ROA — Timp Bun
Yes, ROA is back with another banger with a summer breeze vibe. Totally digging this, even in the cold season.
Andra Andriucă — Se aude
Recently discovered and released, this song is like a band-aid for the soul. Great stuff.
Alternosfera — Imnuri De Razboi
Sincerely, this is not news. Another excellent song from Alternosfera, as we’re already familiar with, and also featuring a great video starring Florin Piersic Jr.
Luna Amară — Nu mai vine nimeni
Luna Amară is slowly, but surely setting the foundation for a new album, and this song is showing that they’ve got some good stuff on the table.
GRI - Știu feat. Mihnea Blidariu
A strong song by the “Gri” band, featuring Mihnea from Luna Amara. It baffles me how good songs have less than 2k views on YT.
SPP & Ana Coman - Cartofi cu brânză
Mix the strangest band in Romania with one of the best female voices, throw in some weird lyrics about fries, cheese and eggs and you get a hit. Also, I’m hungry.
La Familia & JO — Zori de Ziua
The neighbourhood boys are back. Now with the mighty voice of Jo next to them, Sisu and Puya released in 2023 one of their best albums. A mix of old-school beats and contemporary rhymes make it one of the best albums of 2023.
Pendulum — Colourfast
Pendulum is back with their second EP in a few years, and Colourfast is probably the strongest song (although all are good). Drum n bass is alive and kicking and Pendulum is putting great live shows one after the other.
Kanibal - În Tren
My friend Claudiu and his band released a chill dnb song with a nice video filmed, of course, on the train. Very happy to see the songs they keep putting out there, can’t wait for the album.
Bi-2 — The Roots / Би-2 — Я никому не верю
The Russian band Bi-2 is a common presence in my playlists. Even if they’re featured in classic playlists or they drop another great rock song, they’re always up to something. A great song with a great video, just watch it.
Tapinarii — Banii nu sunt o problema
My dear friends from Tapinarii have released a really fun and funny video (as they usually do), and it’s a very good one. Social commentary, theater with a guitar, protesting folk, call it what you want, Tapinarii are great!
COMA - Naufragii (feat. Maru)
The last song to be released from their EP (short album?), Naufragii features the great vocals (and insanely amazing hauting backing vocals) of Maru, on this great love song.
Venjent - Calling for You (ft. Oktae)
Fantastic banger featuring a sample from the way our old speaker buzzed whenever we received a mobile call. Efficient old school house. Thanks Ralu for the tip!
Bitza — CamarAzi feat. Ombladon si Alan
Seems that this is the year of comebacks. Bitza brought the second part of his album Sevraj, and I dare to say it’s as good as the first one. This is one of the good songs there, give it a spin, it’s great.
Krem - Nu ma convingi (feat. DJ Undoo)
Another banger from Krem, featuring DJ Undoo. It seems that this guy is unstoppable, as well as his rhymes and throws out great hip-hop songs over and over again.
Re-TROS - Three Body Theme Song // 《三体》电视剧同名主题曲
The Chinese TV adaptation of the Three-Body best-selling book is absolutely great, as I’ve already said. On par with the show, the soundtrack is a masterpiece, and the theme is one of the best songs.
Xueran Chen — The Whole Universe Will Shine for You (Three Body OST) // 陳雪燃 —《整個宇宙將為你閃爍》
Popular Chinese singer Xueran Chen does a marvellous job on the Three-Body soundtrack, and this song is of the best I’ve discovered this year.
Alexandra Lilly — A Matter of Time (Three-Body OST)
The third song from the Three-Body’s soundtrack (YES, IT’S THAT GOOD) is performed by Alexandra Lilly and it’s a haunting masterpiece. It’s very close to being the song of the year.
Alan feat. Freakadadisk — Esential
Alan released a new album this year called “February 31” and it’s an absolute banger. With Cheloo helping produce (and featuring on some songs), this is one of the best hip-hop albums of the year. Great stuff.
Parazitii — 3 Cuvinte
Speaking of Cheloo, Parazitii are back! Sporting the same style, type of lyrics, beats and attitude we all grew up with, they deliver a simple song with a strong message that comprises the entire being of the Romanian spirit.
Îmi bag pula! (Fuck this)
Zivert - карма-киллер // Karma-Killer
Yulia Zivert released this year her third album. Darker beats, darker mood, less pop, more masterpiece, this is the album where it looks that she matured a lot. Give a spin to the entire album, it’s excellent.
VØJ, Narvent - Memory Reboot
Great synthwave/retrowave song released at the start of the year. Also the video features images from Blade Runner, so that’s a plus.
Dora Gaitanovici - Descântec
While this was released December last year, I didn’t mention it in the articles of last year. I decided to mention it, as it one of the best songs on what’s altogether an absolutely brilliant album.
Best of 2023
Alternosfera — Aritmii
This year has been a good year in music. Many good new releases, many strong comebacks. Many artists have taken short breaks, focusing on live performances (thank God the lockdown is over!) and preparing stuff for next year. So, without further ado, probably the best song released in 2023, Alternosfera’s latest single.
