This Week’s Theme: Best of 2023 (Female Artists)

The last Faux Show presented my Top 20 metal and hardcore albums of 2023. The music was loud, angry, and aggressive. I know that music is not enjoyed by everyone, but this week’s show presents what most will find a more palatable collection of 2023 recordings.

There has never been a more successful period in pop music for women as there is right now. Although genres such as rock, metal, and jazz are still dominated by men, women have taken over pop, country, R&B, soul, and hip-hop. It is very likely that the Grammy for Album of the Year will be awarded to a woman. Newcomer Ice Spice is a shoe-in for the New Artist of the Year Grammy. Taylor Swift is the most popular live ticket in the country. Beyonce is the most popular live ticket in the world. Megan Thee Stallion, Nicki Minaj, and SZA rule hip-hop. This is an era of female artists. This week’s show features my Top 20 albums by female artists in 2023.

As always, there is a playlist.

Amazon Prime Playlist

Spotify Playlist

Number 20: That! Feels Good! by Jessie Ware

That Feels Good! by Jessie Ware is the feel good dance album of 2023. Leisure suits, mirror balls, and vials of cocaine not required. It is 1977 all over again.

Number 19: Phoenix by Lakecia Benjamin

Lakecia Benjamin’s newest release is about as straight-ahead as any jazz gets in 2023. There are modern R&B and hip-hop trappings on Phoenix, but the focus is on Benjamin’s Coltrane-inspired sax playing.

Number 18: Romantic Piano by Gia Margaret

Gia Margaret is a composer who started out toward a career as a film score composer but decided to instead focus on composition in the style of composers such as Erik Satie and Masakatsu Takagi. Romantic Piano could serve as a film score, but also works wonderfully as a meditational collection of short beautiful compositions. I’ve been listening to it as background music for most of the year. Sometimes you need to let music wrap itself around your subconcious, and this record succeeds in that brilliantly.

Number 17: Relentless by Pretenders

Chrissie Hynde’s last album was a wonderful collection of acoustic Bob Dylan covers. Relentless finds her back in the studio recording new songs that sound like her last few releases. This isn’t her best, but any Pretenders release is a gift to her fans.

Number 16: Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. by Lana Del Ray

I have never sought out Lana Del Rey releases, but I have always enjoyed her music when I hear it. I know that this is not going to be her most critically acclaimed release and her fans probably like her older material more, but Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. has grabbed my attention this year.

Number 15: Our Best Place by Shonen Knife

Shonen Knife have released 22 albums in 41 years and original member Naoko Yamano has been the guitarist/vocalist for all of them. Her sister Atsuko was an original member at the age of 17, and has returned to the band after a brief hiatus in the early 2000s. If you don’t know Shonen Knife then you should take some time to listen to any albums you can find. I am lucky enough to have originally learned about them in the late ’80s and was smart enough to purchase a wonderful compilation of Shonen Knife covers called Everybody Has A Shonen Knife Who Loves Them when it was released in 1991. That album included cover songs of Shonen Knife material performed by some of the indie rock bands who Shonen Knife had either covered or written songs about during the early part of their career, such as Redd Kross and Sonic Youth. Loving Shonen Knife is a lifelong affair for any of us who have known about them for the last 30 or 40 years. They have progressed musically over the years, but not much. They are a punk rock band who sing songs about stuff in their life. They have opened for Sonic Youth and Nirvana, among many others. Their new album is simply the latest in a long line of catchy punk rock albums that sound like Shonen Knife and not like any other band. God bless Shonen Knife.

Number 14: Rockstar by Dolly Parton

Bring on the haters. I’m sure people will attack Rockstar for the simple fact that Dolly Parton has released an album that is over an hour long and is almost entirely covers performed with the original artists. Almost all of the songs are over forty years old, so I’m sure that will be attacked as well. She has covered some of the most iconic rock songs ever recorded, including “Let It Be,” “Free Bird,” and “Stairway to Heaven,” so critics will surely turn a sour face toward her renditions without even listening to them. If you have ever read anything I have written in this blog then you know that I couldn’t give a shit about anybody’s opinion if it is based on superficial crap like that. The truth is that Parton has produced an album that sounds more like a labor of love than a money-grab trying to profit from her induction into the Rock Hall last spring. Not all of the songs on the album succeed as well as she hoped, but none of them are fails, and a few of them are simply wonderful. It is absolutely joyous. The song selections may not be as rock as some people would like (another fact that I’m sure will draw in the haters), but all of these songs are more rock and roll than any of her previous releases. Dolly Parton is not Wanda Jackson, so she is not going to go old school rockabilly, but the songs with Joan Jett, Ann Wilson, Pat Benatar, and Rob Halford(!) are hard rock purity. The cover of “Open Arms” with Steve Perry is an emotional tour de force. The selection of a lesser-known CCR song shows it for what it is – a roots rock classic. And the wonderful version of “Purple Rain” is covered by one of the only artists who should even attempt to do so. Dolly Parton is older than almost anyone still recording, and she has proved with this album that she is still a legend worth listening to.

Number 13: My 21st Century Blues by Raye

British vocalist Raye has released dozens of singles and EPs over the last 7 years, but My 21st Century Blues is only her 2nd album. Her debut was a 30-minute, 9-song release, so in many ways this album is her first fully realized release and the first to show her full vocal and songwriting range. Her vocals glide from jazz to soul to pop to hip-hop flow with ease, with an emphasis on her gorgeous R&B voice. More importantly, this is an album that she could not have written earlier in her career because these songs are an eviscerating attack on the sexism, misogyny, exploitation, and sexual victimization that she has experienced while struggling as a female artist in the modern pop music environment. Combine those elements with her open-ness about her former addictions and the album lands as a successful concept album about the struggles that women face daily in our modern world.

Number 12: Melusine by Cecile McLorin Salvant

Cecile McLorin Salvant is one of the best jazz vocalists of her era. Melusine is her 7th release in 13 years and it is everything one could want from a vocal jazz album. It is nominated for a 2024 Grammy and anyone who wants to hear a singer at the peak of her powers should listen to it.

Number 11: Joao by Bebel Gilberto

Bebel Gilberto’s 2023 album is one of her best. While her 2000 album Tanto Tempo has been a Faux household favorite for over 20 years, I often find her records to be too focused on modern songwriting instead of the traditional bossa nova music that her family made famous. That all changes with Joao, a collection of songs composed, and originally performed, decades ago by her father. The arrangements are traditional bossa nova and her voice is in perfect form. If you like this music, this is one of the best releases of this style in the last 40 years.

Number 10: The Greater Wings by Julie Byrne

Julie Byrne has slowly built her sound since her debut almost 10 years ago. The Greater Wings is only her 3rd release, so her evolution from the lo fi acoustic guitar minimalism of her debut to the gorgeous depth of her new album shows an amazing growth.

Number 9: Blondshell by Blondshell

Blondshell is the self-titled debut album for Sabrina Mae Teitelbaum who formerly recorded as pop artist BAUM. After several years of pop-based releases, she has evolved into an indie rock artist. The change is a success. This isn’t the best indie rock album of 2023, but it is a quality release by a talented songwriter.

Number 8: Love in Exile by Arooj Aftab

Vulture Prince by Arooj Aftab was my pick for second best album of 2021. It is still a favorite listen, showcasing the beautiful songwriting of Aftab. This 2023 album is a perfect follow-up to her 2021 release. This trio first performed together five years ago, and this album, their first recording, is collaborative perfection. The minimalist nature of the compositions is perfect for Aftab’s vocals to shine, while also showcasing the musicianship of pianist Vijay Iyer and multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily.

Number 7: Lucky For You by Bully

Ms. Faux and I love Liz Phair. I am also a fan of ’90s alt rock. I like the Breeders. I like Elastica. I hear all of these artists in the sound of Bully on her 4th album. Lucky For You has grown on me with every listen. Lovers of old fashioned indie rock should like this one.

Number 6: Blomi by Susanne Sundfor

I had never heard of Susanne Sundfor before discovering her 2023 album Blomi last summer. I was immediately pulled into the album by the first track, an experimental spoken-word piece with esoteric lyrics about the physical nature of love in relation to physics, gravity, and other stuff which I’m sure I don’t understand. If the entire album was similar to that first track, I may have enjoyed it well enough. However, one must move past the first track to discover that this is an album by an amazing songwriter and vocalist. Sundfor combines traditional Norwegian folk music with modern songwriting to produce a collection of gorgeous songs that continue to move me with every listen. This is a beautiful album and deserves to be heard by a lot more people than are going to hear it.

Number 5: the record by boygenius

Female supergroup trio boygenius have given each of the individual artists (Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus) a new, much larger fanbase. A lot of supergroups from rock’s past are created by aging stars looking to extend their careers. Boygenius breaks that mold by giving three women in the prime of their career a chance to grow together as songwriters and musicians. Every song on the record could be a standout on each woman’s next solo album. By combining their talents in this way, they have created a songwriting powerhouse and have given each other inspiration to expand their creative palette. I would imagine that the future will find all three women performing both together and separately for years to come now that they have found the mass success they each have deserved for years.

Number 4: Guts by Olivia Rodrigo

Olivia Rodrigo is a 20 year old former Disney star who is also one of the most popular acts in the U.S. There are very few artists recording right now who have achieved as much success and popularity as Rodrigo in the last 3 years. What’s amazing is that all of those other artists are either pop or hip-hop artists. It has been years since an ultra-popular artist has recorded rock music like Rodrigo has made for her new album. Her debut had moments of rock but was a pop album at its core, while this new album has moments that sound like The Breeders and Green Day. I think this is because she is now making music that sounds like what she listens to. While she claims to be the world’s biggest Swiftie, she also names her influences as Alanis Morrissette, Fiona Apple, and Avril Lavigne. Even more importantly, she names White Stripes, Rage Against The Machine, and Babes in Toyland as influences. I’m sure that most people my age ignore artists like Rodrigo and tend to play their favorite album by Led Zeppelin or Prince when they start up the car. I am not trying to argue that Rodrigo is the second coming of Robert Plant, and her music is set firmly in the pop music production aesthetic of 2023, but most of this record sounds like Liz Phair and not Britney Spears. Like her heroes Swift, Morissette, and Apple, Rodrigo is on a path toward a long career in popular music. If she can avoid the traps of fame that often befall such young artists, she could end up becoming a generational icon just like her own heroes.

Number 3: Radical Romantics by Fever Ray

The wonderful electronic music of Swedish songwriter Fever Ray (aka Karin Dreijer) had avoided my earholes for almost 15 years prior to 2023. Music of this type was never my favorite when I was younger, but I now listen to it regularly. Most importantly, at least from a personal perspective, is that I focus my attention on discovering great releases of this kind of music and avoid the banal. Unlike a new indie rock album by a band I like, wherein I may listen to fairly mediocre releases and then forget about them like someone eating skittles, when I find a release as great as Radical Romantics I savor it like a perfectly blended curry. This release was my go to for driving around this summer with the windows down. The depth of sonic achievement on this wonderfully produced album is breathtaking. The melodies are incessantly memorable. This is a release by an artist at the peak of their creativity.

Number 2: With a Hammer by Yaeji

2023 is the year I discovered that I like HyperPop. With a Hammer is the 2nd album for Yaeji, and it is a great introduction to this type of music. HyperPop combines elements of electronic music with pop, R&B, and/or hip-hop styles with a focus on the avant-garde. In Yaeji’s case, the music is a mix of extremely diverse electronic experimentation with drastic rhythmic variation and an avant-pop sensibility. This is not music that everyone will immediately enjoy. In my case, it took several listens to start to understand the vision being presented. Over the last six months, the songs on this release have continued to stick in my brain like the best earworms do. I would highly recommend this for anyone who wants to listen to modern pop music but prefers an artist with some edginess in their creativity.

Number 1: The Crow-Cyan Lake by Yikii

Looking at the release dates of my last few posts, this Top 20 female artists list may seem like one of several that I have created over the last few weeks. The truth is that I have been working on these lists for a few months. As I have discovered new music, I have slowly evolved the lists to match my current feelings about the music of 2023. The first show of this best of 2023 series presented my 10 favorite international releases of the year, and one of them is an album I have been listening to since discovering it over 6 months ago. “Discovering” is the best way to describe Chinese avant-garde composer Yikii (pronounced Yee-Kee), because no one is going to come across her music without some amount of searching beyond the superficial surface of popular music. The Crow-Cyan Lake is difficult listening. A dichotomy of sounds run rampant through her compositions. Darkness/light, horror/beauty, extremism/minimalism, dissonance/melody. This is an artist of immense talent who is working in obscurity in a country that controls its media more than any other nation besides North Korea. Since I first wrote my best of 2023 international artists show, I thought more about the music of Yikii. I listened to much of her work. I watched many of her self-produced videos. I discovered an interview of the artist. In the end, I have placed her at #1 on this list. Of all of the albums I will include on these best of 2023 lists, this is the one that I would make known to everyone if I had the ability to do so. I have also included the wonderful interview with Yikii and hope that someone will watch it and find a connection to the person and her music that is meaningful in ways much more important than simply enjoying an Olivia Rodrigo album.

That concludes this Faux Show. The next show will be a Top 20 of the year list that focuses on rock and pop music. Until then, as always, thanks for listening, and reading!

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