Favorite Music of 2022

The Listman Cometh

(My annual disclaimer: This is a list. So it’s gonna do what lists do, namely: list things. Years ago, I resolved to try to do a better job of promoting things I love rather than critiquing/hating things I don’t. This is part of that resolution as well as just me trying to document what moves me.)

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THE ALBUMS I LOVED THAT CAME OUT IN 2022.

(Mostly unranked with songs I loved from each of the dozen-ish albums in parentheses AND italics for your browsing convenience.)

TOP HALF DOZEN
These were the undisputed favorites. The artists here feel a little too predictable and on-brand for me, but oh well. You love what you love. And my day job has given me a deep appreciation for a strong brand.

Revealer—Madison Cunningham

Cunningham’s previous album, Who Are You Now, was my favorite album of 2019. My expectations, then, were high, perhaps verging on unfairly so. I’ll admit my first listens left me a bit puzzled but I caught up. The best songs on the album are the rising tide that raises the more let’s say “challenging” songs. Revealer has moments that remind me why she’s one of my favorite guitarists out there (“Hospital”) and others that highlight her impeccable songwriting (“Life According to Rachael”). She splits the difference between Rufus Wainwright and the Punch Brothers on songs like “In From Japan” and “All I’ve Ever Known.”
[SONGS: I just told them to you. Up there ^.]

Rolling Golden Holy—Bonny Light Horseman + Anais Mitchell—Anais Mitchell

Anais Mitchell is on fire with TWO of my favorite records this year—her own self-titled album and the sophomore effort from her project with Fruit Bats’ Eric D. Johnson and guitar wizard Josh Kaufman, Bonny Light Horseman. Same as with Madison Cunningham, my anticipation inflated expectations. And both albums, in different ways, lived up to their promise. I don’t know that I’ve heard a song quite like “Little Big Girl” and its take on aging. “Brooklyn Bridge” is a perfect, meditative love letter to her former hometown. And “Now You Know” is one of my favorite stream of consciousness poems, even if I prefer the even-more-stripped-down acoustic version from Xoa.
[SONGS: I also told you the Anais ones here, but on the BLH record, I’d go with Summer Dream, Exile, California, Sweetbread]

Lucifer On The Sofa—Spoon

One of the most consistent indie bands of the last 20 years turns out another reliable batch of great, jagged, strutty guitar rock. I would die to be in this band. 
[SONGS: Wild, The Hardest Cut, Held]

Cruel Country—Wilco

This one was a genuine surprise. Yes, Wilco has been one of my favorite bands since I fell in love with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot in the early 00s. But I had long ago ceased to wonder if their latter work would live up to the root-deep connection and artistic beauty of their inspiring mid-period work. I’ve enjoyed nearly everything (Schmilco fell a little flat for me?) but not with the down-to-the-molecules connection of the earlier work. And when I heard that the band, after years of purposely subverting and declining the alt-country tag that music writers pinned on them, was making a “country” record? I had my doubts. It felt an awful lot, from the outside, like the band trying to re-win their fanbase—the focus-grouped “return to our roots” maneuver that gave us albums like U2’s All You Can’t Leave Behind (on the high end) or, at the pits of it all, any of the Smashing Pumpkins’ latter-day pandering attempts at musical Rogaine. The hair ain’t coming back, buddy! (Ugh. So much for only promoting what I love and not getting critical.)
[SONGS: Sad Kind of Way, Tired of Taking It Out On You, Falling Apart (Right Now), Bird Without A Tail]

SAULT

Project producer Inflo’s extremely and enviably prolific work over the past half decade has been nothing short of incredible. While I have difficulty keeping up with the depth and King Gizzard-level prolificity of what he’s doing (five albums this year alone!), I can typically find more than a few standout songs per album and then cobble together some kind of Best Of Sault 2022 Compilation that’s as good as any other album out there. The project is stylistically all over the place, cherry-picking unique mystery collaborators as well as genres—from old school R&B to funk to disco to, like, cosmic choirs….it’s all there. Just the sound and feel of the drums alone on these albums, it gets me.
[SONGS: Stronger, God Is On Your Side]

Big Thief—Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You

Sprawling. Ambitious. Challenging to absorb, to take in. Not as cohesive sonically or writing-wise as previous albums. Eventually I resorted to Spot The Influence and this album started to make more sense. “Time Escaping” (best song on the record, IMHO) is their version of the Grateful Dead’s “Fire On The Mountain.” (You can literally sing one over the other.) “Change” is Harvest-era Neil Young. “Spud Infinity” is string band meets Dylan & The Band’s The Basement Tapes, complete with jaw harp and verses that feel like “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere.” And, please don’t come after me for this one, but “Simulation Swarm” (second best song on the album) has some real *ducks* Before These Crowded Streets-era Dave Matthews vibes. None of this is intended as Big Thief slander. All of these references and influences are filtered through the band and especially Adrienne Lenker’s singular lyrics and delivery, which make it patently Big Thief. It’s their kitchen sink, eclectic-ish album like The White Album or Tusk or something. All over the place. To quote the Pitchfork review: “Lenker’s subject matter, stated as briefly as possible, is everything: internet signals and falling leaves, vape pens and wild hairdos, the wounds we inflict on the planet and each other, the Book of Genesis, the mystery of consciousness, and yes, the humble potato.”
[SONGS: I just told them to you. Up there ^. Maybe I should’ve picked a structure and stuck with it.]

THE NEXT SIX_ISH

The Smile—A Light For Attracting Attention
Good to hear Jonny Greenwood and Thom Yorke remember their guitars and forget art school once in awhile.
Craig Finn—A Legacy of Rentals
Maybe this generation’s best character songwriter.
MJ Lenderman—Boat Songs
“Tastes Just Like It Costs” is the perfect blend of Jason Molina and Crazy Horse. And “Hangover Game” obviously speaks my Jordan Pushed Off love language.
Nilufer Yanya—Painless
Took me a second. But I love this one. Has some subtle Radiohead influence (“Midnight Sun” could be on In Rainbows), but with more pop and maybe even some soul phrasing in there.
Caitlin Rose — Cazumi
“Only Lies” is like those sweet/sour candies—and perfect. Rose’s last record, The Stand-In, was a favorite.
Rosalia—Motomami
I think Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) recommended this? I don’t know how else I would’ve found myself with this album. But it’s bonkers. And good thing I don’t speak Spanish because I think it’s explicit as (Spanish bleep).

OTHER QUALIFYING ALBUMS THAT HAD A GENUINE MOMENT WITH ME AND MERIT MENTION

Leona Naess—Brood X
Leona Naess will always have a place at the table. I don’t know how she never got bigger. “Name Across The Sky” and “Bring On The Lonely” show she’s still got great songs to write.”
Bjork—Fossora
Leona can sit next to Bjork, who will also always have a place at the table. No living musical artist has shown such range and vision and bravery. Bjork follows a muse no one else can see.
Gabriel Kahane—Magnificent Bird
Speaking of unique and magnificent weirdos, Kahane is brilliant and deserves a place at that table. “Sit Shiva” and “To Be American” and “We Are Saints” are all great examples of Kahane’s singular take on music.
Freedy Johnston—Back On The Road To You
Alex G—God Save The Animals
Wild Pink—ILYSM
”Hold My Hand” is gorgeous.
Angel Olsen—Big Time
Horsegirl—Versions of Modern Performance
Sometimes you need a little rock in your life.
Kevin Morby—This Is A Photograph
The title track rules. The rest is also quite good, but hard to compete with the first song.
Taylor Swift—Midnights
Black Thought/Danger Mouse—Cheat Codes
Ibibio Sound Machine—Electricity
See? I don’t JUST listen to sad-sack-sounding songs!
Edie Carey—The Veil
I played on this, which might normally disqualify it but I listened out of pure music fandom. Edie’s songwriting is heartfelt and airtight. Try “The Veil” or her Covid-era polaroid “I Know This.”

WANNA LISTEN? HERE’S A PLAYLIST
A “condensed” playlist of my favorite 2022 songs that still pushes 3 hours. LOL.

SOME SONGS I LIKED AN AWFUL LOT THIS YEAR THAT AREN’T ON THE ALBUMS LISTED ABOVE

Harry Styles—As It Was
One of the coolest musical moments of 2022 was standing in the GA section, with my daughter, her best friend, and Holly, waiting for Olivia Rodrigo to start her set of heart-rending breakup songs. A song played over the PA and, suddenly, the whole arena (besides me, left to ponder mortality as Pop Music had clearly passed me by in ways The Grim Reaper would not) was singing along at the joyous top of their lungs. It was beautiful and communal. And it was this song, obviously.
Alvvays—Easy On Your Own
Lisa O’Neill—Old Note
I shared this song in an earlier post. Sometimes a song just breaks through the noise and hits you.
Regina Spektor—Up The Mountain
Phoebe Bridgers—Sidelines
Watkins Family Hour—Hypnotized
Longtime fan of Sara Watkins’ vocals. This song is a perfect example of what a fantastic cover (the original is by Tune-Yards) should do: keep what makes the song great while giving it new context/flavor. When it hits the chorus, it’s euphoria every time for me.
Caroline Spence (with Matt Berningner of The National)—I Know You Know Me
M Horton Smith—Dark Paradise
Christian Lee Hutson—Endangered Birds
The Weather Station—Marsh
Jesca Hoop—Hatred Has A Mother
Every Jesca Hoop album has one song that jumps out at me. This one, with its themes of “hatred as a learned behavior” and “othering” as a verb, really hit me. Her songwriting and production choices are always really left field and adventurous.

And that’s it for 2022 music. You won’t have to sift through another one of these for another 365 days. Maybe I’ll post books and shows and life events later. But I just barely eked this one out.