Another best of 2023 review

My favourite articles, campaigns and albums of this year

Even though much of our cultural landscape has changed significantly over the past 15-20 years, some habits continue to prosper and propagate. Most notably, as we hurtle towards 2024, the habit of compiling end-of-year lists/best of/reviews.

They’re everywhere - and you probably need another one in your inbox like you need a January 2nd pitch. But I, too, am a creature of habit and cannot resist a look back at some of my favourite cultural moments of 2023.

Reading:

I started this newsletter to write my reflections on my favourite things I’d read, an “I read so you don’t have to” summary of what came across my Chrome tabs in any given week. So starting with some of my favourite articles of 2023 seems as good a place as any to begin.

• My Delirious Trip to the Heart of Swiftiedom: this New York Times long read on going to see Taylor Swift wowed me when I first read it in October, and it instantly sprung to mind when compiling this list. Obviously, it’s about Taylor Swift, but it’s also about feminity, identity and coming to terms with your past.

• This is Catfishing on an Industrial Scale: I love a good “behind the scenes of a murky industry” piece, and this one is equal parts illuminating and desperately sad. It’s the story of the real people behind the fake online profiles on dating sites.

• Nick Cave on being a point of strength for others: Nick Cave’s Red Hand Files is quite simply one of the best email newsletters around, and Nick is a fantastic writer unafraid to deal with big questions and powerful emotions. This was one of my favourites, but honestly, I could have picked any recent edition.

• Gods and influencers: ringside at KSI vs Tommy Fury: I love a piece that gets me outside of my bubble and exposes me to something I’d not considered in depth before. Clive Martin in The Face is on excellent form here.

• You can't reach the brain through the ears:

  Experimental History
  is my new favourite Substack. Academic Adam Mastroianni unpacks his profession with clear-eyed enthusiasm.

• Get a rabbit: John Lanchester in the LRB is always worth your time.

Campaigns:

A few of my favourites:

• Skipton Alfie - Yorkshire Tea’s music video is genius

• The inflation cookbook tracks prices to help Canadian shoppers avoid sharp hikes

• Nurofen calls out the gender pain gap

• Filling potholes with Pot Noodles

• Resilience Road makes insurance interesting

Albums:

I’ve done a top ten of my favourite albums every year since I was a teenager, so I’ve no plans to stop now.

1. Blur - The Ballad of Darren (so good it inspired me to write about growing old gracefully)

2. Yo La Tengo - This Stupid World (my new favourite band, thanks to Graham Coxon and Booie from my mixtape chat)

3. Blondshell - Blondshell

4. PJ Harvey - I Inside the Old Year Dying

5. Young Fathers - Heavy Heavy

6. Wednesday - Rat Saw God

7. James Blake - Playing Robots Into Heaven

8. Queens of the Stone Age - In Times New Roman…

9. Slowdive - Everything Is Alive

10. Speakers Corner Quartet - Further Out Than The Edge (thank you, Cillian Murphy, for this one)

This will likely be my final post of the year - the only thing left to say is a big thank you for reading. See you in 2024.