it's spotify wrapped month! 2023 has been the year where i've endeavoured to drop videogame score, originally (shamefully) for my spotify wrapped, but i got heaps out of it and i'm glad i did it, even if the resulting post isnt that interesting. i'm actually considering ignoring it completely next year anyway as it focuses on individual tracks instead of albums, which i think is much less interesting. (theres also the conspiracy theory i heard that the wrapped dropped a day early because it could drown out an organised social media campaign to spread information about the tragedy in gaza, but i havent been able to find any further info on that one)

anyway, heres the goods:

solar fields unsurprisingly pulled ahead, and almost all of the tracks were from golemm's album hazardous bubble basics, with a surprise showing from taylor deupree. i'm going to do a more comprehensive rundown of my music for the year early next january, this is more of just a taster. anyway, on to the normally scheduled top three albums!

this months playlist

ep no.1 - tigran hamasyan

a running theme for all three albums this month was having an incredibly good start. ep no.1 tells you what to expect immediately with a really minimal jazz instrumental performance (piano and drums), overlaid with two vocalists absolutely BELTING it out. each track has its own very distinct and catchy melody, and the whole album is short but sweet. i'm absolutely blown away by how different this is to anything else i've ever heard and would die to see them perform it live!

fixed earth - bobby swan

i was shocked to see that bobby swan only has 128 monthly listeners on spotify because they make some incredibly competent and complex atmospheric music. quiet and simple drones and tempered instrumental notes start each track, and different layers weave in and out - i spotted harps and hand pans, synthesised bloops and a gottan used to put the bow on the opening track. theres a little bit of digital warping sprinkled in - basically, just about anything you could consider experimenting with (besides vocals) is tried, and with great success. the tracks are all very different but also succeed in creating an impressive amount of cohesion - one of my favourites were 'truth serum' which lays two key repeated melodies over each other, with the higher one almost poking its head out at the end in an inquisitive nature. i also loved 'resin jam' which subs in a jazzy little bassline as a backbone for the track

self awareness through macrame - sonny & the sunsets

sonny and the sunsets are an indie pop band from san francisco, and this track is a really new release, coming out just a couple of months ago. it doesnt appear to have set the world on fire, but i was pretty immediately drawn in by the first song 'waiting', and was happy to be drawn along for the whole half ish hour runtime. for risk of telling on myself, the vocal performance reminded me somewhat of car seat headrest, but much more contented than will toledo's affect. every track is bright and bubbly, and it was an excellent contrast against the more somber tracks i was listening to this month