An earful of artists, albums, and tracks that represent the best of Boston music in 2023
We asked some Boston music-scene savants to shout out their favorite local artists, albums, and songs of 2023. Here’s what they said:
“I choose Mark Erelli’s ‘Lay Your Darkness Down.’ The entire recording is beautiful and honest with strong lyrical content. Mark’s stories are very engaging and he makes listening to this album a full auditory and emotional experience. It is beautiful and honest with strong lyrical content. Mark’s stories are very engaging and he makes listening to this album a full auditory and emotional experience.”
— Dylan Jack, drummer/composer
“Classified as doom metal (one of my favorite genres), Glacier sound almost symphonic to me. They are so precise. And slow. Three guitars and a bass, pounding out chord … after … chord. Absolutely synchronized. I have often wondered how hard it must be to play drums slowly. No vocals. Pure blast of sound. A bath of darkness. Perfection. And Sweet Petunia are two vocals in harmony, two stringed things, banjos or guitars, being all twangy, and a queer agenda (that I support wholeheartedly). You call it stunningly beautiful folk music; I think they are way punk rock.”
— JJ Gonson, photographer and proprietrix of ONCE Somerville
“ToriTori’s ‘Places’ is one of those tracks you put on repeat and play like 30 times. It’s a song that reminds me to let go of people, ideas, and environments that no longer serve me. It’s an affirmation of self-love and a lesson on pouring back into you so that you step into the next chapter of who you’re supposed to be. The Billboard Hot 100 hasn’t discovered it yet, but when they do it’s going to do numbers!”
— Billy Dean Thomas, hip-hop performing artist and City Hall Plaza engagement manager
“One of the more unusual releases of the year is Reynaliz Herrera’s ‘BIKEncerto: a concerto for solo bicycle and orchestra.’ Boston-based Herrera incorporates bicycles and bicycle parts as musical elements, but it is not just a gimmick — this music is substantive and new, and deserving of recognition independent of the unique instrumentation.”
— Ken Field, saxophonist, WMBR/WOMR radio host, and president, JazzBoston
“One of my favorite releases this year was Rasheed Chappell and The Arcitype’s collaborative album ‘Sugar Bills.’ I feel like both artists leveled up on this and made an amazing hip-hop project. My stand-out track is ‘Lucifer in the Candlelight.’”
— Ned Wellbery, promoter, Leedz Edutainment
“‘20th Century Wasters’ by The Family Township is an album that is chock full of great tunes. It’s a varied bunch of songs, from the mid-aughts indie feel of ‘Youngblood’ and ‘Here We Are’ to the arena rock vibes of ‘Cross the Line (Oh Andrea)’ and ‘(It’s a) Heartbreak’ — and lots in between. I believe this is Marc Pinansky’s best work, both his singing and his lyrics. The band is on fire, bringing just the right balance of tight and loose.”
— Rodrigo van Stoli, guitarist/singer
Officer X and BANG CAMARO
“One of my favorite albums of 2023 is Duke Robillard’s ‘Six Strings of Steel.’ The sound is phenomenal — the range of material spreads from vintage Barney Kessel to elegant swamp funk to rumble-atious Link Wray. The album includes a beautiful original, penned by Duke and dedicated to Duke’s wife, the lovely Duchess Laurene. Duke wrote in the liner notes that this tune broke a ‘dry spell’ for him, as far as songwriting. Duke sings a couple tunes and he sounds great. Chris Cote, Duke’s featured vocalist, always sounds amazing — Chris is one of the finest singers in New England, to my ears. Each song stands alone, yet all fit together beautifully as a body of work.”
— Michelle Wilson, singer and WICN radio host
“Medisun (who changed his moniker from King Mas in late 2019) is a highly respected talent in the reggae industry. His music is centered around the importance of the family unit that extends to a community which are founded on the solid Rasta and traditional African teachings. His track ‘Everything Safe’ is a soul-drenched song of reassurance to his queen from the excellent ‘WMLS’ album by Tanzanian producer Cloudbeats, featuring Boistory. A brand new remix just got released as a single in early December featuring Iotosh and King Perry. This is a superb collaboration between Jamaican and African talents who are taking conscious music to the next level it was always destined to go.”
— Junior Rodigan, sound system operator and DJ
“The band One Fall and I spent all of April together at the Rock & Roll Rumble, where they became 2023 champs. Hearing these songs live is an adrenaline-pumping, fist-flailing fest for your senses. Hearing them in their recorded form on their new album ‘Spine First!’ is another experience. All the big hooks, hot licks, and great chops are canopied with sweet power-pop melodies. Favorite: ‘Back to the Wall.’ Little Anngelle would wear this out doing rock moves in the mirror. (Truth be told, grown Anngelle would too.) Honorable-est mention: Stars Like Ours’ ‘Better Every Day’ EP, on Rum Bar Records. Few bands can deliver an authentically retro ‘90s sound like it’s been pulled from the Alterna-Rock Buzz Bin. SLO wrote the manual for music that is energetic and hooky, with a just right amount of singalong melodies on songs purely identifiable as theirs.”
— Anngelle Wood, host of “Boston Emissions” and producer of the Rock & Roll Rumble
“Multi-layered, multi-textured and rhythmically compelling, Animal Hospital’s ‘Shelf Life’ has been dominating our water cooler conversation and prolonging our cigarette breaks.”
— The Boston Typewriter Orchestra
“Doug Tuttle is great at crafting bitesized chunks of psych pop with a touch of the morbs. He’s also a fantastic guitarist and sonic explorer, so his album ‘Keeping Alive’ has a bunch of fantastic solos and unique sounds that always add a little spice to the mix.”
— John Brookhouse, guitar/vocals/synth, Worshipper
“Bassist Bruno Råberg’s album ‘Look Inside’ resonates again as we move into winter. It’s a beautiful collection of work for unaccompanied bass, his first. There’s both song and exploration here, quiet grooves, moody spaces brightened by Bruno’s warm tone.”
— Mark Redmond, Mandorla Music
concert series and record label
“I would recommend ‘You & I’ by Treez. I like this song because it brings me good energy whenever I listen to it. Also, the beat is different and has a nice fast tempo.”
— Vasjan, artist and club promoter
“Tim Gearan’s ‘Hammer and a Bell’ is a no-brainer. Produced by Jeremy Moses Curtis, the album gives me the same feeling I get when I listen to the new Rolling Stones record, ‘Hackney Diamonds.’ Somehow an artist with an absolutely, immediately identifiable sound puts together yet another record of brand–new and unique songs with the same trademark sound. It’s this ability to reinvent and improve upon the wheel that gives an artist like Tim Gearan the legendary status we’ve all come to love.”
— Tom Bianchi, promoter, 24 Hour Concerts, frontman of the Baker Thomas Band
“I’d say it’s a tie between Kadeem and Loman’s ‘Peace of Home’ and BoriRock & Grubby Pawz’s ‘Wavy Bullet.’ I also really enjoyed the Felix! ‘Paris Fashion Week’ single that just came out. Been playing that a lot — it’s different pushing sounds.”
— 7L, DJ (Czarface, 7L & Esoteric), owner of Soundtracks records, Beverly
“Winkler’s new album, ‘For You, Now,’ is super cool. Their vintage lo-fi indie sound is unique and refreshing. The songs are well-crafted and thoughtprovoking. I look forward to seeing what the band has in store for us in the future.”
— Ian McGregor, owner of Deep Cuts, Medford; Eye Design booking