As 2023 draws to a close it is the traditional time for music fans to look back with love and appreciation for the music that has seen them through the year.

Before I began blogging I would scour the end of year lists in the hope of finding a gem I had missed, and more broadly as an easy way to keep up with the cultural conversation around popular music. Sometimes that has led me to getting depressed at the state of the industry but the best lists can unite fans in wonder and joy.

As a blogger generally I have listed my favourite albums of those I have reviewed, however this year I have not reviewed as many albums as usual. In fact for various reasons I haven’t written about some of my favourite and most listened to albums, including Allison Russell, Brandy Clark and Jenny Lewis.

In 2023 I returned to my old ways of taking things slower, listening at different times than the release schedule, not writing about everything I was listening to. The albums that I did write about I felt I had something to say and the time to say it.

Looking back on this I actually don’t think it was necessarily the best choice to write less, as writing helps my mood and my life, but I liked feeling less pressure to participate in the online culture. To write a blog is to take your time, to listen well and really think, which is why it is such an enriching activity.

So that’s a long winded way of getting round to my list of ten albums of the year. As per other years I keep the number one spot for a solo artist who has written the majority of their record without songwriting collaboration, as this best encapsulates the independent free spirit of what this blog is about.

I have included the link to my original review, if one exists. Please comment below with your choices and anything you’ve loved this year which you think has been overlooked!

A few years back I wrote a post about trying to be a more minimalist music fan, addressing many of the issues I had with the constant demands on music fans to buy more and more and more and more stuff.

After writing that post I slowly began to change my behaviour, and this year I have almost stopped buying new vinyl entirely. In fact the only album I have purchased on vinyl this year is a signed copy of Amanda Shires last album from her concert in June.

Yes, you read that right, this vinyl addict has gone nearly six months without adding anything new to their collection at all. Please send me all your praise for this remarkable feat of resistance in the comments.

Let me walk you through the reasons why I, music blogger with a record collection stretching into the hundreds, came to the blasphemous decision to stop buying new vinyl.