Top 25 albums of 2023: #’s 20 – 16

Here we are at the top 20 albums I heard in 2023. There’s some fun stuff here for you.

#20: Worg – Il Piano di Medea EP

This is a techno EP based on the mythological tale of Jason and the Golden Fleece. I don’t know what else to write to make you keen on hearing it than that.

#19: Noëtik – Parhelion EP

Speaking of good EDM, this EP from Noëtik is solid. You could drop any of these tracks into a DJ set and your audience will think you’re a genius.

#18: The Serfs – Half Eaten By Dogs

Weird and wild post-punk from Cincinnati. It moves back and forth between cold wave, post-punk, krautrock, and other stuff that’s hard to define.

#17: Motörhead – Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival ’07

This unearthed, previously unreleased live recording of Motörhead destroying a jazz festival is nothing short of outstanding. They were firing on all cylinders during this tour. Count yourself lucky if you saw them in 2007. If, like me, you never got to see them live, this gets you close.

#16: Rich Aucoin – Synthetic – A Synth Odyssey: Season 2

Rich Aucoin has a cool gig. He gets to collect and play with vintage synthesizers, arpeggiators, sequencers, and organs and make albums with them. This second volume of such music sounds like it was recorded yesterday with new gear. It’s full of dance tracks, ambient cuts, trance beats, disco riffs, and more.

Who makes the top 15? Stay tuned!

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Noëtik – Parhelion EP

Apparently, German DJ / producer Noëtik has a busy schedule, because he doesn’t waste a damn second on his Parhelion EP.

I mean, he claims to have “Bad Intentions” on the opening track, but the intentions are to get you to dance and move wherever you are and with whatever you’re doing. Maybe his bad intention is mischievous glee in knowing that you’re going to be bopping around your kitchen, racing through the grocery store, or getting through your spinning workout in half the normal time. The bubbling bass and slight dub effects, along with the relentless beats, might cause a rave to break out at any second.

The bass on “Sparsity” is slightly subdued, with a bit of a fuzzy edge, but it is no less addictive. Beats seem to reverse back on each other and return like a boomerang whacking you upside the head. The industrial touches (metallic percussion) on “Ariko” are outstanding. It wanders into dark house territory and walks around the monster mash rave like it owns the place.

“Trivium” pumps the brakes on the tempo and turns that monster rave into a vampire after-party. The track drifts in and out of shadowy places and has a sexy danger to it. The EP ends with a remix of “Bad Intentions” by Modēm that is somehow faster than the original.

In short, this is one of the best EDM records I’ve heard so far this year. Any DJ could just play this whole thing and use the time to hydrate and eat a protein bar during a set.

Keep your mind open.

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