surasshu

welcome to my end of the year mix! throughout the year, i keep a log of any song released in 2023 that really catches my ear (you can see this log here). this master-mix collects those entries in chronological order (with some cuts/adjustments for pacing etc.). hope you enjoy!

1. BilliumMoto – Before it Ends

opening the list with one of quite a few tracks from the rhythm game scene, of which i am an avid observer. this one coming from Best of Fighters, a yearly event where independent composers, video artists and beatmappers collaborate to create an enormous amount of original content. BilliumMoto is a veteran in the field and has done many fantastic tracks, so i usually try to seek out his stuff. this track has some fantastic beat-centric breakdowns with some amazing sound design, and the melody is super catchy.

2. Snail’s House – [Lumi #03] lumiukko

snail’s house is almost always worth listening to, but his early 2023 release “lumi” really stood out to me as being a cut above his usual output! 8 wintery, vibey tracks that still retain all his usual charm while being a fair bit more subdued. rally great stuff. the main melody in this track is particularly memorable and sits over the chord changes really well. it’s subtle, but it’s almost like a prog song the way it evolves through the track.

3. cubesato – ONGAKU #2 Beach Reel 2019-2020

cubesato is someone with a super original sound, incredibly digital with various sound effects and sources, usually with a 4 on the floor beat underpinning it. it’s super fun, and he doesn’t often release anything “solo”, most of it is in service of some production. this year, he uploaded 2 little tracks onto his youtube channel and i featured both in my thread, but this one ended up being my favorite of the two.

4. Jim Nopédie [Keep It Rolling] eventually is eventually

this year, infloresce had some really stellar releases (i am only a little biased, whatever man!). jim nopedie was one artist that i really wanted to be on infloresce, and i’m glad it worked out because this album was such a joy.

5. Parannoul – [After The Magic] Polaris

@HVB put me on to this act, korean shoegaze made mostly by one person! this track has an incredible wall of sound that hits in the second half, very overpowering which is often what i look for in a song. it directly inspired me to try a similar approach, the result of which can be heard in the collab hunter and i did for the infloresce and friends battle (and here is that song on hunter’s newest release)!

6. WaxTerK – Bloom.

WaxTerK is unbelievably underrated, regularly posting these incredible drum-centric tracks which he said he makes in about 2 hours. there are always so many good ones to choose from (and his compilation releases are if anything overwhelmingly packed), but this one stood out to me a lot with the power of the beat and the fun beat divisions (like 0:22-0:29).

7. Engine – Miku’s Explosive Emporium

i didn’t hear much chiptune this year, but this one was in high rotation. it’s based off of a silly meme post but it is genuinely so good, i love it.

8. Kikuo – カエルのおどり – Dance of the Frogs

i’m such a fan of kikuo’s latest album, which got me at least one person actively disagreeing, which tbh i do welcome. it has a cohesive quality that his previous works lacked, being more of a collection of songs. this one in particular is very cool the way it continually increases in speed (and the music video is fantastic as well).

9. Azari – Whisper Whisper Whisper

azari is a mysterious vocaloid producer who uploads creepy horror themed songs on youtube and disappears for several months. they used to upload with no name and no title, but this year there were at least titles to cling on to ?. this was my favorite of the bunch, although i go back and forth between this one and and “be my guest” for absolute. favorite by them (but “be my guest” was 2022)

10. telebasher – [SAVIOR #02] SAVIOR

this release by telebasher on aivi’s label is an absolute must-listen, its so creative and virtuosic and heartfelt. telebasher is an exceptional artist and deserves all the success she got with this release!

11. Kshiraki – [Fusion Vol. 3: Dreamland of Wonder #03] Negotiation

i’ve been a massive fan of kshiraki since way back when his DAW videos of 2hDTM entries would regularly go viral on twitter (lol, remember those days?), and every release i feel like he is just that little bit stronger as an artist. fusion vol. 3 has some tracks that are really restrained which shows a growth from his previous stuff, but this track is more of a stone cold j-fusion classic. except written in 2023! the melodic riff (1:52 – 2:08) is a highlight for me, it’s so fun and catchy.

12. Yossshy – Watercolor

if i *had* to pick a single favorite song of the year it would be this one for sure, no contest. yossshy blew me away with his track air port back when soundcloud was relevant, and that track already had a lot of patience in its buildup–but this track takes everything good about air port and levels it up: the buildup is more patient, the production stronger, the solo tighter and more spectacular. absolutely flawless piece of music that i’ll be thinking about for years to come.

13. 탁(TAK), Corbin (NEWTYPE) – [DMRV 22FW CD1 #01] Tic! Tac! Toe!

… and now for something completely different! TAK is one of my all time favorite pop producers, and it’s been very satisfying to see him succeed in the “real” kpop world. this track from DJMAX V is a real barnburner, and the synth solo (2:25 – 2:40) has more than a passing resemblance to my own from “stronger than you”, which is probably just a coincidence, but it’s cool either way!

14. Ash Astral (@astral) – relentless future (feat. EZGi)

i know ash from the compos we used to do together in mod_shrine (and she appeared on our infloresce & friends charity stream to do just that as well, which was incredibly cool!), and i think this was a compo entry originally? i could be wrong… but either way it’s a banger. she is always so good at the production side of things, her compo tunes always sounded so polished too, incredible stuff.

15. 달의하루(Dareharu) 『순혈주의자(Pure Blood)』

in 2020, an incredible tragedy occured when ampstyle, half of Dareharu, passed away due to sudden illness. they were already getting extremely popular with their dark rock songs with beautiful animated music videos on youtube. this year, a verifiable who’s-who of producers and performers (TAK! seibin! mitsukiyo! AZ! etc.) came together to finish Dareharu’s final song, which is a wonderful tribute to someone who passed away far too soon.

16. Fujii Kaze – Workin’ Hard

fujii kaze is a piano-based artist whose music has a big gospel influence, and he is singularly focused on lifting people up. this song is a good example of that, and it’s also just a fantastic little chord progression that just feels incredible. this song definitely gets me through some tough times, i sing this to myself a lot.

17. Nick Lutsko – [Cruel Experiments #05] Dracula Can Get Wet

my friend shannon strucci put me on nick lutsko, a guy who has an incredible array of songs (some in character as a fame-hungry egomaniac with a rage problem). This song is pretty far on the silly side but it’s really catchy and i love the ending “victory lap” hey jude-y chorus at the end

18. Eve – [Bokurano CD1 #02] Kororon

at this point i think eve’s sound has pretty much solidified, but i am still a huge fan of it and this song in particular is very fun with the disco influence. the music video really elevates it, it’s super charming!

19. 黒魔 (Chroma) – Tailless Hero – 03 Clumsy Communication

i’m very happy to call chroma a friend, and i found that he is actually a fan of our work on the black box and infloresce. he even wrote a song exclusively for infloresce’s end of year festival, snowdrop! this track came from his album “tailless hero”, which compositionally starts extremely small and then builds and builds in this joyous way, and when it cant build any more musically, it evolves and adds vocals. it’s definitely one of the best albums of the year to listen to as a whole!

20. Splatoon 3 – Side Order Trailer #2

i wasn’t sure about including this in my list, because it’s just a trailer, but i just kept going back to it just to hear the song, it’s so good! the syncopated quality and tell-tale production effects makes me fairly confident it’s composed by toshiyuki sudo, who had a big role in splatoon 3’s soundtrack. either way, super cool! this mode looks really fun too

21. 無果汁団 – [ひなふトーン #01] 心ここにあらずとも

this year we got the tragic news that mukaju dan, one of the best “city pop”-styled groups to ever do it, is seemingly disbanding (or at least the singer is retiring, and she is definitely a core part of their sound). their album, “hinafu tone”, is even more laced with melancholy than usual, and it is a wonderful listen. this opening song blew me away with its incredible chord changes, and they will be sorely missed if this really is the end…

22. Rintaro Soma – Sonic Superstars – Pinball Carnival Zone Act 2

to divert a bit and talk about the game itself first–sonic superstars was a strange game, almost like the polar opposite of mario wonder, which i think has a pretty overrated “style & gimmicks over substance & fundamentals” approach (i really don’t think mario wonder will age well). in contrast, sonic superstars doesn’t really make a strong first impression, but it does a really good job with the brief of “just make a normal 2D sonic game”. it feels like it makes all the “obvious right” choices for a modern 2D sonic game (focus on solid level design, silent storytelling in quick cutscenes, and make sure the sonic & friends gameplay feel is locked in), and the additional moveset for sonic adds a slight modern touch (i would like to see a bit more in this direction though, advance 3 still has it beat). it’s only let down by the boss fights, which may be the worst i’ve ever seen in a 2d platformer.

aaaaanyway, the music from sonic superstars is a bit of a mixed bag, although i do not at all agree it’s bad by any means. for me all the standout tracks were done by relative newcomer rintaro soma, who brings a fresh vibe to the sonic franchise, incorporating the classic sonic pop-jazz melodic approach and sonic rush’s more funky vocal sampling, to create something entirely fresh. pinball carnival zone act 2 immediately stood out to me as one of the best game music tracks of the year. i’d love to hear rintaro soma tackle a whole sonic soundtrack by himself, he’s got it imo!

23. quarkimo – [Ranch 97 #05] Dust Pearl

“ranch 97” by quarkimo was one of the most incredible releases of the year. who knew a multi-sensory experience like music + candy would be so much fun??? it’s very hard to narrow this release down to just one track, the whole collection really needs to be heard as a whole (and ideally, while also consuming the candies). but dust pearl is a spectacular bit of granular(-sounding) effects and it suits the unique quality of the candy so well, it definitely stood out to me.

24. Hirokazu Koshio – [Fashion Dreamer #09] Cocoon ACT 1

i’ve always been a big fan of the style savvy series of games, and this is by the same team (although it sounds like it’s not quite scratching the same itch). the music is quite good in most of these games, and this one definitely has a few bangers (and by a mix of different composers as well!), especially the “cocoon” tracks.

25. Kolaa – [〇、(Ichirin)] Ichirin

we’re ending up where we started: rhythm game music! this is another BOF (a year later, so new event?), and i know practically nothing about this artist, but the track simply blew me away. something i often look for an overwhelming sensation in music, and this definitely delivers in spades on that front!

26. Synzak & Laxeno57 – astral.exe

this track is kinda like the opposite end of the same spectrum: i was so impressed with how clean this track sounded, really fitting with the “digital” vibe of the whole concept in a way that many other entirely digitally produced tracks don’t. it’s just neat!

27. Cobalt – Present

this one is a very strange anomaly–i think this one showed up in my youtube recommendation feed because youtube has started to shuffle in entirely random videos (i often see videos with like, 3 views). this one has 110 views as of this writing and the artist writes about turning 18 in the description. i think this track is so wonderful (the strings! the piano! the synth bends!) and i hope they continue to do music, if there’s any justice they would have a bright future ahead.

28. Sobrem – Carrot Carrot

closing this year out is this absolute belter of a “straight” jazz piece by sobrem, made for DJMAX V. just wonderful! and if you read this entire thing, thank you for sticking with me and i hope you enjoyed the music!