2022 Year End Lists: Top 100 Albums Of 2022

I've said

a few times this year that it's been a kind of interesting year for albums. While there wasn't the same pile of records absolutely blowing me away this year that there had been in years past, I was pleasantly surprised by how deep the field was. There were definitely albums cut from this year's list that could have comfortably made it onto one of the last two years' editions. Ultimately, I think that's a good thing. If I had to choose between the two I would take more good albums. But if the praise seems particularly quick compared to other lists and other years, there's a reason.

Enjoy <3

(This list was originally posted on January 1st, 2023 but was remade due to formatting errors)

100. Rina Sawayama - Hold The Girl

While Rina failed to impress me with some of the songwriting and in particular the hooks on her new record, the production of Clarence Clarity and her imposing personality are enough to carry this record through with its memorable bangers.

Listen To: This Hell, Frankenstein

99. Jack White - Fear Of The Dawn

While I wasn't crazy about this record at first revisiting it later in the year after Jack released a much less ambitious collection of largely acoustic songs made me realize that there's a unique listening experience worth remembering in the tracklist if Fear Of The Dawn even if the moment to moment isn't perfect.

Listen To: Eosophobia, Taking Me Back

98. Bill Callahan - YTILAER

While there were plenty of moments on this record that were too indulgent for my taste, when Bill Callahan is on top of things on the songwriting front he continues to be one of the most interesting narrative weavers and metaphor crafters in all of music. 

Listen To: Coyotes, Natural Information

97. Dry Cleaning - Stumpwork

No album on this list is pulled further by its highlights than Stumpwork. While I think the tracklist sees the band failing to live up to their potential once again. the great songs in the mix prove why the band even has those expectations in the first place.

Listen To: No Decent Shoes For Rain, Gary Ashby

96. Flo Milli - You Still Here, Ho?

For the second time in a row, I'm pleasantly surprised by the creativity and versatility pulled off by Flo Milli on an album. She again sticks to some of the fundamentals laid out by the artists who have influenced her quite a bit, but she also does almost everything she tries to do quite well.

Listen To: PBC, Conceited

95. Metro Boomin - Heroes & Villains

Much like a lot of producer albums this record can kind of get buried under the weight of inconsistent features. But standout moments from Young Thug and in particular 21 Savage carry this set of tracks beyond your average 2022 trap record.

Listen To: Metro Spider, Niagara Falls

94. Panda Bear & Sonic Boom - Reset

While some of the vintage stylings and tedious loops have waned on me since this record first came out I still see it as a sonic celebration of some of the things both Panda Bear and Sonic Boom do well. Playing with musical space in a way that is dense but never without its charm and pop sensibilities.

Listen To: Go On, Everything's Been Leading To This

93. Guerilla Toss - Famously Alive

While I wrestle with how much of this album's appeal comes down purely to its chaos, I still can't deny that the fusions of punk, electronica, noise, and pop that the band delivers on this record are both entirely unique and impressively catchy.

Listen To: Cannibal Capital, Famously Alive

92. Kae Tempest - The Line Is A Curve

This is a record that fell out of favor with me quite a bit since I first heard it. While I still think the singles all do great things in unique ways and there are some worthwhile deep cuts. I was surprised by just how let down I was with some of the deep cuts. Regardless it has songs that do things well enough that they kind of demand to be heard.

Listen To: More Pressure, No Prizes

91. The Mountain Goats - Bleed Out

Rounding out the first 10 records on the list is the most sonically upbeat thing The Mountain Goats have done in years. Even if the deep cuts suffer similarly to those on some of the band's last few records, they at least do so in a way that's far less patience-testing to engage with.

Listen To: Training Montage, Hostages

90. Ab-Soul - HERBERT

A late entry to this list that I didn't have the time to review properly, HERBERT is a bloated record but one whose versatility and creativity worked to keep me on my toes throughout. While it has some similar cutting-room floor issues that I've always had with Ab-Soul's album I also have to say that the creativity and high-level lyricism he's capable of are on here too, especially when he's recapping his own emotional state over the past few years.

Listen To: DO BETTER, GOTTA RAP

89. Nilufer Yanya - Painless

One of the breakout stars of indie rock this year was Nilufer Yanya, whose playful if unambitious indie rock album showed off her talents as a vocalist and performer. It's more of a proof of concept or a jumping-off point than a great album outright, but it more than proves she's an artist to look out for going forward. 

Listen To: the dealer, midnight sun

88. Latto - 777

Color me surprised once again. While Coi Leray did have a solid breakout year this year the real female rapper who won my attention was Latto, whose debut album is packed full of energetic performances with some solid features and production throughout. It definitely has me looking forward to anything she's gonna do next.

Listen To: Stepper, Big Energy

87. HEALTH - Disco4: Part 2

As with almost any collaborations record the quality of these songs sort of live and die by the performances of the features, which are inconsistent. But Health have proven to have good enough taste in who to collaborate with and what to do with them to make this a pretty enjoyable listening experience throughout.

Listen To: MURDER DEATH KILL. DEAD FLOWERS

86. Phoenix - Alpha Zulu

While Phoenix isn't rewriting the book here, I couldn't ignore how infectious most of the songs on this record are. The band's hooky synth-heavy indie pop has always been pretty irresistible and I think this is their best record in quite a while. It grew on me in just the few months since it came out and I wouldn't be surprised if it did even more going forward.

Listen To: Winter Solstice, Tonite

85. Ethel Cain - Preacher's Daughter

Ethel Cain's first full length album Preacher's Daughter has had much further reach than I think anyone expected, including Obama's favorite songs of the year. But I think that speaks to a lot of the universality of her best songs. While the record is unfortunately packed with extensions to good songs that kick it out to a difficult-to-swallow runtime, there's also more than enough here that is completely irresistible.

Listen To: Gibson Girl, A House In Nebraska

84. Nas - King's Disease III

Another year meant another new drop from Nas late in the year. I had a bit more time to digest this one than last year's Magic and I think I like it more. Despite feeling in a very  identical stylistic lane to much of everything else Nas has done in recent memory, his continued level of execution over wonderful production from Hit-Boy makes even their okay records a treat to listen to.

Listen To: 30, Legit

83. Florence + The Machine - Dance Fever

I can't really believe how little attention this record got relatively speaking. It's the first time in a LONG time I've enjoyed a Florence record and it's like now that the music is finally good, people stopped paying attention. Part of that may be due to how many unnecessary overblown extensions are tacked onto these songs across the record. But their individual quality overrules part of the indulgence of the listening experience.

Listen To: King, My Love

82. HOPEUROKAY - Error_Code404

I heard a LOT of hyper pop this year to the surprise of pretty much nobody. But even with what few of those artists actually managed to get a full project of music out, HOPEUROKAY lapped the field. Their vibrant, explosive, and indelibly charming fusions of hyperpop with genres like pop punk and electronica became irresistible to me as the year went on.

Listen To: The Letdown, Paint

81. Macross 82-99 - Sailorwave III

Admittedly, my original interest in this series which started almost a decade ago was for pretty novel reasons, but that isn't still the case. Sailorwave III is an improvement on the second edition full of neon-tinged vibrance girlish dance tunes. It's both nocturnal in its ambiance but oppressingly bright in its willingness to hide absolutely nothing from listeners.

Listen To: Girls Night Out, Pastel Banger

80. Pinegrove - 11:11

As they so often do, Pinegrove released an album early in the year this year that had me tossing and turning trying to identify exactly how good it was all year. While I don't think this is necessarily the band hitting their creative peak quite yet, I can't help but notice how many moments feel like they're really getting close.

Listen To: Respirate, Flora

79. Anxious - Little Green House

Emo is one of those genres where I'm comfortable being late to the newest and hottest bands. I've heard too many major label debuts from artists that didn't feel like they had the musicianship or talent to be at that level, but Anxious is a major exception. I caught the album on good recommendations from Brooklyn vegan last year and it ended up being one of my favorite new releases in all of emo or pop punk.

Listen To: You When You're Gone, Let Me

78. Pale Sketcher - Golden Skin

This long-awaited full project worth of material from Justin Broadrick's electronica side project Pale Sketcher had high expectations among the JB diehards who've heard the project's EPs over the last decade. Turns out anything that falls under the umbrella of music, Broadrick is pretty good at and this is no exception with bright electronic landscapes fronted by skittering beats that are both catchy and totally enveloping.

Listen To: A Joy Only We Know, Today

77. 700 Bliss - Nothing To Declare

Dj Haram and Moor Mother teamed up once again this year to follow up an excellent 2018 EP with an expanded and even more difficult-to-define new project. The songs here are occasionally quite hard-hitting, intense, and serious but there are plenty of moments of tongue-in-cheek charm that add levity. The combination makes for a tailspin of experimental hip-hop ideas but handled by two artists whose attention to detail is consistently impressive.

Listen To: Candace Parker, Bless Grips

76. Open Mike Eagle - Component System With The Auto Reverse

I wasn't crazy about Mike's previous confessionary album but in retrospect, it feels like something that was very necessary to do. So the return, appropriately, sees Mike and a number of his friends showing off the deep well of references and buckets of talent and wit. Even when it occasionally feels like the unique personalities involved cause the project to slip away from some good songwriting and structure, this is still an endlessly entertaining rap album. 

Listen To: 79th And Stony Island, I'll Fight You

75. Sharon Van Etten - We've Been Going About This All Wrong

In terms of beloved singer-songwriters in the indie scene, Sharon Van Etten is close to as adored as they come. So while this record is purposefully unspectacular, it still clicked with many fans, myself included. With Sharon's songwriting, lyricism and vocals on full display she once again impresses on almost all fronts.

Listen To: Born, Mistakes

74. The Comet Is Coming - Hyper-Dimensional Expansion Beam

Much like almost all of the past 5 years in music, the most insane and impressive jazz project of the year comes courtesy of a Shabaka Hutchings project. While this Comet Is Coming record may not be as neon as their last, it's far more spacey and futuristic by comparison. The results are blistering jazz sounds that feel like they come from another universe, thoroughly enjoyable throughout.

Listen To: TECHNICOLOUR, LUCID DREAMER

73. Drake & 21 Savage - Her Loss

Drake's first album of the year Honestly, Nevermind was better than most fans and critics gave it credit for, but still far too mediocre to ever be under consideration for a list like this. Her Loss by comparison, felt like something I couldn't leave out. The record is packed full of too many memorable hooks, hilarious adlibs, solid beats, and surprising chemistry between Drake and 21 throughout. This was always going to be an easy album for people to hate, but the quality of what the pair delivered ultimately supersedes their reputations.

Listen To: Spin Bout U, Rich Flex

72. sayurblaires - You No Longer Live Inside My Head, I'm Just Waiting For You To Take Shape

While I've certainly been late to some amazing underground screamo albums in the past, it was always gonna be pretty hard for me to miss this. sayurblaires' debut is versatile, emotional, and achingly authentic at every turn, not to mention so sonically chaotic and unpredictable that you may need a few listens to even begin to pull at some of the conceptual strings underneath. It's the kind of whirlwind of sound and raw angst that you almost have to look to the underground to find.

Listen To: Woman In The Wind, Portside's A Funny Place

71. DJ Sabrina The Teenage DJ - Bewitched!

When does Sabrina have time to rest? Once again in 2022 she released song after song and project after project. My favorite of the bunch is Bewitched! which feels like her most significant release since her breakout project Charmed. While It shares a lot in common with that record there are plenty of entirely new reasons to listen along to her longwinded nostalgic dance songs.

Listen To: Lifeline, You Always Loved Me

70. DOMi & JD BECK - NOT TiGHT

One of the quirkiest albums of the year, NOT TiGHT pulls it off without trying. The pair are crafting funny, jittery, and effortlessly charming jazz tunes all across this record with one great feature after another that makes it one of the easiest listens of the year. But don't take that as a signifier that the musicianship on display is any less than impressive and nearly unmatched this year.

Listen To: U DON'T HAVE TO ROB ME, SNiFF

69. Melody's Echo Chamber - Emotional Eternal

This was one of the years bigger surprises for me. Not because I never liked a Melody's Echo Chamber record before, but because I had never felt so divisive about one. While some of the best material she's ever made appears in this tracklist, some songs are so painfully boring that it makes the record hard to judge as a full product. Overall though, there's much more good than bad and the good is her best to date.

Listen To: Alma, Where The Water Clears The Illusion

68. Raum - Daughter

Last year Liz Harris AKA Grouper really impressed me with an album that saw her breaching the gap between her singer-songwriter side and ambient musician side and I was really impressed. This year she brought back her Raum side project for a full descent into ambient and field recordings and the results are more grounded, sometimes literally so, but still fascinating. These blurry soundscapes are entrancing throughout and come marked up and down with the signs of careful musicianship and dedication to ambient craft.

Listen To: Restoration, Walk Together

67. Carly Rae Jepsen - The Loneliest Time

If you're surprised so see a Carly record this low on one of my lists, believe me I was surprised too. Despite how high I put the record's opening track on my songs list yesterday, the deep cuts here don't quite have the satisfactory sheen that I've become to used to with Carly. There are still highlights abound and the singles became more and more of an impressive and versatile group as they went on, but when you have such great records as Emotion and Dedicated in your back pocket sometimes expectations can get out of control.

Listen To: Surrender My Heart, Western Wind

66. Vince Staples - Ramona Park Broke My Heart

After feeling like I was a bit strict in my initial judgment of Vince's new album last year. Ramona proved that my assessment was in the right place because this album does pretty much everything that one did, but slightly better. From some of the touching and occasionally difficult introspection to the genuine summer bangers and irresistibly catchy crossover tunes, this is nothing but a solid release from Vince. 

Listen To: Lemonade, The Blues

65. Billy Woods - Aethiopes

This record has been one of the biggest critical darlings of the year and is plenty of fans and publication's best rap record of 2022. While it plays into my reputation of somehow being a Billy Woods hater despite consistently praising his music, I'm placing it here on the list because I thought it was good but not great. Save for a few beats and features that fall flat this is a largely very consistent and interesting rap record, if not much of a versatile one.

Listen To: Heavy Water, The Doldrums

64. Obongjayar - Some Nights I Dream Of Doors

If this was a record you heard about but never gave a proper listen to, take the chance to remedy that right now. I thought the album might have the potential to grow off of me as the year went on but I never stopped being impressed by the vibrant fusions of various cultural sounds paired with Obongjayar's immense vocal talent and versatility. It's one of the most unique albums I heard anywhere in 2022 and it will stick with me for a long time.

Listen To: Try, Message In A Hammer

63. Ari Lennox - age/sex/location

While this may not be Ari Lennox quite reaching her incredibly high creative potential, it's still a big step forward in a number of facets. The album finally sees her self injecting a level of personality into these songs that separates her from so many of her contemporaries. On top of that, most of the issues I have with the record don't necessarily have much to do with Ari directly. In a year that turned out pretty good for Dreamville it's impossible to overlook what she contributed.

Listen To: Outside, Pressure

62. Kilo Kish - American Curl

Speaking of artists who released their best album to date but still didn't quite live up to their enormously high potential, enter Kilo Kish. While her REDUX EP still blows me away to this day and this record might not be that consistently good, there are still moments that remind me of just how exciting Kilo can be. The futuristic, politically charged electro-pop across this record is hard-hitting but still has so much detail worth digging into on a lyrical front. It really does feel like one of the smartest albums in this lane released in the last few years.

Listen To: New Tricks, Bloody Future

61. Krallice - Crystalline Exhaustion

One of the more underrated metal albums of the year likely due to not being on streaming services, this epic black metal rager is the best thing Krallice has released in a long time. From its most epic and detailed points to some of its most raw and simple breaks, the record is feverishly intense and utterly brutal throughout.

Listen To: Frost, Archlights

60. Saba - Few Good Days

This was one of a handful of rap records that grew on me more and more as the year went on. While there are still low points in the mix here that feel underwhelming relative to some of the more exciting and consistent albums this year, the quality and versatility of its high points are exactly the promise that Saba makes as an artist. While we may still be waiting for a Care For Me caliber follow-up, this is far from a disappointing interlude.

Listen To: Survivor's Guilt, 2012

59. Kurt Vile - (watch my moves)

One of the things I heard a lot from people this year both in real life and online was "who likes Kurt Vile anymore?" Well, the answer to that question is me. Even though I was never the biggest fan of him at his peak I've always enjoyed his music and a record like Watch My Moves shows exactly why. It's full of songs that are longwinded but obviously by design, resulting in a wandering blissful haze that I was happy to journey down repeatedly this year.

Listen To: Mount Airy Hill, Like Exploding Stones

58. Lucifer On The Sofa - Spoon

Spoon being a consistent band is basically a music critic cliche at this point, which is arguably even in itself a way to give credit to just how consistent they are. Year after year and album after album the band delivers on catchy, bluesy indie rock and this one is absolutely no different. It certainly isn't the deepest or most conceptual record you'll hear this year but it doesn't aim to be and in that sense, it achieves everything it set out to.

Listen To: Wild, The Hardest Cut

57. Benjamin Clementine - And I Have Been

Clementine made it VERY clear in the lead-up to this record that this is more of a pandemic-born experiment than his highly anticipated third album. Even viewing it as basically a BC mixtape there is a LOT to like here. While it may have one of the weaker songs and vocal performances I've ever heard from the strikingly unique vocalist, much of the record is full of intoxicating singing and illustrious detail.

Listen To: Residue, Copening

56. Joey Bada$$ - 2000

Ten years after Joey Badass' legendary breakout mixtape 1999 we get a spiritual sequel of sorts. One that comes with the same youthful sonic intensity but with the reflections and meditations of age now weighing on Joey's mind. This means that his views, reference points, and lifestyle may have changed, but his intensity as a performer and ability as a song-writer haven't wavered.

Listen To: Survivor's Guilt, Brand New 911

55. Broken Bells - Into The Blue

Another surprise. After myself and many others had a pretty negative reaction to the exceedingly boring record that this combination of James Mercer and Danger Mouse released when they last linked up as Broken Bells, this was a refreshing selection of new spacey indie rock songs. The turn these tracks take into more expansive territory brings with it a consistency of atmosphere that makes this record a breeze to listen through and one I never had trouble returning to throughout the second half of the year.

Listen To: Saturdays, We're Not In Orbit Yet

54. Stormzy - This Is What I Mean

This is a record that I liked as soon as I heard it but I'm not sure I've seen it on a single year-end list. That may have something to do with how late in the year it came out or maybe Stormzy's lack of popularity in America, it's a shame because his more reflective style on this record seems like something critics should be eating up. While he is often quite vulnerable this album is by no means one-sided, it all comes together to show the immense talent of the artist at its core.

Listen To: All My Presidents Are Black, Hide & Seek

53. Alvvays - Blue Rev

This album has a pretty fitting title because Alvvays revved back into the indie scene with their densest, thickest, and shoegaziest album yet. With so many of their strong hooks still intact, the band roars out fun and detailed indie rock that grabbed the attention of critics and fans right away, just as its critical domination this year suggests.

Listen To: Pharmacist, Belinda Says

52. The Weeknd - Dawn FM

While a lot of people (including radio) weren't quite as thrilled with Dawn FM as they have been with past records from Abel, there was still a surprising amount of longevity in these tracks. Even having basically an entire year to sit with this record the deep cuts continued to thrill me and though the radio broadcast concept is a bit overdone, the supernatural eerieness to all of it helps make it unique.

Listen To: Take My Breath, Don't Break My Heart

51. Plains - I Walked With You A Ways

The pairing of Katie Crutchfield AKA Waxahatchee and Jess Williamson wasn't exactly a head-turning moment but wow are the results enjoyable. The two made some classically beautiful singer-songwriter meets country-folk tunes with simple charming instrumentation and great songwriting. They're not re-writing the book on anything, just proving that they can do it as well as the greats.

Listen To: Abilene, Problem With It

50. Natalia Lafourcade - De Todas Las Flores

After taking a few years off to tribute the history of Mexican folk music in a more direct way, it seems like Natalia took everything she learned and put it into this wonderful singer-songwriter album. Many of the sounds will be familiar to those who have been paying attention to her recent run but it's really an increase in the quality of her soaring vocals and excellent songwriting that really brought it all home. Don't let the language barrier keep you from hearing one of the best singer-songwriter albums of the year.

Listen To: De Todas Las Flores, Vine Solita

49. Destroyer - Labyrinthitis

While this may not be the peak of Dan Beyar's artsy indie rock it does have so many moments that inspire the same jangly wonder. With smart lyrics delivered in Beyar's trademark coffee shop sarcasm the whole thing is slanted in a way that's still easy to take seriously even when it's making you laugh because he's insulting someone who built a snowman.

Listen To: Tintoertto It's For You, It Takes A Thief

48. Foxtails - fawn

While I never disliked Foxtails, I think they really came into their own this year with a project that delivers on both extra theatricality and extra intensity. The interpolation of volin helped the band extract drama out of the quiet moments and add chaos to the exciting rushes and the results are some of the most spellbindingly intense screamo I heard anywhere this year.

Listen To: la belle indifference, ego death

47. Whitney - SPARK

Even though I've always been a big fan of Whitney I was still surprised by just how much I liked this record. After a confusing lead single it was pretty much one catchy track after another for the entire run of the album. Even though it still lives pretty firmly in the band's realm of indie folk bliss, there is a newfound brightness and depth to these tunes that make them even better. It feels like SPARK is the perfect name for a project like this within the discography of a band like Whitney.

Listen To: BLUE, NOTHING REMAINS

46. Zola Jesus - Arkhon

Given how long it's been since the last Zola Jesus album, it feels extra satisfying that she managed to pull off something as interesting as this. Let's just say that the album cover really fits the mood here as these reverb-heavy chamber songs do feel like they're surrounding you in the echoey walls of a cave. Combined with songs that deploy patience until just the right moments of relief and you get a collection of tracks that are deeply satisfying enough to last us until it's time for Zola Jesus to do it again.

Listen To: Lost, Desire

45. Father John Misty - Chloe And The Next 20th Century

This was definitely a record that grew off me a bit in what felt like a very long year. While some of the deep cuts started to awe me less and less I still have to give the record a ton of credit for the sonic aesthetic and lyrical concept it adheres to. The old hollywood aesthetic feels perfect for someone as relentlessly clever as Josh Tillman and he takes every single possible opportunity to flex just how funny he can be. 

Listen To: Funny Girl, The Next 20th Century

44. Preoccupations - Arrangements

I wouldn't have just said out of the blue that a return from Preoccupations would be one of my most anticipated albums of the year, but it turned out to be. After releasing such dark and spectacular post-punk across the 2010s I was excited for either more or as it turns out a change of pace. There is still that darkness present on the record but it's occasionally cut through by something catchier and brighter than I even knew the band was capable of. The result is a pretty deeply compelling and versatile new record from some of the stars of 2010s post-punk.

Listen To: Death Of Melody, Fix Bayonets!

43. Earl Sweatshirt - Sick!

Another album that's been out for so long that it almost feels weird to be on a 2022 best-of list. Regardless it was another record that maybe didn't benefit from that much exposure in a year with so much great underground hip hop. Regardless, Earl has the reputation he does for a reason and on Sick he once again reinforces how he operates with a creativity that's entirely his own and has developed a fittingly distinct style as a result.

Listen To: Titanic, 2010

42. Warpaint - Radiate Like This

Another band whose return I felt like I was the only person excited for, Warpaint came back this year with one of their best albums in years. The records turn into stark spaces, dense mixes and understated vocal performances fits the band better than I would have ever imagined. The record also has some wonderful percussion working in its favor, which is the easiest way to get straight to my heart. It was one I was surprised all year didn't get more attention.

Listen To: Champion, Stevie

41. Jockstrap - I Love You Jennifer B

This year Jockstrap graduated from promising upstarts to indie darlings as ceremoniously as anyone with one great single after another that led up to an impossible-to-define avant-pop record. The bounces between soaring pop hooks and pummeling electronic beats or sparse string passages make for an unpredictable listen. In the hands of lesser musicians this had the potential to sound painfully chaotic, but Jockstrap harness and utilize their eccentricities perfectly. 

Listen To: Concrete Over Water, Greatest Hits

40. The Smile - A Light For Attracting Attention

Even given that I quite liked the record and that the involvement of Radiohead members gives it instant critical appeal, I was still surprised at just how much this record seemed to dominate year-end lists. But revisiting the album I was pretty quick to pick up on some of the things that made it so appealing and the deep cuts won me over once again. From the stark expanses of the record's quietest points to the retro rush of its most exciting this is a level of musicianship and personality that is nothing shy of impressive.

Listen To: Free In The Knowledge, You Will Never Work In Television Again

39. The Garden - Horseshit On Route 66

Sorry Smile fans, I know this isn't what you wanted or even expected to be following your AOTY on the list. In your defense though, I'm just as surprised. The Garden has always been a curiosity to me, capable of writing great songs and with a dynamic fusion of styles at their core. But they also felt like a band that was more interested in making an impression than making great albums, until now. This is a concise and incredibly punchy set of tracks whose slim runtime leaves no room for dillydallying, so the band cuts out the fat entirely. The results are a focused but still so hilariously chaotic listen. 

Listen To: What Else Could I Be But A Jester?, Freight Yard

38. Amber Mark - Three Dimensions Deep

Amber Mark's long-awaited new album is the best debut to hit R&B in at least a few years, if not even longer. She did exactly what she needed to in order to introduce herself with one catchy warm R&B song after another. Not only does she deploy a versatility of style, but a versatility of songwriting to match. The results are a long but thorough portrait of who she wants to be as an artist and if she ever does make the genre-defining album she's clearly capable of, it'll be looked back on as the most important stepping stone.

Listen To: FOMO, Cosmic

37. The 1975 - Being Funny In A Foreign Language

Somehow The 1975 always do this. For some reason, I decide to count them out and then they show up with solid material anyway and I never learn, repeat indefinitely. This time around it was the record's seeming lack of ambition and to be fully transparent, it's Jack Antonoff production that made me hesitant. But ultimately that simplicity allows the band to shine with a series of earnest pop-rock songs that translate one after another and dish out a number of extremely memorable highlights despite the familiar sound.

Listen To: I'm In Love With You, Oh Caroline

36. Lupe Fiasco - DRILL MUSIC IN ZION

Calling Lupe Fiasco's musical output "impressive" is almost out of style at this point, of course its impressive, Just like almost everything he's put out in the last 10 years this album has conceptual and narrative weavings that run deep and so much of it serves to circle back to the records impressive core concepts. But these tracks also work on their own as memorable statements full of rich storytelling and masterful mind-bending wordplay. This was a record for the hip-hop connoisseurs above anything else, and it wasn't the only one of its kind dropped this year.

Listen To: MS. MURAL, KIOSK

 

35. Flume - Palaces

Palaces admittedly had big shoes to fill after how incredibly experimental and impressionistic its predecessor, Hi This Is Flume was. But arguably the labeling of that project as more of a mixtape and the way it stands out from the rest of Flume's discography gave it unfair expectations. It's more comarable to the Toro Y Moi featuring single The Difference, a bright explosion of pop and electronica that does occasionally have some experimental elements. While moments like the title track and the mysterious Jasper's Song do have some of those experimental leanings, in large part this album is about taking talented collaborators and building accessible electronic landscapes in which they can thrive.

Listen To: Palaces, Escape

34. Freddie Gibbs - $oul $old $eperately

This was another record that exceeded my initial expectations and then made my question why I had ever lowered the in the first place. While it's true that Freddie doesn't necessarily have as robust a collection of solo albums as he does collaborations it also feels like this is the biggest true solo venture he's embarked on in a long time. That's a funny way to describe it because there are tons of collaborators here on both the production and performance side of things that make memorable contributions. Ultimately, it's a bunch of veteran talents working together to craft impressive, dark, and intoxicating rap songs one after another.

Listen To: Feel No Pain, Gold Rings

33. The Soft Pink Truth - Is It Going To Get Any Deeper Than This?

I learned a long time ago to stop underestimating Matmos and their various side projects. While the EP from Soft Pink Truth earlier this year was good, this album full of brooding electronic music was even better and it grew on me more and more every single time I heard it. Don't let the length of these songs intimidate you, it's impossible to get bored following the record through its various genre and style ambitions. If you like electronica of any kind and somehow missed this project, do yourself a favor and give it a try. 

Listen To: Deeper, Sunwash

32. The Weather Station - How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars

I'll say one last time the thing I keep saying every time I talk about this album. After thinking last years Weather Station project was just okay, I was convinced that maybe it just wasn't for me. But these stark and stripped-down piano ballads work time and time again throughout the tracklist. I think this style REALLY suits Tamara's style and the more I listened to the record this year, the more I hope she pursues it further in the future.

Listen To: Endless Time, Ignorance

31. Earthgang - Ghetto Gods

For me 2022 will always be the year I realized just how much I like Earthgang. While there are many records that grew on me this year nothing stuck the way this did. When it first came out I was hardly willing to even call it an improvement on the duos debut record, but wow, was I wrong. The more I listened to this record the more every single element of the tracklist impressed me and the individual parts started to work together to add to a spectacular whole. With an impressive roster of contributors and a perfectly executed arrangement of ideas, there's nothing not to like about this album.

Listen To: Strong Friends, All Eyez On Me

30. Moor Mother - Jazz Codes

Moor Mother is a name to look out for in any of her various projects and collaborations but I've always found something special about her solo material, Jazz Codes included. The record is a series of murmuring motifs that fuse jazz and rap together with an incredible roster of talented collaborators, it's a challenging record but one that you'll get completely lost in if you give yourself to it. There's a phenomenon I experienced over and over again with these songs, listening so attentively and diving into all the sonic details of the instrumentation, only for Moor Mother herself to come crashing into the song with her uncompromisingly intense delivery style. It shows just how much you have to be able to do right to make a record like this, and Moor Mother pulls it off perfectly.

Listen To: RAP JASM, WOODY SHAW

29. R.A.P Ferreira -  5 To The Eye With Stars

Another outside-the-box rap project, 5 To The Eye came out late in the year and has a pretty short runtime, which is why it feels like myself and Spectrum Pulse are the only critics sticking our necks out for it. And while it's true that the ambitions of the format limit what Rory can achieve across the span of an entire album, the moment-to-moment on this record is drowned in his unique style. With one great lyrical gem after another and the gentle talk-singing that have made so many of his hooks stick so well in the past, Ferreira lands on my AOTY list for the third year straight in the 2020s and shows off exactly why he's one of the defining artists to look forward to hearing from again.

Listen To: ours, sittlichkeit

28. Pusha T - It's Almost Dry

This parade of rap albums that I didn't quite realize was even here until right now ends with Pusha T's new album It's Almost Dry, which yes does feature Hitler's newest fan Kanye West on production and as a feature. Among the record's non-Kanye moments however, Pusha T is doing his thing with as efficient a lethality as ever. His confrontational performance style and authentic coke raps are present just as fans would expect and once again they work to set King Push apart from all of his contemporaries.

Listen To: Let The Smokers Shine The Coupes, I Pray For You

27. Duster - Together

While I've somewhat enjoyed the material Duster has put out in recent years since reforming, this is easily the best of the bunch and the closest the group has come to matching the level of their classic material. These songs have a tangibly dark nostalgia laced into them that I find completely irresistible throughout. The combination of musicianship with a compelling aesthetic is perfect for the record to thrive and whether its an instrumental or the handful of tracks that sparsely interpolate refrains, the band does so with care and attention to detail.

Listen To: Familiar Fields, New Directions

26. Little Simz - NO THANK YOU

Another late entry and one of the last records I formally reviewed this year sees Little Simz riding the wave of her previous rap epic Sometimes I Might Be Introvert through a shorter series of more individualized songs. Arguing that the record has no conceptuality would be a mistake though as Simz has a target throughout most of these tracks, its the music industry. Hearing her tear apart the dishonest ways artists are taken advantage of by the systems in place isn't a new phenomenon, but god does she do it well. Simz might be my favorite rapper on earth right now and this record proves that her infectious style doesn't require a massive narrative through line behind it to be compelling.

Listen To: Gorilla, Angel

25. Weyes Blood - And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow

One of the most highly anticipated indie releases of the year was Weyes Blood's follow-up to her universally acclaimed 2019 album Titanic Rising. Now with the full album in our hands it's safe to say that Weyes Blood and her collaborators, most notably Jonathan Rado, succeeded on all fronts. The mystical soundscapes of the music here are so illustrious and beautiful that it can almost be hard to tell just how painful and isolated Natalie's lyrics can get. That level of attention to detail instills in the record a rich emotional experience that I enjoyed going through time and time again.

Listen To: It's Not Just Me It's Everybody, Hearts Aglow

24. Perfume Genius - Ugly Season

When I first heard about the concept of this record I wasn't sold, in fact I was kind of worried it was just a ploy to get some three-year-old singles introduced to new fans. I was wrong, very wrong. Unlike the beautiful introspection that lines nearly all of Perfume Genius' music up to this point. Ugly season is fittingly much less pretty while maintaining all of its earnesty. With Blake Mills alongside for production once again these songs have deep, detailed, and impactful soundscapes. In fact, this record does everything right that I expect from a Perfume Genius record, it's only the style that has changed.

Listen To: Eye In The Wall, Photograph

23. Black Thought & Danger Mouse - Cheat Codes

In a year with a lot of fitting album titles, this one easily takes the cake. There isn't much I can do here to make these songs seem particularly experimental or genre-bending, they are formally within the realm of rap as we understand it. But the talent that is shared between these two really is like a cheat code. You can come into this record hoping for a great beat and great lyricism on every song, but once you near the end, it's more like you're expecting it. Alongside a number of equally talented guests these two weave rap greatness on one song after another. 

Listen To: No Gold Teeth, Strangers

22. Jenny Hval - Classic Objects

When I first reviewed this album I wasn't completely in love with it but I even mentioned at the time that I suspected it would grow on me and it did. There's just something about Jenny's patient songwriting and gentle vocal delivery don't blow me away at first but the more I hear them while also digging into what exactly she's saying across this record, the more irresistible I find it. As usual, these songs are smart, softly performed but never boring and come with a spoonful of introspection that is often very literal to Jenny's own life, while also forcing listeners to ask similar questions to themselves. It's a kind of listening experience that won't be for everyone, but those with the patience and attentiveness to give themselves to what Jenny does here will find an experience that nobody else could offer in 2023.

21. Kai Whiston - Quiet As Kept, F.O.G

I had to scrap a YouTube video I was writing about this project due to end of year time constraints but I really do wish I had the time to make it because that's just how unique of a listening experience this is. A wildly experimental electronic concept album that details how Kai Whiston became the artist he is today through an evolving pattern of songs intercut with recordings of his own mother adding context, I didn't know what I was getting into until I heard it all the way through for the first time. It's the kind of album that made me immidiately want to listen again and again until I had broken everything down and understood all it had to offer and while that's what I tried to do, there is just so much going on here and it's presented in such an artfully abstracted way that I'm not even sure that's possible. Maybe, what that's telling me is to keep listening to it forever.

Listen To: T.F.J, Div Era

20. Chat Pile - God's Country

The best debut album I heard this year came from Chat Pile, a hardcore band I've been hearing about for a few years now. Turns out there was a reason everybody was talking about them because this new album is an insane, pummeling experience unlike much of anything else I've ever heard. What makes it so intense is that the band doesn't just use an excess of sound to intimidate you, in fact some of the toughest-to-swallow moments are the record at its most stark. It's a near relentlessly intense experience throughout that is not for the feint of heart, but like The Body's I've Seen All I Need To See last year I can recommend it as the best record of the year that hurts to listen to.

Listen To: Slaughterhouse, I Don't Care If I Burn

19. Soul Glo - Disapora Problems

Speaking of intensity, this is probably the only record that can dial it up a notch from Chat Pile. For some people, 2022 was simply the year of Soul Glo as the band delivered an insane fusion of hardcore and hip-hop that only they are truly capable of. Intensity really is the name of the game here with a combination of speed and power that I find completely irresistible. It's a relentless assault on the senses but also one with a righteous and radical political edge underneath. If you somehow missed this you really need to do yourself a favor and try it out.

Listen To: Driponomics, Gold Chain Punk

18. Jimmy Edgar - Liquids Heaven

Jimmy Edgar surprised me last year with a record full of wild collaborations that resulted in some insane bangers and on this year's Liquids Heaven all of that is dialed up even more. With an even stranger collection of collaborators and an even more futuristic and unpredictable sequence of bangers, this is electronica and hyperpop taken to an amazing conclusion. In the absolute best sense, there is nothing else that sounds like this in 2022.

Listen To: Everybody, Euphoria

17. Angel Olsen - Big Time

Angel Olsen didn't need to prove that she's one of the best songwriters in the world right now, but that's exactly what she did on Big Time. The album is packed full of the kind of indie ballads that start intimate, waiting for just the right moment to become expansive. While that can often feel more like going through the motions Angel has a way to make every high feel higher than the last, building up momentum that runs seamlessly throughout this entire tracklist. It's a satisfaction that is transcendentally musical and Angel has all but mastered it. 

Listen To: All The Good Times, Chasing The Sun

16. Beach House - Once Twice Melody

Releasing their highly anticipated 8th album in four different segments was an interesting choice and one I think the band made because they knew exactly just how good the material here is. This record is long and expansive but Beach House just delivers on one great idea after another. As the band moves into a heavier sound they continue to expand on their ambitions and the results are consistently punctuated by shimmering emotional highs that you won't get as consistently on any other album this year.

Listen To: Superstar, Pink Funeral

15. Spiritualized - Everything Was Beautiful

Speaking of dense landscapes, they get even denser on this new Spiritualized album which takes the bands concept of sonic layering to the sweetest and most blissful conclusion they've tried yet. The record's title really does feel like a mission statement and the variety of love songs it deploys are both the motivation and the result. The bliss that it concludes with then feels earned by both the band and the listener, making for one of the most gorgeous listening experiences of the year.

Listen To: Always Together With You, Crazy

14. Animal Collective - Time Skiffs

This is not the first or the last artist on this list where I'll say "2022 was the year of ____" for. But 2022 really did feel like the year of Animal Collective. Not only did the various members of the band get up to some significant solo work, but the band returned whole and with their best record in over a decade. Time Skiffs really is the talents, abilities, and styles of Panda, Avey, Geologist, and Deakin coming together to make something greater than the sum of their parts. From its most Perfect Pitch sounding psych-pop to Deakin's freak-folk ballads and they all work one song after another.

Listen To: Strung With Everything, Royal And Desire

13. Teen Suicide - Honeybee Table At The Butterfly Feast

One of the many things I did not expect to happen in 2022 was for Teen Suicide to return and drop their best record to date. Versatility is clearly something I enjoy if you've been reading these lists and this record is the tour de force of the year in that sense. From lo-fi pop to screamo to shoegaze and of course, all of the indie and singer-songwriter styles you'd expect from Sam Ray all show up here. But it isn't just the versatility alone, its the emotion that seeps into all of these songs and the stranglehold they have on me as a result. The record is less of a technical marvel and more of an explosion of feelings, one I can't look away from.

Listen To: New Strategies, get high breathe underwater

12. Kendrick Lamar - Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers

I went back and forth on this album quite a bit because there are admittedly points on the record that feel below Kendrick's level of execution, though there are also some incredible high points that prove exactly why he's in another galaxy compared to his contemporaries. Ultimately, some of the thematic holds the record has are what made it such a treat to me. Even though it's not the tightest tracklist Kendrick has ever released, it's his most introspective and confessionary record yet. To the surprise of nobody, this is also something he does better than almost all of his contemporaries.

Listen To: We Cry Together, Father Time

11. Viagra Boys - Cave World

Just outside the top ten is a record I've been hoping would come for years. While Viagra Boys have always had immense promise I thought they were selling themselves short, but no longer. Cave World combines raw explosive post-punk with the band's unmistakable sense of humor that only they are truly capable of. A concept album that starts by equating the modern lunacy of vaccine denial to divergent evolution and then ends by making a return to being monkeys sound promising is something that nobody else could even come close to achieving. Viagra Boys don't just make the most divergent among us seem stupid, they make ever mechanism of society itself that enables them seem stupid. Every time I finish this record, I am ready to just de-evolve and climb back up a tree, which is the best way I can think to give it the credit it deserves.

Listen To: Return To Monke, Troglodyte

10. Beyonce - Renaissance

To be the most hyped-up new album in an entire year and still arguably over-achieve is the stuff of pop music legend. I've let my praise of this record be known since day one and the only thing that should surprise anyone about this is that it isn't even higher on the list. Throughout this incredibly tight tracklist Beyonce is tributing the classic styles of dance music that inform her work while also pushing them forward, now molded in her inescapable personal style. It's impressive in every sense of the word with a scale that is grand not because it tells us it is, but because it shows us. To make a record this confident, detailed, and still so universally appealing is an incredible undertaking that really does cement Beyonce's legacy as the definitive pop auteur of her time.

Listen To: Church Girl, Break My Soul

9. Black Midi - Hellfire

We've already hit our peaks on this list in terms of loudness, speed, and sonic intensity on this list. But the peak of pure dystopian chaos is right here on Hellfire a record that welcomes you in with one of the most difficult-to-digest singles I've heard in years and then only gets more and more challenging as you go. The band's extremely distinctive style of blistering jazz fusion and prog rock blended in with the hellish sentimentalities of a death metal record and the brooding vocals of post-punk at its absolute most neurotic, you will never hear anything quite like Hellfire. But being unique isn't the only thing the record has going for it as the band are wildly impressive performers who craft uncompromisingly weird stories and then have the chops as musicians to bring them to life in unwavering detail. This is just one of those records you really need to hear to understand,

Listen To: Eat Men Eat, Welcome To Hell

8. Conway The Machine - God Don't Make Mistakes

Right as I thought we might be hitting the peak of artistry when it comes to the distinctive Griselda sound in hip hop, Conway turns around and drops not only the best record of his career but the best in the label's history. He didn't require any major shift in style or tone to do it either, just a level of execution that almost all of his contemporaries couldn't possibly match. The rich details and stories he delivers to add weight to his past are exactly what informs the brags and achievements he makes throughout the records runtime and the two support each other indefinitely. Conway's history informs his talent and he deploys that talent perfectly on this legacy-defining piece of underground rap excellence.

Listen To: Guilty, So Much More

7. Rosalia - MOTOMAMI

This MIGHT be the last artist of the year for who I claim "2022 was the year of," maybe. But Motomami really did feel like so much more than an album. It saw Rosalia stepping into the biggest moment of her career thus far with the ability to cement herself as a crossover success among cultures and the rare artist who can simultaneously be a commercial hitmaker and critical darling. That's a lot of weight to have on her shoulders, and Rosalia nailed it. Nailed it is even underselling her accomplishment, she hit it out of the park with an album that pulled from her roots as a Latin pop and flamenco artist while thrusting the genres forward into the future as an experimental pop and electronica princess. All things considered, she delivered on an album that only she could make, a fusion of sounds both commercial and experimental which are all only strenuously held together by her unstoppable force of personality. The result is a roller coaster ride that I never want to get off.

Listen To: HENTAI, SAOKO

6. Petrol Girls - Baby

Saying this was my favorite punk album of the year didn't sit right with me at first. In a year where so many artists dragged the genre in incredible new directions, Petrol Girls played it relatively safe on Baby a record that owes much more of its sound to the foundations of punk rock than its future. But in a different sense that throwback style felt like exactly what we need. After decades of commercialized punk Petrol Girls sound like outsiders again, thrashing against even the most sacred of cows with radical and righteous politics backed by ripping distorted instrumentation. Albums like that are made by their energy and everyone in Petrol Girls along with their collaborators on the record knew exactly what that meant and went all in. The rage across this record is intense but not purposeless, in fact, the band is frequently extremely clear in what their fury is directed towards which makes every single raucous high point on the record even more satisfying. Even if you think you're the type of person who is too good for a record like Baby, let me be the first to tell you, you aren't.

Listen To: Baby I Had An Abortion, Feed My Fire

5. Backxwash - HIS HAPPINESS SHALL CONTINUE EVEN THOUGH WE ARE SUFFERING

The final act of Backxwash's trilogy of introspective fusions of rap and metal found her at some of the darkest places yet. Despite that, it also feels like you can hear her climbing out of the depths and reaching an even higher pedestal on the other side. That comes from the quality of performances on this record, where Backxwash and her various guests manage to translate anger, paranoia, isolation, and fury into moment after moment as the record spirals and then perseverance and righteousness as the album concludes with one of the brightest notes Backxwash has ever played. It's an emotional and spiritual journey as much as it is a musical one and as I listened to it again and again I just became more impressed with what Backxwash achieves across this album.

Listen To: ZIGOLO, NYAMA

4. JID - The Forever Story

In the realm of hip-hop, it didn't get any more impressive this year than on JID's The Forever Story. In a sense, I even feel like the album unfairly had to follow a year in which Little Simz did a similar dynamic even higher. But where SIMBI used introspection to soar to angelic highs, JID uses his personal history in a much grimier sense, less to come to cushy conclusions and more to tell painful truths. The record bounces between more longwinded narrative style tracks and shorter more intense bangers but somehow its momentum never stops. The unrelenting intensity of JID as an artist shines through whether he is telling stories alongside James Blake and Mos Def, or flexing his accomplishments with 21 Savage and Earthgang. On top of being a stunningly great listen the album firmly cements JID as one of the best voices in contemporary hip-hop and one whose ceiling will be hard for almost anyone else to reach.

Listen To: Sistanem, Can't Punk Me

3. Bjork - Fossora

While we're talking about records that show off two distinct sides perfectly, enter Fossora. One face of this record sees Bjork processing the passing of her mother, her own motherhood, and where she exists within a lineage of womanhood. The other half sees Bjork fantasizing about what it might be like to wander through a mystical mushroom forest. While the two seem like they couldn't be further apart the album manages to somehow weave these two sides of itself in and out of each other perfectly. That is mostly due to all of the instrumentation and immaculate vocals here sounding so mystical with a fairy tale veneer that seeps into even the record's most serious moments. I was also incredibly impressed by Bjork as a songwriter on this record where she once again seamlessly slips between a main character and primary narrator of these tracks and merely an individual within a long line and immense lineage. The ability to be grand in scope while so intimately and unmistakably personal to Bjork is often awe-inspiring and made this one of the biggest treats of my 2022.

Listen To: Ancesstress, Fossora

2. SZA - SOS

Might I one day regret putting this record so high on this list, perhaps? But every moment since this first hit my ears it felt like one of the best albums of the year. Trading out some of SZA's warm intimacy on CTRL for a much more stark and skeletal sound that allows her to sell dark emotions even better. Song after song on the expansive tracklist pleases whether it's a turn for pop-punk or a meditation on killing your ex. Throughout it all SZA feels as down to earth as ever, selling her stories with a realness that few R&B singers are capable of conjuring, really few singers are capable of conjuring it period. SZA also has a bag of choruses that I'm convinced is endless. Song after song has a hook that just sticks in my brain with so few exceptions I can't even come up with them at the moment. This is another moment where an artist faced expectations that were well beyond reason and yet she somehow managed to live up to all of them. If SZA's takes another 5 years off, she's earned it.

Listen To: Gone Girl, I Hate U

1. Black Country, New Road - Ants From Up There

There's no suspense this year. In an intensive 10/10 review I wrote for this album earlier this year I said it might be the best record I've ever had the pleasure of reviewing for this blog and it's still pretty damn close. While I could sit here and recap every little piece of neurotic narrative detail and crushing instrumental poise, the long review I wrote already still stands and I'm still very proud of it. At the end of the day, there wasn't another album in 2022 that used the album format better than this. With songs that support each other narratively and sonically to tell not only a cohesive story of frontman Isaac Wood, but the entire band itself. I'm far from the first person to call this the best album of 2022 and when enough time has passed for there to be retrospectives, there will be even more. I'm not pretending to be contrarian here. But sometimes a record is so great and its excellence so thoroughly obvious that nobody can resist and if Ants From Up There doesn't end up being the best album of the entire 2020s, I'll be shocked. That's really all I need to say.

Listen To: The Place Where He Inserted The Blade, Chaos Space Marine

Thanks for reading!

Check out the previous posts on the blog for my other 2022 year-end recaps, and stay tuned for hundreds more album reviews in 2023 <3