Here we go folks – it’s honestly my biggest 2023-related post of the year. This was the ninth year I’ve actively kept track of the songs that have sculpted my year. Whether they added clay or shaped me into who I am, these songs were the soundtrack to everything as it happened. If I was obsessed with a certain song, replaying it over and over, it goes in the list. If it was a song that I was listening to when I saw the best sunset in my life, it goes in the list. It it was something that was played a lot around the house with my partner, or a visceral cut I saw performed live, or anything that will clearly be attached to specific memories, emotions or feelings, it goes in the list. I’ve described it as a scrapbook of sorts, a collage. You can look back at older Retrospective posts HERE.

This will be my final 2023-related post, I’m sending it off in style. (I will not be doing a Recommended Albums of December 2023… I didn’t listen to a single album from that month, I don’t think). Thank you for reading Warm Visions for another year. We completely smashed my view count record this year, so I’m feeling encouraged to keep it up since people are clearly finding this blog. I also somehow got a ton of new Instagram followers as well, so shout out to y’all.

Below you’ll find 100 songs that soundtracked my year as it happened alongside a little blurb to go along with them. After that are my total listening stats for 2023 (most listened-to artists, albums and songs, etc). Then will be my other media wrap-up (movies, tv, books, games), and finally I have some wrap-up thoughts for 2023 as a whole. Thanks again for reading, and here’s to a healthy 2024.

THE SONGS THAT SOUNDTRACKED MY 2023:

Listen along with my 2023 Retrospective Spotify playlist HERE. This is a chronologically-organized list, with the first song being added at the start of January and the final song being added at the end of December.

1. Radiohead – “Idioteque (Live at Bonnaroo 2006)”
   I kicked off 2023 getting REALLY into the Bonnaroo 2006 bootleg, a masterful show that previewed a good amount of In Rainbows tracks and stretched throughout their discography up to that point, featuring 29 tracks. That’s absurd. Imagine a festival band playing for that long these days. Maybe that happens – I haven’t been to a “big” festival in a while. I may have been inspired to check back in with Radiohead because of a potential “Radiohead is actually overrated train” on social media pulling into the station of every online underground take-monger. Radiohead rips, you neanderthals. Note that in the Spotify playlist I had to include the Live In Oxford version of “Idioteque”, but this has a benefit, since you can really hear what sounds like Jonny Greenwood sampling and manipulating the crowd noise into a horrifying, sci-fi siren. Perfect song.
2. Cluster – “Im Süden”
   After being obsessed with Can for most of 2022, I thought I’d dive into one of their contemporaries in Cluster to start off 2023. “Im Süden” sounds like a nightmare and it was one of my most-listened tracks for me this year. I’m fun.
3. Faye Webster – “Kingston”
   My partner had a massive Faye Webster phase to kick off 2023, playing her three most recent records on repeat. You’ll see my #1 artist in January was indeed Webster. I’m not mad. She has a great discography, and “Kingston” is a fabulous song.
4. The Books – “None But Shining Hours”
   Ended up in Philly on potentially the coldest day of 2023 so my partner could tour some places she was applying to work. I had time to kill, so of course I visited the Magic Gardens for the first time, a place seemingly made for me, as I love sentimental junk sculpted into art and mirror selfies. What better album to listen to than a band that capitalizes on organizing sentimental junk into bite-sized masterpieces? The Books’ Lost and Safe was a great choice – it snowing in the faintest way, it was cold, it was early-ish in the morning, and I was alone. Peace.
5. Television – “Marquee Moon”
   RIP Tom Verlaine. I just happened to start listening to Marquee Moon again the week before he passed. Weird timing, but an immense loss.
6. Exodus – “A Lesson In Violence”
   A discovery in my 80s project, and quickly became maybe my favorite metal album of the 1980s? I need to make a concerted effort to make that choice, but I was instantly blown away by Exodus’ Bonded By Blood. If you love 80s thrash metal but don’t know this, try it out.
7. XTC – “That’s Really Super, Supergirl”
   Another 80s project first-listen. Almost immediately I could understand why there are people who absolutely HATE XTC, and people whose favorite band is far and away XTC.
8. Girls – “Hellhole Ratrace”
   I shared a screenshot of a karaoke-like lyrics image from Girls’ classic song “Lust For Life” on my IG story in late 2022 (“I want a pizza and a bottle of wine”) and got a raucous response from friends who love the band Girls. Cut to a few months later, I was stricken by the desire to re-listen to their debut Album, and “Hellhole Ratrace”… damn. This is an incredible song. A monumental track.
9. Julee Cruise – “Falling”
   My partner and I finally watched Twin Peaks in 2023 (we still need to watch Season 3), so now I understand so many more references, and appreciate the hype. Season 1 was insane, and sure, Season 2 is bloated with too many plots (remove the James plot entirely), but it was an awesome experience to watch through with my partner all the way through. RIP Julee Cruise.
10. Chaba Fadela & Cheb Sahraoui – “N’sel fik”
    Another 80s project listen. I noticed I had a good amount of 80s raï music in my iTunes for some reason, so I sampled a few records – Chaba Fadela’s “N’sel fik” was far and away my favorite song I heard. KILLER groove, and it’ll get stuck in your head like that.
    ~~
11. Pat Metheny Group – “Minuano (Six Eight)”
    Yet another 80s project first-listen. I had never listened to the Pat Metheny Group until this year, and I’m definitely curious to check out more. I quickly fell in love with his album Still Life (Walking), and I think “Minuano (Six Eight)” enters into both the canons of incredibly openers AND songs that do not feel like they’re over nine minutes.
12. Young Fathers – “Ululation”
    Probably the first new 2023 record I sunk my teeth deep into. Also this record just imprinted on me on doing weekly chores one morning, as I listened to it over and over while walking around in my old neighborhood. This song sounds like the late morning sun on a clear-skied winter day.
13. Yo La Tengo – “Tonight’s Episode”
    James McNew singing about yo-yo tricks provided me a level of peace little else did this year.
14. Kelela – “Happy Ending”
    Wish there were more bangers like this on this Kelela record but this was on constant repeat in February. I also want to point out the Kelela and Yo La Tengo records came out on the same day. Big day in Warm Visions’ history.
15. Liaisons Dangereuses – “Peut Être… Pas”
    Yep, another 80s project first-listen. Pretty brutal album but you cannot deny the groove here.
16. Miles Davis – “Black Satin”
    Early on in the year I decided to start listening to Miles Davis seriously. I had never done that, aside from a few passive listens of Kind of Blue and other similar era records. In 2023 I started with On The Corner, a good selection for me that likes the weirdo jams. Many dark February evenings walking around NYC listening to this wild, wild record.
17. Jacques Greene – “Believe”
    I wrote this in my Best Songs of 2023 post, but I wish Jacques Greene dropped a full record that sounded like this.
18. Meernaa – “On My Line”
    Cue the Meernaa obsession.
19. Shygirl – “Heaven (feat. Tinashe)”
    Shygirl’s original version of “Heaven” from 2022 was one of my favorite songs of that year, and adding Tinashe to the mix elevated it to another level. Didn’t include it in my Best Songs of 2023 list because… I don’t know. I included the original last year? This song is a dreamy pop… dream.
20. Kate NV – “mi (we)”
    I waited for six years to get a studio version of this song. It was worth the wait.
    ~~
21. Miles Davis – “Wili (Part 1)”
    More Miles Davis, this time getting to Dark Magus, the album of his I listened to the most in 2023. So much to like about this record, from its totally unhinged funk and psychedelic approach, to the fact that a concert like this was recorded in Carnegie Hall… I love this album so much.
22. Fever Ray – “Carbon Dioxide”
    One of my favorite songs of 2023. On constant repeat.
23. Unwound – “Were, Are and Was or Is”
    The closer of Unwound’s gig in NYC. What an awesome moment to leave on, especially since it was preceded by the suite of tracks it’s a part of, “Valentine Card” and “Kantina”, two intense, cathartic tracks. I remember having my head down, eyes closed, just letting this song wash over me at the end of one of the best concerts I’d ever seen.
24. Scree – “Questions For The Moon”
    Shout out to my buddy Evan and the music writer Ana aka @motherslug for hipping me to Scree. Fabulous record. In the cold, I fantasized about listening to this record on a humid summer night out on a city balcony. That fantasy was never realized, but I could make up for it this year. And shout out to Ryan aka Scree, who follows Warm Visions on Instagram. You rock!
25. The Sea and Cake – “New Patterns”
    I remember feeling very airsick just as the flight to Austin for SXSW was ending, and was on my second listen of The Sea and Cake’s 2012 album Runner. I’d listened to that record a good amount before, but this time “New Patterns” really stuck out. One of the best songs in their catalog.
26. Pearl & The Oysters – “Pacific Ave”
    This was my most listened-to song of 2023. I will say my memory that I go back to the most around listening to this song in the wild is when my partner and I were in Charleston, SC for a wedding. It was nice and warm there, with beaches. Very stark contrast to cold, wet and windy NYC. Pearl and the Oysters was ideal car driving music at that point.
27. Joanna Newsom – “Leaving The City”
    Our queen played a surprise opening set for Fleet Foxes in Los Angeles this spring… and played NEW MUSIC. I have bootlegs of the show but haven’t had the heart (or the attention span) to listen to them yet. I saw she was playing at a festival in Utah this year too… 2024 Joanna hive rise up?
28. Bowery Electric – “Another Road”
    In early April I broke out of my reading slump and bought former kranky head Bruce Adams’ book You’re With Stupid, which chronicled the birth and rise of the label in 90s Chicago, along with other experimental guitar music that was bubbling up at the time. Loved reading histories of Stars of the Lid, Bowery Electric, Windy & Carl, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and more.
29. Sun Araw – “Deep Temple”
    Not sure exactly what spurred it, but Sun Araw always gets me in the zone. “Deep Temple” is just one of my favorite songs of the 2010s too, so not a surprise. I think I had a lot of work and needed to plow through it or something + used this track & other Sun Araw slappers.
30. Emahoy Tsegue Mariam Gebru – “Mother’s Love”
    RIP Emahoy Tsegue Mariam Gebru. Your contribution to this world was one of immense peace.
    ~~
31. Jai Paul – “Vibin'” / “Jewel”
    I got to see Jai Paul. Live. In 2023. C’mon now y’all, that’s a life moment for real. I was particularly “Vibin” with this track right here you feel me??
32. Wednesday – “Bull Believer”
    Shout out to Wednesday for having an insane year. Personally their record didn’t hit me like it did so many other people, but I gotta admit that “Bull Believer” hits like a damn truck.
33. M83 – “Don’t Save Us From The Flames”
    I mentioned it in my Top Concerts of 2023 post, but seeing “Don’t Save Us From The Flames” live was a true “I’m at a kickass rock show” moment. Pummeling, cleansing.
34. Bart – “Rose Quartz”
    The rhythm section kicks ass, Bart kicks ass, and this album really made my spring something special. And Harrison or Idée Fixe, if you’re reading this, waddup! Thanks for reading!
35. Overmono – “Good Lies”
    The soundtrack to many of my nights commuting to concerts in the spring. Great subway album.
36. Salami Rose Joe Louis – “Akousmatikous (feat. Soccer96)”
    I regularly had the section where the tempo picks up stuck in my head in the spring. One of my favorite tracks of 2023.
37. Westerman – “Idol; RE-run”
    Another massive favorite of 2023. Found myself walking the High Line one mid-spring weekend afternoon listening to this record. The High Line has always been an emotionally-touched place for me, since it’s close by to the old Bolt Bus stop where I’d bring my partner when we were long distance. I’d either walk up it to meet her, or walk down it when we departed. Lots of nights spent walking and listening to music. Listening to this new Westerman album
38. Vampire Weekend – “Hannah Hunt”
    Modern Vampires Of The City celebrated 10 years this year – crazy! This was on pretty steady rotation in May of 2023, and I remember a specific trip out to Ridgewood, Queens to go to my friend’s birthday party where I listened to only this album. Classic!
39. billy woods & Kenny Segal – “NYC Tapwater”
    Listened to this album twice through on a bus ride back from Philly. Specifically a MegaBus ride on the top deck, stuck in major traffic.
40. Mass of the Fermenting Dregs – “IF A SURFER”
    Bought a ticket to see Mass of Fermenting Dregs in November 2023 around late April. Dipped back into their 2008 EP around this time and it kicks ass. And the show was awesome.
    ~~
41. TisaKorean – “SiLlY MoAn.mP3”
    Hard to not have fun listening to Let Me Update My Status. Only problem is that the way the songs are stylized, Last FM won’t register it as a real play. Womp Womp.
42. Led Zeppelin – “In The Evening”
    After three years of living in Kips Bay, my partner and I moved to the Upper East Side in June (believe it or not, it was the cheapest one bedroom we could find in Manhattan). Conveniently for my partner, she graduated medical school earlier in May, and went on a trip to Hawaii with her sister for the last week and a half of the month, leaving me with leading the charge on packing up our studio apartment. I have no problems with this – she earned the vacation. In that time, I got experimental with my library, and decided to go back to a lot of records I hadn’t listened to since high school. Led Zeppelin’s In Through The Out Door was one of them. This album rips, screw all the weirdo critics hating on late Zep. Other albums I listened to while packing: Modest Mouse’s The Moon and Antarctica, Grizzly Bear’s Veckatimest, Colin Stetson & Sarah Neufeld’s Never Were The Way She Was, and more. Strangely peaceful amidst the stress, packing up our life in such a small space.
43. Mega Bog – “Don’t Doom Me Now”
    This absolutely blew me the heck back when I saw it performed live. Erin Birgy’s vocal performance on this song is one for the ages.
44. Deradoorian – “Saturnine Night”
    Seeing Deradoorian perform with Mega Bog inspired me to re-listen to her 2020 album Find The Sun, a criminally overlooked project from that accursed year. “Saturnine Night” was on constant repeat for me in early June as a result.
45. Gia Margaret – “City Song”
    Needed all the peace this album could offer me this year. There was one Saturday afternoon where it was just pouring, and I needed to go out and do the weekly errands. I slipped on my boots, put this album on repeat, grabbed a big umbrella, and felt truly invincible. Until my pant legs started to get soaked. There also happened to be a parade happening down St. Mark’s Place that afternoon. An average afternoon where I felt like NYC was my home, no matter what adversity bubbles up.
46. En Attendant Ana – “Wonder”
    I’m glad I came back to this album after an early passive listen. This was one of my top favorite songs of this year, but this entry could be a placeholder for how the entire album soundtracked a good two weeks of my summer thanks to constant repeat listens. Principia is a tight, 35-minute listen. Blast through it twice in just over an hour.
47. The Cure – “Sinking”
    Listened to a lot of The Cure before I saw them for the first time in June. In that process I established one of my new favorite Cure songs, the closer on their 1985 album The Head on the Door, “Sinking”. Something about it is so awesome to me, and stuck out immediately.
48. The Cure – “Disintegration”
    Probably the highlight of The Cure set that I saw. Something got me SO hyped when they played this one.
49. Arthur Russell – “Picture of Bunny Rabbit”
    Listening to this song in the warm summer rain, walking down York Ave on the Upper East Side, humidity at 100%, glasses fogging up on their own. A magical experience.
50. Palm – “Tumbleboy”
    Haha – at this point in the year I felt like how this song sounds. This will be associated with a feeling of uncontrollable chaos for a long time, I’m sure.
    ~~
51. Aretha Franklin – “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Loved You)”
    I can’t remember exactly what, but midway through the summer, I realized I was severely lacking in 1960s listening, knowing popular songs but never digging into full albums. Of course I started with Queen Aretha, and yep, every song is amazing. Really love this album and its title track listed here.
52. Hayden Pedigo – “The Happiest Times I Ever Ignored”
    Many stressful nights this summer quelled by the leveling powers of Hayden Pedigo.
53. Tensnake – “Keep It Secret (feat. Jessy Lanza)”
    Banger alert!! Banger alert!! This song came out when I was actually very sad, but it was still very fun to listen to.
54. DJ Seinfeld & Confidence Man – “Now U Do”
    A sugar rush of the highest order. My #2 favorite song of 2023.
55. Augustus Pablo – “Each One Dub”
    I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: dub reggae is the peak of human achievement. July was the month of Augustus Pablo, as he was my most listened-to artist that month thanks to repeated listens of King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown. Masterful record.
56. Big Thief – “Vampire Empire”
    Just a fantastic Big Thief song. Even though they dropped the massive Dragon New Warm Mountain… last year, I was ready for a new album if it sounded like this. But a small album please.
57. Being Dead – “Daydream”
    Another perfect walking around in the summertime record. Hot to the touch, sweaty, letting loose.
58. Joanne Robertson – “If It Feels”
    Strangely, I’ll always associate this record with doing laundry one night when the moon was clear and bright in the sky. Sitting in the laundromat, reading my book, listening to this album.
59. Natural Wonder Beauty Concept – “Sword”
    There was a series of after-work bus commutes that I took listening to this album, and it feels REALLY good to listen to walking around the city at night to.
60. John Carroll Kirby – “Mates”
    The IDEAL “strutting around the city” at dusk track. JCK really went hard on this one.
    ~~
61. The Beatles – “Golden Slumbers”
    This late summer + early fall felt like the season of the Beatles for me. I think because I was reading The Number Ones, it got me interested in actually going back and critically listening to all the Beatles’ #1 hits, and not just dismissing them as a band I listened to in high school. They have 20 #1 hits for a reason. Also I know they’re a childhood favorite band of my partner and her family, so it was a nice thing to play in the apartment instead of all the random new records I put on. Not a hot take, but Abbey Road is probably my favorite full Beatles LP. But getting to “Golden Slumbers” – I’m not sure if this was like a CD-exclusive thing or what, but in high school I had a version that was a compilation from “Golden Slumbers” to “The End”. And when that came on, I immediately started singing every word. It was wild.
62. Maya Ongaku – “Something In Morning Rain”
    First time I listened to this it happened to be in the morning rain. It hit.
63. Arthur Verocai – “Na boca do sol”
    I went long talking about seeing Arthur Verocai earlier this year in my Best Concerts of 2023, but I have to restate that seeing these songs from Arthur’s 1972 album was so meaningful. It was amazing. Shout out to my buddy Dylan who I went with to this show.
64. Steve Hiett – “Are These My Memories?”
    Loaded up the two Steve Hiett records onto my phone during a particularly hot stretch of the summer, and it was the perfect respite for the oppressive temperatures. Breezy and laid back.
65. Courtesy – “You’re Not Alone (feat. Erika de Casier & August Rosenbaum)”
    Listened to this an absurd amount when I first came across it. Just repeated over and over again.
66. The Sundays – “Medicine”
    Shout out to my buddy Nick, who inspired this Sundays + Blind summer. So many mornings started listening to this album, as well as many drives in Michigan (when I was there in September) also listening to this record. I’ve always been a staunch Reading, Writing and Arithmetic Sundays listener, so it was a lot of fun really digging deep into their follow-up. This song is criminally under-streamed compared to the rest of the record. Love the syrupy vocal line in the chorus, of course.
67. Jessy Lanza – “Casino Niagara”
    My favorite song from the new Jessy Lanza record, something I tried desperately to like more than I did. I listened to it a lot, but found “Casino Niagara” to be the nugget in the rough. I still love your music, Jessy!
68. Patti Smith – “Gloria”
    Finally read Just Kids this year and it really became my whole life. What an incredible story, and made me yearn for an old version of New York City that, honestly, I probably couldn’t have handled. Let’s be real. I love NYC though, and learning about old art world haunts was fun on my weekends of walking around the city.
69. Truth Club – “Exit Cycle”
    Shout out to Truth Club for making one of my top favorite songs of the year. Also just shout out North Carolina in general.
70. Neon Indian – “Smut!”
    For some reason after watching Barbie in theaters (which was the ideal way to watch that, in a packed house), I had an overwhelming urge to listen to Neon Indian’s VEGA INTL. Night School, and it just felt right. I also maintain that it would be a much stronger full product if its last track was “Baby’s Eyes”, but that’s just my opinion. Spent a nice summer evening cooking and listening to this record on repeat. Just felt right.
    ~~
71. dadá Joãozinho – “VEJA”
    Not many records opened my brain wide open like dadá’s did. This song in particular is such a wild ride, and was on constant repeat in August.
72. John Carroll Kirby – “Nucleo”
    This song put me into a deep trance when I heard it performed live earlier in 2023. It could have gone on the whole night and I would have been standing there, eyes closed, zoned all the way in.
73. Emeralds – “Genetic”
    Emeralds remastered their fabulous 2010 album Does It Look Like I’m Here? this year, and it sounded amazing. I do not need any new reasons to re-listen to this record, but hearing new little details, along with expanded cuts off it, was cool. Needed this album to re-program my brain as I figured out how to do my new job.
74. Stars of the Lid – “Don’t Bother They’re Here”
    RIP Brian McBride. From reading the kranky book this year, to listening to A LOT of Stars of the Lid, this year definitely felt dedicated to McBride.
75. The Verve – “Slide Away”
    Not sure what inspired me to check out this Verve album, but I’m very glad I did. I hadn’t ever seriously listened to them, but I had gotten repeated recommendations for this album specifically. You can hear threads of what they’re doing here from bands like Geese these days. A meld of so many different rock sounds, done tastefully well. I think it’s aged really well too, unlike a lot of other 90s psych rock records.
76. Tirzah – “their Love”
    NEW TIRZAH ALERT. Even though she got sick and cancelled the show she was going to play essentially on my birthday (the third or fourth time she’s cancelled on a show I had tickets for), I still love this album.
77. Tirzah – “Hive Mind (feat. Coby Sey)”
    While I still haven’t warmed to Tirzah’s second LP Colourgrade like her other material, I can say “Hive Mind” is a tremendous song. I listened to it probably five times in a row on a flight to Michigan, with the image of my partner and I facing each other, standing and leaning towards the other, only our foreheads and fingertips touching. Our eyes are closed. We sway side to side in time, without needing to say anything. One by one, two by two. Our minds are linked, we feel the same feeling. It’s a really romantic song, in a weird way.
78. The Beatles – “Penny Lane”
    Took a really nice vacation with my partner in Northern Michigan in September where I got to see family, friends and the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes, a beautiful landmark I visited multiple times as a kid, all with my lovely partner. We scored a great place, and had cozy mornings and nights chilling there, and played a good amount of Beatles there. “Penny Lane” is my partner’s favorite, so that’s what’s going here.
79. Mitski – “Heaven”
    Terrifically dreamy. Incredibly so. Listened to this record driving around in Northern MI, next to Sleeping Bear, and through the woods where my family would go on vacation when I was a kid.
80. The Replacements – “Left of the Dial”
    Not usually a remaster guy (even though I listed the Emeralds remaster earlier), but holy hell, the Tim remaster sounds so damn good. Reminded me of when I hit my major Replacements phase in late 2016, and reaffirmed that Tim is my favorite ‘Mats album.
    ~~
81. Blonde Redhead – “Before”
    Hadn’t really listened to much Blonde Redhead before this year, except for 2007’s 23 and 2010’s Penny Sparkle. Their new album is great (see: its position on my Top 50 Albums of 2023), but “Before” was an especially entrancing song from this LP. I always pictured a tall, spire-like tower with dark clouds circling it, with one window at the top and a maiden wistfully looking out, hoping for a hero to come save them.
82. Devendra Banhart – “Flying Wig”
    There was a stretch in August and September, probably October too, where it rained every Saturday for maybe seven weeks straight. It rained A LOT. Lucky for me, walking around in the morning rain + listening to music is one of my all-time favorite activities, and Devendra Banhart’s Flying Wig is a perfect new record for days just like that.
83. Bridget St John – “To B Without A Hitch”
    Another rainy day song, and a first listen at that. Could also be venn diagram’d into the 60s discovery phase as well. Just a perfect late summer rainy day record.
84. Tinashe – “Uh Huh”
    Did not expect to be as obsessed with the Tinashe record as I was, but here we are.
85. Meernaa – “Love Is Good”
    Shout out to Bri, who I nerded out to about this song.
86. Maple Glider – “Don’t Kiss Me”
    Lots of Maple Glider listened to in our apartment – my partner is obsessed. Not mad about it!
87. Armand Hammer – “Pommelhorse (feat. Curly Castro)”
    Since I connected so much with Armand Hammer’s new LP We Buy Diabetic Test Strips, I revisited their more recent works and yeah, they’re on fire. This song in particular is a personal favorite.
88. Sofia Kourtesis – “How Music Makes You Feel Better”
    Had a moment listening to this track on my couch at like 2am in headphones, feeling like I was having a breakthrough. It came off my favorite record of 2023, so of course it’s in here.
89. Angelo Badalamenti – “The Pink Room”
    This is the coolest song ever written.
90. U.S. Girls – “Time – Live”
    Very grateful for this U.S. Girls live album, because it captures a snapshot of my favorite era of one of my favorite bands, a sliver of time where I’d say that U.S. Girls was the best live band running. Hearing them perform In a Poem Unlimited and Half Free tracks (specifically from a show at Brooklyn Steel I was definitely in the audience for), brought me back. Incredible grooves.
    ~~
91. Marci – “Stop”
    This was my #1 song of 2023. It came out near the end of the year, but still accumulated over 40 plays from me. You can read more on my Best Songs of 2023 playlist, but just know it’s the best.
92. Powers / Pulice / Rolin – “Melted Honey”
    Had a magical morning / afternoon listening to this in early November. Picture this: a perfect fall morning on a Saturday, going to the farmer’s market, sunshine slicing through golden-leaved trees that lined the streets. It’s chilly but not so much to make you overwhelmingly cold. I got goosebumps just thinking about it.
93. Heather Woods Broderick – “Wyoming”
    A favorite “new-to-me” pull that was included in my fall music playlist Winter Jacket Love Letter, the collection of songs I’d been wanting to put together for the longest. I love a summer playlist, but I have three autumn playlists now. Powerful, romantic ennui for the slate skies. This thing really does hit while driving around.
94. Chuquimamani-Condori – “Eat My Cum”
    If you weren’t listening to Chuquimamani-Condori in November / December 2023, what WERE you doing? I realized afterwards that they played a show on NYE in NYC and… that one hurt to miss.
95. ML Buch – “Fleshless Hand”
    If you weren’t listening to ML Buch in November / December 2023, what WERE you doing?
96. NewJeans – “ETA”
    Yup, I took the NewJeans pill. I listened through to their Get Up EP and was like “wow that was great”, and then learned that Erika De Casier and Smerz had writing and production credits on it. Go figure. My favorite song, “ETA” has neither Erika nor Smerz on it, so, I guess I’m a K-Pop stan now. If you thought poptimism got stale in 2023, watch out y’all, cause it’s about to get WARM.
97. amaarae – “Wasted Eyes”
    Very glad I ended up checking out this amaarae album, because it is immaculately produced. It really puts most other modern pop albums to shame. I’ll pair this album to an xmas shopping day where I spent a good hour in Kalustyan’s in Murray Hill. Great shop, great album.
98. Marvin Gaye – “I Want To Come Home For Christmas”
    Do you know this Marvin Gaye Christmas song?? It came up at the end of the Motown Christmas album my partner and I were listening to while making cookies. It stopped me in my tracks because it was the only Marvin song on the record, but also I steadily realized it was being sang in the perspective of a prisoner of war. The chorus of “I want to see snowflakes fall, I want to see Santa Claus, I want to hear jingle bells ringing” – cuts to the very deepest of me. Even the concept of a Christmas song sang by a POW is enough to make me tear up. War is worthless. Free Palestine. Ceasefire now.
99. Joanna Sternberg – “I’ve Got Me”
    Never took the time to get to Joanna Sternberg’s I’ve Got Me until late this year when compiling my Best Albums of 2023 list. This song instantly stuck out to me. Just simple songwriting and cutting lyrics. Also as a Joanna Newsom fan, I can’t not see the comparisons between the two, and then the precursor to them both (see: Newsom’s cover on Divers), Karen Dalton.
100. Cole Pulice – “If I Don’t See You In The Future, I’ll See You In The Pasture”
     The song to cap off 2023, a track I didn’t really notice anywhere except for a few Best Songs of 2023 lists. After loving Pulice’s contributions to Prism, I knew I had to check this out. Sure enough, it’s 22 minutes of bliss.

LISTENING STATS:

Here are my listening statistics from 2023, per my Last FM. Think of this section below as my Spotify Wrapped. I upped my listening overall in 2023, being my highest listen count for the ’20s so far. Like every other year for the last decade plus, I listened to predominantly brand new music only, with the occasional new-ish artist or classic album sneaking through. Check out my navel-gazing, absurd stats below.

TOTAL STATS FOR 2023:

• 27,359 total plays, 75 plays per day
• 1,886 different artists
• 2.898 different albums
• 11,402 different tracks

MOST LISTENED-TO ARTISTS OF 2023:

For the second year running, The Sea and Cake was my #1 most-played artist. Only Björk has taken my #1 spot twice (2015, 2017) since I’ve started tracking my listening, but The Sea and Cake are the first to take #1 two years in a row. What can I say? Their music makes me feel good, with 2012’s Runner taking first place in my listening, like 2008’s Car Alarm lead the charge for me in 2022. TSaC also broke into my 1000+ play club this year as well, getting there faster than maybe any other artist, aside from maybe Dntel from 2016-2017. Yo La Tengo continues to be on par with Grouper as one of my most prolifically listened-to artists of my adulthood, now ranking in my Top 20 for six years since 2013. A new YLT album early in the year, and then reacquainting myself with the depths of their discography to prepare for their Hanukkah shows definitely helps their case. Speaking on other 2023 inclusions, it felt encouraging to see two back-half release artists in Sofia Kourtesis and ML Buch make the Top 20 as well. Usually artists the drop records at the top of the year have a natural advantage.

Other notable non-2023 highlights include lots of Stars of the Lid starting in August (also notable since their songs are LONG; pure minutes-wise I listened to A LOT of Stars of the Lid), The Sundays’ domination almost purely at the hands of Blind, Marci’s 2022 debut becoming a constant player alongside her new song “Stop” (my fav song of 2023), as well as The Cure of course, who may have charted back in 2021, but I feel like I finally connected with them on a deeper level starting this year. Seeing them live definitely helped. Lastly we have Augustus Pablo, which shows dub reggae dominated my mid-to-late summer. I remember on those extra hot days I’d put on King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown and just glide.

1. The Sea and Cake – 524 plays
   –> (prev. #1 in 2022 w/ 534 plays)
2. Yo La Tengo – 443 plays
   –> (prev. #3 in 2022, #1 in 2021, #17 in 2020, #2 in 2018 & #14 in 2017)
3. Pearl and the Oysters – 398 plays
4. Maple Glider – 292 plays
5. Westerman – 276 plays
   –> (prev. #16 in 2020 w/ 141 plays)
6. billy woods – 266 plays
   –> (prev. #5 in 2022 w/ 291 plays)
7. Sofia Kourtesis – 261 plays
8. Tirzah – 219 plays
   –> (prev. #11 in 2018 w/ 285 plays)
9. Tiny Ruins – 208 plays
10. Gia Margaret – 200 plays
11. Overmono – 198 plays
12. Kelela – 191 plays
    –> (prev. #7 in 2017 w/ 416 plays)
13. Hayden Pedigo – 184 plays
14. Scree – 184 plays
15. Stars of the Lid – 173 plays
16. The Sundays – 171 plays
17. Marci – 170 plays
18. The Cure – 170 plays
    –> (prev. #19 in 2021 w/ 169 plays)
19. ML Buch – 167 plays
20. Augustus Pablo – 163 plays

MOST LISTENED-TO ALBUMS OF 2023:

There was no question even as we hit September or October 2023 on what my most-listened album of 2023 would be. Pearl and the Oysters had this in the bag, as both myself and my partner love this album, and it was a beacon of light as we both trudged through uncertain times in the first half + change of this year. Otherwise this list is filled with 2023 records, save for the aforementioned Blind by The Sundays, Runner by The Sea and Cake, and Marci by Marci, all of which I mentioned in my artists blurb.

1. Pearl and the Oysters – Coast 2 Coast (2023) – 329 plays
2. Sofia Kourtesis – Madres (2023) – 258 plays
3. Westerman – An Inbuilt Fault (2023) – 229 plays
4. Tiny Ruins – Ceremony (2023) – 199 plays
5. Gia Margaret – Romantic Piano (2023) – 184 plays
6. billy woods & Kenny Segal – Maps (2023) – 180 plays
7. Maple Glider – I Get Into Trouble (2023) – 178 plays
8. Scree – Jasmine On A Night In July (2023) – 178 plays
9. Overmono – Good Lies (2023) – 173 plays
10. ML Buch – Suntub (2023) – 167 plays
11. Kelela – Raven (2023) – 161 plays
12. The Sundays – Blind (1992) – 154 plays
13. Tirzah – trip9love…??? (2023) – 154 plays
14. Fever Ray – Radical Romantics (2023) – 147 plays
15. Andrea – Due In Color (2023) – 146 plays
16. The Sea and Cake – Runner (2012) – 138 plays
17. Tinashe – BB/ANG3L (2023) – 137 plays
18. Meernaa – So Far So Good (2023) – 134 plays
19. Yo La Tengo – This Stupid World (2023) – 126 plays
20. Marci – Marci (2022) – 125 plays

MOST LISTENED-TO SONGS OF 2023:

*one song per album

Again, not surprising. If Pearl and the Oyster’s Coast 2 Coast was the beacon of light that propelled my partner and I through 2023, then “Pacific Ave” was the literal lightbulb, or the motor, or the gears, powering said beacon. It was a constant presence throughout the year, as you can see it ran away with my #1 spot. I disobeyed Marci’s “Stop” and wouldn’t cease listening to it until I thought I had reached an embarrassing level of replays in the moment. If I weren’t culling all double-entries from full albums, the list would no doubt just be filled with P&tO, Westerman, Sofia Kourtesis and Fever Ray. So it goes.

It’s a full-on 2023 party per usual, aside from the prerequisite The Sea and Cake song “New Patterns” (from 2012’s Runner), along with Faye Webster’s “Kingston” (reflective of my partner’s Faye Webster binge from early on in the year), as well as, hilariously, Pat Metheny Group’s “Minuano (Six Eight)”, a largely instrumental (aside from a few “doo doo doo do do do doooo”), nine minute, twenty-six second jazz fusion song from 1987. The song could have benefited from it being an early inclusion on my building “It’s 2023” playlist (which is renamed 2023 Retrospective at the end of the year), but then again, taking a small sample size of the first 20 songs on the playlist, only three others are included in this list. Like I wrote in the blurb breaking down the playlist, this is a song that does not feel like it’s over nine minutes, and just makes me happy. Let me have this shred of joy and carry it through the year.

1. Pearl and the Oysters – “Pacific Ave” – 71 plays
2. Marci – “Stop” – 42 plays
3. Westerman – “Idol; RE-run” – 40 plays
4. Meernaa – “On My Line” – 37 plays
5. Sofia Kourtesis – “Madres” – 37 plays
6. Fever Ray – “Carbon Dioxide” – 36 plays
7. DJ Seinfeld & Confidence Man – “Now U Do” – 35 plays
8. Tinashe – “Uh Huh” – 33 plays
9. Scree – “Questions For The Moon” – 29 plays
10. Jacques Greene – “Believe” – 28 plays
11. Maple Glider – “Dinah” – 28 plays
12. Jessy Lanza – “Casino Niagara” – 27 plays
13. Kelela – “Happy Ending” – 27 plays
14. Andrea – “Remote Working” – 26 plays
15. Mega Bog – “The Clown” – 26 plays
16. The Sea and Cake – “New Patterns” – 26 plays
17. Faye Webster – “Kingston” – 25 plays
18. Gia Margaret – “City Song” – 25 plays
19. Pat Metheny Group – “Minuano (Six Eight)” – 25 plays
20. Tiny Ruins – “Dogs Dreaming” – 25 plays

MONTHLY BREAKDOWN:

Pretty nice spread of listening for the year, almost accomplishing the feat of having a different #1 artist each month, but Yo La Tengo just had to go ruin it. I also want to point out The Sea and Cake were never one of my #1 most-played artists of the month in 2023, but still were my #1 most-played artist. They were a constant presence, a base level to climb from or a palette cleanser. Faye Webster’s January #1 is indicative of my partner’s ritual of listening to Faye’s top songs on Spotify each morning to start the year. You can also see how slow this summer was, with three non-2023 artists taking the #1 spots for June, July and August. Sometimes ya just need a break! Otherwise it’s just “person puts out album that month, Trevor listens to it a lot” formula. What a shocker.

• January – 2,286 plays
  –> Top Artist of January: Faye Webster
• February – 2,049 plays
  –> Top Artist of February: Yo La Tengo
• March – 1,727 plays
  –> Top Artist of March: Fever Ray
• April – 1,829 plays
  –> Top Artist of April: Pearl and the Oysters
• May – 2,510 plays
  –> Top Artist of May: Westerman
• June – 2,490 plays
  –> Top Artist of June: The Cure
• July – 2,517 plays
  –> Top Artist of July: Augustus Pablo
• August – 2,248 plays
  –> Top Artist of August: The Sundays
• September – 2,093 plays
  –> Top Artist of September: Tirzah
• October – 2,434 plays
  –> Top Artist of October: Tinashe
• November – 2,690 plays
  –> Top Artist of November: Yo La Tengo
• December – 2,486 plays
  –> Top Artist of December: ML Buch

MORE MEDIA CONSUMED IN 2023:

This is a little showcase of all the other media I engaged with this year. I do things other than listen to music! But clearly that takes up most of my time.

BOOKS:

2023 marked the year I started reading again, directly thanks to my longer commute. I don’t know what it is, but I just can’t read at home like I do on the bus or train. I’m usually on my computer. Something to work on in 2024, for sure. I read exclusively non-fiction, another new thing for me. I focused on music and art books, with Olivia Laing’s Funny Weather being a spark point for learning and appreciating so much about the art world I hadn’t even comprehended before. This is what brought me to Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts, a book where most went over my head, but an enjoyable experience nonetheless. Funny Weather also inspired me to finally pick up Patti Smith’s Just Kids, which was undoubtably my favorite book I read this year. It’s a classic for a reason, and if you live in NYC and haven’t read it yet, I implore you to do so. If you don’t live in NYC and haven’t read it, I feel like this is one the key pieces of literature to understanding, not the full picture of NYC and the art world of course, but a vital one.

The super nerdy music books were also greatly enjoyable, as You’re With Stupid kicked the whole thing off and gave me a whole new appreciation and respect for the innerworkings and slog works of indie label and distribution efforts, The Number Ones gave me so many fun facts and was a compelling journey through the history of pop music, and the 33 1/3 B-Sides allowed writers to go out of the box to talk about albums that aren’t widely considered classics. Some essays were duds, but some were really, really great.

The final book I read in 2023, Michael Kimmelman’s The Intimate City, was likely my second-favorite book of the year. A super easy and quick read filled with pictures of NYC, each chapter focused on a different neighborhood of NYC that Kimmelman went on pandemic walks in, all with different people with knowledge or expertise, usually architecture-related, on the certain area. It taught me about the history of different spots in NYC, going all the way back to pre-Dutch colonization, where the Lenape people lived. I learned that Battery Park City was built off of Manhattan, purely made of landfill from when they built the Twin Towers. I learned that the last patch of old-growth forest is in the Bronx Botanical Garden. Fun little facts like that, and I’m excited at the prospect of going through it again once I start walking in some of the places I’ve never been to before. Any NYC romantic like me should check it out.

• The Argonauts – Maggie Nelson
• Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency – Olivia Laing
• The Intimate City: Walking New York – Michael Kimmelman
• Just Kids – Patti Smith
• The Number Ones: Twenty Chart-Topping Hits That Reveal the History of Pop Music – Tom Breihan
• You’re With Stupid: kranky, Chicago, and the Reinvention of Indie Music – Bruce Adams
• The 33 1/3 B-Sides: New Essays by 33 1/3 Authors on Beloved and Underrated Albums – Will Stockton & D. Gilson

MOVIES:

A paltry showing for movies, but I did go to the movies this year the most since the start of the pandemic, checking out Asteroid City, Barbie, The Elephant 6 Recording Co., Killers of the Flower Moon, Past Lives and Yi Yi all in theaters. It was so awesome seeing Yi Yi in the theater, surrounded by people who love the film – hearing people’s laughter really illuminated how silly it is sometime, even for being a thoughtful, sad-at-times film. Still my favorite movie! The only other rewatch this year was In The Mood For Love, and holy hell god damn, that movie is perfect. Great to show it to my partner and hear her take on it as well. Ultra dreamy.

In terms of new and new-to-me movies, it’s hard to say what my favorite thing I watched this year was. TÁR stuck with me for days afterward, unable to wrench it from my brain. I have never watched a film that has impacted me in that way. I’d probably say that was my favorite thing I watched, purely on that alone. Seeing Barbie in the theater felt like a pure cultural moment (which feels odd to say since it’s a movie about a doll, but plenty other people wrote stinkpieces about that concept), but the final line sent my partner (an OBGYN resident) and I into hysterics. I’ve thought of Past Lives on multiple locations as I walk around NYC, especially in the rain. Killers of the Flower Moon was a death march, but one I’m glad I saw in the theater. Asteroid City was of course a barrel of fun, pure Wes Anderson eye candy. The Holdovers was fantastic of course, perfect for the season, and I made a ton of cookies after watching it. And I mean, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me… what a film.

• Asteroid City (dir. Wes Anderson)
• Barbie (dir. Greta Gerwig)
• Cléo from 5 to 7 (dir. Agnès Varda)
• The Elephant 6 Recording Co. (dir. C.B. Stockfleth)
• The Holdovers (dir. Alexander Payne)
• In the Mood for Love (dir. Wong Kar-wai)
• Killers of the Flower Moon (dir. Martin Scorsese)
• Past Lives (dir. Celine Song)
• TÁR (dir. Todd Field)
• Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (dir. David Lynch)
• Yi Yi (dir. Edward Yang)

Elsewhere in media land, I really fizzled out of everything else. In the TV realm, partner and I finally watched the first two seasons of Twin Peaks (which explains the Fire Walk With Me watch), and that was a blast. We also watched the final season of How To With John Wilson, whose finale still haunts me to this day. On the games front, I made a breakthrough at the end of the year by discovering how to play Roller Coaster Tycoon 1 and 2 on my mac without using Steam or anything. I played more Minecraft to start the year, but after dying at the hand of a shulker in the end after I had looted an end city… yeah I’m done for a while. I’ve resolved to start playing my Switch more in 2024, because I’ve played an embarrassingly low amount since buying it at the end of 2018. I said at the end of 2022 that I wanted to play more games and failed. So we’ll see what happens in 2024.

FURTHER THOUGHTS ON 2023 / DIARY SECTION:

2023 fully felt like a blur. A chaotic swirl that left me feeling dizzy and out of place. The first half of the year was built upon insecurity, as my partner and I didn’t know where we were going to end up come May, since she was going to be paired with a residency program somewhere in the country. We could stay in NYC, or we could be moved to Philly, Baltimore, or St. Louis. We just didn’t know! This was resolved while I was in Austin, TX for SXSW. My partner called me while I was walking in what was essentially the dictionary definition of urban gentrification or development of formerly industrial areas: cookie cutter apartment buildings, haphazard intersections of new road, right near a highway (but also the river, which was what I was aiming for). The light was that my partner was accepted to her first choice program, and that we’d be staying in NYC. On the same token, I am always proud of her, but her graduating from medical school was one of my most cherished moments of 2023. She works so hard and deserves all of the success she gets. She is amazing, and has been caring for the women and uterus-havers of NYC at large, doing an absolutely fantastic job despite sending me pictures of herself covered in amniotic fluid.

After my partner graduated, we moved to the Upper East Side of Manhattan, and have been living there for the second half of 2023. Although it’s far from our usual haunts in Brooklyn and lower Manhattan, it’s still a peaceful spot that I personally am still growing into. I also got a new job at the company I’ve been working at since 2017, and am still growing there in a more leadership role. But that, combined with new place, new glasses (they got knocked off in a panic exiting a bus when someone got violent), new computer, has been a lot of change all at once. It has resulted in less sleep, less exercise, more eating poorly, less social, less drive for working on my blog. I’ve resolved to try and break out of these harmful cycles in 2024, but we’ll see. I felt myself falling into that at the start of 2023 and did a poor job at rescuing myself. I started 2024 off sick, so it’s a low bar to clear, and hopefully the bottom I can climb up from.

This year felt really hard with external forces bearing down on all of us too, from the inept government fumbling every good grace rational voters hoped for, to the ecological destruction of the world (remember the orange days in June?), to the many days of endless rain, to personal body pains, to losing my glasses and having to wear my prescription sunglasses everywhere for two weeks (ok that last part is kind of funny) to the passing of my grandma, to the closing of so many of our favorite restaurants (RIP Brooklyn Whiskers), to injustices happening across New York City thanks to various factors but a lot due to our jackass mayor, to of course the obvious and oppression knowledge that a US-funded genocide is taking place in Palestine. That last one is not like the others, but they all compound on each other. It makes me feel compressed. Diminished. Totally beaten down. Hard to clear out the psychic damage that results in stuff like that and remember the good times.

But thinking back to my best experiences of 2023, they’d have to be as follows (this is a long list, switch away now if you want): going to Philly with my partner to kick off the year and visiting the Magic Gardens for the first time on one of the coldest, windiest days of the year. Also seeing my friend and meeting her lovely cat. Seeing an old family friend in NYC and having dinner with him and my family, who traveled down from CT to also see him. Seeing another friend from CT for brunch one morning. Going record shopping with a buddy (three shops in one day). Celebrating my partner and I’s anniversary at one of our new favorite restaurants, Avant Garden (still haven’t been back but the meal was great – lava cake with brûlée banana was amazing). Going up to Beacon for a day trip, eating the best vegan donuts I’ve ever had at Peaceful Provisions and going back to Dia:Beacon for the first time since pre-covid 2020. Crocuses blooming in early spring along the east river. Seeing Unwound with my buddy who came up from North Carolina. Going to see my partner sing in a choir in Rye, NY. Many SXSW moments, but the best being meeting Chris Cantalini, aka the founder of Gorilla Vs Bear, in person – and the fact he knew about Warm Visions. The moment when I found out my partner had matched to a residency program. Meeting Meredith Gran, the creator of my favorite webcomic series Octopus Pie, and getting her signature on my Octopus Pie Volume 5 book. Going to Maine with my mom, dad, sister, sister’s partner and my partner. Spring walks when flowers in NYC were abundant. Cheering on my partner as she ran her first half marathon in the pouring rain. Traveling to Charleston, SC for a wedding and making some new friends. Attending my first full NON-COMMvention in Philly and meeting so many new people in person. Seeing two old friends from an old job in Ridgewood, Queens for a birthday party. My best friend visiting NYC from Michigan and despite losing my voice, having a great time together. My partner and I’s favorite restaurant, Superiority Burger, finally opening back up and going frequently (but not frequently enough). On the topic of food and that area, any time going to Confectionery was a highlight. My partner graduating from medical school. Hiring movers to move our junk to the UES. Bidding farewell to our cute little studio in the sky, which was complete with views of both the East River (if you craned your neck) and the Empire State Building. Picnics in Central Park. My parents coming to visit in July and getting totally dumped on with rain. Going upstate with some dear friends from college (and their angel dog), and seeing the majestic Kaaterskill Falls. Accompanying Little Dragon to a SiriusXMU session. Helping two fans out and getting signed Little Dragon setlists for them. Meeting my partner for a breakfast date after her first shift on nights. Reading so much more than the last few years. Getting an air conditioner installed. Going to Superiority Burger late night to get a TFT and seeing Greta Gerwig and posse fresh off the Barbie movie success. Seeing Arthur Verocai with my buddy and then again, going to Superiority Burger. All good things begin and end with Superiority Burger. Running down Park Ave in August, feeling alive and legs not hurting. Popping back up to CT for breakfast dates with a dear friend. Any time we got Orchard Grocer soft serve. Happy and delirious transmissions from my partner while on shift. An extremely vital and restorative trip to Michigan to see my grandma before she passed, along with so much more family and friends, even going up to Northern Michigan for the first time since 2009. One last visit to Brooklyn Whiskers, and then eating dim sum at Buddha Bodai with friends that same morning. Installing the record display shelves my dad made me. Seeing my in-law nephews grow up. Going to Philly for my first-ever World Cafe session that I booked myself (for my real person job). Seeing family I hadn’t seen in 20 years at my grandma’s funeral. Watching the NYC marathon. Sunny fall days walking to the farmer’s market. Finally making a new playlist (Winter Jacket Love Letter). Going through hundreds of family photos to scan them. Michigan beating Ohio State for a third time in a row. Marveling at the paper snowflakes my partner’s mom makes. Midtown East River walks (between 71st St + 61st St). Yo La Tengo Hanukkah with my partner for the first time, plus with my go-to YLT partner in crime and her partner. Making six different types of christmas cookies. Getting to spend more time with my family and in-laws, as well as my friends at the end of the year. And so many concerts peppered throughout.

That’s a lot. I’m sure I missed a fair chunk, but it feels good to see it all written out like that. Thanks for taking the time to read this, or even skim it. It’s a much headier, nerdier post than anything else I do for this blog, but I enjoy recapping the year, especially when it comes to music, since it’s literally accompanying me at all times, and looking back at each year that I do this, I can trace how I was feeling, where I was, life events, etc., just by looking at the songs. I hope I inspire you to do the same if you feel like it’d help you. I’d also like to thank every person and every artist that contributed to my happiness going through 2023. I only hope I was able to offer you a shred of what you brought me throughout this crusher of a year. Here’s to 2024.