MELOMANIA has finally tabulated..its BEST OF 2022.
and hey, if there are any doubts about us following all the others, merely go back and read the old reviews.
The BEST of 2022
22. JULIE ODELL - Autumn Eve [LP/CD](French Kiss/The Orchard)
New Orleans-based Odell delivered an emotional rollercoaster of love and life fulfilled with classic Jeff Buckley-esque vim and vigor. Inspiration followed without all the drama - an album long exaltation of joy.
21. GOAT - Oh Death [LP/CD](Rocket Recordings UK/Redeye)
The Swedish hypnotic Rockers served up their most varied effort yet. Music for ritual (“Chukua Pesa.”) Bone crushing Glam with Hippie-esque percussion (“Do The Dance.”) And slithery, African polyrhythmic Funk to set you off on a course unknown (“Under No Nation.”) It’s official. Goat is the commune we all want to join.
20. LEWSBERG - In Your Hands [CD](Lewsberg NED)
The Dutch band Lewsberg occupies that space where the Velvet Underground used to conjure up the spirits of the past and seduce us with quivering doubt and chilling dramatic slow Rock (“Cold Light of Day.”) Even with the Lou Reed-ish anger, now signed to Speedy Wunderground, Lewsberg is already expanding their sound into Yo La Tengo-ish warmth and sweetness as well as a biting full band sound.
19. KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD - Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms, and Lava [2LP](KGLW)
On their best King Gizzard album in years, the master experimenters do the Teo Macero trick of editing jams together into a seamless whole. Seven tracks that never sound the same way twice. “Ice, Death” finally sees King Gizzard achieve the union of Hippiedom and Garage through the creation of songs that do not even know that they are songs.
18. THE BODY/OAA - Enemy of Love [LP/CD](Thrill Jockey/Redeye)
On their Industrial union, The Body and OAA make noise (not joyful either) that could be drone (“Pseudocyesis”) or it could be Metal (“Barren of Joy.”) This filtering of machines and chaotic beats (“Miserable Freedom”) through multiple levels of distortion is best absorbed at loud volume. Finally, we now know that the consistent holler in the background is both artists taking their victory lap.
17. WHITNEY K - Hard To Be A God [LP](Maple Death CAN)
It takes a lot of gumption to sit down and pour one’s feelings out on tape. Whitney K. follows up on the promise of his previous Americana journey (“Two Years”) with a five-song EP that recalls David Berman and Lou Reed in attitude and tone. However, those words and melodies are all his. Slow, intimate arrangements that feel like letters from home. “Song For A Friend” is a heartbreaker.
16. GHOST WOMAN [LP](Full Time Hobby)
With their woozy, bluesy, late-in-the-evening treble twang guitar style, Ghost Woman revisits Sixties style Psychedelic garage in a modern manner. Evan Uschenko likes to hide his vocals behind the groovy (“All The Time”) 1966-style (“Behind Your Eyes”) Frug-ready mystery. However, it’s all really Country-Rock-ish (“Clockwork”) with a Velvet twist - thus proving that Folk Rock is still (thankfully) Rock for folks.
15. J.RAWLS - #Jazzhop [LP](Polar Entertainment)
Instrumental Hip-Hop with just the right touches of live musicians and tasty samples. Rawls is not just mixing the music (“#satisfaction,”) he is creating an album-long paean to how much Jazz and Hip-Hop (#daydreaming”) truly belong together. “#Jazzhop” is no back-in-the-day jam, it is ready and waiting for the next round after this current trend expires.
14. DISQ - Desperately Imagining Someplace Quiet [LP/CD](Saddle Creek/Redeye)
Wisconsin’s underrated Disq takes a lot of chances on their second album. Turning the songwriting over to nearly all the members reveal songs that take awesome turns (“The Hardest Part” beats down their ongoing Weezer influence with a brilliant chiming stop at its peak) and show new songwriting prowess (the Americana/AAA should-have-been-a-hit “If Only.”) However, it is on songs like “(With Respect to) Loyal Serfs” and the infectious “Cujo Kiddies” that Disq does their very best to pay tribute to their influences by arousing the same feelings with riffs that sound nothing like them. Criminally overlooked. Another “grower” that was lost in the streaming nonsense.
13. GHOST - IMPERA [LP/CD/CS](Loma Vista)
Speaking of “grower” albums. Ghost may be a huge live success and have cultivated a series of great radio hits, but as an album band - they have not been this consistently entertaining in years. “IMPERA” starts off on stun with “Kaisarion” but sneaks its golden calf Metallica tribute (“Call Me Little Sunshine”) right past you until you give the record a chance to exist as a whole. “Watcher In The Sky” feels like their long lost epic. So instead of adding up their influences (Rush, Bon Jovi, more Def Leppard) as the sum of its parts, “IMPERA” knowingly saves its true power ballad for later (“Darkness At The Heart of My Love”) and pummels you with weirdness and surprise. “IMPERA” takes more chances than most Ghost records and looks to get better with age.
12. JAY WORTHY - ST. LGND 94 [7"](Flipnjay)
In an homage to the mixtapes of the days of Ninety-yore. Jay Worthy pulls out all the stops on this all-too-brief blazing 15 minutes. While it revels its old-school beats and samples, “ST LGND 94” holds together so well. Verses are mostly burners, the clips with vocal hooks even rival some of today’s creations, and the whole product is just as intoxicating as its many ads for the libation.
11. KILL ALTERS - Armed to the Teeth L.M.M.O.M. [Hausu Mountain/Redeye)
With blasting Boredoms-style beats and screeching vocals, Kill Alters is a hair-raising experience from start-to-finish. The vocal inserts, synth squalls, seemingly endless echo in places, and word spitting are tough as nails. The subject of “Armed” regularly switches between scary and enticing (“Dissect Me”) sometimes in an instant. With booming cuts like “Cesspit” in their sights, Kill Alters clearly has some true bangers in their future.
10. CHAT PILE - God’s Country [LP/CD](The Flenser/AMPED)
On the same week that Beyonce dropped her magnum opus “Renaissance,” Oklahoma’s unleashed hell. “God’s Country” is one long frightening existential scream into the abyss of modern living. If it remains frustrating to listen to, it is because the same problems they are screaming about remain. “Tropical Beaches, Inc.” is a brilliant AmRep/Big Black style rager whose righteous anger is best reflected in both their Helmet-meets-Melvins unwinding riffs and Raygun Busch’s slurry squall. Since their previous EP, Chat Pile has become masters of building tension - and not releasing it. The twin centerpieces “Why” and the thunderous closer “grimace_smoking_weed.jpeg” are both indictments of selfish living and faulty logic in both public spaces and the terrifying space of the home. Nothing is safe. No one is sacred. This album still puts you through the shredder.
9. GOOD LOOKS - Bummer Year [LP](Keeled Scales/Secretly/AMPED)
One of 2022’s best discoveries is this promising Texas band primed and ready for roots-rock invasions of AAA, Alternative, and Rock radio. Tyler Jordan is a great new songwriter who is making an excellent transition from Emo-style confession (“21”) to detailed development and storytelling (the title track.) All seven songs clearly work in either an acoustic backdrop or full-band attack. “Vision Boards” even shows that Good Looks can summon both a Seventies Rock spirit, while “Almost Automatic” is an earnest Wilco-esque love song.
8. CHARLOTTE ADIGERY AND BOLIS PUPOL - Topical Dancer [LP](Because)
Electronic Music had a tough year in 2022. While House Music was (thankfully) infecting hit albums from Drake and Beyonce, the old-style booming beats and draped synths have become so common in Pop music - very few artists really hit. That void led this duo to turn their funky World music-bent-into-Synth Pop blend into dancefloor staples. With serpentine basslines (“C’eci n’est pas un cliche”) and NYC Downtown 1980 sensibility (“Esperanto,”) “Topical Dancer” lets you marvel at both its ability to move your body and stimulate your mind. While the hooks are indelible, Adigery’s personality and clever lyrics bring you back again and again. We still laugh every time she says “Nice pair” in “Esperanto” or count backwards with her like a machine on the breakdown of “C’eci n’est pas un cliche.” One that you are certain to hear echoed in the music of years to come.
7. HEAVY HEAVY - Life and Life Only [LP/CD](Wilder/ATO)
You can almost see the signing story when you get the first listen to this Brighton duo. They have that male/female Shovels and Rope-esque chemistry but with a Black Keys-ian throwback sound. With a pedigree like that, it is easy to see how Will Turner and Georgie Fuller would be dismissed from the critical mass as “pre-destined.” Lodge a couple of songs next to that dozen or so soon-to-be-forgotten acts on AAA radio and we’re done here. WRONG. These six songs (from 2020) rarely have a wasted moment. With their late Sixties production (and an organ that has not sounded this good since the days of Charlatans UK) and entangled harmonies, “Life and Life Only” is inspired by the past but has an eye clearly on the future. The still amazing “All My Dreams” still has a chance to break them through as a single in ‘23.
6. OOG BOGO - Plastic [God?/Drag City/Redeye)
In a giant left turn, Kevin Boog leaves behind the creative weirdness of his 2020 EP (“Tower’s Ladder”) for T.Rex-meets-Devo space glam. Thanks to crystalline production from Ty Segall, every song on “Plastic” erupts from your speakers. The Queens of the Stone Age-ish “Culprit” is unbelievably heavy without trying to be. “Goon” is amped-up Punk cut with precise Glam Rock guitar slashing and slapback but robotic vocals. The magic of “Plastic” is that in formula it rarely strays from the Ty Segall corner of punky Garage Rock. However, the crisp songwriting (“New State”) and the staccato but still fluorescent sound of it all keeps it firmly in the stratosphere.
5. YOUNG GUV - III/IV [2LP](Run For Cover/AMPED)
Over two sunburned Power Pop albums, Young Guv proves singlehandedly that the spawn of Flamin’ Groovies and a half-dozen other bands who wrote one song after another about the pursuit of the perfect night out (“It’s Only Dancin’”) were not just correct but manage to stay timeless. With a dream sequence of hooks that veer slightly into Psychedelia and even classic BritPop (the rumble of the hypnotic beauty “Too Far Gone,”) Young Guv’s massive double album feels like “Now That’s What I Call Music 1979.” “Couldn’t Leave U If I Tried,” “Only Wanna See You Tonight,” and the brightly cosmic strum of “Change Your Mind” all serve as notice that Power Pop has been reborn.
4. MJ LENDERMAN - Boat Songs [LP](Dear Life/Redeye)
Fresh from Wednesday, singer/songwriter/guitarist MJ Lenderman puts himself in the place to either become the next J.Mascis or Drive-By Truckers. “Boat Songs” is not smart-ass, even though it seems to edge that way. There is a genuine love of storytelling and songwriting at work here. With his Asheville twang and endlessly fascinating guitar parts, “Boat Songs” continuously proves that Lenderman can handle nearly any backdrop. On the best 1-2-3 punch of the year, he wails about Michael Jordan through “Hangover Game” (with its exquisite pre-chorus,) slinks like an Indie Rock Robbie Robertson through the class struggle of “You Have Bought Yourself a Boat,” and beautifully tells us all to “fuck all” on the heartbreaking “TLC Cagematch.” The lo-fi “Dan Marino” is as charming as an early Replacements ballad, and “You Are Every Girl To Me” remains an unexpected but welcome departure. Not smart-ass - just smart.
3. STROPPIES - Levity [LP/CD](Tough Love UK/The Orchard)
Australia’s Stroppies have a history of blistering Poppy singles (“It’s A Hit” was one of 2019’s best.) Rather than break the mood of the last two years with another uptempo song, “Levity” is the quintessential midtempo “grower” album. Like the Flying Nun albums of the days of old, basslines are insistent (“Up To Our Elbows,”) guitars chime like lost Guided By Voices, and the male/female harmonies regularly capture their range of emotions in the distance between them (The Wedding Present-esque “Smilers Strange Politely.”) However, “Levity” is a triumph of the weird hook (that loop on “The Perfect Crime”) and reinventing Post-Punk drive (“Figure Eights” wildly employing synth squiggle and jangle guitars.) In the steady stream of looking for the catchiest singles and tracks, “Levity” is designed to slide by you from its unfamiliarity. Once its hooks dig in you, it can listen beginning-to-end for days on end.
2. LAUNDROMAT - En Bloc [LP](Brace Yourself UK)
Bristol trio Laundromat is the most low-key commercial threat in years. Minimal but inventive sonically, “En Bloc” joins their three EP’s with alarming precision. If they are this cohesive over three separate releases, a Laundromat album will be stealthy enough to enter everyone’s airspace with no prior announcement. With the bare minimum musically, the groove is the only thing that matters in a Laundromat track. “Slow Clap” is sinuous enough to crown them a possible successor to Spoon. If that old-school tone/word sound writing is not enough, their melodies light up Funk (“Bug Eyed,”) Radiohead-ish angularity (“Off”), and leave a ballad (“En Bloc”) as their best single.
1. J.I.D. - The Forever Story [2LP](Dreamville/Interscope)
The last time a Hip-Hop album topped the yearend chart was Kendrick Lamar's ten years ago. And while Kendrick’s “Mr. Morale” would probably be somewhere on the lower end of the Fifties this year, it is largely due to the possible passing of the torch to this Atlanta phenom. “The Forever Story” is autobiographical and yet still indulges in fantasy. Modeled after “Good Kid, M.A.D.D. City,” J.I.D. writes rhymes you can feel (the brother/sister sagas “Bruddanem” and “Sistanem”) and can still run circles around you with his elastic voice and constantly switching flows. “Crack Sandwich” is still a TKO. “Dance Now” still richly deserves to be a hit. While “Can’t Punk Me” (like the album) with Spillage Village mates EARTHGANG (“Ghetto Gods” also is Top 50 for the year) is Hip-Hop at its most pugilistic and artistic in years.
There is a method to the madness we promise. To us, the best playlisting songs come two ways:
1. When you are just skimming an older playlist/segment - see a track - and it starts playing in your head.
When a cut surprises you. When you are listening to the random array run together and that song plays that makes you race over to find out what it is.
So thank you for reading, listening, subscribing and supporting the artists we introduce via this online platform.
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