Avant Music News Best of 2023: Part II – Albums of the Year

To the extent that these lists mean much of anything, here are my favorite recordings of 2023. Many of these albums have been reviewed here at AMN, and such reviews have been linked in the list below.

As usual, the list is so lengthy that we broke it into two separate postings. The “best of” is today, and the honorable mentions were yesterday. Let me add the usual disclaimer that this list is incomplete, I have not heard all 2023 releases, and it is a mathematical certainty that I have missed a few really good ones. Enjoy.

Like this list? Feel free to peruse previous years’ lists.

Albums of the Year

Becuzzi, Gianluca – Black Mantra
Jack O’ The Clock – The Warm, Dark Circus
Lehman, Steve / Orchestre National de Jazz – Ex Machina
Mazurek, Rob / Exploding Star Orchestra – Lightning Dreamers
Nihil Impvlse – Anabasis
Stafylakis, Haralabos (Harry) – Calibrating Friction
Webber, Anna – Shimmer Wince

Best of 2023

Alio Die / Lorenzo Montana – Dialogue of Water
Allemano, Lina / Axel Dorner – Aphelia
Allemano, Lina / Four – Pipe Dream
Alone In The Hollow Garden & Nam-Khar – Antariksha
Alphaxone / Dronny Darko – Beyond the Event Horizon
Art Ensemble of Chicago, The – The Sixth Decade: From Paris to Paris (Live at Sons D’Hiver)
Atrium Carceri – Forgotten Gods
Bégin, Richard – Phase 5
BlackWeald – The Fermi Exhibit
Bonaventure, Michael – Works 2018-2023
Brode, Lucas & Grant Calvin Weston – Imagination / Meditation
Brötzmann, Peter / Heather Leigh / F.Lonberg-Holm – Naked Nudes
Buck, Tony – Environmental Studies
Butcher, John – The Very Fabric
Butcher, John /Pat Thomas/Dominic Lash/Steve Noble – Fathom
Caicedo, Diego – Seis Amorfismos
Chaigidel & Neraterræ – Lamaštu
Davis, Anthony / Kyle Motl / Kjell Nordeson – Vertical Motion
Dunmall, Paul / New Quartet – World Without
Duplant, Bruno – Quelques Instants D’éternité
Eaters of the Soil – Inedia 2: Dystopian Dirges of Synthetic Decay

Ewen, Sandy / Jason Nazary – A Beaded Gesture
Fujii, Satoko / Otomo Yoshihide – Perpetual Motion
Gates, Sally / Trevor Dunn / Greg Fox – Deliriant Modifier
Gauci, Stephen / K.Matsuno / T.Dahl / K.Shea – Live at Scholes Street Studio
Gentile, Kate / ICE – b i o m e i.i
Gilardini, Joel – Nocturnal (Black Programs Facility)
Glover, Caldon – Ùir
Great Old Ones, The – Mythos of Cthulhu
Growlers Choir – LIVE au FIMAV
Gydja – Þjóðáar Fnæstu Eitri
Harjo – The Magi
Holsen, Hilde Marie – Ediacara
Illegal Crowns – Unclosing
Kodheli, Rubin – Departure
Koenji Hyakkei – Nivraym Revisited
Letum – Dreams and Illusions
Location Location Location – Damaged Goods

Lombardo, Dave – Rites of Percussion
López, Francisco – Dynamo
Lumsk – Fremmede Toner
Mattrey, Joanna – Soulcaster
MAW (Meadows / Ackerley / Wallace) – Live Recordings
McGregor, Ryan – Through Flood, Through Fire
Med Gen – Frontier of Former
Melford, Myra / Fire and Water Quintet – Hear the Light Singing
Mendoza Hoff Revels – Echolocation
Mercer, Matthew – Dub/Super
Metatron Omega – Kataphasis
Michelle, Chantal – 66 Rue L
Mitchell, Matt – Oblong Aplomb
Mount Shrine – Lost Loops Collection
Natura Est – The Folly of Mars
Natural Information Society – Since Time is Gravity
Ni – Fol Naïs
Novatron – Gabori
One Shot – 111

Pavone, Jessica – Clamor
phoanøgramma – the void on a distant sun
ProtoU & Oljus – Mørketsland
Rhùn – Tozïh
RNGMNN & Collaborators – False Dawn: Falsified
Roddy, Stephen – Leviathan
Sanders, Mark / Emil Karlsen – Muted Language
Schuler, Laura / Quartet – Sueños Paralelos
Seabrook, Brandon / Epic Proportions – brutalovechamp
Serries, Dirk – Fluctuation of Being
Shoup, Wally / Greg Kelley, Tom Scully, Casey Adams – None of This Is Implausible
Sick Boss – Businessless
Six O’Matic – A Misnomered Pipe’s Dream
Skrika – Vyeltyra Vortex
Sleep Research Facility / Llyn Y Cwn – Sargo / Posidonia
Sonologyst – Electrons (New Edition)
Sonologyst – Shortwave Spectrum
Stirrup (Lonberg-Holm / Macri / Rumback) – Picks Up The Thread

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