Busybee's Playlist

Ending the year with banggity bangs.

Two more albums were on constant replay during the course of this year.

Snow Angel and Inuktitut dominated the second half of my year, but two albums released at the beginning of 2023 were ultimate favourites.

Cracker Island, Gorillaz.

Cracker Island is Gorillaz’s 8th studio album, released in February 2023.

The album features several collaborations, adding to the eclectic nature of the record:

• Thundercat on the song “Cracker Island,” the album’s first and lead single.
• Stevie Nicks, “Oil.”
• Bad Bunny, “Tormenta.” This track was the first one to be completed, as the work on the album began as early as 2021.
• Tame Impala and Bootie Brown, “New Gold,” second released single. Bootie Brown is a rapper and one of the founding members of The Pharcyde, the American alternative hip hop group, formed in 1989. In addition to his collaboration with Gorillaz, Brown has also collaborated namely The Roots, J Dilla, and De La Soul.
• Adeleye Omotayo, “Silent Running.” Adeleye Omotayo is a member of The Humanz Choir, a vocal group formed by Gorillaz in 2017 with the intention of preforming additional vocals live during their Humanz Tour (2017-2018).
• Beck, “Possession Island.” Beck David Hansen, professionally known as Beck, is a singer, songwriter and producer, who collaborated with Gorillaz on previous works such as a previous song as well, titled “Valley of the Pagans.”

Produced by the Gorillaz alongside Greg Kurstin (“Best Producer” 2017 & 2018), and Remi Kabaka Jr., Cracker Island is, like most of Gorillaz’s discography, a production masterpiece. Alongside the distinct Gorillaz sound, the virtual band tailors their songs to the features included in the tracks.

“New Gold” oozes Tame Impala’s renowned vocals, “Oil” has a mystical feel befitting the Fleetwood Mac witch Stevie Nicks, and “Tormenta” is a song with perfect island beats lead by the Puerto Rican reggaetón sweetheart, Bad Bunny.

There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that a Gorillaz song will get you moving, the British band famous for their eclectic style of hip hop, alt-rock, art pop, trip pop and electronic. And with the various features in Cracker Island, the musical amalgamation is tenfold.

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AURORA, Daisy Jones and The Six.

Daisy Jones and the Six is a fictional band based upon the Taylor Jenkins Reid’s 2019 critically acclaimed novel turned Amazon Prime mini series, Daisy Jones and the Six.

Loosely based on Fleetwood Mac, Daisy Jones and The Six is the quintessential 1970s Rock band, with lead vocalists Riley Keough as Daisy Jones, and Sam Claflin as Billy Dunne. Suki Waterhouse is Karen Sirko who plays the keyboard, Josh Whitehouse is Eddie Roundtree on bass, Will Harrison is Graham Dunne on guitar, and Sebastian Chacon is Warren Rojas on drums.

AURORA is a refreshing time machine, composed, performed and produced by Blake Mills with additional music production by Tony Berg and co-production by Chris Weisman, Jackson Browne, Marcus Mumford, and Phoebe Bridgers. The mini series’ soundtrack album is produced by Blake Mills, Kevin Weaver, Pete Ganbarg, Brandon Davis and Joseph Khoury.

Capturing the 1970s sound doesn’t just shine through the music but also in the way it is produced.

Its authenticity is in its sometimes unclear sound. The production is not as clean cut as remastered or nowadays records are. The music often overrides the vocals, and those who own dated vinyl records can recognize the intention behind it.

I will admit, as an avid fan of the book, I was very skeptical while watching the series. And mind you, I have very strong opinions about the way certain storylines and characters were portrayed on screen. Not to mention, one of the album’s singles, “Regret Me” was not as strong and powerful as I had hoped it would be while reading the novel.

However, AURORA still found a way to my heart, with songs like “The River,” “Please” and “More Fun to Miss.”

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And there you have it, Busybee’s favourite 2023 albums.
Looking forward to 2024!