Before QRO drops its own list of the best albums of another strange year, here’s what our contributors loved in 2023:
Amghy Chacon
John Andrews & The Yawns, Love For the Underdog
Eddie Chacon, Sundown
Tex Crick, Sweet Dreamin’
Rudy De Anda, Closet Botanist
Jana Horn, The Window Is the Dream
Alabaster DePlume, Come With Fierce Grace
John Caroll Kirby, Blowout
Alice Phoebe Lou, Shelter
Meerna, So Far So Good
Okonski, Magnolia
Rozi Plain, Prize
Say She She, Silver
Andy Shauf, Norm
This Is the Kit, Careful of Your Keepers
Youth Lagoon, Heaven Is a Junkyard
Ted Chase
1 boygenius, the record
2 The National, The First Two Pages of Frankenstein
3 The Gaslight Anthem, History Books
4 Somebody’s Child, Somebody’s Child
5 Wilco, Cousin
6 Alex Lahey, The Answer Is Always Yes
7 The Beaches, Blame My Ex
8 Teenage Fanclub, Nothing Lasts Forever
9 This Is the Kit, Careful of Your Keepers
10 The Natural Lines, The Natural Lines
11 Lanterns On the Lake, Versions of Us
12 Blondshell, Blondshell
13 Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem, The Muppets Mayhem (Original Soundtrack)
14 The National, Laugh Track
15 The Hives, The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons
16 Murray A. Lightburn, Once Upon a Time In Montreal
17 The Baseball Project, Grand Salami Time!
18 Hüsker Dü, Tonite Longhorn
19 Rufus Wainwright, Folkocracy
20 Lucero, Should’ve Learned By Now
Geoffrey Clowes
André 3000, New Blue Sun
Armand Hammer, We Buy Diabetic Test Strips
blink-182, ONE MORE TIME…
boygenius, the record
Zach Bryan, Zach Bryan
Lana Del Rey, Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd.
Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, Weathervanes
Becky G, ESQUINAS
PJ Harvey, I Inside the Old Year Dying
Mitski, The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We
The Mountain Goats, Jenny From Thebes
Noname, Sundial
Nourished By Time, Erotic Probiotic 2
Ragana, Desolation’s Flower
Olivia Rodrigo, GUTS
The Rolling Stones, Hackney Diamonds
Sufjan Stevens, Javelin
Wilco, Cousin
Yo La Tengo, This Stupid World
Yves Tumor, Praise a Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (Or, Simply, Hot Between Worlds)
Marjorie Hallé
Paramore, This Is Why
Renee Rapp, Snow Angels
Charlotte Sands, Good Now EP
Tash Sultana, Sugar EP
UPSAHL, The PHX Tapes
Emily Korn
Janelle Monae, The Age of Pleasure
Arlo Parks, My Soft Machine
PVRIS, Evergreen
Olivia Rodrigo, GUTS
6LACK, Since I Have a Lover
Natania Krebs
Gracie Abrams, Good Riddance
boygenius, the record
Housing Co., One More Day
Maisie Peters, The Good Witch
Pierce the Veil, The Jaws of Life
Olivia Rodrigo, GUTS
Leith Ross, To Learn
Tiny Habits, Tiny Things
Dominick MastrangeloJason Isbell & The 400 Unit, Weathervanes
Abby Hamilton, No. 1 Zookeeper (of the San Diego Zoo)
Will Johnson, No Ordinary Crown
Lydia Loveless, Nothing’s Gonna Stand In My Way Again
Land of Talk, Performances
Jeffrey Martin, Thank God We Left the Garden
Brittain Ashford, Trotter
Jenny Lewis, Joy’All
Kid Koala, Creatures of the Late Afternoon
Josie Toney, Extra
Slowdive, Everything Is Alive
La Force, XO SKELETON
Dana Miller
1 Maps, Counter Melodies
2 Dolly Parton, Rockstar
3 The Rolling Stones, Hackney Diamonds
4 Ann Wilson, Another Door
5 Olivia Jean, Raving Ghost
6 Nita Strauss, The Call of the Void
7 Emma Anderson, Pearlies
8 OMD, Bauhaus Staircase
9 Be Your Own Pet, Mommy
10 Nation of Language, Strange Discipline
11 Extreme, Six
12 Mammoth WVH, Mammoth II
13 Lillie Mae, Festival Eyes
14 André 3000, New Blue Sun
15 The Glorious Sons, Glory
16 Moon Walker, Apocalypticism
17 Sun Room, Outta Their Minds
18 Rival Sons, Darkfighter
19 Dhani Harrison, Innerstanding
20 Semisonic, Little Bit of Time
Howard Shiau
Blondshell, Blondshell
Softcult, See You In the Dark
Nation of Language, Strange Discipline
quinnie, Flounder
The Beaches, Blame My Ex
Bully, Lucky For You
Tennis, Pollen
Princess Goes, Come of Age
Alice Phoebe Lou, Shelter
Metric, Formentera II
