Rather late! And as every year mainly for my recall. Yet another year when to watch or follow the news meant being subjected to horror, barbarity and inhumanity on an unprecedented scale. This can make any retreat to music, books, or cinema seem self-indulgent but for me, as an inactive depressive, they are the only way to get by.

Albums

Not a vintage year when I look at 2023. But in no particular order excellent LPs I really enjoyed this year were…

• Amy Speace The American Dream
• Shemakia Copeland Blame It On Eve
• Grace Petrie Build Something Better
• The Hanging Stars On A Golden Shore

Gigs

In stark contrast, this was a truly fabulous year for gigs.

Among the excellent were Kirsten Adamson, Kieron Marshal, The Julie July Band, Brown Horse, and Jess Silk.

Then we come to the fantastic which I cannot put in order but were all unforgettable….

• Jaimee Harris/Mary Gauthier
• Ben De La Cour
• Amy Speace
• My Darling Clementine

(it is worth noting that 3 of these were at the Kitchen Garden Cafe and Amy Speace at an even smaller venue! I so love and appreciate being that close to these brilliant artists).

It is amazing that there is someone to top these but my number one simply has to be Lucinda Williams – I don’t know how many more chances if any I will get to see her but for me she is unquestionably the best female musician on the planet at the moment. I will never ever forget this concert.

Books

I’ve decided to expand beyond music this year partly because it is a very short and simple choice for both books and cinema!

Just 2 books…

• Eimear McBride The Lesser Bohemians. A Girl is a A Half Formed Thing would have been my selection for 2023 too! I think I may even have preferred Bohemians but that might just have been due to the ending. I think the woman is a genius and a literary great of a kind I had no idea existed. 
• Elena Ferrante The Neapolitan Quadrology. About ten years after everyone else I discovered this masterpiece which I still haven’t completed. Awe-inspiring.

Cinema

We have been going to the cinema again a bit after a gap of about 20 years! I am a very severe critic of cinema because my standards were set when I was watching the greats. So although I have seen some very good movies the only one which deserves a place on my personal list is the stunning The Room Next Door  – fabulous cinematography and brilliant performances (Tilda Swinton is an amazing actress). A movie which (as others have observed) would take a worthy place in the Douglas Sirk canon.