Colin’s Top 10 Albums of 2023

We’re starting our top ten lists a little bit later than usual this year, which may affect my other lists, but not so much albums. It’s always the list I have the easiest time putting together at the end of the year, perhaps because I’m still fairly in tune with what’s going on in music these days, though the passage of time and the feeling of getting older never helps. But also, new music is just a lot easier to fit into the rhythms of your day-to-day than a new TV show or movie, and considering all of us have to fit our music listening habits into the constraints of our dayjobs, that certainly impacts what music we respond to.

For me, this was a year spent mostly listening to music while walking to work, riding the bus/subway, cooking, doing chores, or just enjoying a day off. Would I have responded to different albums in a year of different circumstances? Probably. But we’re dealt the year and the music we’re given, and these were the albums that intersected in just the right way with whatever was going on in my day-to-day. Continue reading

2023 Music Reconciled: That! Feels Good!

Jessie Ware – That! Feels Good!

I did not share by Apple Music year-end wrap-up thing with anyone this year, since my listening habits are never quite as interesting or eclectic as I want them to be. Also, does anyone really care what indie-famous artist I listened to the most? Anyways, That! Feels Good! by Jessie Ware was my most listened-to album of 2023, which isn’t all that surprising considering just how punchy and deliciously well-crafted the album is. It is quite simply the type of album that begs to be played over and over again, so I made a habit of it back when it came out in late Spring and served as a nice segue into the feel-good vibes of the Summer. Continue reading

2023 Music Reconciled: Jenny From Thebes

The Mountain Goats – Jenny From Thebes

One of the fonder music memories I have from 2023 was finally sitting in on one of KEXP’s in-studio sessions when I was in Seattle for the summer. The session I managed to see was for The Mountain Goats, a band that I had a lot more enthusiasm toward hearing than the group of friends I was with.

This seems to speak to the fact that The Mountain Goats appeal to a very particular type of obsessive fan, which I apparently am, having heard probably at least a dozen of their albums. However, the band kind of lost me in the course of their last few releases. They were always a very prolific band, but freed from an equally active touring life, it seems like the pandemic compelled John Darnielle to write even more songs than usual, many of which failed to hook me all that much. This is why I barely recognized any of the songs The Mountain Goats played during their KEXP session, since they were mostly from recent albums that I’d probably give a listen or two at most. Continue reading

2023 Music Reconciled: Water Made Us

Jamila Woods – Water Made Us

Ah, relationships and heartache. Two topics that never seem to grow old in the realm of pop music, and the topics that seem to be most abundant on Jamila Woods’ latest album Water Made Us. To call Water Made Us a concept album feels like a bit of a stretch, but its depictions of break-ups, moving on, and finding yourself lend it to a thematic cohesion at the very least. This was also an attribute of Woods’ last album Legacy! Legacy!, whose songs were inspired by iconic Black cultural figures in varying ways. Though here, she’s turned her gaze inward, and in the process creates something more personal while retaining her inscrutable cool. Continue reading

2023 Music Reconciled: Valley of Heart’s Delight

Margo Cilker – Valley of Heart’s Delight

Well, we’ve once again reached the point in the year that feels like a long slow march toward posting our Top Tens of the year in January. However, as far as December goes each year, I usually take this time to look back at a bunch of albums I haven’t really talked about in reviews or Little Picks on our podcast. Because I’ve been taking a more leisurely approach to reviewing albums, usually in one long monthly or seasonal post, it’s been pretty easy to keep up with talking about the albums that have impressed me this year. However, there have been a few from the last few months that I’ve been enjoying that I haven’t written about yet, and who knows, maybe there’ll be some albums from earlier in the year that I end up checking out and enjoying as various publications’ end-of-the-year lists start to trickle in. Continue reading

Colin’s Favorite Albums of Summer 2023

Well, the leaves are turning, things are getting spooky, and it’s thankfully no longer a million degrees outside every goddamn day. Though this summer felt like a pretty good one for music, I didn’t get around to reviewing really any new albums over the course of it. So before we turn our eyes toward Shocktober around here at Mildly Pleased, I figured I’d take a look back at some of the stand-outs from a summer that often felt like it’d never end. Continue reading

The People’s Albums #9: Come On Over

Let’s go girls.

I don’t want to jinx anything, but I am feeling a bit of a second wind on The People’s Albums. Maybe it’s the “light at the end of the tunnel” aspect of finally cracking the top ten best-selling albums of all time, but we’ll see if I can keep up the pace of two albums per season.

This entry brings things a bit full circle, since this was the first artist I ever reviewed for The People’s Albums almost exactly ten years ago. I wouldn’t say that that earlier piece is quite as poorly written as I expected, but comparing it to my response to this album, it does illuminate how much more open to frivolous pop music I’ve become in the intervening decade.

Album: Come On Over
Artist: Shania Twain
Release Date: November 4, 1997
Copies Sold in the U.S.: 17.7 million Continue reading