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| Blazin's Top 40 Albums of 2022
Well I didn't expect this to be finished the day after the songs list was released, but here we are. Hope you enjoy! | | 40 |  | Kendrick Lamar
Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers
Shortly after DAMN. came out, Kendrick listed it as his favorite LP out of all his own. Some bewildered fans concluded this opinion had to be due to personal significance, and if this was so, was this the direction Kendrick intended on going with this album? It seems so to me. The stronger honesty on this record improves from the commercial disconnects on DAMN. Kendrick does a fantastic job as a focal point around a mixture of electronic and organic production, proving himself as a master of rapper-to-beat chemistry in both departments. K. Dot’s last on the list because there are some duds and only God knows why he gave Kodak Black such a big role. Even with all the hype surrounding Kendrick as an artist, the variety and manner in which he writes his grievances and commentary here can relate to just about anyone. To do so at the quality he has for so long is a feat only he can seem to accomplish right now.
“I choose me, I’m sorry” | | 39 |  | Misthyrming
Með hamri
At times, it’s hard to beat some high quality, ol’ fashioned black metal and this record is unapologetic about being exactly that. Grimacing, face-melting riffs, thundering blast beats and drum passages, and pacing that makes you feel its weight. The first few tracks of the album make an especially strong run with some great main melodies and the production to gel all the heaviness together. The vocalist deserves a shoutout with some killer and sometimes frightening performances behind the mic. I’d say this is a must-have for anyone with an interest in the black metal genre.
(English translation) “No sacrifice is too great in our bloodshot eyes because ours is the power and thine is the fall” | | 38 |  | The Callous Daoboys
Celebrity Therapist
The name is iwrestledabearonce levels of corny, the lyrics are various instances of situational comedy, and DEP-like instrumentation that’s done their homework on that band nearly down to the T. All the ingredients for obnoxiousness are there, but I not only can see where the hype comes from, but I buy into quite a lot of it. I love the moments where, though sparse, Callous Daoboys show off their melodic side such as the Three Days Grace-esque not-title-track “Title Track” and the final moments of “Star Baby”. It’s in these moments and frankly most stuff here that make great utilization of the tradeoffs between that melodic side and the zany ridiculousness of their core material.
“The ‘home’ you said you came with
A moment of weakness labeled ‘revelation’” | | 37 |  | Sylvaine
Nova
By doing her homework in scene networking, Sylvaine’s using the surrounding blackgaze movement to forge an identity of her own. It’s produced excellent results on Nova, where the rare American-Norwegian finds the right balance of beauty and harshness. Each song throws a wrench in the formula and a challenge for Sylvaine to write around. The metal-centric epics of “Mono no Aware” and “Fortapt” allow Sylvaine’s vocals to shine over familiar, but richly produced instrumental passages. The closing ballad doesn’t lose the necessary fuzz, but allows the string sections and vocals to send off with nice, serene vibes. We even have a “pop” number in the honestly edgily titled “I Close My Eyes so I Can See”, presenting Sylvaine as a songwriter with a great range of attitudes. I may have said she’s made great work from her scene networking, but now she dares those same peers to do better than her.
“A grand sacrifice
To grant, despite of loath
Independence spent
Taking care of this dear oath” | | 36 |  | Perfume Genius
Ugly Season
Perfume Genius’ most experimental album yet might just also be Michael’s best work yet. The electronic and keyboard textures are fabulous and I love how the album isn’t afraid to let those flare for as long as it feels necessary. There’s something for all experimental pop fans with more conventional, yet bold bops like “Pop Song” and the title track and with intense out-there cuts like “Eye in the Wall” and “Hellbent. Even the interludes are quite nice, too, as the more minimal piano pieces and electronic passages add quality breaks to the ride.
“Like a lost dream
Come back
Shadow pierce
A shield of light” | | 35 |  | Inanna
Void of Unending Depths
Who doesn’t love some solid, consistent, fire death metal every now and then? This is only the third LP from a band that’s been around for nearly three decades, but that off-product experience seems to really show here. The production’s got an older feel to it, but nevertheless adds the space and intensity necessary for the cosmic death to reach beyond the universe. Its several fantastic cuts use numerous ways to get you roped into its atmosphere like the proggy trudginess of “Underdimensional”, the unapologetic brutality of “Mind Surgery”, or the grand scope of “Cabo de Hornos”. Perhaps it’s not trying to do anything too different, but death metal ain’t much without its bite, and this has plenty of that to go around.
“Innumerable aeons I can see now
Foul visions which no cult has attained” | | 34 |  | Wilderun
Epigone
I know it’s easy for me to get attached to these Opeth-esque progressive rock/metal albums of middling aggression, but these guys deserve plenty of credit as songwriters. The production’s well done on most tracks, it’s compositionally excellent, and it almost always feels just right in tone balance. The “Distraction” series shows a nice range of styles, but the first half definitely has my favorite set of cuts. “Passenger” nearly made my year-end songs list for its fantastic orchestration and for it being a highlight of the band’s overall power. “Exhaler” into “Woolgatherer” makes for a splendid one-two punch to display the band’s dynamics. Mainstay progressive rock and metal fans will certainly want to check this one out.
“Pain’s just a passenger
In spite of the author” | | 33 |  | Wake
Thought Form Descent
One of the satisfyingly many acts this year that made the most of a stylistic change. Some fans were upset that Wake shifted away from grindy black metal into the trendier high-tone tremolos and longer, post-metal-like song structures. It warranted skepticism for sure, but Wake already knows how to do it right. Thought Form Descent proves Wake as a black metal jack-of-all-trades in both primary sound palette and individual track prowess. “Observer to Master” and “Bleeding Eyes of the Watcher” make for wonderful callbacks to more traditional black metal roots infused with Wake’s new core sound. The whole first half of the album is filled with technically intensive and rightfully heavy bangers that have a cool modern production touch to them. I’ll bet this current train of album hits is stopping anytime soon.
“With an emphatic impermanence
I will drag myself beyond the seventh layer
(Beyond) past the edge of transparency” | | 32 |  | Denzel Curry
Melt My Eyez See Your Future
I’ll admit that I didn’t see the majority of hype surrounding Zel before this came out. I thought TA13OO was great in concept but middling in execution, and Zuu was more mediocre than anything. He’s stepped up his game big time here with better production choices, more interesting themes, better bars, and just a more tightly-knit result in general. Denzel’s demeanor as sentimental, yet brutally honest-as-ever personality has given him loads of great themes and real-world characters to take inspiration from. That potential is realized and even exceeded, which allows Denzel to make some of his best tracks to date in “Walkin” and “Zatoichi”. Even with the evolved sense of reserve, he’s no short of Southern hip-hop bangers like “Ain’t No Way” and “John Wayne”. A highlight of an already incredible year for hip-hop.
“Don't let the three-six turn to a nine, wait, let me rewind
Don't let the three-six hypnotize minds, so God is my guide” | | 31 |  | Charlie Griffiths
Tiktaalika
A Haken guitarist (+singing buddies) set out to make a prog metal epic that’s gonna rock everyone’s socks off. You’d think it could only try to live up to the original of everyone involved. However, what happens here is an output that future collaborative projects can aspire to. The songwriting reaches the high points of all prog-metal pockets represented by many of the album’s guest stars. Its passages aren’t afraid to get dirty, cheesy, quirky, or two or all three; it doesn’t matter, it does all of it with excellence. Sheer variety in songwriting can only get you so far, so Charlie Griffiths’ djent-but-not-quite-djent guitar compositions set a creative backdrop for everyone’s needs here.
“In alluvium I roam” | | 30 |  | betcover!!
卵 (Tamago)
Tamago! Is a very lately scheduled album on my rotation, second in tardiness only to a project even farther up the list, which makes me feel privileged just to have even heard this at all. I love the bouncy energy these guys put on most tracks, aided by rich jazzy compositions and a great sense of emotional depth. In terms of pacing, Betcover can do it all, proven through their wonderfully written epics in the second and third tracks and more condensed bops like the dizzying third track or the excellently establishing opener. Perhaps the production could be cleared up here and there, but I feel that’s all this group needs to go exceptionally far.
“You’re hurriedly leaving me and even your shadow behind” | | 29 |  | Yeule
Glitch Princess
This is one of those very few instances where I feel the need to go back and reassess a previous project because I feel some of the successes with Yeule here should show themselves on an originally middling Serotonin. Anyways, Glitch Princess sees Yeule taking a significantly more experimental and, well, “glitchier” side of synthpop than Serotonin. These tracks have strong individual power; almost every moment of aggressiveness Yeule brings out deals a great amount of emotional punch and value to the already textured and gorgeous electronics work. It’s cool to hear one of Yeule’s best songs to date, “Don’t Be So Hard On Your Own Beauty”, be a warm acoustic guitar piece sandwich between these icy, dark glitch cuts. That’s just one of the many great surprises this record seems to throw the listener’s way.
“Dizzy, I crawl and trip down
Fall again, you pick up all my guts
Spilling out, bruised up, bloodied up” | | 28 |  | Lynyn
Lexicon
Conor Mackey, a guy with a very light electronic portfolio was more known for his work with jazz fusion outfit Monobody. I’ve listened to all of their LP’s and none of them are better than just decent, so what could this guy possibly have in store for an IDM/Breakbeat record? Obviously, he used a form of dark magic to make this happen. Otherwise, I guess all you need is a sense of compositional writing at the level of high-end jazz fusion musicianship. The album begins with an icy bounce on highlights “uja end” and the aptly titled “icenine” eventually followed by a more progressive pairing of “vnar rush” and “stumbling”, both of whom make the buildup into breakbeat madness very worthwhile. Finally, some tracklist oddballs like the hazy “in dust” and vocal sampling banger “amund vise” are there to continue the off-kilter entertainment.
This album is an instrumental | | 27 |  | King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard
Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava
The Gizzy Lizzies decided to revitalize fan interest by repeating their 2017 five-album run, you know, like every other sane act out there. Just like that run, the reception was positive on most, mixed on others. My reactions were similar, but this IDPLML monstrosity is one of the band’s best works yet. They just seem to be at their liveliest when the psychedelic melodies mix with a grandiose that is turned to 10. Fan favorites “Iron Lung” and “Ice V” capitalize on this most, but sprawlers like “Magma” and “Hell’s Itch” have their own overpowering jams. Perhaps some will simply see the jammy parts as wallpaper, but they play large parts in the album’s otherwordly journeys nonetheless. Stoners need to get on this ASAP.
“It's a different kind of cuttlefish, swing and a miss
Dancing with my eyes and lips, can't move my hips” | | 26 |  | Without Waves
Comedian
Without Waves have been around for over a decade secretly making the music the prog nerd in me had always dreamed of making. Why they are “secret” is a mystery to me, producing way lower numbers than I’d think they’d have. I’ll market for them here. Listen to Comedian now if you like high-quality production, loads of talent, and the courage to get bizarre at times. Showmanship is on full display, but it always dodges obnoxiousness. Each track has its own gripping motif and has a smooth flow in its tracklist despite being so ambitious in presentation. “Good Grief” and “Sleight in Shadows” make for great radio bangers that break up some of the facemelters like “Animal Kingdom” or more careful crafts such as “Set & Setting”. Not every song here is a winner, admittedly, but this is one of the most exciting acts to follow in anticipation of whatever they do next.
“Meet me in outer space
It's an infinite hideaway
Third person point of view
They're all out there inviting you” | | 25 |  | The Beths
Expert in a Dying Field
After a couple of promising records in a row, I feel this is where The Beths’ hit gold with the power-pop potential of matching catchiness with grit. This record has some of the band’s best songs to date such as the introspective title track, rockers like “Silence is Golden” and “Head in the Clouds”, and poppier earworms like “Knees Deep”. The guitar work is especially spectacular as it’s always coming through with a commanding presence at one point or another on nearly every track. The mix serves the whole experience excellently with how rich each member sounds. I’d recommend this and the rest of The Beths discography for anyone considering how diverse their accessibility has been over the years.
“Love is learned over time
Till you’re an expert in a dying field” | | 24 |  | Asunojokei
Island
Nine times out of 10 a 10-foot prod is an appropriate length between me and anything with that cover on it. But it’s not the awful RYM-user breakbeat productions I expected, it’s legitimately great blackgaze. Not only that, but it’s not afraid to make the genre a fun and even hokey listen. Its mixture of technically top-notch material and lighthearted goofiness shows that Island can handle both sides of sugary black metal across an entire record. Wanna get pummelled? Try “Beautiful Name”. Want some good cheese? Have at “Heavenward” or “Diva Under Blue Sky”. Want some random proggy Gojira worship? “The Sweet Smile of Vortex” is here for you. Seriously, Asunojokei’s got your needs covered.
“It's not AirPods Pro's fault you can't hear the hymn of cicadas
It's your own fault for wishing no one else would bother you” | | 23 |  | Danger Mouse and Black Thought
Cheat Codes
Take one of the most celebrated producers and one of the most celebrated lyricists of the 21st century on a collaboration project. That creates hype exceptionally hard to live up to, but I’d say this lives up to it and then some. Danger Mouse breaks away from the contemporary and into these jazzy, soulful beats that Black Thought sounds so natural on. It’s a chemistry apparently a decade and a half in the works, but it’s helped form the carefully sculpted bangers on this project. Balance isn’t always the name of the game with this chemistry, however; the fun part is where each has a chance to shine. I think of the disgustingly good production jobs on “Cheat Codes” and “Saltwater” and the incredible poetry of fan favorite “Aquamarine”. You know when this ends up in a high tier among 2022’s stacked hip-hop album roster, you’ve done something very, very right.
“My name in the Quran like the kingdom of Suleiman
You done lost your mind trying to call me a moulinyan” | | 22 |  | Silvana Estrada
Marchita
Like a couple of entries on this list, the effect of my summary is inevitably dampened by my lack of lyrical understanding past mere translation. Nonetheless, Silvana Estrada managed to make a sound palette as minimal as it is on Marchita into folk songs full of life and flavor. The whole album sounds so lovely and clear, and it manages to make largely driven vocal pieces like “Un Dia Cualquiera” and the opener pop out to the listener. The sparse orchestral rises that exist on the record define some of the record’s best climaxes in tracks such as “Sabre Olvidar”, “Casa”, and the title track. This might be the overall calmest entry on the whole list, but it’s absolutely worth your time if you’re looking for exactly that and some replay value to add.
(English Translation) “I want to be the rivaling fear in your soul” | | 21 |  | nouns
While of Unsound Mind
What do you think when you think of Arkansas, US? Do you think of hot springs? The Clinton Family? Meth epidemics? If not those, then it should at least be Nouns. These lovable nerds have learned well from the lessons of their noise rock peers that appear on this very album. They get ambitious and require fans to embrace their abrasiveness. The singer in particular has taken reign of every vocal style ever, sometimes all on the same song (“SENTAI QUARRY” and “COMA WALL ZONE OF AVOIDANCE” are especially insane). This album almost never slows down in its insanity, and when it does, it produces some of the weirdest songwriting I’ve heard this year. There’s the (sarcastically) very predictable drone-into-avant-garde-jazz “MAGNIFICENT STEINER” and the dubstep??? of whatever hellspawn is the closer. I don’t even know if a quarter of you will like this, but it doesn’t hurt to try, right?
“I went flying with all the sea people!
I read a book about hope!
And I tried to love better
But I don’t | | 20 |  | Psychonaut
Violate Consensus Reality
This Belgian heavy-psych/post-metal/prog-sludge group somehow continues to impress after the superb Unfold the God Man. The songs are generally a bit more compact this time, but they never sacrifice the enjoyment factor from their previous work. The central riffs are better than ever, more often than not giving a heavily grimy groove to make these compositions extra earwormy. Proggy bangers like “All Your Gods Have Gone” and “A Pacifist’s Guide to Violence” keep the heart pumping, but then you have some surprising melodic breakthroughs in the lush “Hope” or various passages in the album’s monstrous closer. Not everyone within the vast genre range this band goes for is going to accept Psychonaut as one of their own, but they’d be foolish not to by now.
“Be aware of fork tongues
By your side
Revere your vision
Persevere” | | 19 |  | Jockstrap
I Love You Jennifer B
You know, I Love Jennifer B, too, apparently. Awkward, artsy, and hilarious, it’s like reading into the weird, dream-like side of somebody’s head. Songs bounce around from one direction to the next, with the only consistency being that lovable unpredictableness of what that head comes up with next. The album mood swings from the low pensiveness of “Angst” and “Lancaster Court” to the raving epicness of bangers like “Concrete Over Water” and “50/50”. One can almost never truly feel every emotion at once, hence why it’s 10 songs over a full-length LP, but it’s hellbound on getting you as surreally close as possible.
“I believe in dreams
Do you?” | | 18 |  | Porcupine Tree
Closure/Continuation
Nearly two years ago, I was driving to my university campgrounds for work when I got a notification of a teaser for “Harridan” and an announcement for my favorite act’s first new release since 2009. I’m still in awe that we have a new LP at all, much less for it to fit nicely within their exceptional discography. C/C has its slogs, but it’s the deserving progression after The Incident and a statement of what each member learned in the last decade away from the band. To me, their biggest improvement is how Richard is featured on the keyboards. The band lets his signature ambiance define the atmosphere in many parts of the record, which is most noticeable in the darker-toned tracks like “Herd Culling” and the opener. The band’s now giving the same amount of optimism as they did a few years ago in regards to a new LP after this; I can only hope it lives up to the refreshment that this did.
“All the friends I have, I made you a list
Even if it’s true, they don’t all exist” | | 17 |  | Birds in Row
Gris Klein
Birds in Row must have a Krabby-Patty level secret recipe for this amazing post-hardcore/screamo thing they’ve made a name for themselves from. Gris Klein is a stunning upgrade over their last album, which was already fantastic. Birds in Row’s punkish angle to today’s post-hardcore scene is more passionate, more technical, and replayable than the genre has nearly ever been. Straight-shot, but ethereal ragers in “Cathederals” and “Nympheas” well complement the slow burners towards anger in highlights like “Noah” and “Trompe L’oeil”. Birds in Row don’t have very long to go before they become a top figure in a new height of the screamo scene not seen since the early 2000’s.
“Fold your paper into an ark
Godspeed Noah, I'm so glad you'll finally sink” | | 16 |  | Billy Woods
Aethiopes
Even I, someone who tries my hardest to make my preferences stand for as long as possible, Aethiopes is such a consistently strong listen that I have a new favorite song every relisten. For now, I’d have to go with the fierce delivery and cosmic production of “No Hard Feelings”, but I’ve also favorited the aquatic “Wharves”, the woodwind-laced “Remorseless”, the brooding “Sauvage”, and probably a couple of others I can’t remember off the top of my head. I haven’t heard History Will Absolve Me, but this is my favorite project yet that Billy Woods has been involved in. The classiness of the instrumentals makes the best bars on the record much colder, doubly so with Billy Woods’ ever-confident delivery.
“I’d be a liar if I feign surprise, a goat eats where it’s tethered” | | 15 |  | Elder (USA-MA)
Innate Passage
Elder entered the new decade with some flack on the tamer tonal shift away from their sludgy epics of the 2010’s. Elder couldn’t reverse that shift now, so they not only leaned into the Omens sound, but challenged to make an (IMO) already great record even better. And so they did. Stronger vocals, stronger riffs, and especially stronger jams. It’s easy for Elder to succeed in crafting a lush atmosphere set by mellotrons and keenly produced guitar work, but how many acts out there are making the absolute noodling of “Merged in Dreams - Ne Plus Ultra” sound this engaging? Only the finest. And the eldest.
“A flicker of eternity
Waiting for a moment to ascend
Standing in the passageway
This is not the end” | | 14 |  | SOUL GLO
Diaspora Problems
It feels so weird to hear a properly great rap-rock record from 2022. It’s likely I’m not looking hard enough, but some Death Grips material (ala “On GP”) is the last bit of “rap-rock” that’s stuck around with me. Soul Glo is here to cleanse that and all the souls that listen to them. Diaspora Problems’ wit, intensity, and snarkily rebellious approach was paralleled by very few over this decade so far. Everyone’s firing on all cylinders instrumentally and vocally. Any extra experimentation Soul Glo take part in outside of their already experimental sound hits very nicely like the heavy electronics on “Driponomics” or the “proper” hip-hop verses on “Spiritual Levels of Gang Shit”. There’s only excitement from here on out for these guys.
“Ain't nobody tryna kill me that hard to me
Like lemme get a gun and you can get it all from me” | | 13 |  | Willi Carlisle
Peculiar, Missouri
On one hand, it’s disappointing to hear a country/americana artist of this caliber only come around once in a blue moon. On the other, it’s quite the blessing we have something as witty and fun to listen to as Peculiar, Missouri. Willi Carlisle, who is very likely not related to Brandi Carlisle, blends a love for traditional country, poetry, and comedy in a rural experience that rarely ever comes around from country-adjacent projects. Willi’s voice works exceptionally well for the range of the album’s tracklist and does a wonderful job at emotional conviction when needed. Even past the legendary central title track are some amazing pieces on the more digestible side like “Tulsa’s Last Magician” and “The Grand Design”. I could see this guy making it big soon, whether Nashville’s involved or not.
“I sure wish I knew what we were supposed to do with ourselves
If you get any good ideas, won't you let me know?” | | 12 |  | The Smile
A Light For Attracting Attention
The most sought-after Thom Yorke project since A Moon-Shaped Pool certainly didn’t disappoint me. It’s great to hear Thom Yorke still at a fantastic talent level with his vocal performances and even more to see his hired-gun musicians do wonderfully at matching his level. The songwriting is excellent nearly all across the board with a terrific and diverse production job. It doesn’t seem easy to take two completely different sounds in “You Will Never Work in Television Again” and “Pana-vision” and make them flow next to each other, but this album has just the expertise for that. The former track and “Thin Thing” make for some quality alt-rock bangers and the duo of “Open the Floodgates” and “Free in the Knowledge” proves The Smile don’t miss out on the beauty of the balladry Thom has led time and time again.
“Opposites attract (Opposites suck)
In ash and dust and (Pockets full of emptiness)” | | 11 |  | Motorpsycho
Ancient Astronauts
Motorpsycho somehow pulls this stunt off every release with the utterly wild record of having all five albums I’ve covered from them be an 8/10 or above. Every album concept Motorpsycho has thrown at the wall hit a sweet spot for me almost no one else can. This time around we have an unusual tracklist structure running at 6, 2, 12, and 22 minutes in order that miraculously fills out spectacularly. The album starts with its most conventional song, which is a great riff-centric piece that shows Motorpsycho knows how to slip in their heavy-psych sound. Soon come the last two tracks that somehow have high replay value as 10+, 20+ minute jam sessions. It’s fair to say that you’ve got a year-end album experience on your hands if a tracklist of that setting is replayable to this degree.
“Heaven fair so close to Hell
Mona Liza, Azrael” | | 10 |  | Fleshwater
We're Not Here To Be Loved
There was an attempt I made in late October 2022 to get back on top of that year’s catalog I fell behind on. As it is now September 2023, that attempt didn’t quite pan out, but far and away the record that stuck with me most through that 20-ish album was this Vein.fm offshoot project. The premise was not promising to me, but, man, did these guys prove me wrong and then some. It only took fifteen seconds of the opener “Baldpate Driver” to realize that mistake. Kurt Ballou, of course, is the star of the show here with at least a top-five production job of the year. Each member sounds so mesmerizing to listen to between the flooring guitar effects, the fantastic dual vocalist work supporting the psychedelic nature of the lyrics, and a drumming performance that’s reserved but is great at its role-playing. I’d also like to shout out the album’s marketing strategy with the rubber duck mascot. Rubber ducks always win in my book.
“Lean in close
I'm not there
Look at the road
We're not there” | | 9 |  | Natalia Lafourcade
De Todas las Flores
I’ll start by admitting that I am missing out on the complete picture of Natalia Lafourcade’s performance with my American unilingual self. With what I do know of its composition and passion for musical themes in Mexican culture, this album seems to tie it all together beautifully. The album essentially functions in two parts where the first few tracks contain a gorgeous chamber-folk vibe to them. It’s here where the quieter arrangements give Natalia’s voice the most room to breathe and it hugely pays off with the fantastic title track single and a personal highlight of mine in the lush “Llevame viento”. The second half’s worth of tracks spares no quality, either, as Natalia’s more confident inflections give tracks like the jazzy “Mi manera de querer” and the outstanding “El lugar correcto” that spark to come out above their peers.
(English Translation) “Delicious mornings, labyrinths in the sunrises
Like your caresses, soft as thorns” | | 8 |  | Gospel
The Loser
Recency bias may or may not play a role in this statement, but 2022 was the best year for my circle of music since I started cataloging seriously in 2017. There were so many genuinely amazing projects, very little that disappointed, and even some amazing comebacks. Gospel capitalized on that comeback part better than anyone. Just like Porcupine Tree’s C/C, The Loser acts as a naturally more refined progression from something as raw and untamed as The Moon is a Dead World. However, it never loses that fire that makes them stand out even amongst very talented screamo peers back in the day. Vinny Roseboom’s still going in on the drums as hard as ever. The guitar passages are generally more melodic than their first record, but Gospel certainly succeeded the challenge of integrating them effectively in the proggier sound. Long live Gospel, but don’t make us wait another 17 years, please?
“Hello, I've been waiting here for you
As a matter of fact, man
We've all been waiting here for you” | | 7 |  | Ashenspire
Hostile Architecture
The most awesome album about a Scottish man and 37 other musicians drunkenly venting about working-class injustices. As unhinged as the message is presented, the concerns never feel preachy and are embedded with poetic allegories in its frustration. Its manic songwriting misdirections never fail to keep the listener on their feet. The expected chaotic beauty of its avant-garde metal nature elevates songs like the album bookends into amazing highs. It unexpectedly stands out by being catchy in areas like “Tragic Heroin” and by being… kinda sloppy? Indeed, the band sometimes screws up tempo or fumbles a passage like jazz students that had a few too many whiskies, but it just adds to the charm of it all.
“Capital’s pre-eminence made matter
Nailed to the high-rise, under the budgetary hammer
Do they sleep well, wrapped in irony?” | | 6 |  | Naked Flames
Miracle in Transit
In my Betcover blurb I said one project above it was last to make my year-end rotation. Miraculously, this is that album sitting comfortably in sixth place for the whole year. Miracle in Transit is what I’d like to call “Maxing the Ethereal” only because that’s pretty much what this is. And nostalgia, I suppose. Per random sampling data and the album’s overall sound, this is a glorious return to a late 90’s/early 00’s uptempo house project that uses bits of familiar synth melodies, effects, and layerings from compositions of that time period. Hell, the original (I think) Super Monkey Ball is sampled on “Miles of Conkers”. The highlights of this record such as the bookends and “Carrot Car” take this skill past new heights into new heavens. If a house album is too distractingly good to be studying music, you know it’s gotta compete with the likes of this.
This album is an instrumental | | 5 |  | JID
The Forever Story
In a year of Kendrick’s return, Zeltron’s best project, Billy Woods’ best project, and a Danger Mouse and Black Thought collab, J.I.D. claimed the largest hip-hop victory of 2022. Everyone and their mother has broken down his obviously insane rhyme schemes and flow switches, but that’s just a simple part of the success of The Forever Story. Several of the album’s features have much larger nameplates and rapping experience than J.I.D., yet he outperforms his features on literally every song. Nearly all of his bars are on point and he has several long-term sticklers to match. The occasional soul crossovers with the record’s Southern hip-hop sound make for some of my favorite hip-hop songs of the year in “Sistanem”, “Lauder Too”, “Stars”, and probably a couple others I’m missing. Don’t waste your time and get on this if you haven’t already.
“Look, I never gave that much a fuck about this shit
To let it challenge my integrity
But you questionin' me, got me thinkin' you thinkin' less of me | | 4 |  | Daniel Rossen
You Belong There
I haven’t listened to much Grizzly Bear past Painted Ruins, which was good in its own right. However, I felt the band was sacrificing a songwriting potential I didn’t fully understand at the time for more accessible material. Two of the band’s members decided to exercise that potential on You Belong There, culminating in an album so stunningly good that I clearly underestimated said potential. Both musicians are playing insane compositions that flow so well that it makes the clear overdubs an integral part of the whole process. The pacing is superb as the album rides a satisfying balance between tempo variation and consistency. The touches of classical arrangement are also lovely, and I appreciate how the album has tracks like “Celia” and “Tangle” to let that aspect play a larger role. It’s just a wonderful listen and exactly for anyone like me who’s naturally intrigued by these ambitious efforts.
“Our work for works sake, we're useless in our way
Clear the brush and push the paint” | | 3 |  | Black Country, New Road
Ants From Up There
I’ve seen a lot of points on this being this era’s Funeral. It makes sense; both are sonically hard to categorize, the lyrics have tons of personal depth, and the performances strongly liven the narrative’s scenarios. But now is a different time and 2022 was Isaac Wood and his crew’s moment to write modern struggles through that lens. And the results were magnificent. Ants from Up Here has exactly zero duds and loads of moments that are more than their part’s sum. For example, take “Good Will Hunting”, a comparatively accessible and less layered piece. And yet, “Good Will Hunting” stands so strongly on the record due to how terrifically it comes together, from the consistently stellar production to Isaac’s diversely outstanding vocal performance to the sheer instrumental creativity. Here I’ll cue Dr. Suess and remind myself to be glad we got what BCNR gave while they were around.
“We're all working on ourselves
And we're praying that the rest don't mind how much we've changed” | | 2 |  | Big Thief
Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You
I thought of this very lengthily-titled album as a decade-defining record on first listen (a year ago at this point). To this day I still love it more and more. This is a record I could never see myself getting bored with as long as I’m alive, something I only say about my favorite discographies, much less individual albums. Big Thief came through with the best lyrical writing this year had to offer, and to a degree that I think will match classics in that field like Either/Or or In the Aeroplane Over the Sea over time. As depressingly relatable as some of this album’s themes are, it’s the graceful and comforting language of its counteraction to those struggles that make the album as warm as it is. Even with all of its technical marvel, there have been times when this album acts as a source of therapy for me, and I know it’s been for many others, too. To that, I thank the band dearly.
“I believe in you
Even when you need to
Recoil” | | 1 |  | Black Midi
Hellfire
BEST ALBUM OF 2022
I know of the monotony. But even with BCNR’s masterpiece swansong, even with the songwriting masterclass of Big Thief, it was the boys at Black Midi who came out undefeated once again. If Cavalcade put them on the edge of all-time greatness, Hellfire catapulted them over it in what is impossibly their best work yet. This album is more of a complete manic adventure than the sound dabbling of their last two records. However, it keeps the greatness of their spirits: the punkish fervor of Schalgenheim and the progressive erraticism of Cavalcade are there to their best capabilities. Now that sound is grander and more theatrical, which suited Black Midi’s next songwriting steps perfectly. “What can Black Midi even improve after this?”, I’ve asked after every release, seemingly impossible to answer every time. But that’s only what the best can answer and that would happen to be Black Midi at the moment.
“So thank you for listening
Good night, good night, good night!” | |
pjquinones747
09.13.23 | some awesome picks here. glad someone else appreciates the new wake. | BlazinBlitzer
09.13.23 | Thank you! Yeah, the new Wake stuff is great and I find it more technically impressive on every listen. |
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