Favorite Albums of 2022, cont’d…
34. The Interrupters, In The Wild
Melodic ska-punk from California, Aimee Interrupter and her band‘s third album has enough grit to anchor its anthems of empowered positivity, and a host of choruses that are really, really fun to sing along to. Give it a spin and them give it at least a few more; this one’s a grower. Highlights: “As We Live,” “Let ’Em Go,” “Burdens”
35. Michael Franti and Spearhead, Follow Your Heart
What I love about Franti’s open-hearted, spiritually driven love-and-light guitar pop is that it’s easy to remember the politically focused, far left underground rap he started out with, and trace his arc in a way that shows his integrity. This music is conscious, fun, and uplifting, and it’s earned. Highlights: “Life Is Amazing,” “People Need People,” “Brighter Day”
36. Warpaint, Radiate Like This
Atmospheric, romantic and sometimes erotic downtempo indie rock, LA-based all-woman band Warpaint’s softer, warmer 4th album resonates with a comfort and intimacy that belies its pandemic-era origins and the physical distance between the four best friends who made it. Highlights: “Hips,” “Proof,” “Melting”
37. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Omnium Gatherum
Perfectly titled, the Australian band’s 20th album (in just 10 years) is a stylistically symmetrical double album incorporating even more diverse genres — notably among them soul, rap, & hipstery indie pop — often but not always weaving them right into their general psych rock framework. Highlights: “The Dripping Tap,” “Magenta Mountain,” “Evilest Man”
38. Gilla Band, Most Normal
A sleeker, more structured version of their all-out, balls-to-the-wall noise rock, the Dublin band’s third album is surprisingly approachable — often even danceable — but there’s still plenty of exhilarating chaos to wonder at. Highlights: “Backwash,” “Bin Liner Fashion,” “Post Ryan”
39. The Smile, A Light For Attracting Attention
Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood’s collaboration with Sons Of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner sounds and feels like a 10th Radiohead album, its main distinction a deepening into odd time signatures, unconventional son structures and polyrhythmic art rock. Highlights: “You Will Never Work In Television Again,” “Thin Thing,” “A Hairdryer”
40. Rosalía, Motomami
Rooted in flamenco music, Catalan artist Rosalía Vila’s 3rd album combines traditional, pop, hip hop and avant-garde expressions of Latin music in a whirlwind of ingenuity and charisma. Mostly in Spanish, the lyrics on this new one are apparently more carnal and controversial than usual. Highlights: “Bizcochito,” “Bulerías,” “CUUUUuuuuuute”
41. Etran de L’air, Agadez
A family band who’ve made their livelihood playing weddings for decades, this Tuareg desert psych rock band’s lithe and buoyant second record continues to fuse assouf music with the blues and various other African musical traditions, and it’s their first that sounds like a polished studio album. Highlights: “Tchingolene,” “Nak Igley Ismaderana,” “Toiubok Ine Chihoussay”
42. Frank Turner, FTHC
Revisiting hardcore punk roots on album full of suitably raw, emotional intensity, the former Million Dead frontman opens all of the veins, on a powerful, confessional 9th studio album whose conversational lyrical style invite the listener right in. Highlights: “Non-Serviam,” “Fatherless,” “Miranda”
43. Spoon, Lucifer on the Sofa
Widescreen, guitar-and-piano driven, heartland-tinged indie rock with a timeless feel, the Austin band’s 10th album is chock full of swagger and big, classic-sounding riffs, and shifts gears into more idiosyncratic, mostly softer territory toward the end. Highlights: “Wild,” “The Hardest Cut,” “Satellite”
44. Daniel Romano’s Outfit, La Luna
Prolific Canadian genre-bender Romano’s two-song, 33-minute-long symphony is open-hearted hippie love-fest of whose movements follow a path through orchestral, psych rock, folk, country, prog and more. If you‘ve wondered what genuine “chamber psych” would sound like, this is likely it!
45. Horse Lords, Comradely Objects
An uncanny marriage of cerebral composition and raucous, frenetic energy, this Baltimore-born, now mostly German-based instrumental; art rock band’s latest begins at a feverish pace with some of its most visceral music, then dials it waaay back a few songs in, before finding a satisfying equilibrium. Highlights: “Zero Degree Machine,” “Mess Mend,” “Rundling”
46. Goat, Oh Death
An always playful and unpredictable mixture of Middle-Eastern, Western, and African psychedelia and funk, this Swedish band’s 4th studio album offers light-spirited meditations on death and a host of irresistible grooves. It’s consistently danceable, often hypnotic, and infectious. Highlights: “Under No Nation,” “Do The Dance,” “Remind Yourself”
47. Elvis Costello and the Imposters, The Boy Named If
The liveliest, punchiest, rockin’est version of Elvis Costello announces his dramatic return with this 32rd album. Now, with melodies as nuanced as his storytelling, Costello is still the mature, elegant songwriter he spent many years becoming — but he hasn’t sounded this fun in a good while. Highlights: “The Difference,” “What If I Can’t Give You Anything But Love?,” “My Most Beautiful Mistake”
48. Fantastic Negrito, White Jesus, Black Problems
A sweeter, more melodic flavor of his avant-garde, genre-hopping version of the blues than he’s explored in the past, Xavier Dphrepaulezz tells the story of his direct ancestors, enslaved and indentured 9 generations ago, interwoven with reflections on Black trauma and the fight for true liberation. Highlights: “Trudoo,” “Nibbadip,” “Virginia Soil”
49. The HU, Rumble of Thunder
Rending any notions that they might be a novelty act asunder, the throat-singing Mongolian band delves deeper both into its metal aesthetic and its traditional roots, while also incorporating a broader array of rock influences. It’s stronger in every way than their debut and its highlights are riveting. Highlights: “Triangle,” “Mother Nature,” “Bii Biyelgee”
50. Little Simz, No Thank You
A surprise release and late addition to the best of 2022, the London rapper’s follow-up to her symphonic 2021 masterpiece is much less sonically ambitious, but her flow is still exquisite, which is sure provide all her new, international fans with a more streamlined introduction to the core of her sound. Highlights: “Gorilla,” “Heart On Fire,” “Angel”
(Ed. Note: This would probably be higher on my list if I had more time to get to know it, it just came out last week)
51. Bartees Strange, Farm To Table
Removing most of the punk, rap and experimental edges from his sound in favor of a smoother, soulful blend of indie pop/rock was, rather unexpectedly, exactly what this DC-based artist’s second album needed. Strange’s edges show up now mostly in his lyrics now, which are personal, weighty, and reflective. Highlights: “Wretched,” “Tours,” “Mulholland Dr”
52. Congotronics International, Where’s the One?
This lively, often psychedelic supergroup debut pairs Congolese bands Kasai Allstars and Konono №1 with San Francisco art-rockers Deerhoof, Argentinian comedian turned indie rocker Juana Molina, and more! Highlights: “The Chief Enters Again,” “Super Duper Rescue Allstars,” “Ambulayi Tshaniye”
53. Built To Spill, When The Wind Forgets Your Name
Long distinguished from many fellow fuzzy-guitared American indie bands by a particularly sincere and thoughtful approach (plus top-notch guitar prowess), Doug Martsch‘s band stands strong 30 years hence. Subtle changes come via the new Brazilian rhythm section, and elements of dub. Highlights: “Understood,” “Rocksteady,” “Spiderweb”
54. Sudan Archives, Natural Brown Prom Queen
Brittney Parks’ neo-soul sound leans further into hip hop on a more lyrically direct and even more multi-faceted second full-length album, which integrates her signature West African fiddle stylings more subtly and smoothly into a unique mix of confident, sex-positive, NSFW alt-R&B music. Highlights: “Selfish Soul,” “NBPQ (Topless),” “#513”
55. Wet Leg, Wet Leg
Sly and sexually charged with an element of absurdism, this much anticipated debut album by two women — both singer/guitarists — from the Isle of Wight, offers hooky, melodic indie rock and a whole bunch of memorable tunes. Highglihts: “Chaise Longue,” “Supermarket,” “Too Late Now”
56. Dry Cleaning, Stumpwork
Florence Shaw’s poetry is rhythmically tighter this time around, and occasionally melodic, as she further explores her gift for disembodied phrasings that make the listener beg for their context. As Shaw’s approach sharpens, her band opens up nicely beyond its post-punk roots. Highlights: “Hot Penny Day,” “Kwenchy Kups,” “Conservative Hell”
57. Just Mustard, Heart Under
The Irish quartet further articulates their place on the sharper edge of shoegaze, as Katie Ball’s voice rings out through a bleak, cavernous landscape touched by churning industrial synths, gothic overtones and post-punk-shaped gloom. Highlights: “Still,” “Seed,” “In Shade”
58. S.G. Goodman, Teeth Marks
Southern folk-rock with an unflinchingly progressive heart, this queer Kentucky singer/songwriter’s sophomore album offers vivid storytelling songs, solid musicianship, good stylistic range, and lots of emotional richness lyrically and vocally. Highlights: “Work Until I Die,” “The Heart Of it,” “Keeper Of The Time”
59. Yard Act, The Overload
Topical and unabashedly political but also playful and groove-driven, this energetic debut from Leeds features a mixture of sly dance punk, pleasantly textured post-punk, and thoughtful and incisive if occasionally cynical poetry and spoken word. Highlights: “The Incident,” “Dead Horse,” “Tall Poppies”
60. Bill Callahan, YTILAER
The result of an artist long associated with “apocalyptic folk” setting out to make an “uplifting” album, Callahan’s 19th studio album is not all that warm and fuzzy. But it does uplifts the listener by revealing connections between us and the enigmatic characters and stories he conjures as we listen. Highlights: ‘Natural Information,” “Bowevil,” “Partition”
61. Amanda Shires, Take It Like A Man
The Texan singer/songwriter’s 6th album is a powerful, intimate, confessional and seductive affair, and Shires’s voice, by turns simmering and blazing, embodies every emotion expertly. Just that look at that album cover, really; that’s what the album sounds and feels like. Highlights: “Hawk For The Dove,” “Take It Like A Man,” “Here He Comes”
62. Panda Bear and Sonic Boom, Reset
Colorful, psychedelic art pop from Animal Collective co-founder Noah Lennox and Spacemen 3 co-founder Pete Kember, Reset isn’t their first collaboration but it’s their first actual album as a tag a team. It’s bright and playful, with warm harmonies and enchanting melodies. Highlights: “Go On,” “Edge of the Edge,” “Everything’s Been Leading To This”
63. Ondara, Spanish Villager №3
A Kenyan singer/songwriter based in Minneapolis, J.S. Ondara’s 3rd album uses American folk and pop music as a vehicle for insights and reflections on America’s troubles, and has a look around the broader world too. Ondara’s voice is the immediate draw, but his songwriting is no slouch. Highlights: “An Alien in Minneapolis,” “A Seminar in Tokyo,” “A Contrarian Odyssey”
64. Weyes Blood, And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow
Natalie Mering’s second installment in a trilogy that began with 2019’s Titanic Rising continues in the vein of lush, gently psychedelic Laurel Canyon folk, but incorporates orchestral elements this time, and plants its existential struggles fittingly within the pandemic era. Highlights: “Hearts Aglow,” “The Worst Is Done,” “Grapevine”
65. Silvana Estrada, Marchita
Using primarily acoustic guitar, percussion, and vocals of such beauty and character that they’re just as engaging to non-Spanish speakers, this Veracruz, Mexico-based singer/songwriter’s second album fuses art pop, jazz, and Latin folk traditions into its own simple but singular vision. Highlights: “Te Guardo,” “Sabré Olvidar,” “Carta”
66. Belle and Sebastian, A Bit of Previous
Aging gracefully, the Scotish band uses its bright, colorful melodies to compliment and elucidate, rather than contrast, the weight of its themes. Their 10th album is all over the indie pop shop, musically speaking; each song is just what it needs to be. Highlights: “Do It For Your Country,” “Unnecessary Drama,” “Sea of Sorrow”
67. Phoenix, Alpha Zulu
The French indie synth pop champs fine tune their sonic wizardry and sound a lot fresher than they did on 2017’s Ti Amo. With infectious choruses, and club-ready production, the band teems with new life while still very much sounding like the Phoenix we know and love. Highlights: “Alpha Zulu,” “Tonight,” “Identical”
Continue to #68 through 100 of my Favorite Albums of 2022, and the master list…
(Still plenty of great stuff to go — this year was utterly packed!!)
…Or, check out my Highlights of 2022 playlist!