2022 AOTY So Far

glad that some places highlighted the excellent silvana estrada album

Kendrick so far. Nothing has really hit me hard yet this year aside from that and maybe some interesting instrumental records (Croatian Amor - Rainbow Bridge and Black Flower - Magma)

Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul and Cate Le Bon are ones I keep coming back to, though I'm starting to wonder if the former has slid from delightfully cheeky to sorta annoying.

One not on the list is P.E.'s 'The Leather Lemon,' which I enjoy a great deal.

Revisited the Big Thief album last weekend (after a long break), and it sounded better than ever. Pretty hard to imagine anything topping that for me this year.

MJ Lenderman for me.

I would add Rema and Carla Morrison to the list and wonder about the sources later

Rema for me.

Rema, absolutely: REMA : days of Rave & Roses (& of course Bangers)

I also love Fameye's Songs of Peter album.

The brand-new Kabza De Small album, KOA II, Part 1, is a likely candidate too.

The Shearwater album is AOTY so far for me, and tbh I can't see anything else topping it in the next six months.

have heard a fair few of these but Topical Dancer is the only one I really love at the moment. Ravyn Lenae record is pretty nice too, still digesting it.

Not on the list: Utada Hikaru - Bad Mode

My AsOTYSF (everything rated 8/10 or above, yes ratings suck but you gotta have your methods), bold not listed by (more than one of) teh zinez:

VR SEX - Rough Dimension
Half Man Half Biscuit - The Voltarol Years
Patricia Taxxon - Visiting Narcissa
Craig Fortnam - Instrumental Music 1
Fievel Is Glauque - Aerodynes
Holy Scum - Strange Desires
Ada Rook - UGLY DEATH NO REDEMPTION ANGEL CURSE I LOVE YOU
Charlotte Adigery & Bolis Pupul - Topical Dancer
Big Thief - Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You
Rolo Tomassi - Where Myth Becomes Memory
Radioactive Boss Baby - Radioactive Boss Baby
MWWB - The Harvest
Elucid - I Told Bessie
Black Dresses - Forget Your Own Face

Currently listening to the new SB The Moor (In Babylon!) that came out today and it has a very good chance of joining this list, and Stabscotch - PRISON JAR comes out next week, honestly a near-guaranteed masterpiece.

And I'm just one person with one taste. There is SO much music coming out, most of the most interesting of which will never trouble lists such as these, because it just doesn't fit with the milquetoast lifestyle branding the publications peddle. If like to hope that ilxors know better - that they're constantly discovering new, exciting music that lies at least partly without the monstrous reductions of the canon-formers (nothing against liking the albums listed above, even if most of them play it safe to a degree). So c'mon, this is all a bit reticent so far. Not calling you all boring or unimaginative - I wouldn't dream of it! - but light, bushel, etc

P.S. I guess one problem is that a list of largely unfamiliar names is no real enticement. So...

unbelievably kinetic hardgoth synthpunk Real England: an elegy your favourite hypermelodic pop producer achieves Autechre chamber-folk legend records album of instrumentals, typically heartbreaking melodies the Fievel is Glauque album has been taken offline but will return, it's so gorgeous insane noise-rock given the full psych remix treatment by one of the dudes from Dälek, best Gnod-related project yet triumph in industrial deathpop overwhelming Bradcore radioactive boss baby sci-fi melodoom deluxe wildly inventive art-hop triumph in industrial deathpop (but there's 2 of theml wildly inventive rap/pop/cybertrash uncategorisable fever-dream the experimental rock magicians' eternal jamboree

Pusha T for me.

It's between these 3 for me

Real Lies- Lad Ash
Cloakroom - Dissolution Wave
Mr Fingers - Around The Sun pt.1

Tell us more!

good shout on cloakroom, amazing album

i’ll mention these rap albums, off the top of my head

realyungphil - dr. philvinci
quelle chris - deathfame
central cee - 23
los - kareem from new orleans
mercury - tabula rasa
lil bean - forever grateful
defcee & boathouse - for all debts public and private
daboii - can’t tame us
tony shhnow - reflexions
nocap - mr. crawford

The correct answer is of course Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul, Real Lies and Confidence Man

I’d probably go with cloakroom too. I love that album. I’d also put a vote in for della zyr - truly lovely calming dream pop.

i need to hear that elucid album!

Mary Halvorson - Amaryllis

Charlotte Adigery + Bolis Pupul
Rosalía
Jack J
Axel Boman
Omar S

Pretty certain I’ll love the Nailah Hunter, CRJ and Caroline Polachek whenever they come out.

I need to listen to Real Lies and Confidence Man

xp I thought you only liked a handful of the Rosalía tracks (like myself)!

Both great Moka xp

Real Lies an evocative and melancholic paean to London and clubbing in the past whilst Confidence Man is brash, dumb, OTT pop put through a 90s house wringer that's enormous fun.

another shout for Rema i think

Very much agree on the Cloakroom album.

Others:

Negative Plane – The Pact…
Vórtize – ¡Tienes Que Luchar!
Satan – Earth Infernal
Ghost – Impera
Moon Tooth – Phototroph
Voivod – Synchro Anarchy

Just Mustard

Big Thief remains at the top of my list. A handful of other great albums (Pusha T, Erin Rae, Dehd, Kendrick) but I have hopes some more will come along to place higher on my list.

Big Thief also my #1, without question. Been some time since I played a new album as frequently for this long after release.

Maybe it was obvious but the 62 albums listed above were the ones that showed up on more than 1 of the lists/sources I mentioned. Here are the ~100 that only appear on 1 list (with their source following). Haven't heard most of the suggestions in the thread so far and am adding them to my hopelessly long to-do list.

700 Bliss - Nothing to Declare (P4k 8+)
Amber Mark - Three Dimensions Deep (P4k 8+)
Anitta - Versions of Me (RS BSF)
Anxious - Little Green House (SG BSF)
Asa - V (RS BSF)
Astrid Sonne - Ephemeral Camera Feed (P4k BSF)
Avril Lavigne - Love Sux (RS BSF)
Bad Boy Chiller Crew - Disrespectful (P4k 8+)
Becky G - Esquemas (RS BSF)
Binker & Moses - Feeding the Machine (Metacritic 85+)
Black Star - No Fear of Time (RS BSF)
Bladee / Ecco2k - Crest (P4k 8+)
Blood Incantation - Timewave Zero (Vulture BSF)
Bob Vylan - Bob Vylan Presents the Price of Life (Metacritic 85+)
BTS - Proof (RS BSF)
Camila Cabello - Familia (RS BSF)
Caracara - New Preoccupations (Spin BSF)
Caroline - Caroline (P4k 8+)
Cécile McLorin Salvant - Ghost Song (Guardian BSF)
CMAT - If My Wife New I'd Be Dead (Metacritic 85+)
Coi Leray - Trendsetter (RS BSF)
Conway the Machine - God Don't Make Mistakes (SG BSF)
Craig Finn - A Legacy of Rentals (P4k 8+)
Daddy Yankee - Legendaddy (RS BSF)
Duster - Together (SG BSF)
Earth Gang - Ghetto Gods (RS BSF)
Eddie Vedder - Earthling (RS BSF)
Eliane Radigue/Frederic Blondy - Occam XXV (P4k 8+)
Ella Mai - Heart on My Sleeve (RS BSF)
Eric Chenaux - Say Laura (Guardian BSF)
Fana Hues - Flora + Fana (Guardian BSF)
Finally, New - They Hate Change (P4k 8+)
Fivio Foreign - B.I.B.L.E. (RS BSF)
Florence and the Machine - Dance Fever (RS BSF)
Fransisca Valenzuela - Vida Tan Bonita (RS BSF)
Fred Moten / Brandon Lopez / Gerald Cleaver - Moten/Lopez/Cleaver (P4k 8+)
Future - I Never Liked You (RS BSF)
Gang of Youths - angel in realtime. (SG BSF)
Grace Ives - Janky Star (P4k 8+)
Guerilla Toss - Famously Alive (SG BSF)
Haru Nemuri - Hunka Ryougen (P4k 8+)
Hook - From, Hook (P4k BSF)
Horace Andy - Midnight Rocker (Guardian BSF)
Ibibo Sound Machine - Electricity (Metacritic 85+)
Jeshi - Universal Credit (Guardian BSF)
Joe Rainey - Niineta (P4k 8+)
Joel Ross - The Parable of the Poet (Guardian BSF)
Joshua Hedley - Neon Blue (P4k BSF)
Junglepussy - JP5000 (P4k BSF)
Just Mustard - Heart Under (Metacritic 85+)
Kathryn Joseph - his World Is Going to Ruin You (Metacritic 85+)
Kiren - Yasuaki Shimizu (P4k 8+)
Latto - 777 (RS BSF)
Les Louanges - Crash (Exclaim BSF)
Levon Vincent - Silent Cities (P4k 8+)
Leyla McCalla - Breaking the Thermometer (Guardian BSF)
Lil Durk - 7220 (RS BSF)
Los Bitchos - Let the Festivities Begin! (RS BSF)
Lucky Daye - Candydrip (Spin BSF)
Luna Li - Duality (Exclaim BSF)
Maren Morris - Humble Quest (P4k 8+)
Marina Herlop - Pripyat (P4k 8+)
Mary J Blige - Good Morning Gorgeous (RS BSF)
Mattie - Jupiter's Purse (P4k 8+)
Melt Yourself Down - Pray for Me, I Don’t Fit In (Guardian BSF)
Messa - Close (Spin BSF)
Molly Nilsson - Extreme (Guardian BSF)
Obongjayar - Some Nights I Dream of Doors (Vulture BSF)
Omar Apollo - Ivory (RS BSF)
OMBIIGIZI - Sewn Back Together (Exclaim BSF)
Oren Ambarchi/Johan Berthling/Andreas Werliin - Ghosted (P4k 8+)
Perfume Genius - Ugly Season (P4k 8+)
Phife Dawg - Forever (RS BSF)
Pierre Kwenders - José Louis and the Paradox of Love (Exclaim BSF)
Praise - All in a Dream (SG BSF)
PUP - THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND (Exclaim BSF)
Quelle Chris - Deathfame (Vulture BSF)
Raveena - Asha’s Awakening (RS BSF)
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Unlimited Love (RS BSF)
Richard Inman - Come Back Through (Exclaim BSF)
Rolling Blackouts C.F. - Endless Rooms (SG BSF)
Rolo Tomassi - Where Myth Becomes Memory (SG BSF)
SASAMI - Squeeze (SG BSF)
SG Goodman - Teeth Marks (P4k 8+)
Shamir - Heterosexaulity (RS BSF)
Shawny Binladen - Wick City (P4k BSF)
Silverbacks - Archive Material (SG BSF)
Sister Ray - Communion (Exclaim BSF)
Soccer Mommy - Sometimes, Forever (SG BSF)
Sonic Youth - In/Out/In (P4k 8+)
Sophie Birch - Holotropica (P4k 8+)
Spiritualized - Everything Was Beautiful (SG BSF)
St Paul & the Broken Bones - The Alien Coast (Guardian BSF)
Syd - Broken Hearts Club (RS BSF)
Taj Mahal & Ry Cooder - Get on Board (RS BSF)
Tess Roby - Ideas of Space (Exclaim BSF)
The Black Keys - Dropout Boogie (RS BSF)
The Linda Lindas - Growing Up (P4k 8+)
The Weather Station - How Is It That I Should Look at the Stars (P4k 8+)
Two Shell - Home EP (P4k BSF)
Trueno - Bien O Mal (RS BSF)
Various Artists - Summer of Soul, Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (RS BSF)
Véhémence - Ordalies (Spin BSF)
Vein.fm - This World Is Going to Ruin You (Vulture BSF)
VNTAGEPARADISE - Parable of the Sensei (P4k BSF)
Warpaint - Radiate Like This (SG BSF)
Wilco - Cruel Country (RS BSF)
William Basinski/Janek Schaefer - ...On Reflection (P4k 8+)
Yumi Zouma - Present Tense (SG BSF)
Yung Kayo - DFTK (P4k 8+)

Cloakroom, Loop, or PLOSIVS

Daddy Yankee - Legendaddy (RS BSF)

xp I thought you only liked a handful of the Rosalía tracks (like myself)!

― Bunheads Pilot Enthusiast (morrisp)

I did! It has grown on me.

think i’m the only one who thinks the sharon van etten is her best work yet but that’s at the top of my list

real lies is my other fave. after that: rema, tears for fears, angel olsen, mr fingers

i know i’ll love the rosalía but i still haven’t had the chance to listen

been listening to almost no new music this year so i could be out of touch but i’m a little less cumulatively blown away by music this year than in previous, even though it seems like vinyl manufacturing and promotional tours are finally aligning in such a way that all of my favorite artists are putting out music again. i guess it’ll be a stacked fall

AOTY is going to be the new Soccer Mommy, based on the singles

Real Lies, out of the small handful I've heard. Extraordinary album

xp was only on one list because it's not out til next week but expect it to do well at year end

the big thief album is often awesome but it’s no capacity, that’s my story

The new Mr Fingers is pretty much what youd expect from a Mr Fingers album made in '22 but I dunno its all I want to listen to

probably voivod

Moon Tooth – Phototroph

Also one of the albums I've been listening to most tbh

For me so far it's either Nduduzo Makhathini's In the Spirit of Ntu or the posthumous Eric Wagner album, In the Lonely Light of Mourning. Runners-up: Maule, s/t; Loop, Sonancy.

Ibibio Sound Machine could be up there for me

I think the destroyer album is the one I've listened to most so far. Still waiting for an album to truly amaze me though. I've been mostly going on some deep dives on much older stuff in the last couple of months though.

Real Lies,
Modern Nature,
Mr Fingers,
Duncan Marquiss,
Lynn Avery & Cole Pulice,
Ethel Cain.

Also one of the albums I've been listening to most tbh

― No purposes. Sounds. (Sund4r), Friday, June 17, 2022 1:26 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Did you notice they're playing here in Sept?

would be shocked if anything beats out Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You

Top 20 so far

1. Maya Shenfeld - In Free Fall (Thrill Jockey)
2. Kevin Drumm - Future When It Comes (Self-Released)
3. Sheng Jie & Shen Jing - Parallel Weaving (WV Sorcerer)
4. Tanya Tagaq - Tongues (Six Shooter)
5. Éliane Radigue & Frédéric Blondy - Occam XXV (Organ Reframed)
6. Elías Merino & Daniel del Río - Structures for Wave Field Synthesis (Superpang)
7. Wadada Leo Smith, Henry Kaiser & Alex Varty - Pacifica Koral Reef (577)
8. Laura Cocks - Field Anatomies (Carrier)
9. Flower-Corsano Duo - Halcyon (VHF)
10. Bondi D'Incise/Blutwurst Ensemble - Zgodność (Insub)
11. Jóhann Jóhannsson - Drone Mass (Deutsche Grammophon)
12. Gábor Lázár - Boundary Object (Planet Mu)
13. Phelimuncasi - Ama Gogela (Nyege Nyege Tapes)
14. Fulu Mziki - Ngbaka EP (Moshi Moshi)
15. Keiji Haino - My Lord Music, I Most Humbly Beg Your Indulgence In The Hope That You Will Do Me The Honour Of Permitting This Seed Called Keiji Haino To Be Planted Within You (Black Editions)
16. Jim O'Rourke, Eiko Ishibashi & Joe Talia - Patrick (Self-Released)
17. Infernal Mosquitos - Antigua (Superpang)
18. Imarhan - Aboogi (City Slang)
19. Patrick Shiroshi & Jeff Tobias - Patrick Shiroshi & Jeff Tobias (Topos Press)
20. Biosphere - Shortwave Memories (Biophon)

I don't think I've heard any of that shit upthread but Huerco S. and Sault.

13. Phelimuncasi - Ama Gogela (Nyege Nyege Tapes)

Oooh, new Biosphere.

renaissance over big thief? 2022 has been long tbf

I'm not personally aware of too many violin recordings of the Bach cello suites. Podger's was the first I heard, and I think it's divine. Gut strings really seal the deal for me, steel E-strings are just too strident for my taste for this kind of adaptation.

Podger cheats in the 6th suite; she overdubs viola notes for the missing lower C-string stuff. Gandelsman, in contrast, performs the "4-string viola adaptation", but up a fifth (in D-major, i.e. the original key).

Rather than type forever about it, I'd just recommend to also check out Lillian Fuchs's wonderful performance of the cello suites on the viola. Her 6th suite in particular is miraculous; Pablo Casals is said to have remarked that it was, at the time of its recording, the best rendition of it, and superior to his own. Her performance is Romantic in technique but unsentimental, sits nicely next to the Milstein recording of the violin sonatas and partitas imo

thanks for that, fgti!

i think big thief still surely have to be the favourites?

i think their flirtation with radical zionism may have hurt them a bit, i know my read on a lot of their lyrics/vibe went from "hmm, gnomic" to "oh these guys are actually dumb."

alright kanye

I'm not sure scheduling, then canceling amidst the inevitable backlash, a couple of ill-advised shows in Israel (where, incidentally, one of the band members actually lives) is the same as a "flirtation with radical zionism" but go off.

Still leaning towards Cloakroom for my personal album of the year.

I refuse to start making lists until both my current favourite songwriters have dropped albums on the 18th

But I'm constantly discovering a lot of incredible things vying for upper placement in any hypothetical list. It has been a very, very great year - last year was a relative lull imo, probably Covid-relatedly

if I were to summarize my Big Five so far:
Mr. Money, Boy Alone & King Of Amapiano II With The Rave, Roses & Renaissance Vibe, Part 1

My top 4

Battlelore - The Return of the Shadow
Brymir - Voices in the Sky
Rina Sawayama - Hold the Girl
Archers of Loaf - Reason in Decline

bc: I'm curious to see if/how you'll work in Love & Ego on friday :)

I'm disconnected from most new music as usual but I really liked:

Animal Collection - Time Skiffs
death's dynamic shroud - Darklife
Junior Boys - Waiting Game
Magma - Kartehl

‘more love, less ego’ would be a perfect description of said Rave, Roses & Renaissance Vibe, methinks

xp

My top 5 AT THE MOMENT, in chronological order of release, definitely subject to change (newest addition to the list is Ariel Zetina):

Big Thief
Nova Twins
Nina Nastasia
Shygirl
Ariel Zetina

Kangding Ray - ULTRACHROMA (my favorite of his by a wide margin)
Sofie Birch - Holotropica
Kuedo - Infinite Window
Brian Eno - FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE

yes that's two all-caps album titles

I keep hearing about how economically unfeasible it is to be a musician these days (which it is), yet there's already too many good albums to keep up with. I don't know what I'd do if the world started caring about the treatment of artists again.

Yeah, the sheer number of releases I've been curious about this year has been exhausting. I think it's pretty much all an after-effect of the pandemic, for various reasons:

1. bands/artists that held on to finished albums until they could tour again
2. bands/artists that had to wait for pressing plant delays to clear up to release their new stuff
3. bands/artists that had a lot of extra time to write new material that sped up their usual cycle

list of records that have stuck with me for the year, sort of in order, obv i have so much to catch up on and i never will:

junior boys waiting game
lambchop the bible
beth orton weather alive
rosalía motomami
perfume plasma
real lies lad ash
the 1975 being funny in a foreign language
soccer mommy sometimes, forever
caracara new preoccupations
mr fingers around the sun pt 1
carly rae jepsen the loneliest time
arctic monkeys the car
brent faiyaz wasteland
sharon van etten we've been going about this all wrong
ari lennox age/sex/location
willow <copingmechanism>
circa survive two dreams
underoath voyeurist
cloud rat threshold
panic at the disco viva las vengeance
maren morris humble quest
dawn richard and spencer zahn pigments
sam prekop & john mcentire sons of
autopsy morbidity triumphant
tegan and sara crybaby
tears for fears the tipping point
wilco cruel country
björk fossora
no devotion no oblivion

13 albums from this year that I will ride or die for

Real Lies - Lad Ash
Mr Fingers - Around The Sun pt. 1
Cass McCombs - Heartmind
Billy Woods - Aethiopes
Destroyer - Labyrinthitis
Cloakroom - Dissolution Wave
Arctic Monkeys - The Car
Scarcity - Aveliut
Black midi - Hellfire
Danger Mouse/Black Thought - Cheat Codes
Double Virgo - Foolish Narratives
Sophie Royer - Harlequin
Fontaines DC - Skinty Fia

I think the Naima Bock album might end up my AOTY. Somewhat out of character for me, but it's so beautiful and intricate. I took me a while to hear the Brazilian influence all the reviews mentioned, but I hear it in the way she arranges and combines instruments

One that needs to be mentioned is Lorraine James’ Whatever The Weather album. Superb ambience broken up by crispy breakage

Oh yeah, that Lorraine James is really good.

At the moment (in roughly descending order):

Oren Ambarchi - Shebang
Lucrecia Dalt - ¡Ay!
Beth Orton - Weather Alive
Real Lies - Lad Ash
Lady Aicha and Pismo Crane's Original Fulu Miziki of Kinshasa - N'Djila Wa Mudujimu
The 1975 - Being Funny in a Foreign Language
Puscha - Etterath
Dawn Richard & Spencer Zahn - Pigments
Junior Boys - Waiting Game
Rema - Rave and Roses
Rosalía - MOTOMAMI
Au Suisse - Au Suisse
Brent Faiyaz - Wasteland
Taylor Swift - Midnights
Arctic Monkeys - The Car
Perfume - Plasma
Soccer Mommy - Sometimes, Forever
Kendrick Lamar - Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers
Carly Rae Jepsen - The Loneliest Time
Jenny Hval - Classic Objects
Ethel Cain - Preacher's Daughter
Makaya McCraven - In These Times
Shackleton - The Majestic Yes
Omay Lay - Boy Alone
Ari Lennox - Age/Sex/Location
Maren Morris - Humble Quest
Sam Prekop & John McEntire - Sons Of
Emeka Ogboh - 6°30′33.372″N 3°22′0.66″E
Miranda Lambert - Palomino
Sudan Archives - Natural Brown Prom Queen
Obongjayar - Sometimes I Dream of Doors
Somi - Zenzile: The Reimagination of Miriam Makeba
The Soft Pink Truth - Is It Going To Get Any Deeper Than This?
Beyonce - Renaissance

But there's so much I still need to hear or need to spend more time with.

I was having a typically depressing conversation with my dad about politics and he asked, "Does anything seem good now?" I said, "Well, there's a ton of great music ..."

This is practically my only resource for finding new music at the moment, so I think my list'll be pretty hive-mindey this year:

Real Lies - Lad Ash
Croatian Amor - Remember Rainbow Bridge
Time Wharp - Spiro World
Junior Boys - Waiting Game
Big Thief
Beth Orton
Modern Nature - Island of Noise
Florist - s/t
Sam Prekop & John McEntire - Sons of
Ashenspire - Hostile Architecture
Duncan Marquiss - Wires Turned Sideways in Time
Makaya McCraven - In These Times
Kali Malone - Living Torch
Jake Xerxes Fussell - Good and Green Again
Lambchop - The Bible
Bennie Maupin & Adam Rudolph - Symphonic Tone Poem for Brother Yusef
Etran de L'Aïr - Agadez

And aye, xp, good year IMO.

Realizing from Brad & Tim's lists that I somehow still haven't listened to the Maren Morris album. Thanks both.

Teri Gender Bender - COMPLEXIFY EPs (putting them all together, they will easily be my #1 for the year)
Boris - W
Automatic - Excess
Deep Water - s/t
Hedgehog - Crow Valley It's All Connected
J. Zunz - Del Aire
Amateur Hour - Krökta Tankar och Brända Vanor
Panda Bear & Sonic Boom - Reset

Roughly in order

Real Lies - Lad Ash
The Beths - Expert In A Dying Field
Hatchie - Keep Giving The World Away
Junior Boys - Waiting Game
Alvvays - Blue Rev
Carly Rae Jepsen - The Loneliest Time
Stella Donnelly - Flood
Melody's Echo Chamber - Emotional Eternal
Dawn Richard & Spencer Zahn - Pigments
Destroyer - Labyrinthitis
Caroline Loveglow - Strawberry
Soccer Mommy - Sometimes, Forever
Say Sue Me - The Last Thing Left
Tallies - Patina
Charli XCX - Crash
The Orielles - Tableau
Björk - Fossora
Nilüfer Yanya - Painless
Suede - Autofiction
Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul - Topical Dancer
Gwenno - Tresor
Angel Olsen - Big Time
Beyoncé - Renaissance
Altered Images - Mascara Streakz
Foxes - The Kick

Definitely feels like a stronger year than 2021 overall.

I'm going to use a real broad brush and assume that 2021 was the year of everyone's pandemic album and 2022 is a year of looking outward/pushing forward. Feels like everyone's creativity is freed up.

Fuck, forgot Anteloper - Pink Dolphins. rip jaime

2022 albums I haven't gotten to yet/haven't been released yet: The Stargazer Lilies, Carla Dal Forno, Eno, Lucrecia Dalt, Hermanos Gutierrez, S.G. Goodman, Fenella, Christina Vantzou

I don't know what my favorites are in general yet, but here is what I've bought physical copies of this year

Horsegirl - Versions Of Modern Performance
Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul - Topical Dancer
P.E. - The Leather Lemon
NoSo - Stay Proud Of Me
Soccer Mommy - Sometimes, Forever
Kat Frankie - Shiny Things
Yumi Zouma - Present Tense
Jackie Cohen - Pratfall
Cate Le Bon - Pompeii
Tallies - Patina
Twen - One Stop Shop
Phoebe Green - Lucky Me
Flasher - Love Is Yours
Mitski - Laurel Hell
Maita - I Just Want To Be Wild For You
Maren Morris - Humble Quest
The Afghan Whigs - How Do You Burn?
Cécile McLorin Salvant - Ghost Song
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Cool It Down

Oh, and these, which haven't arrived yet...

First Aid Kit - Palomino
Julianna Riolino - All Blue
Warhaus - Ha Ha Heartbreak

An adjunct list to the immediate ones I mentioned upthread. Unranked because haven't really listened to them repeatedly:

Beach House - Once Twice Melody
Blushing - Possessions
Cloakroom - Dissolution Wave
Elkhorn - Distances
Ghost Woman - s-t
Gwenno - Tresor
King Hannah - I'm Not Sorry, I Was Just Being Me
Loop - Sonancy
Marisa Anderson - Still, Here
Naujawanan Baidar - Khedmat Be Khalq
Onyon - s-t
The Routes - The Twang Machine
Sault - everything they've released this year
Shearwater - The Great Awakening
The Soundcarriers - Wilds
Viagra Boys - Cave World
Wet Leg - s-t
50 Foot Wave - Black Pearl

There's a lot more I've bought and listened to this year, but they're all folks who just keep on keeping on. Sure, I like the new BJM, Spiritualized, Robyn Hitchcock, Graham Day, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, albums a lot but it's not like I'm going to put them on a list.

In lieu of posting a first draft of my ILXOR ballot I'll pretend this is the "77 voting recommendations" thread and mention a few albums that have received little to no attention here or elsewhere (as far as I know):

Lady Wray - Piece Of Me - Nicole Wray of "Make It Hot" fame continues what she started with the Lady s/t in 2013 and her own album Queen Alone in 2016 - comforting, warm, accomplished soul.

Eliza and the Delusionals - Now And Then - I started a thread for this and unfortunately it received no replies, but despite that silence I am continuing to enjoy this debut from these Australian nostalgists. Widescreen dreampop that takes the Sixpence None The Richer sound and runs with it, as many others have this year.

Say She She - Prism - I've found it hard to place this, but I feel like it sits at the intersection of a host of ILM vectors - Lady Wray herself might be one, but also Natalie Prass, We Are King, Emily King, Kadhja Bonet, that short-lived band Juce, Esperanza Spalding when she's in a more straightforward mode, etc. Their band name is horrible and the album is on the short side, but it's lovely to listen to and hard to fault.

renforshort - dear amelia is my pick for 2022's best imitation of Olivia Rodrigo's SOUR.

Finally, Javiera Mena - Nocturna has the feel of a compilation for me as I'd previously rinsed so many of its component tracks, some of which were released years ago, but at the same time I wouldn't begrudge anyone calling it her best album and if pushed I might give it that description myself. A banger-a-thon that concludes with the song she tried to enter Eurovision with and its spooky-ooky organ solo.

Xp Elvis Telecom thanks for the Teri Gender Bender rec. This shit is unreal.

Still mulling my list but it will def include:

Yeule - Glitch Princess
Death's Dynamic Shroud - Darklife
Arp - New Pleasures
Emily Wells - Regards to the End

Plus previously mentioned Richard/Zahn, Soccer Mommy, Horsegirl, Beth Orton et al.

Definitely a strong year for releases.

Teri Gender Bender - COMPLEXIFY EPs (putting them all together, they will easily be my #1 for the year)

Ooh, didn't realize she had something new out.

My longlist at the moment (mostly metal-adjacent)

Autopsy – Morbidity Triumphant
The Beths – Expert in a Dying Field
Chat Pile – God’s Country
Cloakroom – Dissolution Wave
Cloud Rat – Threshold
Desiccation – Cold Dead Earth
Early Moods – Early Moods
Fellowship – The Saberlight Chronicles
Ghost – Impera
Martha – Please Don’t Take Me Back
Moon Tooth – Phototroph
Moonlight Sorcery - Piercing Through the Frozen Eternity
Negative Plane – The Pact…
Satan – Earth Infernal
Sloan – Steady
Sumerlands – Dreamkiller
Sunrise Patriot Motion – Black Fellflower Stream
Voivod – Synchro Anarchy
Vórtize – ¡Tienes Que Luchar!
Wormrot – Hiss

Favourite tracks: “Toma Acción” by Vórtize, “Wolven Hour” by Moonlight Sorcery

Xp Elvis Telecom thanks for the Teri Gender Bender rec. This shit is unreal.

I need to start a thread. I love the Le Butcherettes albums, but these new EPs are something else

My favourite 2022 album that hasn't been mentioned on this thread is Marlon Williams' My Boy. Up until now, he's been a serious-minded country crooner, but on his third album, he's discovered a sense of fun.

This is one of my favourites:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhaZBN3m2EI

nice, alex cameron vibes

I don't believe the new Cass McCombs has been mentioned?

apart from that I highly recommend Glass Horizon by Precipitation, lovely ambient bobbins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEdP99xQCEM

In no particular order,new records by:

Weyes Blood
Big Thief
Black Midi
BCNR
Alvvays

Honorable mention:

Ethel Cain

Wizkid - More Love Less Ego
Homeboy Sandman - Still Champion
Horse Lords - Comradely Objects
Floating Points - Whatever the album is called, the EP of singles is great

I just got through a second play but Nicola Cruz's Fabric mix is a motherfucker and likely to get in the mix

Also big late pass but I've got Ryuichi Sakamoto's Revenant OST on heavy play the last two weeks

Finally checking out the Guitarricadelafuente album that was only listed on NPR's Mid-Year list, and it's a really lovely, unassuming folk pop record with a unique mix of acoustic and electronic instrumentation, mostly in Spanish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aA90hkaCXs

Couldn't put my finger on it at first, but reminds me of C. Tangana's El Madrileño. Traditional Spanish music with modern updates that are mostly successful.

I haven't played anything else as frequently as Loop's Sonancy all year.

In lieu of posting a first draft of my ILXOR ballot I'll pretend this is the "77 voting recommendations" thread and mention a few albums that have received little to no attention here or elsewhere (as far as I know):

Lady Wray - Piece Of Me - Nicole Wray of "Make It Hot" fame continues what she started with the Lady s/t in 2013 and her own album Queen Alone in 2016 - comforting, warm, accomplished soul.

Eliza and the Delusionals - Now And Then - I started a thread for this and unfortunately it received no replies, but despite that silence I am continuing to enjoy this debut from these Australian nostalgists. Widescreen dreampop that takes the Sixpence None The Richer sound and runs with it, as many others have this year.

Say She She - Prism - I've found it hard to place this, but I feel like it sits at the intersection of a host of ILM vectors - Lady Wray herself might be one, but also Natalie Prass, We Are King, Emily King, Kadhja Bonet, that short-lived band Juce, Esperanza Spalding when she's in a more straightforward mode, etc. Their band name is horrible and the album is on the short side, but it's lovely to listen to and hard to fault.

renforshort - dear amelia is my pick for 2022's best imitation of Olivia Rodrigo's SOUR.

Finally, Javiera Mena - Nocturna has the feel of a compilation for me as I'd previously rinsed so many of its component tracks, some of which were released years ago, but at the same time I wouldn't begrudge anyone calling it her best album and if pushed I might give it that description myself. A banger-a-thon that concludes with the song she tried to enter Eurovision with and its spooky-ooky organ solo.

― monotony, Friday, November 4, 2022 2:39 AM (three months ago) bookmarkflaglink

Hey monotony! I saw an upcoming listing for Say She She at a local club, and for whatever reason decided to check out their record. Holy shit, I love this album! Then I came to see if anyone at ILM had been talking about them and it turns out that it's pretty much just you. As a gesture of solidarity, I'll check out your other picks from this post.

Anyone else who's reading the 2022 AOTY thread in 2023, give Say She She a shot!