CJSF's Top 9 Picks for 2023!
Just in time for January's end, we present to you our Top 9 Album Picks of 2023, courtesy of CJSF Music department coordinator, Connor!
How do we make our Album Picks? We personally listen to every piece of music that comes into CJSF's music library and write a short review about it - no particular order, just a list of music that's caught our fancy at some point last year.
Check out our Top 9 Album Picks of 2023 list below for album art, Connor's reviews, and links to the albums themselves:
1) Brìghde Chaimbeul - Carry Them With Us (tak:til)
“Beautiful, haunting renditions of traditional Gaelic music from Scotland, as well as original compositions featuring Brìghde on the Scottish smallpipes, and Colin Stetson on saxphones.”
2) Yaeji - With A Hammer (XL Recordings)
“Infectious synthy and catchy pop from Korean-American artist Yaeji, revealing a storm of emotions through the hyper-addictive narrative of popular music.”
3) Oranje - Pure Sport (Self-Released)
“Calgary-based post-punk and math-rock outfit draws inspiration from midwest-emo tendencies to create one of the most replayed albums on my list this year. A banger from start to finish, and surprisingly mostly instrumental!”
4) Didon - A Tunisian Tale (Electrofone Music)
“North African traditional sounds blend seamlessly with synth lines in this journey across the Maghreb, due to the unique fusion of Tunisian and American musical expression.”
5) Kiji Suedo - Hosek EP (Hobbes Music)
“Absolutely a head-shaker and booty-mover, Suedo’s latest release from Scottish imprint Hobbes Music, features deconstructed-house and glitchy minimal electronicism. Repeated-plays recommended to catch all the subtle structures.”
6) ああああ(AAAA) - ほしかけスケッチブック vol.2 (Self-Released)
“Hyper-pop, chiptune and kawaii-bass come together on ああああ's second volume of the "Star sketchbook" series. It might be just about too cute to handle!"
7) Sasha Cay - Spin (Lighter Than Air)
"Intimate, revealing, smooth, collected and cool - 'Spin' is one of my favorites of the year with its exposed lyrics, and the graceful fluidity of Sasha Cay's vocals is second to none."
8) La Sécurité - Stay Safe! (Self-Released)
"Hard-hitting post-punk from Montréal, with new-wave sensibilities and a ton of kick-ass across its ten tracks!"
9) Hard Copy - 12 Shots of Nature (Self-Released)
"Fans of no-wave, new-wave, and post-punk will gorge themselves on this LP, the debut release from Richmond, Virginia's Hard Copy. Groovy, almost post-funk, vibes abound on this album, one of my heavily-replayed discs this year!"
Want more music selections like these? Stay tuned to our socials (@CJSF on X/Twitter, @cjsfradio on TikTok and elsewhere), our Spotify (bit.ly/CJSFMusic), and our charts on !earshot (earshot-online.com/charts/cjsf.cfm!)