2022 Albums of the Year

Maybe I just listened to more music than usual, but I do think 2022 was an exceptional year for music. I'm gonna do my best to put my top picks together here.

but if you guys don't mind i'm gonna muse a bit about this exercise first
So much of experiencing music to me comes from the place you're in when you hear it. This is why i have playlists based on the time of day, weather, season, etc. I think that lets me enjoy wider swaths of music and also grow as a musician, since i think there's a lot to be gained from just listening. So I do seek out as much new music as I can and I think this year i was especially rewarded.
Also, kind of superficially, I do like this time of year and look forward to the spirit of everyone sharing their top picks, which usually just gives me more delicious food to store for winter.

ok now here goes

8. Heaven Come Crashing - Rachika Nayar

A few years ago this would have been even higher on my list. I had a huge post-rock phase back then. Maybe out of dullness through repetition, or impatience or developing a shorter attention span, I kind of fell off the genre. It could be that I'm just out of touch by now, but Heaven Come Crashing felt like such a refresh that I got hooked again. Listening to a full post-rock album always feels like a journey to me. That kind of close-your-eyes-and-listen type of experience. Rachika builds these huge swelling spaces of tension and release that made the journey invite hard to turn down. There are these ambient yet pushy synth sounds, nerve-wracking pedal effects, and drums you can full-on groove to. This may sound strange, but the journey this time felt less like being a passive observer, it felt like being the main character.

7. Laurel Hell - Mitski

Mitski has done it again guys I'm sorry. Be The Cowboy absolutely controlled my ears in 2018, and Laurel Hell keeps that high caliber, tight runtime, little-songs-to-become-obsessed-with energy this year. This year the songs seemed to take on more of a groove while gaining a certain rhythmic and melodic complexity that made re-listening a joy. Songs like Valentine, Texas that takes a classic tresillo 1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2 driving rhythm, and layers syncopation in such a bouncy way that it almost has you forgetting how haunting it is. Then there's Stay Soft which has a really juicy tritone substitution that feels better every listen. There's likely more that I missed or don't have the chops to express, but overall just a stunner of an album.

6. Painless - Nilüfer Yanya

If i was going strictly based on minutes listened, this would be number 1. it's just so listenable bro. Every song has energy and feeling and good melodies and production. it's all there. It feels like the kind of album with a lot of heart that was made meticulously if only to really polish up and display that heart. It's like watching a 10/10 dive but still getting a little wet. I realize none of this description is really about the music but sometimes the best music just simply sounds really good man

5. Church - billy woods

I got really into billy woods in 2021, so being blessed with two full length albums by him this year felt like a godsend. I don't think any other artist right now can create the same kind of detailed visual descriptions with their lyrics. He has a way of depicting the most specific, visceral scenes with concise and hard-hitting phrasing. On top of being an inspiration to me lyrically, Messiah Musik's production on this is what had me enjoying Church over Aethiopes, which released earlier in the year. This one felt more reminiscent of Hiding Places from 2019, which became a fast favorite of mine. Pollo Rico has this meloncholic almost drunken sound like something welling up in your throat. Magdalene comes soon after with grandiosity and urgency and a love story for the ages. Just give it a spin my friend it's so easy.

4. There Will Be No Super Slave - Ghais Guevara

No one else is doing it like Ghais right now. His sheer sampling prowess is enough to register him as a great in my book. Each track immediately lets you know what it's about, and has such tasty layering, idk it's like the first bite of a really good sandwich everytime. On top of that perhaps shaky metaphor, Ghais' lyrics stand out as these brazen bars on heated topics. He takes staunch and true stances on liberating Palestine from settler colonialism. He's pro Castro. He's read Berserk. What else could I ask for? It's good food!!!

3. Diaspora Problems - Soul Glo

I discovered Soul Glo with this album and it kind of shocked me how much I liked it. I had been exploring some adjacent hard punk with Mannequin Pussy in the year prior, but I found Diaspora Problems to be so new and exciting still that it's probably most emblematic of my growth in musical palette. I've seen the word genre-defying tossed at this band, and it's true, but I don't think the word really captures how interesting it is to listen to. I just like music that sounds like nothing I've ever heard before. Maybe because it feels the most authentic and creative? Maybe because it hits some brain areas that haven't been hit before? Regardless of what the secret sauce is, Diaspora Problems does it really well with each track introducing something hard-hitting, intense, yet immensely palletable.

2. Ants From Up There - Black Country New Road

This album came for me. There are few things that I'm a sucker for when it comes to music: long songs that build, raspy masc vocals, and abstract-folky-lyrics depicting relationships. This one has all three and the effect it had on me was huge. Each track is likely to string you along for a full multi-course meal with high highs and low lows. The dynamic range on this album is through the roof, and then suddenly it's over and you want more. It's stellar cover to cover, no skips, it's cohesive, it's got it all.

1. Natural Black Prom Queen - Sudan Archives

Despite my high praise and high number of logged minutes listening to the above, there has to be one winner, and this year it was Sudan Archives. These top albums all have a super high degree of replayability, but this one shines through all 18 tracks, a feat I used to think was impossible. I think what takes it to the top for me is how broad the sonic space is while still being very cohesive. Brittney Parks keeps every song interesting with everything from the rhythmic structure to the instrumentation to her flow. This is done so well that a 3 minute song feels like a feature film, and yet nothing feels disjointed. Repeat that 18 times with no flops and you get album of the year. It's interesting and attention grabbing and it deserves all the praise it's been receiving. Plus I kind of had a religious experience listening to Loyal (EDD) on top of a mountain, so maybe that had something to do with it.

honorable mentions

Some other albums that caught my ear that I either discovered too late or didn't have the capacity to write about fully, in no particular order

  • Backxwash - i have not fully processed this album yet but i know Ashanti does not miss. Last year's album really opened my eyes and almost every track on this one kinda knocks me off my chair. And oh my god whatever she did to create the snare hit on MULUNGU alone deserves awards.
  • Little Simz - I did not expect a new album this year given the caliber of content last year, but she really had more songs in the boot!
  • Hitomi Moriwaki - a very fun listen!! keep an eye and an ear here
  • Grace Ives - more fun little songs. a lot of these sounds are inspirational to my sound.

that's all! thanks for reading <3 ily