2023 music recap!
inspired by the lovely doqmeat!
Will this become a yearly tradition???? probably not but i saw it and it looked fun!!! This year is defo a strange one to start on because i actually challenged myself to ditch spotify for the whole year, meaning i've mostly been using bandcamp and VLC paired with spotdl (because we all know vlc stands for Very Legal sChemes). That kinda means i havent had the same exposure to new music as i would normally with spotify's super fun and cool algorithm, but have instead listened primarily to music i've loved for years!
This recap will probably show a pretty solid recap of my mental state throughout the year, so bear with that please.
all album covers dithered through dither me this!
Top Tunes of January
Top album: Build A Problem (dodie)
Top Single: Pretty Little Things (The Crane Wives)
A very bold start to the year omfg. I was somewhat fresh out of a breakup, which definitely shaped the first half of this year. BAP is such a gorgeous album and i can't believe i slept on it for SO long. I've been a dodie stan since like. 2016, and i just Ignored this album. sorry dodie 
It's a perfect soundtrack for healing, with some bitter bangers like Special Girl, as well as certified sobbers like When and One Last Time, Please (it's fun for the whole family!
)
I tend to listen to The Crane Wives a lot in the winter anyway, as well as 'busier' sounding bands generally, but PLT stuck out bc i was a bitch for this song. I think i had this and 'Can't Go Back' on loop for the whole month. I do think i've fallen out with TCW a little bit this year, purely because i almost always skip their songs now. I'm choosing to blame it on listening to them religiously for a couple months.
Top Tunes of February
Top Album: And Everybody Else Smiled Back (Bears in Trees)
Top Single: How I survived Bobby Mackey's Personal Hell (Lincoln)
I am a SLAG for Bears in Trees!!!
They've been my absolute FAVOURITE band for over 3 years, and even though i personally found Every Moonbeam, Every Feverdream really weak, I will never stop raving about And Everybody Else Smiled Back. I'm honestly convinced it's their magnum opus. every so often i do just go back and listen to this whole album, because it's just THAT good. I honestly believe that 'If I Just Asked Politely' should be my ending credit song. what an absolute choon. its honestly a no-skip album for me. god bless bears in trees.
How I survived Bobby Mackey's personal hell is maybe a weak contender for Song Of The Month, but it is a banger. I go through phases where i will just listen to Lincoln for a week and then forget about him again for a few months.
Top Tunes of March
Top Album: Punisher (Phoebe Bridgers)
Top Single: Cobwebs (Bears In Trees)
Oh dear. March marks the beginning of the 'i've got a crush' phase of the year. expect this to last until July LMAO. Phoebe Bridgers is a new artist i discovered this year! I know that she's hardly underground, but i listened to her discography in order to impress a girl (who said that Phoebe was her favourite artist.) It sorta worked! Punisher is now one of my favourite albums. Shoutout to the people on the internet who said 'that's so waiting room of you' when i told them. ur not wrong but ouchie.
Bears in trees still has its grip on me at this point. There was a point where i was listening to Cobwebs RELIGIOUSLY because it just resonated with me so hard. I honestly love the whole album it's so good for being a little bit sad and frustrated.
Top Tunes of April
Top Album: A Guide to Love, Loss and Desperation (The Wombats)
Top Single: Hot Mess (dodie)
Finding out that the wombats do nfts is honestly the most upsetting thing that happened to me this year. anyway it's ok to pirate music from musicians who do nfts godbless. Honestly, this album is a bit of a stretch because i tended to shuffle their whole discography rather than listen to a single album at a time.
There were LOADS of songs that i could have nominated for april tunes; I spent a lot of April walking in some moors and listening to sad music so theres lots to choose from. Honourable mentions include 'We'll never have sex' by Leith Ross, and 'Graceland Too' by Phoebe Bridgers. I chose Hot Mess because it was the one sad song that i remember giving me a bit of energy. When a lot of these songs were very mellow and good for sitting in a field, Hot Mess gave me the energy to march back home. I distinctly remember putting on a bunch of higher energy songs when walking an hour over the moors to get to aforementioned crush's house for a powerpoint night, and hot mess was one of those.
Top Tunes of May
Top Album: N/A Top Single: Life's a Beach
I didn't have a distinct album this month, but instead got really into vocaloid, like i do every summer. May was honestly one of the best months of my life, despite having my a-levels throughtout the month. It felt like such a busy and fun time, and it was the last time i was surrounded by all of my friends. I tend to enjoy the more upbeat vocaloid tunes, like Anamanaguchi's Miku, or emon's どりーみんチュチュ. I don't actually know all too much about the community, but i definitely dipped my toes in!
Because the school year was coming to a close, I went to a LOT of parties. In fact, i made a playlist about it because they were SO frequent. [Hang on! you said you stopped using spotify this year! Yes! I did! I used Spotify as a playlist maker, mainly because i was hoping Crush McGee would check my spotify to see how cool and down bad i was. I didn't actually use it to listen to anything, just as a performance lol] I chose Life's a Beach because that's honestly how i felt all month. We were both partying and flirting, but never saying anything. mad.
Top Tunes of June
that rhymes!
Top Album: When We Were Friends (The Backseat Lovers)
Top Single: She Wants Me (To Be Loved) (The Happy Fits)
When We Were Friends was my best friend's favourite album of the summer. Whenever we were in a studio together 'rehearsing', she would put the whole album on and we'd just jam. I remember being really mad that it was as great as she made it sound, but i ended up listening to it religiously for the whole month. I personally loved Davy Crochet and Intuition!
Looking back, my summer megamix is filled with eligible singles, but She Wants Me just takes the cake. It's a banger, and was a pretty important song to make me realise that the whole crush thing wasnt a healthy use of my energy
Top Tunes of July
Top Album: To Learn (leith ross)
Top Single: I'd Have To Think About It (leith ross)
Absolute sweep from Ross, and pretty much the only month that has one artist in both spaces. To Learn is a gorgeous album about love and loss, and came to my life at just the right time. The first time I heard it was in the back of my dad's car on a long night road trip to cornwall, which is definitely the way it's meant to be listened to. It then proceeded to be the ONLY thing I listened to for a good few weeks. Each song fits into the album's vibe so well, but all stand out individually too, which can be kinda rare in the genre. I think one of the best things happened to me this year is when I put on (You) On My Arm and danced in a summer thunderstorm just for the sake of it.
Before anyone winces, I also think I'd Have To Think About It IS a MAJOR relationship red flag song. but when you're in the mindset of "this crush that lasted for the better part of a year is not ending well", it resonates a little too well to not listen to on loop. also the line "I'm scared to death that I'll scream your name" sounds SO good that I cant not put it on here.
Top Tunes of August
Top Artist: The Amazing Devil
Top Single: September (Sparky Deathcap)
Never ask me to pick between the TAD albums because I simply cannot. What an absolutely gorgeous band. I try to convince myself that theyre an autumn/winter band, but i always find myself listening to them towards the end of the summer. In the past year alone they've immediately settled themselves as an all time favourite band, and a fine purveyor of blorbo songs. Their music has helped me out of creative ruts i didnt even realise i was in.
September means a lot to me, but in such a strange way. I don't particularly resonate with the lyrics, and i'm not a los campesinos fan. I just have some pretty vivid memories of sitting on my childhood bedroom floor and listening to a low quality version of this whilst waiting for a twitch stream to start. Even now, when the house is gone and that streamer both doesnt use that song as his opener, nor does he stream much at all, it reminds me of those summer nights, and so i can't help but come back to it every year.
Top Tunes of September
Top Album: Wake Up & It's Over (LoveJoy)
Top Single: Two Minutes
I saw LoveJoy live in Manchester in september! It was the first time in my life I'd actually ever gone to a gig, which is a little embarrassing but it was such a good first gig, even if I fainted RIGHT at the end. I spent the whole month 'revising' their discography to make sure I wouldnt get any awkward looks, even though I'd literally been a fan since their debut. As an album, it took a while to grow on me. It's an undeniable departure from the sound of pebblebrain but I came around fairly quickly, and i cant imagine my life without it now. I think my favourite tracks are Warsaw and It's Golden Hour Somewhere!
Like every other time TAD has come up on this list, this song just has me in a chokehold. Two minutes is not two minutes long, but is instead five minutes of joey batey saying 'just give me two damn minutes' which is such a bloody mood. whenever he's not begging for two more minutes, he is instead ripping my heart out and creating gorgeous allegories for grief that i feel so deep in my soul
Top Tunes of October
Top Album: Hozier (Hozier)
Top Single: Fisher King Blues (Frank Turner)
I'm not really much of a hozier fan, but i am a massive Good Omens fan. And hozier combines with Good Omens like strawberries do sugar. This album became part of the sound track to my autumn, as i went for more walks, and pressed some firey leaves. I mainly listened to From Eden and Like Real People Do, but i think i listened to them enough for it to count??
This was a tricky month because i honestly don't remember much about October. I was abroad for a little bit of it, and kissing people i shouldn't for the other half, but after a little digging around in my brain holes, i remembered that there was a week where i was obsessed with Fisher King Blues, to the point where i got back into Arthurian Legend for a little bit. Not enough to know anything major, but enough to win a few pub quizzes
Top Tunes of November
Top album: Nerdy Prudes Must Die (StarKid)
Top Single: Fair (The Amazing Devil)
This show had me in a CHOKEHOLD all month. If you're a fan of musicals, I am shaking you and begging you to watch it. the whole proshot was uploaded by the company for free on youtube!!! go watch it!! I honestly think it's one of starkid's strongest shows, even surpassing twisted imo. Jon Matteson could stab me or call me senpai and I wouldnt even cringe. it really fuelled my first full month of my new/first job. go nighthawks!
As we get closer to the end of the year, I have a clearer memory of my taste in music. I would put Fair on constantly during the commute home. It is a gorgeous song, and one that I want at my wedding lmao. I'm a little disappointed with myself because i almost didnt put the amazing devil at the top of any month because that band is my LIFE FORCE. such gorgeous and powerful bangers. shout out to Madeleine Hyland. absolute vocal powerhouse.
Top Tunes of December
Top album: Cure What Ails Ya (The Longest Johns)
Top single: Jingle Prats (samarchism)
I fucking love a good shanty. I tend to go through phases where I only listen to the longest johns and the mechanisms for a solid 2 months and then forget that they exist for another 6 months. this is one of the remembering months. I wish i knew what they put into The Last Bristolian Pirate to make it such a banger bc it is SO good. honestly this is another case of listening to their whole discography instead of just one album, so dont think I'm dissing smoke and oakum because you would be sorely mistaken.
I am currently as we speak going through an obsession with the animated show Nigel and Marmalade, and this song introduced me to it! it's just a silly little christmas song about a tiny wizard saving christmas, what's not to love?