2022 is the year that I officially became old. Aside from the general, life-progressing milestones (I turned 38, my wife and I celebrated our 16th anniversary, and I skipped out on my 20 year high school reunion), I decided that my hair was now thinning too much to do anything with it besides buzzing it, and after being mostly deaf in my right ear for the past two years, I am now the proud owner of a hearing aid.
To deal with my swiftly arriving death, I listened to a lot of music this year. Here’s the stuff I liked the most. Editors Note: after completing this and trying to publish this post, it didn’t save anything, and instead of re-writing my review of each record, I’m just posting the record and a bandcamp link/Youtube video. Dang that was annoying.
20. Sekunderna – Här Har Du Ditt Liv (Bloated Kat, August 26th)
19. dumb – Pray 4 Tomorrow (Mint Records, November 11th)
18. Pulley – The Golden Life (SBÄM Records, June 10th)
17. Norm Archer – Flying Cloud Terrace (Panda Koala Records, August 9th)
16. Hogar – Todos Contra Todos (Mata La Música Records, March 1st)
15. Failing Up – Stories of a Disturbed Mind (Sell the Heart Records, June 17th)
14. Bruce Lee Band – One Step Forward, Two Steps Back (Asian Man Records, May 27th)
13. Celebration Summer – Patience in Presence (A-F Records, September 23rd)
12. Bear Away – A Drastic Tale of Western Living (Sell the Heart Records, October 21st)
11. joyride! – Miracle Question (Salinas Records, April 15th)
10. The Beths – Expert in a Dying Field (Carpark Records, September 16th)
9. Spoon – Lucifer on the Sofa (Matador Records, February 11th)
8. Sunliner – Sunliner (Lockjaw Records, November 4th)
7. Elway – The Best of All Possible Worlds (Red Scare Industries, April 1st)
6. Quaker Wedding – Total Disarray (Salinas Records, April 15th)
5. Black Thought & Danger Mouse – Cheat Codes (BMG, August 12th)
4. Five Hundred Bucks – $500 (self-released, April 29th)
3. Swami John Reis – Ride the Wild Night (Swami Records, February 18th)
2. Big Nothing – Dog Hours (Lame-O-Records, February 18th)
1. Signals Midwest – DENT (Lauren Records, April 8th)
I did a mid-year “best so far” list, and DENT landed at my no.10 spot, despite only having listened to it once before publishing the post. I mentioned that I “may rank it higher after a few more listens”, and yeah, I guess I did. I listened to it nonstop over the remainder of the summer, and… I really haven’t stopped listening to it. Beautiful record, one that I’ve listened to front to back more than any other album this year. Emotional, poetic lyrics, thoughtfully and sincerely delivered, catchy as all get out. This is the best record I’ve listened to in a long time. Tunes to check out: Tommy Took A Picture, Gold in the Grey
Favorite EP’s
5. Slomo Drags – Twin Absorber EP
4. Future Girls – Year Long Winter EP
3. New You – Candy EP
2. Cluttered – Transgender Dystopia Blues
1. Cluttered/Talk Show Host – Enemy Us (split)
Radio Marcus 