Year-End Lists

Consequence: 50 Best Albums of 2023

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

1. Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds)
   Yves Tumor
2. Rat Saw God
   Wednesday
3. Javelin
   Sufjan Stevens
4. Maps
   Billy Woods & Kenny Segal
5. Desire, I Want to Turn Into You
   Caroline Polachek
6. Weathervanes
   Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
7. Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?
   McKinley Dixon
8. Zach Bryan
   Zach Bryan
9. The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We
   Mitski
10. Härvest
    Poison Ruïn
11. The Window
    Ratboys
12. Mid Air
    Paris Texas
13. Raven
    Kelela
14. After the Magic
    Parannoul
15. Proof of Life
    Joy Oladokun
16. Softscars
    yeule
17. Water Made Us
    Jamila Woods
18. everything is alive
    Slowdive
19. That! Feels Good!
    Jessie Ware
20. 72 Seasons
    Metallica
21. Sundial
    Noname
22. My 21st Century Blues
    Raye
23. Girl with Fish
    Feeble Little Horse
24. My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross
    Anohni and the Johnsons
25. Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
    Lana Del Rey
26. Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love?
    Kara Jackson
27. D-DAY
    Agust D
28. Guts
    Olivia Rodrigo
29. All of This Will End
    Indigo De Souza
30. Voir Dire
    Earl Sweatshirt and the Alchemist
31. The Age of Pleasure
    Janelle Monáe
32. Blondshell
    Blondshell
33. Heavy Heavy
    Young Fathers
34. Love in Exile
    Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, and Shahzad Ismaily
35. Everyone's Crushed
    Water From Your Eyes
36. Michael
    Killer Mike
37. Struggler
    Genesis Owusu
38. Cartwheel
    Hotline TNT
39. But Here We Are
    Foo Fighters
40. Scaring the Hoes
    JPEGMafia and Danny Brown
41. I Killed Your Dog
    L'Rain
42. Echo the Diamond
    Margaret Glaspy
43. The Lamb as Effigy
    Sprain
44. the record
    boygenius
45. Work of Art
    Asake
46. Something to Give Each Other
    Troye Sivan
47. New Blue Sun
    André 3000
48. Stone
    Baroness
49. Careful!
    Deeper
50. I Inside the Old Year Dying
    PJ Harvey

Ann Hornaday: The 10 Best Movies of 2023, as published by The Washington Post. In her opening essay, Hornaday nods to a number of other films that "could easily have ended up on my top 10 list this year."

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

1. American Fiction
   Cord Jefferson
2. The Holdovers
   Alexander Payne
3. You Hurt My Feelings
   Nicole Holofcener
4. Anatomy of a Fall
   Justine Triet
5. Barbie
   Greta Gerwig
5. Oppenheimer
   Christopher Nolan
6. Joan Baez: I Am a Noise
   Miri Navasky, Karen O’Connor, and Maeve O’Boyle
7. Past Lives
   Celine Song
8. Reality
   Tina Satter
9. Air
   Ben Affleck
10. Origin
    Ava DuVernay

The Quietus: Albums of the Year 2023. In his opening essay, Luke Turner writes:

Indeed, intelligence reaches us that end-of-year album charts in other publications have been far less predictable than usual, with no consensus and a bewildering array of records in contention. We are happy to see our comrades joining us in chaos and disorder.

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

1. False Lankum
   Lankum
2. I Inside the Old Year Dying
   PJ Harvey
3. Hive
   Teeth of the Sea
4. La Baracande
   La Nòvia
5. Look Over the Wall, See the Sky
   John Francis Flynn
6. Valosaasteen sekaan
   Musta Huone
7. To Be Cruel
   Khanate
8. Abstract Concrete
   Abstract Concrete
9. Quaranta
   Danny Brown
10. BOWN
    Mariam Rezaei
11. 2222 AND AIRPORT
    Shit and Shine
12. Before We Lie Down in Darknesse
    The Inward Circles
13. Carry Them With Us
    Brighde Chaimbeul
14. Excelsior
    Slauson Malone 1
15. *1
    Rắn Cạp Đuôi Collective
16. PoiL Ueda
    PoiL Ueda
17. The Anxiety of Symmetry
    Bill Orcutt
18. Ecorcha/Taillée
    La Tène
19. Crash Recoil
    Surgeon
20. Food Near Me, Weather Tomorrow
    babybaby_explores
21. Oxmardyke
    Philip Jeck & Chris Watson
22. I Killed Your Dog
    L'Rain
23. Archangel Hill
    Shirley Collins
24. Selvutsletter
    Lost Girls
25. Mares
    Annelies Monseré
26. Black Dog
    Gazelle Twin
27. An Cnoc Mór
    Moundabout
28. Prisoners Of Love And Hate
    Apostille
29. Yallah Beibe
    MC Yallah
30. The Hum
    James Ellis Ford
31. The God Phone
    Lunch Money Life
32. Dreamer
    Nabihah Iqbal
33. All Of This Is Chance
    Lisa O'Neill
34. Birds Catching Fire in the Sky
    UKAEA
35. In Blood
    Hey Colossus
36. Fifth Continent
    Alexander Tucker & Keith Collins
37. With A Hammer
    yaeji
38. Rhizomes
    Aho Ssan
39. Nails
    Benefits
40. Love Lines
    Nuovo Testamento
41. Raven
    Kelela
42. Flatland Explorations Vol.2
    Babau
43. EP/64-63
    EP/64
44. CYRM
    Oxn
45. UK Grim
    Sleaford Mods
46. Supercluster
    JAAW
47. Negative Stars
    Skull Practitioners
48. Talàn
    Raphael Rogiński
49. Abri Cyclonique
    Polobi & the Gwo Ka Masters
50. Casement
    Enola Gay
51. Coin Coin Chapter Five: In the garden…
    Matana Roberts
52. Future's Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate
    Bell Witch
53. Shook
    Algiers
54. Galo
    oyamao
55. Tête-à-tête
    Ruth Anderson & Annea Lockwood
56. Dissolution Grip
    KMRU
57. Echolocation
    Mendoza Hoff Revels
58. Radical Romantics
    Fever Ray
59. Imagine This Is a High Dimensional Space of All Possibilities
    James Holden
60. Maps
    Billy Woods & Kenny Segal
61. Sundial
    Noname
62. We
    a.P.A.t.T.
63. Mermaids
    Natalia Beylis
64. Traveller Song / Thanksong
    Cassandra Miller
65. Land of Sleeper
    Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs
66. L'Herbe de Détourne
    Sourdurent
67. Choose Mortality
    Flesh & The Dream
68. Abscission
    Torpor
69. Of Darkness and Light
    Årabrot
70. The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte
    Sparks
71. Yfory
    Yfory
72. Pop-Up! Ker-Ching! and the Possibilities of Modern Shopping
    Mozart Estate
73. Vol. 1
    Synthfreq
74. Source of Denial
    Nihiloxica
75. House of All
    House of All
76. Modern Music
    One More Grain
77. When we were that what wept for the sea
    Colin Stetson
78. Intimism
    Nicky Wire
79. In Brine
    jellyskin
80. Saved!
    Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter
81. Black
    Kevin Richard Martin
82. Inferiority Complex
    Yossari Baby
83. 55355
    Zhao Cong
84. Sept Duos Pour Guitar Acoustique Et Piano Préparé
    Stephen O'Malley & Anthony Pateras
85. Of The Sign...
    Spirit Possession
86. J/P/N
    Kasai
87. Purge
    Godflesh
88. The King
    Anjimile
89. Tamiditine
    Moussa Tchingou
90. We Sick
    deVon Russell Gray / Nathan Hanson / Davu Seru
91. Saint
    MXLX
92. Even God Has A Sense Of Humor
    Maxo
93. A Treatise on Ceremonial Magic
    Dodo Resurrection II
94. Fire Worshipper
    The Stargazer’s Assistant
95. Meant Like This
    Rezzett
96. Homenaje a Remedios Varo
    John Zorn
97. My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross
    Anohni and the Johnsons
98. We Cater To Cowards
    Oozing Wound
99. Exit Simulation
    Niecy Blues
100. Eulo Cramps
     Call Super

This list summarizes other lists, including these:

• Quietus: Jennifer Lucy Allan: The Best Of 2023

Maria Crawford: Best Postry Books of 2023, as published by Financial Times

[see also 2022]

• Mothersong
  Amy Acre
• Taking Liberties
  Leontia Flynn
• To 2040
  Jorie Graham
• School of Instructions

  A Poem
  Ishion Hutchinson
• The Lights
  Ben Lerner

Kate Kellaway: Best Poetry Books of 2023, as published by The Guardian

• Balladz
  Sharon Olds
• School of Instructions

  A Poem
  Ishion Hutchinson
• Was It for This
  Hannah Sullivan
• Enter the Water
  Jack Wiltshire
• From Our Own Fire
  William Letford

Stephanie Zacharek: The 10 Best Movies of 2023, as published by Time Magazine

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

1. Fallen Leaves
   Aki Kaurismäki
2. Maestro
   Bradley Cooper
3. The Zone of Interest
   Jonathan Glazer
4. Priscilla
   Sofia Coppola
5. Revoir Paris
   Alice Winocour
6. Past Lives
   Celine Song
7. Killers of the Flower Moon
   Martin Scorsese
8. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
   Kelly Fremon Craig
9. Dreamin' Wild
   Bill Pohlad
10. Passages
    Ira Sachs

Honorable Mentions

• Oppenheimer
  Christopher Nolan
• Master Gardener
  Paul Schrader
• Poor Things
  Yorgos Lanthimos
• The Covenant
  Guy Ritchie
• Little Richard: I Am Everything
  Lisa Cortés
• Emily
  Frances O'Connor
• One Fine Morning
  Mia Hansen-Løve
• The Taste of Things
  Trần Anh Hùng
• Origin
  Ava DuVernay
• All of Us Strangers
  Andrew Haigh
• Perfect Days
  Wim Wenders

Cahiers du Cinéma: Top Ten Films of 2023

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

1. Trenque Lauquen
   Laura Citarella
2. Close Your Eyes
   Víctor Erice
3. Anatomy of a Fall
   Justine Triet
4. The Fabelmans
   Steven Spielberg
5. Fallen Leaves
   Aki Kaurismäki
6. Unrest
   Cyril Schäublin
7. Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World
   Radu Jude
8. The Temple Woods Gang
   Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche
9. Last Summer
   Catherine Breillat
10. A Prince
    Pierre Creton
10. Showing Up
    Kelly Reichardt

Esquire: 10 Best TV Shows of 2023, compiled by Brady Langmann and Adrienne Westenfeld

[see also 2020 • 2010s • 2018 • 2017]

1. The Bear
2. Reservation Dogs
3. Succession
4. Jury Duty
5. The Last of Us
6. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
7. Barry
8. What We Do in the Shadows
9. Foundation
10. The Great

Esquire: 20 Best Albums of 2023

[see also 2010s]

1. Volcano
   Jungle
2. Guts
   Olivia Rodrigo
3. Unreal Unearth
   Hozier
4. Hackney Diamonds
   The Rolling Stones
5. Kaytraminé
   Kaytraminé
6. My 21st Century Blues
   Raye
7. Michael
   Killer Mike
8. Higher
   Chris Stapleton
9. AudioLust & HigherLove
   SG Lewis
10. Heroes & Villains
    Metro Boomin
11. Ends & Begins
    Labrinth
12. Endless Summer Vacation
    Miley Cyrus
13. Let's Start Here
    Lil Yachty
14. Zach Bryan
    Zach Bryan
15. Good Riddance
    Gracie Abrams
16. New Blue Sun
    André 3000
17. the record
    boygenius
18. My Soft Machine
    Arlo Parks
19. This Is Why
    Paramore
20. Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
    Lana Del Rey

Esquire: The 20 Best Books of 2023

[see also The Best Books of 2022 • The Best Nonfiction Books of 2022 • The 50 Best Books of 2021 • The Best Books of the 2010s • The Best Nonfiction Books of 2019]

1. Chain-Gang All-Stars
   Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
2. The Rediscovery of America

   Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History
   Ned Blackhawk
3. A Living Remedy
   Nicole Chung
4. Monsters

   A Fan's Dilemma
   Claire Dederer
5. Poverty, by America
   Matthew Desmond
6. The Wager

   A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
   David Grann
7. The Possibility of Life

   Science, Imagination, and Our Quest for Kinship in the Cosmos
   Jaime Green
8. The Vaster Wilds
   Lauren Groff
9. Doppelganger

   A Trip into the Mirror World
   Naomi Klein
10. Yellowface
    R.F. Kuang
11. Biography of X
    Catherine Lacey
12. Lone Women
    Victor LaValle
13. Wednesday's Child
    Yiyun Li
14. Absolution
    Alice McDermott
15. Wrong Way
    Joanne McNeil
16. America Fantastica
    Tim O'Brien
17. Saving Time

    Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock
    Jenny Odell
18. The Late Americans
    Brandon Taylor
19. Crook Manifesto
    Colson Whitehead
20. Land of Milk and Honey
    C Pam Zhang