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Mike Bennett writesCHIRP Radio’s Best of 2023: Mike Bennett
Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2023. Our next list is from DJ and board member emeritus Mike Bennett.
There's a lot to be said about 2023, but if you're only talking about music, it was another fantastic year. I ended up listening to over 250 new LPs and EPs over the course of the year, and not everything did much for me, but so much of it did. This list has the albums that I listened to the most, thought about the most, and enjoyed the most.
#1 Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love? by Kara Jackson (September)
This record stopped me in my tracks the first time I heard it. It hit me the way hearing Judee Sill’s debut album hit me. There’s just so much going on here. There’s a simplicity to Jackson’s melodies, but she is daring in how she structures her songs. Her lyrics are expressive in so many ways. Cutting, funny, wise, witty, direct, poetic – but no matter what mode she’s in, it’s always authentic.
And her voice. She sings near the bottom of her range, and it has such a warm, resonant tone, but when she goes up higher, it’s sublime to hear the rise. Her phrasing is as creative as her compositions.
To top it all off, her fellow Chicagoan collaborators - Sen Morimoto, Kaina Castillo, and Nnamdi Ogbannaya - assist in perfect production, knowing when Jackson’s voice and guitar are enough, or strings or other embellishments are needed. An instant classic.
#2 The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte by Sparks (Island)
Since Ron and Russell Mael teamed with Franz Ferdinand on the 2015 FFS project, they have moved away from albums that fit around one musical style exclusively. On this, their 26th studio album, Sparks hopscotch from electronics-based tracks to orch-pop to melancholy melodic material, and much more.
This is not only their best post-FFS album yet, the mix of styles and the high quality of the songs makes it the band’s best since 2002's Lil’ Beethoven. From the grandeur of “We Go Dancing” (positing Kim Jong Un as the world’s best DJ) and “Take Me for a Ride” (a husband-and-wife hostage fantasy) to the electro-pop of the title track (about a girl crying in her latte) to the glam rock adjacent banger “Nothing Is As Good As They Say It Is” (about a 22-hour old baby wanting to go back to the womb), these two 70+ year old brothers don’t rest on their laurels.
#3 I Am Not There Anymore by The Clientele (Merge)
I’ve always enjoyed the stately indie-pop of The Clientele, but nothing prepared me for this. They spent part of the six years between albums soaking in ‘70s Miles Davis and various forms of electronic music, and then found a way to subtly integrate these new inspirations into their trademark sound.
The album has its fair share of tight, intelligent adult pop songs. It also has tracks where the band stretches out and lets songs slowly cohere, and others where they play around with additional instruments beyond guitars, bass, and drums. The result is their most affecting album yet.
#4 The Returner by Allison Russell (Fantasy)
Russell’s solo debut already showed that she was not going to be confined to any specific definition of Americana. This follow up is the work of a confident artist, with a broad array of musical influences and interests, who is able to deftly incorporate them to suit whatever a song needs. I especially like how many songs have strong R & B vibes. Her voice, melodies, and lyrics allow the varying styles of the songs to cohere into another excellent album.
#5 Water Made Us by Jamila Woods (Jagjaguwar)
Wood’s third album is yet another brilliant slice of modern R & B. On this effort, Woods loosely chronicles the progression of a romantic relationship until it ends and what happens afterwards. She does so with knowing lyrics that fit well with the music that could loosely be called neo-soul, but incorporates a wider array of approaches than her prior albums. And Woods remains such a compelling singer, with interesting phrasing, and a heavy dose of empathy in anything she sings.
#6 CHAI by CHAI (Sub Pop)
This is the first CHAI album that doesn’t make major changes from its predecessor. Here, the quartet burrows deeper into electronic pop informed by hazy R & B and citypop. These are friendly, affirmative songs that go perfectly with the lyrics of personal and/or feminist empowerment. This is primarily a collection of relaxed, catchy bangers, with a few more rocking songs to provide balance. These four women just really have a special ability to meld a variety of influences into a distinctive musical identity that transcends their inspirations.
#7 Black Rainbows by Corinne Bailey Rae (Black Rainbows/Thirty Tigers)
A visit to Chicago artist Theaster Gates’s Stony Island Arts Bank hit Rae like a lightning bolt. Various objects in the museum, which is devoted to various eras and moments in the African-American experience, inspired Rae to write the songs on this album. Moreover, she went well beyond the singer-songwriter fare she’s associated with, with bursts of abrasive guitars (from her rock band past) to arty, melodic pieces to experimental R & B, and more. At times challenging, at times accessible, and always intriguing.
#8 Strays by Margo Price (Loma Vista)
Price made her mark as singer of country music that harkened back to more traditional sounds, but has evolved into an artist who uses country as a foundation, but can move in different directions. This album has a bit of everything, from the bravura rock of “Been to the Mountain” to the poppy “Radio” (joined by Sharon Van Etten) to the searing portrait of a drug addict on “Lydia”, Price has become a formidable writer and performer.
#9 Wallsocket by underscores (Mom + Pop)
April Harper Grey is the woman behind underscores, using hyperpop as a foundation for insanely creative pop music. Wallsocket is her second LP. It’s a self-styled concept album about citizens of a fictional town in Michigan. There’s no storyline, but the album is a series of vignettes about specific characters. This is set to an array of electronic instruments, with bursts of loud guitars, and punk and psychedelia and dubstep and other genres thread in and out of the songs. Moreover, she knows how to craft a hook, and on the centerpiece track “Locals (Girls Like Us)”, she weaves together varying song elements with maximum dexterity, crafting one of the best songs of the year.
#10 Miracle-Level by Deerhoof (Joyful Noise)
I’ve always enjoyed Deerhoof whenever I heard their music, but never took the time to explore it. When I got a notice through Bandcamp about this (then upcoming) album, I listened to the preview tracks, and was blown away. This is the band’s twelfth album, but the first with all the lyrics in Japanese. The music is still arty post-punk, with more accessibility than I had encountered in the past. The music exists somewhere within the boundaries of Shudder To Think and Bjork and The Fall and Sonic Youth, among others. At times clangorous yet not entirely abrasive, sometimes lovely, and always pushing forward, this album was bracing and I couldn’t stop playing it after I got it.
Honorable Mentions
Mitski - The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We (Dead Oceans)
Kali Uchis - Red Moon in Venus (Geffen)
The Lemon Twigs - Everything Harmony (Captured Tracks)
Guvna B - The Village is on Fire (Allo Mate)
Sparkle*Jets U.K. - Best of Friends (Big Stir)
Julie Byrne - The Greater Wings (Ghostly International)
Carly Rae Jepsen - The Loveliest Time (School Boy/Interscope)
Elephonic - Elephonic (self-released)
Romy - Mid Air (Young)
Gina Birch - I Play My Bass Loud (Third Man)
There were a number of great music related books this year. Four I particularly enjoyed:
Children of the World by Bob Stanley: Stanley, who is one-third of the brilliant British pop group Saint Etienne, is also a terrific music writer. This is a great account of the Brothers Gibb and their unique position as one of the biggest pop groups ever who, somehow, are criminally underrated.
The White Label Promo Preservation Society Volume 2 BOOK by Sal Maida, Mitchell Cohen & friends: Maida, who played bass for Roxy Music, Sparks, and many others, and former CREEM Magazine writer Cohen team up with more pals to write about obscure albums. This is another winner from the publishing arm of Chicago's own HoZac Records.
Play Like A Man: My Life in Poster Children by Rose Marshack: This is a great account of what it was like playing in an indie rock band in the '80s and '90s. Marshack's winning personality, sense of humor, and keen observations make this a very enjoyable read. I also read the memoir that Miki Berenyi of Lush put a year or two ago, and combine the two, and you get a real hard take on what it was like being a woman in a rock band during that era.
I Quit Everything: How One Woman's Addiction to Quitting Helped Her Confront Bad Habits and Embrace Midlife by Freda Love Smith: Smith's excellent memoir/cook book Red Velvet Underground showed off what a terrific writer she is, and her second book is just as good. This is rooted in a pandemic-inspired experiment, where she gave up five vices (alcohol, cannabis, caffeine, sugar, social media) to see how it impacted her life. Smith's ability to weave from personal experiences, research on those things, and how her past impacted her behaviors as an adult make for an entertaining and thought provoking book, that somehow is serious and breezy at the same time.
Country and Midwestern: Chicago in the History of Country Music and the Folk Revival by Mark Guarino: The title accurately describes the book. Did you know that Chicago was the center of country music before Nashville? And the folk revival wasn't just in New York -- Chicago was a crucial center? Guarino is a great journalist, and this is an essential volume of music history that takes you through the decades of all the important music happening in this town, even tying it in to the present music scene. As entertaining as it is educational.
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