This is my longest A-list ever at 87 entries (that’s 20.7% of the eligible albums I listened to all the way through; lower than that if you count all the albums I at least tasted.) The top 12 I’m pretty set on; a bit below that things are stable to within a place or two; in the bottom half, most of which I didn’t re-listen to, there’s a margin of error of plus or minus fifteen, say.
Adrianne Lenker: Bright Future
Kendrick Lamar: GNX
Megan Moroney: Am I Okay?
Dlala Thukzin: Finally Famous Too
Doechii: Alligator Bites Never Heal
Romy: Mid Air (2023)
Thomas Anderson: Hello, I’m from the Future
Eirik Hegdal Eklektisk Samband: Turnchest
The Paranoid Style: The Interrogator
Bad Moves: Wearing Out the Refrain
Amaro Freitas: Y’Y
Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft
Hans Winterberg/Amernet String Quartet: Chamber Music Vol. 2: String Quartets Nos. 2-4 (2023)
Carly Pearce: Hummingbird
Jlin: Akoma
Rosie Tucker: Utopia Now!
Franco Luambo Makiadi Presents Les Editions Populaires (1968-1970)
Miranda Lambert: Postcards from Texas
Deerlady: Greatest Hits
Baby Queen: Quarter Life Crisis (2023)
Darius Jones: Legend of e’Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye)
Dylan Hicks & Small Screens: Modern Flora
Sabrina Carpenter: Short n’ Sweet
GloRilla: Glorious
Shikamoo Jazz: East African Legends Live (1995/2022)
DJ Finale: Mille Morceau (2023)
Kris Davis Trio: Run the Gauntlet
NMIXX: Fe304: Break EP
Mannequin Pussy: I Got Heaven
Sexyy Red: Hood Hottest Princess (2023)
Unholy Modal Rounders: Unholier Than Thou: 7/7/77 (Live)
Jacques Greene: ANTH01 (2021)
Tyshawn Sorey Trio: Continuing (2023)
Shakira: Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran
David Murray Quartet: Francesca
Chappell Roan: The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (2023)
Polo Perks, AyooLii, FearDorian: A Dog’s Chance
Vampire Weekend: Only God Was Above Us
A Moi La Liberté: Early Electronic Raï Algérie 1983-90 (2023)
Alfredo Colón: Blood Burden
Kampire Presents: A Dancefloor in Ndola
Romulo Fróes & Tiaho Rosas: Na Goela (2023)
Sheer Mag: Playing Favorites
Berliner Philhamoniker: The Unsuk Chin Edition (2023)
Mach-Hommy: #RICHAXXHAITIAN
Red Velvet: Cosmic EP
The Zawose Queens: Maisha
Waxahatchee: Tigers Blood
GloRilla: Ehhthang Ehhthang
Allen Lowe & the Constant Sorrow Orchestra: Louis Armstrong’s America Volume 2
Ngwaka Son Systeme: Iboto Ngenge
Underscores: Wallsocket (2023)
Drain: Living Proof (2023)
D.Silvestre
The Core: Roots
Big Freedia with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra: Live at the Orpheum Theater
Wussy: Cincinnati Ohio
Tyla
Fabiana Palladino
Linkin Park: Papercuts (Singles Collection 2000–2023)
Jonathan Tetelman, PKF–Prague Philharmonia: The Great Puccini (2023)
Margaret Glaspy: Echo the Diamond (2023)
Alan Braufman: Infinite Love Infinite Tears
Mon Laferte: Autopoiética (2023)
Kiana Ledé: Cut Ties
Kate Nash: 9 Sad Symphonies
Rosie Tucker: Sucker Supreme (2021)
Emmeluth’s Amoeba: Nonsense
Kabeaushé: Hold on to Deer Life, There’s a Blcak Boy Behind You! (2023)
Kate NV: Wow (2023)
Afrika Muye Muye! Tanzanian Rumba & Muziki Wa Dansi 1968-1970 (2023)
Thumbscrew: Wingbeats
Corook: Best of Corook (So Far) (2022)
Hurray for the Riff Raff: The Past Is Still Alive
Fox Green: Light Over Darkness
Patricia Brennan Septet: Breaking Stretch
Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers: I Love You (2023)
Charli XCX: Brat etc.
Lloyiso: Seasons EP (2023)
Twice: With You-th EP
The Fully Celebrated Orchestra: Sob Story
IVE: Ive Switch EP
Tierra Whack: World Wide Whack
John Blum, David Murray, Chad Taylor: The Recursive Tree (2023)
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Party: Chain of Light
The Replacements: Tim (Ed Stasium mix, 2023)
Mike Cooley/Patterson Hood/Jason Isbell: Live at the Shoals Theatre (2021)
Bookkeeping: World Wide Whack is an upgrade. The AyooLii playlist I made and graded became superfluous once I heard A Dog’s Life.
