from queer black metal to gospel noise-punk: 23 under-the-radar (ish) albums i couldn't stop listening to in 2023

Aesop Rock, Integrated Tech Solutions
Not sure there's ever been a rapper who's gotten so much better with age as Aesop Rock. Rather than a slight against his earlier work, which is itself iconic in underground hip-hop, Aesop's last four solo full-lengths are arguably the best of his career. Always a master of intricate wordplay, Aesop's storytelling is more streamlined now, with plenty of emotional wallops punctuating his best bars. This release sees Aes sending up corporate culture in the guise of a "Severance"-like technology company openly embracing the cult playbook.

Algiers, Shook
Algiers might be the most important band in America that no one's listening to. I don't understand how these guys aren't bigger. Previous releases were a riveting Southern gothic take on Black music, weaving soul, R&B, hip-hop, punk and more into an intoxicating stew of political and social commentary on race, religion and culture. Their latest leans heavily into rap, and the guests are aplenty: Billy Woods, Zach de la Rocha, Backxwash, Samuel T. Herring. 

Billy Woods and Kenny Segal, MAPS
My favorite rap album of the year goes to Billy Woods for his tour travelogue, MAPS. Woods is arguably one of the best rappers alive, and this stripped-down, no-nonsense, no-filler take on the realities of a touring musician is as insightful as it is delightful. The production from Kenny Segal is as off-kilter and unexpected as Woods' lyrics. Def a can't-miss. ​

Drain, LIVING PROOF
If Warped Tour were still a thing, Epitaph's Drain would be a headliner simply for its "Good Good Things" single. Typically leaning heavily into hardcore punk, the penultimate track here is a melodic and melancholic pop-punk lament about a relationship that's seen some shit. 

Earl Sweatshirt, The Alchemist, VOIRE DIRE
Few rappers pack as much into so little, and on VOIRE DIRE — a legal term that translates to "speak the truth" in French — Earl continues his string of incredibly compelling short, chorus-less tracks. Backed by Alchemist productions, VOIRE DIRE has a laidback, easygoing vibe to it, like it's soundtracking a "Grand Theft Auto" game, while boasting of a warmth like that of an old broken-in hoodie.

G's Us, WHAT THEM DOGS DON'T KNOW THEY KNOW
R.A.P. Ferreira's my favorite working rapper, but I was not even remotely familiar with his MC counterpart here, A.J. Suede, whose workingman's delivery provides a steady contrast to Ferreira's wordplay playfulness. This surprise release dropped in the dead of December deserves broader recognition.

Home is Where, the whaler
Is it still an emo revival if the genre's on its fifth wave? Eh, who cares — especially with an album this GD enjoyable. I've listened to this album more than any other this year, save maybe for Ragana's Desolation's Flowers. If you're into second-wave emo from the '90s — bands like SDRE, Mineral, Braid, Cap'n Jazz — you'll fall hard for this, I promise.

Janelle Monáe, The Age of Pleasure
I'm a sucker for '90s-sounding R&B that leans heavily into neo-soul, and though I wouldn't necessarily classify this release as that, it's got similar laid-back vibes in service of female sexual empowerment, and it's as, well, pleasurable as the title suggests. A soundtrack of the summer contender with plenty of warmth for these dreary winter months, too.

JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown, SCARING THE HOES
Much has been written about Danny Brown's personal struggles with drugs and alcohol — a lot by Brown himself even — and how those struggles make for such entertaining music. In contrast to Brown's solo release this year, Quaranta, which laid bare those struggles with a depressingly sober levity, Brown's joint album with JPEGMAFIA benefits heavily from JPEG's bombastic production, which injects a cartoonish layer of satire to many of Brown's more-outlandishly grave lines. 

MSPAINT, Post-American
Sometimes you can hear a band's music in their name, almost like a form of synesthesia. MSPAINT is a synth dance-punk band with uplifting spoken-shouted lyrics from a frontman that looks like Richard Simmons if Simmons was an anti-capitalist raised on Black Flag and interested in self-discovery.

Molly, Picturesque
When I first heard Molly, I swore it was Doves, the late-'90s/early 2000s English band that became practically synonymous with atmospheric, guitar-driven euphoric indie rock often featured on soundtracks like Garden State and The OC. I didn't know how much I missed this particular sound until I stumbled on Molly. 

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, Land of Sleeper
2023 continued my rebirth as a hardcore and heavy music fan, and this album was a big reason why. Chuggy heavy-as-fuck riffs and Black Sabbath-inspired growls and howls provided a pretty apt soundtrack to a heavy-as-fuck year. 

Ragana, Desolation's Flowers
My favorite album of the year, hands down. I've listened to this one so much, it's essentially comfort music for me now. Which is in sharp contrast to the actual sounds on the recording. Originating out of the DIY punk scene in Olympia, Washington, Ragana is a queer, female two-piece black metal outfit whose members alternate between guitar, drums and singing. The most affecting record I've heard in years. 

Rev. Kristin Michael Hayter, SAVED!
A top five release for me this year, this album is otherwise particularly hard to categorize. Hayter previously recorded under the name Lingua Ignota — a 12th century Latin phrase that essentially means "unknown language," and was used to refer to mystical experiences by the abbess Hildegard of Bingen. For Hayter, the phrase was a perfect distillation of her performance art, which attempted to reframe and reclaim religious language as a purging and healing mechanism for a domestic abuse survivor. Those performances took a physical and spiritual toll on Hayter, though, and this year she released a new project that hopes to accomplish many of the same things as Lingua Ignota. This go-round, those efforts fuse Pentacostal-style Gospel music with DIY noise music, resulting in one of the most original and cathartic releases I've ever heard. 

slowdive, everything is alive
slowdive's return is an absolute triumphant. None of the energy, songsmanship or vibes are gone, despite decades of inactivity. Like a bear returning from hibernation, in fact, this album has all the richness, hunger and ambition you'd expect from an album with this title. One of the best "cup filling" releases of the year. 

Steve Gunn and David Moore, Let the Moon Be a Planet
For my money, Steve Gunn is one of the most exciting guitar players alive. This release with David Moore won't immediately prove me right, though, as it's a subdued guitar-and-piano duo that's as chill as an early Spring morning in the hills of Kentucky. But it's Gunn's adaptability, skill and prolificness that sucks me in. His way with melody ensures even the slightest of releases will keep you coming back. 

Sufjan Stevens, Javelin
Perhaps Stevens' magnum opus, Javelin distills all of the indie musician's work into one of his most emotionally devastating albums of his career. The post-album news that his longterm partner passed away prior to the album's drop bleeds through the songs here, with a similarly heavy effect as his Carrie & Lowell release from several years ago. That I've returned to this one as much as I have, despite some of that heaviness, is a testament to Stevens' songwriting and arrangements. 

William Tyler & The Impossible Truth, Secret Stratosphere
This live instrumental album, which soundtracked many a bike ride this summer, sees Tyler paired with a full band and expands his sound into a weird amalgam of searching guitar rock flecked with countrified Charlie Daniels Band vibes. Along with Gunn, Tyler's one of my favorite guitarists alive. 

Year of the Knife, Dust to Dust
This three-song EP doesn't count as an album, but damn, it goes HARD — especially the single, "Victim" — that it gets an honorary spot here. The band's full length, No Love Lost, is beyond solid and holds a particular resonance after the band's car accident earlier this year. 

Yo La Tengo, This Stupid World
YLT albums are almost formulaic at this point. There's an opening track that stretches beyond 10 minutes and dissolves into a wave of feedback and distortion. And there are 10 or so tracks of perfect indie rock music. None of this gets old, even decades into their rarified career. What a band. 

Young Nudy, Gumbo
Young Nudy's Gumbo is some true knucklehead rap — with a lot of foodie bars. Sometimes it's a bit dumb but in the most fun way possible. Of course, I love low stakes rap albums that reward repeat listens and never overstay their welcome. This was the best of the bunch from 2023. 

yeule, softscars
Another album I'm not clear on how to describe, yeule's softscars is something of a misnomer. Occasionally soft, yeule wear their scars on their sleeves, resulting in an abrasive form of art school electro-pop indebted to '90s alternative. Twinkling piano "ballads" with orchestral swells appear in songs like "ghosts," while the instrumental piano interlude "fish in the pool" provides a gentle lullaby before elsewhere ethereal vocals give way to bloodletting screams and shimmering guitars sharpen into discordant razors. 

Zulu, A New Tomorrow
A new tomorrow indeed. Zulu's a much-hyped-about hardcore band outta LA and their debut full-length lives up to that hype, surpasses it and then some. An ode to Black joy, A New Tomorrow excels at cementing hardcore firmly in the lineage of Black music through sound assemblages, sampling, lyrical callouts, subject matter and more. I can't wait to see where this band goes next.