These are the records that have been the soundtrack to my 2022. It’s been a good year for music, but a bad year for the world. There have been positive changes in my personal and professional life, but otherwise this is likely to be a year that is remembered for all the wrong reasons.
I’m sitting writing this on a wet and blustery evening in the Isle of Wight. I think the amount of time I’ve spent here this year has definitely influenced some of my choices, but only in a good way. There is some music that just makes more sense in a rural location, and many of these records are definitely not particularly influenced by cities or suburbia, so probably have a slightly different feel to my previous lists.
Albums
In all cases the links below are to somewhere you can listen to and/or buy the record in question (Bandcamp or the artist’s own website). For things you can’t buy anymore I’ve linked to a description.
- Sea Power – Everything Was Forever
- Richard Dawson – The Ruby Cord
- All Structures Align – Distance and Departure
- The Web of Lies – Nude With Demon
- Black Country, New Road – Ants From up There
- HARESS – Ghosts
- Yard Act – The Overload
- Julian Cope – England Expectorates
- Legendary Pink Dots – The Museum of Human Happiness
- Reigns – Tollinghurst
- All Structures Align – Details and Drawings
- Lori Goldston & Laura Cannell – The Deer Are Small And The Rabbits Are Big
- Kokoroko – Could We Be More
- Wu-Lu – LOGGERHEAD
- Blind Eye – Decomposed
- Sharon Van Etten – We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong
- Belle and Sebastian – A Bit of Previous
- Mitski – Laurel Hell
- Diamanda La Berge Dramm – Chimp
- Moundabout – Flowers Rot, Bring Me Stones
- Destroyer – Labyrinthitis
- Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul – Topical Dancer
- Leftfield – This is What We Do
- Frank Turner – FTHC
- Horsegirl – Versions of Modern Performance
- Jack White – Fear of the Dawn
- ENABLERS – Some Gift
- Waclaw Zimpel – Train Spotter
- Sam Prekpop and John McEntire – Sons Of
- Tears for Fears – The Tipping Point
Singles
All of these are either one long song, or a 7″ with at least three songs. They are all also part of my Quietus subscription or very limited edition pressings, so there are some things here that people can’t actually go and listen to, which is a shame as they are all great.
- Hey Colossus – You Laugh at My Face
- Thee Alcoholics – Seven Inch
- Henry Blacker – Where is my Power?
- Sweet Williams – Tweezers EP
- Sly & The Family Drone – Every Knife In This House Is Mine
- Vanishing Twin – Tell Me Not Here