S1m's Personal Chart Best of 2023

[S1m]

I'm going to count down my top albums and singles of the year.

[S1m]

First off, the songs that topped the charts in 2023.

Singles

2023
No. SONG - Artists (Weeks at #1) (Weeks in chart)
471 ENGRAVINGS - Ethan Bortnick (4) (30)
472 SHATTER - Maggie Rogers (4) (38)
473 NOWHERE GAME - Patrick Wolf (5) (50)*
474 CEILINGS - Lizzy McAlpine (5) (35)
475 EVERYONE'S A GURU NOW - Saint Motel (3) (35)*
476 THE BEST - Tina Turner (3) (19) *tied with* WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT - Tina Turner (3) (19)
477 THE NARCISSIST - Blur (4) (33)*
478 ST. CHARLES SQUARE - Blur (2) (27)*
479 NOTHING COMPARES 2 U - Sinead O'Connor (3) (23)*
480 BARBARIC - Blur (3) (24)*
481 LOOK FOR THE LIGHT - Cast of Only Murders feat. Meryl Streep & Ashley Park (9) (20)*
482 HOW YOU LEAVE A MAN - Paloma Faith (3) (12)*
483 FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK - The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl (4) (6)*

[S1m]

Albums

2023
161 KEEP ON SMILING - Two Door Cinema Club (3) (43) X-30-38-28-27-25-20-20-26-32-32-33-34-39-40
162 BABYLON OST - Justin Hurwitz (4) (26)
163 STUMPWORK - Dry Cleaning (3) (42)
164 CRACKER ISLAND - Gorillaz (5) (37)
165 GOOD TIME/HARD TIME - Teleman (6) (36)*
166 SIMPLY THE BEST - Tina Turner (3) (30)*
167 CONDITIONS EP - Mandelbro (2) (28)*
168 THE NIGHT SAFARI EP - Patrick Wolf (3) (36)*
169 THE BALLAD OF DARREN - Blur (3) (22)*
170 DEAD CLUB CITY - Nothing But Thieves (6) (22)*
171 TENSION - Kylie Minogue (2) (13)*
172 STARS OF CCTV - Hard-Fi (2) (12)*
173 PAINT MY BEDROOM BLACK - Holly Humberstone (6) (10)*
174 WONKA OST - Joby Talbot, Neil Hannon & the Cast of Wonka (3)* (3)*

[S1m]

And now my top 50 albums:

50-41

50. THIS IS WHY PARAMORE 9
49. BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME SUNDARA KARMA 7
48. MEMORIAL THUS LOVE 6
47. GREATEST HITS LOUISE 10
46. MY SOFT MACHINE ARLO PARKS 8
45. CAN YOU AFFORD TO LOSE ME? HOLLY HUMBERSTONE 7
44. HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH OST VARIOUS ARTISTS 4
43. VOLCANO JUNGLE 6
42. INGÉNUE k.d. lang 3
41. POWER TO PLAY MCFLY 4

[S1m]

40-31

40. HARRY'S HOUSE HARRY STYLES 2
39. PALOMINO FIRST AID KIT 3
38. THE CIRCLING SKY PATRICK WOLF 5
37. BUT HERE WE ARE FOO FIGHTERS 4
36. TRUSTFALL PINK 4
35. SUBTRACT ED SHEERAN 2
34. BLUE SKIES DEHD 2
33. MUNA MUNA 3
32. OFF PLANET DJANGO DJANGO 4
31. GREATEST HITS 2.0 BUSTED 2

[S1m]

30-21

30. HOLD THE GIRL RINA SAWAYAMA 2
29. TRUE ENTERTAINMENT DUTCH UNCLES 3
28. WISH ORIGINAL CAST RECORDING 3
27. GUTS OLIVIA RODRIGO 4
26. BACK TO THE WATER BELOW ROYAL BLOOD 3
25. BARBIE THE ALBUM OST VARIOUS ARTISTS 3
24. I MADE AN ALBUM DAðI FREYR 3
23. THAT FEELS GOOD! JESSIE WARE 4
22. PARANOIA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE CHRISTINE AND THE QUEENS 4
21. BROKEN BY DESIRE TO BE HEAVENLY SENT LEWIS CAPALDI 2

[S1m]

20-11

20. MY 21ST CENTURY BLUES RAYE 2
19. BABYLON OST - Justin Hurwitz 1 (4)
18. SIMPLY THE BEST - Tina Turner 1 (3)
17. QUEEN OF ME SHANIA TWAIN 2
16. FEAST OF WIRE CALEXICO 2
15. A FUTURE DOESN'T EXIST (EP) DANNY RAY 2
14. STARS OF CCTV - Hard-Fi 1 (2)
13. ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING S3 (SOUNDTRACK DELUXE VERSION) CAST OF ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING 2
12. STAR TREK STRANGE NEW WORLDS SEASON 2 - SUBSPACE RHAPSODY OST VARIOUS ARTISTS 2
11. PAINT MY BEDROOM BLACK - Holly Humberstone 1 (6)

[S1m]

Top 10 albums of 2023

10. TENSION - Kylie Minogue 1 (2)



Spending two weeks at #1 this was only the 5th album to chart for Kylie since I started my album charts, but was her first chart-topper, beating the #2 peak of "Disco" in 2020.

[S1m]

9. KEEP ON SMILING - Two Door Cinema Club 1 (3)




This spent three weeks at the top and spawned five top ten hits from "Wonderful Life" in 2022 through to "Sure Enough" in late 2023 and was the band's third #1 out of 5 album releases.

[S1m]

8. STUMPWORK - Dry Cleaning 1 (3)



This spent three weeks at the top of the chart in 2023 after first charting in late 2022 then gaining a boost from seeing the band live in Sheffield. It is home to four top 30 hits including the irresistibly catchy ode to a tortoise "Gary Ashby".

[S1m]

7. DEAD CLUB CITY - Nothing But Thieves 1 (6)



Nothing But Thieves' 5th album chart hit (4 studio albums and 1 EP) and this became their 3rd #1, spending six weeks at the top. It birthed three top five hits and is still in the top 20 of the album chart after 5 months.

[S1m]

6. CRACKER ISLAND - Gorillaz 1 (5)




"Cracker Island" was Gorillaz' 5th album hit in my chart and their 5th top 10 success, following on from #5 "The Fall", #7 "Humanz", #5 "The Not Now" and #2 "Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez". This spent 5 weeks at the top and houses four top 15 singles from "Cracker Island" itself (#10, 2022) through to "Oil" with Stevie Nicks (#7).

[S1m]

5. THE NIGHT SAFARI EP - Patrick Wolf 1 (3)




Patrick Wolf's 6 album chart hits largely came as catch ups later on in his career and as a result of me seeing him live on a number of occasions and checking out his earlier material again. Only "Lupercalia" (#1 for 8 weeks between 2011 and 2016) and new b-side offering "The Circling Sky" can claim to be albums whicn charted newly on release. "The Night Safari" is a third such release, but by virtue of its EP status (which I sometimes struggle to place in either singles or albums convincingly), stands separately as a 2nd chart-topper, but not in full length status, containing just five tracks, three of which were promoted as singles. The title track made #6 in my chart, "Enter the Day" peaked at #3 in late 2022 but the standout success was "Nowhere Game" which was a singles chart topper early in 2023 and will feature highly in the singles countdown.

[S1m]

4. CONDITIONS EP - Mandelbro 1 (2)



Another EP, seemingly the way for less commercial acts to test out material these days without committing time and resources and money to the standard long player, and another smash hit for one of my favourite acts of the moment. Mandelbro was a solo artist but is now a Paris-located band, making jangly guitar pop laced with French funk bass and musing over some of the bigger issues of society today. "Conditions" houses five tracks, with four pushed as singles, beginning with 2022's "Get You Down" and three others which have all landed in my favourite singles of 2023. This EP spent a fortnight at the top after the six week stint (in two three-week bursts) of Mandelbro's only album to date "Oneitis".

[S1m]

3. GOOD TIME/HARD TIME – Teleman 1 (6)



Teleman's 5th album chart was released in early 20323 and spent its 6 weeks at the top in April and May, but thanks to its continued singles campaign, a late repackaging and a great gig in Sheffield, its momentum has carried nicely onward. It is home to 5 top 15 hits in its original version and a belated 6th in its extended edition.

[S1m]

2. WONKA OST - Joby Talbot, Neil Hannon & the Cast of Wonka 1 (3)*



Ranked as my 3rd favourite film of the year, it's no surprise to see the soundtrack so high, and thanks to the combined efforts of Talbot and Hannon, this is packed with memorable tunes and earworms of anthems sung by the likes of lead Timothee Chalamet but also featuring the cream of British comedy talent like Matt Lucas, Matthew Baynton and Paterson Joseph. Heck, even Phil Wang gets a verse!

This housed 5 hits which all made the top ten over the Christmas period.

[S1m]

1. THE BALLAD OF DARREN - Blur 1 (3)



This faced stiff competition over the year but there was no doubt when it came to the year end that this would be my #1. Blur are my all-time favourite band and getting to see them once more at Wembley in July, alongside a brand new album and a host of new hit singles was a real joy. "The Ballad of Darren" spawned three #1s, adding to 15 Blur had amassed between 1992 and 2015 and became their 2nd chart-topping album after "The Magic Whip". All other previous Blur albums have since made the album charts, all reaching the top ten, but as the album chart didn't exist in Blur's true peak era, it would have been more likely they would have all reached the very top!

[S1m]

My top 100 singles of the year

100. KISSING CALIFORNIA SHED SEVEN 4
99. BAD LOVE DEHD 5
98. ESCAPISM RAYE FEAT. 070 SHAKE 4
97. REACT SWITCH DISCO & ROBERT MILES FEAT. ELLA HENDERSON 8
96. RED FLAGS MIMI WEBB 5
95. OIL GORILLAZ FEAT. STEVIE NICKS 7
94. IF WE EVER BROKE UP MAE STEPHENS 10
93. MILLIONAIRE TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB 6
92. TREES GROW HIGH TELEMAN 7
91. MIRACLE CALVIN HARRIS & ELLIE GOULDING 5

[S1m]

90. CALM DOWN REMA FEAT. SELENA GOMEZ 4
89. TODAY SUGABABES 5
88. I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M GONNA DO BRIGHT LIGHT BRIGHT LIGHT 4
87. FREE YOURSELF JESSIE WARE 5
86. BACK ON '74 JUNGLE 8
85. UNDER THE LIGHT SAN CISCO 5
84. I'M UGLY BC CAMPLIGHT 9
83. SAYING GOODBYE IS EXHAUSTING BRIGHT LIGHT BRIGHT LIGHT FEAT. JUSTIN VIVIAN BLOND 3
82. WAKING UP DREAMING SHANIA TWAIN 6
81. SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN THE MARSH FAMILY 7

[S1m]

80. OH CAROLINE THE 1975 5
79. ANYTHING FOR JENNIFER DANNY RAY 9
78. SYMPATHY DECLAN MCKENNA 9
77. YOUR SIDE OF TOWN THE KILLERS 5
76. IT'S ALRIGHT, IT'S OKAY BRIGHT LIGHT BRIGHT LIGHT FEAT. CAVEBOY 6
75. WHEN I GET THERE PINK 10
74. WE ARE ONE ANSON MOUNT, CHRISTINA CHONG, JESS BUSH, REBECCA ROMIJN, ETHAN PECK, MELISSA NAVIA, CELIA ROSE GOODING, BABS OLUSANMOKUN, PAUL WESLEY, CAROL KANE & DAN JEANNOTTE 10
73. WISH YOU THE BEST LEWIS CAPALDI 6
72. ASTRAL PLANE SAY SHE SHE 7
71. SINGLE SOON SELENA GOMEZ 3