Once again, I’ve compiled a basic list of some of my favorite releases of the year. All of these albums have been featured on the Free Form Freakout radio and podcast shows in some way over the last twelve months, or will soon be included in upcoming episodes before we turn the page on 2023. I found that I had more opportunities to listen to music this year, and I certainly listened to many more complete albums – both new and old – than in years past. Despite this, I decided to just whittle this list down a bit to 50 releases total: 40 new albums and 10 reissue & archival albums. 

Outside of doing the Free Form Freakout podcast and radio show, I was also actively playing music for the first time in my life. I didn’t think of myself as much of a drummer. In fact, I never really played before, but there I was behind the kit in a garage-punk group with my teenage son. And what fun it was bashing away and making a good bit of noise! I also had the privilege of working with the Mankato band, Bee Balm Fields, and putting out their first vinyl album on Round Bale Recordings. I got to see them perform several times during the year and have developed an appreciation for their ability to connect with audiences in such an honest, unpretentious way. I bring up these experiences because as I look over the releases that I’ve listed below, it’s clear to me that they had an impact on what I was listening to and what I was more drawn to this year. I certainly gravitated towards more song-based material and even many of the experimental-leaning works included, I feel have some aspect of “song” in them too.        

At any rate, I encourage you to click through the links provided for each release below and if you discover something you like, please make every effort to support these artists and labels in whatever way that you can. If you’re new to Free Form Freakout, I’d also encourage you to peruse the playlists of past episodes of the podcast show, as I guess I would consider those highlights of what I’m listening to during a given month. You can also check out the playlists for the weekly Free Form Freakout radio show here. In addition, be sure to check out the terrific mixes that the fine folks at FLORILEGIO have been contributing to Free Form Freakout. There’s lots of great music to discover in those each month too.

There will be one more episode of the podcast show before the end of the year, and you can expect that Carl and I will play some of our favorite albums and songs on the weekly Free Form Freakout radio show in the coming weeks. Check back in with us in what one can only hope will be a kinder, gentler, and more peaceful year ahead.

David Perron, N. Mankato, December 2023

New Albums

Parker Allen	Melon Kolly / Parker’s First Song Diary	Ever/Never
番長 Taste	Summer Nights	Carbon
Big Blood	First Aid Kit	Ba Da Bing/Feeding Tube
Blues Lawyer	All In Good Time	Dark Entries
Lisa Cameron & Ernesto Diaz-Infante	Ghosts of the JA	Loma Editions
Cindy	Why Not Now?	Mt.St.Mtn.
The Clientele	I Am Not There Anymore	Merge
Climax Golden Twins	S/T	Fire Breathing Turtle
Coffin Prick	Laughing	Sophomore Lounge
Cuticles	Major Works	Siltbreeze
Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band	Dancing On The Edge	Sophomore Lounge
Delphine Dora	As Above, So Below	Recital
Christopher Alan Durham & The Peacetime Consumers	Kicks or Macabre	Soft Abuse
Famous Mammals	Instant Pop Expressionism Now!	Siltbreeze
Florina	Candy Wrappers	self-released
IE	Junk Body	Shinkoyo/Ish
James & The Giants	S/T	Kill Rock Stars
Junior Mint Prince	I Saw Freak Joy	Sweet Wreath
Graham Lambkin & James Rushford	Gondolas	Erstwhile
Lewsberg	Out and About	12XU
The Lost Days	In The Store	Speakeasy Studios SF
Maths Balance Volumes	Cycles of Tonight	Penultimate Press
Wheatie Mattiasich	Old Glow	Open Mouth
Robert Millis & Bardo Todol	A Magnetic Road To Hell	Sucata Tapes
Annelies Monseré	Mares	Horn of Plenty
MV & EE	Green Ark	Ramble
Joseph Nechvatal	The Viral Tempest	Pentiments
Powers/Pulice/Rolin	Prism	Cached Media
The Red, Pinks & Purples	The Town That Cursed Your Name	Slumberland/Tough Love
Marlene Ribiero	Toquei no Sol	Rocket Recordings
Colin Andrew Sheffield	Images	Elevator Bath
Maria Elena Silva	Dulce	Astral Spirits/BIG EGO
Sloppy Heads	Sometimes Just One Second	Shrimper
Sweeping Promises	Good Living Is Coming For You	Feel It
Theee Retail Simps	Live On Cool Street	Total Punk
Andrew Weathers	A Cardinal With a Sign of Blood	Full Spectrum
Witness K	S/T	Ever/Never
Wobbly	Additional Kids	Hausu Mountain
billy woods and Kenny Segal	Maps	Backwoodz Studioz
Yo La Tengo	This Stupid World	Matador

Reissues & Archival Releases

Ruth Anderson & Annea Lockwood	T​ê​te​-​à​-​t​ê​te	Ergot
Adam Bohman	Music and Words 3	Paradigm Discs
Charlie Megira & The Modern Dance Club	Love Police	Numero Group
Heavy Metal	IV: Counter Electrode Iron Mono	Total Punk
Minhwi Lee	Borrowed Tongue	Alien Transistor
Pharoah Sanders	Pharoah	Luaka Bop
Shizuka	Heavenly Persona	Black Editions
The Shadow Ring	City Lights + Put the Music In Its Coffin	Blank Forms
Talk West	Black Coral Sprig	Scissor Tail Editions
Tenniscoats	Totemo Aimasho (15th Anniversary Edition)	Room40