Graham Dolan’s favourite songs of 2023

Best of 2023 | Best albums | Best songs | Irish albums | Best Of Podcasts | Guest lists |

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All Graham wants for Christmas is to eat mince pies on his couch and watch Die Hard. However he will be DJing at the Antics Christmas party in the Big Romance on December 23rd, in the newly opened Love Tempo on the 29th and with Nialler9 in the Circular on NYE. Follow him on Insta @grahamdolan for more DJ dates.

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Lord Sko

Malice At The Palace

With his white boy surfer hair he looks like he should be playing guitar with the Chili Peppers in 91. But with his note perfect golden age flow he sounds like he should be freestyling on Stretch & Bobbito in 94. He may never appeal to anyone except a few middle-aged back pack rap fans like myself but I could listen to this shit all day long.

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Brainstory

Nobody But You 

In recent years Big Crown has been jostling with Colemine for the title of best contemporary funk & soul label in the world. Considering how relentless their release schedule is, the roster’s hit rate is surprisingly high. Brainstory are yet another act dedicated to recreating the sounds of the 70’s but this joint is far more than mere nostalgic pastiche.

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Wavetest

Guschg

If you’ve gotten bored of waiting for Todd Terje to make new music you could do a lot worse than checking out this wiggly little groover. Has enough time passed for a Scandi Disco revival? And can anyone come up with a better name for the genre as these lads are from Liechtenstein?

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Kojaque

Johnny McEnroe feat. Wiki

I can’t believe that a young lad from Cabra is trading rhymes with a NY MC who’s rapped with everyone from Earl Sweatshirt to Run The Jewels. A fine track from Kevin Smith’s finest album yet.

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Jungle

Back On 74

At their best Jungle’s indie funk shtick sounds something like Unknown Mortal Orchestra covering George Benson. At their worst they sound like a 21st century Simply Red. On this track they finally get everything right and manage to create the kind of effortlessly slick pop that they’ve being to emulate for years. On a side note, all the people who say this music video has the finest choreography of 2023 need to see what Victoria Monét and her backing dancers did with some oversized varsity jackets in the promo for On My Mama.

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Yazmin Lacey

Bad Company

This is a beauty. A smooth smouldering number from a cracking album of jazz inflected soul. The latest in a long line of sultry soul singers from the UK, Lacey slides gracefully into the same lineage as the likes of Sade, Fatima & Cleo Sol. Music to shift to.

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Benny Sings

Young Hearts

Two and half minutes of sun drenched joy. He might look like Keith Lemon but here he makes music that bridges the gap between modern yacht rock and pure pop perfection.

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Say She She

Reeling

A promoter told me that he came within a hair’s breadth of landing this band for a festival I was attending this summer. Alas the booking fell through at the last minute. It felt like the musical equivalent of losing the 80’s quiz show Bullseye and then being forced to gaze longingly at the prizes that you could have won.

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Overmono

Good Lies

Truss & Tessela have excelled themselves with this contemporary slice of UK Garage inflected breakbeat. Sugary sweet and catchy as hell. The best electronic group named after an obscure British locality since Portishead.

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Little Simz

Gorilla

I know this tune actually came out last December but by that stage I’d already submitted my best of 2022 list and this jam is too good to be overlooked. Ever since Grey Area came out Simz hasn’t put a foot wrong. She can even take an old Ramsey Lewis loop made famous by Jurassic 5 and make it sound fresh.

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See all Guestlist of 2023 choices

Best of 2023 | Best albums | Best songs | Irish albums | Best Of Podcasts | Guest lists |