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Matt Garman writesCHIRP Radio’s Best of 2023: Matt Garman
Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2023. Our next list is from Mon. 3-6pm DJ and Programming Committee member Matt Garman.
#1 Vs. The Worm by Ovef Ow (Oort Cloud/What's For Breakfast?)
The debut full-length from this Chicago indie band shows off their expanding skillset: catchy anthems, a post-punk foundation, Robert Fripp-esque guitar, washes of synthesizer, and co-lead female vocalists who tackle big issues in their lyrics.
More than the surfy B-52s/La Luz rock hybrid that first emerged in the 2010's, Ovef Ow give me goosebumps with their atmospheric, patient-then-pummeling style, particularly on the dark, driving "Makibaka" (a sentiment shared, incidentally, by the 2 random dudes standing behind me at Ovef Ow's Milwaukee show back in the fall -- Rando 1: "This is cool." Rando 2: "Yeah, it is").
They tracked Vs. The Worm in Lawrence, KS with Sweeping Promises' Caufield Schnug in a big, echoey room that used to be a pottery studio. All that natural reverb and bleedthrough imbues the album with a booming, irresistible artistry found all over the lonely "Daylight" (check out the stop-motion video they made...OMG), the zippy, social-media-skewering "Fauxtography," and head-nodding rockers "First Day" and "Anatomy."
The album art evokes '70s sci-fi pulp fiction book covers, with a title that depicts the battle against worldwide calamities we are all waging, quietly, from the inside-out. Ovef Ow are the band to watch in Chicago right now. See you down in front in 2024.
#2 Javelin by Sufjan Stevens (Asthmatic Kitty)
I grew up on beautiful, folk-inspired singer-songwriters thanks to my mom, and Sufjan Stevens brings me back to those gorgeous, whispered creators every time he puts out an album like Javelin.
Known as an explorer of electronic sounds as well, he brings those digital touches to the spare music here and the outcome is simply exquisite. Fingerpicked guitar, winsome melodies, restrained flourishes, emotionally-drenched lyrics and choral backing vocals that soar into the rafters and up the nape of my neck.
Stevens arrived in my ears in 2005 with Come On Feel the Illinoise -- an album that scrambled my brain with its complex musical-theater-adjacent feel -- and again in 2015 with Carrie & Lowell, an elegy for his mother that hit especially close to home for me.
With the release of this latest LP, Stevens revealed both that he is recovering from Guillain-Barre Syndrome, an autoimmune disorder that has deeply impaired his ability to walk, and that he is gay in his dedication of the album to his beloved late partner, Evans Richardson. Here's to a full recovery, Sufjan: we are in your corner.
#3 Sit Down For Dinner by Blonde Redhead (section1)
I love aging along with my artistic heroes, because every time they reemerge I feel like we are in a decades-long conversation. Inspired in part by the pandemic lockdown, the latest album from this veteran NYC band is a magnetic, hypnotic, mellow entry in their lengthy catalog. This band always nails it.
Blonde Redhead played Thalia Hall on Halloween to a devoted, semi-costumed audience, featuring songs going all the way back to the early '90s. The trio are so casually compelling onstage, with Kazu Makino, switching from keys to guitar to bass as she sang lead and backing vocals, exuding confidence and savvy as she strode the room. Twins Simone and Amedeo Pace donned eerie rabbit masks for the entire show that reminded me of Donnie Darko in the spookiest way.
The songs do the real work, of course, but Blonde Redhead's utter cool is undeniable; I suspect everyone in the audience felt cooler just because we were there.
#4 Still Life In Decay by FACS (Trouble In Mind)
Chicago's indie community turns out hosts of heavy, heady rock with bigass drums and buzzing guitars, and thank goodness because I can't get enough of it. FACS aren't just thudding power though; there's a sophisticated, artistic mission statement within that beating heart -- some restraint.
On their 5th album, the trio still traffics in darkness, visceral strength and outre experimentalism, while holding back and allowing the jams to breathe. FACS emerged from the remnants of Disappears -- another fine Chicago art-rock band -- who shrank from a quartet to founding members Brian Case, Noah Leger, and Jonathan Van Herik.
After their debut LP Van Herik stepped away, and Alianna Kalaba (drums for We Regazzi and Cat Power, among others) took over bass duties for their next 4 albums -- including Still Life in Decay, her last with FACS. Tracked with Sanford Parker at the vaunted Electrical Audio, this iteration, this unique alchemy at this point in time, is an ideal balance of their assets: weird, menacing, accessible. Sign me up.
#5 Principia by En Attendant Ana (Trouble In Mind)
I've always been an indie pop dork, a lover of twee charm who grew up in a house where The Beatles were the north star. So much of my favorite '90s and '00s music sounds chimey and catchy, a little wistful.
On their 3rd LP, this Parisian quintet that I honestly know very little about released an album that pushes all of my McCartney-esque pop buttons. A little lo-fi fuzz, motorik beats, clean bass tones, organ, the occasional brass instrument, straightforward vocals and singalong melodies. They're on a Chicago indie label too! Can't wait to catch them live the next time they come through town, so I can knock out all the kids with my dance moves. RIYL The Velvet Underground, Stereolab, Alvvays.
#6 Water Made Us by Jamila Woods (Jagjaguwar)
Oh, Jamila Woods. Ever since she first showed up in/on "Sunday Candy" with her friends Nico Segal and Chance the Rapper, singing the infectious, uplifting chorus, I was transfixed. Then she put out her solo debut HEAVN, replete with Cure and Dawson's Creek references, delivering earthy R&B from a Chicago poet, and I swooned.
I just love her voice -- her singing voice, her writing voice -- and how she exudes warmth and intelligence. As is often the case with Chicago musicians, Woods doesn't make mainstream music; she makes something more expansive, a bit retro.
Her 3rd album is playful and lovely, an artist and human being in motion. The album depicts the cycle of a relationship, from the initial spark, through the honeymoon phase, the good times, and a waning connection that declines into an ending. She's working on something bigger than just a relationship, as well as something smaller: her inner world, and inner peace.
#7 Sundial by Noname (self-released)
Noname, a Bronzeville native now based in L.A., first appeared on my radar when she featured on Chance the Rapper's track "Lost" 10 years ago, and I've been fixated on her dense rhymes and languid flow ever since. This 3rd album is terrific, full of jazzy basslines and organ, cooing background vocals, with Noname's intellect and skill on the mic at the center.
As she's grown artistically her lyrics have become ever-more pointed, with confrontations of colonialism, hypocrisy, the commodification of art, and honestly so, so much more that I can't even begin to fathom.
She's stated in interviews and onstage that she grapples with the fact that white audience members like me aren't her focus, even though we keep showing up. Again, I'll never be able to fully understand what that's like, but I feel very fortunate to live in a world with Noname -- she's making art and music that is truly special.
#8 Enveletration by Sandrider (Satanik Royalty)
The 4th LP from this Seattle heavy rock trio is another fierce entry in the stoner metal canon, featuring former members of Akimbo and The Ruby Doe. The band's name is a reference to the Dune saga; indeed, this album is dedicated to Alia of the Knife in the liner notes.
The album title and title track, "Enveletration," is a portmanteau of 'envelopment' and 'penetration' that expands on our definition of strength and power. With a touch of grunge in their DNA, Sandrider hypnotize, cauterize, and choogle their way into my heart while singing about dark dreams, lying politicians, exploitation, hypocrisy, and elusive Greek sea gods in the murky depths.
The group once again collaborated with Matt Bayles to produce (Screaming Females, Isis, Minus the Bear) and there are no bad songs on this album.
#9 Ask by Altin Gün (ATO)
The Amsterdam-based band of Anatolian psych-rockers consistently impress with their cover versions of Turkish folk jams they grew up with. Being that I don't speak the language, I just feel so lifted by their propulsive arrangements when I listen to their 4th album, Ask.
Spiraling solos, a Krautrocking rhythm section, male-female co-lead vocals, and a super-cool blend of Western and Eastern instrumentation. Plus, you gotta see them live! Their shows are effusive and energetic, with an audience of enthusiastic fans who might just pull you into a spiraling Turkish Halay dance! Get into it.
#10 Sorry I Haven't Called by Vagabon (Nonesuch)
I've really enjoyed the subtle changes Vagabon has made in her music over the course of 3 albums. From straightforward, guitar-based indie rock in her debut, to synth-laden smoothness on her sophomore LP, to the danceable, vulnerable revelations of her latest, Vagabon is an artist I love to watch evolve. When her set at Pitchfork got cut short by rain after 2 songs, everyone there was bummed.
When she returned in the fall to play Lincoln Hall, the small, enraptured audience was treated to a charming setlist that spanned all of her albums. She badly wanted to finish out her set at Pitchfork that day, she said, whether she got struck by lightning or not. No one was shocked. Anyway, I suggest you put on "Lexicon" and move!
Honorable Mentions
Next 10 Albums Released in 2023 That I Enjoyed:
11. NO MEN - Fear This (self-released)
12. Jenn Champion - The Last Night of Sadness (Gay Forever)
13. TEKE::TEKE - Hagata (Kill Rock Stars)
14. Cat Power - Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert (Domino)
15. André 3000 - New Blue Sun (Epic)
16. Dur-Dur Band Int. - The Berlin Session (Outhere)
17. Slow Pulp - Yard (ANTI-)
18. Edging - Good Sex Music (Dick Jail)
19. Stuck - Freak Frequency (Born Yesterday)
20. Jason Moody - What Comes Next (self-released)
Top EP Release by Spoon in 2023:
1. Spoon - Memory Dust EP (Merge)
Top 5 Albums Released in 2022 I Personally Overlooked and Now *Highly* Recommend:
1. Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul - Topical Dancer (Deewee)
2. Adrian Quesada - Jaguar Sound (ATO)
3. The Soft Pink Truth - Is It Going To Get Any Deeper Than This? (Thrill Jockey)
4. SZA - SOS (Top Dawg/RCA)
5. Status/Non-Status - Surely Travel (You've Changed)
In Fact, Here Are The Top 15 Releases I Got Into in 2023 That Were Not Released in 2023 or 2022:
1. Karl Hector & The Malcouns - Sahara Swing (Now-Again) -- 2008
2. Buffalo Daughter - New Rock (Grand Royal) -- 1998
3. Orchestra Baobab - Mouhamadou Bamba (Productions Jambaar) -- 1980
4. Party Dozen - "Auto Loser" single (Grupo) -- 2020
5. The Olivia Tremor Control - Music From The Unrealized Film Script, Dusk At Cubist Castle (Flydaddy) -- 1996
6. Tom Zé - Todos Os Olhos (Continental) -- 1973
7. Maserati - Passages (Temporary Residence Ltd.) -- 2009
8. Jacqueline Taïeb - "7 Heures Du Matin" single (Impact) -- 1967
9. The Kraken Quartet and Adobo - Backdrop (self-released) -- 2020
10. Uranium Club - All of Them Naturals (Static Shock) -- 2016
11. Nara Leão - Os Meus Amigos São Um Barato (Philips) -- 1977
12. The Moberlys - The Moberlys (Safety First) -- 1979
13. Booker Little - Out Front (Candid) -- 1961
14. Bob James - Two (CTI) -- 1975
15. Glass Beams - Mirage EP (Research) -- 2021
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