KCRW’s Most Played Songs and Albums of 2023

Our Best Albums have been ranked, our Favorite Songs have been praised, and our DJ Lists have been disclosed. But what about the cold, hard facts? These lists are for the heads dying to know what’s been in the heaviest rotation — and which tracks you’ve downloaded the most — all year long.


The Top 10 Today’s Top Tune(s) of 2023

Listeners’ most played tracks from KCRW’s weekday download of standout songs, including advance releases, exclusive live tracks, remixes, and intros to new artists on our radar, as curated by KCRW Music Executive Producer Ariana Morgenstern.

  1. Optometry “Chameleon”
  2. Brett Dennen “This Is Gonna Be The Year”
  3. Rayland Baxter “My Argentina”
  4. Channel Tres “6am”
  5. The Arcs “Eyez”
  6. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs & Moullinex “So Alive”
  7. Emily King “This Year”
  8. Yazmin Lacey “Late Night People”
  9. Jared Mattson “Please Come Here”
  10. Kimbra “replay!”





KCRW’s Top 30 Most Played Albums and Songs of 2023


Assembled by consulting internal metrics, and cross-referencing with our pals over at eightyninenine.com, this is as close to a list of the 30 most played songs of this calendar year that a station cycling through hand-picked samplings of roughly 750 albums per week is ever gonna get. To keep up with our Top Spins all year round, subscribe to KCRW’s Top 30 newsletter weekly in your inbox.

ALBUMS

  1. Little Dragon – Slugs of Love
  2. Say She She – Silver
  3. Jungle – Volcano
  4. The Chemical Brothers – For That Beautiful Feeling
  5. Arlo Parks – My Soft Machine
  6. Gabriels – Angels & Queens
  7. Pearl & The Oysters – Coast 2 Coast
  8. James Blake – Playing Robots Into Heaven
  9. Pachyman – Switched-On
  10.  Rahill – Flowers At Your Feet
  11.  Benny Sings – Young Hearts
  12.  Yaeji – With A Hammer
  13.  Barry Can’t – Swim When Will We Land?
  14.  Nation of Language – Strange Disciple
  15.  Unknown Mortal Orchestra – V
  16.  Overmono – Good Lies
  17.  Lil Yachty – Let’s Start Here. 
  18.  Surprise Chef – Friendship EP
  19.  The South Hill Experiment – MOONSHOTS
  20.  Gorillaz – Cracker Island 
  21.  Jamila Woods – Water Made Us
  22.  Poolside – Blame It All On Love
  23.  Baby Rose – Through and Through
  24.  Sampha – Lahai 
  25.  Yussef Dayes – Black Classical Music
  26.  Black Pumas – Chronicles of a Diamond
  27.  WITCH – Zango
  28.  Madison McFerrin – I Hope You Can Forgive Me
  29.  Everything But The Girl – Fuse
  30.  DJ Shadow – Action Adventure

SONGS

  1. Little Dragon – “Slugs of Love”
  2. Jungle – “Dominoes”
  3. James Blake – “Loading”
  4. Vagabon – “Carpenter”
  5. Pachyman – “Trago Coqueto”
  6. Arlo Parks – “Weightless”
  7. Little Dragon – “Gold”
  8. Obongjayar – “Just Cool”
  9. Say She She – “Astral Plane”
  10.  Jamila Woods – “Tiny Garden (Feat. duendita)”
  11.  Nabihah Iqbal – “This World Couldn’t See Us”
  12.  Say She She – “Reeling”
  13.  DJ Shadow – “You Played Me”
  14.  Yves Tumor – “Echolalia”
  15.  NEIL FRANCES – “Head Straight (Feat. St. Panther)”
  16.  Rahill – “Fables (Feat. Beck)”
  17.  Pearl & The Oysters – “Konami”
  18.  Benny Sings – "Pyjamas (Feat. Remi Wolf)"
  19.  Surprise Chef – “Pash Rash”
  20.  Little Dragon – “Disco Dangerous”
  21.  Kali Uchis – “I Wish you Roses”
  22.  Lil Yachty – “running out of time”
  23.  Yaeji – “For Granted”
  24.  Jorja Smith – “Little Things”
  25.  Little Simz – “Gorilla”
  26.  Poolside – “Each Night (Feat. Mazy)”
  27.  Young Fathers – “Rice”
  28.  Peggy Gou– “(It Goes Like) Nanana”
  29.  Thundercat & Tame Impala – “No More Lies”
  30.  Black Pumas – “More Than A Love Song”