75 Favorite Albums of 2022
I'm back! (for at least one post)
I’m happy to say I’m back for my favorite time of the year; year-end list making season. I’ll be honest I’m going to keep it short this year and only write a little bit about my top 10 as opposed to top 30 because I’ve decided to do this very last minute. It’s more about having a public record of my list available somewhere that I can look at years later. So let’s get right to it Futuredizzy’s 75 Favorite Albums of 2022.
Band of Horses - Things are Great
Wet Leg - Wet Leg
Animal Collective - Time Skiffs
Joyce Manor - 40 oz to Fresno
Amber Mark - Three Dimensions Deep
Mitski - Laurel Hell
Earl Sweatshirt - Sick!
Bonny Light Horseman - Rolling Golden Holy
Soccer Mommy - Sometimes Forever
Bartees Strange - Farm to Table
Sobs - Air Guitar
Kendrick Lamar - Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers
Father John Misty - Chloe and the next 20th Century
They Hate Change - Finally, New
The Tisburys - Exile on Main Street
Florence + the Machine - Dance Fever
Bread Pilot - New to You
Drunk Uncle - Look Up
FKA Twigs - CAPRISONGS
Hatchie - Giving the World Away
Camp Cope - Running with the Hurricane
MJ Lenderman - Boat Songs
Praise - All in a Dream
Drug Church - Hygiene
Beach House - Once Twice Melody
Camp Trash - The Long Way, the Slow Way
oso oso - sore thumb
Johanna Warren - Lessons for Mutants
Maggie Rogers - Surrender
Sorry - Anywhere but Here
Panda Bear - Reset
Caracara - New Preoccupations
Arms Like Roses - Blooming
Beyonce - Renaissance
Spiritulized - Everything Was Beautiful
Signals Midwest - DENT
Wild Pink - ILYSM
Sharon Van Etten - We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong
Santigold - Spirituals
Yard Act - The Overload
The 1975 - Being Funny in a Foreign Language
Titus Andronicus - The Will to Live
Kate Bollinger - Look at in the Light
Present Company - Present Company
Plains - I Walked With You a Ways
The Smile - A Light for Attracting Attention
Yumi Zouma - Present Tense
Expert Timing - Stargazing
Special Interest - Endure
Brent Faiyaz - WASTELAND
Orville Peck - Bronco
Roc Marciano & the Alchemist - The Elephant Man’s Bones
Destroyer - Labyrinthitis
2nd Grade - Easy Listening
Charli XCX - CRASH
PUP - The Unraveling of PUPTHEBAND
yaya bey _Remember Your North Star
Angel Olsen - Big Time
Keep for Cheap - Bundle
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Cool it Down
Alex G - God Save the Animals
Carly Rae Jepsen - The Loneliest Time
Tomberlin - i don’t know who needs to hear this
12. Big Thief - Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe You
String Machine - Hallelujah, Hell Yeah
10. Hurray for the Riff Raff - Life on Earth
There’s something about the songwriting of Alynda Segarra that just cuts at what a heavy weight it is to just exist in the world. There’s so much that needs to change and it can be a daunting task but this album reminds us that we’re not alone pushing that boulder up the hill. There’s always strength in numbers.
Phoenix - Alpha Zulu
I’m happy to report indie pop legend Phoenix made a great indie pop album. I was worried when the title track was the first single but after “Tonight” came out all my worries were put to rest. To be honest I’m rooting for this band with every album and will it probably drop out of my top 10 years to come? Probably. But I know I can’t stop listening to it now. It’s one of my comfort albums now.
Gang of Youths - angel in realtime.
Not enough artists are making music like Gang of Youths. Their sound is almost from a bygone era of making the most flush sounding rock music possible. After the energetic all or nothing attitude of their previous album "Go Farther in Lightness" they go a little more introspective on this album but still flourishing with sound. Dealing with some heavy topics like loss and family identity it's not an album I just throw on as background. It's an appointment listening, to give it any less than your full attention would be disrespectful. I'm not sure if it's an album that will convert many new listeners but is incredibly rewarding for us who have been along on their journey.
Black Country, New Road - Ants From Up There
This was an album that kind of came out of nowhere for me. I didn’t click with their previous album but this one just has a certain grandiose season finale type vibe to it. Maybe it’s because Issac Wood the lead singer left the band after the album came out, or because I was moving to a new place when it came out, but I can’t help but feel like it’s the perfect album to mark the end of the chapter. Hopefully only better things ahead for the band and me in 2023.
Spoon - Lucifer on the Sofa
Sometimes you can go home again. Spoon is back making just really good guitar rock and it rules. I've loved pretty much every Spoon album so I wasn't exactly clamoring for the to look backwards but it was a nice surprise to get a reminder of what Spoon does so well; tasty guitar hooks, albums that don't overstay their welcome, and Britt Daniel's signature howl.
Nilüfer Yanya - PAINLESS
This album made me a real Nilüfer Yanya fan. The guitar hooks, the lyrics, and the urgency of this record won me over. It’s one of those game changer albums I think where can expect bigger things with every Nilüfer Yanya release.
Kilo Kish - AMERICAN GURL
Another all caps title… Kilo Kish is an exciting artist that’s really stretching pop music to be a flourish of influences cramped into one song. This one is inspired by the 80s sound with a little hint of that 80s arcade vibes too. If you ever feel like music is becoming boring to you, check out this album because it’s aweinspiring what a swing to the fences this album is.
Alvvays - Blue Rev
That’s right. Shocking no one, I love this album. Alvvays has cracked the code to writing perfect short catchy pop songs and this album is full of them. This album also shows the different direction that Alvvays could be taking in their career. There isn’t quite an “Archie, Marry Me” on here (which would be a Herculean task) but that melancholy vibe is all over this record. This album sounds like a band settling into becoming veteran group, and if I wasn’t already excited for whatever they do next, I’d be even more after hearing this album.
The Weeknd - Dawn FM
The concept of this album is so extremely up my alley; an AM radio 80’s themed show and songs inspired by new wave and 80’s electronic music. It sounds like the Weeknd made a Cut Copy record. It’s also an album that seems to fit any season. You can listen to it at home on a cold winter’s night or blast it with the windows down on a hot summer day. I think it’s the Weeknd’s strongest work to date and can see myself revisiting this album for years to come because it’s a got a certain timeless quality to it.
Anxious - Little Green House
Now here’s an album where every time I listened to it I would fall in love with it all over again. This is some good rock and roll music, baby! Why is it my number one of the year? Because no album made me air drum along to songs then this one? Because I would say a different song was my favorite every time I listened to it? Because it never got old? It’s all of these reasons and more. They’re a refreshing new band that gave emo rock a kick it really needed and not only am I looking forward to their next album, I’m looking forward to the other bands that will be inspired by it as well.