In 2020, I started listening to a new album every day in lockdown. As the world opened up in 2021 and 2022, that little routine faded away. But as 2023 ticked into the autumn, I realised I’d been checking out a lot of recent albums.
Now, listening to is too many albums. I listen to/from work (a handy 30ish mins), while walking, shopping, writing, eating and painting little models. Criticisms are often: how can you actually take in and enjoy an album? Broadly, my brain works fast. It likes content. It’s a guzzling machine. And, after loving music for 20 years, I feel like I know what I love.
So yes, the ska, punk, reggae and folk albums grabbed my attention the most, like the favoured children of a busy, administrator God.
And I was still discovering great albums and artists deep into December. Even as I type this!
The problem is, I can only listen to all this music thanks to the digital age. Even up until the mid-2000s, broadly, if you wanted to listen to an album you had to buy it. Or borrow it. Or sit in Virgin Megastores with headphones.
So I’ll make sure the bands that I really clicked with will get money through Bandcamp, or merch, or find a place on my playlists. Music is great.
Here’s my top 12 albums, in no particular order.
Punch Up - The Prizefighters
My 21st Century Blues - RAYE
Doom Loop – Dream Nails
s/t - Random Hand
The Road To Sedition - Faintest Idea
Poor Little England - Undercover Hippy
Inarticulate - CHEWIE
Worlds End FM - Hak Baker
Thanks For Reaching Out - Jim Bob
Let’s Go Goodbye Blue Monday - Goodbye Blue Monday
I Love You - Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers
s/t - Dead Pioneers
Here’s a list of honourable mentions:
Vertiginous Drops - Carol Hodge
Endofunctor EP - The Buttress
All Of Us Or None - J Navarro & The Traitors
Quit - The Great Awake
Bad Taste - Private Wives
Escape Somehow - Peuk
Constant Crisis - Trash Sound Conglomerate
Disaster Preparedness Coloring Book - Dead Billionaires
Smile - The Robocop Kraus
Mad Half Hour - Panic Pocket
Lucky For You - Bully
You Are Who You Hang Out With - The Front Bottoms
If You’ve Got Nothing - Class
Devo Challenge Cup - Yonic South
What’s On TV? - Tee Vee Repairman
Incendiara EP - Tomar Control
Black Classical Music - Yussuf Dayes
HAZE WAVE - LONE WOLF
Wet - Dick Move
Learn To Swim, A Mixtape - Joshua Idehen
Raw Liquid Power EP - Water Machine
Unconditional Love In Hi-Fi - Miesha and the Spanks
A For Effort, E For Attainment - Common Sense Kid
A New Tomorrow - Zulu
Cheap Fiction - Steady Hands
Set Your Pussy Free - NOBRO
Expired Candy - Body Types
Some Of It Was True - The Menzingers
Sundial - Noname
What Are We Trying To Say? - Megson
Against The Rest - Omnigone
Attention!! - saba sister
Anarchist Gospel - Sunny War
Mommy - Be Your Own Pet
Concrete Cowboys - Buggin
Don’t Forget To Leave It All Behind - Beyond the Lamplight
Smile - Skindred
Quaker City Quiet Pills - The Dead Milkmen
Guts for Starters - Smoking Gives You Big Tits
False Starts, Open Endings - Katie MF
The Village Is On Fire - Guvna B
GOD SAVE THE STREETS - Avelino
This Is Crime Wave - Codefendants
Black Rainbows - Corinne Bailey Rae
Blouse Club - Problem Patterns
Sightseeing & Short Negotiations - Cut Capers
Integrated Tech Solutions - Aesop Rocks
playing w/ fire - redveil
Runaway - Tess & The Details
ICHIJIKOKOKU - ATARASHII GAKKO!
Emergency, Vol. 1 - Rootweave
LIME - Ming City Rockers
Here’s the full list:
CACTI - Billy Nomates
LIES THEY TELL OUR CHILDREN - Anti-Flag
Never Going Under - Circa Waves
Belabour - Haest
RUSH! - Måneskin
Trial By Error - Pat Butcher
Bubblegum - Biig Piig
Shapka - Russkaja
Prize - Rozi Plain
Gigi’s Recovery - The Murder Capital
Let Her Burn - Rebecca Black
Batwölf - 35 For Life
s/t - Bilk
Desire Pathway - Screaming Females
Cracker Islane - Gorillaz
Reverse Alchemy EP - The Bricks
Food for Worms - shame
But Who’s Reading Me? EP - Class
Land of Sleeper - Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs
It’s Cosmit EP - Cosmit
UK GRIM - Sleaford Mods
Future Primitives - Wind In His Hair
Black Canticles - Lolth
The Road To Sedition - Faintest Idea
False Lankum - Lankum
s/t - Grade 2
What Are We Trying To Say? - Megson
Our Club, Our Rules - Knife Club
This Is Crime Wave - Codefendants
Against The Rest - Omnigone
Common Nation of Sorrow - Rachel Baiman
GOD SAVE THE STREETS - Avelino
Vibrations from the Bionic Tabernacle - The Co-Operators
Noticeably Cheerless - The Abruptors
Cocktails & Fairytales - The Magnetics
God Bless You All - The Baboon Show
Ignore Grief - Xiu Xiu
Above the Static - The Bar Stool Preachers
That! Feels Good! - Jessie Ware
Poor Little England - Undercover Hippy
The Altruistic Soul Sound of Pama International - Pama International
Raving Ghost - Olivia Jean
Drag On Girard - Purling Hiss
Timeline - Suarasumsara
Green Willow - The Dreadnoughts
Human Algebra - The Selecter
Warm Blanket - Worriers
Ride Or Die - ARXX
Inarticulate - CHEWIE
Useless for Something - Bruise Control
You’re Welcome - Lambrini Girls
Disposable Everything - AJJ
Tomorrow Never Comes - Rancid
Smalltown Stardust - King Tuff
s/t - Death Pill
Trickle Down Town - Steve White & The Protest Family
more-AA-janaica - Dohatsuten
Su凸ko D凹koi wo Shinjiruna - Su凸ko D凹koi
I Saw The Future - The Hard Aches
Fuse - Everything But The Girl
The Age of Pleasure - Janelle Monae
The Darkness Tour 1979 - Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
High Voltage! - Gum Disease
O Monolith - Squid
Worlds End FM - Hak Baker
Live at Rock City - Ferocious Dog
Clean Weird Prone - Frankie Cosmos
My Soft Machine - Arlo Parks
Beneath The Turning Wheel - Holy Locust
A State Of A Nation - Andy McGregor
Past // Present // Future - Meet Me @ The Alter
Hold Onto Happiness With Both Hands - Toodles & The Hectic Pity
All Her Plans - Cable Ties
unsociabilities… - A Great Notion
On A Mission - Gentleman's Dub Club
Attention!! - saba sister
Dead Bands - Bedsit
Blow Wind Blow - The Nextmen
Let’s Go Goodbye Blue Monday - Goodbye Blue Monday
s/t - Headstone Horrors
Heartache Radio - The Bloodstrings
Goody Goody Gumdrops - Tropical Fuck Storm
In the Store - The Lost Days
Drag On Girard - Purling Hiss
Nails - Benefits
s/t - Guadalupe Plata
War Is Nightmare - Dummy Toys
Only Constant - GEL
Anarchist Gospel - Sunny War
Anywhere But Here - Sorry
A New Tomorrow - Zulu
Ra To The Rescue - Sun Ra
Take A Picture - Popes of Chillitown
The Reset - Macy Gray & The California Jet Club
I Am The River, The River Is Me - Jen Cloher
Slogan Machine - Gumm
Psychic Dance Routine EP - Scowl
Satisfaction - SPY
The The Earth’s Core - The Hearmorrhoids
Bottom of the Pomps - The Pomps
Thanks For Reaching Out - Jim Bob
Guts for Starters - Smoking Gives You Big Tits
Bonzo Bonanza EP - The Chase
We Want Revenge for Every Minute Lost - Empire Down
Caesar Salad Days - Adolescents
s/t - The Enforcers
I Inside the Old Year Dying - PJ Harvey
No Experts - Illiterates
The Chain of Infection EP - Perp Walk
HEY ASSHOLE EP - nascar aloe
The Ballad of Darren - Blur
Smile - Skindred
Past and Present - Mungo’s Hi Fi
Games Of Power - Home Front
No Joy - Spanish Love Songs
Big Noise - Kimberly Steaks
The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons
Wavebreaker 4 EP - Joe Gittleman (2023
Big Trouble EP - Be Your Own Pet
Watering Dead Flowers - Voiid
370HSSV 0773H - Private Function
Quaker City Quiet Pills - The Dead Milkmen
I Told Them… - Burna Boy
Fa To The World - Female Allstars
s/t - The Astronauts
Adultish - Substantial
Through The Lowlands - Will Varley
HELLMODE - Jeff Rosenstock
Mommy - Be Your Own Pet
Attachment Styles - Mhaol
A Part Of Everything - Perkie
Eye On The Bat - Palehouse
The Window - Ratboys
There or Thereabouts - Spoilers
Laurels of the End of History EP - Cime
Reinventing Against Me! - Austin Lucas
Death Is Nothing To Us - Fiddlehead
Currency // Castration - Geld
Fine: A Ska EP - Devon Kay & The Solutions
Burning Throne - Acres
Human Outline - Wound Man
Concrete Cowboys - Buggin
Don’t Forget To Leave It All Behind - Beyond the Lamplight
RETAS - Voice of Baceprot
Penelope - Small Crush
The Illuminaughty - Killdren (2023
Brave, Willing Strong - Shanghai Treason
KILLYJOY - Coach Party
But Who’s Reading Me EP? - Class
s/t - HOUSE Of ALL
Dooom - Shoe
The Yuppies are Winning - Harrison Gordon
69 Spotify Listeners Can’t All be Wrong! - The Crash Mats
Most Likely To_ - ShyGodwin
Doppel-Feature - North Alone
New Paradise I EP - Cobra Man
Where Did All My Friends Go? - Mustard Plug
Et Cetera EP - The Dollheads
It Will Never Be The Same EP - Michigander
I’ve Loved You For So Long EP - The Aces
Platinum Statue - Riskee & The Ridicule
BRAND NEW SOUL - Angel Du$t
Altomare - Modena City Ramblers
Sunday Dinner On a Monday - Speech Debelle
Pacific Standard Time - Velvet Starlings
PUNK TACTICS - Joey Valance & Brae
Cobweb in a Storm - Pog
Gener8ion X - Breezy Supreme
Part-Timer EP - Proper.
False Starts, Open Endings - Katie MF
Trust Your Gut - Worriers
Βάκχες - Thrax Punks
Alive At The End Of The World : Set Two - Dizraeli
The Village Is On Fire - Guvna B
s/t - Random Hand
Siick Days - Pkew Pkew Pkew
Cries EP - Human Petting Zoo
Till You Return - Teenage Halloween
Again - Physique
Colour - Jim Lockey & The Solemn Sun
Sundial - Noname
Black Rainbows - Corinne Bailey Rae
RESET! EP - Ovrkast.
Zero Tolerance - Giggs
Good Vibes / Bad Vibes - Oh No & Roy Ayers
Poetic Justice - Soul Supreme
Sheesh! EP - Boy Jr.
Guants blancs EP negre - The Upshitters
Cheap Grills - Sincere Engineer
To What End - Oddisee
Doom Loop – Dream Nails
Some Of It Was True - The Menzingers
FLSD EP - OFF!
King of Ska - The Bakesys
Walang Hiya EP - Stress Positions
Voice Notes - Yasmin Lacey
Full Moon Forever - Kepi Ghoulie
RHYME&REASON - Captain Kaiser
Giant Elk - ME REX
LIME - Ming City Rockers
Silver Living Hooray! EP - Confession Kids
Serpientes Y Escaleras - Inspector
Expired Candy - Body Types
Conditions EP - Chalk
Irish Rock N Roll - The Mary Wallopers
Spunky! - Grrrl Gang
Sanguivore - Creeper
Song Machine - The Exbats
s/t - SPLIT DOGS
Holey War - Thelma and the Sleaze
Buddy’s Magic Toy Box - Mega Ran
more-AA-janaica - Dohatsuten
¡!¡!¡!¡! - ni-hao!!!! -
Self-Medication - The Slackers
The Weight of the Mask - Svalbard
The Price of Progress - The Hold Steady
Take Me Back To Eden - Sleep Token
Dead Meat - The Tubs
Water Made Us - Jamila Woods
Blouse Club - Problem Patterns
Bauhaus Staircase - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
History Books - The Gaslight Anthem
A Feast On Sorrow - URNE
Nation EP - Home Front
Olive EP - Yvone Hercules
You OK? EP - Shelf Life
反骨 (Born Rude) - RUMKICKS
Sittin’ On The Outside (Live California ‘89) - Living Colour
Too Busy Eating Gruel to Contemplate the Cosmos - Pi$$er
Jenny from Thebes - The Mountain Goats
I Hope We Can Still Be Friends EP - Nettles
Set Your Pussy Free - NOBRO
The Hopeful Boy Replacement Service - Sandra’s Wedding
一年后 EP - Schoolgirl Byebye
Endurance - Josiah and the Bonnevilles
The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We - Mitski
Old Kanawha - Philip Bowen
The Temple - Leo Robinson
In A Perfect World EP - Äyanna
Call Me Terry - Terry
Call Of The Knife - Chain Whip
Rivoltella - Jagger Holly
DON’T PANIC! - The Brislingtonez
I Killed Your Dog - L’Rain
somethingpet - June Henry
The Farewell Show Live from the Moon - The Spook School
The CARR Show - CARR
s/t - Dirty Talons
Valhalla, Definitely - World/Inferno Friendship Society
Let’s get Together (Live Boston 78) - The Meters
New Future City Radio - Damon Locks
Pharaoh - Pharaoh Sanders
Sightseeing & Short Negotiations - Cut Capers
Integrated Tech Solutions - Aesop Rocks
playing w/ fire - redveil
Beautiful and Brutal Yard - J Hus
Runaway - Tess & The Details
Cleaning Up With - Big Mess
ICHIJIKOKOKU - ATARASHII GAKKO!
Tokens - ¡Ay Carmela!
Theatre of the Absurd presents: C’est La Vie - Madness
Prince Fatty Meets The Gorgon In Dub - Prince Fatty, The Aggrovators
Late night charge, 20% increase - chakura
Songs of Grief, Love & Rage - Sage Against The Machine
The Secret To Life - FIZZ
EMOTIONAL TRASH - GUMX
PUNK ROCK PRINCESS EP - Dizzy Sunfist
Moonflower - Flying Racoon Suit
Deluxe Recycle - Gelugugu
Rest In Punk - HEY-SMITH
STRENGTH TO STRENGTH - Headie One
The Small Things - Saied Silbak
Live & Loose In The USA - Show Me The Body
U Street Anthology - rum.gold
Emergency, Vol. 1 - Rootweave
Mouthakerti - Noel Kharman
Uburu - Basketmouth
New Blue Sun - Andre 3000
Brain Decanter EP - Mouthparts
The Perfume of Decay - Tigerclub
Back To The Swamp - Bas Jan
Strength - Samory I
Simplicity - Matt Berry
Australia Stops - C.O.F.F.I.N.
Years of Regret EP - Mutilated State
Violence EP - Liv Wynter
Cheap Fiction - Steady Hands
Phantasmal Bells Below The Devil’s Pulpit - Ysbryndnos
You Want It? We Got it! - Classic Traffic
A For Effort, E For Attainment - Common Sense Kid
Nighttime Nights EP - Church Girls
From Gaza, With Love EP - Saint Levant
Sail Away - Clover’s Curfew
SANTIAGO - Russ
Music Is Victory Over Time - Sunwatchers
Cans - Regal Cheer
This Heathen Land - Green Lung
This City Needs… Part Deux - Murkage Dave
Ocean Floor - Ayanna Witter-Johnson
I See A World - Peatbog Faeries
Dusk - Glass Pastures
The Power and The Glory - Bad Ends
One Day - Fucked Up
Gloria - Sam Smith
My 21st Century Blues - RAYE
Sunrise Bang Ur Head Against Tha Wall EP - Nia Archives
Sangkar EP - Sial
Ghouls in the garage EP - The Dahmers
HANDCUFF EP - Handcuff
Raw Liquid Power EP - Water Machine
All Time Low - Scumbag Millionaire
Streams and Waterways - Witching Waves
Poems of Haf - Farah Chamma
STFU EP - REXREZ
Blackiss EP - Ekh & RT
s/t - Goodbye Viking
Vibes Don’t Lie - Skeete
Return Of The Loafer - Big Boss Sound
Punch Up - The Prizefighters
Light Up The Night - Babar Luck’s World Citizen Folk Band
I Hope Hell Isn’t Real - Roe Kapara
L.I.T. (Lost In Translation) - Tamera
Northern Gods - The Skapones
Let’s Start Here - Lil Yachty
Tinfoil Hat - Dolo Tonight
From Nothing To A Little Bit More - The Lanthums
Innit Innit Girl - Br3yana
DRAMA QUEEN - Kami Kehoe
Can’t Make Any Promises - Radiator Hospital
Expendables - Fake Names
All Gas No Breaks - Heavy Lungs
Escape the Compound - Landowner
Corner Tactics - Billiam
13egin - INFINITE
2023 S/S Collection - Kim Sung Kyu
Food for Worms - shame
Some Strange Notion - Rachel Baiman
Good Time/Hard Time - Teleman
The Chronicles of John Brute part 2 - Babar Luck
Endofunctor EP - The Buttress
Eulo Cramps - Call Super
Rat Saw God - Wednesday
Why Does The Earth Give Us People To Love? - Kara Jackson
Projecting - Seasaw
Amrat امرات - Rasha Nahas
s/t - Eyes of Others
Mangrove Big Head - Kontiki
Darkadelic - The Damned
Rewind - The Hardbeats
Workers States and Heartbreaks - Pavlov’s House
CLOWN BLOOD EP - Tokky Horror
Wet - Dick Move
Learn To Swim, A Mixtape - Joshua Idehen
A PROPHECY EP - Babebee
Telkin EP - Cihan Cengiz
Unconditional Love In Hi-Fi - Miesha and the Spanks
Sick Boi - Ren
Access To The Lonely - Rid Of Me
God Made Me An Animal EP - Better Lover
s/t EP - Vampire Slumber Party
This Is Why - Paramore
Poxy Pub EP - Blood or Whiskey
Suburban Condition - Dennis Cometti
Cocktails & FairyTales - The Magnetics
Leisureland - Wreckless Eric
JUNK or GEM - Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra
Black Classical Music - Yussuf Dayes
CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST - Tyler, The Creator
The Darker The Shadow, the Brighter The Light - The Streets
Be Lucky - Death Of Guitar Pop
Incendiara EP - Tomar Control
Zango - WITCH
Okemah Rising - Dropkick Murphys
Version Girl - Rhoda Dakar
The Altruistic Soul Sound of Pam International… part 2 - Pama International
Freak Frequency - Stuck
HAZE WAVE - LONE WOLF
Endless Summer Vacation - Miley Cyrus
Keep Drinking - Drinking Boys and Girls Choir
Sad Songs With Happy Endings - Atlas & Oracle
East Anglian Hardcore - The Domestics
Rich with Our Money - Rubella Ballet
come into your power - Blackbird Raum
s/t - Sister Wife Sex Strike
Feed Me To The Doves - Guardian Singles
s/t - Dead Pioneers
The Leaves of Autumn Symmetry EP - Perennial
If You’ve Got Nothing - Class
Super Snooper - Snooper
Devo Challenge Cup - Yonic South
Early Sessions - No Sports
What’s On TV? - Tee Vee Repairman
Smile - The Robocop Kraus
I Love You - Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers
You Are Who You Hang Out With - The Front Bottoms
Title Track - UNIVERSITY
Taken By Force - CIVIC
Dial M For Meds - Taking Meds
Locked In Time - Restraining Order
For Palestine - Toumba
Ten Stories High - Bouncing Souls
In Blood - Hey Colossus
Suffer No Fool - No Time
Desire Pathway - Screaming Females
Nowhere To Go But Up - Guided By Voices
Salt EP - Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers
Life Under The Gun - Militaire Gun
Treats - Poindexter
Good Times Can’t Last - Plastic Presidents
All Of Us Or None - J Navarro & The Traitors
s/t - The Atom Age
Peace Loving People - Pardoner
OTHERBOY - Dazy
City Lights - Wimps
Pealies - Emma Anderson
Mad Half Hour - Panic Pocket
A Moment In The Sun - silver biplanes
Fantastic Tales of the Sea - The Hannah Barberas
Unprofessional Conduct - The Photocopies
Top of the Pops - The Photocopies
Sunset Sea Breeze - Whitney’s Playland
War Poems, W rested - R. Ring
Symptoms of Survival - Dying Wish
Soft Covers - Soft Serve
s/t - Anya Baghina
The Greater Wings - Julie Byrne
Strange Disciple - Nation of Language
Afterpoem - Fatan Kanaan
We All Have Places That We Miss - Hollie Kenniff
Eye On The Bat - Palehound
The Candle and the Flame - Robert Forster
Lucky For You - Bully
Rabbit Rabbit - Speedy Ortiz
Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You Bonnie Prince Billy
Improved Means To Deteriorated Ends - Washer
Chaos Magick EP - Mega Infinity
Kill The Dream - Tripsun
Rivers of Hersey - Empire State Bastard
Silver Zebra - Hammer No More The Fingers
The Alley Parade - Traindodge
Outta Sync - Don Letts
And It’s Goodbye From Him - Duncan Reid and the Big Hands
Destination Dusseldorf - Skids
Your Next Wolf - The High Water Marks
Fine Dying - Making Friends
It Wasn’t Supposed To Be Like This - Pulses.
Permanent Trash - Pussy Gillette
Out My Head EP - Gavin Cole
Cut Off From The Sun EP - Granite State
Square One EP - Uzumaki
…So Unknown - Jesus Piece
None Like Home - killusonline
Exile - Bondbreakr
Multitudes - Feist
Diamonds - Luluc
Alone In A Crow - Oliver Tree
Sultan of Squat - The Cowboys
Agitator - Buddie
All In Good Time - Blues Lawyer
Quit - The Great Awake
FBF- FinalBossFight!
Constant Crisis - Trash Sound Conglomerate
You Want It? We Got It! - Classic Traffic
Disaster Preparedness Coloring Book - Dead Billionaires
Bad Taste - Private Wives
summer camp - anees
Escape Somehow - Peuk
Blaspheme Queen - Blair Gun
There’s More To It Than Climbing - Decent Criminal
Vertiginous Drops - Carol Hodge
s/t - Your Best Nightmare
Chosen At Random - INTHEWHALE
it’s all good - Keep Your Secrets
Everything Is Cool EP - Super Reg
Hotbox Daydreams - Teenage Tom Petties
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