Welcome to Part II of The Marinade’s Favorite Records of 2023! (Click here for Part I.) It has always struck me as a little strange that media outlets start to release their year-end lists as early as November. I don’t say that to be contrarian, or even critical, it just strikes me as incongruent with how I think about these things. One of my favorite records from 2022, Adeem the Artist’s White Trash Revelry was not realeased until December, and these things need time to digest.
Thus, it has been my practice to wait until the end of 2023 or first of 2024 to start compiling my list. I chose the adjective favorite because it’s a little biased. Some of my friends and favorite artists made the cut. This is not a journalistic exercise, it’s a celebration of the records that meant the most to me during what was by far the toughest year of my life.
These albums are presented in no particular order .
They are companions and comforts- go-tos during the good and not-so-good of turbulent year.
Enjoy the list and jump in the comments with your thoughts! Thank you for another amazing year of The Marinade!
Love,
JE
Jerry Joseph - Baby You’re the Man Who Would be King
Jerry Joseph deserves a greater place in the Americana moment that has swept through post Jason Isbell’s Southeastern. The Marinade gives and gives. I had never heard of Jerry Joseph until great friend of the show Al Ansaldo mentioned him as someone squarely in my wheelhouse.
Growing up in the South at a time when Widespread Panic was having a huge moment was formative. I liked the Grateful Dead and some Phish, but the bulk of my appreciation for jam music was rooted in the Southern scene that was founded by folks like the late, great Col. Bruce Hampton.
Panic’s “Climb to Safety” was the first tune that caught my ear from the genre. Jerry Joseph wrote that song. His last record was produced by Patterson Hood with Hood and the rest of the Drive-by Truckers as his band. I love that feeling of discovery. Jerry Joseph has been hiding from me in plain sight for decades.
This record is a sonic shift from the Hood produced The Beautiful Madness, but all of the hallmarks are present. Stories without thematic bounds. A voice that is aggressive yet inviting. Rock n’ roll that is somehow abstract and rooted in narrative.
Willy Tea Taylor - The Great Western Hangover
Similar to Jerry Joseph, Willy Tea Taylor’s work has been circling me for a while. This record showcases his storytelling ability as much as his sense of melody and how to concoct a banger.
Falling in love with these characters is easy. They are sexy and funny. Flawed and intelligent. Each one is easy to root for and part of that attraction is due to Taylor’s commitment to the honest telling of their stories.