Not 10 but 16 best albums by Philly artists, picked by our pop music critic

Ten wasn’t big enough of a number to capture all that was good and great in Philadelphia music in 2023, so I made my list of favorites 15 albums long.

That is, excluding my top two Philly picks — El Michels Affair & Black Thought’s Glorious Game and Speedy Ortiz’s Rabbit Rabbit — both of which are on my overall Top 10 list alongside non-Philly names like SZA and Olivia Rodrigo.

And then, once I narrowed this list of indie-rockers, rappers, R&B, and country and psychedelic soul singers, spoken-word poets, and jazz sax players to 15, I remembered one record from earlier this year I liked a lot that had slipped my mind. So here is my alphabetized list of the 16 best Philly albums by artists that aren’t Speedy Ortiz or Black Thought.

Happy New Year, and let’s hope 2024 turns out to be as good for Philly music as 2023 was.

West Philly bandleader Francie Medosch emerges as a most-promising indie artist on the second Florry album. “Drunk and High” and “Take My Heart” are lovably ramshackle, with a Gram Parsons and Neil Young influence. Even sad songs like “Big Winter” come across with wide-eyed wonder.

Haitian American R&B singer-producer Francis Leblanc made noise in 2022 on DJ Khaled’s “God Did,” guesting with Jay-Z and others. He takes the next step here, showcasing his pleasing, sometimes AutoTuned, baritone. He teams with gospel’s Maverick City Music (and his mother, who prays for him in French) on “Came Too Far” and Nigerian singer Adekunle Gold on “Done for Me.”

Delco-raised psychedelic soul singer Devon Gilfillian made an impression in 2020 with Black Hole Rainbow and a timely remake of Marvin Gaye’s 1971 What’s Going On. He reemerges, brimming with hard-earned positivity, from the candy-colored “All I Really Wanna Do” to the title cut’s stubborn determination to lead with love when confronted with its opposite.

The War on Drugs drummer and producer of the Eagles’ A Philly Special Christmas Special’s first solo album. Each inventive track is named for a place of emotional resonance for the multi-instrumentalist, as the album works like a wordless autobiographical travelogue from Philly to the Arctic Circle.

» READ MORE: The War on Drugs drummer and Eagles Christmas album producer Charlie Hall is stepping into the spotlight with ‘Invisible Ink’

Matt Scottoline named his band Hurry because he writes songs quickly, catching a fleeting emotion — a yearning, an ache — and moving on. In the decade that Scottoline has led Hurry, Philly’s finest power-pop band, he’s gotten better at it. Don’t Look Back is full of songs like “Beggin’ for You” and “Something More” that jangle and chime, lingering long after the music stops.

The Philly-born free-jazz ensemble fronted by spoken-word poet Camae Ayewa, who performs as Moor Mother, hasn’t wholly reined in its improvisational impulses. But songs like “Our Land Back” and “root = > branch” are more composed provocations, and Ayewa’s reflections on liberation, community, and self-love are probing and powerful.

Horse opera of the year. Country-folk band John Train is one of the sharpest regularly gigging ensembles in Philly. Inspired by singer Jon Houlon’s wife Jodi’s love of riding, this nifty package rounds up originals like “Concrete Cowgirl” with equine tunes by Jonathan Richman and David Halley. The band’s free Friday residency at Fergie’s Pub renews Jan. 12.

Lil Uzi Vert just wants to rock. Or at least, that’s the sentiment the rapper born Symere Woods expressed on “Just Wanna Rock,” his latest hugely popular single with an experimental bent. And with the widely varied Pink Tape, Lil Uzi has achieved a unique feat, becoming the only Philly artist ever to have their first three albums enter the Billboard charts at No. 1.

Low Cut Connie’s first album since Adam Weiner became a pandemic hero playing Tough Cookies virtual shows from his South Philly apartment meets the world in grand style. It’s a soulful song cycle taking inspiration from downtown denizens like Lou Reed and Debbie Harry, and Weiner’s early ’00s years playing gay bars in New York. Paired with a sweaty concert documentary of the same name, the album chronicles Weiner’s growing sophistication as a songwriter. Low Cut Connie headlines Ardmore Music Hall on Dec. 30 and New Year’s Eve.

The jazz sax great, who died at 86 in November, fulfilled a lifelong ambition with this beautifully rendered “with-strings” project inspired by Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown, and Stan Getz. With arrangements by McKenna and his former student Jack St. Clair, the album is a tender and lushly romantic collection of standards. Plus, there is McKenna’s “Samba Da Else” — a fitting final testament to a revered Philadelphia musician.

The title is apt. There was no reason to expect that this reunion of Philadelphia and Miami onetime business partners grown estranged would come off so smoothly. Yes, they do overstate their stature in equating themselves to “Shaq + Kobe.” But the rappers deliver as a dynamic duo living the gangsta high life, enjoying themselves immensely as Meek’s staccato attack meshes with Ross’ commanding flow.

Greg Mendez’s self-titled release is the third album by the Philly indie songwriter. Nine compact and quietly beautiful songs draw you in with arresting detail as they chronicle struggles with love and addiction. Recommended to fans of Alex G and Elliott Smith.

Screaming Females identified as a New Brunswick, N.J., band, but two-thirds of the players lived in Philly. I say “lived” because the power trio fronted by dynamic guitarist Marisa Paternoster have announced they’re calling it quits. Desire Pathway ends an eight-album-run with a rumbling, hard-rocking effort that hints at the electrifying force the band was on stage.

“I’m just drenched in mysteries I’m trying to unfold,” Shamir sings on “The Devil Said the Blues is All I Know,” the Delta blues track that closes the South Philly indie songwriter’s taut debut for the Kill Rock Stars label. That search for the authentic self continues for the bursting-with-ideas songwriter, actor, and astrology expert on their ninth album, whose title translates to “Anxious man” in Latin.

Jake Ewald is still associated with Modern Baseball, the Philly emo band that went on hiatus in 2016. But he’s now put out five albums with his indie rock project named after a town on Delaware Bay. With each release, Ewald grows more comfortable leaning into a chilled-out country vibe, complete with Townes Van Zandt references.

» READ MORE: Kurt Vile wants to be a stay-at-home rock dad

Not an actual new Kurt Vile album, but a 9-song EP that stretches beyond album-length, with the Mount Airy singer-guitarist’s easy-flowing circular logic. Many songs were the last Vile recorded with Rob Laakso, the Violators guitarist who died this year. Starting with the sublime “Like a wounded bird trying to fly,” the whole EP — including a Wilco cover and a Bob Dylan Christmas song — feels tossed-off yet spot-on in that ineffable Kurt Vile way.