2022 AOTY So Far

Enjoying the Mr Fingers album, tis the season

try that Kabza De Small album next, you might like it

Cheers

I just don't keep up any more but I was dipping into Amapiano stuff last year and I'm very up for it

cool - the chances of you liking it have gone up significantly!

listening now - sold

not just sold, this is fire

Surprised not to see Nicola Cruz - self oscillation anywhere in this thread. Top ten for me for sure

ok that sounds great too

not just sold, this is fire

More vocals than I expected and it really works, whole lush vibe to it

The 5 best things I listened to in the past month:

01 Gavilán Rayna Russom - Trans Feminist Symphonic Music
02 Kali Malone - Living Torch
03 E L U C I D - I Told Bessie
04 yoo doo right - A Murmur, Boundless to the East
05 Extra Life - Secular Works, Vol. 2

damn didn’t realize there was a new yoo doo right album!

Ooh, given I love two of those, will make sense to check out the other three

I love the Taj Mahal/Ry Cooder album.
enjoyed the singles will check out

Real Lies and Big Thief made great albums but I mostly listen to selected tracks from them

enjoyed the Kurt Vile album but stopped listening to it after a while

other faves
Fresh Pepper - s/t
Charles Lloyd, Bill Frisell and Thomas Morgan - Trios: Chapel
Joan Shelley - The Spur

Really surprised to see so much critical love for Dawn FM. I've listened a couple of times and found it bland and sterile. Even OPN's input can't save The Weeknd from himself. And I'm a huge OPN stan.

Real Lies I also found very monochrome tbh.

I've been giving Big Thief and Cloakroom a go based on this thread. Both are really growing on me. I need to give the new Sharon Van Etten a proper spin too.

My picks so far:
Soccer Mommy
Horsegirl
Emily Wells
Charli XCX (not her best but still a banger)
Wet Leg

Oh shit and the new Beyonce of course. Can't see that not topping a shitload of year-end lists.

Holy shit this Yeule album is good. Missed it when it first came out. Can't stop listening now. Really surprised there's not more hype around this one.

Big Thief, Real Lies and this new Chat Pile album are going to be hard to top

here are some of my faves so far

https://stabscotch.bandcamp.com/album/prison-jar
https://vrsex.bandcamp.com/album/rough-dimension
https://extralife.bandcamp.com/album/secular-works-vol-2
https://craigfortnam.bandcamp.com/album/instrumental-music-1
https://scarcity-nyc.bandcamp.com/album/aveilut

see also: imperial triumphant, patricia taxxon (for 'visiting narcissa'), half man half biscuit, of montreal, sb the moor, fievel is glauque, elucid, holy scum, baby zionov, adigery/pupul etc etc

pleasantly surprised by horsegirl, lots of promise here, we needed a new swirlies tbh

do fievel is glaque have a new album out?

i meant the aerodynes ep, which is incredible but has been temporarily removed from streaming due to 'exciting developments'

https://thenativemag.com/best-african-projects-2022-so-far/

have only heard about half of these, so there’s some exploring to do, but they’ve got my number one and two *almost* right

Dunno if this will even end up in play for my EOY favorites, but right now I'm really loving it. Did a search and she's been mentioned in our jazz threads for several years, but this is the first time I've ever noticed Cécile McLorin Salvant. What a good fuckin record!

https://cecilemclorinsalvant.bandcamp.com/album/ghost-song

Just heard the new Lucius today. Not sure whether it's AOY material, but I really dig it. I love their aesthetic.

Posted this in the indie thread but fans of the Big Thief should also check out the new Florist s/t. More intimate and so maybe reminds me more of The Glow, Pt II but will appeal to the same crowd, I think.

Yeah, loving the new Florist album

saw them play last night and it was really great. Emily is very charming on stage! the whole band ended up at the bar my friend and i went to afterwards and it was fun to sneak looks of them just having a grand ol' time together

A few current picks in absolutely no order:

Megan - Traumazine
Beyonce - Renaissance
Mr Mitch - WORK!
Soccer96 - Inner Worlds
Kylie Minogue - Infinite Disco
Real Lies - Lad Ash
Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul - Topical Dancer
Somi - Zenzile: The Reimagination of Miriam Makeba
Koffee - Gifted
Syd - Broken Hearts Club
Sault - Air
Immanuel Wilkins - The 7th Hand
Nduduzo Makhathini - In the Spirit of Ntu
Germán López - Alma
Miranda Lambert - Palomino
Burna Boy - Love, Damini
Viagra Boys - Cave World
PUBLIQuartet - What is American
Kendrick Lamar - Mr. Morale and The Big Steppers
Mu-Ziq - Magic Pony Ride
Cecile McLorin Salvant - Ghost Song
Julius Rodriguez - Let Sound Tell All
Sam Gendel - Superstore
Hollie Cook - Happy Hour

Nice forks. Is the Hollie Cook any kind of departure for her? I always like her stuff but it never quite transcends its roots for me

did anyone mention finally, new by they hate change? so good

― in places all over the world, real stuff be happening (voodoo chili), Saturday, June 18, 2022 12:34 PM (two months ago)

listened to half of this earlier and it was kind of amazing? I'm going to resist trying to sum it up until I hear more but it deserves more ILM attention for the production alone (essentially: jungle + Miami bass)

I keep meaning to do a list of albums & tracks but never feel like I'm caught up enough

hollie cook's new one is basically more of the same, but that's good enough for me

This is more like rolling favorites than AOTY and in no particular order, but:

Rema - Rave & Roses
Sofie Birch - Holotropica
Simon Hunt - the hiatus
OKI - Tonkori in the Moonlight (kind of cheating as this is a comp, but it's great: reggae-influenced Ainu folk)
Naima Bock - Giant Palm
Nilüfer Yanya - Painless
Loris S. Sarid - Seabed-Sunbath
Koffee - Gifted
Gwenno - Tresor
Daniel Villareal - Panamá 77
Axel Boman - LUZ/Quest for Fire
The Ano Nobo Quartet - The Strings of São Domingos
Anna Butterss - Activities
Moor Mother - Jazz Codes
Burna Boy - Love, Damini
Sessa - Estrela Acesa

EPs of note:
Skillibeng - Mr Universe
Lynn Avery & Cole Pulice - To Live & Die in Space & Time
Flo - The Lead
BNXN - Bad Since '97

I love these lists because I don't know 95% of these albums. I like waiting until the end of the year and scanning all these personal faves for the albums that pop up on multiple lists, to give me a good point of entry.

I forgot that there was another new giant Sam Gendel album.

I haven't been particularly on it, but here are some favorites so far:

De Grandi x DJ JM - Catherine Tracks EP
Le Dom - Caesura EP
La Roche - Liye Liye (Nyege Nyege Tapes)
Church Andrews & Matt Davies - AXIS
Daniel Rossen - You Belong There
Siete Catorce - Cruda
Tony Rolando - Breakin’ is a Memory
Caterina Barbieri - Spirit Exit
DOMi & JD Beck - NOT TiGHT

that sessa album is something special!

Sessa was all new to me, so I have to admit I think I like his previous one more out of the two (the original Os Afros Sambas being one of my all-time favorite albums), but yeah he's doing really cool stuff!

One album I couldn't decide on was the new Kokoroko. Both times I listened, I liked the start, started to find it kind of anodyne in the middle, and then liked it again at the end

i'll check out os afros sambas, thanks rob

Oh man that's classic, though you might only be able to find the inferior re-recording on streaming

thanks for the warning, i will try to hunt the original down

you want the 1966 one: https://www.discogs.com/master/256527-Baden-E-Vinicius-Os-Afro-Sambas

The Aluminum Group - s/t is hovering around my 2022 top spot. Def the most play, next to Marconi Union - Versions.

A few other contenders not mentioned so far -

Caroline Loveglow - Strawberry
Michael Head & the Red Elastic Band - Dear Scott
Momma - Household Name
beabadoobee - Beatopia
Band of Horses - Things are Great

Thought maybe Working Men's Club - Fear Fear would jump on this list, but its highlight "Circumference" >>>> rest of the album

Thought maybe Working Men's Club - Fear Fear would jump on this list, but its highlight "Circumference" >>>> rest of the album

this album hits a lot of my sweet spots, so yeah, it is totally on my list.

700 Bliss

Cut is probably my favourite xxp

Came here to mention the beabadoobee album - definitely a grower

Didn't realise there was a new Band of Horses album (or that it was any good)

I've certainly written off Band Of Horses ever since their first album. Assumed they just settled into this sort of boring mid level touring modern americana-ish rock band thing along with My Morning Jacket and Blitzen Trapper (the most disappointing of all... remember how weird and fun they were when Wild Mountain Nation came out? Alas)

new Band of Horses is quite good, imo ... not as good as their first two (or even three - I like the third, many people don't) but it's good.

Bridwell has more or less said "i let too many cooks in the kitchen on recent records, so for this one i tried to just recreate the early magic."

i think he got close.

though i wouldn't say it's "2022 AOTY So Far"-level good!

best album of the year 2022 so far that was released on 17 December 2021 is Kelvin Momo’s Ivy League. jazzy, soulful, lush, lush!, propulsive amapiano, 21 8-minute-on-average tracks of it, you do the math. fans of Larry Heard and Kabza De Small can start licking their fingers on a corner called jazz.

https://i.scdn.co/image/ab67616d00001e025760d5c3fa4aac1b32f4b5bd