As per usual, Stereogum has a good selection of the best albums that have been released so far this year. Waxahatchee keeps the top spot, whereas Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross are keeping the list's back (spot No. 50). However, there's quite a lot happening in between. A good tool to be updated about (some of) the best albums we've seen this year.
The season of best lists is over, but not at Dan Runcie's Trapital. He has segmented their best content - essays, podcasts, memos, and more - into different categories like fanbase, partnership, investing, ownership, labels, and streaming. Runcie promises that's just the start, and the page will be built out in the meantime. Find it - here.
Two Madonna fans, Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden, are suing the pop star for starting her New York concert late, claiming that they “had to get up early to go to work” the next morning. Fellows and Hadden bought tickets to a 13 December show at Barclays Center as part of Madonna’s Celebration tour. The show was advertised to start at 8.30pm, yet the 65-year-old musician took the stage after 10.30pm, according to the lawsuit. The concert was held on a Wednesday, the late finish on the weeknight show affected Fellows' and Hadden's ability to “take care of their family responsibilities the next day”, NBC New York reports.
Condé Nast is merging Pitchfork with men’s magazine GQ — a move that will result in layoffs at Pitchfork, including the exit of editor-in-chief Puja Patel, the AP reports. Features editor Jill Mapes, also being laid off, posted on X/Twitter: “after nearly 8 yrs, mass layoffs got me. glad we could spend that time trying to make it a less dude-ish place just for GQ to end up at the helm.” GQ editor-in-chief Will Welch, who assumed the top editorial role at the magazine in 2018, started his career as a music journalist on the staff of The Fader. Platformer's Casey Newton looks for reasons for Pitchfork's decline (mostly AI and streaming).
"From Young Thug’s witness expert to a top London barrister, key members from Art Not Evidence have spoken about why we need to restrict the use of rap lyrics as evidence in court" – the NME reports about the important issues of freedom of speech and artistic liberties. "As of June 2023, over 240 people in the UK have been jailed after a court decision that was in part based on their involvement with rap music".
"Jazz-inspired outfits, dimly lit venues and lo-fi looks are all on the rise" - Pinterest has made a prediction based on an analysis that draws on billions of searches on the website. So, this is the future: "In 2024, Millennials and Gen Z will trade in their electronic beats for something far more retro: vintage jazz".
The YouTube music critic Anthony 'The Needle Drop' Fantano also made a selection of the 50 best albums of 2023, with punk veteran Jeff Rosenstock's 'HELLMODE' coming out at the top. Still, a list of fresh, even some avant-garde music.
"...A document of a road-tested rock band riding high, a landmark of songwriting as world-building, and as a reminder that well-worn sounds can still be combined into something brilliantly, bracingly new" - Stereogum wrote about their choice for the best album of 2023. Check out all the 50.
"'False Lankum' defies genre while yanking classics into the 21st century... An undeniable work of scale and dynamic builds, with few songs ending sounding as they started" - Guardian points out in favor of their choice of the best album of 2023, released quietly by the Irish folk band Lankum. Check out all the 50 selected.
"This year, favorite artists like SZA, Sufjan Stevens, and Fever Ray returned with reliably stunning releases, rising artists like Nourished by Time, Amaarae, and yeule pushed the boundaries with breakthrough releases that set the tone for where music might go next, and some of the year’s biggest surprises also happened to be just the thing we needed (hello, André 3000 flute album!)" - Pitchfork points out introducing their selection of the best 50 albums of 2023. It's Pitchforky, of course, but still, worth checking.
