Squid tell us about their favorite albums of 2023

Squid released their second full-length album, O Monolith, in June, and you can stream it below. With 2023 almost over, we’ve been asking artists about their favorite music of the year, and singer/drummer Oliver Judge and guitarist/bassist/vocalist Louis Borlase each picked out five albums. Read their lists, complete with their commentary, below.

SQUID’S FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2023

Oliver Judge’s picks

Die Letzten Ecken – Talisman
What year is it? 1982? No! It’s 2023! I first heard this record in the amazing Static Shock Music in Berlin at the beginning of the year whilst on holiday with my partner, her mum and her brother. I kept on disappearing from family activities to go to this shop, the 2nd time I did, the dude at the shop was listening to the test pressing of Talisman. Was it fate? I think so. One of the most immediately loveable records this year. You’ll love it if you’re into DAF, Factory Floor, PVA etc.

Quade – Nacre
I go on about Quade at any opportunity I get and this is another one of those opportunities. Definite late contender for album of the year. I’ve been lucky enough to see quite a few of these songs evolve in a live context over the past two years and It’s so exciting that I can listen to them anywhere I want now. The album was engineered by Bingo Fury and mixed by Bruce who are two amazing artists in their own right. Psychedelic, dubby and dark stuff here on the always amazing AD93 label.

EXEK – The Map and The Territory
How do you follow up making one of the best albums of last year? You make one of the best albums of this year you idiot! EXEK are absolute masters at honoring that late 70’s intersection of dub and punk whilst breathing fresh life into it. Every song feels so loose as if it could fall apart at any moment. Might also be the best lyric to open an album ever, “on the top/there’s a bar/but it’s quite shit/and it’s difficult to get inside”

Romance – Fade into You
I’ve been following Romance for a while and thought it’d be difficult to top their album Once Upon a Time, but they managed to do it here. Imagine if DJ Screw had his way with the soundtrack to The Wizard of Oz and you’ll understand what it sounds like before you’ve even hit play. Also… who the hell is Romance? I gotta know!

Lukid – Tilt
Amazing to hear Lukid back at it with a new solo record this year. There’s a lot more emotion running through this release compared to the dancefloor weapons he makes in the duo Rezzett which is really great to hear. Some amazing track names too. The Great Schlep? Not this album.

Louis Borlase’s picks

Mabe Fratti / I la Catolica (Titanic) – Vidrio
Magical realism in music? Maybe. This is an album made up of multiplying cells of melody and movement. Vidrio is a cohesive world of tracks that often follow rhythmically certain yet unpredictable trajectories. Mabe Fratti’s vocals and cello are a striking combo and I regret missing out when she played at Crofter’s Rights in Bristol last year! For me this is a serious contender for the best album of this year.

ML Buch – Suntub
Recalling the guitar atmospheres of much of Stina Nordenstram’s catlogue, ML Buch’s massive and emotive album effort for this year gives the music all of the time and space it needs (and wants) to wander around, amongst refreshing Dean Blunt-esque drum loops and smiley portamento synth tones – ‘Working it out’ is one of the sweetest and most loving pieces of songwriting I’ve heard in quite a long time.

Mija Milovic – Still Life
I can’t get the melodic motif that reoccurs throughout this album (in the first track of the tryptic alongside pieces like ‘Lillies’) out of my mind!!! Earlier this year, I fell asleep to this strangely endearing album on an early morning flight and woke up later in the tracklisting in a vastly different context. Consistency feels slightly irrelevant here given the album existing on a basis of stylistic exploration and tonal non-homogenity. It’s giving the idea of some impressive patience in writing sessions when allowing musical details to occur and reoccur, in the manner that I’m often trying to do to much lesser avail.

Headache – The Head Hurts but the Heart Knows the Truth
I woke up to a text a from Ol saying ‘I think You’ll like this, its giving Big Hard Excellent Fish’. Thank you for the tip Ollie. There’s an unhinged, rant-like quality to this album’s verbals, like someone shouting at you about their chaotic day through the window of a cafe – but it’s the astute humour on life’s sadness that really does it for me. I love how this project throws the worries of AI’s involvement in musical performance on its head a bit, really what we should be worrying about is ourselves. (If you look up what’s going on here, you’ll know what I mean).

Chris Abrahams / Oren Ambarchi / Robbie Avenaim (The Necks) – Placelessness
Abrahams’ piano clusters on this improvisational masterpiece remind me of some of Arvo Part’s post-minimalist abstraction, but the scale of this performance’s snail pace progression – with a concise form and instrumental focus, is what’s drawn me back to its weight here. I like sad music and maybe I’ve been on a bit of a nostalgia trip of late. Anton & I started our career in music by freeform improvising with piano and guitar and this album has really inspired me to get back in touch with our music professor to see if he’ll let us do some recording back in the hall that we started out in. Will he let us? Who knows! I unlike Robbie Avenaim don’t have a background in Semi-automatic robotic percussion.

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Squid will return to North America on tour starting in February, including an NYC show at Brooklyn Steel on February 10 with Water From Your Eyes. See all of their upcoming dates below.

SQUID: 2024 TOUR DATES
FRIDAY 2 FEBRUARY 2024 Austin, TX, US Parish
SATURDAY 3 FEBRUARY 2024 Dallas, TX, US Dada Dallas
MONDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2024 Nashville, TN, US The Basement East
TUESDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2024 Atlanta, GA, US Terminal West
THURSDAY 8 FEBRUARY 2024 Washington, DC, US 9:30 CLUB
FRIDAY 9 FEBRUARY 2024 Philadelphia, PA, US Union Transfer
FRIDAY 9 FEBRUARY 2024 Philadelphia, PA, US Union Transfer
SATURDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2024 Brooklyn, NY, US Brooklyn Steel
WEDNESDAY 14 FEBRUARY 2024 Boston, MA, US Paradise Rock Club
THURSDAY 15 FEBRUARY 2024 Montreal, QC, Canada SAT
FRIDAY 16 FEBRUARY 2024 Toronto, ON, Canada Phoenix Concert Theatre
SUNDAY 18 FEBRUARY 2024 Chicago, IL, US Thalia Hall
MONDAY 19 FEBRUARY 2024 Minneapolis, MN, US Fine Line
FRIDAY 23 FEBRUARY 2024 Portland, OR, US Revolution Hall
SATURDAY 24 FEBRUARY 2024 Vancouver, BC, Canada Rickshaw Theatre
SUNDAY 25 FEBRUARY 2024 Seattle, WA, US The Crocodile
TUESDAY 27 FEBRUARY 2024 San Francisco, CA, US The Regency Ballroom
THURSDAY 29 FEBRUARY 2024 Santa Ana, CA, US The Observatory
FRIDAY 1 MARCH 2024 Los Angeles, CA, US The Belasco
SATURDAY 25 MAY 2024 Wide Awake Festival 2024 London, UK
SUNDAY 30 JUNE 2024 Bristol, UK Bristol Harbourside
SUNDAY 30 JUNE 2024 Bristol, UK Cannons Marsh Amphitheatre