Vehlinggo and friends are back for another set of compelling end-of-year lists that go all over the place to recommend great music to you — our favorites of 2023 in fact. Joining me this year are familiar folks who have been involved in some or all of these articles since we started doing this in 2019 — Mecha Maiko, J.P. Bernier of Le Matos, Graham Reznick, and Rachel Reeves — with electronic producers Antoni Maiovvi and Johan Agebjörn joining us for the first time.
As is true every year, this year’s faves list keeps the rules fairly loose. Contributors sometimes share five selections and others 10 or (like me) even 20. Some write blurbs and others just go with a bulleted list sans comment. You’ll find a few of us will agree on titles, leaving them to pop up more than once. Hell, someone even recommended a book this year. Ultimately, though, they always curate a meaningful selection of music that has a decent chance of leaving an impression on you, fair reader. Let us start.
Aaron Vehling
(Founder, publisher, editor, and lead writer for Vehlinggo)
Believe it or not, but customarily I don’t write anything beyond recommending you some songs, albums, and/or EPs in alphabetical order. However, I am, like the others, providing you with links (where available). Have fun! [Note: All links are either to Bandcamp or Spotify.]
- Adam Miller — Illusion Pool
- André 3000 — New Blue Sun
- Augustus Muller — My Animal (Original Score)
- Charli XCX and Leo Birenberg — Bottoms (Original Motion Picture Score)
- Christopher Bear and Daniel Rossen — Past Lives (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
- Drum & Lace — Frost
- The Flints — “End of Me (Feat. Electric Youth)”
- Fawn — Flamboyant NonViolent
- FM Attack — Cosmic
- Heartracer — The Feel
- Joe Hisaishi — The Boy and The Heron (Original Soundtrack)
- M83 — Fantasy
- Mac Quayle — Leave the World Behind (Soundtrack from the Netflix Film)
- Makeup and Vanity Set — FM
- Kris Bowers (with Michael Abels) — Chevalier (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
- Ruth Radelet — “Shoot Me Down”
- Ryuichi Sakamoto — 12
- Samantha Urbani — Showing Up
- SebastiAn — TROPIC (Original Score)
- Tim Hecker — Infinity Pool (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
- Vince Clarke — Songs of Silence
- Wild Nothing — Hold
Rachel Reeves
(Writer for Vehlinggo, Rue Morgue, Dread Central, Daily Grindhouse, and more. Host/guest of several podcasts. Find her on Twitter.)
- Pangaea – Changing Channels — A highly danceable and energetic new album from the acclaimed English DJ, these new tracks are the perfect prescription for stale dancefloors or waning workday motivation.
- Ryuichi Sakamoto – 12 — Composer, musician, producer, artist, icon. A final gift to the world, 12 provides an extremely intimate glimpse into the final stages of Sakamoto’s cancer journey through 12 piano and ambient electronic pieces. Equally haunting and cathartic, Sakamoto shares an element of himself and effectively captures what words could never have.
- Carla Patullo – So She Howls — Moving, rich, and beautiful, Patullo crafts a melodic blend of pop, classical, and ambient, all her own. Strengthened by her signature use of strong vocal elements and a talented roster of performers, So She Howls is a dark horse album that one would be wise not to underestimate.
- Ludwig Göransson – Oppenheimer (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) — Now I am become [Göransson], the destroyer of [mediocre film scores].
- Drum & Lace – Cobweb (Original Motion Picture Score) — Man, do I love a classic, confident horror score. Unsettling and eerie, atmospheric and patient, there’s an enthusiasm behind this music that I only wish the studios had in the film itself. This one quickly crawled under my skin and has settled in for good.
- Depeche Mode – Memento Mori — A dark and dreamy return to form that will have you questioning what year it is in no time.
- Fever Ray – Radical Romantics — An ever-evolving listen that provides increasingly rewarding returns on investment the more you indulge.
- Kris Bowers – Chevalier (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) — In collaboration with composer Michael Abels, Bowers delivers a stunningly beautiful window into the world of violinist-composer Joseph Bologne. It’s a powerful and important story that Bowers easily does justice.
- Yeule – Softscars — This is the future; the future is now.
- Laurel Halo – Atlas — There are albums you blast in your car, albums you work out to, albums you pop on for a good cry or impromptu dance party, and albums you listen to through headphones while sitting on the floor pondering life and the very meaning of existence; this is one of those albums. Don’t fight it. Just let the swirls of sonic fog envelop you.
Mecha Maiko
(Juno-nominated electronic music artist, known for albums such as Not OK and Let’s)
These end-of-year-lists are always difficult because 1) I rarely listen to music right when it comes out; and 2) I know too many people who make great music. I could make a top five list just based solely on my close friends but that’s too easy.
So — this time, I’ll try something different! I’ll do my best to include what I’ve been rotating heavily in 2023, along with a couple releases that snuck under the radar for me that I think deserve more attention. I will do my absolute best not to choose songs from artists who I’m currently working with. (Sorry, you know I love you!)
- Druum & Melatron – Weapons of Mass Subversion — I became acquainted with this electro/synthpunk duo through Ninechecker, a Toronto-based artist who’s also collaborated with them. Once I heard the opening track, I was sold.
- Analytica – Analytica — This album came out in 2020 but I only learned about it this year, so consider it making up for lost time. This is authentic, hardware-driven synthpop that is catchy, subversive, and untouched by the cheese factor that often plagues the synthwave world. Simply put, these guys are on another planet. Word on the street is that Analytica will be gracing us with a new album in 2024, so dust off your turntables.
- Kalibr+ – Survivor Series — A self-described “conscious jungle and drum & bass” compilation album that lives up to its name. It’s lush, dark, sometimes playful, but always beautiful. I’m very impressed by this release from Kalibr+.
- Free Range – Wild Life — A frisky experimental electronic album that smashes a bunch of my favorite genres together and then pulls them apart like sweet, sticky bread. Downtempo, danceable, contemplative, aggressive — I love to hear an album that isn’t afraid to run the sonic gamut and deliver a few surprises.
- xJermsx – “Drugs in the Bathroom” — This track is a guilty pleasure of mine, but I only feel guilty because I went through really effective D.A.R.E. training as a kid. But listen and just try not to surrender yourself to its playful, swelling-under-the-foundation-of-the-house bassline. I DARE ya.
Jean-Philippe Bernier (of Le Matos)
(Le Matos are the geniuses behind Join Us and Coming Soon; and composers of Turbo Kid, Summer of 84, Ninja Eliminator, and Exode; releases on MONDO/Death Waltz, Kitsuné, Vehlinggo Presents, and more. Bernier is also a notable cinematographer, shooting films such as Dinner in America, Turbo Kid, and Summer of 84.)
Top 5 Albums
- Amtrac — Extra Time
- Sextile — Push
- Clark — Sus Dog
- Worriedaboutsatan — The Pivot
- Portrayal of Guilt — Devil Music
5 Favorite Original Soundtracks
- Vitalic — Disco Boy
- Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe — Grasshopper Republic
- Christopher Bear and Daniel Rossen — Past Lives
- Leo Birenberg & Charli XCX — Bottoms
- Naoki Sato — Godzilla Minus One
Top Remixes
- The Chemical Brothers — “Goodbye” (Erol Alkan Rework / Edit)
- Nothing But Thieves — “Welcome to the DCC” (Fred Falke Remix)
- The Presets — “14U+14ME” (Royalston Remix)
- Promiseland — “Take Down The House” (Boys Noize Remix)
- WALK THE MOON — “Anna Sun” (St. Lucia Remix)
- N8NOFACE — “Not Like You” (Sextile Remix)
Top 5 “Bring Me Back to 2009” Singles
- Pawws — “Hear You Calling”
- Maethelvin — “New Morning”
- Howard Jones — “Celebrate It Together” (Lifelike Remix Edit)
- Mason — “Panic!” (Extended Instrumental)
- Slayyyter — “Out Of Time”
Special Mention
This is a special mention that doesn’t fit any categories. This one is one of my favorite releases of the year! It might be a bit hard and weird for the Vehlinggo fam — but if you know me, you shouldn’t be surprised by it” XweaponX & World of Pleasure, split EP — Weapon of Pleasure.
Graham Reznick
(Sound design on Ti West’s X and The House of the Devil; creator of Shudder’s Deadwax; Until Dawn writer; releases on MONDO/Death Waltz and Burning Witches Records; and so much more)
[Editor’s Note: Here are Graham’s 4 Pairs of Top 7 Albums of 2023 (And One Book), presented in no particular order.]
- Austin Cash — Hello, Franklin/All Over Alabama — “Hello, Franklin,” Austin Cash’s most recent release, is a bright, steel-string, verb-splash of ecstatic finger-picked guitar that nudges right into place alongside Fahey, Rose, Basho, Kottke, Lang, McGrath, while confidently carving its own sonic signature. There’s something about finger-picked guitar, when written and performed this beautifully, that expresses an alchemical blend of energy, calm, mystery, and hope — a recipe for the sublime. Cash’s 2020 release “All Over Alabama,” which was new to me this year, is an incredible 40-minute western ambient soundscape smeared with elongated tremolo strums and the uneasy vibrations of distant locomotives. The cassette sat in my deck (with auto-reverse more than earning its keep) for two months straight, playing nonstop all day.
- Blind Dead Timmy + Lee Baggett – Strings Across the Water/Blind Dead Timmy – Subtropical Daddy: The Story of Blind Dead Timmy —Lee Baggett, lord of the laid back, and Tetsutarou Kimura (aka Blind Dead Timmy), extraordinary Japanese guitarist, have created a vibrant, unique, and mesmerizing collaboration with Strings Across the Water. Their songs and styles don’t just complement each other, they seem to conjure something just beyond the edge of sleep: future memories of peaceful dreams filled with slide guitar, field recordings, whispered vocals, and talkbox lullabies. Subtropical Daddy: The Story of Blind Dead Timmy is equally gorgeous and mysterious, and gives the aforementioned Austin Cash’s fingerpicked Americana a slight nudge to nestle in just as nicely alongside the previously mentioned roster of giants.
- Water From Your Eyes – Everyone’s Crushed/Crushed By Everyone — Let’s imagine, hypothetically, you filled up a dozen thumb drives with mp3s of The Boredoms, The Amps, Life Without Buildings, Islands, Sonic Youth’s “Experimental Jet Set…,” They Might Be Giants’ “Lincoln,” Ween, and, say, Shellac, and then stuck them in a blender and then sampled the blender as it exploded and made an album out of the samples using Impulse Tracker and a numbers station as the lead singer. Why would you do that?! I don’t know, but you’d probably also really enjoy the heck out of Water From Your Eyes’ indefinable Everyone’s Crushed and the subsequent remix album, Crushed by Everyone. Just like me!
- Marc Masters – High Bias (Book)/Various Artists – High Bias: Music From the Book (cassette compilation) — Yes, okay, High Bias is a book, but it’s also got a companion tape, which contains music! In the book, Masters traces the history of the cassette from its origins as an enhancement to paper used in German cigarettes to early hip-hop mixes to the height of home taping/trading/bootlegging to social revolution all the way through to our modern feedback loop of neo-retro fascination and corporate liberation. Essential reading for anyone with even a passing curiosity in understanding how crucial the cassette was and may still be to safeguarding humanity in global culture. The companion compilation features selections from several current tape labels and begins with a loping Merzbow-ian drone then veers wildly across experimental genres — from avant-jazz to dub to verb-heaven to glitch freakout — and has already opened up a dozen new pathways to labels and artists I can’t wait to explore.
Antoni Maiovvi
(Musician behind a host of compelling and influential projects in addition to Maiovvi, including Jason Priest and Ye Gods. Co-founder of Giallo Disco Records. Score composer for films such as Housewife.)
- Godflesh – Purge — What a maelstrom of abrasive funk. Public Enemy meets Fushitsusha. What a record!
- Blues Lawyer – All In Good Time — I am eternally jealous of BLs lean songwriting and lyricism. I don’t want to compare them to anyone, but if you’re into songcraft and 80s indie rock it’s up there.
- Aphex Twin – Blackbox Life Recorder 21f — What to say? The master is back and he’s bringing some friends with him and they’re all mental.
- Cybotron – Maintain The Golden Ratio — Another master returns, and I just can’t say no to that Atkins’ funk. Do you remember the bit in that Zach Efron movie where he wanted to be a DJ and the dude from The Walking Dead said his terrible EDM sounded like “early Juan Atkins shit?” Well I do, and it didn’t, but this does. Also Tresor were killing it with the reissues this year.
- Surgeon – Crash Recoil – Minimalist equipment workouts from another legend. Didn’t know what to make of it at first, but it stuck with me and now I think it’s pretty great actually, thanks for asking.
- Khanate – To Be Cruel — Did hell freeze over? Fucking hell, Khanata are back and more mean spirited than ever. The soundtrack to a Hellraiser sequel directed by Panos Cosmatos. Terrifying. Beautiful. Long!
- Jeroen Search – Shadow Dimensions — Expert Robert Hood meets Jeff Mills dancefloor bombs; sadly released during August (AKA the worst month to release music). It’s worth checking out if you’re into “loopy shit.”
- Black Dot – Structure Without Tomorrow — Brutal, bleak analog body music on Mechatronica, out of Berlin. Underrated gem of the year.
Johan Agebjörn
(One-half of Italo Disco duo Sally Shapiro; prolific ambient artist)
- Cate Brooks – Tapeworks — My favorite album of 2023; calm, ambient music in which Cate has used a tape recorder from the 1960s a lot to record different parts, so there’s a
lot of pleasant tape noise on this album. On “II,” magical vocal bits from the singer Hazel Mills (who has worked with Goldfrapp and Florence and the Machine) are looped around like the instruments on Brian Eno’s Discreet Music. I had an amazing experience listening to “III” after a long run, lying in the grass and looking at the starry sky. - Dawn To Dawn – “Seventh Floor” — Beautiful single from this Canadian trio that I first read about here on Vehlinggo. Tess Roby’s vocals are amazing and the atmosphere is great. The beats in their tracks often seem a bit inspired by 1990s IDM/ambient which goes right down my alley.
- 36 – Cold Ecstasy — Dennis Huddleston a.k.a. 36 is probably my favorite artist discovery this year, and “Room 1” from his dreamy ambient album The Infinity Room (that I missed when it came out in 2016) was my most frequently listened track. On Cold Ecstasy, he revisits and samples his old happy hardcore records, and says that “my memories of these records have drifted and distorted further, into a kind of ambient haze. What were once hyper-positive anthems are now broken echoes and the naive optimism has long since turned into a delicate, yearning melancholy.” The track “Touch the Sky” is one of my favorite tracks from this year, the inspired rave vocals fit perfectly with the ambient texture of 36.
- Vince Watson – Another Moment In Time — I’ve been listening to Vince Watson since 2010. There’s something about his cozy and deeply harmonic techno/house (often with a jazzy feel) that resonates with me. His new album continues that tradition. “Sunshine” gets me dancing in the kitchen.
- Aphex Twin – “Blackbox Life Recorder 21f” — I’m a huge fan of Aphex Twin’s releases in the ’90s and the ’00s; they were a big musical inspiration source for me. After that I haven’t really connected with his music, so this lead single from his nice new EP was for me a welcome revisit to his classic drill’n’bass sound.
Want More?
Here’s 2019’s, 2020’s, 2021’s, and last year’s. If you’re really into lists, check out Vehlinggo’s 60 favorite synthwave albums and EPs of 2010s; or 100 favorite albums and EPs of the 2010s; or 30 favorite soundtracks of that decade.
