Best of SC Music 2023: Top 20 SC albums of the year

It's that time of year again to simultaneously reflect and anticipate. As we move ahead into 2024's calendar year of new local shows and album releases, we are first taking a moment to review a year in South Carolina music. 

After reaching out to more than 100 music scene influencers, venue owners and other qualified listeners around the state, we've tallied the votes for the picks of best 2023 records made in South Carolina. 

We've got your top 20 here for our special annual Best of SC Music edition. So sit back and tune in to some homegrown acts who made waves last year before we shift gears and blast full-throttle into whatever 2024 has to offer the Palmetto State's music scene. Happy listening!

1. Niecy Blues: "Exit Simulation" 

Heavenly haunting, "Exit Simulation" by Niecy Blues is the top South Carolina album of the year because it transcends in artistry and impact. Reviewed by Pitchfork, Post-Trash and Boomkat, it piqued interest across the industry. This Charleston artist, who signed to independent label Kranky and recorded a significant portion of the record in Los Angeles, spent the time to formulate a vision of where they wanted to go, not just where they've been, and its that explorative artistry that pushes Blues into the beyond. Kaleidoscopic and mystical, meditative and floating, sorrowful and solitary, reflective and dreaming, inky and illuminating, escapist and inquisitive, "Exit Simulation" is a life-altering exhalation. And exceeding genres while layering eerily gentle harmonies over tantalizing textures, it is incredibly beautiful. —Kalyn Oyer

2. She Returns From War: "Ruthless" 

Singer-songwriter Hunter Park has been recording and performing as She Returns From War for about 10 years, and her newest record “Ruthless” reflects a true mastery of alternative folk — or what she calls “cosmic Americana.” "Ruthless” demonstrates strong storytelling, and the decorative instrumentation and pop-laden reprieves bring the listener effortlessly through. Park’s ability to captivate a room with her live performance reflects clearly on the 10 new tracks, which leave you hanging onto every word. She encourages you to play make believe and admit your secret dreams, whether it’s with the Southern-twanged misty pop on tracks “Palisades” and “Amerosa,” the acoustic melancholia of “Somebody’s Making It” or the theatrical piano ballad “Ruthless” from which the album gets its name. “Ruthless” grounds you with bits of wisdom about letting go of what needs to be and preserving as sacred the experiences and relationships that sanction it. —Chelsea Grinstead

3. Stagbriar: “Telepathy”

There’s something gleefully cantankerous about “Telepathy,” Stagbriar’s followup to their Best of SC Music-winning 2020 LP “Suppose You Grow.” While the beautiful vocal chemistry of co-bandleaders Alex and Emily McCollum provides a constant throughline for their discography, it’s fun to see them almost fully shed their indie-folk trappings for a ferocious three-guitar attack that balances vivacious melodies with blistering '90s indie rock-style six-string bluster. There’s even a few throwback bedroom confessional numbers to carry the more taken-aback fans on the continuing journey of one of South Carolina’s most compelling musical acts. —Kyle Petersen

4. Daddy’s Beemer: “Tangles”

On the sixth anniversary of Charleston indie rock sensation Daddy Beemer's first-ever EP release, they dropped this new full-length disc that drapes a layer of sun-drenched pop on top of the energetic, danceable rock they're known for presenting on stage. And all the while sneaking in some more brooding moments, like the nostalgic passing-of-time and memories-slipping-away lead into "Heart Attack" and fuzzy mental swirl breakdown of "Daybreak." There's the undeniable catchiness of "Fish," a dreamy, psychedelic-laced overlay on lovestruck "Studying Roses," the audio simulation of a swirling wind-up jewelry box to kick off "Ballerina," and a contemplation of life on the road that arises in explosive "Avalon." Those are just a few highlights of this top-notch record that's shown the honing over time of this local favorite project. —Kalyn Oyer

5. SUSTO: “My Entire Life” 

The fact is, every SUSTO release has shown a different aspect of the band’s musicality. Their self-titled debut was a mysterious, smoky blend of heart-on-the-sleeve indie rock and Cuban cultural myths. The follow-up, "…And I’m Fine Today," was a combination technicolor explosion of bigger ideas and bigger production. And "My Entire Life" is no exception, kicking off with a bone-tired, pros-and-cons take on life on the road called “Rock On” that, fittingly, rocks like a bastard. Singer-songwriter and guitarist Justin Osborne switches back and forth throughout the album, adding layers of grimy distorted guitar where he pleases or simply laying back and sticking to an acoustic guitar, all while deconstructing his own life with merciless precision. It’s a low-key stunner and their best album since "…And I’m Fine Today." —Vincent Harris

6. Toro Y Moi: “Sandhills” 

Summer 2023 was a summer of crying in the car with the windows down, but … specifically to this EP. Chaz Bear’s hometown homage hits right to the bone with sweeping memories and vivid imagery of Columbia’s wholesome (and less than) cracks and corners. You can almost feel the sticky, sandy summer heat rising off the speakers as you fall into your own reverie of growing up and falling out of love with the home that held your formative years. Toro’s always-artful manipulation of pop sound meshes effortlessly with soft banjo riffs and acoustic harmonies, making this EP incredibly listenable and potently nostalgic; it embodies the purity of teenage innocence paired with the clarity of mature reflection — exactly what our generation needed this summer. —Eden Prime

7. Doom Flamingo: “Peaches & Bobbi” 

If there was a Mos Eisley-style cantina in "Blade Runner," it would sound like Charleston’s Doom Flamingo. Think dark synthwave and gleaming metallic, sure, but also '80s R&B, funk, a bit of jamminess, an excessive-yet-essential saxophone player, and you, well, kind of get the idea. But thankfully the long-running troupe’s debut full-length “Peaches & Bobbi” does a great job of drawing out the full range of things as well, with tracks that bounce with Whitney Houston gusto to long, achingly glamorous electronic atmospherics to decadent instrumental blowouts. Throw this album on when you’re driving into the night, either to or from an epic party, and you’re guaranteed some truly ecstatic heights. —Kyle Petersen

8. Danielle Howle: “Current”

The Lowcountry’s queen of rock ‘n’ roll Danielle Howle shows us just how vast the depths of her well-honed creativity are with her 16th studio album, “Current.” Her weathered, graceful voice drawls along or breaks into a run when need be, sheening the folk-filled, acoustic-driven tracklist with a comforting grit. As an artist, Howle intentionally immerses herself in nature, often taking hiatus at a solar-powered house near a tidal creek in a slice of Francis Marion National Forest to help lead singer-songwriter retreats. Her creed is to never stop learning and never stop sharing what she’s learned, and “Current” is a flowing river of sage stories and elegant yet understated instrumentation. —Chelsea Grinstead

9. Preach Jacobs: “Frances” 

While hip-hop jack-of-all-trades and Free Times columnist Preach Jacobs has never truly had a bad outing as a rapper, it’s hard not to see “Frances” as a career-defining statement, or, at the very least, a fierce proclamation of continued artistic vitality. Named after his maternal grandmother, this collection of tunes feels more soul-bearing and vulnerable than is typical of Jacobs as an emcee, almost as if the years of pouring out his life story in these pages has given him fresh comfort with his own narrative. He’s still a charmingly sly and old-school head, committed to the tradition of pure bars and jazz-inflected boom-bap of the Golden era, but there’s a freshness here, a very real “of 2023” vibe that makes it an important, even essential, cultural touchstone for our community in this moment. —Kyle Petersen

10. Invisible Low End Power: “Spaceprints”

The aptly titled debut album “Spaceprints” from Charleston producer/multi-instrumentalist Wolfgang Zimmerman under the moniker Invisible Low End Power careens listeners into an astral plane of distortion-soaked pop rock. The loose, unrestrained spirit of garage rock meets percussive excellence on the nine tracks as Zimmerman’s smooth voice ties the ethereal atmosphere together with an off-kilter exuberance. Carefree bangers like “HyperFlex” and “Far East” blast the album forward, while meditative tracks like “Ultra” and “Cicadas” imbue listeners with hopefulness and nostalgia. Zimmerman’s particular flavor of neo-psychedelia-infused alternative music comes fully into the light on this new record — and the effect is blissfully blinding. —Chelsea Grinstead

11. Cassidy Spencer: “i won’t try forever but i will try for a little bit longer”

Seven songs of melancholy serendipity await in this sweet and sad stripped-back debut of Columbia's Cassidy Spencer. Spencer's gorgeous vocals and picture-painting, questioning string of lyrics are the focal point, but the acoustic guitar-led instrumental backdrop creates the necessary headspace to allow for unapologetic contemplation and confession. "Emily's Song" is a beautiful ode to the be-still, rejuvenating hope found in a lover that keeps a weary heart going amidst the internal and external chaos, while "buzz cut" looks back on the architectural shifts of a city lived in while simultaneously exploring the painful loss and growth within oneself. "Change is grotesque but the only thing reminding me how life can surprise, life has its own right to make me feel alive." —Kalyn Oyer

12. Dear Blanca: “Nothing You Do Is Quiet” 

Dear Blanca frontman and songwriter Dylan Dickerson's voice soothes with anecdotal lyrics that echo through this EP, offering a wholesome complement to the meticulous musical composition of each short but sweet piece. The minimalist lullaby of “Stay Away Moon” gives life to the glowing underbelly of desire and loss. The chipper pessimism of “Cold Cold World” creates a sinister energy that carries the EP to its culmination in the final track. A sardonic love letter to networks of ordinary life, “Everything You Do Is Loud” bleeds out an unpretentious frustration with ephemeral relationships and painfully human dissonance. Dickerson’s compositions invariably offer thoughtful, stripped-down peeks into his inner world; for example, “Thank You So Much, We’re Dear Blanca: Live” (2021) creates a personable, portable live concert-in-your-pocket ambiance. “Nothing You Do Is Quiet” offers a similarly transportational energy, taking you maybe not home, but at least next door. —Eden Prime

13. Caminator: “Is This Real?”

The six-song EP, dropped by Charleston multi-instrumentalist Cam Wescott, aka Caminator, makes it incredibly clear that he is as dynamic a solo artist as he is a frontman for Black American funk act The Psycodelics. “Is This Real?” is 20 minutes of rhapsodic R&B laced with strong back beats, dancing bass lines and synthesized accoutrements. Wescott’s trance-invoking vocals and lyricism encapsulate a lover’s journey with someone who makes them question everything — which is inferred by the record’s title itself, as well as the refrain “What is it gonna take?” on the song “Tried to Relate.” Wescott’s kinetic ability to make you groove comes out on each of the six tracks, offering crisp funk-tinged incantations that bring an intriguing experience reminiscent of Sade’s cerebral revelries and Prince’s disco-drenched pop. The neo-soul EP is indeed a luxurious stream-of-consciousness rollick not to be missed. —Chelsea Grinstead

14. Easy Honey: “Ooooo”

In a sense, we’re lucky to have Easy Honey in town to begin with. The quartet’s roots lie in Sewanee, Tennessee, but they’ve also spent time in Nashville. The band’s relocation to Charleston was a blessing on several levels. It hooked up Easy Honey with uber-producer Wolfgang Zimmerman, which allowed them to create a delectable EP titled "Ooooo." On the EP, the band and Zimmerman create something more than just a typical indie-rock release. Yes, the band is certainly capable of rocking out, and they do it with a sort of subdued passion on the opening track, “…The More I Think About It,” but Easy Honey also has a quirky sense of humor, adding cheesy keyboards and layers of percussion to their sunshiny vocal harmonies. —Vincent Harris

15. Comma Sutra: “Holding Pattern” 

Comma Sutra's music makes me want to dance myself out of my skin at about nine tempos, nine times in a row. “Holding Pattern” will send you tumbling through time and space on a cascade of synth-centric explosions and rhythmic riffs, bolstered by playful lyricism and shifting time signatures. Playing a short tour with Daddy’s Beemer around South Carolina and up the East Coast in late spring 2023, the band saw a boom in their reach, which propelled “Holding Pattern” into the limelight, their first full-length album to hit the streaming platforms. Calculated, unassuming and artful, the Greenville trio packs a powerful sound that tingles through headphones and practically flies off the handle live. —Eden Prime

16. Grace McNally: “Full Circle”

Charleston-based classically trained guitarist Grace McNally demonstrates her rhythmic prowess on her debut album “Full Circle” that brims with airy serenades. The relaxing and transcendent record weaves Afro-Brazilian musical stylings with traditional folk and gospel elements, reflective of McNally’s travels and taste for wistful sonic alchemy. The eight tracks are an amalgam of world music composed of her refreshing electric guitar phrases painted across sprawling arrangements. Charleston a cappella singing group The Plantation Singers enliven four of the tracks with their harmonic chants, while poet Marcus Amaker performs spoken word on the final song, “Open Door.” You will hear instrumental contributions from Afro-Cuban percussionist Gino Castillo, bassist Brett Belanger, pianist Abdiel Iriarte, bassist Tim Khayat, keyboardist Jonathan Lovett and drummer Ron Wiltrout. Overall, “Full Circle” is an intricate and layered listening experience that calls to mind generational memory and belonging. —Chelsea Grinstead

17. Kimberly Walsh: “Fever Dream”

Singer-songwriter Kimberly Walsh’s debut full-length “Fever Dream” was one of the more startling entrances on the local music scene in recent years, both because of the strength of the songwriting as well as the assuredness of the musical vision. Produced by Kenny McWilliams at Archer Avenue Studios, these songs are largely introspective ruminations on life and relationships, presented with a mix of wry honesty and emotional catharsis. While she’s clearly a kindred spirit of the boygenius cohort, Walsh's perspective feels more in keeping with a slightly older generation of songwriting aces, from Madi Diaz to Kathleen Edwards, who also layer their tunes in folky atmospherics. —Kyle Petersen

18. TiffanyJ: “Solbird Sessions Live” 

This album is almost as notable for its audacity as it is for the beautiful music it contains. Backed by an absolutely first-rate band, soul singer TiffanyJ decided to record a live album, in one take, at SC ETV in Columbia on May 27, 2023. It was undoubtably a pressure-filled scenario, but TiffanyJ comes through with flying colors, singing rings around the deep, funky soul and sweeping ballads that her band serves up. As both a vocalist and a bandleader, TiffanyJ is in top form here, in complete control of her vocal instrument and armed with a dynamite collection of songs. Her live performance manages to be both fiery and sophisticated. —Vincent Harris

19. TIE: Aaron J. Burke: “Young Pier Jumpers” 

Greenville-by-way-of-Ireland's Aaron J. Burke of post-punk group Gláss has released a solo record this year, and it's a power-pop record. Think Teenage Fan Club meets The Replacements, or something like that. The frenetic fuzzy guitar and cymbal crashing introduction of "Out of Baulk" leads us into the rest of the 13-track journey that maintains Burke's dark complexities while exploring the power of melodic, cheery-fronting hooks. In moments like "The Snitch," his Irish roots show by way of masked folk balladeering, while "Outside the Courts of Erasure," for instance, sinks into a jangly post-rock timbre. "Back to Baulk" plays us out with a punchy rhythm and mantra-like acceptance of unacceptance. —Kalyn Oyer

19. TIE: Darby Wilcox & The Peep Show: “It’s Okay”

The Upstate's Darby Wilcox has been a fixture in that scene for years, but with her new EP "It’s Okay" it feels like she’s just hitting her stride. It's a complex collection that takes Wilcox’s sensual country rock and brings in bossa nova (the seductive “Bang You”), folk sensitivity (“I’m Not There”) and much more. —Vincent Harris

20. Moses Andrews III: “Honestly.”

“Honestly.” is a confessional meandering collection of vividly truthful inner monologues told through expertly composed melodies and intentional lyricism. Moses Andrews III is known for his witty presence and soulful contributions to any set — live or recorded session. “Honestly.” channels his depth as an artist into a concentrated, calculated and vulnerable package. He carefully unfolds the intricacies of pain and awkwardness alike and teases out experiences over classic mixes and bendy, danceable basslines (especially in “Moving On”). Andrews’ merit as a producer, multi-instrumentalist and adept vocal performer is apparent on every track, placing “Honestly.” firmly in the top 20 for 2023 and foreshadowing a new year of collaborations and captivating performances. —Eden Prime