The unstoppable growth of streaming services continues to put the beloved music release format of the album at risk of extinction. And maybe it’s time to re-think what a collection of songs can be or want to be or who actually wants to listen to a full album, from first to last song. But quoting the genius who is Rick Rubin: the audience comes last. And so we here at Poule headquarters keep staying true to ourselves in celebrating those artists with a desire to release a coherent collection of songs, with a particular track listing and arch – thereby finding their audience in Team Poule.
The popular year-end lists of 2023 included a lot of new favorites, from Lana del Rey, El Michels Affair & Black Thought, Youth Lagoon, Sufjan Stevens, Sofia Kourtesis, Animal Collective, PAINT, the road trip album by billy woods / Kenny Segal, Nourished by Time‘s great debut, and of course that Andre 3000 record we did not know we needed, same goes for Fontaines DC’s Grian Chatten‘s solo debut.
There were still a few more records that did not make the great best-of-lists elsewhere that still deserve a shout as they left a lasting impression and change of perspective on our 2023 and will surely continue to shine. In no particular order:
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Dougie Poole – The Rainbow Wheel of Death | Wharf Cat Records | Brooklyn, New York | February 2023
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Shana Cleveland – Manzanita | Hardly Art Records | San Francisco, California | March 2023
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Elephant Stereo – Clara Years | self-released | Chicago, Illinois | March 2023
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Der Assistent – Der Assistent | Papercup Records | Berlin, Germany | March 2023
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FEWS – Glass City | Welfare Sounds & Records | Malmö, Sweden | April 2023
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Scotch Mist – Cabo Blanco | self-released | New York City, New York | August 2023
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Nabihah Iqbal – DREAMER | Ninja Tune | London, UK | April 2023
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Being Dead – When Horses Would Run | Bayonet Records | Austin, Texas | July 2023
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Crystal Fighters – Light+ | Play It Again Sam | Barcelona, Spain | November 2023
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Dirty Nice – Surrenderland | Chiverin | Bournemouth, UK | November 2023
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VILDE – Hope | self-released | Edinburgh, Scotland | August 2023 | also in Photo-Interview #28
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memorytown – IT TAKES FOREVER | Plum Records | Henryville, Pennsylvania | November 2023
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Decisive Pink – Ticket to Fame | Fire Records | New York City, New York | June 2023
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Tanlines – The Big Mess | Merge Records | New York City, New York | May 2023
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If you are now thinking, damn I wish I knew about these records sooner, do not worry but follow the official Poule d’Or playlist over on Spotify. It is updated regularly and contained all these tracks at some point last year. For more info, click here.
Also, as you have made it this far, you do seem to enjoy a good list, so maybe check Team Poule’s picks for calendar years 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 … and try finding those vintages on Spotify: 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Find the full backlog of the best tracks of 2023 – ready to shuffle through here.
** Title photo by way of Tanlines, courtesy of the Notopoulos family
