My 2023 Year in Music
My 2023 Wrapped
What a year for music! In 2023, I scrobbled 5,522 tracks across 392 different artists and 445 albums. That’s roughly 322 hours of music - or about 13.4 days of non-stop listening. On average, the albums I listened to are 27 years old.
Radiohead earned the top spot with 117 plays (2.1% of your year).
Lets dive into the numbers and see what made 2023 special.
By the Numbers
Thats 13.4 days of music, or roughly 15 tracks per day. My peak listening month was June with 1,051 scrobbles.
Artist of the Year
Radiohead
With 117 plays (2.1% of my total listening), Radiohead dominated my 2023. They were my top artist in July.
- View Radiohead on russ.fm
Album of the Year
”KID A MNESIA” by Radiohead
This album earned the top spot with 68 plays (1.2% of my listening). It was my most-played album in July.
Top 25 Artists
- 🥇 Radiohead — 117 plays
- 🥈 The Beatles — 102 plays
- 🥉 Pink Floyd — 94 plays
- 4. David Bowie — 93 plays
- 5. Faith No More — 93 plays
- 6. U2 — 88 plays
- 7. Rush — 81 plays
- 8. James — 77 plays
- 9. New Order — 71 plays
- 10. Genesis — 69 plays
View artists 11-25
- 11. Pearl Jam — 69 plays
- 12. Peter Gabriel — 67 plays
- 13. Deacon Blue — 66 plays
- 14. Depeche Mode — 63 plays
- 15. Stars — 61 plays
- 16. Tori Amos — 58 plays
- 17. The Cure — 57 plays
- 18. The Decemberists — 56 plays
- 19. Pet Shop Boys — 55 plays
- 20. Tears for Fears — 54 plays
- 21. Crowded House — 54 plays
- 22. Steven Wilson — 48 plays
- 23. Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers — 48 plays
- 24. Cardiacs — 47 plays
- 25. INXS — 46 plays
Top 50 Albums
- 🥇 KID A MNESIA by Radiohead — 68 plays
- 🥈 Revolver by The Beatles — 63 plays
- 🥉 Angel Dust by Faith No More — 63 plays
- 4. Smash by Pet Shop Boys — 55 plays
- 5. The Cure: Greatest Hits by The Cure — 53 plays
- 6. Singles by New Order — 53 plays
- 7. Greatest Hits by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers — 48 plays
- 8. A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window by Cardiacs — 47 plays
- 9. Duke by Genesis — 45 plays
- 10. Retrospective II by Rush — 41 plays
View albums 11-50
- 11. All Things Must Pass by George Harrison — 40 plays
- 12. Peaches: The Very Best of the Stranglers by The Stranglers — 40 plays
- 13. Lost in the Dream by The War on Drugs — 40 plays
- 14. Quadrophenia by The Who — 40 plays
- 15. Animals by Pink Floyd — 40 plays
- 16. Be Opened By The Wonderful by James — 38 plays
- 17. The Very Best Of by Talk Talk — 38 plays
- 18. The Very Very Best of Crowded House by Crowded House — 38 plays
- 19. Fresh As A Daisy - The Singles by James — 37 plays
- 20. The Sun Is Often Out by Longpigs — 37 plays
- 21. Songs from the Big Chair by Tears for Fears — 37 plays
- 22. Hounds of Love by Kate Bush — 37 plays
- 23. 1967-1970 by The Beatles — 37 plays
- 24. The Best Of Roxy Music by Roxy Music — 36 plays
- 25. Core by Stone Temple Pilots — 36 plays
- 26. I’ll Be Your Girl by The Decemberists — 36 plays
- 27. i/o by Peter Gabriel — 36 plays
- 28. Gold Against the Soul by Manic Street Preachers — 35 plays
- 29. What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye — 35 plays
- 30. The Joshua Tree by U2 — 34 plays
- 31. Songs in the Key of Life by Stevie Wonder — 34 plays
- 32. Long Hot Summers: The Story Of The Style Council by The Style Council — 33 plays
- 33. Snap! by The Jam — 33 plays
- 34. Right on Time by Hepcat — 32 plays
- 35. The Specials by The Specials — 32 plays
- 36. Greatest Hits by The Police — 32 plays
- 37. Rearviewmirror by Pearl Jam — 32 plays
- 38. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars by David Bowie — 32 plays
- 39. The Sound of the Smiths by The Smiths — 31 plays
- 40. Songs of Faith and Devotion by Depeche Mode — 30 plays
- 41. So by Peter Gabriel — 30 plays
- 42. Once Upon a Time by Simple Minds — 28 plays
- 43. Resident Alien by Spacehog — 28 plays
- 44. Little Earthquakes by Tori Amos — 28 plays
- 45. Nothing Has Changed by David Bowie — 28 plays
- 46. Kill The Wolf by Matt Berry — 27 plays
- 47. Set Yourself on Fire by Stars — 27 plays
- 48. Zeroes And Ones - The Best Of by Jesus Jones — 27 plays
- 49. Beautiful Ones: The Best of Suede 1992-2018 by Suede — 26 plays
- 50. Wave Of Mutilation: Best Of Pixies by Pixies — 26 plays
Monthly Breakdown
Heres how my listening habits shifted throughout the year:
Most active month: June (1,051 plays)
Quietest month: April (0 plays)
Best quarter: Q4 (Oct-Dec) (2,185 plays)
View monthly data as table
| Month | Plays | Above Average |
|---|---|---|
| January | 184 | |
| February | 0 | |
| March | 0 | |
| April | 0 | |
| May | 162 | |
| June | 1,051 | ✓ |
| July | 534 | ✓ |
| August | 898 | ✓ |
| September | 508 | ✓ |
| October | 483 | ✓ |
| November | 839 | ✓ |
| December | 863 | ✓ |
Genre Breakdown
My top genres based on album metadata from my collection:
View as text list
- 1. Rock — 3,805 plays (68.9%)
- 2. Pop — 2,150 plays (38.9%)
- 3. Alternative — 2,066 plays (37.4%)
- 4. Adult Alternative — 1,492 plays (27%)
- 5. Alternative Rock — 1,271 plays (23%)
- 6. Pop/Rock — 1,072 plays (19.4%)
- 7. Pop Rock — 1,042 plays (18.9%)
- 8. Indie Rock — 1,032 plays (18.7%)
- 9. Electronic — 951 plays (17.2%)
- 10. Arena Rock — 645 plays (11.7%)
Hidden Gems
These albums might not have topped the charts, but they earned a special place in my rotation:
- “Zeroes And Ones - The Best Of” by Jesus Jones
- “Beautiful Ones: The Best of Suede 1992-2018” by Suede
- “Set Yourself on Fire” by Stars
- “Nothing Has Changed” by David Bowie
- “Kill The Wolf” by Matt Berry
- “Little Earthquakes” by Tori Amos
New Discoveries (Released in 2023)
These albums were released in 2023 and made their way into my rotation:
- “You’re the One” by Rhiannon Giddens
- “everything is alive” by Slowdive
- “Rotten Apples: Greatest Hits” by The Smashing Pumpkins
- “Closure / Continuation.Live. Amsterdam 07/11/22” by Porcupine Tree
- “Theatre of the Absurd presents C’est La Vie” by Madness
Featured Albums
KID A MNESIA by Radiohead 🎧
68 plays in this year
Recording history & creation process 🛠️
Kid A and Amnesiac were born of the same fevered studio period (1999–2000): sessions in Paris, Copenhagen and Radiohead’s Oxfordshire base with Nigel Godrich. The band originally toyed with a double‑album idea but split the material into Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001); KID A MNESIA (released 5 Nov 2021) effectively reunites that era and adds a third disc—Kid Amnesiae—of unreleased sketches, alternates and studio versions. Fun fact: Radiohead chose not to remaster the two originals, preferring to present them untouched and contextualize them with the newly surfaced material (studio versions of long‑wanted tracks like “Follow Me Around” and the single “If You Say the Word”).
Musical style & what makes it distinctive 🎚️
What stands out is how the band dismantled 1990s guitar‑rock and rebuilt songs from textures: glitchy electronics, IDM rhythms, ambient drones, free‑jazz horns and modern‑classical strings sit alongside fragile vocal fragments. Tracks like “Idioteque” and “Everything In Its Right Place” foreground samples, looped beats and granular editing; “Pyramid Strings” and “How to Disappear into Strings” reveal the classical threads beneath the noise. Instead of guitar heroics or tidy verse–chorus hooks, Radiohead made atmosphere, cut‑and‑paste studio technique and emotional dislocation the songwriting tools.
Reception & cultural afterlife 🏆
Critics greeted KID A MNESIA as more than nostalgia: Kid Amnesiae was widely praised as a coherent, eerie companion that deepens the originals rather than diluting them. The box set topped alternative and rock charts and found #1 on the UK indie chart—proof a archival release can still feel like a major event. The project also included an ambitious digital pivot: the Kid A Mnesia Exhibition, a free interactive experience built with game‑engine tech for PS5 and PC, which reframed the music as immersive multimedia art.
Legacy, politics, genre fluidity & how it redefines rock 🌍
Two decades on, these records read as a blueprint for genre fluidity: electronic, ambient, jazz and classical practices are treated as equal ingredients, prefiguring the post‑genre alt landscape of the 2010s–2020s. Thematically, the material—alienation, technological anxiety, memory and corporate dehumanization—felt freshly resonant during the pandemic; the exhibition’s creation was shaped by remote, cross‑disciplinary collaboration. Ultimately KID A MNESIA reiterates Radiohead’s biggest move: redefining “rock” as a studio‑led, multimedia practice where texture, process and mood outrank riffs — and where archives can become new works in their own right.
Revolver by The Beatles 🎧
63 plays in this year
Recording & creation — Studio as laboratory 🔬
Revolver was cut between April and June 1966 at Abbey Road, and it marks the moment The Beatles stopped trying to reproduce themselves live and started composing with the studio in mind. The sessions stretched to over 220 hours (vs. under 80 for Rubber Soul). Young engineer Geoff Emerick (just 19) and producer George Martin encouraged rule‑breaking: tape loops were cued around the control room, varispeed was used to alter timbre, and ADT (automatic double tracking) was invented to thicken vocals without tiring John out. Stories from the control room are vivid — Harrison painstakingly learned a guitar line that, when reversed, became the dreamy solo on “I’m Only Sleeping,” and multiple tape machines spat out loops for “Tomorrow Never Knows” while engineers literally waved reels like instruments.
Musical style & musicianship — guitars, bass, and rhythm section 🎸
Revolver is a hybrid: concise pop songwriting smeared with psychedelic textures, baroque chamber touches and Indian raga. McCartney’s bass is unusually forward and melodic, often serving as a countermelody rather than just root notes — the result of novel mic’ing techniques (including using a speaker as a mic) and aggressive EQ. Ringo’s kit is treated creatively: tom‑forward patterns, odd accents, and inventive fills that push songs like “She Said She Said” into off‑kilter territory. Guitar work moves from tight dual leads on “And Your Bird Can Sing” to Harrison’s sitar explorations on “Love You To” and backward textures on “I’m Only Sleeping.” The result is a record where rhythm and groove are reframed as compositional elements.
Reception & 1960s cultural context 🌍
Commercially Revolver was a smash — it topped UK and US charts (Capitol’s US version trimmed three tracks). But culturally it mattered more: the album captures mid‑60s shifts — LSD, Eastern spirituality, political bite (“Taxman”), and adult introspection (“Eleanor Rigby”). It fed and reflected the American counterculture while deepening the British Invasion’s artistic credibility; suddenly a pop group was a laboratory for avant‑garde ideas.
Legacy & studio innovations — why it still matters 🧪
Revolver formalized “the studio as instrument.” ADT, tape‑loop collage, varispeed, reversed recording and tighter bass production became standard tools. “Tomorrow Never Knows” alone is a blueprint for psychedelia and electronic texture; “Eleanor Rigby” reimagined pop storytelling with a string octet. Bands and producers from The Beach Boys to Hendrix, Pink Floyd and countless electronic artists trace aesthetic lineages back to this album. It’s concise, fearless, and still sounds like the future when you press play.
Angel Dust by Faith No More 🎧
63 plays in this year
Recording & creation story 🎙️
Angel Dust was cut in late 1991–early 1992 at Coast Recorders and Brilliant Studios in San Francisco with producer Matt Wallace. Coming off the surprise success of The Real Thing, the band deliberately refused to repeat themselves: they set out to make something beautiful and horrific at the same time (Roddy Bottum), even carrying a cheeky working title, Alienating Your Public. Mike Patton — who’d joined after The Real Thing — finally had real creative input this time, helping push the group into more theatrical, unpredictable territory. Sessions were famously tense (guitarist Jim Martin increasingly alienated by the direction), but that friction arguably sharpened the results. The band tracked about 19 songs in the sessions before trimming to the 14 that became the album.
Sound, style, and what makes it distinctive 🎸
Angel Dust rips up the rulebook. Where their earlier work leaned funk-metal, this record embraces avant‑garde, theatrical rock: sudden dynamic shifts, surreal lyrics, piano and synth textures, oddball samples, and genre-hopping from lounge-y melodies to brutal riffs. Mike Patton’s elastic vocals — from croon to scream to vaudeville whisper — became a defining instrument. Songs like “Midlife Crisis” and “A Small Victory” pair pop hooks with off-kilter arrangements, and the band’s demo-swap, DIY approach to arranging kept things raw and experimental rather than polished into radio formula.
Reception, tours, and the immediate legacy 🏆
Critically, Angel Dust was divisive at release — many reviewers admired its ambition while others found it alienating. Commercially it did very well: it’s Faith No More’s best‑selling era, cracking the Billboard top 10 and shifting millions worldwide. The band promoted it on massive tours (including legs with Guns N’ Roses and appearances at festivals like Lollapalooza and Roskilde), proving an experimental record could still play stadiums. Jim Martin’s discomfort with the album foreshadowed his exit, marking Angel Dust as the end of a chapter for the classic lineup.
How it fit the ’90s scene and redefined rock 🔥
Released amid the grunge/alternative explosion, Angel Dust refused to be a genre stamp. It responded to the decade’s musical diversity by absorbing it — metal, punk, funk, art-rock — then recombining those elements into something sly and eccentric. Instead of leaning into grunge’s raw sincerity, Faith No More leaned into theatricality and unpredictability, challenging rock conventions (song structure, vocal role, tone) and influencing later alternative and progressive metal bands that valued experimentation over formula. Fun fact: the album title and surreal cover (a great egret and hanging meat imagery) reinforced that clash of beauty and unease — a perfect snapshot of the record itself.
Smash — Pet Shop Boys 🎧
55 plays in this year
Recording & creation: a career stitched into one set 🎚️
Smash isn’t a studio album so much as a curated life‑record: released 16 June 2023, it gathers 55 singles from 1985’s West End Girls through 2020’s I Don’t Wanna into a chronological 3CD / 6LP / Blu‑ray package. Rather than new sessions, the “recording history” here is four decades of studios, producers and turning points — Stephen Hague, Julian Mendelsohn, Trevor Horn, Stuart Price and others are all present by proxy. The chronological sequencing (with a Chris Heath booklet in some editions) lets you hear the duo’s evolution in context: early new‑wave/Hi‑NRG singles, 90s widescreen orchestral pop, and later electro‑club craft all sit side‑by‑side.
Musical style & production: synth‑pop with a literary heart 🔊
What makes Smash distinctive is how it showcases the Pet Shop Boys’ persistent formula: literate, often ironic lyrics and deadpan Neil Tennant vocals atop impeccably produced electronic arrangements. Across the set you’ll hear Linn/808/909 drum programming, sequenced basslines, Fairlight‑style stabs, lush analog‑flavored pads, sampled orchestral hits and choral flourishes. Production aesthetics shift as technology does — gated reverb and digital choruses in the 80s, large string/orchestral blends in the 90s, then tighter, side‑chained, club‑focused mixes in the 2000s and 2010s — but the core remains: dance‑floor energy shaped into song‑forward pop.
Reception & legacy: hits that built a canon 🏆
The singles collected include massive chart moments — West End Girls, It’s a Sin, Always on My Mind — and a steady output that kept them relevant across eras. Smash was received as a definitive singles document rather than a greatest‑hits condensation, praised for showing continuity and reinvention. Its real legacy is cultural: Pet Shop Boys helped map synth‑pop from underground clubs into mainstream charts while preserving queer, camp and urban narratives. That map influenced later synth/electro pop revivalists, queer pop artists, and producers who combine club sonics with literate songwriting.
Visuals, MTV & the pop/underground balance 📺
The Blu‑ray video collection in some Smash editions reminds you that PSB were a video‑era act: stylish, occasionally theatrical clips that played into MTV’s global reach and queer visual codes. Their skill was straddling worlds — credible in clubs yet radio‑friendly, artful in visuals yet irresistible on the dancefloor. Smash reads like both a jukebox and a cultural dossier: synth textures and production tricks change, but the duo’s melodic clarity, ironic eye and pop craftsmanship remain unmistakable.
Greatest Hits by The Cure 🎧
53 plays in this year
Recording history & creation story 🎚️
Released in November 2001 on Fiction/Polydor (Elektra in the U.S.), Greatest Hits isn’t a single studio project so much as a curated life‑survey. Robert Smith and the band assembled classics from 1979–2000, remastering and sequencing them into a coherent narrative after the Bloodflowers era. The collection also featured a new single — “Cut Here” — and, in many territories, a deluxe 2×CD version that included an acoustic disc of re‑recorded favorites. That bonus disc is an important creative choice: instead of simply repackaging hits, The Cure revisited and stripped them down, proving these songs live and intimate as much as they’re atmospheric and produced.
Musical style & recurring themes 🌫️
Greatest Hits maps The Cure’s stylistic chameleonism: post‑punk basslines and haunting minimalism sit alongside chiming new‑wave hooks, lush Disintegration‑era dream‑pop, and punchier ’90s alt‑rock. Signature traits keep the set cohesive — melodic, lead‑like bass; swells of chorus/delay guitars; modal, unresolved harmonies; and Robert Smith’s voice as an emotional instrument. Thematically the compilation emphasizes melancholy, romantic longing, alienation, and nostalgia — a bittersweet emotional arc that made the band a touchstone for later emo, indie and dark‑pop acts.
Reception, legacy & influence 🌍
As a gateway compilation, Greatest Hits was widely praised as an accessible entry point into a sprawling catalogue. Coming on the heels of decades of landmark albums, it reminded critics and new listeners that The Cure’s “gloom” was also tuneful and radio‑ready. Commercially it reinforced their catalog presence at a moment when CD sales still mattered. Culturally, the compilation functioned as a primer: many 2000s bands (from indie/post‑punk revivalists to emo and synth‑pop producers) trace stylistic debts to the moods and textures bundled on this disc. For millennials, it often served as the first Cure album they owned or burned.
Digital age, industry shifts & how it redefined rock ⚙️
Dropped weeks after 9/11 and squarely in the Napster/pre‑streaming era, Greatest Hits became a “seed” album—widely burned, shared, and later digitized into early MP3 libraries. As labels wrestled with digital distribution, the compilation was both a catalog moneymaker and a discovery tool. Artistically, it quietly challenged rock conventions: prioritizing atmosphere, vulnerability, and texture over guitar showmanship; blurring lines between goth, new‑wave, synth‑pop and rock; and proving that stripped acoustic versions could reveal core songwriting beneath the effects. In short, it redefined what a rock greatest‑hits record could feel like—intimate, melancholic, and undeniably influential.
- View The Cure on russ.fm