Friday, December 9, 2022

2022 Favorite Albums

 


Here is the year-end list of my Favorite 50 Albums of 2022:

1. Alvvays - Blue Rev














Power pop at its finest.

2. Shygirl - Nymph




















Whether she is singing over fractured beats or cooing over blankets of pillowy synths, Shygirl's debut album is never less than captivating.

3. Caroline Loveglow - Strawberry
















Sublimely lush dream pop.

4. Sudan Archives - Natural Brown Prom Queen
















Restlessly inventive future R&B.

5. Rosalia - MOTOMAMI
















Blowing away genre conventions, the Catalan singer's third album is breathtaking in its scope.

6. Working Men's Club - Fear Fear
















The UK act's sophomore record meshes their industrial/EBM/synthpop influences into a lean machine of hypnotic grooves.

7. The Smile - A Light For Attracting Attention
















Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood of Radiohead along with drummer Tom Skinner have teamed up to make an album that can stand head-to-toe with the best Radiohead records.

8. Novaa - She's a Star
















If you like Billie Elish, you will fall madly in love with Novaa's eclectic alt-pop.

9. Blaqk Audio - Trop d'amour
















The best Depeche Mode record in years.

10. Beth Orton - Weather Alive
















Inspired by Talk Talk's final two monumental albums, Weather Alive is an atmospheric wonder.

11. Just Mustard - Heart Under
















The most inventive guitar-based record this year.

12. Phoenix - Alpha Zulu
















Ridiculously catchy return to form for the French band.

13. Daphni - Cherry
















Dan Snaith's (aka Caribou) Daphni project finds him working with simple loops that he commands into hypnotic swirls of dancefloor bangers.

14. Taylor Swift - Midnights
















More magical Swiftian pop.

15. Charlotte AdigĂ©ry & Bolis Popul- Topical Dancer
















The Belgian duo takes on racism, misogyny, and xenophobia with a sardonic smile and infectious beats.

16. Charli XCX - Crash
















Charli XCX leans more into pure pop on this fun record.

17. Black Country, New Road - Ants From Up There
















Sadly, frontman Issac Woods left the band a few days before the release of this album, but what a way to go. Transcending their post-rock trappings, they coalesce into an almost indescribable area of their own.

18. Zola Blood - Black Blossom
















Brooding, atmospheric synthpop.

19. Santigold - Spirituals 
















Returning after a 6-year absence, Santigold returns with another eclectic, genre-bending record that gets better with each listen.

20. Sun's Signature - Sun's Signature
















Cocteau Twins' singer Elizabeth Fraser and partner Damon Reece collaborated on this EP that solidly shows Fraser still in top vocal form.

21. Winter - What Kind of Blue Are You?
















Mixing pop, dream pop, and shoegaze, this album is restless and transfixing.

22. Carly Rae Jepsen - The Loneliest Time
















Jepsen's most solid collection of pop confections.

23. Arctic Monkeys - The Car
















Loungey, dramatic, and louche, The Car is a stylistic 180-degree turn for the veteran rockers, and they handle it with aplomb.

24. Wet Leg - Wet Leg
















It was hard to ignore their signature song "Chaise Lounge," and equally hard to ignore all the other catchy tracks on their debut album.

25. Soccer Mommy - Sometimes, Forever
















Soccer Mommy, aka Sophie Allison, joined up with Daniel Lopatin, aka Oneohtrix Point Never, who adds a darker shade to her sophisticated tracks.

26. Daniel Rossen - You Belong There 
















Intricate instrumentation and haunting melodies define this solo release by the Grizzly Bear multi-instrumentalist. 

27. Beach House - Once Twice Melody
















Although Beach House makes microscopic changes with its sound, each record of theirs is a wonder.
 
28. Animal Collective - Time Skiffs
















The psych-rock stalwarts continue to impress on their most focused record in years.

29. Bjork - Fossora
















Only Bjork could merge a bass clarinet quartet with Gabba techno beats and make it work.

30. Girlpool - Forgiveness
















The final record from Girlpool was their finest; their emotional and moving lyrics paired up with more experimentation, and yet still accessible.

31. Tove Lo - Dirt Femme
















Another solid set of dance tracks that found the singer delving into weightier subjects.

32. Grace Ives - Janky Star
















Quirky pop that is endlessly intriguing.

33. Yard Act - The Overload
















Sometimes laugh-out-loud funny lyrics that muse on everyday life are matched with effortless post-punk swagger.

34. Vandal Moon - Queen of the Night
















There was a slew of goth-influenced synthpop records, and Vandal Moon's album was a stellar part of that trend.

35. Everything Everything - Raw Data Feel
















Using AI-assisted lyrical help, Everything Everything came up with one of their most inventive art-rock releases.

36. Beach Bunny - Emotional Creature
















Sparkling indie pop-punk that is packed to the rafters with infectious melodies.

37. Rival Consoles - Now Is
















More impeccable electronic soundscapes.

38. Jockstrap - I Love You Jennifer B
















The most undefinable record of the year. It's pretty much every genre put into a blender. And while you can't quite taste all the individual components, it all works to go down easily.

39. Death Cab for Cutie - Asphalt Meadows
















A return to form for the indie-rock stalwarts.

40. Holy Fawn - Dimensional Bleed
















Blissful mix of metal and shoegaze.

41. Fashion Club - Scrutiny
















Dramatic goth-inspired synthpop.

42. Warpaint - Radiate Like This 
















On their latest album, Warpaint adds a gauzy haze to their locked-in grooves.

43. SCALPING - Void
















Dark and seething mix of post-punk/metal attitude with haunting industrial techno textures.

44. Beyonce - Renaissance 
















Queen Bey takes on a fascinating journey through the history of dance music.

45. Burial - Antidawn
















Evocative, almost beatless, ambient tracks that are wholly and unapologetically Burial.

46. The Soft Moon - Exister
















Angsty, emotional goth rock.

47. NilĂĽfer Yanya - PAINLESS
















Each album she releases is more fantastic than the last. PAINLESS is no exception.

48. Jenny Hval - Classic Objects
















Uncompromising experimental pop.

49. Palm - Nicks and Grazes
















Mezmerizing psychedelia from the Philly band.

50. Special Interest - Endure
















Glam-punks Special Interest makes thought-provoking music that is not afraid to get you sweaty on the dancefloor.

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