Year-End Lists

Les Inrockuptibles: Best Albums of 2023

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Desire, I Want to Turn Into You
   Caroline Polachek
2. I Inside the Old Year Dying
   PJ Harvey
3. Chaos For The Fly
   Grian Chatten
4. Again
   Oneohtrix Point Never
5. The Ballad of Darren
   Blur
6. Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
   Lana Del Rey
7. Heavy Heavy
   Young Fathers
8. trip9love...???
   Tirzah
9. My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross
   Anohni and the Johnsons
10. Tracey Denim
    Bar Italia
10. The Twits
    Bar Italia
11. Raven
    Kelela
12. Fuse
    Everything but the Girl
13. Paranoia, Angels, True Love
    Christine and the Queens
14. Sit Down for Dinner
    Blonde Redhead
15. Tirer la nuit sur les étoiles
    Étienne Daho
16. O Monolith
    Squid
17. Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love?
    Kara Jackson
18. Javelin
    Sufjan Stevens
19. I Killed Your Dog
    L'Rain
20. Carnaval
    Lucie Antunes
21. Flowers At Your Feet
    Rahill
22. Dreamer
    Nabihah Iqbal
23. L'Idiophone
    Forever Pavot
24. Dragging the Needlework for The Kids at Uphole
    Index for Working Musik
25. Isn't It Now?
    Animal Collective

Paste Magazine: The 50 Best Albums of 2023

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Rat Saw God
   Wednesday
2. Javelin
   Sufjan Stevens
3. Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?
   McKinley Dixon
4. Desire, I Want to Turn Into You
   Caroline Polachek
5. The Window
   Ratboys
6. The Greater Wings
   Julie Byrne
7. I Killed Your Dog
   L'Rain
8. The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We
   Mitski
9. My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross
   Anohni and the Johnsons
10. Madres
    Sofia Kourtesis
11. Lucky for You
    Bully
12. Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love?
    Kara Jackson
13. Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war))
    Jaimie Branch
14. Spike Field
    Maria BC
15. Guts
    Olivia Rodrigo
16. Raven
    Kelela
17. Erotic Probiotic 2
    Nourished By Time
18. the record
    boygenius
19. All of This Will End
    Indigo De Souza
20. Everything Harmony
    The Lemon Twigs
21. Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds)
    Yves Tumor
22. Greg Mendez
    Greg Mendez
23. Maps
    Billy Woods & Kenny Segal
24. Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
    Lana Del Rey
25. Sundial
    Noname
26. Time Ain't Accidental
    Jess Williamson
27. Girl with Fish
    Feeble Little Horse
28. Desolation's Flower
    Ragana
29. Softscars
    yeule
30. Heaven Is a Junkyard
    Youth Lagoon
31. Jenny from Thebes
    The Mountain Goats
32. Saved!
    Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter
33. That! Feels Good!
    Jessie Ware
34. Good Living Is Coming For You
    Sweeping Promises
35. Strange Disciple
    Nation of Language
36. Everyone's Crushed
    Water From Your Eyes
37. Heavy Heavy
    Young Fathers
38. Scaring the Hoes
    JPEGMafia and Danny Brown
39. Weathervanes
    Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
40. Cut Worms
    Cut Worms
41. Vidrio
    Titanic
42. Cartwheel
    Hotline TNT
43. Oh Me Oh My
    Lonnie Holley
44. I Inside the Old Year Dying
    PJ Harvey
45. Tomorrow's Fire
    Squirrel Flower
46. We Buy Diabetic Test Strips
    Armand Hammer
47. Yard
    Slow Pulp
48. Fish Bowl
    Kate Davis
49. Sun Arcs
    Blue Lake
50. This Stupid World
    Yo La Tengo

Loud And Quiet: Albums of the Year 2023, voted by contributors

[see also 2022 • 2021]

1. False Lankum
   Lankum
2. Scaring the Hoes
   JPEGMafia and Danny Brown
3. in​||FLUX
   Anna B Savage
4. Vidrio
   Titanic
5. Heavy Heavy
   Young Fathers
6. yew
   Rosie Carr
7. Formal Growth In The Desert
   Protomartyr
8. Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds)
   Yves Tumor
9. Look Over the Wall, See the Sky
   John Francis Flynn
10. trip9love...???
    Tirzah
11. Girl with Fish
    Feeble Little Horse
12. Maps
    Billy Woods & Kenny Segal
13. I've Got Me
    Joanna Sternberg
14. Land of Sleeper
    Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs
15. Black Classical Music
    Yussef Dayes
16. Nails
    Benefits
17. The Greater Wings
    Julie Byrne
18. Everyone's Crushed
    Water From Your Eyes
19. O Monolith
    Squid
20. Mid Air
    Paris Texas
21. I've Seen a Way
    Mandy, Indiana
22. the record
    boygenius
23. What's Bad Enough?
    Comfort
24. Perfect Picture
    Hannah Diamond
25. Systemic
    Divide and Dissolve
26. Reflections Vol. 1: Let the Moon Be a Planet
    Steve Gunn & David Moore
27. Less
    deathcrash
28. Tracey Denim
    Bar Italia
29. Standers
    Craven Faults
30. A New Tomorrow
    Zulu
31. My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross
    Anohni and the Johnsons
32. End Of Everything
    Mega Bog
33. The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We
    Mitski
34. Could Have Done Anything
    Charlotte Cornfield
35. UK Grim
    Sleaford Mods
36. I Get Into Trouble
    Maple Glider
37. ს ა დ გ უ რ ი [Station]
    Beqa Ungiadze
38. I Killed Your Dog
    L'Rain
39. Erotic Probiotic 2
    Nourished By Time
40. Good Living Is Coming For You
    Sweeping Promises

Decibel Magazine: The Top 40 Albums of 2023

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2012]

1. Ontological Mysterium
   Horrendous
2. The Enduring Spirit
   Tomb Mold
3. American Gothic
   Wayfarer
4. ...So Unknown
   Jesus Piece
5. Distortions
   Godthrymm
6. The Rime Of Memory
   Panopticon
7. Saturnian Bloodstorm
   Lamp Of Murmuur
8. Glacial Domination
   Frozen Soul
9. Hive Mind Narcosis
   Thantifaxath
10. Little Bird
    The Keening
11. Blackbraid II
    Blackbraid
12. War Remains
    Enforced
13. Only Constant
    Gel
14. Heimdal
    Enslaved
15. Fatale
    The Night Eternal
16. The Weight Of Remembrance
    Tribunal
17. Obsidian Refractions
    Cruciamentum
18. Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts
    Autopsy
19. Prosaic
    Mizmor
20. Access To The Lonely
    Rid Of Me
21. Ruiner
    Krieg
22. Objects Without Pain
    Great Falls
23. Chaos Horrific
    Cannibal Corpse
24. Find Out
    Filth Is Eternal
25. Unholy Deification
    Incantation
26. Outsider
    Night Demon
27. Untopia
    Kruelty
28. Violent Creed Of Vengeance
    Smoulder
29. VII
    Will Haven
30. Fires in the Fall
    Krigsgrav
31. Ghost At The Gallows
    Spirit Adrift
32. Mourning Moon
    Final Gasp
33. Terrasite
    Cattle Decapitation
34. Lumi Vaientaa Kysymykset
    Circle of Ouroborus
35. Incendium
    Witching
36. Air Not Meant For Us
    Fires in the Distance
37. Dying of Everything
    Obituary
38. Reclusive Decay
    Street Tombs
39. Wreath Of Bleeding Snowfall
    Kommodus
40. Black Medium Current
    Dødheimsgard

Rough Trade: UK Albums of the Year 2023

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019]

1. Strange Disciple
   Nation of Language
2. Javelin
   Sufjan Stevens
3. Desire, I Want to Turn Into You
   Caroline Polachek
4. False Lankum
   Lankum
5. Heavy Heavy
   Young Fathers
6. Black Classical Music
   Yussef Dayes
7. I Thought I Was Better Than You
   Baxter Dury
8. We Buy Diabetic Test Strips
   Armand Hammer
9. Good Lies
   Overmono
10. Chaos For The Fly
    Grian Chatten
11. Rat Saw God
    Wednesday
12. Stereo Mind Game
    Daughter
13. The Nation's Most Central Location
    Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan
14. Aşk
    Altın Gün
15. Chronicles of a Diamond
    Black Pumas
16. Wait Til I Get Over
    Durand Jones
17. Fuse
    Everything but the Girl
18. Blondshell
    Blondshell
19. I've Seen a Way
    Mandy, Indiana
20. Brain Worms
    RVG

Mojo Magazine: 75 Best Albums of 2023. I took the liberty of changing #56 to the recent Janelle Monáe album instead of the one that came out in 2013, which I imagine is what they meant.

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. The Ballad of Darren
   Blur
2. I Inside the Old Year Dying
   PJ Harvey
3. False Lankum
   Lankum
4. The Candle And The Flame
   Robert Forster
5. Heavy Heavy
   Young Fathers
6. Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
   Lana Del Rey
7. Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war))
   Jaimie Branch
8. Seven Psalms
   Paul Simon
9. Fuse
   Everything but the Girl
10. The Greater Wings
    Julie Byrne
11. Cousin
    Wilco
12. Sea of Mirrors
    The Coral
13. Travel
    The Necks
14. Chaos For The Fly
    Grian Chatten
15. The Last Rotation Of Earth
    BC Camplight
16. Love in Exile
    Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, and Shahzad Ismaily
17. the record
    boygenius
18. Imagine This Is a High Dimensional Space of All Possibilities
    James Holden
19. Council Skies
    Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
20. Relentless
    The Pretenders
21. Maps
    Billy Woods & Kenny Segal
22. Mercy
    John Cale
23. Nothing Lasts Forever
    Teenage Fanclub
24. All Of This Is Chance
    Lisa O'Neill
25. This Stupid World
    Yo La Tengo
26. My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross
    Anohni and the Johnsons
27. Pop-Up! Ker-Ching! and the Possibilities of Modern Shopping
    Mozart Estate
28. London Ko
    Fatoumata Diawara
29. Cacti
    Billy Nomates
30. The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte
    Sparks
31. Javelin
    Sufjan Stevens
32. Jump On It
    Bill Orcutt
33. Joan Of All
    Sarabeth Tucek
34. Black Rainbows
    Corinne Bailey Rae
35. Memento Mori
    Depeche Mode
36. Archangel Hill
    Shirley Collins
37. UK Grim
    Sleaford Mods
38. Turn the Car Around
    Gaz Coombes
39. everything is alive
    Slowdive
40. Dead Meat
    The Tubs
41. I Play My Bass Loud
    Gina Birch
42. On Pain
    Lloyd Cole
43. Animals
    Kassa Overall
44. Defiance Part 1
    Ian Hunter
45. Blómi
    Susanne Sundfør
46. Pieces of Treasure
    Rickie Lee Jones
47. Isn't It Now?
    Animal Collective
48. The Feminine Divine
    Dexys
49. Intercepted Message
    Osees
50. The Window Is The Dream
    Jana Horn
51. Curyman
    Rogê
52. Angel Numbers
    Hamish Hawk
53. Space Heavy
    King Krule
54. Jelly Road
    Blake Mills
55. Sundown
    Eddie Chacon
56. The Age of Pleasure
    Janelle Monáe
57. Weathervanes
    Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
58. Oh Me Oh My
    Lonnie Holley
59. Hit Parade
    Róisín Murphy
60. Every Loser
    Iggy Pop
61. Being
    Baaba Maal
62. Angels & Queens
    Gabriels
63. The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We
    Mitski
64. Everything Harmony
    The Lemon Twigs
65. End of World
    Public Image Ltd.
66. Eat the Worm
    Jonathan Wilson
67. Mélusine
    Cécile McLorin Salvant
68. Billy Valentine and The Universal Truth
    Billy Valentine & The Universal Truth
69. Tracey Denim
    Bar Italia
70. O Yinne!
    Alogte Oho and his Sounds of Joy
71. Reflections of a Soul Dimension
    Edgar Jones
72. Valley Of Heart's Delight
    Margo Cilker
73. Protect Your Light
    Irreversible Entanglements
74. Silver
    Say She She
75. Black Bayou
    Robert Finley

Uncut Magazine: 75 Best Albums of 2023

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012]

1. False Lankum
   Lankum
2. Seven Psalms
   Paul Simon
3. Cousin
   Wilco
4. I Inside the Old Year Dying
   PJ Harvey
5. This Stupid World
   Yo La Tengo
6. Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
   Lana Del Rey
7. Oh Me Oh My
   Lonnie Holley
8. First Two Pages of Frankenstein
   The National
9. The Greater Wings
   Julie Byrne
10. Mercy
    John Cale
11. Weathervanes
    Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
12. everything is alive
    Slowdive
13. The Ballad of Darren
    Blur
14. Black Rainbows
    Corinne Bailey Rae
15. Valley Of Heart's Delight
    Margo Cilker
16. I Am Not There Anymore
    The Clientele
17. All Of This Is Chance
    Lisa O'Neill
18. Hackney Diamonds
    The Rolling Stones
19. Sea of Mirrors
    The Coral
20. Jump for Joy
    Hiss Golden Messenger
21. Travel
    The Necks
22. Archangel Hill
    Shirley Collins
23. Dear Departed
    Sam Burton
24. The Candle And The Flame
    Robert Forster
25. Kassi Valazza Knows Nothing
    Kassi Valazza
26. the record
    boygenius
27. An Ever Changing View
    Matthew Halsall
28. Joan Of All
    Sarabeth Tucek
29. Memento Mori
    Depeche Mode
30. Rat Saw God
    Wednesday
31. Being
    Baaba Maal
32. Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war))
    Jaimie Branch
33. Love in Exile
    Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, and Shahzad Ismaily
34. Anarchist Gospel
    Sunny War
35. Nothing Lasts Forever
    Teenage Fanclub
36. Billy Valentine and The Universal Truth
    Billy Valentine & The Universal Truth
37. Sundown
    Eddie Chacon
38. My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross
    Anohni and the Johnsons
39. villagers
    Califone
40. Ozarker
    Israel Nash
41. V
    Unknown Mortal Orchestra
42. The Last Rotation Of Earth
    BC Camplight
43. Jelly Road
    Blake Mills
44. Fuse
    Everything but the Girl
45. Multitudes
    Feist
46. No Fixed Point In Space
    Modern Nature
47. She Brings Me Back To The Land Of The Living
    Cian Nugent
48. The Returner
    Allison Russell
49. Strays
    Margo Price
50. Standers
    Craven Faults
51. London Brew
    London Brew
52. The Feminine Divine
    Dexys
53. Amatssou
    Tinariwen
54. 12
    Ryuichi Sakamoto
55. Relentless
    The Pretenders
56. She Brings Me Back To The Land Of The Living
    Cian Nugent
57. Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love?
    Kara Jackson
58. Goodbye, Hotel Arkada
    Mary Lattimore
59. The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte
    Sparks
60. Shone a Rainbow Light On
    Setting
61. London Ko
    Fatoumata Diawara
62. Emotional Contracts
    Deer Tick
63. Furling
    Meg Baird
64. Intercepted Message
    Osees
65. Consciousology
    Dot Allison
66. Hands That Bind (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
    Jim O’Rourke
67. Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You
    Bonnie “Prince” Billy
68. UK Grim
    Sleaford Mods
69. Come With Fierce Grace
    Alabaster DePlume
70. Isn't It Now?
    Animal Collective
71. Reflections Vol. 1: Let the Moon Be a Planet
    Steve Gunn & David Moore
72. Javelin
    Sufjan Stevens
73. Chaos For The Fly
    Grian Chatten
74. Jim Ghedi & Toby Hay
    Jim Ghedi & Toby Hay
75. III
    Elijah McLaughlin Ensemble