{"id":32859,"date":"2024-01-02T02:38:44","date_gmt":"2024-01-02T00:38:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/?p=32859"},"modified":"2024-01-02T15:49:13","modified_gmt":"2024-01-02T13:49:13","slug":"2023-music-in-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/2024\/01\/2023-music-in-review\/","title":{"rendered":"2023 – Music in review"},"content":{"rendered":"
MUSIC<\/div>\n

Today is my 17th anniversary on\u00a0last.fm<\/a>\u00a0so it’s time I go back through the collected data and reflect on the music that soundtracked my 2023.<\/p>\n

For me it was the first vaguely normal year since 2019, in terms of my interactions with the ‘outside world’. It was a complicated year, as they often are, with extended periods of extreme mental stress and physical exhaustion which definitely affected my musical choices. Often I actually chose to watch things (shows and background noise on Youtube) rather than listen to music.\u00a0 The last month or so I made a conscious effort to change that and sought out new music from the best of lists that helpfully were popping up at the time.<\/p>\n

I know opinions on these kind of ‘wrapped’ summaries vary but I enjoy them and always check them out when I see them. So here’s a look at my favourite music from 2023.<\/p>\n

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A L B U M S<\/strong><\/p>\n

I tried to listen to more current music this past year. This had mixed results, as I discovered and latched onto a lot of older stuff too. Still, there were a lot of albums that I really enjoyed and even among my top-played ones it’s tricky to rank them. It’s funny how often I end up using the data as a guide and then rank them emotionally…but that’s what I’m going to do again now.<\/p>\n

Overall my favourite album was Caroline Polachek<\/strong>‘s\u00a0Desire, I want to turn into you<\/strong>.<\/em> It’s really cohesive and works great for repeated listens while still having some great standout moments. It felt polished and slick but still personal and genuine. Solid songwriting and melodies, with an underlying nostalgic feeling that really resonated with me.<\/p>\n

Aesop Rock<\/strong>‘s Integrated Tech Solutions\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>was my top-played album, and I’m only dropping to second because the songs themselves felt a little less stylistically distinctive than those on\u00a0Desire.<\/em> A great album though, and one that demanded my attention on every play.<\/p>\n

Third place goes to\u00a0Nokia & Ericsson<\/em><\/strong> by my longtime fave\u00a0Markus Kruneg\u00e5rd.\u00a0<\/strong>Is it his best album? Not at all. But it’s a cosy collection of songs, a safe and pleasant listen with a few really lovely standouts.<\/p>\n

Favourite albums:<\/strong><\/p>\n