(Seb Painchaud, the main man behind the Montréal band Tumbleweed Dealer, has very expansive and eclectic musical tastes, which is one reason why for eight years in a row we’ve asked him to share a year-end list with us. This one, as usual, goes in all sorts of different directions.)
2023 was a year that had music. Here is some of it.
“Why waste time say lot word when few word do trick?” – Ashton Kutcher (Or at least some guy that looks like him)
JPEGMAFIA x Danny Brown – SCARING THE HOES
Let’s get this out of the way. AOTY. Pure and simple.
Aara – Triade III: Nyx
Sunbather with hints of old school Katatonia.
Pat Butcher – Trial By Error
Catchy Oi-y Punk Rock with a wide variety of outside influences and constant catchiness.
Kool Keith x Real Bad Man – Serpent
Old school flow, mid 2000s type beats reminding me of classic Stoupe joints.
ICECOLDBISHOP – Full Fledge
Weird ass creepy whisper raps over big fucking beats.
Slowthai – UGLY
Dude does it again.
Cinema Staff
Happy anime outro music.
Bandit – Siege Of Self
Shades of classic BBTS.
Beach Fossils – Bunny
Hits that same sweet spot as Belle & Sebastian.
Claude Cooper & Brain Fog – More Myriad Sounds
Imagine if a jazz band listened to way too much Death Grips.
Mortsafe – Mournography
Reverbed out violence. FFO Zorn & Devil Master but Death-ier.
Mckinley Dickson – Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?
Name sums it up. Beloved Paradise of Jazz and hip hop.
XL Life – The Boogie Down South
Southern hip hop meets southern hardcore.
Vitrail – Le Mépris du Monde
Grey, sad, melancholy filled black metal.
Cautious Clay – Karpeh
Just some good laid-back funk, sometimes jazzier and busier, sometimes more laid back and smooth, but always great.
Mohini Dey – Mohini Dey
Shreddy, bass-heavy jazz with Indian influences.
Yussef Dayes – Black Classical Music
Probably the best jazz this year.
Sissoko Segal Parisien Peirani – Les Égarés
Fell in love with the kora this year. When the harmonies are this beautiful and engaging you don’t need any rhythmic instruments.
Yoni Mayraz – Dybbuk Tse!
New school funk jazz.
Dead Pioneers – Dead Pioneers
Last but not least one of my favorite albums this year. Indigenous punk with scathing spoken word vocals that mix thoughtful and humorous. How can you not love an album with a He-Man reference?
That’s it. 2023 out.