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Tony Breed writesCHIRP Radio’s Best of 2023: Tony Breed
Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2023. Our next list is from DJ Tony Breed.
Boy, it’s been a year, hasn’t it? A year of what my boss keeps calling “macroeconomic conditions”, like a man gesturing vaguely at a beat-up car. But the music has been good! Real good. This summer there was one song I kept hearing, a song that clearly resonated with a lot of our DJs. This is my pick for song of the year: “Quit” by Velvet Vision. It’s enormously catchy, and speaks to disaffected workers everywhere. I remember being in a Zoom meeting with my team; one employee was talking about feeling really defeated, and there, on the radio in the room behind me, was this song. Do I want to quit my job? Maybe I want to quit my job? Can we please do a 4-day workweek?? Here are my top 10 albums, the absolute best of the best, in my estimation:
#1 Diagnosis by Sen Morimoto (City Slang/Sooper)
“This album is so good,” I keep thinking to myself while listening to Sen Morimoto’s third album Diagnosis. The complex musical fusion is hard to put a label on; it probably owes the most to jazz, while not really being a jazz album. The influence of hip hop is also there, as are indie pop and post punk, but it’s not really any one of those things. What it is, is solid, layered, and varied, from the angry politics of “Diagnosis” to the quiet beauty of “Forsythia (????????)”. Give it another listen. I can’t stop playing it.
#2 What Comes Next by Jason Moody (self-released)
I’ve been following Chicago musician Jason Moody’s musical career since about 2006, with his old band Zerostars, and I have always loved his work. But this album—coming after a 10-year hiatus—I feel confident in saying it’s his best yet. The music is dense and rich and has a lot going on: “Wartime Girl” pairs soft crooning with heavy guitar and drum; “Diesel of Summer” stars out quiet and abstract and then hits a funky breakdown halfway through. This is good music to listen to late at night with headphones on.
#3 Carry On Regardless by Baby Teeth (self-released)
Baby Teeth is another local band coming back after a 10-year hiatus. Lyrically, Carry On Regardless is a lot of storytelling—apocalyptic stories, class commentary stories, and, in the title track, the story of the band’s own musical career. What do you do when you don’t see the success you hoped for? You carry on regardless. I’m glad they did, because this album is one of their best yet.
#4 The Ballad of Darren by Blur (Parlophone/Warner)
You know who isn’t coming back from a 10-year hiatus? Blur’s Damon Albarn—both Blur and Gorillaz had releases this year. (Though to be fair, it’s been 8 years since the last Blur album… but anyway, he’s been busy.) Blur these days seems to be Albarn’s outlet for music that doesn’t sound like Gorillaz; The Ballad of Darren sounds more like Albarn’s mellow solo album Everyday Robots than early Blur albums like Leisure or Parklife. Perhaps it’s just the sound of a band that’s aging… but I’m aging too and this doesn’t bother me. The music is really good. Blur is always good, let’s be honest.
#5 Tight Feathers by Course (self-released)
Course is a band wherein Chicago singer-songwriter Jess Robbins shakes off her folk and roots origins, and dives headfirst into electro pop. The songs are lyrically astute and musically very catchy. I get little bits of New Order, Suzanne Vega, OMD, Cocteau Twins, General Public—it’s highly reminiscent of a John Hughes movie soundtrack. The is one of those albums that get better and better with repeated listens.
#6 Realms by Cindy Wilson (Kill Rock Stars)
More solo music from the great Cindy Wilson of the B-52’s. Compared to her previous solo work, this is a little less mellow and dreamy, a little more pop and new wave. It’s packed with synthy goodness, and “Midnight” is an absolute banger that I will be spinning any time someone wants me to DJ a party.
#7 Borrowed Tunes, vol. 2: Songs for You by Mike Maimone (self-released)
Mike Maimone put out two full length albums and one EP—and much as I enjoy his original music, this album of covers, which he has described as therapy for his grieving process (he lost his husband to cancer this year), is absolutely extraordinary. Production is stripped away; it’s just Mike and a piano. He pours his emotions into the songs and the result is raw and gorgeous. His version of “Moon River” makes me cry; I, too, lost a husband to cancer. (Note to Mike: it gets easier. Hang in there.)
#8 Common Pearly Everlasting by Dream Version (self-released)
More great music from one of my favorite local bands! Lead singer and songwriter Alec Harryhausen paints vivid pictures with his lyrics—“N.R.E.” takes me back to college, when I fell in love too easily, like an addiction; “What If We Gave Up” is a perfect little love song to rest of the band. Wonderful stuff.
#9 Supernatural Thing by M Ward (ANTI-)
I will admit to being surprised at how much I listened to this album this year. By now we all know that M Ward is master of songcraft, so why am I surprised? It’s just delightful. Expect to hear me returning to “Engine 5”, in particular, again and again; it gives me feelings.
#10 Called Upon by Neptune’s Core (Side Hustle)
Having followed this band of two pairs of teenaged sisters since their first album in 2020, it has been nice to hear them maturing into their sound. Called Upon is lyrically much darker than previous albums: “Broken, why am I so broken?” they sing in the opening track. I am reminded of Morrissey and The Smiths, but from Neptune’s Core in comes off more honest; it’s certainly more impassioned. I look forward to hearing whatever they make next.
Honorable Mentions
t’s always hard to limit myself to just a top 10, though at the same time, past 10 the order of albums starts to feel arbitrary. And so, here, in alphabetical order, is more music that I truly loved this year (also known as my honorable mentions).
- Aesop Rock / Integrated Tech Solutions
- Adi Oasis / Lotus Glow
- Beverly Glenn-Copeland / The Ones Ahead
- Coventry / Our Lady of Perpetual Health
- Dengue Fever / Ting Mong
- Django Django / Off Planet
- Dolph Chaney / Mug
- Karate School Dropout / Welcome to the Dojo
- Pantayo / Ang Pagdaloy
- Paul Simon / Seven Psalms
- Poi Dog Pondering / Keep On Loving Each Other
- Seasaw / Projecting
- Sylvester / Private Recordings, August 1970
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