Here we are and it is the end of the world. Here are some things I liked this year. Though I didn’t have Robert Smith on my Bingo Card, he’s more of a working class hero than Bruce Springsteen by going after Ticket Master’s Dynamic Pricing.
Best New Albums of 2023
Blur – The Ballad Of Darren
Rolling Stones – Hackney Diamonds
Metallica – 72 Seasons
Greta Van Fleet – Starcatcher
PJ Harvey – I Inside The Old Year Dying
Zulu – A New Tomorrow
The Struts – Pretty Vicious
Olivia Rodrigo – GUTS
Black Pumas – Chronicles of a Diamond
Baroness – Stone
Chris Stapleton – Higher
Best Reissues of 2023
The Who – Who’s Next/Life House
Jethro Tull – Broadsword and the Beast
Various Artists – Written In Their Soul:The Stax Songwriter Demos
Neil Young – Chrome Dreams
Various Artists – Watt Stax 72 (the Complete Concert)
De La Soul – Entire Catalogue (Especially Three Feet High and Rising)
John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy – Evenings At The Village Gate
The Teardrop Explodes – Culture Bunker 1978 – 82
Fun Boy Three – The Complete Fun Boy Three
Nirvana – In Utero