ACL 2023

ACL 2023: Sound Propositions

Mar 14, 2024

Dear Listeners! It’s Joseph. Alright, I should be finishing up an Out of the Box according to my made up schedule, but too much time has already passed so let’s get into my favorites of 2023. I needed time to make a mix, which you can find below. These lists were mostly complete by the end of the year, but I’ve been sitting on them wanting to make time to write a bit about all of them.

And that’s basically what the following lists are; records I would have written about if I had the time (or if someone were paying me). Our ACL end of year lists are always culled solely from records we reviewed on the blog that year, and voted upon by our entire staff. I wrote about many of those records as part of our ACL 2023 lists, but I’ve also included my personal top 20 of those lists.

Many of my favorite records were one’s I wrote about during the year: Shook World, Eternally Frozen, Down on Darkened Meetings, We Buy Diabetic Test Strips, Rhizomes, Radio Midnight, Oxmardyke, Occam Delta XV, Clamor, Cold Reading, Fractured Whole, Of Shadow and Substance, Glim. Upcoming episodes of the podcasts feature AGF and Matana Roberts, so more about their respective records very soon.

Other excellent records—Laurel Halo’s Atlas, The Necks’ Travel, and Lorraine James’ Gentle Confrontation—were records I enjoyed but don’t feel like I have anything to add I haven’t read elsewhere, and ultimately I didn’t include them below. Also Tujiko Noriko’s Crépuscule I & II was collectively our top ranked album of 2023, but again I didn’t feel the need to include it below.

Similarly in my hip hop listening, there are a number of good records I enjoyed a lot that just didn’t make the cut. Voir Dire, Earl Sweatshirt’s long awaited full-length collaboration with producer The Alchemist didn’t wow me, nor did Navy Blue’s DefJam debut, Ways of Knowing. But if you’re looking for laid back introspective rapping it was a strong year for MIKE, both for Faith is a Rock with Wiki produced by Alc and for his solo record Burning Desire, produced entirely by his alter ego DJ BLACKPOWER, demonstrating that MIKE’s become a serious contender for top rapper/producer working today. I wrote a review of KING VISION ULTRA’s SHOOK WORLD where I singled out contributions from Desde and Nakama. as particularly noteworthy, so I want to highlight Desde’s Tongue Original and Nakama.’s KINDLING_ as two EPs worth of honorable mention.

A few other honorable mentions: Open Mike Eagle’s another triumph of ghetto engineering had a lot to like, especially the shout outs to virtually the entire underground rap community, but ultimately it didn’t surpass 2022’s component system. Quelle Chris & Cavalier’s Death Tape 1: Black Cottonwood I thought we’d have gotten Cav’s new LP by now, I’m sure it will be worth the wait but we’ll know soon enough as Backwoodz just announced it will be out this spring. But this record, originally vinyl only in 2022 and then given wider release in 2023 was enough to tide us over as we wait for solo LPs from two great MCs. On 2022’s DEATHFAME Quelle raps “Every year, an album drop, I'm on top of the Best Ofs / And if I don't drop, shit, I'm on someone's album that was.” And he’s proven himself right, at least on my lists, as he has features on records by woods, B. Cool-Aid, Blockhead, and H31R.

Lastly, on the production tip, I’ll recommend azazone’s natural divergence, Dakim’s second short record under this monicker, as well as Knxwledge’s v2., his second house-inspired release. TELEVANGEL, formerly of the duo Blue Sky Black Death, produced some great records for Sleep Sinatra, Milc, and AJ Suede, and while none of those quite made it onto these lists, he’s definitely a producer to watch.

MMXXIII [mix]

Full tracklist at the end, but press play if you want something to listen to while reading the lists below.

ACL 2023: Sound Propositions

The following lists are drawn mostly from music I purchased in physical editions and spent a lot of time with this year. In other words, my personal favorites rather than any claim to objective ranking (as if such a thing were possible).

Lets begin with my top 20 list of ACL records, many of which I blurbed for the ACL 2023 features.

ACL TOP 20
my picks from what was reviewed on the blog this year (alphabetical)

Aho Ssan ~ Rhizomes
Aki Onda ~ Transmissions from the Radio Midnight
Chris Watson & Philip Jeck ~ Oxmardyke
Chrisman ~ Dosage
Cruel Diagonals ~ Fractured Whole
Dustin Wong ~ Perpetual Morphosis
Flora Yin Wong ~ Cold Reading
Giuseppe Ielasi ~ Down on Darkened Meetings
Grails ~ Anches en Maat
Jessica Pavone ~ Clamor
KING VISION ULTRA ~ SHOOK WORLD
KMRU ~ glim
Lea Bertucci ~ Of Shadow and Substance
Lea Bertucci & Lawrence English ~ Chthonic
Marja Ahti ~ Tender Membranes
Matana Roberts ~ Coin Coin Chapter Five: In the Garden…
Richard Skelton ~ selenodesy
Siavash Amini ~ eremos
Quatuor Bozzini / Éliane Radique ~ Occam Delta XV
WaqWaq Kingdom ~ Hot Pot Totto

BEATS and/or RHYMES
we don’t cover vocal music at ACL but I’m (still) seriously thinking about starting a hip hop column (chronological)

KING VISION ULTRA ~ SHOOK WORLD (Jan)
I’ve already mentioned this record above but even so, GENG aka KVU’s mixtape-style reworking of samples from Algiers’ Shook, with a slew of collaborators, deserves your time.

Nappy Nina ~ Mourning Due (Feb)
Naps’ latest LP is a great place to start for those unfamiliar with the Brooklyn via Oakland rapper. With production from JWords, Nelson Bandela, dane.zone and more, as well as features from Cavalier, Moor Mother, maassai, and Mavi among others, deserves much more attention.

Liv.e ~ Girl In The Half Pearl (Feb)
I first encountered Liv.e as one of the bright spots on Earl Sweatshirt’s underwhelming Feet of Clay, and her 2020 debut confirmed her as a talent to watch. Her sophomore effort is even more captivating with production from John Carroll Kirby, Mndsgn, Aaron Liao, and Liv.e herself. Expect to hear even more from Liv.e in the future.

B. Cool-Aid ~ Leather Blvd. (Mar)
Pink Siifu and Ahwlee follow up their classic 2017 collab BRWN with more soulful and smooth celebration with a host of guests.

Backwoodz Studioz ~ High Bias (April)
As a fan of compilations, especially comprised of rare and unreleased material, Backwoodz’ High Bias was never far from my stereo all year. A few of these tracks ended up on the rare tour only vinyl only Armand Hammer BLK LBL, but more importantly this tape whet our appetite for new music coming from Cavalier, Breeze Brewin, and the rest of the Backwoodz crew.

billy woods & Kenny Segal ~ Maps (May)
Hiding Places was an unprecedented critical and commercial success for woods and Segal, so the pressure was on for their follow up. Maps is a perfect conceptual sequel to Hiding Places without treading the same ground. Perhaps woods’ most accessible record yet, and undoubtedly one of the highlights of 2023.

Child Actor ~ Ajai II instrumentals (May)
Child Actor was my favorite producer of 2022, and Serengeti’s Ajai II was already included in my 2022 end of year list, but Ajai II Instrumentals earns its place here. Serengeti truncated multiple beats for his arrangements, in some cases using just a few seconds, so hearing the full beats is almost akin to completely new music. In anycase, Ajai II wasn’t even available digitally until 2023, so check both versions out if you missed them.

Fatboi Sharif and Steel Tipped Dove ~ Decay (July)
Dove had teased he had tons of tracks with Sharif, and “Carousel” on High Bias added to the anticipation for their full-length Decay.

August Fanon ~ Cool Tings (Aug)
Another self-released beat tape from August Fanon, but until we get a proper instrumental record from one of Backwoodz’s best beatmakers, well, I’ll take what I can get.

Vel Nine ~ NINA (Aug)
Got turned on to this LA MC a while back and enjoyed her collab with producer NugLife. Vel’s got a sharp pen and a ton of personality, real star quality here and another one to watch. Mark my words.

Roper Williams ~ Infinite Victory Loop (Sept)
Known for production work for Pink Siifu, Navy Blue and others, Infinite Victory Loop marks the official debut from Jersey’s Roper Williams, with rhymes from frequent collaborators YL, Pootie, AKAI SOLO, and Sharif.

Fielded ~ Plus One (Sept)
We’ve come to know Fielded’s voice from their standout features across the Backwoodz catalog. Plus One finds the singer paired with a range of producers (including Kenny Segal, The Lasso, Child Actor, and DJ Haram) and MCs (including woods, ELUCID, Sharif, and They Hate Change), but is also testament that Fielded can hold their own.

Armand Hammer ~ We Buy Diabetic Test Strips (Sept)
Not much more to say about this masterpiece than what I’ve already said in my very lengthy review, but woods and ELUCID, joined by some of the best producers and musicians in the business, just keep getting better.

MIKE ~ Burning Desire (Sept)
I first tapped in to MIKE after he got a shoutout on Earl’s great Some Rap Songs, but his records never really grabbed me. For whatever reason, that changed in 2023. As much as I dig Faith is a Rock, his collab with Wiki produced by The Alchemist, I’m giving the edge to Burning Desire, with stunning production from MIKE.

Defcee & Messiah Musik ~ The Golem of Brooklyn Original Soundtrack (Sept)
Not many books get their own soundtrack, but that’s just what Defcee and Messiah have done for Adam Mansbach's novel of the same name, both powerful reflections on Jewish-American identity. Closer “Met: Confederate Flags In Tel-Aviv” is a powerful ending, all the more so as we have witness the horrors of the last few months.

Blockhead ~ The Aux (Nov)
The legendary producer returns for one of the best rap albums of the year (and of his career) with features from billy woods, ELUCID, Navy Blue, Open Mike Eagle, Breeze Brewin, Aesop Rock, Quelle Chris, Brian Ennals, RXK Nephew, Bruiser Wolf, Danny Brown, Despot, and even that is not the full list. No duds here. It’s a sausage party unfortunately, but that’s literally the only criticism I can muster. Don’t sleep on this one.

Danny Brown ~ Quaranta (Nov)
I enjoyed SCARING THE HOES, with JPEGMAFIA, more than I expected to, but it was Brown’s late year entry Quaranta, on Warp Records, that made the bigger impression on me. Maybe it’s the impending celebration of my own fortieth, but Quaranta finds the eccentric Detroit MC at his most elevated.

H31R ~ Headspace (Nov)
On their sophomore record, rapper maassai and producer JWords continue to develop their rapport while taking their style in new directions. The only features come from Semiratruth and Quelle Chris, keeping the emphasis on maassai’s deft wordplay and JWords pathbreaking electronic productions.

AKAI SOLO ~ Verticality///Singularity & ONLY THE STRONG REMAIN (Dec)
Two limited release records squeezed in at the end of the year cement AKAI’s status as an MC to watch. But tbh I’ve made my own playlist of 13 tracks from both projects that I feel is more to the point, mostly as I just don’t vibe with much of TwentyFifthNight’s and WavyBagels’ production which dominates much of these records. But we also have beats from Pepper Adams, August Fanon, Earl, argov, Black Noi$e, Roper Williams, Nicholas Craven, and Iblss. There’s no denying that AKAI is building a formidable body of work, but his best is yet to come.

G’s Us ~ WHAT THEM DOGS DON'T KNOW THEY KNOW (Dec)
Another great record snuck in at the very end of the year, featuring raps from R.A.P. Ferreira and AJ Suede with beats from Steel Tipped Dove.

UNDER THE RADAR
some of my favorite records that might have slipped under your radar (chronological)

Ian Wellman ~ Sedge (Dec/Jan)
Tim Hecker ~ Infinity Pool (Jan)
Powers / Pulice / Rolin ~ Prism (Mar)
Booker Stardrum & Chris Williams ~ Relay (Apr)
Joni Void ~ Everyday is the Song (May)
Lucy Liyou ~ Dog Dreams (개꿈) (May)
Cole Pulice ~ If I Don't See You in the Future, I'll See You in the Pasture (June)
jaimie branch ~ Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war)) (Aug)
M. Sage & Zander Raymond ~ Parayellowgram (Sept)
Kofi Flexxx [Shabaka Hutchings] ~ Flowers in the Dark (Sept)
Irreversible Entanglements ~ Protect Your Light (Sept)
Speaker Music ~ Techxodus (Sept)
Youmna Saba ~ Wishah وِشاح (Oct)
Yara Asmar ~ synth waltzes and accordion laments (Oct)
Glauco Salvo ~ Field Studies Vol. 6 (Oct)
Kate Carr ~ A Field Guide To Phantasmic Birds (Nov)
AGF - poemproducer (Nov)
Patrick Shiroishi ~ I was too young to hear silence (Nov)
Chuquimamani-Condori ~ DJ E (Nov)
Matmos ~ Return to Archive (Nov)

PRODUCER

Steel Tipped Dove

Besides the aforementioned records (Decay, THEM DOGS), Dove also produced great records for Nosaj, andrew, Alaska, and AJ Suede, and a solo album with features from MC Paul Barman, R.A.P. Ferreira, ShrapKnel, and others. The instrumentals from those five records were later woven together and released as the self-explanotory double cassette, 53 dove instrumentals from 2023. Dove’s style is flexible, as evidenced by these beats, but hearing them all together gave me a renewed appreciation for the ear behind it all.

MIX

Fact Mix 893: KMRU & Aho Ssan & Sevi Iko Dømochevsky

3 ALBUM COVERS

Nappy Nina’s Mourning Due

James Bernard & anthéne ~ Soft Octaves

Giovanni Lami ~ Monumento Fiume

BOOKS

A “series of short stories, children’s books, young adult” are a few of the many projects listed in the outro to “New Museum” that will keep billy woods’ character occupied before before making his next album (“if the right producers step to me”). I don’t know if there are any screenplays for indie films waiting to get made, but in 2023 woods released a children’s book, A is for Anarchist, illustrated by m. musgrove (whose work was featured on the special editions of both of woods’ full length collaborations with Kenny Segal, and Steel Tipped Dove’s Call Me When You're Outside). Word is woods has a memoir in the works as well.

VIDEO GAMES

My colleagues David and Chris (aka *Press A*) are much more tuned in to video game offerings than I am. I’ve never been much of a gamer, though I bought a Nintendo Switch at the start of the pandemic. I still sometimes play Fortnite, and like so many others I spent a good amount of time this summer exploring three layers of Hyrule in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. But if there’s one game from 2023 that deserves special mention it’s This War of Mine. An atypical war game, This War of Mine centers the civilian experience of conflict, survival rather than first-person shooter, as characters search for food, supplies, rest, and security. Inspired partly by the siege of Sarajevo, the game also draws upon other conflicts, and as such is less about the particularities of any given dispute and more about the collateral damage. Experiencing This War of Mine during the ongoing siege of Gaza has been surreal and humbling. I was reminded of Juan Goytisolo’s Stage of Siege, a brilliant and underappreciated novella that is unfortunately even more relevant today than when it was written.

TOP 10 COMICS / OGNs

20th Century Men
Immortal X-Men
It's Lonely At The Centre Of The Earth
Friday
Monica
Night Fever
Rare Flavours
Shubeik Lubeik
Spectators
Uncanny Spider-Man
Where the Body Was

Spectator’s from BKV and Niko Henrichon every Monday in my mailbox has been an interesting counterpoint to real world sex and violence, and while a page or two each week isn’t much, I enjoy watching the story develop serially and being able to go back and re-read in larger segments brings something different out of the experience.

After so many Reckless installments, it was a treat to have Brubaker and Phillips give us something a bit different with Night Fever, but I enjoyed the recent Where The Body Was even more. Perhaps because I read it after Daniel Clowes’ excellent Monica, but I couldn’t help but notice fascinating parallels between the two works, which I think speaks to generational concerns more than direct influence. But if I had to choose one story that stands as the best I read this year, it would have to be Monica. Perfectly paced, stands up to multiple readings, and does things narratively that can only be done in this medium.

RIP

David Jolicoeur aka Plug 2 aka Trugoy The Dove of De La Soul (1968-2023)

Steve Roden (1964-2023)

Brian McBride (1970-2023)

Les McCann (1935-2023)

Catherine Christer Hennix (1948-2023)

Amp Fiddler (1958-2023)

Ryuichi Sakamoto (1952-2023)

Ahmad Jamal (1930-2023)

Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou (1923-2023)

Michael Snow (1928-2023)

Peter Brötzmann (1941-2023)

Carla Bley (1936-2023)

Martin Davidson [Emanem Records] (1942-2023)

Tony Oxley (1938-2023)

Pope.L (1955-2023)

MMXXIII [mix]

TRACKLIST

Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet - “[Tuning]” (The Lab, San Francisco, CA May 2023)

JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown ~ “Scaring the Hoes” (Scaring the Hoes)

Matana Roberts - “no way chastened” (Coin Coin Chapter Five: In the Garden…)

Blockhead featuring Armand Hammer - “Give Thanks” (The Aux)

Nappy Nina feat. Moor Mother - “Stone Soup” (Mourning Due)

Aho Ssan feat Nicolas Jaar - “Le Tremblement” (Rhizomes)

Giuseppe Ielasi - “A3” (Down on Darkened Meetings)

Andrea Belfi - “setteottavi” (Eternally Frozen)

Tim Hecker - “Anxiety” (No Highs)

Alexander Grawoig - “Movement 3” (So Little Remains)

Moor Mother, Nicole Mitchell, Nduduzo Makhathini - “One for Archie”

Roper Williams feat. Fatboi Sharif - “Hooptie” (Infinity Victory Loop)

Statik Selektah feat Pos. of De La Soul - “Round Trip (for Dave)” (Round Trip)

Cruel Diagonals - “Intuit Sensate” (Fractured Whole)

Joni Void - “Negative Loop” (Everyday is the Song)

Dustin Wong - “Elegant Stumbler's Atelier” (Perpetual Morphosis)

KING VISION ULTRA + Desde - “Cold Hex” (SHOOK WORLD)

Chuquimamani-Condori - “Engine” (DJ E)

Fatboi Sharif x Roper Williams feat ft. E L U C I D - “Scrabble Board Pieces” (Planet Unfaithful)

Irreversible Entanglements - “root = branch” (Protect Your Light)

jaimie branch - “world war ((reprise))” (Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war)))

Flora Yin Wong - “Nectar Dripping” (Cold Reading)

d/p/i - “drogado” (Maldita Vita)

Kofi Flexxx feat. ganavya - “increase awareness” (flowers in the dark)

Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet - “Seen from above” (The Lab, San Francisco, CA May 2023)

billy woods x Kenny Segal- “houdini” (Maps)

liv.e - “our father” (Girl In the Half Pearl)

MIKE, Wiki, and The Alchemist - “mayor’s a cop” (Faith is a Rock)

KVU + lord kayso - “media training” (SHOOK WORLD)

H13R (maassai and JWords) feat Quelle Chris - “down down bd” (Headspace)

Fielded feat Pink Navel (prod. by Kenny Segal) - “The Way It is” (Plus One)

matana roberts - “how prophetic” (Coin Coin Chapter Five: In the Garden…)

B. Cool-Aid (Pink Siifu & Ahwlee) feat Quelle, Denmark - “Brandy, Aaliyah” (Leather Blvd.)

KMRU - “room” (glim)

Lucy Liyou - “april in paris” (Dog Dreams)

MIKE feat. Earl Sweathshirt - “plz don’t cut my wings” (Burning Desire)

SEC_ - “orogenesi” (Tutto A Posto Niente In Ordine)

Lorraine James - “Fruit 1” (5 a day)

AGF - “MOVEbuild” (poemproducer)

sharif x dove - “think pieces” (Decay)

danny brown - bass jam (Quaranta)

Child Actor - “wife was adopted” (AJAI II instrumentals)

Armand Hammer feat Pink Siifu and Moor Mother - “Don’t Lose Yr Job” (WBDTS)

Liv.e (prod. MNDSGN) - RESET! (Girl In the Half Pearl)

Shapednoise feat. Armand Hammer - “Family” (Absurd Matter)

KVU + Nakama. - “Swing!” (SHOOK WORLD)

aesop and woods - “Living Curfew” (Integrated Tech Solutions)

woods and aesop - “waiting around” (Maps)

KVU + maassai - “clean facelift” (SHOOK WORLD)

Armand Hammer (prod. Kenny Segal) - “Total Recall” (WBDTS)

Matana Robets - “But I Never” (Coin Coin Chapter Five: In the Garden…)

Off World - “Orientation” (Off World 3)

AGF - “fieldWORK” (poemproducer)

a closer listen

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