#albumsof2022 — Public Fediverse posts

Mainly as I like picking up tips from other people's lists, here are my favourite albums of the year...

#Albums #Albumsof2022 #Bestof2022

Okay, we’ve reached the fag end of 2022, & my top 5 favourite #albumsof2022 are,

1. #AntsFromUpThere by #BlackCountyNewRoad (#BCNR)
2. #DragonNewWarmMountainIBelieveInYou by #BigThief
3. #ChloeAndTheNext20thCentury by #FatherJohnMisty
4. #ALightForAttractingAttention by #TheSmile
5. #CoolItDown - #YeahYeahYeahs

I’ve enjoyed the newest offerings from #SoccerMommy, #FirstAidKit, & #BethOrton. I’ve also found myself warming to #BeingFunnyInAForeignLanguage by #The1975.

#music #bestof2022

Okay, we’ve reached the fag end of 2022, & my top 5 favourite #albumsof2022 are,

1. #AntsFromUpThere by #BlackCountyNewRoad (#BCNR)
2. #DragonNewWarmMountainIBelieveInYou by #BigThief
3. #ChloeAndTheNext20thCentury by #FatherJohnMisty
4. #ALightForAttractingAttention by #TheSmile
5. #CoolItDown - #YeahYeahYeahs

I’ve enjoyed the newest offerings from #SoccerMommy, #FirstAidKit, & #BethOrton. I’ve also found myself warming to #BeingFunnyInAForeignLanguage by #The1975.

#music #bestof2022

And HippyDave's HippyFave this year (perhaps a little predictably, although this is the first #1 the band have scored since 2004 in my rundowns)... Marillion, "An Hour Before It's Dark". Bands who've been around this long don't usually make albums this good. The subject matter - the climate crisis, the pandemic, the fragility of life, our ability to surpass our limitations, and the inevitability that all things must end - is broad & powerful. Their best in quite some time. #Top25 #AlbumsOf2022

1. Marillion, "An Hour Before It's Dark"

Bands shouldn't be putting out albums this good forty years into their career, should they? Themes of how to live, how to die, what makes it all worthwhile - and of course the pandemic creeps in too. This is just so very strong from beginning to end.

Try The Crow and the Nightingale : https://youtu.be/JqH11jOO0-0

#AlbumsOf2022 #Marillion #music

2. Pure Reason Revolution, "Above Cirrus"

I love that PRR reformed, I love that we've got a second new album from them, I loved seeing them play (some of it) live. This whole album is great, but "Scream Sideways" made me laugh out loud on first listen, just with the thrill of having no idea where it was going to turn next.

Try Dead Butterfly : https://youtu.be/09OmGyGWjmc

#AlbumsOf2022 #PureReasonRevolution #music

3. Sea Power, "Everything Was Forever"

Any other year this would be the standout album, but the competition is tough! I never got into anything by this band before, but I adore this and it's felt like the soundtrack to my world this year.

Try Two Fingers : https://youtu.be/nL5aqYeCYc4

#AlbumsOf2022 #SeaPower #music

4. Porcupine Tree, "Closure - Continuation"

Their last album was the only one of theirs I don't particularly like, so - after a long hiatus - it was a huge relief that this is good! With its origins in jams over the years, this has a bit of a different feel, but it's definitely PT.

Try Herd Culling : https://youtu.be/l420X9T1a6E

#AlbumsOf2022 #PorcupineTree #music

5. The Smile, "A Light for Attracting Attention"

Part Radiohead, part something new. I still feel I'm getting to know this one, but there's something new every time I listen. I've loved the gorgeous melody in "Free in the Knowledge" from the start, though.

Try Free in the Knowledge : https://youtu.be/5KP6sZIIKk4

#AlbumsOf2022 #TheSmile #music

6. The Unthanks, "Sorrows Away"

I found this a comfort while I was sick with covid, and couldn't cope with busier music for a while. Gorgeous harmonies, beautiful music, songs from the northeast.

Try The Bay of Fundy : https://youtu.be/6IWio9shzOM

#AlbumsOf2022 #TheUnthanks #music

7. Spoon, "Lucifer on the Sofa"

Yet another great album from Spoon.

Try The Hardest Cut : https://youtu.be/i4vl4T1hEuQ

#AlbumsOf2022 #Spoon #music

8. Arcade Fire, "WE"

This is so much better than their last album, which I enjoyed at first but it soon soured for me. This one just feels a bit slight, somehow, otherwise it would be higher in the list.

Try Unconditional I (Lookout Kid) : https://youtu.be/FdXRbOrsyRY

#AlbumsOf2022 #ArcadeFire #music

9. Jessie Buckley & Bernard Butler, "For All Our Days That Tear the Heart"

What a voice! I was blown away when we first heard "Footnotes on the Map" on Later with Jools. I still am, every time I listen to it.

Try Footnotes on the Map (Later with Jools Holland) : https://youtu.be/47jgb5okHQY

#AlbumsOf2022 #BuckleyAndButler #music

10. Warpaint, "Radiate Like This"

This is great, but I enjoyed the live versions on their "From the Basement" video even more. Wish we could have caught the tour!

Try Champion : https://youtu.be/YjXRyjM25b0

#AlbumsOf2022 #Warpaint #music

It's been a great year for new music. Here are my top 10 albums, so far.

I say "so far" because other people's lists are giving me loads of stuff to explore, as well as reminding me of albums I need to give more time to. I'd probably make a different list in a month's time, or even next week.

Anyway, here's mine - so far:

#AlbumsOf2022 #music

#2: Jean-Michel Jarre, "Oxymore". My god, it's full of stars... Listening to this album is a bit like a trip through the stargate: it feels strange & unfamiliar in the beginning, but repeated listening draws out the more familiar essence of Jarre's past work, whilst still feeling wholly new. Still breaking new ground at 74, Jarre's refusal to stay in his comfort zone is laudable. This is dense, immersive and innovative, not to mention a killer headphones record. #Top25 #AlbumsOf2022

#music #indie #AlbumsOf2022
One of my favourites of the year this one.
Australian band
Rolling Blackouts C.F.
Endless Rooms
Which was released on the superb Sub Pop label
https://youtu.be/I3Ey7E4I6qY

#3: Oceans Of Slumber, "Starlight And Ash". Great stuff from a band that continues to make left turns every time they make a record. Their death metal past is barely evident here, bar some pretty intense codas, but their voyage into the darker waters of Southern Gothic with this record is spectacular. Vocalist Cammie has never sounded better, and the music is stripped back in such a way to make every song hit with real emotional potency. Powerful and cathartic. #Top25 #AlbumsOf2022

#4: Ghost, "Impera". Tobias Forge's mission to convert the world's population to satanism via the most entertaining route possible continues apace. This is a glorious tribute to the pioneering metal bands of the late 70s/early 80s, all towering riffs & huge choruses, all subverted as ever by Forge's lyrics & showmanship. The theme this time is the fall of empires, and the album holds up a mirror to the world of 2022 with a knowing wink. Utterly addictive and tremendous fun. #Top25 #AlbumsOf2022

#5: A.A. Williams, "As The Moon Rests". It's no great departure from Williams' first album (the wonderful "Forever Blue"), but "As The Moon Rests" doubles down on the dark beauty of its predecessor to great effect. Songs like the powerfuly affecting "Pristine" or the gorgeous "Alone Into The Deep" are the equal of anything else she's ever done. Bruised and beautiful, this may even be Williams' finest hour. #Top25 #AlbumsOf2022

#6: Muse, "Will Of The People". I'm frankly astonished that there seems such a mixed reaction to this, which I feel is probably Muse's best album for over a decade. Punchy and stacked high with huge choruses, this is a delight from start to end, where it self-combusts in grand style with the brilliantly titled "We Are Fucking Fucked". Now there's a song title for our times, if ever there was one. Tremendous fun, the OTT delivery nevertheless hides some serious commentary. #Top25 #AlbumsOf2022

#7: Tangerine Dream, "Raum". Edgar Froese knew what he was doing when he left the legendary band in the hands of a new line-up prior to his death - "Quantum Gate", the band's first full-length studio album after Froese's passing, was superb - and "Raum" is even more impressive, managing the difficult feat of echoing past glories whilst being its own, entirely contemporary, animal. Intricate, hypnotic and possessing that innate TD quality, this is masterful stuff. #Top25 #AlbumsOf2022

#8: Björk, "Fossora". Björk is at her best when she marries her avant garde approach to pop music with primal emotions, and "Fossora" - heavily informed by the loss of her mother - delivers on both fronts. She can be a blunt instrument, but that can cut both ways: for all the clattering dissonance of tracks like "Atopos", you get something as confessional and ultimately uplifting as "Ancestress" or "Sorrowful Soil". Powerful and unpredictable, this is a cracking album. #Top25 #AlbumsOf2022

The deliberations have been made and the tally totted up. Here, then, is this year's BIG list.
#folkmusic #folk #albumoftheyear #albumsof2022

https://tradfolk.co/music/reviews/folk-albums-of-the-year-2022/

#9: Florence + The Machine, "Dance Fever". This record has been a 'grower' for me - on first hearing I was a little underwhelmed, but over time it's developed into a real favourite. The new songs are more concise, but vibrate with energy and pack the same wise yet whimsical lyrical punch we've come to know and love.

Florence's huge mainstream success is well merited: she's a true original. Oh, and the hardback book-styled deluxe edition is a thing of beauty. #Top25 #AlbumsOf2022

#11: Ed Wynne & Gre Vanderloo, "Tumbling Through The Floativerse". The Ozric Tentacles mainman turns in another terrific record filled with Ozric-y goodness, ably assisted by Gracerooms' Gre Vanderloo. In many ways it's a perfect marriage, and the results are suitably mind-expanding, veering from propulsive space rock to ambient bliss-outs as effortlessly as ever. Rarely has an album been so aptly named. 🙃 #Top25 #AlbumsOf2022