjoying the album throughout the first few tracks. It brought me back to listening to 2000s club music and thinking "wow I wish I got invited to parties." But then I got to What A Man and the world screeched to a halt. I think I was posting on my main blog at the time, so anyone unfortunate enough to follow me had a chance to see my incoherent screeching in real time. This track is incredible. Debby's warm and sultry voice, the spacey production, THE ELECTRIC GUITAR? The first time the guitar kicks in, that's just a teaser for what ended up being one of my favorite music moments of the year. The electric guitar feels like an oncoming storm and Debby is standing strong before it, taking on the wind and rain as her voice becomes louder and almost yearning. Then the song builds with Debby yelling to the high heavens as the guitars wail around her before fading back down into the low bass and rhythmic breathing motif found throughout the album. This track is an experience, and the music video is gorgeous too (the picture I chose for the banner is from the video itself) and the fact that it has less than 20K views hurts me. (Other tracks I would have included: I Got It, So Hard To Tell, Let U Down)

4. Bite Back by Algiers (ft. billy woods and Backxwash). Speaking of songs that build... This is the sixth track off of Algiers' album, Shook and by this point I was already feeling pretty good about the release. I was already prepared to put the opening track, Everybody Shatter on my top 20, but when Bite Back kicked in, something changed. Here's a recreation of my initial reaction: "this sounds pretty good, I like the way this intro...is that billy woods??") Just to be transparent: billy woods' involvement would have been enough to give this an automatic top slot for me, but it helps that his verse is fantastic. His flow is slower than the introductory verse, but that only makes his lyrics stand out more. From the opening lines "One hand wash the other, they both wash the face / Centrifugal force and inertia keep everything in its place / Slowly, spinning in space, speeding, lead foot on the brakes" I knew I was in for something special. One thing I really appreciate about this track is the production. billy woods has a very steady flow with an almost menacing quality to it depending on the subject matter of the lyrics, and the beat shifts during his verse to reflect that. It sounds like it could be a billy woods beat, but it doesn't sound like one of his beats was carelessly shoved into an Algiers song. It's like the beat ebbs and flows with the artists involved. The production gets gradually more intense as billy picks up more ferocity in his delivery. A detail I really like is when billy says "claws rattling, delicate as roaches' wings," the percussion on the backing track picks up an almost rattling quality, but it doesn't sound corny or too obvious. Then billy continues, the backing track picking up even more intensity until it feels like each noise is blasting at full power...and then the tension releases and settles down with Algiers frontman, Franklin James Fisher, delivering the second verse. His delivery contrasts wonderfully with billy woods' too, with his faster, almost whispered vocals allowing the track to pick up momentum again after the previous release of tension. This track knows when to breathe and it's fantastic. But it also knows when to take the air from your lungs as Fisher goes all out with the vocals in the hook and third verse, reinstating what an absolute powerhouse vocalist he is. And just when the track is at its peak ferocity, in comes Backxwash with the steel chair! If billy and Fisher were allowing the beat to gradually shift under their performances, Backxwash grabs the song by the throat and makes it do whatever she wants. Her verse then trades off into Fisher delivering the outro, operating at full power in his delivery. This song is so well-crafted and none of the artists feel out of place. (Other tracks I would have included: Everybody Shatter, A Good Man, Irreversible Damage)

5. Billions by Caroline Polachek. As of writing this, I haven't been keeping up with other people's year end lists, but I know this album is going to make everyone else's. So I feel a bit intimidated to talk about it, but I will try. The production on this album is so good my brain can't even comprehend how it was crafted. I've seen it described as "maximalist," but that doesn't fully capture how well this album knows when to pull back and let the tracks breathe. Billions is one of the more sparse tracks compared to some of the others, but that only makes each production decision stand out more. The second time Caroline says "give me the closure," you hear a little musical sting in the background (probably some kind of synth, but at first listen I thought it was an electric guitar) which didn't show up after the first time that lyric was sung. It's that attention to detail and letting the production build on itself that makes this project incredible. And it goes without saying that Caroline is an outstanding vocalist. She sounds like a siren. It's ridiculous. (Other tracks I would have included: Welcome to My Island, I Believe, Hopedrunk Everasking)

6. The Black Seminole by Lil Yachty. Opening track off of Lil Yachty's psychedelic rock album, Let's Start Here, and what an opening track on a fantastic project. It should be clear by this point that I love songs that build, and holy shit does this song build. I first listened to this album while I was on a plane, and this track synced up with my takeoff. So while the plane was lifting off the ground and I was being pressed against my seat, Lil Yachty gave the final line before the electric guitars and the female vocalist kicked in, both wailing with equal ferocity. Top 10 music experiences of the year, but even going back to listen to that same track when I'm not on an airplane delivered the same euphoric experience. (Other tracks I would have included: Drive Me Crazy, Should I B, We Saw the Sun)

7. Xena by Skrillex and Nai Barghouti. I debated whether to put this song or Hydrate on the list, but Xena was the first track that made me fall in love with this album. With vocals by Palestinian singer, Nai Barghouti, Skrillex delivers an absolutely outstanding dubstep track. Like Billions, it's the kind of music production that makes me have to step back and fully appreciate the craft. The song is incredible at building intensity, but he also knows when to pull back to let the tension build again. And Barghouti isn't just a feature--she is the heartbeat of this song. Her voice melds with the production so well, but in a way that sounds like she's commanding it. My absolute favorite part of the song is when she starts singing in her lower register as the production turns to more naturalistic instruments. Sometimes I see electronic producers robbing their singers of their voices for the sake of cohesive production, but that isn't the case here. Nai Barghouti's voice is crisp, unique, and perfect. It's a fantastic melding of producer and vocalist that makes way more sense than it should. (Other tracks I would have included: Hydrate, Rumble, Ratata)

8. Babylon by Bus by billy woods and Kenny Segal. I already talked about billy woods, but he was a feature so this still counts. Everything I already said about billy woods' skills applies here as well, especially now that he has full control over the track. billy's flow sounds both effortless, and that he knows the perfect word to use for each line. And he uses interesting words. "Glistening waterbug on clean counter / Plague mask, gave the place a cursory glower / He ran away, I gave chase but gave up and sat on his gate for hours" I love this series of bars. He is a storyteller. And then, the beat pauses after billy's first verse, with low menacing notes, a clattering of naturalistic metallic percussion, and then the switch up??? Seriously the way the beat ramps up for SkrapKnel's verses takes the song to another level. The way the Curly Castro and PremRock pass the mic back and forth to each other is outstanding. This doesn't feel like a guest verse; this is a fully realized project. The shamelessness is even more apparent when billy takes the mic again for the final verse, but now with more ferocity in his delivery as if he's building off of the energy created by SkrapKnel. This song is masterful. "I take care of these words, Munchausen by proxy / Somehow beat the tox screen / God save the queen, but that train doesn't stop here anymore" (Other tracks I would have included: FaceTime, Year Zero, Soft Landing)

9. Drain You Empty by Cannibal Corpse. I listened to this album right around midterms and I needed it. But this was the song I kept coming back to. For one, it's fun. Obviously: it's Cannibal Corpse. But I love the way the song opens with a full minute of just blasting you before the drums, riffs, and screams really kick in. Good god the drumming on this album is so good. I absolutely love Corpsegrinder's delivery on this track. The way he shifts from bellowing growls to shrieks, the way he speeds up his delivery to match the pace of the drums, it's so good. I'm sorry I don't have a better analysis. It's fun. (Other tracks I would have included: Chaos Horrific, Overlords of Violence, Blood Blind)

10. Crossing Guard by Model/Actriz. This is a song that made me wish I went to gay clubs more. Yes, it's a killer dance song, but what draws me in is how chaotic the production is. It starts out slow and quiet, then bam! The production starts screeching at you in a glorious onslaught of noise, held together with a fantastic bassline. I love the vocalist too. He can be monotone and subtle, but he also knows how to raise his voice to match the ferocity of the production. I listened to this song countless times last year (often while crossing the street and trying not to get hit by cars), and the line "Like Germanotta, Stefani / Pull the weight from under me" will be stuck in my head forever. (Other tracks I would have included: Donkey Show, Amaranth)

[solebythepound]

Hiding Places

[kentuckyanarchist]

Songs of 2023

Here we are, a bit late, not quite as late as last year. 2023 was a busy year but somehow an uncomplex one for me—there’ve been worse years, there’ve been better. If the songs spoke to the times, they did so in obscure ways. Nonetheless: 50 favourite songs, 50 fuzzy thoughts, I hope you like them too.

1. Fenne Lily, “Lights Light Up”

Just the right amount of confidence and the right amount of caveats; just the right amount of magic and the right amount of realism.

2. Boygenius, “True Blue”

I love the matter-of-factness of Lucy Dacus’ diction here, putting friendship to words like it’s the most obvious thing in the world: “I can’t hide from you like I hide from myself, duh.”

3. ANOHNI, “Sliver of Ice”

Somehow, amidst the wreckage, it’s the elegance of ANOHNI’s rhymes that get me: view/blue, tonight/light, more/before; if only death was so simple.

4. Caroline Polachek, “Billions”

All I can say here, and it’ll sound silly, is that what’s happening in this song is an attempt to block off the curve from hedonism to cynicism.

5. Ratboys, “Black Earth, WI”

How is it that, with the mushroom cloud above and the ground opening up before them, Ratboys seem to have all the time in the world?

6. Julie Byrne, “Portrait of a Clear Day”

There’s a particular vocal style, smooth and blue like a lake surface, that you find in some English folk music, and in 2023 Julie Byrne was its sharpest, wisest practitioner.

7. Feist, “Hiding Out in the Open”

Homespun, delicate; thrillingly, almost uncomfortably intimate.

8. Slaughter Beach, Dog, “Strange Weather”

One for cataloguing, inventorying, totting up, working out where you stand.

9. Yo La Tengo, “Aselestine”

“Aselestine”’s two songs: the instrumentals so serenely flowing, circling, generative; Georgia Hubley’s vocals so clipped, terse, holding back.

10. Billy Woods & Kenny Segal ft. Samuel T. Herring, “FaceTime”

Could Billy Woods be our foremost imagist? “In a Station of the Metro” but the train’s derailed, bones snapped, screaming kids, twisted metal? I’ve already said too much.

11. Doja Cat, “Agora Hills”

The year’s best pop song, a delicate dedication from (is it fair to say?) unexpected quarters, smut and bravado doing the bare minimum to conceal its softness.

12. Mitski, “Bug Like an Angel”

This song doesn’t have a chorus in the sense of a refrain but has a chorus in the Ancient Greek sense, a set of voices that interrupt in unison, sometimes using dramatic irony.

13. Big Thief, “Born for Loving You”

Sometimes we speak out of the sides of our mouths and sometimes we dissemble; Big Thief could never.

14. The Antlers, “I Was Not There”

The word sweep is a good one for songs by the Antlers: conveying breadth and inexorability, it’s cosy and domestic too; to sweep like they do is to upturn, to wreck, but to renovate, to welcome.

15. Lana Del Rey, “The Grants”

Philip Larkin said poetry was a matter of experiencing a vision then “attempt[ing] to express the whole of which the vision is a part.” For Lana there’s no whole or part, just vision.

16. The Pines of Rome, “I Am a Road”

Gnomic, wry, lamenting, ground-down but still kicking, a bit ornery but if you sit down at its feet you’ll learn something.

17. Bonnie “Prince” Billy, “Willow, Pine and Oak”

Stolid and unsappy, this tripartite scheme isn’t quite right, but it certainly is one way of looking at the world.

18. Lande Hekt, “Pottery Class”

This song says it’s about missing someone, but all those sighs, all those “again”s, all those “buts” make you wonder.

19. James Yorkston, Nina Persson and the Second Hand Orchestra, “A Forestful of Rogues”

“If I say so myself, and I damn well do”—when you start a line like that you can follow it up with almost anything.

20. M83, “Amnesia”

Big as stars and glistening like them; who, in 2023, does it better?

21. CMAT, “Vincent Kompany”

CMAT sometimes seems to want to be “relatable” but then snaps out of it and takes joy in being idiosyncratic, or a bit off, or, basically, really fucking odd.

22. Mannequin Pussy, “I Got Heaven”

Let it be known that in 2023 we snarled sometimes.

23. Shit Present, “More to Lose”

Shit Present, in the best of traditions, use monotone as a weapon: here Iona Cairns drags down what could be a soaring chorus in the most politically astute of ways.

24. Fever Ray, “Kandy”

The word could be skeletal: minimal, of course, but also spooky, schlocky, body-horror, prone to decomposition.

25. Girl Ray, “Hold Tight”

“Hold Tight” says it wants simple sedentary situations, “talking shit on the grass,” “get a Coke and sit on the wall,” all while it bounces and hops non-stop.

26. Charlotte Cornfield, “You and Me”

I’ll admit to preferring the more pensive Charlotte Cornfield, but no one’s surprised she can do affirmative too.

27. Shannon Lay, “From the Morning”

I love Shannon Lay’s confidence: there’s something ever-so-slightly irreverent in this Nick Drake cover, just the slightest smirk.

28. Jeff Rosenstock, “HEALMODE”

The sort of song you find under rotting wooden pallets in derelict parts of the city.

29. The Mountain Goats, “Fresh Tattoo”

The Mountain Goats grow old no worse for wear: still telling meandering parables, still making us feel right at home.

30. Samia, “Charm You”

“As You Are,” Samia’s paean to unconditional familial love, was my favourite song of 2021. “Charm You” works up the same giddiness about a new relationship but introduces a smidge of reticence.

31. Alex Lahey, “The Answer Is Always Yes”

A big year for affirmations in pop (see#4, #26, #46), but (1) this one’s so intricate too, and (2) this one knows what it’s up against too.

32. The Hold Steady, “Grand Junction”

Metronomic, “Grand Junction” declines to shift its swing, which is no problem as it keeps on hitting.

33. Arlo Parks, “Dog Rose”

Arlo Parks writes pop songs with an undercurrent, love songs that threaten to get a bit weird.

34. Holly Humberstone and MUNA, “Into Your Room”

A late entrant: one that toys with overstatement, knows it sounds a bit overblown, but wants to say what it has to say anyway and see how it goes.

35. Young Fathers, “Holy Moly”

This sounds like 2006 to me, a sticky floor and cigarette smoke.

36. Heather Woods Broderick, “Seemed a River”

This song’s weirdly verbose, maybe it’s indecisive? Maybe it’s keeping secrets?

37. Pearla, “Flicker”

Circularity like the seasons, like the sunrise-sunset, like fresh starts, like the worms.

38. Sparklehorse, “The Scull of Lucia”

A grandiose sort of lullaby, making short work of squally seas.

39. Joy Oladokun, “Changes”

I go back and forth on this one: it feels tailored for the Obama playlist, but it still charms me; sometimes it seems too smooth for the ugly world it describes, but there are more egregious sins.

40. Quinnie, “Security Question”

A missed connection that spirals from a whim into a crisis: the entire problem of other minds “at some party I wandered to.”

41. Black Country, New Road, “Laughing Song (Live at Bush Hall)”

On Live at Bush Hall BC,NR continued to be our best worriers, biters of nails, pickers of scabs.

42. Blink-182, “More Than You Know”

If there’s nostalgia here, and there may be, it’s for “Easy Target” or “Stockholm Syndrome,” the careful use of melancholy, the harmonies, Travis Barker drumming like a submachine gun.

43. Vagabon, “Lexicon”

Vagabon’s a rare songwriter who’ll admit to speechlessness, dumbstruckness, stagefright. But some things are unsayable, some thoughts do need to be expressed in deeds.

44. Subsonic Eye, “Machine”

Go on then, make it seem effortless!

45. The Milk Carton Kids, “Star Shine”

I suspect this one’s too hard on itself—there are big lies and little lies, gentle ones and harsh ones, after all.

46. Sufjan Stevens, “Shit Talk”

Somewhere in the ’10s Sufjan became a permanent presence: a waystation, a landmark, a totem, and on Javelin you feel he cautiously started embracing that.

47. Indigo De Souza, “Losing”

It’s one thing to say “less is more”, it’s another to model brevity like this, to just fill two minutes and nineteen seconds with five- or six-word lines that describe all the details of one thought.

48. Fred Again.., “Winnie (Rosslyn Crescent)”

I’m still captivated by Fred Again..’s soundscapes, his windows into London kitchen-sink scenes, and how much he leaves unsaid.

49. Sofia Kourtesis, “Moving Houses”

Fractured images, shards of life, but Sofia Kourtesis seems confident things can be put back together.

50. Oneohtrix Point Never, “Nightmare Paint”

Not an album where you can pick out one song, of course, but if I had to it’d be this pew-pew space opera, brightly lit and smoothly running, letting the unknown in through the airlock.

[musicmakesyousmart]

billy woods & Kenny Segal - Maps

Backwoodz Studioz

2023

[fangomusic]

The 20 Best Albums of 2023

The best music of the year

CLICK ON EACH TITLE BELOW TO LISTEN TO THE FULL ALBUM

Billy Woods & Kenny Segal, Maps Boygenius, The Record Clara Peya, Corsé Janelle Monáe, The Age Of Pleasure Kelela, Raven Kerala Dust, Violet Drive Kimbra, A Reckoning Mitski, The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We Noname, Sundial Pahua, Habita Paris Texas, Mid Air Rocky, Rocky Róisín Murphy, Hit Parade Slowe, Where The Mind Wanders Sofia Kourtesis, Madres Sufjan Stevens, Javelin The Kills, God Game Underscores, Wallsocket Y La Bamba, Lucha Young Fathers, Heavy Heavy

[soundgrammar]

Listen/purchase: Babylon by Bus featuring ShrapKnel by billy woods & Kenny Segal

[cristalconnors]

SONGS OF THE YEAR, 2023

The best albums of 2023 can be found here. Click through the links below to listen to the songs. :)

20. "MAKING THE BAND (DANITY KANE)", EARL SWEATSHIRT

19. "GOOD LIES", OVERMONO

18. "RUSH", TROYE SIVAN

17. "I SWEAR, I REALLY WANTED TO MAKE A 'RAP' ALBUM BUT THIS IS LITERALLY THE WAY THE WIND BLEW ME THIS TIME", ANDRÉ 3000

16. "HEAVEN", MITSKI

15. "POUND TOWN", SEXYY RED & TAY KEITH

14. "OVULE (feat. SHYGIRL) [SEGA BODEGA REMIX]", BJÖRK

13. "STRONG [I. JORDAN REMIX]", ROMY & I. JORDAN

12. "RAPPER WEED", BILLY WOODS & KENNY SEGAL

11. "MOUNT MEIGS", LONNIE HOLLEY

10. "IT'S MY FAULT", ANOHNI AND THE JOHNSONS

9. "A&W", LANA DEL REY

8. "SEAFORTH", KING KRULE

7. "EVEN IT OUT", FEVER RAY

6. "DAZIES", YEULE

5. "BOY'S A LIAR, PT. 2", PINKPANTHERESS & ICE SPICE

4. "CONTACT", KELELA

3. "PRETTY IN POSSIBLE", CAROLINE POLACHEK

2. "SO YOU ARE TIRED", SUFJAN STEVENS

1. "CO-STAR", AMAARAE

[beatsforbrothels]

billy woods & Kenny Segal - Bad Dreams Are More than Dreams (ft Serengeti)

[kai-does-some-art]

Birds flyin' high, you know how I feel Sun in the sky, you know how I feel Breeze driftin' on, you know how I feel Birds flyin' high, you know how I feel Sun in the sky, you know how I feel Breeze driftin' on, you know how I feel

[cheddar-baby]

The realest thing Busdriver ever said was "Kenny Segal's drums sound like he's dropping desks"

[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