Well we have once again made it through another year. As such, the time for reflection and list making is upon us. Did you listen to a lot of new music this year? If you did, congratulations because 2023 happened to be a pretty great one overall in terms of pure artistry and quality recordings. Some years it’s a struggle to name 50 records that both held my attention and truly impressed. This one both came together with relative ease, and left me a little sad not everything I loved in 2023 could be included. 50 is a manageable number, plus another 10 honorable mentions because I can’t help my ..read more

One thing that fascinates me about year-end lists is how little true consensus there tends to be between them. It makes the moments when everyone actually IS in agreement so much more powerful, and a testament to the quality of something. Call it the Paddington 2 effect, or I suppose the Dolly Parton effect, because nobody actually dislikes either of those two things. My favorite song of 2023 falls into that “broad consensus” category. So many people and publications ranked it as their top track of the year that seeing another list fall in line like this one might induce another eye roll and a ..read more

Actress – Push Power ( a 1 ) Actress · Actress – Push Power ( a 1 ) Cold War Kids – Run Away With Me Cold War Kids · Run Away With Me Lou Ridley – Bible Belt Lou Ridley · Bible Belt Axis: Sova – Persuasion Axis: Sova · Persuasion A Beacon School – KITM Grind Select · A Beacon School – KITM COBRAH – MANIC COBRAH · MANIC Flyte – Speech Bubble Flyte · Speech Bubble Goose – All I Need (LP Giobbi cover) LP Giobbi · All I Need (Goose Reimagined) Haley Blais – The Cabin Haley Blais · The Cabin Subsonic Eye – J-O-B Topshelf Records · Subsonic Eye – “J-O-B” Thirty Seconds to Mars – Seasons T ..read more

Fredo Bang – Bang Man Fredo_bang · Bang Man Jason Derulo – Body Count JasonDerulo · Body Count The Killers – Your Side of Town TheKillers · Your Side of Town Anella Herim – Who I Am NELLA · WHO I AM Camylio – strangers Camylio · strangers Dave & Tiakola – Meridian Dave · Dave, Tiakola – Meridian Jade LeMac – Got Me Obsessed Jade LeMac · Got Me Obsessed Miki Ratsula – lied to your therapist (ft. OSTON) miki ratsula · lied to your therapist (feat. OSTON) Naomi Sharon – Definition of Love Naomi Sharon · Definition of Love Natalie Jane – Do or Die Natalie Jane · Natalie Jane – Do or ..read more

Bombay Bicycle Club – I Want to Be Your Only Pet Bombay Bicycle Club · I Want To Be Your Only Pet Earl Sweatshirt & The Alchemist – Sentry (ft. MIKE) Earl Sweatshirt · Sentry (feat. MIKE) Eartheater – Pure Smile Snake Venom EARTHEATER · Pure Smile Snake Venom AUDREY NUNA – Locket AUDREY NUNA · locket Babe Rainbow – Juice of the Sun Babe Rainbow · Juice of the Sun Barry Can’t Swim – How It Feels Barry Can’t Swim · How It Feels caro? – 4ever1 caro<3 · caro? – 4ever1 Fridayy – Stand By Me Fridayy · Stand By Me Illiterate Light – Don’t Settle Down Illiterate Light · Don’t Settle Do ..read more

Bakar – Right Here, For Now bakar · Right Here, For Now Hannah Diamond – Perfect Picture Hannah Diamond · Hannah Diamond – Perfect Picture K.Flay – Irish Goodbye (ft. Vic Fuentes of Pierce the Veil) K.Flay · Irish Goodbye (feat. Vic Fuentes of Pierce The Veil) Adam Melchor – Why You? Adam Melchor · Why You? Dove Armitage – Brittle Dove Armitage · Brittle Emily Kinney – Broken Air Conditioning Emily Kinney · Broken Air Conditioning Frankie and the Witch Fingers – Empire Frankie and the Witch Fingers · Empire GAIKA – GUNZ GAIKA · GUNZ Jazmine Flowers – i’m DONE Jazmine Flowers · i’m DON ..read more

Alan Palomo – Club People Alan Palomo · Club People Tove Lo – Elevator Eyes Tove Lo · Elevator Eyes yeule – ghosts yeule · ghosts Benét – Overpowering Benét · Overpowering Del Paxton – Up With A Twist Topshelf Records · Del Paxton – “Up With A Twist” KEY! – Hey! Intro KEY! · Hey! Intro LAYA – Need 2 Know L?Y? · Need 2 Know P.G. Six – I Don’t Want to Be Free P.G. Six · I Don’t Want To Be Free Roisin Murphy – What Not to Do (Moodymann Remix) Miss Roisin Murphy · What Not To Do (Moodymann Remix) TOKiMONSTA – Eats the Tale (ft. Rochelle Jordan) TOKiMONSTA · Eats The Tale Yeat – bigger th ..read more

The actions and behavior of a crowd often dictate how well a particular performance goes. Inattentive, unenthusiastic, or just plain rude concertgoers can have an effect on the entire show experience both on stage and off. Last year for example, I saw The Smile perform at The Riviera Theatre and a self-professed “massive fan” of the band standing behind me proceeded to add running commentary through the entire set before someone eventually got security involved. It turned what should have been a transcendent show into a bit of a nightmare. Thankfully, the opposite is true as well. Great enthu ..read more

corook – emergency contact corook · emergency contact Rosie Darling – Villain Rosie Darling · Villain Vic Mensa – Blue Eyes Vic Mensa. · Blue Eyes The Beaches – What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Paranoid The Beaches · What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Paranoid BRELAND – Cowboy Don’t BRELAND · Cowboy Don’t City Morgue – HAHA WACO City Morgue · HAHA WACO Hitkidd – Not Average (ft. Gloss Up, Aleza, Slimeroni & K Carbon) Hitkidd · Not Average (feat. Gloss Up, Aleza, Slimeroni & K Carbon) jake minch – strip mall jake minch · strip mall J.I. – Thinking Hurts J.I. · Thinking Hurts La Rou ..read more

KennyHoopla – keep a window open// KennyHoopla · keep a window open// Slayyyter – Erotic Electronic slayyyter · Erotic Electronic The Streets – Too Much Yayo The Streets · Too Much Yayo Calum Scott – At Your Worst Calum Scott Music · At Your Worst Charlie Puth – Lipstick Charlie Puth · Lipstick Demi Lovato – Confident (Rock Version) Demi Lovato · Demi Lovato – Confident (Rock Version) Lost Girls – With the Other Hand Lost Girls · With the Other Hand MJ Nebreda & Sammy – Subliminal MJ Nebreda · MJ Nebreda & Sammy – Subliminal paris jackson – Hit Your Knees paris jackson · hit y ..read more