Fall's Best, 2023

Fall was punctuated with a move to Tidal, some beautiful hikes in Sedona, 'fall trap', and a realization that this was easier to do seasonally, rather than monthly. Here are the tracks and albums that most defined my Setpember, October, and November.

PinkPantheress, Heaven Knows (2023)

She didn't let me into her party in Brooklyn, but that's alright because this album eats. Tracks 4,5,6, are a trifecta. 'Bury Me' features Kelela in the poppiest way I've ever heard her, and if you haven't had a chance to see the 'Nice to Meet You' music video and grew up watching 2000s Disney Channel, go watch it.

Bjork & Rosalía, Oral (2023)

'Oral' is great. It's giving ABBA when they used their original 1980s vocals for the Voyage cut, 'Just a Notion', but better. This is ballad lyrics over a reggaeton beat. This is saving salmon at its finest.

Frank Ocean, Pyramids (2012)

You can listen to this if you need to pass 9 minutes by without realizing it.

Bjork, Medulla (2004)

Medulla was the very last album I tangoed with out of all Bjork's discography. Sonically, my brain really likes instruments, especially synthesizers, so I was disenchanted with the album the first couple of times I tried to listen to it. However, all I needed was some cozy fall weather and the beautiful Moya Brennan sample in Chicane's trance opus, 'Saltwater', to pivot into Medulla. My favorite tracks are 'Vokura' and 'Desired Constellation', which has an inversed sample from Vespertine's opener, 'Hidden Place'.

Doja Cat, Scarlet (2023)

This album perhaps most dominated my Fall. This album pendulates from icy to cozy, from professions of love to verbally eviscerating 'the girls'. Midway through the album, I heard one of the most striking vocal deliveries ever: the cyclic switch from self-assertive 'Scarlet' to vulnerable valley girl in the last verse of 'Agora Hills'. Also, 'Agora Hills' is just a beautiful, beautiful song sonically. Some other standouts for me are 'Shutcho' (which was added to the album at the last minute), 'Wet Vagina', 'Attention', and 'Skull and Bones'.

Troye Sivan, Something to Give Each Other (2023)

Honestly, I don't enjoy this whole album. That said, I really like the tracks I do enjoy. Usually fans will profess which songs on an album were missed-opportunity singles. Well, I think management did a great job here because 'Rush', 'Got Me Started', and 'One of Your Girls' (the first three singles) are this album at its best, in my opinion. The only other track I consistently listen to from the album is 'What's the Time Where You Are?', which lyrically resembles 'So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings' by my third top artist of the year on Spotify Wrapped, Caroline Polachek.

Sofia Kourtesis, Si Te Portas Bonito (2023)

This song would eat up a new age lounge. The synth riff present throughout the song snakes in and out, and Kourtesis' vocals are interesting and pleasant. The chanty vocal sample present in pockets of the track add just enough energy to call this a 'dance' track, but I find the track overall quite conducive to introspection.

Opus III, Mind Fruit (1992)

I have an internal list of my personal top thirty favorite tracks of all time, and this album's track 'It's a Fine Day' instantly entered that list. Some things helped: a gorgeous live performance of the song by FKA Twigs at Vogue World this year, and lyrical overlap with Kate Bush's 'Cloudbusting' (possibly my favorite uplifting song of all time). A whole different sonic vibe, 'I Talk to the Wind' (and its instrumental addon, 'Flow') and 'Evolution Rush' are also standouts.

Ultramarine, Every Man and Woman is a Star (1991)

This album introduced me to folktronica. I enjoy listening to the track 'Discovery' when I'm up in the mountains. 'Honey' is also a super wistful track. This album is goofy throughout but contains quite a range of emotions, sounds, and interesting vocal samples.

cassö, RAYE, D-Block Europe, Prada (2023)

RAYE doesn't need to give context in her songs. She's in the back of the nightclub, sipping champagne; she's 22, in Paris, stripper's breasts in her face. I admire this very much. Also, I admire the fact that the producer, cassö, is a 20-year-old in college. Also, in case you want to try, this song is difficult to sing!