Erick Doxey photo
Profiling local singer-songwriter Just Plain Darin was one of many musical highlights in 2023.
It's always a bit difficult to not get swallowed up in a cacophony when reflecting back on a whole year of music. Music offers blissful sounds, but it can be grating noise when everything is coming at you in one loud burst. With that in mind, we hope this recap of our 2023 music coverage will help you remember the highs (and lows) of the year in crystal clear high fidelity.
- As usual, there was no shortage of Inland Northwest artists putting out quality albums in 2023, so we highlighted a slew of our favorites.
- We profiled the hardest working man in Spo-business, local singer-songwriter and Inlander music calendar mainstay Just Plain Darin.
- Local vinyl collectors were blessed with a new place to dig through stacks with the opening of an excellent new record store, Entropy.
- In more downer local happenings, Lucky You Lounge closed down in August and we reflected on what the venue meant to those who worked there.
- Gabriella Rose's sweet vintage country sounds served as one of the highlights of Coeur d'Alene's music scene.
- Despite not wanting to leave, Spokane pop standout Carmen Jane moved away to Los Angeles, highlighting some of the shortcomings in the local music scene.
- We basked in the royal majesty of Lorde's Pure Heroine to celebrate the classic album's 10th anniversary.
- One of the biggest music stories of the year was the ascension of Boygenius to the top of the rock world, which was all the more cool for those of us who'd long followed the careers of Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, and Lucy Dacus.
- Music didn't always feel good in 2023, as we explored in an essay about the times when poor mental health gets in the way of sonic enjoyment.
- Speaking of mental health, that was the focus of our look at the Counting Crows before the band's stop at Northern Quest.
- In cinematic music news, Dreamin' Wild brought an improbable Inland Northwest rock story to the big screen. We also dove into the legacy of Talking Head's touchstone concert film Stop Making Sense and saw Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour become a massive blockbuster.
- The reverberations of COVID shutting down the world were still being felt, especially by indie pop group Charly Bliss, whose frontwoman was stranded in Australia in 2020.
- Noah Kahan's stop at Spokane Pavilion allowed us to ponder why his Northeastern songwriting actually translates seamlessly for those who grew up in small towns in the Inland Northwest.
- The warm weather may have made us go a bit crazy, as we attempted to rank the 100 best songs with "summer" in their title.
- Joni Mitchell played a stunning show at the Gorge, which allowed us to write about her enduring legacy.
- The Mountain Goats put out an excellent sequel album in the form of Jenny From Thebes, so we chatted with John Darnielle about his own favorite sequels.
- The relentless punk sound of the HIRS Collective rang out with messages of trans survival.
- The world of alternative country - y'allternative - allowed an entry point for those of us who feel unseen by mainstream country acts.
- Breakups are never easy, even if they're only with your favorite bands. We dove into the topic via an essay about Panic! At the Disco.
- No joke - we found mirth in melancholy in spite of our "loneliness epidemic" via Puddles Pity Party's emotional cover tunes.
- We even ventured down to Las Vegas to take in the overwhelming experience that is U2 playing at the new state-of-the-art venue the Sphere.
- And, of course, we rounded up picks for the Top 10 albums of 2023.
