The 2022 End of Year music lists thread

otm

It’s a no major label release allowed list with infinity knives & Brian Ennals at #1

stereogum albums: https://www.stereogum.com/2206970/best-albums-2022/lists/year-in-review/2022-in-review/

There was a time when I could get hype about an
Earl Sweatshirt release

have you heard this one yet? it’s my fav thing he’s done

Maybe I’ll try it again but upon release I couldn’t get into it.

it has the Dawn Richard & Spencer Zahn collab and Makaya McCraven. other than that, whatever, not for me (#1 and 2 very good tho)

really liked the Earl Sweatshirt too

Treblezine

https://www.treblezine.com/the-50-best-albums-of-2022/

https://www.treblezine.com/the-100-best-songs-of-2022/

yeah i'm definitely surprised that the big thief album has ended up somewhat underrated by all these lists

Maybe it is partly that it came out early in the year (although you'd hope ppl would have memories) – and a bunch of the tracks were released last year, with some of them making "Best of 2021" lists ("Spud Infinity," the track that appears on the Pfork Songs list, was actually a 2021 release as well... but I guess it came out late in December, so it missed their 2021 cutoff. Whatever)

I revisited the album recently, and I'm casually convinced it's one of the better albums to be released in my lifetime, by anyone (no joke)... I understand this may not be a universal sentiment, but I certainly didn't expect to see it plopped down at #7 or #8 on these lists, several slots below Alex G or whatever.

Yeah I relistened the other night for the first time in a little while and I still liked every song as well as the shifting shape of the thing.

Meanwhile, I have a strong weakness for and bias toward jangly indie-rock, but I really don't get why Alvvays is near the top of so many lists. It's fine but unexceptional, I like the Beths album better for something sort of in the same mode. How did this get designated as an AOTY contender in 2022?

yeah the alvvays album is just extremely... fine, don't get the hype here at all

Some might recall from the "AOTY So Far" thread that the Big Thief was the only album that appeared on every mid-year list I aggregated. To what extent do individual pubs and journalists react to that and attempt to hype others, consciously or not?

To what extent do individual pubs and journalists react to that and attempt to hype others, consciously or not?

― Indexed, Tuesday, December 6, 2022 5:02 PM (fifty-one seconds ago)

not at all. those mid year lists are just things everyone does to feed the content mill... prob not very much thought put into them and i highly doubt any writer or editor thinks about those lists for even a second after the publish button is hit or is referring back to those lists when it comes to year end

Question for any journalists who submit lists to different publications. In an end of year best of, do you submit the same ballot or tweak it depending on the genres they cover? I.e. does The Wire get the same list as Pitchfork or RA etc?

Same ballot.

I'm doing 3 lists: a top 10 for The Wire, a 20-album jazz list for Stereogum, and a 50-album list for my own newsletter/site (which picks up where the 50-album list I published at the end of June leaves off). There were 2 or 3 things on my Wire ballot that will be on the Stereogum list, and some crossover with the Burning Ambulance list(s) as well.

apart from beyonce the critical consensus feels more fragmented than ever this year

idk, top 11 or so seem pretty omnipresent

https://www.albumoftheyear.org/list/summary/2022/

Yeah this Steve Lacy song is repulsively bland. Yeah cool vibes yeah. Vibes! Cool vibes. Fuck off

Oh god the HUMMING

I resisted that song the first few times I heard it but gave in.

I just listened to it for the first time, haha, umm

¬_¬

this year i thought steve lacy had passed away for a few months and realised i had dreamt it

sorry steve lacy

Bad Habit: Of all the lo-fi, vibe-y indie r&b that could have bubbled to the top of the charts in the past decade this is the song that made it huh? At least is more of a song than that Glass Animals one that was pretty much just *vibe*…

It makes me a bit sad to see that video of Steve Lacy himself frustrated at the success of the song, or rather the success of the snippet on tik-tok. The idea of people paying to see an artist only for a 10 second hook so they can record it for an instastory or tiktok or whatever and not even knowing the rest of that damn song makes me feel “get off my lawn” old.

possible reasons why music you liked or expected to get high rankings on these lists didn’t do as well as you thought OR music you dislike did better than you expected

1. other people genuinely have different musical tastes than you
2. these lists are often decided by committee, inevitably sanding down any eccentric personal favorites in favor of boring consensus choices (see also the annual ILM polls)
3. an enemy of yours paid every music publication to knock your favorite album down 20 places
4. you have terrible taste in music
5. the universe is a random and cold place

feel free to refer back to these as needed

Loophole: I don’t have any favorite albums anymore!

you forgot a crucial one:

6. inherent biases during the selection process

Does The Wire still do individual genre lists? I’m always curious to see those. I hadn’t gotten around to the Lucrecia Dalt album yet (their overall number one), so I’ll be checking that one out first. Ephemeron Loop and Dewa Alit look intriguing too.

I listened to the Lucrecia Dalt album twice last night and really liked it. Highly cinematic.

here's my annual spaghetti against the wall:

https://www.saidthegramophone.com/archives/best_songs_of_2022.php

honestly bewildered that anyone with an ear for pop has placed anything else at #1, seems obvious

weird to feel like the only person who liked/remembered the new paramore song lol

it's got a good chorus but has to slog through some pretty janky bars to get there

@_@

Brilliant list as usual sean!

Finally someone acknowledges the greatness of Provenza!

That Passionfruit yt views number feels off though, could’ve sworn it was a massive hit.

Does The Wire still do individual genre lists? I’m always curious to see those. I hadn’t gotten around to the Lucrecia Dalt album yet (their overall number one), so I’ll be checking that one out first. Ephemeron Loop and Dewa Alit look intriguing too.

― Skrot Montague, Wednesday, December 7, 2022 6:16 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

It does!

Sean: first time hearing that Shabason + Krgovich song and it’s a perfect fit for my mood this morning. Thank you so much for that one.

I listened to the Lucrecia Dalt album twice last night and really liked it. Highly cinematic.

― Chris L, Wednesday, December 7, 2022 6:40 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Yes! Reminded me of the last Weyes Blood album, in a weird way.

I think the issue with Dragon New Warm Mountain is that glorious as it is, after a break people went back to it and remembered how fundamentally annoying 'Sparrow' was.

incorrect

Sean: first time hearing that Shabason + Krgovich song and it’s a perfect fit for my mood this morning. Thank you so much for that one.

― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, December 7, 2022 10:03 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

was the shabason + krgovich album not on the gorilla vs bear list? feels like catnip for that site

NPR is rolling out genre-specific lists: https://www.npr.org/2022/12/06/1138407917/best-music-of-2022

wonderful list, sean, as is your wont. it gives me plenty to explore.
love that we have the same Rema favourite and wow at the swift Kwesta x Kabza pick. the Dunnie is a very pleasant afropop surprise.

honestly bewildered that anyone with an ear for pop has placed anything else at #1, seems obvious

― sean gramophone, Wednesday, December 7, 2022 8:09 AM (six hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Good choice and a fantastic blurb

weird to feel like the only person who liked/remembered the new paramore song lol

https://consequence.net/2022/12/top-50-songs-2022-list/