After some truly strange years when unprecedented challenges and just generally weird shit plagued the Vermont music scene, 2023 was a banner year for Green Mountain musicians. Some of the state's biggest names represented, whether it was Noah Kahan snagging a Best New Artist Grammy Award nomination or Grace Potter dropping a new LP. As always, there were plenty of surprises and new names on the scene, too, all contributing to the ever-expanding lineage of Vermont-made music.
Choosing the "best" from all that great music is a thankless task that required some serious dark-night-of-the-soul-style brooding on my part. I wandered through the snowy Green Mountain National Forest and pondered. I sat by the shores of Lake Champlain and reviewed. I even walked into the Ben & Jerry's factory in Waterbury and demanded to have the room so I could think. (I was escorted out, with no free ice cream.)
As my tired carcass collapsed in front of the hearth after my soul-searching, I knew that the following selections were undoubtedly the best Vermont records, singles and videos of 2023. But if you disagree and are mean to me online, I'll switch this whole fucking list to Weezer albums recorded after 2000.
Best Albums
1. Dari Bay, Longest Day of the Year
Zack James is a study in musical evolution. He started his career as the drummer for teenage Brattleboro rock sensations the Snaz, a collection of high school friends who released several impressively slick garage-rock records before calling it quits in 2017. James began making music as Dari Bay, relocated to Burlington and released some promising, fuzzed-out garage-rock tracks of his own. With his debut LP Longest Day of the Year, however, James put the focus on his songwriting, crafting short tunes suffused with elements of dream-pop and alt-country that coalesce into a remarkable record.
2. Caleb Lodish, I Expect Nothing in Return
An inspired collaborator for several years, Burlington's Caleb Lodish stepped up big-time in 2023 when he dropped his debut, I Expect Nothing in Return. The producer channeled his inner Damon Albarn, taking guest verses from some of the area's best rappers, such as Obi the Voicegod and 99 Neighbors' HANKNATIVE, and expertly weaving them into bold, vibrant tracks. Darting from one style to the next, Lodish delivers an album that doubles as a state of the union for the next generation of 802 hip-hop. Judging by this record, things are looking up.
3. tip/toe, Hot Girls Don't Trust the Government
Burlington pop singer and producer tip/toe, aka Eve Meehan, dropped one of the best-titled albums of the year with Hot Girls Don't Trust the Government. In an album brimming with sugarcoated pop and neon-lit hip-hop, Meehan goes from aiming humorous barbs at transphobes to delving into dark topics such as depression. Through it all, Meehan keeps the jams coming, creating a record as danceable as it is brainy.
4. Dwight + Nicole, The Jaguar, the Raven & the Snake
Soul and blues trio Dwight + Nicole's 2023 release, The Jaguar, the Raven & the Snake, is the Burlington band's third full-length LP. (It has also put out a slew of EPs.) While the album is no drastic shift to a new sound, it perfectly distills the many sides of couple Dwight Ritcher and Nicole Nelson, from sultry R&B to roots rock to bighearted ballads. It's also one of the best-sounding records of 2023, with gorgeous production from Grammy-nominated, New York City-based producer Joel Hamilton.
5. Brian McCarthy Nonet, After|Life
How can I leave a concept record about the birth — and eventual death — of the universe out of my top seven? Composer, saxophonist and University of Vermont instructor Brian McCarthy pulls off the unique double achievement of crafting a riveting score of high-wire jazz orchestration for a science fact concept album. His nonet swings through songs about Johannes Kepler's laws of planetary motion and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration while moving in and out of funk, Latin and experimental shades of jazz.
6. conswank, Low Point Retreat
A member of the recently disbanded Burlington hip-hop collective 99 Neighbors, conswank broke out on his own in 2023 with Low Point Retreat. The album showcases conswank's ability to work with the assorted luminaries of the Burlington hip-hop scene, including North Ave Jax and former bandmate Sam Paulino, as well as his ease in crafting sad-boy hip-hop that still manages to slap.
7. Grace Potter, Mother Road
One of the Green Mountain State's most successful musical exports (and part-time resident once again) returned in 2023 with a new vibe and a new record. Motherhood, accepting the aging process and learning to embrace saying "fuck you" instead of "thank you" all contributed to the Vermont native's strongest album in years. Mother Road sounds simultaneously like the end of an era for Grace Potter and the beginning of a new one.
The original print version of this article was headlined "The Best Vermont Music of 2023 | Our music editor picks the year's top local albums, singles and videos"
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Bio:
Music editor Chris Farnsworth has written countless albums reviews and features on Vermont's best musicians, and has seen more shows than is medically advisable. He's played in multiple bands over decades in the local scene and is a recording artist in his own right. He can often be found searching for the perfect soft pretzel or listening to a podcast about the X-Men.
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