Dissect - Our Favorite Music of 2023

Episode Date: December 19, 2023

Cole is joined by Dissect co-writer Camden Ostrander and The Ringer's Justin Sayles and Charles Holmes to share their favorite music of the year. Official companion playlist here. Purchase Dissect merch here. Current state of music and hip hop in 2023 (2:54) Favorite Song of the Year (18:30) Album that Surprised Us (31:19) Honorable Mention for AOTY (48:57) Our Favorite 3 Albums of the Year (56:22) Host/EP: Cole Cuchna Guests: Camden Ostrander, Justin Sayles, Charles Holmes Audio Editor: Kevin Pooler Theme Music: Birocratic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey everyone, Cole here. Thank you for checking out our annual favorite music of the year podcast. It's a really fun one. I think it's got a little rowdy this year, but I hope you enjoy it. I mistakenly forgot to mention on the episode that we made a companion playlist that has all the tracks and the artist that we talk about on today's episode all in one place for you. You could find that link directly in the episode description. Just click the link. It'll take you right to the playlist. I hope you enjoy it. I hope you enjoy the episode. And I hope you have a wonderful holiday and a beautiful new year. Welcome everyone to the final dissect episode of 2023. I'm your host, Cole Kushner. Today's episode is our annual favorite music of the year pod, where myself and my esteemed panel of guests will be sharing our favorite, not best, but favorite music of 2023. For this exercise, I'm joined by my four favorite people in the world,

starting with multi-time dissect collaborator and friend of the show, Camden Ostrander. Camden, say hi to the people. Hey, guys, it's good to see you. you've been on every annual best of music show right we've been doing this this is like three or four years yeah yeah yeah this has been fun we have some additions today uh also joining us is the ringer's music lead and the host of the breakout hit podcast that everyone should listen to called the wedding scammer uh justin sales what's up justin thank you so much for having me cole i do love

this though that everyone i'm glad you threw in the music part because i was worried that you're going to be like cam work and dissect you know our next guest has appeared on multiple seasons and this guy hosted a podcast named the wedding scammer. He got scammed once, but he knows a lot about music. Just trust me. No, but thank you. Thank you. I'm excited to be here. Yeah, everyone check out the pot. It's amazing.

It's a true crime pod, but it's not your typical true crime pod. I loved it genuinely. Last but not least, we have one fourth of the ringers, Midnight Boys podcast and co-host of Dysack's very own last song standing, Charles Holmes. The bad boy of the ringer is here. I miss you so much. I think Dysect listeners really miss you.

No, whoa, whoa, whoa. You miss me, Cole. I don't know if everybody else misses me. I'm like the Kool-Aid man. No one really misses him, but you're happy. You're like, oh, he's here again. He's bringing the flavor, you know? I also have to do a lot of cleaning up after the Kool-Aid man, too.

Yeah. All right, so today's episode, we're going to share our favorite music across a handful of different categories. We're going to be sharing our favorite songs, some albums that surprised us, honorable mentions, and, of course, our top three favorite albums of the year. Before we get to those, though, I do have a few questions to kick things off. I think the most obvious one being, how do we generally feel about music in 2023 as a whole?

Was it a good year, a great year, a bad year, somewhere in between? Just what are our general thoughts about the year in music? Justin, why don't we go ahead and start with you? I think it was a weird year in music. I think that somehow the biggest story in the year was Taylor Swift becoming the biggest artist since maybe Michael Jackson, which I don't quite understand how that happened. All right, let's let's relax. No, but like, Charles, Charles,

Charles, this isn't a take. This isn't a take. I'm not a, like, I just want to go on the record. I'm not a Taylor Swift fan. But like, when you look at the tour grossing a billion dollars, her getting person of the year, all these things, right? MJ's different though. Like, the biggest artist out, yes.

But like, let's calm down, because here's the thing. A lot of white music critics keep doing this thing. She's the biggest since NJ. I'm like, hold up. No one's, no one,

okay, but Charles. What's, what's, what's, what's, what's, what's,

it's since, M.J. It's, I don't think it's like, since, since. Yeah. It's not a direct

comparison. It's just the biggest artist since Michael Jackson. Drake's still living. Usher's out here. She's out here. Come on.

Okay. All right. Taylor's different. All right. I've already derailed. I know. Save it. Save it.

Save it. Save it. Save it. But like, It, it, but to that point, it does not feel like there's been a lot of great unifying albums or moments out there outside of people going to the theaters to see these tours that are now being played with Renaissance and the Taylor Swift tour, right? It's like, it's just very strange. There's not a lot of great unifying albums or moments that we can all point to. And I just feel like listening in 2023 is more fractured than it's ever been.

Yeah. And it leads to, I think, a very strange discussion about what the best of the year is and what our favor of the year is, which we'll get into in a little bit. Yeah, I generally feel the same. It feels harder than ever to stand out as a musician or an artist. I think the market's just been flooded to the point where we're going to go over in a second. Like, we've had some, it's not a lack of releases that we had. We have some really big releases, but even those didn't seem to overcome. this hurdle of lasting power.

There's very few albums that I feel like people are continuing to talk about since their release aside from the first few weeks, people giving their opinions. Charles, what do you feel about it? Yeah, I think the bottom fell out. And I'm not the type of person who's like, oh, this was a bad year for music because I always think that they're new artists. I always think that there's good music.

But I think that to JS's point, bringing up Taylor, how did Taylor become this omnipresent? She's re-recording all of her old music. And I think that that points to something that is changing. I think it's happening with Beyonce too, where it is way easier for most people in 2023 to tap into Taylor Swift every couple months being like, well, I already liked this album

and she just re-recorded it. Cool. Same thing with Beyonce. Renaissance, the album was huge. But the tour, the myth of Beyonce was bigger. I don't know if that many people, I caught that many people seeing church girls outside in the real world. But I think they, Beyonce, Taylor, Drake, they're the type of artists where I think a new generation of listeners

are way less interested in doing the digging, in finding the new stuff versus I think listeners are just like, hey, give me what I know, give me what I love. and then I'm just going to go on Twitch or fucking TikTok which is not great for the state of music journalism am I being a hater right now I think it's fair

not that makes sense I don't think so at all and I think like it's interesting that we're still talking about Drake and Taylor and Beyonce and those are the first words out of our mouth it feels like there aren't a lot of new young stars coming up behind them

and I think that's the problem And I know, like, look, we're all, I think, except for Cam getting a little bit older. How old is getting? 27. He's getting there. We're getting there. It's almost there. Almost 30.

Come on. Okay. All right. Well, if he's almost getting there, then I hate to think of what I'm getting there. I always want to be careful when I speak like this because there's always a chance that I could be just simply, finally, fully washed. I think we all are. It's fine. But I was speaking to a verifiable young person the other day.

It was the ringer's intern, Rainer. And great guy, had a great conversation with him. And I said, who are you listening to? And he's like, it's not a lot of new music I like. I'm listening to a lot of outcast. And this is a 20-year-old. Damn. Wow.

Interesting. Cam, are you locked in? Yeah, let me float the question to you because you're more tapped into like the underground kind of, music and so from that perspective, I mean, give your thoughts on the popular culture if you want, but I think from the underground's perspective, how do you feel about the year? I felt pretty great about the year. I don't know. There was a lot of new stuff to look at and a lot of stuff that was pretty good. Maybe there weren't like big standout things that

lasted the whole year as much. But like, I think the year's tone was probably set by like Ice Spice and Pink Panther S. Like boys alike, like we got a TikTok song and like most of the moments that happened this year were like TikTok moments or like little bops that everybody pretty much enjoyed. So that's pretty much kind of how it went. Yeah. Well, I want to pivot to specifically hip hop.

I think at least on my feeds there seems to be a growing question about the future of hip hop. I've seen a lot of is the genre dying or nearing its end discussions. I want to get your guys' thoughts. I want to, before I do that, set the table a little bit to make a point in that

We are not lacking in hip hop releases. I don't think it's a volume. Question of volume. I think it's a question of relevance. Let me just quickly name off some of the big releases this year in hip hop. Kind of put them in two categories. The big name releases. We got a new album from Drake, Travis Scott, Little Uzi-Virt,

Nikki Minaj, Jack Harlow, Doja Cat, Lil Yachty, Young Thug, Ice Spice, Yeat, Naz, Logic, Ghana, NF, Offset, Cuevo, McElmore, Two Chains, and Little Wayne, Kodak Black. So some pretty big names in there. So it's not for a lack of big releases. And then from like a more rap purist kind of underground perspective, I think we got a plethora of releases. People like Earl Sweacher, Alchemist, No Name, Mike, Billy Woods,

Ketermine, West Side Gun, Conway, Rome Streets, Arminhammer, Killer Mike, Larry June, JPEG Mafia, Danny Brown. We got a solo album from Danny Brown. So from underground, more rap purist perspective, it does, we got a lot of those releases, too. yet there still seems to be this conversation around hip hop and it's relevant. So Charles, maybe I'll throw it to you first.

What are your thoughts on that? I think what people are actually feeling is that honestly, for the last five years, if not the last decade, hip hop was just so far ahead in terms of being ahead of the curve in terms of streaming and constantly putting out music and constantly energizing your fan base. and what we didn't know then but we know now is that was the last decade of regionalism where you could have places like Detroit and Atlanta and certain parts of L.A. bubbling up and there was so much energy and now what's happened is country music got smarter. Country music now is streaming out the wazoo and now you see country artists that look like rappers

and are using auto tune and it's the same thing when you go to the pop. world, whether it's Olivia Rodrigo or Billy Ilish or Taylor or Harry or all these people. For, we forget, there was a stretch where Taylor, like, people like Taylor and Harry did not know what to do because they were so successful in the, all right, I'm going to release a CD, then I'm going to go on tour, da-da-da-da-da. And then they got really smart and they took a lot of cues from rappers. So I think there is a quality conversation that you can have, but I think for the last decade, fans got very comfortable with being like, oh, no, rap is the zeitgeist now.

And now we're getting the major label system and these artists being like, guys, we know how to do this now. So instead of a rap album, even Kendrick, take somebody like Kendrick last year, when Kendrick dropped damn, it was like, this is everything in the world, everyone is listened to this. I don't know if Kendrick dropped today if it would still feel like that. And it could sound exactly like damn, but it's just a different. different business. It's a different business

time, and it's a different time just in our society in general. Justin. The album that surprised me the most from this perspective was the Travis Scott album. Yeah. I thought he was bulletproof. I thought, like, and that's not to say this album wasn't small. It's not like it came out

and sold like 10,000 copies or whatever the album equivalent formulation is these days, right? It obviously has its hits. It did really well, but Like, think back to 2018 and think of when Astro World the album came out. And just think of how that was everywhere and how that hung around for a couple years, really. People still talk about Astro World. You can go into Urban Outfitters and see, like, it up there with the scissors and the drakes and all those albums. Or you're like, why do these have vinals in Urban Outfers all the time?

And to your point, could any of us name one song off of the Travis Scott album? I like the Young Thug song. I can't think of the name of it right now. K-pop because it was That's what I'm saying, though. We're sickle mode. I was just like everywhere I went. I'm like, I cannot escape this song.

That didn't happen this year with anyone, I don't think. I think I'll add to the conversation from a musical perspective. I have felt this way for a long time in that, and it's not exclusive to hip-hop. This happens essentially historically with every genre at some point, where there becomes a kind of existential crisis and the sound of the genre. And I think the trap sound has just been oversaturated

and has become so formulaic that as we're talking about trying to stick out, make things that are lasting, to me, the people that are still using the kind of, in my mind, the tired trap sound, it's very easy to discard those albums in my mind because I've heard it pretty much before. There's a formula that we all understand

and know so much by this point. that we're not getting the kind of dopamine rush that we used to get from this kind of music. And on the other side of that coin, you know, there's a lot of, to talk about the rap purist, kind of more underground artists that I had listed.

I think that's kind of formulaic too in my mind. I tend to prefer that sound generally speaking, but I don't know. It's like, Alchemist is a great producer. He's very talented. I think he's kind of single-handedly, like uplifting the genre right now.

but at a certain point, at least in my mind, to just put on a sample loop and spit a verse or two without a hook. It's cool, but for me, it just, it, it only can go so far. Are Alchemist beats doing it for you still, Cole? Like, let's, let's, not, I like, I love Alchemist, but. If I'm being honest, not, not the way that they used to. And he, and maybe he's, maybe he's just tapping into the well too many times.

He's making a lot of fucking records right now. So I don't know if it's oversaturation or what, but I think just that generally that sound to me and Justin, I would love to hear your thoughts. I think this is where you tend to lean towards in your personal taste. But even that sound is feeling tired. And so what I thought, well, we'll talk about it later, but all the albums I realized that I gravitated toward were different in some way that stood out sonically in some way. even the ones that I don't think are perfect or maybe not even that good, I was still interested in certain records because the artist was trying to do something different. But yeah, Justin, I'm curious to hear your thoughts. You know, it was actually funny.

I was driving here and I was listening to the radio, Sirius XM, because I'm old enough to actually pay for Sirius XM. Do they give you like an AAO pre-discount on Sirius. Sorry. Um, so I was listening today and, uh, we gonna make it, the Jada Kiss song,

the Jada Kiss the Stiles P song, the Alchemist produced in like 2001 came on. And like that is still like an honest to God banger. Like that just knocks and it's, it was a totally different sound than what Alchemist does now. Like, alchemist used to just really produce the hell out of songs. Like I think of songs like Prodigies Keep It Thorough

or like some of those dilated people songs or like all of the mob deep stuff. and now it's just a lot of loop this record and let a guy Cole you said spit two verses um sometimes one sometimes one

I was really like struggling to find a third record and you know we submitted our picks beforehand and I'm going to pivot from even my last pick on this you know I'm going to keep that somewhat of a surprise but um the I was trying to find a way to get the Earl

or the Larry June record on there. I was listening to those all week, and I couldn't do it. I'm just like, this feels so tired to me, and this is, like, these guys are all legends in their own right, right? Like, Larry June is a Bay Area legend, and Earl is a legend now, and like, Alchemist is, I think,

in the discussion for, you know, 10 greatest producers ever, if not higher than that, just based on longevity. and the sound just feels so stale and stagnant. And I don't know, man. Like, I feel this was all stuff that Rock Marciano was doing 13 years ago, and we're still doing that in the underground. Cam, can you lift this up a little bit, please?

I don't know. Earl, voir dire was a little disappointing because Earl was so good on making the band, which is like Surf Gang. Oh, yeah. Oh, Danity Kane? Danny Kane is great. Exactly. Exactly.

Jam, bro. I love Danity Kane. Earl on that, incredibly entertaining. It's like, this makes sense with the year that we think Earl's having. Voidier was, it wasn't as exciting. Or like, I don't, and that feels bad to say. It's the truth, bro. I thought that that was what we were getting.

When I heard Danny D.Cain for the first time, I'm like, oh, shit. Like, Earl. A whole project of that. Yeah, like, he's unlocked something. And then we just never got it again, which was a bummer. Yeah. Yeah. It was.

All right. Well, this has to be too much negativity on Dice. So we try to keep it positive. We try to keep a celebratory audience on this show. So we're pivoting. We're going to go to our favorite music. We're going to celebrate some of the stuff that we did love from this year. We're going to start with our favorite song of 2023.

There's a caveat to this opening category that it is not on our top three albums of the year. So I wanted to get a little diversity. I didn't want to just talk about. three of the same albums. I just assumed that our favorite songs would probably be on our favorite albums. So this one is our favorite songs that are not on our top three albums of the year. Cam,

let me start with you. All right, cool. My favorite one that's not on one of my albums is All of This Will End, by Indigo to Sousa. I've talked about her, I think, like, two years ago on this end of the year podcast. It's indie rock, and she's like a very dynamic vocalist, which is kind of like what she brings to the table as far as like what I think is so special about her. The track is the title track of her album.

It's just really beautiful and she, her lyrics are very, they're beautiful in their simplicity, which I really enjoyed. And like this, I saw her sing this live and I had many tears falling down my face. Because she is dealing with some really interesting themes and saying everything in a really beautiful way. She has dealt with a lot of hardship and talks about that on the whole album and at the end of it she gets to this kind of resolution of I'm only loving, I'm only moving through and trying my best.

And when you really can break everything down and distill it, it makes for a really beautiful musical moment. So that would be my favorite track. Yeah. I like this song. I was more touched by the lyrics than the music, I think.

I just don't tend to gravitate toward this style of music. That's my personal favorite. That last line in the song, sometimes it's not enough, but I'm still real and I forgive. I was just like, that's pretty powerful.

Can I just say really quick to Cam? This was a very fun exercise because I already know Cole and Justin really, really well. And they're, like, y'all's favorite songs when I was listening to, I'm just like, no, this explains them so well. And I just know Cam so much better now.

Like, Cam, the shit that you, you were putting on this list. I'm like, okay, I exactly know what vibe you're on. I don't know if I'm on the same vibe, but I was just like, I want to be Cam's friend. Like I, like, you have good taste. Thank you. Thank you, Charles. I've liked Indigo to Sousa for a while, so I was very happy to see you have represented here.

Beautiful. Charles, let's pivot to you. Because I know what's coming. Let's go. Best song for the fucking year. Whoa. Do you understand I've listened? The first time I heard this song, I probably listened to it 100 times just that day.

My song is Herald Friends by Party Next Door. Fuck all my bitches old friends. Y'all let that girl fuck anybody. Single-handedly keeping R&B alive, okay? That's not true. Whoa, I didn't see any R&B records on y'all end of the year list. So how about y'all let me cook? Anyway, party next door.

I'm a sicko. I admit it. Does it help that I recently went through a breakup? Probably not. But I love this song so much. Fuck all that bitch's old friends. Y'all let a girl fuck anybody. Oh!

Just amazing, amazing lyrics. Party next door just unlock something deep in the soul. If y'all ain't rocking with it, y'all never been in the trenches like me. It's just, I don't know. It just, it electrifies me. It feels like something's flowing through my veins. Maybe it's bullshit. Maybe I've unlocked the matrix of music.

I don't know. But every single time I play this song, I just want to like, just jump through a wall. Okay. Her old friends party next door. Okay, when I, you don't hear my honest thought when I listen to this song? I was like, oh, is Charles okay? Cole, I knew you would hate this song. Like, I knew you were gonna hate this.

No, I just from an emotional level, I was like, he's got some toxins in his heart that just need to be cleansed. We need to get you on like an emotional cleansing system. Maybe that should be a bit for last song standing for our stingers. Maybe I'll try to, it'll be some kind of course around optimism and forgiveness. You know, but you don't mind to love the song.

Who? Cam. I've been here in the streets talking. No, no. Cam, he'd be in a club. He's a toxic motherfucker. Like, Cam, you liked this joint, didn't you? Charles, no.

Okay, so let me, just to be clear, you said that you, like, have been through a breakup recently. I also have been, that happened this year. The song I just picked is directly related to that. Why did we go so different ways with how we... Whoa, to be fair. To be fair, to be fair, I fell in love with this song when I was still very happily in a relationship, okay?

Okay, that's really nice. Okay. I'm not saying, when I listen to this song now, I am, like I have, you know, a little safety meter being like, it's getting a little toxic in here, Charles. Okay, we got to turn this down. You're going full future and you never want to go full future. Okay. I don't co-sign any of the lyrics in the song.

I don't co-sign. Okay, okay, okay. Yeah, yeah. It is the equivalent of going to like a Scorsese or a Tarantino movie. Oh, my God. Shut the fuck up. What are you talking about? Do you know that every character in a Scorsese movie has a reckoning at some point?

I mean... It's very true. All I will say is, is party next door, the Scorsese of R&B music, potentially? Oh, God. Do I co-sign the politics? Not all the time. It's entertainment, guys. This is how you get in trouble on podcast.

You just come in here throwing fastballs. I think that you, like, 70% believe. And then people are like, this guy's got the worst taste ever. And I'm like, he's just having fun. No, no, no, I believe this 100%. No, Charles, actually, if I ignore the lyrics, if I'm being honest, I like this song. I like the sonics of it.

I like the melody of it. I like the vibe of it. If I listen too hard, I don't. But to be honest, I actually thought this had a really, a pretty good vibe. Cole, this is why I moved out to the West Coast. See, I'm already infecting your mind. This is what I like.

Let's keep it rolling. Can we go to J.S.? Because J.S. don't got any room to be talking with the song he fucking pared. Well, I got to be honest. A couple things. one, I, you don't co-sign the lyrics in your song, I co-sign all the lyrics in this song. Two, two, I had totally forgotten that I actually wrote this down. I had two documents open and one for myself to like make some notes.

And I didn't realize that I didn't update the full document. But I stand by this. I stand by this because it was between. It's a good song. It's a great song. It's Yeezy Boots by RXK. Who is the weirdest rapper in the world And I mean that in a great way

Releases probably about 20 songs to YouTube a month and then puts out albums If you go to Wikipedia and just look at the discography From 2019 there are probably like 45 albums And there are like two legitimately good albums And like fucking like 50 like of the most amazing songs I've ever heard in my life just scattered throughout But it is a and I'm assuming most people haven't listened

and are we doing clips in this? Wait, before we do a clip, is there any way we could get potentially Cole just to read off a couple of the for the audience? I don't need to make... Cole, do you want to do it? I mean, I'm more than happy to do it.

No, I want Cole to as I'm pulling it up because I actually did want to read a few of them that I thought were fucking hilarious. Did I give the context that this is like... It's honestly just like a roast of Kanye West, but roast is probably actually a little too affectionate. It's a little too affected

Yeah I ain't never really like Kanye West All Kanye West Manor Remember he had that dumb ass hair cut Nobody from the hub On Kanye

Okay Make a bitch hate me like Kanye West Shit'll get uglier than Kanye West Sacrifice my mama Like Kanye West I'll break your jaw like you Kanye West You can't get a feature like

Kanye West I never really like Kanye West All Kanye West Raps mediocre Remember when he had that dumb ass haircut Nobody from hood bump Kanye never heard a whole album from Kanye put wires in your journal like Kanye

I'm not reading the next line you look like a fool with them big ass boots that's why Jay Z don't even like you somebody tell Kim Kardashian call me I'm a great stepdad so call me um Amber Rose licked Kanye booty yada yada yada yada he talks a lot about the booty looking right there look um I will say this, if we want a song to really sum up the year, especially as we're sitting here, we're recording this on the eve of another Kanye West album. Right? There is allegedly tonight on the day we're recording this, allegedly, there's a Kanye

West Tyler Dollar Sign album coming out. There's like a small piece of me. It's like, I should have gone maybe another song there. But as I'm sitting here thinking of the Kanye album coming out tonight, I actually can't think of a better thing to have. I actually feel this in my soul right now. now just like God, do you remember when he had that dumbass haircut?

Which one? It's actually, the same thoughts I had about Party Next Store I had about this song, because I actually do like the way he wraps. There's something addictive about it where it's like he's so ahead of the beat, like insane. I mean, technically just way off the beat, like fucking way off the beat.

But he does it consistently in a way that you can like, he actually feel a pocket outside of the normal pocket of the beat. And for me, that's really super interesting. but I there is something addictive about his music I went back and listened to some of those eight-minute songs you sent me trusted they're really I mean they're fun our wait whoa on the year-end pod are we saying that Cole has like the party next door song and an RXK nephew song this is this is progress Cole is it okay I want to love what you guys love you know you guys are

my friends. I want to share. I want to be open-minded and I want to love what you guys love. Okay, my pick, it's pretty obvious. Hillibillies, K dot and Keem. Yeah, niggas know that I'm best dressed with Martine when I bought just a sardines and I'm big fish eat caviar when I'm deep. Press take selfies. I'm in check with Publ. Song of the year. That's good. Charles, don't, you know you like this song. We talked about it right when it came out. Oh, you said song of the year. Me liking this song versus you sang this is the song of the year. I mean, I'm kind of, it's kind of tugging cheek. It's not the song.

It's such a fun song. It's so fun. The Boni Vair sample, perfect. I love, I mean, post-Mr. Moral, it was obviously a very heavy record. Kendrick was going through a lot of stuff, was working out a lot of stuff. It was zero comedy on that record to then follow it up with this, you know, with this family member, baby Keem, who seems to mean a lot to him and is kind of restoring Kendrick's use. and kind of fun to have this song, to do it in a way that wasn't serious, that was obviously

just two guys in the studio making each other laugh. It was just a fun song, and it was a really kind of a breath of fresh air after Mr. Morrell. You guys know my personal connection musically to Kendrick's music, and so to hear him be able to do a song like this after Moral, and also see the morale tour and all the fun that it seems like baby Keem is inspiring in Kendrick it's just yeah super fun Cam you love this song too right? I do love the song

yeah I had a before seeing Paris Texas there DJ played Earl's Danity Kane straight into this and it was like the best two-song streak I've seen from songs this year it was I love it yeah it's excellent Cam likes Paris Texas too damn Cam really in the streets he really is He really is, actually. All right.

Next category. The album that surprised us most. So this is something that we enjoyed, that we didn't maybe expect to enjoy. So somewhat of a surprise. Cam, let's start with you. Sure. So I got put on to this album by the internet's last great music blog, Death By Algorithm. The album is called Red Star 01, and Star has two R's, and it's 01, and it's all one word.

by an artist named Hart Avey. It's like, it's not quite hyperpop, but it almost is, and it has, like, actual real good melodies. It's like if, like, Hatsunemuku was, like, a real human, but then, like, actually made good music and, like, wasn't just the robot. All the songs are infectious. This thing, she has, like, a thousand monthly listeners.

Okay, that's what I was going to say. She needs to get the dissect bump here. People should listen to this album. It is good. It's genuinely good. When I saw it was like 4,000 monthly listeners, I was like, this is kind of a travesty. But go ahead. Yeah.

Like the lead single on this is called Rip It. It's like, I don't understand how it's not the biggest song on TikTok. And in the, like, I don't understand. Yeah. I guess people haven't heard it. They need to go here. Have you been putting, have you done your part and tried to make a TikTok challenge of it can? No.

How dare you? Charles. No, no, no, no. We're not, no, we're not going on. Not me. No. This is for other people to do. But I really love it.

It's like insanely high quality. Also, she, like, has tweeted, like, pictures of her studio, and she seems to make music looking at a poster of Wolf by Tyler the Creator. So, like, this is the best. Yeah. I love it. Yeah. Beautiful.

Charles. Oh, I'll keep this brief. Ayonakamura, DNK. Someone on Twitter recommended this to me. And I was like, all right, I'll play it. And yeah, this would be the album that I would walk to the gym listen to. She's a French pop singer.

I don't understand what the fuck she's saying, which honestly means that the music is doing a great job because I don't need to understand what she's saying, to feel just the emotion of it and the texture of it. She has one song, I'm probably pronouncing it wrong, called Jamal that I don't know It was just one of those songs

Whether I was cooking Whether I was walking I would just throw it on And it would just put me in a trance And I think weirdly Because I have such a disconnect To modern American pop I like listening to an Ayanakamara

Or a bad bunny or people That there is this level of disconnect Because I'm just tired of American pop shenanigans having the music. I don't follow these people on Instagram. I don't read about them. I just have the album and that's it. There's something pure about it that makes, that makes me excited to listen to them, if that makes sense. Yeah. I like this. I like the project. It was beautiful.

Justin. I did the producer thing and I picked an album that I didn't necessarily love, but I think we need to discuss when we're discussing surprising albums. And I put the Little Yachtie album, because it was, it was like actually surprising. Good or surprising. Surprising. And that's, that's this category. And I know, I know everyone went with an album that surprised them in a good way. Did they surprise you in a good or a bad way, Jess?

I was a little cynical about it in some ways. Let's talk about Little Yardy. Let's start here. Seven years ago probably wasn't an artist that I'd expect to be making, you know, something that he considers to be like an art rock album, right? Yet here we are And that's exactly what's happened He's done an album that he says

Is inspired by Pink Floyd And Dark Side of the Moon There's an element to me Where I get cynical Is he brought in a lot of producers And made something that sounds like a Tame Impala record to me However And like there is something that feels very safe

If you're going to pivot away from hip hop You're going to do a Tame Impala record because Tame Impala is just so popular in general, but also very popular among rappers. Like, Kevin Park has done songs with, you know, Post Malone. He's been sampled by Rihanna. I mean, the weekend's entire career. It's like...

Rappers love Tame Impala. So there is something that's, like, a little cynical about that. However, like, Little Yadi went and made an album that wasn't a rap album. Like, Little Yachty made a rock album, right? And it wasn't, like... It wasn't as bad as it could have been. It also wasn't as good as it could have been. Yes, I agree with that.

All right, so can I ask this? And I'll ask this to the room. I guess the reason I have such a just, such a vitriol for the album is less has to do with the album and more. I just find it so dumb that Lil Yadi is now in his like, O.G, I'm better than rap phase and I'm on some other shit. And I'm like, hey, if you're just making a fucking tame Impala cover record, you don't have the right

to walk into a room and be like, hey, kids, want to, like, get off my stoop with your trap music. Is he like that? Oh, yes. This has happened. And this is what's interesting to me. And this is why I thought this was worth a discussion.

And if we're discussing the year in music, we have to discuss this record somewhere. He's not only, he, first of all, Yates had an interesting year in that he's produced like 12 songs for Drake in the past 13 months, right? Like, that's inherently like, okay, he's becoming a go-shue producer for the biggest rapper in the world. But at the same time, he's put out this album, and he made some comments to Rolling Stone, which, you know, they're really funny to consider in the context of, like, the comments that Joe Budden made about him in 2017. Not even a decade ago.

And, you know, where Joe Budden basically said, you are ruining rap music. and, you know, at the time, everyone was like, oh, Joe Budden, let the kids have fun. You know, like, why are you doing this? Like, why Joe Bunny? I was one of those people who were like, let the kids have fun. And now, Lil Yadi being the Joe Budden? The little Yaddi's becoming the Joe Button. He said that, so, Cole, you ever heard these comments?

No. He said that everything in rap is very unoriginal and boring. And I would like to say that we opened up this discussion by saying, entirely wrong. But Lil Yadi, like, Cam Cole, you all do understand how, like, Lil Yadi being the one thrown stones is a little bit like, hey, yo, bro, come on. What do we do?

I feel like it's just Yadi talking. Do we not remember, like, when he started out and he was like, I've never listened to Tupac or Biggie? Like, I feel like Yaddy just says some of these things sometimes. I don't know. I didn't like take it as seriously, I guess. It's not that I'm taking it seriously. It is just one of those, like, all right, if we in the barbershop,

I would have pointed out you gotta be like I know your ass ain't talking you know what I'm saying like we just gotta do we just gotta do that as a culture sometimes that's my only point yeah I personally Cam I definitely want to hear your thoughts too

yeah I like the record it's not something I spun a lot I thought I would actually listen to it more the first time I heard it the first like four songs I think are actually really good songs

I love that first song I actually legitimately love that first song they lean a lot like to your point Justin on the production, which I think is for what it is pretty damn good. Whether you think it's original or not, is it kind of here, it was executed very, very well, whether you agree with the vision or think it's innovative, whatever. But the execution of it, I think, is pretty distinctly great.

I like the fact to our discussion at the top of the episode that someone like him is trying to do something different. Do I think this is what he should be doing from now on? I don't think so. But to if he can somehow incorporate these influences into something new

and this departure album informs a new style that he delivers on his next album, I don't that's what I would like to see going forward from him. But I didn't, I like the fact that he tried it wasn't perfect, but I mean, someone's got a fucking

do something, especially if we're trying to break through the monotony of the current state of hip hop, whether it's too derivative, that's definitely an argument. And so, yeah, is it as innovative as it seems? Probably not. But I just like the fact that he tried to do something. Cam, what do you think? I mean, to be honest, I've been waiting, this wasn't surprising to me because we've been waiting for this for a couple of years.

he did talk about in an interview in like 2021, like he was working on a psychedelic album. And he, in 2020, covered MacDamarko on the Kerwin Frost Telethon. I don't know if I'm sure we missed that. That's fine. Lil Yadi's bumping Mac to Marco. What is going out? He covered him on like a telethon that was like during the pandemic for like a cause.

Like he covered MacDamarko. He did a bunch of things. Like Cole and I saw. Which MacDamarkos? I feel like it was on the level, but I might be wrong. Yeah. I liked it. Like, he was having fun. And like, I like that he was able to try something new and fail in public. Like, I'm very much a proponent of everything he did with it. And I kind of did like the music. I did like the album. Yeah. So this is my last thing I promise. I just do, this is PSA to every single rapper. Like, we just need to make a list of rock bands that y'all got to stop saying you're influenced by. Let's just update it. Like, going to radio head, cold play, tame Impala, Pink. Like, like, We get it, bro. We get it, all right?

Like, there are more rock bands. We just need to update the firmware, the hardware a little bit, and I'll stop complaining. That's it. Okay. All right. Last, my pick, surprise album. How do you sleep at night? No.

Exactly what you mean. I know that you love it. Okay. Let me explain. Always a great place to start. Can't even get a scam's laughing, bro. I liked it. So I don't love this album,

but I found myself returning to it way, way, way more than I thought I ever would when I first push play. There is something, and it kind of ties into the Yadi thing where he is someone that is completely unpredictable. One song from another, they don't sound like each other. There's kind of genre shifts within songs.

I think he's kind of streamlining a lot of influences in a way that's very, very interesting to me. Obviously his look is interesting to me and I just like there's some really addictive moments on here. There's some really great melodies, really catchy stuff.

Is it good? That is the question I've been asking myself. Is this good music? I actually just don't know. And that's why I'm sitting, kind of why I like it because I just I don't know how I feel about it yet I want to listen to it and I it's probably one of my top listened albums of the year if I'm being quite honest. So it was if we're talking about surprise albums, I didn't think I was going to like this album. I've heard some stuff from T's O.

I wasn't, you know, enthralled or overly impressed. But there was something about the album that was really appealing to me, someone that was synthesizing so many genres and trying, just trying to do something different, whether, again, he was, you know, successful in that execution is up to the listener. But I found myself returning to it. And I think there's some, like, so I saw Andre 3000 interview recently, and they asked him, you know, who currently do you see as kind of carrying your torch? And the two people he named was Tyler the creator and Tizo Touchdown, which I

get it, I get the point where it wasn't about Andre's sound, it was more about the approach to music and creation and innovation and just trying to do new things. So I don't know, so Cam, let's go to you first before they just completely shit on it. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Tizo is sweet. I was gonna shit, oh.

Be nice to Tizzo. Cam, what do you think of Tizzo? I really like Tizzo in, small moments, right? I think that's where it's like, it can be really special. I really like sweet with Foucher. Like, I love her. I love the way that he used her on this album.

Like, I thought that was really good. I really like Tizo in, again, small portions. Yeah. I do not want to listen to this album in full on repeat, almost ever. But I do like some of the songs. And in small portions, Tizzo is pretty fun. He had the best moment on the new Drake album. That's for damn sure.

All right. Let's say. Do you want to talk about Drake? This is what would Pluto do with Rachel? All right, here's the thing. I'm not going to shit on this because you love it so much. I'm just saying that. I don't love it though.

That's the thing. I don't know what I feel about it. Is it good? Is a question Cole's asking? Yeah. Is it good? No. And here's the thing.

I like Tizo. I've written about Tizo. I think Tizo has very interesting ideas. There's a couple songs, especially in the beginning of his career where I was like, oh, Tizo has something. Do you like social cues? I couldn't. I don't even remember that. I like so, okay. I actually do, there's a

yeah, that's a song from 2020, but I actually was that the one where he was wearing nails and he was like in his backyard or something? I don't watch. I'm too old to watch videos. He's great teasing. Here's the thing. Like, in the same way that I'm like, we need to like update our influences. You're talking to someone who thinks Fallow Boy is

the number one rock band of all time. But I never need to hear a rapper ever be like, yo, have y'all heard of this little band called Paramore Panic at the Disco? Like, I just don't. It's 2023, bro. I don't.

I live through low Oozever. I live through Trippy Red. I live through all these things. And if the trap style is growing stale, then the pop punk with trap drums underneath is just, like, that horse has been beaten to dead. We are at the glue factory and they got a 50% off sale. Like, I'm done. I don't think he's doing that, though. What?

Tezo? No, the production. The pop. emo shit? I mean, some of it, but definitely not all of it. The majority of it. I don't think so. I would disagree.

All right. All right. I said I wasn't gonna shit on. Justin, do you have anything to add? The most offensive thing about Teezo touchdown to me is that he's 31 years old. That is not music that should be made by a man that age. That's how I know we got the same influence. It's not that you said he's 31, I'm 31, bro.

That's how I know. I don't see me on Spotify, like singing with Haley Williams fucking records? I don't know. So I was listening to the record yesterday, and I didn't hate it until I got to one specific song, and it was called Impossible. I love that song. And I'm going to read the first verse, some of it. Maybe they could have been a painter until somebody said they couldn't paint. Maybe thought they could have been the next John Michelle until somebody yelled, no, you ain't.

maybe they wanted to go to art school but their parents said sorry you can't maybe it was a mix of all three of those colors that left the canvas blank and you know something I sit here and I'm like maybe little Yadi heard this

before he went into the studio to make let's start here you're such an asshole Justin but I like that I like those lyrics because they're so like endearing it's like a elementary school poem or something

and it for whatever reason I actually like I really like that song I couldn't do it like him but the way the way that he was like half mumbling it it's like I couldn't do it that was a song where I like totally I was like I'm just can't do it I listen to another couple of songs on the album

I didn't hate it I didn't hate it that one song just specifically for me just felt like I don't know you're the Grinch why am I the Grinch? Why am I the Grinch? You're making fun of kids trying to follow their dreams and go to arms yeah that is true usually Charles is the most negative, but I think you're taking the award.

I'm turning over a new leaf, guys. Come on now. This is L.A. Charles. All right, we're going to move on to our favorite three albums of 20203. We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back. All right. We are going to get to our favorite three albums of 2023 in a moment here. Before we do that, we're going to go around and share some honorable mentions. We're not going to spend too much time on these or there's not going to be much back and forth.

We're just kind of kind of list them off. Some albums that you were thinking about for your list, but didn't quite make it. Cam will start with you. Sure. All right. So my honorable mentions are One Wayne G by Mac DeMarco because that's 190 songs. You listen to them all? Yeah.

Multiple times. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Multiple times. He's not lying. No. I love that. Okay.

Do I need to send someone to do a wellness check on you? No, you just put this on. It's your whole day. It's beautiful. I love it. Midair by Paris, Texas is really exciting. It kind of feels like their debut, I don't know, but it's a very exciting album. It's got a lot of different stuff on it.

And it's got D&D on there. I think that Felix's verse at the end of the song might be my favorite of the year. And then To Learn by Leith Ross, which is just a really sweet, soft rock album that is just like sweetness and music. I love that a lot. All right, Charles? I only got one, and this is cheating. But Jeremiah, late night sped up. The TikTok teens got to...

What are you doing, bro? What the TikTok team's got to me? Do you understand? This is probably one of my most played. Like, I listened to Jeremiah late night sped up almost every single day. Oh, my job. Just bangor after bangor after... Don't judge me, y'all.

Y'all don't know how to live, bro. You know that I'm your brother in Jeremiah. But I haven't listened to Sped Up. What's the best song Sped Up on there? Oh, what's the best song? All right, well, I have a list. Do I have to listen to that J. Cole's verse sped up? No.

We don't talk about the J. Cole verse on planes. Okay. It's like a footies in your mouth. It's the... I would say, all right, late night's sped up, all right? Rock with me here. Impatient, featuring Tidea Sign, amazing, all right? acting up into remember me.

And then Paradise. Is Paradise Sped Up Good? It's really good. Okay, I'm going to do that as soon as I got here. I know this is cheating. This album came out forever ago. But the teens, if everybody was doing Chapton Screwed for years, we in Sped Up territory now. You know, Charles, when I moved to L.A., the album that I was playing the most was Jeremiah late nights.

And now you moving to L.A. right now, if you're playing Jeremiah Sped Up, This feels like kind of like symbiotic. This is the evolution. This is charmander to charm alien. Justin doesn't know any of that because he's 50. I am, because I am an adult. All right, Justin, let's hear yours. So I don't want to, I could sit here and list a bunch of records.

I want to list one that I just couldn't put on there that I mentioned to you the other day, Cole. It's by a guy named headache. And it's produced by, I believe, it's pronounced. vegian not vegan is the guy that producer who works for Frank Ocean sometimes and it's just this delightful British man reading over this mid-tempo

vegian production okay already I'm losing Charles I'm looking at his face this is some Justin show I know I know This is why I love you but still I know it's good I'm just look The guy was a Frank Ocean collaborator The producer I'm just trying to like give some We've just been talking about late night sped up

I'm trying to grow the slightest bone to dissect listeners. Okay? Because they are not going to go listen to acting up, sped up. What? Y'all should. Y'all want to get it jumping in the bedroom?

Come on. Play a little sped up, Jeremiah. But anyway, go back to Vegee. But no, I'm done talking about Vegean. A song, and I'm knocking one thing off my top favorite three of the year. But I'm going to talk about it here. I think it was a really great year for women making

indie rock and alt rock, like 90s, alt rock influence. indie rock and Blanchelle, the self-title debut was a song I was gonna put on my list. The number one record here at the ringer on a year-end list was by bully. That was an absolutely fantastic

record. I love that. And this is more of like an all-country deal, but there was an album by Jess Williamson that I absolutely loved this year. And Cam, if you're an indigo desuzza fan, I recommend

this Jess Williamson album. Okay. So that's it. I have a couple more that I think I'm going to discuss, specifically with one of Cam's picks and then with one of yours. I got a question for you. All right. Okay. But we'll get into some of mine as we get into. Okay. I got three. This one almost made my list. I think I didn't share. This is going to be a little twist on my top three. But Lana Del Rey almost made my top three. Wait, did you just bump Lana off? I would have put it on if I knew that. I did. I bumped her. She got bumped. for something that you are responsible for Charles, actually. Hell yeah.

Hell you. But her record, it's a beautiful one. There's some, particularly the first four songs are just immaculate. Beautiful production, beautiful strings. The first song moves me to tears every time I listen to it. The end of it is just, whew. So I wanted to give some love to that album. It's just, why I got off my list was it's just, it's too long for me.

It's too long. It's too bloated. It's the classic major label release of just packing 20 songs and an hour and, you know, 30 minutes of music that I just have a hard time getting through. There's a brilliant 10 song album in there, I think. But anyway, so number two, honorable mention, I got to do it. If I'm just being honest, I didn't try to look cool for this. Olivia Rodriguez guts. I got to give an honorable mention to you.

I respect this. Yeah. You also have daughters. I feel like this is a very daughter-friendly whip album, which I say with a lot of love. Yeah, yeah. She's, I mean, she's great. She's a great songwriter.

She's 19 years old. I think she's going to get even better with time. I think the question was, can she live up to the sour album, her debut album, which was also very good. And I think Guts is as good, if not better. And so I listen to this album a lot, but a lot of that had to do with my daughters. But it's a brilliant album from top, top to bottom. There's not any really skippable songs.

Every song is pretty damn good, and there's some real, real good, brilliant gems on there. So, God's a little bit. Which one do they rate high or sour or guts? They like guts better. Oh, wow. Yeah.

There's a little more energy to guts overall. And so they like the faster stuff typically. Sauer had a lot of ballads on it. Okay. Is she still 19 years old? She's been 19 longer than Jason Tatum. Yeah, I was about to say, She's still 19?

I thought so. Maybe she's 20. I don't know. Third honorable mention is Daniel Caesar is never enough. I like Daniel Caesar. This album had some really, really good songs on it.

Just a really, really solid Daniel Caesar record. So those are my three honorable mentions. All right. So drum roll. We have our three favorite albums of 2023. We're going to start by giving our third favorite album.

We're going around. and work our way to our number one. So, Cam, number three. All right, cool. The number three album for me this year is a little bit out of my normal comfort zone, but it's something that grew on me a lot this year is Post American by MS. Paint.

Hell yeah, let's go. Yeah, this thing is sick. Now we're talking. It is like, it's not quite hardcore music and it's not quite punk music because it has no guitar. The band was like, we're going to make a band

and we're not going to have guitar. They have bass and synthesizer and drum, and that's all the instruments that have. How did I not recognize that? And it's a really amazing choice that we can talk about when we talk about the album. But this album feels like Metroid Fusion. I don't know if you guys ever played

that video game on the Game Boy Advance, but that is what this feels like, and it's incredible. When we think about like fusing humanity and technology, like the evolution of all of us as we're growing up, this album feels like building humanity into technology. It's really a lot about the synthesis between the two. And it's also brave enough to imagine a world after America,

which I think is very important. Artistically, it's pretty powerful for me. That, like, the technology and the human thing, the guy who is the lead singer of this band, Didi, when he performs, he wears this, like, crazy costume where, like, half of him looks like Tetsuo from Akira. Like, he's got pants that have, like, wires on them. And then the other half is, like, short shorts, and it's just his human leg.

So it's literally, like, the 50-50 tech human thing. Like, they're dedicated to what they're doing. The album is sick. It goes really hard. And, yeah, I really love a lot. You sold me on this. I tried to listen to it. And I was just, like, I don't really know if I'm in the right headspace.

You said Metroid Fusion. You said Akira. Like, like, you just, you sold me on it. Hell, yeah. I'm a bump this after we get out of here. That was a, that you really sold me on this. Okay, sick. The beginning of the album is, like, working through a lot of the problems that we're facing. And then the end of the album is like, here's the hope that they feel and, like, the vision that they're having for the future.

And it's, it's like one of the few things that has inspired me in a positive way this year. I loved it. I was surprised that I liked this. It brought me back to my youth a little bit. I actually returned to the refused record, shape a punk to come after listening to this. I got a little inspired. I went back to my favorite, like, post-hardcore post-punk albums. I really enjoyed it.

All right. Let's pivot to Charles. All right. My number three, Samfa La Hai. I believe that's how you pronounce it. I was out on Sanfa for a while, not because he got worse, just because I just got really into him when I was like 18 into my 20s. And sometimes you go back to those artists and you're like, I was really too into him, man. I just got to take a break.

And for some reason, I just spun this record and Sampa had a kid. Samper grew her up. And it's just interesting hearing an artist that I usually think of as rappers tap him for these really deep emotional records. And his new album is emotional, but it's more upbeat. And I think the thing that I love about Sampa the most is that because he worked with, producers and DJs like subtract. He has this very uncanny ability to almost like listening to his songs. He's like listening to an R&B artist like build a Lego set brick by brick.

And it just all of his sounds have all of his songs have different layers to them and sounds and the way he's playing with his voice. I think dancing circles only. Those are my two favorite records from this. I know I like generally like toxic R&B, but this is like the one pick where I'm It's like, oh, we got some more uplifting R&B. We don't have, like, bitches ain't shit, and I'm a dial-al-o-l-o records, you know? Sometimes we need to, you know, we need a little something more to get us out.

This is, you know what I'll say? This is my Green Juice L.A. R&B record, okay? That's where this is. Okay. Hi, Sampa, loved it. I respect it. Justin. My third pick is I dropped out Blanchel, which is on the list.

I'm going with the no-name record. Let's go. Let's fucking go. I'm shocked. People say they love you, but they really love potential. Not the person that's in front of them, the person you're growing into. People said they love you, but they really love potential. I listened to this record a handful of times when it came out, and then I kind of put it aside.

And some of that might have been just me stuff and not comment on the record. And then I broke it back out this week, and I've been listening to a lot. I think the thing I got out of looking at year-endless season this year, as a, I'm such a music critic. I'm like, it's year-end list season. But as I'm looking around, there's no consensus anything. The only consensus is like maybe Lana Del Rey's A&W is the best song.

It's probably the best song in the other seat. The closest to a consensus that I've seen, and I've seen like a couple places picked, well, one of your picks, Charles, so I'm not going to spoil that. But that's even more so when it comes to rap records, right? Like, there was no big unifying rap record

this year, as we discussed earlier. So I guess my question is, this record is so good. Why are we not discussing this like it could be the best rap album of the year? I have an answer. And I think she actually addresses it in the album, which is my favorite thread in the album, is she kind of goes out of her way to talk about how the music world and fans always pit her no name against Kendrick or Jay Cole or these other quote unquote conscious rappers. And I think what no name, what I like about this record, as thorny as it is, is that it's kind of trying to deal with the fact that black women in hip hop, especially black women who are doing, not doing more mainstream music like a sexy writer, an Ice Spice, but a no name, how they tend to get pushed into a corner where it's like, oh, okay, well, if you're not a saint, if you're not constantly having perfect. politics and just being someone that we can hoist all of our problems on, then you're not shit and we're ignoring you. And I think especially when the pandemic was happening, I think

everybody was looking to no name is like, oh my God, no name is giving us all the answers during Black Lives Matter summer. And I think what we did, especially music journalism in general, is like we put her in that corner and like you're not a nuanced individual and you can't do anything else. And this record to me is her being like, look at everything I can do. She's talking about relationships. She's talking about sex. She's talking about all of these things that I don't know if we ever expected no name to do. And she does it so well. There are so many records here. I'm like, she's grown so much as a vocalist, a lyricist. The beats are amazing. She's hitting different pockets. I think that this, even though it's not on my list, this record when I go back to it each time,

I'm like, this is way better than anybody gave it credit for. And, you know, you did a better job talking about the record than I'm going to do. So I'm glad that I'm glad that I have you here. But there are so many interesting threads on this record, right? Like, there's this idea of trauma getting packaged and then sold as commerce. There's the most interesting line to me on the record is, you know, the biggest song off the record, I think, was the one where she's calling out explicitly like Rihanna and Jay-J about. the NFL connection, the NFL connection

and the military industrial complex but after she goes through that whole part and that part like when I first heard the first time I'm like yeah alright

you know like I get it I get it I get it it. It's the line about Coachella right after that where it's like she's like she where she's I can't remember the line exactly

but she's like I said I wouldn't do it but when it came down to it I did it and it's like it's this very self-reflective self-critical

honest moment that's like look I'm we are, we are part of this machine and I am part of this machine too and it was just, I don't know,

it was, that was, I thought the most interesting line on the record. I thought it was great. I think the, you know, as someone who listened to a lot

of really bad, conscious rap in the 90s, um, a lot of that stuff could feel like your, your, quality, I feel, I feel okay about calling Quali out specifically.

I don't want to call it. Yes, exactly. So, but that felt like the, equivalent of like listening that stuff felt like the equivalent of putting on a shake of air t-shirt and being you know in being like fight the power revolution right and this is just so much more grown up and advanced and nuanced than that and it's like I know she had the messy

situation with putting jay electronic on the record I know she almost didn't want to release this record because of like the backlash she got to that um I'm really glad she did and I think the record is so much more than that. And I wonder if, I mean, look, we're four dudes sitting here talking about music, so I don't want to, I don't want to, like, start to sound like the, you know, we're the good ones. But like, if this record was made

by a man, or a record similar to this was made by a male rapper, I think we'd be having a different conversation. If Chance made this record, if we'd be like Chances back. You know what I mean? Yes. If Chance made this record, this record would be like one or two on everybody's list this year to go back to year end list season but i it's a great record and i think we've overlooked it when we talk about rap records in 2023 cam i know you're a big no name fan so i'm interested i love no name i go to as much as the no name book club as i can i highly recommend everybody do that

and and read everything that she's doing like i think she's incredible um i think what happened with me with this record is like telephone and room 25 are like perfect to me and when this wasn't that I think I definitely fell into a little bit of comparison like, oh, it's not that for me as it was. I love it. Like, potentially the interlude, I think is like an incredibly brilliant song. Like, they don't love you. They love your potential and all the, like, and that being an interlude song. And it's so smart, so brilliant.

And like I saw her perform on this tour. I loved it. I do love it. I just, yeah, I didn't put it on the list myself or think about it in this way. All right. So it's my turn. I am actually going to bypass my number three because I know. it is on someone's list

and it's their top record I think so I don't want to step on it here and I want to build some suspense so I am actually going to bypass talking about my number three and we'll talk about it probably in detail later so let's pass it back to Cam for your

number two pick. All right cool my number two pick is Mitzki, the land is inhospitable and so are we I had a tough time like this one is a really excellent album. And when it came out, it kind of made me think like, wait a minute, did Miskie just put out her best album, which I didn't think would be possible after Be the Cowboy? It feels like these

songs have been here for a very long time. Like they've always been around almost, which is, I think, very interesting. Every time I listen to her music, it gets better. And every time I read somebody else or talk to somebody else about her music, it gets better for me, which is very rewarding. So I really like that. I also think that my love all mine might be the best song of the year. It's just like the first time I heard that song I cried, which is not a usual experience for me. And I think like it's an instant classic. Like I like every I think it's got a lot of streams. Like I think a lot of people are listening to that one. And I do think that's just an instantly classic song, which is incredibly impressive. So that'd be mine.

Beautiful. I enjoyed the record. I think I've told you this before. Kim. I know I'm going to understand Mitzki at some point. I know she's going to connect with me at some point. I just haven't had that moment yet. There is some, I, I can recognize this as good music. I can see that I see her appeal. I want to love her more than I do. But I'm going to keep trying. Because I just, there's too many people that I respect that love Mitzki, generally speaking, that I'm just, I know I'm, I'm the one missing something here. But I was good. I I know this was a favorite among a lot of people, this record. Did you guys like, are you guys fans of Mitzki? I'm with you, Cole. I've tried Mitzki. And I've never been like, though, this is a bad record. I'm always like, did I miss the boat?

Like, did I miss the, like, jumping on point with Mitzki? Because I think I did. Because I never leave a record. I always leave a record as being like, that was really good. But it never reaches the other thing where I'm like, why do all the people I respect most in my life love this woman so much in her music? So I'm still searching for that record. I'm still searching for that one record or one song that will convert me.

But I like I respect this because Mitzki is just endlessly talented. Yeah. It's got to be my love of all mine. I mean like as far as like a key point on this one like she makes this song about she's trying to think of like what she can give or what she has and all she has is like the love that she can give to other people. And she's like, talk, and like through the song, she's talking about, like, what can I leave on this planet if anything when I'm gone? And she's like, it's the love I have for other people and can give to other people.

And like, when she explains it, she's like, I hope you like it. But then when you hear it and like you really feel that, it's like an incredibly beautiful overpowering thing. Yeah. See, I'm sold. I'm going to go. I'm going to the first thing I do after this episode, I'm going to listen to that song because that was, sounds beautiful. Charles, see, that's what your soul needs, is some of that sentiment.

Oh, no, guys, come on. I'm a gremlin right now. Cam knows I'm about to go to D.C. We're about to get in trouble. Don't worry about it. Okay. We'll go to U Street. That'll be fine.

That'll be good. All right, Justin, number two. I believe this is on Cole and Cam's list as well. Oh. But not Charles's. But not Charles's. And... What is it?

I'm going to say it, and I think I'm going to say it in an immediate. immediately see the floor to Charles. This Danny Brown and JPEG Mafia Scareing the hose. Charles, you have the floor. So for the entire year, I listened to this in my headphones in New York, and I was like, absolutely fucking not.

And for the entire year, Cole, Justin, they've been trying to get me on this wave. And I promised them before this episode, I'm going to give it the car test, right? I'm going to give this one more shot because I was like, y'all are fucking out of your mind. And I want to be honest, guys. I owe everybody on this call a really big apology.

What? Hell yes. Let's go. Hell yes. What I tell you, this is the first album in forever where I spun it in the car once. And I'm like, hmm, not that bad. Let me play it one more time.

And then every single, I've been in L.A. for a week. I've played this album from front to back every single time I'm in the car. This album is really, really good. And I think, at first, I don't think it's headphones album. Like, it's, when I heard it in my headphones for the first time, I'm like, this is just too much. What I think I actually really liked about this album is, you know, at a certain point, I think JPEG Mafia, we can all admit, is a little too online. And as much as I liked a lot of early JPEG Mafia songs, I was always like, man, just give us the music, man. Like, log off Twitter.

We all need to log off Twitter. I have to give, like, I have to give him his flowers. The production on this album is insane. Like, it is song after song. I think what's the fentanyl tester? Fentanyl tester, yeah. God only knows, I think, or I think that's the name of the record, the first record off this.

The production on this is insane. Danny Brown, I don't know what JPEG unlocked in him. Yeah. He's just, I have not been in love, this in love with Danny. Brown in forever. I, you guys are right. I'm an asshole. This is my apology. I love scaring those.

It's a great record. So happy. I'm so happy. I'm so happy. But to your point, actually, when he said it's a car album, I actually, I don't think I've ever listened to it. Not in my car. That's a, it's what it is. It's a car record. It gets you pumped up.

It gets you just, oh, it gets me going. Justin, you picked it, but it's on, or Where is it? It's number two on my list. Cam, where is it on your list? That is the best album of the year, by far. That is the best album. Wow.

Yeah. Wow. Damn. Yeah, I just like this combo of these two guys. I think, like, I really liked JPEG Mafia around the veteran era, and then I kind of tapped out for a little bit. And I, you know, and I've tried. Like, what was that? All my heroes are what?

All my heroes are cornballs. Yeah. that record was a little that was a little too much that was a little too much for me and at the same time like Danny hasn't been around for a while and to your point

JPEG really unlocked something in him but like in a way that it felt like he was coming into JPEG's world versus he was kind of like he wasn't dominating the conversation right it's like they balance each other really well and at the same time he extracted

JPEG managed to extract from Danny like the right bits of Danny to make this record work. Does you see the floor a little bit? Because I would... JPEG almost because he's producing so much, I was surprised how much

Danny's verses stick out. Yeah. Where it's like almost JPEG as a fan knows what Danny needs or what Danny does best. And I was surprised because I don't think of JPEG as a very...

Like, I don't think of him as an artist that can see the floor. I also got to say this isn't my favorite song on the record. But maybe the moment of any piece of music that's been stuck in my head the most this year are the horns on Burfin.

Oh my God. Oh, my God. So good. So I'll just I will just walk around humming them. They just get stuck in my head. It's, I don't know. I love this record. Cam, it's your number one. Yeah, let's hear you. This is the best record of the year.

Look, Danny Brown, Danny Brown, the revival of Danny Brown in 2003 is like my favorite thing of the year. He's definitely the best rapper of the year. Like I think, I think that's clear. Scaring the Hoose is an album that is like a peak internet rap album. We probably had a couple peaks.

This is one of them. This thing is like an incredible collaboration between these two. The fact that this brought Danny Brown back, the fact that like Danny's had his own journey with sobriety like through this year like the support of JPEG Mafia in all that if you guys like go on YouTube there's a video of JPEG Mafia and Danny Brown like a couple years ago where Peggy is just like gushing how much of a fan he is of Danny like the whole time and Danny's kind of like he wasn't

doing much at that time and he's like very it seems like he's got like he's not welcoming it and he's a very low self-esteem but like Peggy's just like no you're the best you have to understand you are Danny Brown do you know what that is to me like really goes into it it. And the way you feel that on this album, I think is, like, incredibly special. Like, a celebration of an, from an artist of another artist. And, like, you talk about, like, Peggy's seating the floor. Like, he just made everything to kind of lift Danny up in this. And it's beautiful. Yeah. And I, and I feel weird saying it's beautiful about, like, an album with, like, step a pig. And, like, it is beautiful, though. Like, the beats on this are, like, I did not know Peggy was this good of a

producer. That's the thing. You know? Okay. Yeah. I love them. That's where, I mean, you guys talked about the lyricism and the relationship there. I mean, production for me is like top tier on this. We were talking about formulaic approaches to music before. This is anything but formulaic. It's entirely unpredictable from song to song.

Even within a song, multiple beat switches, just off-the-wall samples you would think would never work. It starts with a P-Ditty and genuine song. Did you know that, Charles? I mean, the less we say about Diddy right now, the best. Fuck out of here, my man, like, evil. This is tough because they're sampling your all-time favorite song. I know. It's been a rough year.

You know, I've had to go through my playlist and be like, all right, well, not playing this one anymore. But continue. Continue about the production. I want to hear you on this goal. Well, I mean, it's just immaculate, unproductive. I think like just to just the tiniest of dissect moment

just the way that the album starts with that sample we get the JPEG mafia verse or the introduction and he builds up his verse to where you know the song wants to explode musically what does he say right there

until you hear some shit and they get offended and any other producer 99 out of 100 producers would hit the kick drum on the one and just the song would explode. It would align perfectly with his next line. But he waits. He doesn't play the kick drum on one where everyone else would.

He doesn't play anything on two. He plays just the drums come in on the third beat with a snare drum. And it's just, it's such the smallest choice, but it hits so hard. That's one of the reasons why that when the drums actually do come in, It feels like you had to wait just a little bit longer to get that cathartic release. And there's those little, I point out just that one detail because there are details like that all over this record where it's, you know, it's not just the sampling. It's not just these unpredictable drums. It's like when you get down to the nitty gritty of the choices that JPEG's making, it's like phenomenal, phenomenal mind making these just tiny details that make the song hit.

that much harder, that much more relistenable because our mind is, we haven't figured out the song fully on a subconscious level. And so we're always listening, finding new things. Every time I listen to this record, I'm hearing something new. And so it's endlessly replayable for me. It was my number one album for the longest of times until, wait, where are we? So that was knowing number two. We are now, that was your number one, Cam.

So now we need my number one. Charles is two. Charles is two. Okay, so we're, okay, Charles. Why don't you give us your number two? I'll sprint through my number two. Shout out.

I cheated Ty, Amore from Atlanta. She has this song off her album. All right, counterfeit that samples clips is Whamp Whamp, which is one of the best beats of all fucking time. Go listen to counterfeit. It's an R&B singer doing it, and she's just phenomenal.

But I had to shout this out because I think sometimes as music critics, I feel like we get too cool for school almost a little bit. My number two is SZA's SOS. When this dropped in December last year, I was surprised that Siza did it again, where the fact that Siza is a pop star at this point, I don't, how? She doesn't make that type of music.

and I think SOS further kind of cemented her as just a star in an industry where we're not making R&B stars anymore and I think does this does SOS hold up as an album not really

but there are songs and there are moments off this project that I think just met the moment where I was like I'm not the biggest as a fan but I wanted to shout this out because I'm like I want more artists to go for it like this.

If we're talking about Kill Bill, Kill Bill is one of the biggest songs of the year. And she went for it. The visual was amazing. People were singing this. They're singing an R&B song in 2023. That's a hit. I love that.

The pop punk song off this, not great, but shout out. Conceded is a great record. So do I think Siza should probably release more music? Yes, freer. T.D. Anyway, but I just, I want more R&B artists to get this type of bush because when it happens, it's undeniable.

So shout out Siza, she had a great year. Our Twitter presence, a little bit more chaotic. Oh, I'm glad that someone acknowledged this record. I mean, the release of it is just made, makes it really kind of hard to talk about in these year-end things. And I think she deserves all the awards at the Grammys. Hopefully they get that right. I don't understand. And they don't recognize that that was clearly the biggest album of the year.

And a very high-quality album. I really like S-O-S. So I'm glad that you gave it some love. Okay, so let's hit our number ones. Starting with, so we got Justin's, no, we got Cam's number one. So let's hit Justin's number one. Billy Woods and Kenny Siegel. Aftermarket speakers in a saddle.

Beater, but they can't catch you. Binoculars today peepers, why. This is the second year in a row that a Billy Woods record has been my favorite record of the year. The name of this one is Maps. This is, I will say it, I say it every year. I think he is the best writer working in any medium at the moment possibly. I just get an experience listening to his stuff. First of all, it scratches an inch for me being someone who grew up on underground rap in the 90s and the 2000s.

it scratches that it for me because Billy Woods was also making music around that time. I describe the experience of listening to a Billy Wood song, like looking at found art, where it's just these little fragments that will end up, they just kind of like cut through and they end up being like one of the most profound things you've ever heard. I think that he's made some of his best work with Kenny Segal on, they did hiding places a few years ago.

That was a fantastic album. This is a great record. It's got a great feature from Danny Brown. It's got a great feature for Aesop Rock. I can just feel Charles shooting like Godzilla-style isotopes at me as I'm talking. Because it's just a peak Justin choice. It's nothing against Billy Woods. Billy Woods is so talented.

But like, dog, you know I was going to make fun of you. You love Billy Wood. Here's the thing. Every white dude I know. who is like 35 to 40s just like, yo, Billy Woods is the next great American writer. And I'm just like, guys, come on. I like Billy Woods. I do like it.

But like, come on. But I will say, listening to this record, you want to know how I know I'm getting more washed? Because each year I understand a little bit more Billy Woods. And I'm like, I listen to a line. And I'm like, was that the smartest thing anybody said all year? And before, and while I'm in like positivity corner, I think Danny Brown's verse on this record is like a top five verse. of the year. It is just, this record is, like, Billy Woods is growing on me. He is. Okay. I bypass my third because I know it's your first. So let's hit it, Charles. I'm on your

side with this one. What's your number one? That's fucking go. 10,000 geeks by 100 gex. They counted, they counted them out. They counted 100 geeks out. There was like, yo, they're mean. This is a mean ban. They can't do it again. Y'all were listening to a muddy machine. Get the fuck out of here. And I'm just like, yeah, come on. Y'all don't know. That's real rap right there. 100 gex is some real rap, all right? And boy,

y'all can't, when dumbest girl alive plays, y'all can't tell me you don't feel that in your soul. That's that shit that made James Brown do the two-step. I'm like, yo, let's go. I, like, ugh, 100 gex, I think, being very serious, to me, do you all remember Sleigh Bells? Of course.

Yeah. Yeah. Like, I was afraid it was going to be a Sleigh Bells thing where like when Sleigh Bells dropped that first album treats, everybody's like, yo, Slaybills. It's like, you know, everybody does the indie pitchfork thing be like, you're yesterday's news. We got Grizzly Bear now. And 100 Gecks completely just sidesteps that by just making a record that I think is more probably. even if it's not, even if I don't love it as for as much as their debut, I think this one is way tighter. I think that they've grown as musicians in such a profound way. And I think them being

able to get out of the hyper pop lane that they were in and really show that like at this point, 10,000 gex is a rock record. It just fronted back more guitars, tighter songwriting. I think 10,000 gex. When I listen to it, I'm like, okay, I think this band, even if we don't get a million gecks at any point I think we are going to be hearing especially like Dylan Brady production I think he's one of our most talented producers what he does like is

10,000 gecks did you like the limp biscuit song better or the mighty muddy boss stone's song better I'm fucking talking about how long have you been waiting how long have you been waiting? I actually love this record I wanted to put this at number one on the ringer list

and I got yelled at by so many people who weren't, Charles. Because here's the thing, everybody, this is, since I've retired from music criticism, I, like, it's mask off time. This is what I listen to. Like, let's not do the shit. Everybody's like, you know what, Billy Wood. I actually know Justin listens to Billy Woods.

But I'm like, y'all, when the hose is over, you all aren't putting on arm and hammer. I'm sorry, y'all are not. No, no, of course I'm not. Well, I mean, I don't have hose over. I have a girlfriend. I have a girlfriend, and so she has to listen to Billy Woods. but if I didn't have a girlfriend, Cam.

I'm gonna do whatever I want. Why would I want to date somebody who doesn't like that music? Why would I want to date somebody who doesn't like that music? Come on. Wait, whoa, whoa, whoa. Cam, you're single now. Yeah. You're telling me when the shotties are coming over,

you're bumping. Whatever I want. Why would I, why would I? I don't understand the idea of like not playing the music you want to play or not being authentic what the music can play. Do you understand how women look at me when they get into the whip and I play 100 gecks? They're like, yo, turn this shit off.

Then why are you letting them back in the car? Have you ever seen a fat ass, Cam? Oh my God. You know, it can make you do a lot of things. I'm just, I'm so sorry. Wow. This is why you can't invite me on Dysak, bro.

Wow. Have you ever seen a fat ass? And then he hits play on Hollywood, baby. I'm kidding. Cole, why is this record? Can you please tell the people why it's thousand gecks is so good it well okay i i listened to the the debut when when did they first release that their first album it was 2019 no because i saw i saw them live and that before the world

shut down so it was 2019 i saw them opening for brockhampton yes oh that tells you that tells you how long this like oh yeah heaven belongs to you tour excellent tour yes so i i i remember listening to it and i just it didn't appeal to me at that moment and even after actually really loving 10,000 geeks and returning to the first one. Maybe I just seem to spend more time with that first one. But this, to me, the second one on like first impression is miles ahead of that first one. It is. It is.

If that's blast minutes to say for 100 gex fans. But this album knocked me off my feet. I mean, it was like scaring the hose part two in my mind in terms of just impeccable, unpredictable production. insanely catchy lyrics and melodies. You just never know where they're going to go from within the song, from song to song. I mean, it starts out with these like electro-trash, like pop-punk songs almost. And then like, what's that, is it the third song or the fourth song,

the frog on the floor song? Frog on the floor. Like this cartoonish like reggae song about a literal frog in their basement. And somehow I fucking love it. There's that like 50s ballad. that turns into like a 90s ska anthem about getting your tooth removed. I got my tooth removed, yeah.

Just like, again, I shouldn't like this, but I would fucking love it. It just in a year of, just going back to what we talked about and what seems like a continuous, predictable, formulaic mainstream of music, this one surprised me at every turn throughout the whole record.

I think it's only 10 songs, short, I love that, it's very concise. It might have been higher in my list if I had more time with it because the first time I listened to it was when I saw it on your list, Charles. So you have the credit of introducing me and making me a family. Cultural exchange, scaring the hose, 10,000 gecks. This is what our friendship is built on, Cole. Beautiful.

This record is phenomenal. I've played it every single day since I first put it on. It's like addictive. I'm in love with it. Do the daughters like it? Or are they like, this is too much? I haven't put it on yet. They're the real criticism that I care about.

Like, if you can play this in front of your daughters, like, because I have a feeling they're going to be like, I don't know. Frog on the floor, I don't know about this one, dude. They might, well, we'll see. You'd be surprised, actually. I'll play it for them. What is their album of the year?

That'll be my last season. What is their album of the year? No question, Olivia Rodriguez. Like, it leaps beyond anything else. Even Taylor? Well, she didn't have a new record, though, right? Taylor didn't have a new record this year? No, just Taylor's versions.

Her last new record was Midnights. Oh. It's all running together at this point. Maybe she is the next MJ to what, to y'all's point. Who knows? Okay, that leaves my number one unless anyone else had anything to say about 100 geeks. Cam, you didn't say anything. I do like 100 geeks.

I kind of liked a thousand geeks more, but I do, I did really enjoy this gex album. I do. Okay. Cam's on that real shit. DC DMV Bros for Life. Anyway, what's your number one call? All right, my number one is javelin by Sufion Stevens. This took the top spot from Scaring the Hose,

which I thought for sure, for the majority of the year was going to be my top pick. This album fucking floored me. It's everything I love about music. I'm always going to prefer, even as much as I love, the kind of pump up, get rowdy, kind of sound of a hundred

gecks and a scaring the hose an album that could move me emotionally in the way that javelin does will always win my heart this album is fucking beautiful from top to bottom it's 10 songs 42 minutes it's the perfect length

the perfect amount of songs if people don't know like it was written in the wake of his partner's death and he was also like weeks before the album released Sufion was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease that hospitalized him and he essentially had to learn how to like walk again. It's a it's an album to me that needed to be made. You can feel that in the album and that you know you can often you can tell sometimes the artists

are just kind of hitting their two year mark and just making another album. This seems like it was like required creation for him. You feel his heart throughout all 10 of these tracks. There is not a dull moment emotionally. The production, he did all himself in his basement by himself. The only additional things is the choir that runs throughout much of the album. But everything else he wrote and recorded himself. Production-wise, again, theme of unpredictability.

These songs develop in a way that I just, didn't see coming. A lot of them will start very slow and then they'll explode into these just atypical electronic drums and the choir bursts with these kind of anthemic emotional refrains. And then the lyrics, man, fuck nay. The lyrics on this record are absolutely crushing. He's clearly, I don't know, it seems to me like a breakup album. I don't know what the specifics around that are, but it's like a kaleidoscope of pre and post breakup emotions. This is a journey of recognizing, two people recognizing the end of something and fighting really hard to try to make it work, fighting each other, and then recognizing by the end that

it just wasn't going to work out. And the way that the sentiment that Sufion leaves, the album with is so beautiful and touching. He just has these killer lines. Very simple, but like one of the strong songs, will anybody ever love me? He says, will anybody ever love me for good reasons, without grievance, not for sport?

Will anybody ever love me? And every season pledge allegiance to my heart, and every season pledge allegiance to my heart. And it's just like very simple. The way these sings it is just so, to me moving, it touches me. I feel emotions that I rarely feel when listening to music, when I listen to this album from start to back.

And then I got to talk about briefly, my song of the year, shit talk. This song is like eight minutes. It's like the culmination of the entire album. It is like masterful in like its structure and its composition and its production. And it kind of, again, like, he's working through these emotions about the breakup. He's vindictive. He's hurt. He's confused.

And everything kind of lets go with shit talk. It's just structurally just so brilliant where he has these three refrains that he introduces throughout the song. One of them, the first refrain is, I will always love you. And that's kind of the first chorus. And then when it gets into the bridge, it introduces the second refrain, hold me closely, hold me tightly, lest I fall. And he think the song's going to be over. But then he introduces a third refrain.

The song kind of breaks down again. And he says, no, I don't want to fight at all. And so there's this kind of like resignation. And then to essentially end the album, he somehow weaves all three refrains together in this like beautiful climax that just closes the album on like a it's the feeling of like both people like recognizing having tried to make it work

recognizing that it wasn't possible and then getting to the place of like acknowledging that I still love you and I don't have any animosity it just didn't work he somehow encapsulates that moment of not resignation of just acceptance in shit talk in such a beautiful way. I know I'm going on very long here, but this record just floored me emotionally.

If you haven't listened to it, please listen to it. It is beautiful. End of rant. What did you guys think about this album? Do you guys love this as much as I did? I've been dissected. Me as well. And this might have been my first time being dissected on air.

and it was beautiful. I can't do this record it is so devastating it is like so I was trying to listen to it in the car I'm like this is the saddest thing like it is

top tier songwriting top tier just everything like it is a perfect record how do you listen to this call like this is so sad this is what I live for come on man this is how you want to wake up

and just listening to something that's just going to wreck your entire soul but it's beautiful like it's it's like there's an underlying I mean, Sufion's very good at this where he'll talk about stuff, but the overall feeling is positive somehow. There's an optimistic underlying optimism in his music, or specifically on this record that I feel like, it feels like comforting to me. I don't know.

And someone, you know, really having lost, you know, grieving, thinking about his own, the end of his own life, just, you know, someone really taking things seriously. and I think making a conscious effort to put out positive emotion. Yeah, Cam, what did you think? You like this record? I love this album. For me, it was this or Mitzki's album in the same type of realm. And I did go with the Mitzki one. But the Sufyanat, like, Shataka is amazing.

And will anyone ever love me? Like, it's beautiful stuff. Sufian did it again. Him going back to like the older type of sounds. We haven't quite heard from him in a bit. it's sounding like a more evolved version, which is really cool to see after all the different things he's done. Yeah.

Yeah. Beautiful. All right, I think we did it. Look at this. We survived another year. Guys, I feel like we started this conversation in such a negative place. And look, we are ending on such a positive note. On friendship, on great music.

This is what Dysect is about. I know. This is a very on brand for Dysect. We celebrate. We're optimistic on this show, Charles. Hell yeah. Let's go. All right. Well, thanks guys for joining me. And thanks for everyone for listening. Have a beautiful new year. And we'll talk to you soon.