a short list of projects that probably would have had a good chance of being on this list if I had ever gotten around to listening to them:

 

Honestly, Nevermind

Midnights

Dirt Femme

Being Funny In A Foreign Language

Harry’s House

SOS

life

Blue Rev

The Long Count

quinn

almost certainly a bunch of other stuff I’m forgetting

 

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projects I didn’t like as much as I hoped I would

 

CRASH

This one’s almost great. I wrote a whole review explaining my feelings, but it basically sums up to this being hit or miss and a great idea in theory despite the various dumb people saying she shouldn’t make pop music. Check it out, just skip “Lightning” and any songs that don’t grab you in the first 30 seconds.

 

Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 2

This doesn’t have anything as good as “Slide” but that was a once-in-a-lifetime song. Other than that, it’s basically exactly as good as the last one, so it’s OK. It’s got some really fun songs and some very boring songs. And it has the best Halsey feature since “Closer.”

 

Renaissance

To be clear, I like this album! I like Beyonce’s music, I just think she can do better than this. It’s cool that each song here flows into the next – but imagine how much better it’d be if she didn’t need to sell it on LPs or whatever and just made it into one more cohesive mix by, like, an actual DJ. I think that’s what bugs me about this – she has more resources and respect with the house music scene than maybe any other popstar in history and she definitely could have used more of their input on this. Most artists couldn’t do full-on house and would have to stick with a sanitized radio-friendly version. Beyonce didn’t have to, which makes it all the more disappointing that she did. Good effort – in fact, great effort – but I want to see her go deeper, I know she can do it.

 

Alpha Zulu

Phoenix are one of my favorite bands. I’ve loved them even through their shaky moments most people consider disappointing. Alphabetical was corny-ass adult contemporary and I’m a corny-ass contemporary adult, their full-on synthpop turn was when I loved them most (Wolfgang has been a top 10 album ever for me for a decade now), and I even thought Ti Amo’s transparently romanticized italo-beach theme was fun. And there’s touches of that brilliance here (“Tonight” and “Winter Solstice” in particular), but what I’ve always loved about Phoenix is the way they would just lean into those beautiful moments for entire songs and, at their best, albums. At this point they’ve been slowly declining for a decade or so now, and this is the first time I’ve ever had no desire to listen to an album of theirs again. I hope it’s not the end for one of my favorite stretches in music but I’m afraid it probably is.

 

Antidawn / Streetlands

Incredibly atmospheric music from someone who’s great at it but I just do not have the patience or emotional stability to get into it at this point. Sorry. There’s a lot of really good music out there and I kind of have my “Burial-style ambient” hole in my heart filled by, you know, all the other ambient music Burial has made.

 

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great projects I didn’t listen to enough to write a blurb about

 

AMEN! Vol. 1 by Beige
(this is the new sound of worship – house and breaks. immaculate)

 

And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow by Weyes Blood
(as someone whose favorite album is Pet Sounds, I’m always getting recommended other baroque pop and I’m almost always disappointed. I was not disappointed here. soft and powerful)

 

AR1 by Addison Rae and compiled by erz
(90% of pop bootleg albums have a shaky quality control at best, but this feels like a professional album by an established popstar. it certainly helps that almost all of these songs are fantastic)

 

Awe 100121 by Laurel Halo
(from the Christina Aguilera cover sampling ambient to the joyful jazz conclusion, every minute of this mix reminds me why I listen to music)

 

Baby, We’re Ascendingby HAAi
(the title is accurate, which is about as high of praise as I can give to any music)

 

BADモード by Hikaru Utada
(there are plenty of experienced popstars and plenty of adventurous ones but very few that can do both as well as Utada does here)

 

Beware of the Monkey by MIKE
(maybe the most consistent artist I know of, this year’s great project is a little more on the fun side)

 

Black Girl Magic by Honey Dijon
(extremely good house from an expert in her field, there’s a 100% chance if you’re a fan of this kind of music you will have a good time here)

 

Blink by Ana Caprix
(I have never been disappointed by a mix he’s made, really great as always)

 

Caprisongs by FKA twigs
(even her loosely organized “I’m just having fun with this one” project has a crazy high quality standard)

 

Collection II by FRIENDZONE
(a collection of old beats from an incredibly talented cloud rap duo that was tragically cut short. some of these are among their best ever, particularly “FASHION KILLA” and “SOLARFLARE,” which you might recognize from A$AP Rocky and Yung Lean)

 

Cuff Yo Chick by DJ R3LL and DJ Kiff
(archive of one of my favorite eras of Jersey club in two equally great mixes)

 

Dariacore 3…At Least That’s What I Think It’s Called? by leroy
(the final chapter in their increasingly popular series, complete high-energy chaos)

 

Dataprism by Fax Gang
(each time they drop another project, I like them a little more. this is the conclusion to their RGB trilogy – whatever comes next is something worth looking forward to)

 

DFTK by Yung Kayo
(easily some of the coolest rage I’ve heard so far, crazy good beats by Warpstr and Kayo handles them with ease. also probably the only record that will ever feature both Yeat and Eartheater)

 

DJ-Kicks by Cynthie
(as long as there are house mixes, I will keep listening to them in an effort to find ones as good as this)

 

Edge of Innocence by Roza Terenzi and D. Tiffany
(calm breaks for a rainy day)

 

Est. 2003 by DJ Q
(if you like UKG and you haven’t heard this yet, what are you doing?)

 

everything perfect is already here by Claire Rousay
(I don’t know if i’ll ever stop having a desperate starvation for every single Claire Rousay project or if I’ll ever be able to emotionally handle them)

 

Four Songs by Blood Orange
(pretty clearly a bit of a throwaway project for him, especially given the title, but there’s some really good songs here, particularly the closer. I hope he continues to work with Erika)

 

From A Story Now Lost by Anja Lauvdal
(form-shifting music, simultaneously ordinary and alien)

 

Goddess Within by Maara
(reassuring pads help create a calming EDM experience)

 

Hotel Koko by Kornél Kovács
(solid house, check out “Usch”)

 

I Love You Jennifer B by Jockstrap
(initially thought this would be your classic weird pop by rock artists that’s just weird for the sake of being weird but it’s genuinely good pop music and also weird, a rare combo)

 

Juanita’s Mix 063: quest?onmarq
(atmospheric jungle that lets you get lost in its energy without getting lost itself)

 

MAN PLAYS THE HORN by Cities Aviv
(definitely worthy of the hype. a confusing blur of feelings and energies, expansive and earns that expansion)

 

MATA by MIA
(despite her various antics the past few years, she’s still dropping some of the most interesting stuff in her scene, if that even exists anymore)

 

Mercury by The Range
(The Range is always dropping really cool emotionally-charged garage albums and getting unfairly overlooked. check this out and then check out his discography)

 

Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers by Kendrick Lamar
(probably Kendrick’s most hit-or-miss project yet but the hits are some of his most beautiful pieces ever. also this has what I think is the most openly pro-trans message by any musician in the mainstream, even if it does so problematically)

 

Music 4r Da Vibers by Isaiah Rashad
(leaks compilation from one of the coolest rappers of the past decade, which is a really high bar. worth listening for the minute or so that samples TLC’s “Creep” alone)

 

Mutate by ABADIR
(this was a great year for dance music, and this was still pretty easily the hardest, most propulsive thing I heard)

 

Nectarine by Lindsay Lowend
(really well-composed and pretty chiptune)

 

Nod Theory by Shed Theory (if you like drain gang or whatever, here’s a good starting point for expanding your repertoire. very ethereal)

 

Objekt #5 by Objekt
(I like every other Objekt # but this one is my favorite so far. it feels like early dubstep, not genre-wise really at all but tonally, that “dark for fun” vibe)

 

Once Upon A Time by Romance
(opening track is completely stunning, probably the best song of the year)

 

Quality Over Opinion by Louis Cole
(somehow weirder and more entertaining than I expected which says a lot given his last project)

 

Radio Active by Body Sync
(complete change of pace for both members of the duo, Ryan Hemsworth and Giraffage, but a welcome one. this is probably a one-off project but I’d love to hear more of this extremely fun sound)

 

Rooster Debut by Rooster
(I’m happy to have any more material from one of the best cloud rap producers of the 2020s)

 

Se Ve Desde Aquí by Mabe Fritti
(I have literally no idea how to describe music like this but it is striking and means a lot to me and sounds like nothing else I’ve ever heard)

 

Someone Close by Floating Points
(four tracks by Floating Points means four tracks that would be the highlight of most artists’ careers, with both subdued stuff and songs that drop within the first minute)

 

Spezial Series vol. 3 by v/a
(shockingly consistent garage compilation, find a gem here for your DJing or maybe just listen through to make a couple hours at work pass by faster)

 

Stora Skuggan Mix 5: Six Hits of Sunshine and the Scent of Spring by Peder Mannerfelt
(practically seamless mix for a club that as far as I know only exists in someone’s dreams)

 

TDJ123 by TDJ
(can we make a new word for stuff like this and Doss? trancepop seems like the obvious choice)

 

Textures by Hagan
(multifaceted house and amapiano with a smooth flow from start to finish)

 

Vahinè by Gigi Masin
(pretty ambient as usual from a master at the craft)

 

You Still Here, Ho? by Flo Milli
(always charismatic rapping, excellent hooks, Flo Milli has not lost her magic)

 

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great projects I listened to enough to write a blurb about

26. The Family

I didn’t think I’d put a BROCKHAMPTON album on one of these lists in 2022 (especially after they claimed they were done years ago), but this one hooked me. I was looking for something to listen to on a flight back from Thanksgiving, running on like three hours of sleep, feeling depressed about saying bye to my family once again, and decided to try this one on a whim because it was one of the recent releases I had downloaded. I was hooked as soon as the beat switched on “Big Pussy.” The following song is easily one of my favorites of the year (I probably listened to it at least 15 times on that flight alone), and the overarching narrative of the album had an exact connection with my struggles in that moment, completely shifting my mood from borderline despondent to downright cheerful by the time I landed, the most hopeful I’d felt since my first night in that city. Honestly, if that was my only experience with it, it’d still be on the list, but I’ve still been listening front-to-back every so often since then. And I mean, sure, it isn’t all hits, but with something so themed around apologetics and love for imperfect people, (and I apologize, I hate it when people say this) I feel like that’s kind of the point.

 

25. Continua

Nosaj Thing has always been someone who makes music for the in-between times: those moments spent somewhere in the midst of your job, your bed, your car, and your computer – all at night, all alone. He might be the best artist at capturing this specific feeling, and is definitely the best I’ve found in music. What separates this project from his other ethereal beauties is the motion, the path it takes. While there’s certainly a place for soundtracking aimlessness, and it’s a place he’s explored with excellent results, this feels like the first time in his career that an album has a strong direction. It still feels lost, confused, distant, even totally melancholy at times, but it’s taking a path.

 

24. Real Bad Flights

Pink Siifu is one of the most criminally underrated rappers making music today. It took a while for his music to click with me, but when he dropped the most beautiful verse of 2020 (on “Always Black”), I realized I had to give him more of a chance. He has a million niches, from trap to sound collage to punk to soul, frequently on the same projects, so there’s bound to be something you like. But this is, in my opinion, his most accessible project so far. If you are someone who likes mellow hip-hop beats a la Madlib, Dilla, Nujabes, etc. there’s plenty here to love, and Siifu sounds relaxed as hell (if you couldn’t figure that out from the album art), flowing effortlessly over every track. With features from a variety of artists (Boldy James, Kari Faux, Armand Hammer, Chuck Strangers, etc.), this is a no-brainer entry point into the mind of a generational talent.

 
23. pitched pck

Alright, it took me a few years because I’m a relic of a bygone age (25), but I finally like TikTok music that wasn’t spoon-fed to me by other sources. It’s hard to not like something that seems so tailor-made for me: a cloud rap (plugg? I think?) project that barely edges over 10 minutes and, from what I can tell, catalogs WLW relationships/situationships with absolutely no border between singing and rapping. We’re rapidly approaching the point when the other ancient retirees and I will be the only ones who remember when there were rules about this stuff, about who was allowed to make what and what sounds could be made on what music. I can’t wait.

 
22. Rushlight

Do you remember the first time you heard a dubstep song? I’m talking Skream, not Skrillex – that raw bass reverberating around the skittering drums, with some kind of synth tone or something, maybe a vocal track if you’re lucky. I know I do. As someone who had been primarily into everything-and-the-kitchen-sink electro house up until that point, it was such a rush feeling how so few elements could have so much power. After pretty thoroughly exploring the scene since then, I still will occasionally find gems, but very little that captures that level of sense of wonder and energy I felt my first time. While I wouldn’t say Rushlight, strictly speaking, isn’t dubstep, that’s more of a secondary influence on its primary bass-heavy amapiano territory. That being said, it feels exactly the same to me as when I first heard “Midnight Request Line,” “Skeng,” or even “CMYK.” It’s dark, clean, and almost entirely focused on the rhythm. I didn’t expect something like this from someone whose last (also great) project had more of a connection with ambient and cloud rap than anything else, but that’s why I’m just a fan and the artists make the calls. I’m desperately itching for more like this, but if he decides to just go ahead and make another high point in another genre, I’d be happy to hear it.

 
21. Icarus

As much as I enjoy plenty of extremely palatable music (my favorite album ever is by the Beach Boys), I’ve always loved pop that pushes the edge of what pop can be, pop that very directly challenges the idea of pop being synonymous with accessibility. In a post-Eilish world, noisy waves of Sleigh Bells-esque synths in pop music are no longer fresh, but the world could certainly use more people doing it well, and that’s where Cryalot comes in. Kero Kero Bonito never would have been nearly as successful as it was/is without Sarah’s excellent songwriting, and she brings that in full force here with a new producer (Jennifer Walton, performer at live sets of KKB), who does an amazing job as well – listen to how the intro to “Touch the Sun” screams beautifully, almost like the titular character falling, or how the harmonic synths punch on “Labyrinth” bring a sudden level of intensity to a previously calm track, matching the lyrics perfectly. There’s constant discussion in music spheres about how music has gotten too depressing and low-energy, and I’m not sure I agree, but if there’s any solution to that “problem,” it’s this. Pop can’t go back to the full-on denial of the late ‘00s and early ‘10s, it simply doesn’t reflect reality for most people who are listening to it anymore, especially now that they can listen to whatever they want. But that doesn’t mean it can’t have energy. Icarus is a great example of the kind of pop the future needs.

 
20. Nymph

Sex and love are weirdly seen as incompatible in, I would argue, the majority of popular music. There is plenty of music that has both, but very little that has both explicitly. In my opinion, this separation is rooted in a puritanical approach to sex – a necessary evil at best, a perversion of love and the process for the creation of life at worst (see also: the idea of consent as a necessity being a constant uphill battle). Shygirl is one of just a few artists working to break this trend as openly as possible. There have been people doing it subtly for a while, but she’s doing it in a queer way, a way that doesn’t shy away from kink, all the things people like to pretend can have nothing to do with love, when they absolutely can. There’s nothing vanilla about it, but it’s sweet just the same. That’s why songs like “Coochie (a bedtime story)” are drawing so much acclaim – they show that fucking and hugging can be two sides of the same coin. Of course, in saying that, I’m skimming over the incredible production and earwormy melodies, but anyone following Shygirl to this point knows that well enough. This is just such a good statement that it’s hard to focus on anything but how good of a statement it is.

 
19. Full Court Press

Us critics get so focused on innovation and experiments that we forget to enjoy ourselves sometimes. This is a perfect example of a great album that got next to no love almost entirely because it was doing a style most people don’t care about anymore, rapped by, depending who you ask, one to three MCs that are past their commercial or critical peak, produced by an artist who doesn’t excite the internet nearly as much as he used to. But if you can get past the lack of surprises and just accept that music that sounds like it came out in 2012 can still be good a decade later, there’s a lot to love here. Wiz Khalifa and Big K.R.I.T. and Smoke DZA are all fully in their weed rap game (there’s even a Curren$y feature on the last track), and if you have paid any attention to Girl Talk, you know he’s loved this kind of hip-hop for a very long time – this is evidence he mastered it. It’s really nice to see all four teaming up, and even though I’m sure it’d be cool to see a sequel where they do something brand new, I’m just as happy to see them do their best job at what we all know they’re the best at.

 
18. RAMONA PARK BROKE MY HEART

People have been sleeping on Vince ever since Big Fish Theory. The prevailing discourse I’ve seen is that all three of those albums, including this one, haven’t been experimental enough, which is almost always code for “I don’t actually listen to this genre.” It’s not like he’s not expanding artistically with each project – he absolutely is, listen to the production, the lyrics, the way Vince has perfected his delivery, the stability and maturity. This one’s worth checking out if you don’t think MBDTF and TPAB are the best rap albums. If you still do, wait a few years, you might grow into it.

 
17. Fossora [original blurb is #46 of staff top 50]

The last couple Bjork albums have been beautiful, but much softer and subtler than her most popular works. So Fossora was an exciting twist – so much so that it was lost on many fans. Many parts of this album sound “wrong” or “dissonant” (heavy emphasis on those quotation marks) and as a result, it’s challenging, and I don’t really blame anyone who isn’t a fan. If you are willing to keep trying, though, this is a meaningful, difficult project, representing all the pride and pain of motherhood, from the perspective of both the mother and the daughter. It stretches through numerous deeply uncomfortable emotions by exploring genres from gabber to clarinet-based choral folk, so it makes sense that it wouldn’t be an easy listen. But I promise it’s very, very rewarding. If you don’t trust me, trust the artist who gave you Homogenic, Vespertine, Vulnicura, Post, etc. At this point, she’s earned it.

 
16. Sick!

Every Earl album in the past decade is another piece of evidence for the increasingly formidable case of him being the best rapper working today. As much as I enjoy the other sacred cows more commonly brought up in that context, I don’t know anyone who I’m as excited to hear from as consistently, anyone whose music is as rewarding on replay as his Genius pages are on reread. It’s that ability to songwrite – and by songwrite, I mean both lyrics and the songs themselves – that sets him apart from so many other musicians, even outside of hip-hop. I can’t think of anyone else who could make a project that sounds like this, even with all the talent he has at his disposal. And to do so after Doris, I Don’t Like Shit…, and Some Rap Songs? He should be in everyone’s GOAT discussion.

 
15. New Jeans

I miss the weird fusion of R&B and pop that was big in the mainstream in the late ‘90s through the ‘00s and has mostly faded from significance today. I really enjoyed that era when everyone was trying their best to beat Teddy Riley at a game he’d already mastered a decade earlier. Since I’ve been writing about music, lines between genres and splitting decades have been blurring at an accelerating rate, with nostalgia cycles occurring at faster and faster rates, so I’m happy to see artists like NewJeans are bringing those sounds not only back into mass popularity (two of these four songs have >100 million plays on Spotify already) but refreshing them with plenty of ‘10s and ‘20s style and production value. It’s really, really rare that I find a pop EP that so concisely expresses its vision and does so with zero issues – the production is great as I’ve mentioned, each song transitions effortlessly from verse to chorus to bridge and everything in-between, all of the vocalists do a truly fantastic job, and it switches mood perfectly all the way from the aptly-named and very percussive “Attention” to the crooning classic “Hurt.” Luckily, by the time you read this, they should be dropping a single album tomorrow. I’m so excited to hear it.

 
14. Two Ribbons

This album has some of Let’s Eat Grandma’s most clearly mainstream-leaning tracks (“Happy New Year,” “Insect Loop”) and seems to be in some ways an attempt at furthering their commercial success, almost at the expense of their depth – but not quite. That balance of accessibility and strength can be tricky, and the vast majority of artists end up leaning way too hard one way or the other. These two found it, though, and they really found it. This is the sound of two artists – and more importantly, friends – working at the peak of their ability, initially separately but ultimately together, making some of the best songs of their career, easily. I don’t say that lightly, but the journey this album takes, from the celebratory start to the reserved yet wholehearted finale, is incredibly powerful. If you’ve ever tried your absolute hardest to make a relationship work that felt destined to fail, whether it worked or it didn’t, there’s something here for you.

 
13. Take Me Home

Every pinkpantheress song is a treat, but, surprisingly for an artist who seems to primarily focus on extremely quick singles, every full-length (relatively speaking) project is even better. This one is a little bit of a twist on her already fresh bread and butter, expanding her usual pop drum and bass thing with some more exciting and unpredictable production, as well as some welcome final breakdowns. The tracks are also fast paced, not just rhythmically rapid as they had been on to hell with it, songs that could not only warm up the dancefloor but set it on fire. Any doubt you might have had that her music was a one-time gimmick should be shed by this project, which expands her club presence from (hopefully) welcome newcomer to established mainstay.

 
12. Kenopsia

As you’ve probably guessed at this point, I don’t really like much rock music. So I’m not gonna try and describe this albums’ sound in detail, except to mention that I like the shoegaze and hyperpop elements. What I can talk about is how it affected me, which is a lot. I was going through a lot of mental health problems earlier – some issues I’ve been facing since I was a kid culminated at the end of last year, and I honestly wasn’t sure if I was going to survive this one. I know saying “this (album/artist/song/movie/video game/book/painting/whatever) saved my life” is an enormous cliche, and I get it, I promise. I finally get why it’s so annoying to read that – because I honestly have no idea if this did or not. When I think back to the first half of this year, it’s blurry, and there were probably dozens of albums and hundreds of songs that protected me in that time. To say any one [art] saved my life is a gross oversimplification of a million complex elements. But I do know that music helped me support myself during a time where I was constantly trying to convince myself to, and this album, and particularly “thin,” is the thing that stands out to me the most from that era of my life as something I could reliably put on and feel, maybe not better per se, but a little calmer and less alone. And for my part as an uneducated listener, I think it wouldn’t have been nearly so good at that if it wasn’t so good at being what it is – a rock album for people like me.

 
11. @TWERKNATION28’s 100TH TRACK MEGAMIX

When will Imogen Heap stop her seemingly endless career of being sampled in some of the most beautiful and fun new music? Probably never, and I’m really grateful for it. This mix, created by numerous members from and friends of the enormously talented TwerkNation28 collective, is a perfect crossbreed between the always underappreciated Jersey club genre (which is just aching to become the next Billboard trend), “Wait It Out,” and like, I don’t know, probably at least a hundred other random samples. Most fans of projects like Endtroducing and Since I Left You probably won’t want stuff like this, what with its extreme lack of subtlety and near-constant sacred cow slaughter, but I genuinely believe projects like this are the future of plunderphonics. At least, I hope so.

 
10. Un Verano Sin Ti

A lot of people like to complain about all reggaeton sounding the same. Besides being a racist dog whistle and an admittance that they haven’t actually tried to get into the genre, it’s also just so blatantly wrong. For proof, check out Un Verano Sin Ti, literally the most streamed album of the year (yes, more than Midnights and both Drake albums), and easily the most mainstream example of reggaeton (if not just music) in 2022. It’s all over the place, a million different things at once, and never once even a little bit boring, even after 81(!!) minutes. I already liked every Bad Bunny project I’ve heard up to this point, but this one’s on another level, the work of someone who understands exactly what they’re doing and how to do it in a way that excites more people than anyone else on the planet. If you aren’t with the wave already, at this point, you have no excuse. A drum pattern (however enticing) does not make a song identical to another with the same one, and he proves that with (and often within) every song here. And to be clear, I’m not trying to pull some gross “this isn’t like the other reggaeton” bullshit – the reason this is so fantastic is how many veins of the genre it stems from, how richly it ties itself to its unfairly maligned origins. It’s great because it’s itself and everyone else at the same time, a new classic.

 
9. Boiler Room London / Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2022)

I’ll admit I was skeptical of Fred again.. – a white dude making dance music mostly popular with people who don’t really listen to that much dance music? Despite that and his numerous Ed Sheeran collaborations, I decided to give him a chance, and against all odds, he lives up to the enormous hype. His crossbreed of Burial and Avicii is going to piss off a lot of people who think those two artists shouldn’t be mentioned in the same conversation and make a lot more people very happy. I’m not sure if the world is actually getting worse, or if I’m just getting older, but “Wake Me Up” and “Levels” seem like they would come off tone-deaf today, and the average person does not want to listen to “Archangel” or even “Rodent” at a party. So he finds an average between cheery and dismal, full-blown EDM and relatively subtle garage, and, I think most importantly, doesn’t try to be too much of a perfectionist. Even though I couldn’t point at any specific songs of his and say “here’s x significant problem this track has” outside of just not being my vibe at that moment, it’s very obvious that he just kind of loosely organizes all of the songs he’s made and can legally release in a certain time span (see: every one of his album titles). I have no idea what would happen if he sat on all his productions for a few years and tried to curate a very specific, carefully sequenced and curated experience, but I’m a lot happier that we got all these other projects instead. I think he’s just getting better in real time. You can even hear that over the stretch between his July Boiler Room mix, an absolutely electric set which deserves all of its ten million (!!!) views, and this last album, Actual Life 3, which, at least for me, mostly functioned as a way to hear all of those unreleased tracks, and still exceeded expectations. Speaking of which, I think I speak for every single other person who’s heard it (not kidding – it might be the most requested ID drop of the year) when I say I’d really, really like it if “Rumble” finally came out.

 
8. demon time

There’s been endless handwringing about how the internet is allowing nostalgia to destroy our culture, with vaporwave and film sequels and etc., and I don’t necessarily disagree entirely, but I also think there’s plenty of room for music (and other art forms) to build off retro aesthetics and cultures without being unoriginal. This is the case with demon time, which, to my ears anyway, sounds deeply inspired by early ‘00s music, especially the pop and hip-hop worlds, a zoomer indebted to Timbaland. It’s spotty in the same strangely endearing way as his full projects frequently were, because it’s experimental in the same way. I don’t mean experimental in the sense that these are entirely new sounds, but in the more literal sense of an experiment – each song is something new for him, and they all frankly have potential to fail. The good news is they don’t. This is an album full of hits, and will absolutely not bore you. I don’t think you can make music this universally exciting without leaning a bit on the past.

 
7. 19 Masters

This album read like something I would hate, honestly. 51 minutes of weird lo-fi bedroom folk-pop merge with track titles like “SEEDLESS FRUIT(S OF MY LABOR)” and “2019 WAS AN EMPTY CRAB.” Historically, this kind of thing has not been for me. But at the recommendation of a friend (great writer JotW), I gave it a shot anyway, and I was amazed. Really, I still am. This is some of the prettiest music of the year, with that perfect seemingly improvised structure to it, moving back and forth between styles and songs and themes with reckless-but-not-really abandon. The scattershot approach works in the context of the lyrics and even the song names too – it feels shifting and deeply personal, like I’m listening to someone’s diary, full of surprises. The way these songs are conveyed makes all these specific, intimate moments feel like they matter just as much to me as they do to her. 19 Masters does what art is ultimately for – it conveys her emotions, and it does it so genuinely that it reflects human complexity to a degree that can’t help but be unique. It’s really, really hard to create something that reflects all the pieces of who you are and how you think, but she pulls it off with aplomb. If you’re reading this and thinking “I don’t think this is for me,” you might be right. But you might be wrong. I know I was.

 
6. Rayo Mix 2022

Every so often, I try to write something about an Elysia Crampton project, and I never know how. For a while I thought it was a lack of familiarity with the genres she uses, and there’s some truth to that, but over time I’ve gotten more understanding, and I’m still stuck with just as much writer’s block. So I’m just going to try to be as upfront as possible, minus this annoying preamble. This mix is one of the most inventive I’ve ever heard, always pushing on the borders of traditional mixing technique and sound design, with absolutely no style or genre strictly off limits. This may make it sound experimental to the point of academic doldrum, but it is exactly the opposite, powerful and entrancing music that touches the heart, putting me more in touch with my feelings than maybe anything else on this list. The only comparison point I can make to something like this is her previous work. If you’ve heard her, you know – she has no peers.

 
5. snow flakes 2022

If you’re reading this, you either know me or you care a lot about music. Either way, I’m sure you have seen the power music can have on mental health. I bet there’s a song or album you can use to heal yourself a little when it feels like nothing else is helping. snow flakes 2022 had that therapeutic, restorative effect on me, maybe more directly than anything else here. After going through a difficult breakup, having an album that said things like “here, in heaven” says really meant a lot to me – nothing else I heard this year was so up-front about the hardest questions I had to ask myself over and over again until I found an answer I could live with.

 
4. Trip Hop Special

One of the best things an artist can do is expose listeners to something new, and it’s even better if they can do so convincingly. You probably know what I mean if you’re reading this – sometimes artists will introduce new elements into their songwriting and it’s so cool in theory and all the hardcore fans will praise them for their innovation, and then you actually listen and it’s painfully obvious that their original style has not made up for their lack of experience in the fresh one. This mix is an example of getting it right. This isn’t to say Physical Therapy isn’t familiar with trip hop – it’s very obvious he not only understands the genre but its roots and connections, along with what has held up and what hasn’t, and given his extensive and revered history as a DJ, I would be surprised if this was his first trip-hop mix – but this is a case of an artist who is able to transfer his skillset to something out of his usual style. This tracklist would make a cool playlist (these are the kind of song choices made by someone who has completely gotten past the usual DJ game of trying to impress the listener, and is instead just naturally impressive), and curation is frankly the most important part of being a good DJ, but he’s so so good at the other parts that it brings it to another level entirely. The blends here are completely satisfying, well-timed, and arranged to perfection. I was convinced until hearing this that I would never be able to get trip hop (and I’ve tried, I promise), but a great artist like this can change your mind, in this case on an entire genre.

 

3. When The Lights Go

Anyone who follows the unfortunately named Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs knows he’s been struggling for the past decade since his last LP to get this one out. There have been some brilliant singles, a couple EPs, a few years of total radio silence, all pointed in a bunch of different directions and seemingly mostly disconnected from Trouble’s anxious house in all but their quality. After so long, I really expected this to be a misdirected disappointment, especially after seeing it was 64 minutes long. But somehow, he did it all. He got past presumable label woes and artistic difficulty, finding a beautiful path forward. There are so many artists who pretentiously claim to have evolved past EDM genres, and TEED is enough of a genuine fan (check out his locationally named playlists on Spotify, they’re among some of the most diverse and extensive I’ve ever seen) to know that he could instead evolve with them. These are mostly dance songs, and for that reason (not despite it) they are enormously emotional, comforting, and rewarding, bursting with joy and sorrow in equal parts. This is the work of an artist who has been through a lot and grown from it all, a gem of a songwriter and producer.

 

2. Cry Sugar

I didn’t expect the album that gave me the most hope from 2022 to come from Hudson Mohawke, but thinking back, I really could have. Even in his darkest periods of a self-described aspiration for a “debauched limbo state” coming “crashing down,” even from an artist who has made it clear that he is extremely aware of the horrors this world faces in its near future, there is always an element of something positive in his music. Whether that’s the uplifting hip-hop of his “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1” and his work as part of Heralds of Change in the mid-00s, the goofiness of Butter and the infamously misused “Cbat,” the anthemic Lantern or the fun minimalized bangers of TNGHT, he has something that can make me feel better in almost any mood, if for no other reason than the sheer mass of his discography. He’s an artist who takes his art just as seriously or as jokingly as he needs to at any given moment, among the most flexible in that lane I’ve ever seen.

So it’s no surprise (or rather, it shouldn’t be) that Cry Sugar is excellent at providing something for everyone and every time. There’s happy hardcore, ambient, trap, garage, PC Music-type stuff (whatever you want to call that nowadays – although I’ll note that he was doing it years before them), chipmunk soul, and even a glitchy song that sounds just like Nicolas Jaar (“KPIPE”). Most of these aren’t really treading new ground for him, but that’s not a dig, not even a little bit. If anything, this feels like a greatest hits compilation for Birchard, despite not a single one of these songs appearing anywhere outside of relatively obscure track IDs before 2022. It’s the sound of a master who is organizing some of his best work ever from all across his diverse palette of genres, capturing all the fun of familiarity and all the intrigue of novelty. I’ve been listening to HudMo for almost a decade now, I consider him one of the premier talents of this generation of producers, with consistently amazing work across the board, and I still think this might be his best project yet.

 

1. MOTOMAMI

[original blurb is #14 of staff top 50]
I have been trying to figure out how to write about MOTOMAMI for months. Despite putting a lot more effort into it in the past few years, I still know next to nothing about perreo, aka sandungueo (a style of reggaeton and form of dance that emphasizes the dembow and heavy movement for the hips), so maybe that’s why I love this so much. Not that I’m not interested in plenty of other reggaeton, but if you look at my past reviews, it will be very obvious that it is not my area of expertise. What I do feel confident in is most everything else this album covers – pop, R&B, hip-hop, and EDM (in the literal sense, not the “big room house and brostep” sense). I’ve heard thousands of hours of artists failing to effectively work within those genres, usually when it is not something that they have already had a lot of experience in. Rosalía is not a total stranger to any of them, but this is definitely her first big step into that field, and she knocks it out of the park with every single track.

What excites me most is how much of this album is clearly created with the intention to dance or at least with blatant inspiration from dance-oriented genres, like most of the ones I mentioned knowing something about earlier. For example, there’s the slow form of “COMO UN G” and “G3 N15,” the mid-to-fast-paced “DELIRIO” and “CHICKEN TERIYAKI,” and even the outright frantic “CUUUUuuuuuute,” which conveys deconstructed club better than any other even semi-popular post-SOPHIE track I can think of. It’s extremely difficult to balance out different paces like this all together on one project without awkward beginnings and abrupt stops – many, many popstars have failed – and even more so to do it while working primarily in genres you have only touched on previously – and yet, against the odds, this completely works. I’m all for artists taking left turns; it’s always interesting if not frequently successful, and music like this is exactly why I always give these kinds of projects a try. The tracklist somehow flows perfectly, even though if I described any one track and then described the next, it wouldn’t make much sense. It feels like a scattershot collection of random songs that somehow aligned just right to hit every target, even though I know that Rosalía is not one to disregard sequencing. Her last album was divided into very deliberate chapters, so it’s clear she understands the importance of the form, and each time I listen to MOTOMAMI, it makes more and more sense. And the performances on each of these songs really prove just how diverse of a songwriter and vocalist she is, without a single moment I would point out as bad and hundreds I could point out as good, shifting from casual and low-key to operatic and incredibly sincere even within individual songs. These lyrics are beautiful as well. I don’t speak enough Spanish to understand most of the phrases without looking at translations, but they are centered on change, sex, and empowerment, and sound gorgeous to my admittedly untrained ear. “HENTAI” is a good example: these longing words are sung in such a sincere, soaring tone that any non-Spanish speakers who haven’t heard of the track title before would have no idea everything about it was so aggressively horny, and the rapid-fire drums in the last half would probably shock them (I know they shocked me, and I love that kind of thing).

Top all of that with the sampling (Burial, Soulja Boy, Daddy Yankee, and Big Ben – yes, the clock – among others) and the collaborations (the best Weeknd feature since “Crew Love,” a prominent credit for the underrated Tokisha, an uncredited bridge from James Blake, and a rumored Frank Ocean appearance), and there’s a recipe for something that I guess I was destined to love. It’s not that I can’t find things to say about this. I could keep listing off random things that she did right here and annoy the people kindly compiling this list for free. I just have a hard time writing something that does justice to a project like MOTOMAMI, where each listen feels fresh, beautiful, intricate and surprising. As much as I regret not having a wider understanding of the often marginalized genres that make up a majority of this (you could write books on how much effort has been put into the racist and classist censorship of reggaeton), and as much as I hope that my doing so from now on will expand my understanding of this to much deeper levels, I don’t think that any number of hours listening to anything else will ever make this stop sounding like magic.