As a wise man once said, when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro — or at least the music gets better and better in these strange times to keep us all smiling as much as we possibly can. 2023’s been a banner year for psych, synths, soul, and sounds that bring all those flavors (and more!) together; to try to put labels on the best releases of the year would just prove that genre doesn’t mean much these days, and diversity on our playlists, just like in the rest of our lives, brings us all closer together.
| Artist | Album | Label | |
| 1 | Jungle | Volcano | Thanks for Your Patience Limited |
| 2 | Altin Gün | Aşk | ATO |
| 3 | A Certain Ratio | 1982 | Mute |
| 4 | Tony Allen and Adrian Younge | Tony Allen JID018 | Jazz Is Dead |
| 5 | Surprise Chef | Friendship | Big Crown |
| 6 | Huw Marc Bennett | Days Like Now | Albert’s Favorites |
| 7 | Vanishing Twin | Afternoon X | Fire Records |
| 8 | Audiobooks | Gulliver | Heavenly Recordings |
| 9 | Raw Poetic & Damu the Fudgemunk | Away Back In | Def Pressé |
| 10 | Oracle Sisters | Hydranism | 22TWENTY |
