Happy holidays, ‘tis the season, and other non-denominational greetings! First and foremost, I’d like to formally apologize for omitting Drake’s Nothing Was The Same from my formative album retrospective a few weeks ago. Now more than ever we have to boost the stories of babygirls everywhere, and I’m sorry for suppressing the voice of such a prominent member of the community.
Sharing my albums and songs of the year has become a time-honored tradition here at The Loftstyle, so of course I couldn’t let 2023 end without giving her a proper send-off. TBH, I don’t have many favorites but I do have a lot of honorable mentions, as I spent most of my year listening to the same old shit (more on that later).
Here they are, in (almost) no particular order:
My Favorite Albums of 2023:
Desire, I Want To Turn Into You by Caroline Polachek: A lavish and lovely art-pop explosion. That yodel bitch did it again!
Lahai by Sampha: It feels odd evoking Sampha’s name post-2017, but this project is really fantastic and worth the six year wait.
Fountain Baby by Amaarae: As the meme says, “Shout out to Black woman aquatic albums, gotta be one of my favorite genders.”
My Honorable Mentions of 2023:
Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd by Lana Del Rey: Really loved this, but there isn’t a single spot in the whole of New York City quiet enough to sufficiently listen to this album front to back.
JAGUAR II by Victoria Monét: Despite my scathing takedown of album sequels earlier this year, this project actually works. Unfortunately this wasn’t the case for a certain female rapper who is obsessed with pink and loves Fridays.
the record by boygenius: Sorry for containing multitudes…
Heaven knows by PinkPantheress: Only listened once but I liked what I heard!
My Favorite Songs of 2023:
“Blood and Butter” by Caroline Polachek
“Co-Star” by Amaarae: Maybe it’s my newfound career in astrology or the relentless groove but this song has me in a chokehold.
“A&W” by Lana Del Rey
“Contact” by Kelela: As a Kelela stan I wanted to love Raven but it just hasn’t clicked with me yet. Until then I’ll just be streaming “Contact” and “Happy Ending” on their own.
“GLU” by Usher: A great addition to the “songs about cum” canon!
“Not Strong Enough” by boygenius
“Camp Isn’t Home” by the Theater Camp cast: IYKYK.
“Alright” by Victoria Monét
“MY HOUSE” by Beyoncé: An alternate title for this song should be, “Beyoncé Like You’ve Never Heard Her Before.”
“Haute” by Janelle Monáe: Wish I had spent more time with The Age of Pleasure because it’s a lot of fun.
I’m famously a Tidal user, and in year’s past I’ve shared my Rewind results, which is basically just Tidal’s response to Wrapped. But this year I have some Spotify stats to share as well, thanks to a generous 6-month free code that was gifted to me.
My Top Artists of 2023, According to Tidal:
Beyoncé
Kelela (Even in the year of our lord 2023 I can’t leave the house without pressing play on Take Me Apart)
Caroline Polachek
Rihanna
SZA
My Top Songs of 2023, According to Tidal:
“PLASTIC OFF THE SOFA” by Beyoncé
“Waitin” by Kelela
“Frontline” by Kelela
“Take Me Apart” by Kelela
“VIRGO’S GROOVE” by Beyoncé
My Top Artists of 2023, According to Spotify:
Caroline Polachek
Prince
Beyoncé
Kelela
Mariah Carey
My Top Songs of 2023, According to Spotify:
“So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings” by Caroline Polachek
“Hey Big Eyes” by Caroline Polachek
“Door” by Caroline Polachek
“Look At Me Now” by Caroline Polachek
“Ocean of Tears” by Caroline Polachek
In my defense, I started using Spotify around mid-September, and Pang is a fall album to me.
I also watched a lot of film and TV this year, so for the first time ever, I’m going to rank The Best Things I Watched In 2023:
May December, dir. by Todd Haynes: Watched it twice in the span of 18 hours. Loved it.
Bottoms, dir. by Emma Seligman: Best comedy of the year, change my mind!
The “Connor’s Wedding” episode of Succession: You just really had to be there, and by “there” I mean my friends’ apartment when approximately 10 of us watched the chaos unfold live like we were in the Situation Room. Not a single word was exchanged. It was incredible.
Oppenheimer, dir. by Christopher Nolan: You might notice a lack of a certain doll-inspired movie on this list…
Theater Camp, dir. by Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman: Not that I owe anyone an explanation, but I’m a former (and recovering) theater camp counselor myself.
Season 4 of Real Housewives of Salt Lake City: The odds were truly stacked against them — Jen Shah’s fraud scandal, Heather Gay’s mysterious black eye, Angie K. — but they really pulled it out. The return of Mary Cosby doesn’t even crack the top 10 greatest things about this season. Everyone say thank you, Monica Garcia!
Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé, dir. by Beyoncé: You can read how much I loved it here.
Poor Things, dir. by Yorgos Lanthimos: I haven’t given this movie much thought after the fact TBH, but I know I enjoyed it while I was watching it and I also think it’s Yorgos’ best.
The scene in And Just Like That where Che and Miranda break up, thank god.
John Wilson performing karaoke at a local Ridgewood bar: The only thing better than watching him sing “Hemorrhage (In My Hands)” by Fuel is the fact that he got see me perform “Everywhere” by Michelle Branch.
(Keep in mind I haven’t seen The Holdovers, The Iron Claw, or All Of Us Strangers yet so this list is incomplete.)
Okay I’m bored of my own opinions now, thanks for reading and see you in 2024!