Best of 2022: Albums

This is my list of favorite albums for 2022.

2022 was one of those underwhelming years for music in a lot of ways. I'm comfortable with that. It doesn't always have to be a year where everything is the greatest thing ever.

That disclaimer out of the way, there were a bunch of records that I did really like. It's just nothing jumped out to me as having that intangible quality that makes a batch of songs feel superior to all the other batches of songs. It happens.

I actually made it to some live shows, which were a few of my friends playing the local bars. I didn't venture to anywhere new and Buffalo didn't seem to get much I was interested in. I should have made the drive to see Emily Robb and Bill Nace in Buffalo and Captured By Robots in Jamestown for old time's sake. I believe Rochester had a few gigs that would have been worth the effort to check out, but the mundane daily routine got in the way of leaving town. Between a combination of avoiding germs, not really drinking or going out any more, and no exciting bands touring or locally, it has been fairly easy to stay home.

Speaking of staying home, I purchased a new turntable from Crino's Music in Dunkirk. My old one was possibly haunted and an upgrade was long overdue. It's great having a record player that works properly again.

The reissue game wasn't as strong as the last couple of years. This is OK by me because not every record needs a 10, 15 or 20 year anniversary repressing. I have been doing a deep browsing of the Kranky Records discography and picking up vintage CDs I missed in the mid to late 1990s. They still have a bunch of old stock so this has been some fun collecting.

Marcia Bassett created a drifting album of modular synths, voice, flute, and field recordings. Kill Rock Stars dusted off their 5 Rue Christine imprint for a great long form drone record by MV Carbon of Metalux fame and artist Charlemagne Palestine. France's La Race also made a long form recording, but their album consisted of sparse no wave metal. Nail Club returned with a noisier and more abstract collection of synth pop. In a busy year, Leslie Keffer dropped two CDs worth of her signature techno. Ribbon Stage followed up their debut tape/7" with a full length of catchy and fuzzy indie rock that would fit in well with many of the underground bands of the 1990s. Michigan noise legends Wolf Eyes burned a few limited edition CD-Rs and I was happy to score a physical copy of Subs & Grinders. Lastly, as in it was the last record I bought in 2022, Ultra Violet Light label minder Jimmy Joe Roche concocted a short and fun album of modular synth explorations.

I decided my favorite release of 2022 was Sonic Youth's In/Out/In on Three Lobed Records. In/Out/In is a collection of older instrumentals and not technically a proper album, although it is sequenced as such. Two of the songs appeared on Three Lobed's 10th anniversary boxset and were the last official new material Sonic Youth released before they broke up so I've been listening to 40% of this disc for over a decade. It feels strange declaring this my album of the year, but it was the CD I listened to the most and made me the happiest. And I think that's what really should define your album of the year, even if I am a stickler for the specific minutiae regarding any release.

The list goes band/album/label for those with questions of that nature.

01. Marcia Bassett - Midnight Xpander - Yew
02. Horsegirl - Versions of Modern Performance - Matador
03. Leslie Keffer - Human Inosculation Part I & II- WEATNU Records
04. Nail Club - Mise en Abyme - Hot Releases
05. Charlemagne Palestine & MV Carbon - Liquiddd Changesss - 5 Rue Christine
06. Pitchwafuzz - You Find Yourself In A Place - Nonexistant Records
07. Puppet Wipes - The Stones Are Watching & They Can Be A Handful - Siltbreeze
08. La Race - Je Me Rapproche De Mon Squelette - Spleen Coffin
09. Ribbon Stage - Hit With The Most - K
10. Jimmy Joe Roche - Flicker Film in the Summer Breeze - Ultra Violet Light
11. Sonic Youth - In/Out/In - Three Lobed Records
12. Wolf Eyes - Subs & Grinders - self released