It’s hard to believe that this is the 10th anniversary installment of my year end music blog. Something that I figured would be a one-off piece now drives the way I listen to music throughout the year. Ten years ago, I was working in Barnes & Noble, and was about to be fired, so I had an idea of what new music was coming out from new release day. Now on every Friday I’m scouring a handful of music sites to see what is coming out, making lists of every album I want to listen to, and hopefully getting to listen to those albums. This year there were thirty albums on my list that I didn’t get to.
If there’s anything I have learned over the last ten years of doing this, is that there is so much great music out there. Obviously, there is more great music than I have time to listen to it all. Which on a certain level saddens me that I can’t get to it all. I will never understand the people that state there’s no good new music. Unfortunately, I believe that it gets lost in the constant inundation of information and media. I feel that you have to go out and do a little more searching for the new music that might speak to you.
As life evolves, I am unsure how long I will go on making this list. I am sure I will always seek out new music, but there are times when seeking out and listening to as many new albums as I can feels tedious. I never thought it would last this long; and I never thought that I would be writing this blog at seven in the morning while the boy watches the new episode of Sesame Street. I would hate to stop this blog and disappoint my two, maybe three readers. (I’m looking at you John Boy)
They say that as you get older the years go by faster, which is true, but with the constant barrage of information and white noise that encompasses modern day life, the beginning of 2022 feels like a lifetime ago. So, this year I am breaking the year into half. There were two albums that dominated each half of the year, so again I have two favorite albums for 2022; also, it doesn’t help that I’m a quite indecisive.
My favorite album from the first half of the year was Big Thief’s Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You. A collection of unique songs that when put together create an album that warms you like a homemade patchwork quilt. Each song their own piece of fabric that when put together create a masterpiece that’s warm and comforting.
For the second half of 2022, my favorite album was the newest release from Arctic Monkeys, The Car. A lush sounding album that reveals more and more with each listen, especially in headphones. To me the album sounds like the end of something, a relationship, a drunken evening, and the Arctic Monkeys are playing us out.
As always, there will be a link to my Spotify playlist with my favorite track from each album I checked out and an asterisk next to the albums that really stood out to me this year.
- 3rd Secret – 3rd Secret
- alt-J – The Dream
- Angel Olsen – Big Time
- Arcade Fire – WE
- Arctic Monkeys – The Car*
- Bartees Strange – Farm to Table
- Big Thief – Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You*
- Black Country, New Road – Ants From Up There
- The Black Keys – Dropout Boogie
- Brent Faiyaz – WASTELAND
- Calexico – El Mirador*
- Charley Crockett – The Man from Waco
- Danger Mouse, Black Thought – Cheat Codes*
- Daniel Johns – FutureNever
- Delicate Steve – After Hours
- Destroyer – LABYRINTHITIS
- Earl Sweatshirt – SICK!
- Eddie Vedder – Earthling
- Elvis Costello – The Boy Named If
- Father John Misty – Chloe and the Next 20th Century
- Fantastic Negrito – White Jesus Black Problems
- Gang of Youths – angel in realtime.
- Good Looks – Bummer Year
- Horsegirl – Versions of Modern Performance
- Jack White – Fear Of The Dawn
- Jack White – Entering Heaven Alive*
- Kavinsky – Reborn
- Kendrick Lamar – Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers
- Khruangbin, Leon Bridges – Texas Moon
- King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Changes
- Kokoroko – Could We Be More
- Kurt Vile – (watch my moves)
- Nilufer Yanya – stabilise
- Our Lady Peace – Spiritual Machines II
- Perfume Genius – Ugly Season
- Red Hot Chili Peppers – Unlimited Love
- Red Hot Chili Peppers – Return of the Dream Canteen
- SAULT – Air
- Sharon Van Etten – We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong
- Shovels & Rope – Manticore
- The Smile – A Light for Attracting Attention*
- Soccer Mommy – Sometimes, Forever
- Spoon – Lucifer On The Sofa*
- Steve Lacy – Gemini Rights
- Sunflower Bean – Headful of Sugar
- Thee Oh Sees – A Foul Form
- Ty Segall – “Hello, Hi”
- Vince Staples – RAMONA PARK BROKE MY HEART
- Warpaint – Radiate Like This
- The Weeknd – Dawn FM
- Wet Leg – Wet Leg*
- Weyes Blood – And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow
- White Lung – Premonition
- Wilco – Cruel Country*
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Cool It Down*
Perry Ponds 