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Ninja writesCHIRP Radio’s Best of 2023: Ninja
Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2023. Our next list is from DJ & Production Director Ninja.
#1 Bless This Mess by U.S. Girls (4AD)
Highlights include "Tux (Your Body Fills Me, Boo) - an homage to the tuxedo; and "So Typically Now," which was released as an advance single and made my top singles list of last year. The rest of the album fills out nicely, with a slow-bop "Only Daedalus" leading off the whole thing. Lot of retro here, but I like this direction for Meg Remy.
#2 Lucky For You by Bully (Sub Pop)
Bully is frankly one of those artists who, if she releases almost anything, it's probably going on my list. I just love the energy Alicia Bognanno brings. Highlight here was the lead single and collaboration with Soccer Mommy, "Lose You."
#3 Mid Air by Romy (Young)
The xx vocalist debuted as a solo artist this year with an all-out dance record. Highlights here are the respite title track featuring Beverly Glenn-Copeland that leads into my favorite floor filler on the album, "Enjoy Your Life."
#4 Realms by Cindy Wilson (Kill Rock Stars)
At age 66, the B-52s singer released her second solo album, and her voice sounds as fresh and nimble as always. The album includes everything from club bangers to ethereal tracks. Highlight here is "Delirious," which is a jam-packed production of dramatic guitars and melodies. And if you're keeping track, yes, that's women artists 4/4 at the top of my list.
#5 10,000 gecs by 100 gecs (Dog Show/Atlantic)
It wouldn't be a Ninja list without some super-amped hyperpop. And this local duo is one of the best. I want to list highlights, but it's almost everything. The first three tracks bring the same full-on energy as the last two. The craziest, most fun deviation from the frenetic wall of buzz is "Frog on the Floor" - which, definitely kinda happened (minus the kegstand), and they wrote a song about it.
#6 Wallsocket by underscores (Mom+Pop)
Oh, hey! It's 100 gecs' tour mate April Harper Grey. She put out her second LP, a concept album about a fictional town in Michigan. But it's not just straight-ahead fuzzed out electro-punk-dub - the record ebbs and flows, slows and paces up, just like different characters in a town. Highlights are the more active tracks - "Cops and robbers," "Locals (ft. album coproducer gabby start)," and "Johnny johnny johnny."
#7 Joy'All by Jenny Lewis (Bluenote/Capitol)
This album is like sitting in a Nashville hot tub where most of the conversation is about dysfunctional relationships. I have loved practically everything Jenny Lewis made in the last two decades-plus - Rilo Kiley, Postal Service, solo work - and having seen the last two in concert this year, the talent in the produced work is truly reflective of her natural talent. Highlights here include "Psychos," (she says she's not a psycho, you may be skeptical, but you'd still hang out anyway), "Puppy and a Truck," (it's the simple things in life), and "Apples and Oranges," about that uncomfortable rebound-long-term relationship.
#8 Exorcist by Selwyn Birchwood (Alligator)
I'm a sucker for clever lyrics. "I love you baby, like the church loves money/I love you baby, like a boy loves bunnies." With lots of talented musicians on this album and Buddy Guy's former producer, songs like "ILa-View" and "FLorida Man" take a modern approach to traditional blues from the native Floridian. Definitely an album you can spin during happy hour and/or closing time.
#9 Fishing for Accidents by Wax Tailor (LAB'ORATOIRE)
I love a good found-audio album, a la Kid Koala or Avalanches. Jean-Christophe Le Saout is also an excellent DJ and finds vocal collaborators to give the album twists and turns that make each track unique. He's even released the instrumentals backing some of these tracks because the beats are that good. I do still gravitate toward the found-audio tracks, like "Craftsmen" and "Forbidden Cabinet." But "Freaky Circus" and "No More Magical" make space for Le Saout's beatmaking skills and rap bars from featured artists, lIke Mick Jenkins.
#10 Black Rainbows by Corinne Bailey Rae (Black Rainbows Music/Thirty Tigers)
As one reviewer put it, "We're a long way from 'Put Your Records On.'" Neo-soul star Rae made an album that goes everywhere from grunge, to lo-fi, to glam rock, on a highlight "NY Transit Queen." But still makes space for ballads like "Red Horse" and "Peach Velvet Sky." And there's a local tie to this this album: The glue that binds all the musical offerings together, was inspiration from Chicago's own Stony Island Arts Bank, which featured Theaster Gates' collection of Black history artifacts on display during Rae's visit and sparked her creative process for the album.
Honorable Mentions
Album Honorable Mentions:
11. Fever Ray – Radical Romantics
12. Mountain Goats – Jenny from Thebes
13. boygenius – the record
14. CHAI – CHAI
15. Allison Russell – The Returner
16. Velvet Vision – Together (is it a companion album?)
17. Janelle Monae – The Age of Pleasure
18. The Chemical Brothers – For that Beautiful Feeling
19. Gorillaz – Cracker Island
20. Jamila Woods – Water Made Us
TOP 40 SONGS OF 2023
1. Jovan Landry – Wha’Cha Wanna Know
2. VV Lightbody – Itinerary
3. Pixel Grip – Bet You Do
4. Nathan Graham – Pride
5. Acid Arab – Leila
6. Son Rompe Pera – Tono y el Demonio
7. bar italia - my little tony
8. Screaming Females – Brass Bell
9. LowDown Brass Band – Call Me
10. Ratboys - It’s Alive
11. Jessie Ware – Free Yourself
12. Jungle – Us Against the World
13. Cherry Glazerr – Ready for You
14. Miya Frolick & Goodwerks – Walking on Broken Glass
15. Ben Noble - miserchristianwhiteman
16. The Budos Band – Frontier’s Edge
17. Keys N Krates – Feelin Something
18. Will Butler + Sister Squares - Stop Talking
19. BJ the Chicago Kid – Forgot Your Name
20. BassKase – Get Two for Sister Sara
21. Lana del Rey - Did You Know That There's A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
22. Caroline Polachek – Bunny is a Rider
23. Sunny War – Whole
24. Margo Price - Radio (featuring Sharon Van Etten)
25. We Are Scientists – Turn It Up
26. jaimie branch – take over the world
27. Overmono – So U Kno
28. Charlie Vettuno - Slow For Me (Intro) (featuring Ericka Corleone)
29. A Giant Dog – I Believe
30. Portugal. The Man – Dummy
31. Madame Gandhi – Heart Wide Open
32. Slow Pulp – Doubt
33. The Hecks – Cowboi
34. Zuli - Otterance (featuring Cocktail Party Effect)
35. Alison Goldfrapp – Love Invention (Dr. What?)
36. Shalom – Narcissist
37. Slow Riser – Get Home
38. Wild Child – Cheap Champagne
39. Lauren Mayberry – Are You Awake?
40. Sleepy Kitty – Do It Without Me
Honorable Mention Songs (unranked)
• Gerald Dowd – Just Another Broken Heart
• Kay Young – The Way You Look at Me
• Debby Friday – I GOT IT
• The Drums – I Want it All
• TOKIMONSTA – Eats the Tale (featuring Rochelle Jordan)
• BAMBII – WICKED GYAL (featuring Lady Lykez)
• Haviah Mighty – Zoom Zoom (featuring Omega Mighty)
• Faizal Mostrixx – Tunes of the Jungle
• Django Django – Don’t Touch That Dial (featuring Yuuko Sings)
• BC Camplight – She’s Gone Cold (mostly for the “Homes Under the Hammer” reference)
• Emily King – This Year
• Atmosphere – September Fools Day
Next entry: Kyle Sanders’ Top 10 Films of 2023
Previous entry: CHIRP Radio’s Best of 2023: Tony Breed