Like a fever dream somewhere between a late night true crime documentary and a televangelist sermon, the record Edifice by December Magic presents a mythologized version of the murder of JonBenét Ramsay.

As the record progresses, each track continuously strips back further layers of warm synthetic drone, further exposing a bumpy, bristling underbelly of clicks, wavers, and pops that destabilize the record’s central sound.

This album imprisons charming country and folk riffs into sparse loops with intense delay and reverb, recontextualizing the remoteness of the countryside into something threatening.

However, while the cracks in the American facade appear implicitly in other vaporwave releases, the stifling level of distortion and noise in this record makes its source material nearly unrecognizable, showing us just how far we’ve come from this so-called “golden age.”

The top 50 albums of 2023, according to us

Yes, we waited until the last possible minute to release our album of the year list. That being said, the artists we like to cover typically aren’t bound to the schedule of the broader music industry, and for our AOTY list a few last-minute additions were worth waiting until the actual end of the year.

Reflecting on things like change, transformation, and death can bring up all sorts of conflicting emotions, namely those of fear and doubt. In 1989 by Fiona’s Spiral speaks to the neverending repeating nature of things, however this EP is refreshing in its loving, hopeful approach to change.

A wild assembly of instruments including brass and piano pulls off these grand arrangements, augmenting the powerful personality of the singer to create a homespun yet intricate sound.

In crafting such a wildly inconsistent voice, Gamboa reveals the impacts of a scattered and unreadable identity, a social-media-fueled condition that I’m actively contributing to right now.

Despair claws its way to the surface with Clark’s incredible emo-tinged vocals, all while disorienting and dissonant orchestral arrangements push us further down this dark path.

The new album ATROPHY by Midwestern Roadkill is a raw look into what a depressive episode can actually be like. Characterized by fuzzy, hazy production, this skramz-pop release carries with it a sense of isolation and impermeability. It’s the sound of not leaving your bed for 3 days straight, the blinds drawn shut and air stale with halitosis.

Each musical idea establishes itself prominently and confidently before being thrown to the side, this energetic approach leading to an extremely satisfying listen as Pudgel explores a huge array of sounds in its 20-ish minutes.

Each track brings remarkable levels of variety, at times even reaching into free jazz territory as an assembly of auxiliary instruments establish melodies on top of familiar droning guitars.

Evil Empath by Everlastingness is timeless atmospheric industrial music that overturns your expectations for modern experimental electronics, going back to the basics of early industrial in a way that’s refreshing. Think echoing percussion, icy synths, and a spaciousness that adds value when placed alongside heavier, more intense moments.

Immensely underrated in the noise rock scene, we only hope that this release brings Imelda Marcos more much-deserved attention for their unique sound and undeniable talent.

Opening up into segments of wider instrumentation and ear-splitting noise, these tracks meander through a misty pathway defined by different shades of anguish, through alternate expressions of the same fundamental image of lashing out at a mirror.

The artist sits with their father on the last days of his life, the two looking out into the world and their pasts together with new eyes as time screeches to a halt.

Ov Pain wraps their music in circles, slowly descending further into their cave, incrementally adding elements and building tension before allowing the music to disappear into the far distance.

Fatou’s range is impressive, from her smooth jazzy vocals on “The other side”, to her energetic triplet flow on the title track “Adaeh”.

Stress Positions feels wholly unsatisfied not only by the injustice and strife they name outright, but also by the feelings of monotony and hopelessness that come with accepting the status quo laid before them. They are absolutely fed up with the stagnation, perfectly encapsulating our deepest unsettlement with the world, Harsh Reality provides a moment to feel the weight of everything around you.