2023: sets of the year

December 17, 2023 · by · in

James Holden – Bandcamp Weekly 640

Bad news, it’s another James Holden year, so you have to hear about everything single thing he’s done. Lucky for you, this set has not only a bunch of excellent “ambient” records in a row, but also James’s lovely, borderline-ASMR voice talking you through each record. On a scale of 0 to “vibes”, this one is a “super deep maaaaan”.

Kvanchi – Zenaari Mix 001

Staying ambient, this set out of Georgia is both generally great and has another occuance of this year’s “weird pitched percussion” subtheme, with an overlay of an old American folk tune over some serious gamelan music.

Horse Meat Disco – Rinse FM, April 2023

Very much not ambient: I recall I put on some random things from Rinse.fm in the spring, and found some of my favorite sets of the year. This one, a casual set of great disco records, was maybe my favorite uptempo set of the year, and one of my favorite disco sets since that whole thing that happened in 2020.

CCL – Liquidtime No. 9 – Cape Fear

Only 15 years too late, I am finally really enjoying “bass music” and “dub-step”.

JLin x Mike Paradinas – RA 903

JLin continues her campaign to not-so-secretly be the best composer of the last 10 years, as complied and mixed by the boss of Planet Mu.

Honorable Mentions to the following greats:

  • Ben UFO – Live @ Pitch Perfect; b-a-n-g-e-r-s, what a set.
  • Heiroglyphic Being – RA 888; deep weird house music.
  • Colored Craig – RA 898; just plain wonderful deep house.
  • Mori-Ra – Japanese Breeze Vol. 15; another Rinse find of city pop and early Japanese house..
  • DJ Voices – Live @ Nowadays Nonstop, Nov 2023; DJ Voices!