Doug's 2022 Music Recap! The Best New Music Of The Year
Ideally I would like to get the music recap for any given year done before the next year starts… But the last couple of weeks have been hectic and I think the argument for waiting for the year to END before you recap it is legit as well…
This year I definitely went back and discovered music that wasn’t released in 2022, and King Gizzard really dominated a lot of my listening. The result is that a few albums that maybe should be on the list of best albums were relegated to the second section where I just pointed out a few tracks in particular maybe because I just haven’t fully digested a few of them yet. Not a comprehensive list of everything good that came out over the past year by any means, but these are some of my faves! Here’s the recap!
Favorite LPs released in 2022:
Album of the Year:
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava
The Gizzverse was gifted FIVE new KG albums in 2022 from Stu and the boys which is the first time that has happened since 2017. Two of them play like companion EPs but why split hairs? The year started off with the sprawling Omnium Gatherum (more on that later) and all of the releases are fantastic, but the winner is IDPLML. There is an similar vibe here across all the tracks but the songs are all separate jams - they don’t bleed together like some KG albums do. The album is groovy as HELL - funky extended workouts (only 7 tracks clocking in over an hour) with incredible guitar work and ruminations on the topics in the title. This album sounds like an album about ice, death, planets, lungs, mushrooms and lava, and while I don’t know what that means exactly I just know it’s true. And don’t worry…. there are plenty of KG “WOOOOS!!!!” throughout so you don’t forget whom you’re listening to. Awesome.
Runner-up:
Porcupine Tree - Closure/Continuation
This was basically a coin flip… I guess I figured I’d give it to King Gizz this year since I gave it to Steven Wilson on his solo album The Future Bites last year. But make no mistake the return of Porcupine Tree after 13 long years was indeed a triumph. No Colin Edwin on bass this time around which is a bit of a bummer but you won’t hear a difference per se. As with most Porcupine Tree albums the virtuosity hits hard with complex rhythms and themes throughout starting immediately with Harridan. Oddly enough my top 2 albums are both 7 tracks and this one is a total of 48 minutes. Dignity might be my favorite - it’s a classic beauty - not the most extreme but the most comfortable, and as much as I love the dynamic and heavy epics like Herd Culling (inspired by paranormal stories at Skinwalker Ranch in Utah - great interview about the the entire album including this here), it’s usually the pretty PT tracks that are my favorites.
The Best of the Rest:
Wet Leg
I love this debut album from Wet Leg. They appeared on the map with the lead single Chaise Longue which sounds like a post-punk novelty (one of the more addictive guilty pleasures you’ll ever hear in your life), but there is way more to this duo and plenty of depth to the songwriting on this album then you might expect. Highlights include the opener and possibly most jaded song ever written in Being In Love, Ur Mum, and the gorgeous closer Too Late Now. They have stated that they’ve already completed the second album - let’s hope they’ve got staying power! I suspect they will.
Simple Minds - Direction Of The Heart
Simple Minds have pretty much regained their mojo after losing much of it on a few albums that felt professional but somewhat uninspired. I’ve stuck with them through each and every album, but after 1991’s Real Life things were a bit inconsistent really until Big Music in 2014. None of it was bad if you were a fan of the band and some of it was really good, but not a ton of it was great. Direction of the Heart is the third strong album in a row for original members Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill opening with the single Vision Thing inspired by the passing of Jim’s father. Other highlights include Human Traffic, Solstice Kiss and the reworking of Act Of Love which they never actually recorded but was the first song they played at their very first performance on 1/17/78 at Glasgow's Satellite City - pretty cool.
King Princess - Hold On Baby
If you’ve been following this blog at all you know I love King Princess and her sophomore full length album is really good. I don’t love it quite as much as her debut Cheap Queen, but it’s still damn good and I’m not surprised - she’s released enough material in the way of singles and EPs that I know she’s for real. My favorites here are the opener I Hate Myself I Want To Party, Little Bother, and Change The Locks.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Omnium Gatherum
Most KG albums are one style - a metal album, a far eastern flavored album, a jazzy album, or a concept. With Omnium Gatherum it was the first chance they had to reconvene and work on an LP in person following the pandemic and they throw everything at the wall here careening from metal to rap to soul and everything in between, and it pretty much all works on this double album. It starts with the 18 minute gallop The Dripping Tap in the tradition of past KG openers like Rattlesnake, Altered Beast, Robot Stop, I’m In Your Mind, Head On/Pill etc… From there we go bouncing around on the fun trip of styles. Highlights include the metal of Gaia and Predator X, the rap of Sadie Sorceress and The Grim Reaper, the “loving” tribute to the Evilest Man Rupert Murdoch, the pleasant and smooth grooviness of Magenta Mountain, Kepler-22b, Persistance, Presumptuous and The Garden Goblin. Worth the ride.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Changes
Oh hello… here we are again with yet another KG LP on this list (and make no mistake both of the other albums are fantastic too - Made In Timeland and Laminated Denim - but they both have two 15 minute tracks and are more like EPs to me - the other 3 are the essentials to start with). Changes was the 5th and final release of the year and the only one that doesn’t have elaborate artwork on the cover, but this album does not sound like some leftover or afterthought at all in terms of quality. There is a musical theme that we hear across multiple tracks that ties the whole thing together and there is more emphasis on groove and a mellow vibe. The opening epic Change and Astroturf are probably the two best jams here.
Drive-By Truckers - Welcome 2 Club XIII
The Drive-By Truckers returned with a reliably solid one with Welcome 2 Club XIII. It starts with a nostalgic but bleak rumination on driving called The Driver - road tripping out west, through the dark underbelly of the backroads of America late at night where you may encounter a town where time has stood still, burned out factories or even the Klan. It doesn’t let up with the tune Maria’s Awful Disclosures about the controversial 19th century book by Maria Monk that claimed to expose abuse in a Montreal convent. You get the idea. These are not fluffy happy songs and yet you won’t feel depressed listening to them. After three pretty much political but no less enjoyable albums, Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley’s lyrics turn more towards stories of Americana, growing up and growing older which was more of their trade for years. Drive-By Truckers is (alt)country music with a wink for people who would like to be able to listen to something country within a rock framework that won’t make them feel ridiculous for listening. I know that may not make sense, but let’s just say I cannot stand pure country music - but I do love this.
Jack White - Entering Heaven Alive
Jack White released two albums in 2022 after the strange Boarding House Reach in 2018. He released a Raconteurs album in 2019 that also wasn’t so great, so by my calculations he was coming dangerously close to a decade without releasing great music. And then came Fear Of The Dawn in early 2022 and it…….wasn’t great. Jeez…. so when he finally sounded truly inspired again with Entering Heaven Alive it was a relief for me. It’s a quiet affair - the most quiet of his entire career and there are some amazing songs here. It’s still not better than Lazaretto or any White Stripes albums but it’s damn good. The fact that it’s a bit stripped down makes many of these songs sound like they’d be right at home on a White Stripes album starting with the opener A Tip From You To Me. These songs actually sound more conventional than the many of the just too-weird experiments that appeared all over the last couple LPs. Love Is Selfish is one of those great lyrics that means something different than you’d think. Your first thought is love shouldn’t be selfish at all right? He’s saying love itself is selfish in the way it steals you helplessly away from “all your plans” when you fall into it - how “it’s always crying me, me, me” which just strikes me as brilliant. I’ve Got You Surrounded is the one jam that is the mellow companion to Into The Twilight, Corporation, and High Ball Stepper from the previous three albums - songs that are more ideas than full conventional songs but set to an infectious and unique jam that sticks - so good. My other favorite here is the majestically beautiful A Tree On Fire From Within. This album is a real winner that I hope has Jack back on track.
The Greyboy Allstars - Get A Job
The Greyboy Allstars returned in 2022 with a covers album Get a Job: Music From The Original Broadcast Series Soul Dream. These recordings are taken from their livestream series on nugs.net - such a cool way to assemble a smokin’ new LP. I’ve got bootleg live recordings of Got To Get Me A Job and their awesome cover of Taxman from over 20 years ago and it’s very cool to hear new versions especially of Taxman by the original and best acid jazz outfit in the game for my money going back to when I first heard them in an East Lansing (of all places) record store almost 30 years ago… This is a 100% GBA album even if it’s all covers and I frankly didn’t know all of these tracks so a handful are new to me. Smokin’ At Tiffany’s and Turn It On are fantastic slabs of boogaloo!
Goat - Oh Death
I shazam’d the track Under No Nation while hanging with a couple buddies and jamming to a radio show on BBC and that led me to the album from this mysterious experimental outfit from Sweden. It’s really cool - one of the more unique listening experiences I’ve come across in a while. Strange funk, world music, cool guitar work, screaming vocals - it’s hard to describe this band. Sometimes the vibe reminds me of the Tom Tom Club, but just listen. The opener Soon You Die, Do The Dance, Goatmilk and Remind Yourself are the other highlights.
Clutch - Sunrise On Slaughter Beach
Clutch doing Clutch things with results every bit as visceral as you would expect from these guys. Red Alert (Boss Metal Zone) is the shotgun blast opener that is exactly what its title says it is. Slaughter Beach is the heavy groovy stoner metal vibe that I need in my life and the album is solid all the way through for these 30 year veterans on their 13th LP.
Eddie Vedder - Earthling
This is the first Eddie solo album that is a legit solo album. Into The Wild was a soundtrack clearly made for the film, Ukelele Songs are, well…..ukelele songs and now Earthling is a rock album that doesn’t have any other agenda like the other two (not that the other two are bad - they aren’t). At the end of the day it does indeed sound much like a very good Pearl Jam album which is fine with me. Granted there are exceptions that don’t sound like Pearl Jam starting with the all star cast of guests - but they don’t take over the album. The only time you’ll really notice them are on a track like Picture where he shares lead vocals with Elton John or Try which has a Stevie Wonder harmonica solo on it. Rounding out the main band on most of the tracks are Red Hot Chili Pepper Chad Smith and former Pepper Josh Klinghoffer as well as hot shot producer / free agent Andrew Watt on bass. Picture and Try aren’t the best songs on the album by the way - that title probably goes to the Solsbury Hill-inspired opener Invincible - an uplifting way to kick it off. Other highlights include the Tom Petty-influenced Long Way (with longtime Heartbreaker Benmont Tench on Hammond organ) and Brother The Cloud (which would make for a fine Pearl Jam hit). Not a “masterpiece” per se but good enough for this list - if you’re a fan you’ll dig it.
KRS-One - I M a M C R U 1 2
The teacher keeps doing his thing and if you know, you know. Backing away slightly from the social commentary of 2020’s Between The Protests (and if you know Kris you know that’s only relatively speaking) he lets loose with plenty of fire to remind anyone who might forget who the man is. Whether it’s the history lesson of Raw Hip-Hop or the knock out blow of Knock Em Out (which I had on last year’s recap as a single), KRS-One is still at the top of his game slaying everybody. The track that should be played at every club and party though is the tons-of-fun Can You Dance where we are challenged to a dance off to all of the favorites from the Humpty Hump to the Dougie!
Favorite Other Tracks from 2022
All Them Witches - Blacksnake Blues
ATW released one track every month in 2022 - a unique approach to be sure. Some are great and some are curiosities - I’m not sure taken together that they sound like a coherent album, but the first track released in January is my favorite - a nasty 11 minute cover of John Lee Hooker’s 1959 tune Black Snake called Blacksnake Blues.
Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard - New Age Millennial Magic
These guys crack me up - a band obsessed with sunshiny glam 70’s vibes but I don’t feel they are simply some novelty. The opener on their debut album Backhand Deals is the catchy as all get out New Millennial Magic. The rest of the album is fun although it got lost in the shuffle for me and I didn’t listen to it enough to confidently say it does or doesn’t belong on the list. It likely does - I would say it’s worth checking out. Besides how can you not give a band a shot with a name like Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard?
Metallica - Lux Æterna
I’ve got a complicated relationship with Metallica, but when they come up with something good I’m right there, and this first track from the upcoming album is very good. Nice and thrashy - hoping the new album is just as good!
Particle Kid - King Of Ashes
Another one on an album that I do recommend - it’s a little odd to be sure but I do like it. I just haven’t haven’t listened to the 2022 double album by Willie Nelson’s youngest son (yes that’s Particle Kid) enough to say whether it definitely belongs on the list overall. Give it a shot. This is the song that leaps out as the one that I thought was one of the best. Kinda heavy, kinda spacey, kinda ethereal, ultimately unique.
Rosalia - Chicken Teriyaki
Not an artist you may expect to see much of on my blog but I like Rosalia - the Spanish singer’s music is funky, flamenco, avant garde and not like many artists you’ve heard. This song along with her vocal delivery in general will grab you.
Tears For Fears - Rivers Of Mercy
The new Tears For Fears album is really good and the sublime Rivers Of Mercy is a highlight. Just gorgeous.
Tedeschi Trucks Band - Hold That Line
I had gotten away from Tedeschi Trucks, but I just recently started listening to I Am The Moon which consists of four 6 song EPs they put out in 2022 and now I’m back in. There are a few tracks from the project that are really incredible such as Hold That Line. Really beautiful and feels appropriate for the times.
Wilco - Many Worlds
I haven’t fully digested the sprawling 21 track return to the country part of alt-country that is the latest Wilco album Cruel Country, but the epic Many Worlds stands out as kind of the centerpiece for me so far and Wilco never really disappoints.
Smashing Pumpkins - Beguiled
A fantastic lead single from the upcoming triple album rock opera Atum to be fully released in 2023. Nice thick guitars that is worthy of the band’s legacy. The rest of the album will be a wild ride from what has been released so far… we’ll see but I’m always excited for new Pumpkins.
Ibibio Sound Machine - Protection From Evil
Mostly sung in Ibibio - a native language from Nigeria, this is a jam. World beats and electronica - I dig these folks.
The Church - The Hypnogogue
First single from the yet-another-new-lineup from The Church’s upcoming album of the same name. Mysterious and epic - I’m pretty excited for a new album by The Church!
Devon Allman & Maggie Rose - These Days
I’ll never get sick of a good new cover by the Jackson Browne-penned These Days, this time by Gregg Allman’s son Devon and Maggie Rose. I posted it to my Insta story and Maggie thanked me which was cool.
Danger Mouse & Black Thought - No Gold Teeth
Such a great jam from a great pairing of Producer extraordinaire Danger Mouse and MC Black Thought from The Roots on the album Cheat Codes - one I have to spend more time with…
GB3 (featuring Steve Kilbey) - This Is The Future Calling
I love when Steve Kilbey collaborates with Glenn Bennie from The Underground Lovers for his GB3 project and this is my fave track from the 2022 album Sakura Flower
John Mellencamp & Bruce Springsteen - Did You Say Such A Thing
Love this fun collab between these two giants on the latest Mellencamp album which is one of his better efforts of recent years.
3rd Secret - I Choose Me
The best song from an otherwise boring and disappointing album from the grunge supergroup featuring Kim Thayil, Kirst Novoselic, and Matt Cameron…
The Jazz Butcher - Time
The last album released posthumously after Pat Fish passed away in late 2021, this is my favorite track from the album. Have always been a fan of The Jazz Butcher.
The Crosseyed - Dope Fiend Love Machine
Last but far from least - The first single from the 6 song EP Burnt - this is a funky groovy jam with plenty of guitars & horns and a catchy chorus by San Francisco based friend of mine Jeff Malkin - check it out on iTunes!
So what do you think? Did I miss any? I’m sure I did - I want to know what your favorites were from the year - add them in the comments!
M10 Social is owned by Doug Cohen in West Bloomfield, MI and provides social media training and digital marketing services from the Frameable Faces Photography studio Doug owns with his wife Ally. He can be reached there at tel:248-790-7317, by mobile at tel:248-346-4121 or via email at mailto:doug@frameablefaces.com. You can follow Doug’s band Vintage Playboy at their Facebook page here.
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