2022: The Year, In Albums
December 30, 2022
A disclaimer: I have not listened to most of the albums that have been released this year. But, for me, list making is less about being exhaustive, and more about highlighting albums that have charted the year; albums that have moved me in one way or another. That said, over the past few years, I’ve started treating year end lists as a collection of smaller lists: the artists I’ve been following for years and come back to often, debut albums, artists that are new to me, and my “Top 8” — albums that are extra special, and so on.
2022’s had some incredibly exciting moments for me. Before I get into the lists, I just wanted to highlight a few of my favorite moments listening to albums:
Simora Pinderhughes’ latest album, GRIEF, is but one piece of a larger project, called The Healing Project, he’s been working on examining history, while meditating on what a future free of capitalism, patriarchy, and racism might look like. It’s one of the most important albums released this year.
When Renaissance came out, I was on the back end of getting over COVID. Nonetheless, I started the album at midnight. When the album transitions from Plastic Off The Sofa, and the tempo slowly picks up, then goes into Virgo’s Groove? I levitated.
I love album openers. I especially love Kendrick Lamar’s album openers. United in Grief is such a powerful way open an album, but it’s especially powerful when it’s your first album in over 5 years. There’s a part around the 1.5 minute mark where the drums come in and Kendrick just takes off, rapping in double time. I also levitated during this moment.
I don’t speak French, but I’ve been considering learning at different points since hearing Esperanza Spalding on Robert Glasper’s Why We Speak. It’s an incredibly beautiful and prescient song excellently delivered by one of the great vocalists of our time.
Spotify told me that I listened to Makaya McCraven’s In These Times 25 times in a day. It’s one of my favorite songs from the year.
Kevin passed KAINA’s album, It Was A Home, to me not long after it came out back in March. I listened and liked it. But it wasn’t until November that I came back to it and realized what a gem her album is.
I love Nick Hakim.
At any rate, and without any further ado — The Completely Unbiased and Wholly Comprehensive Best Albums of 2022:
Where My Bread is Buttered & My Cup is Filled
There is a particular sound, made by a collection of artists, that has resonated with me for a number of years. I can’t quite qualify that sound, but I know it when I hear it. This year, some of my favorite artists released new albums, where they tried new things (or didn’t, which is fine), and in some cases, collaborated with new people.
Robert Glasper — Black Radio III
Snarky Puppy — Empire Central
Alex Isley — Marigold
Steve Lacy — Gemini Rights
St. Lucia — Utopia
Nice to Meet You
This category is somewhat in contrast to the aforementioned section. Where the last section was about a level of familiarity and trust I feel like I’ve developed with some artists, this is more about exploration in a sense.
As such, one of the things I enjoy most about blogging is looking for new music — particularly music from people I don’t know much about. Each month, through the Plug’n Play playlist, Kevin and I scour the underbelly of the internet for music that moves us, but also music that may go unnoticed. Below are some albums made by artists that I’ve come to really appreciate, and serves as my entry point to them.
Maggie Rogers — Surrender
Madison Cunningham — Revealer
Yaya Bey — Remember Your North Star
Simora Pinderhughes — GRIEF
Triathalon — Spin
Brothertiger — Brothertiger
Armani Ceasar — The Liz 2
Sudan Archives — Natural Brown Prom Queen
Debut Albums
One of my favorite listening exercises is to go through an artists discography from the beginning (this is much easier to do because of streaming). Debut albums are often self-funded, or have little backing from a major label, and the artist often has to do most of the labor for the album themselves: play multiple, if not all, instruments, produce, do the cover design, mix and master the album themselves, and so on. And while an artists “voice” typically isn’t refined, they make up for it in ambition. To me, this is what makes the debut album exciting: it can feel limitless and a peak into what’s to come. Below are some of my favorite debut albums from 2022.
Corey Bernhard — Fool’s Pirouette
Rudi Creswick — Different Forms
Don Glori — Welcome
Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul — Topical Dancer
Julius Rodriguez — Let Sound Tell All
Remey Williams — 08105
Amber Mark — Three Dimensions Deep
DOMi & JD Beck — NOT TiGHT
Kokoroko — Could We Be More
Good [Pop] Music [?]
This category is the other side of the budgetary coin to Debut Albums. This is big budget, endless resources, “here’s a blank check” music, which, often times, is very empty to me. But, like Duke Ellington once said, there’s only good music and the other kind, and these two albums certainly fall closer to the “good” rather than the “other kind” for me.
When I first listened to Harry’s House, I was a bit shocked. Like, “this is what Harry Styles’ music sounds like? Maybe I should listen to him more?” It’s an excellently produced album, and has some of my favorite musicians and singers working on it. Sonically, it’s one of the best sounding albums from the year. On the other hand, I found The Weeknd’s Dawn FM exciting as a body of work: the story arc of the album, the music videos, the tour.
Harry Styles — Harry’s House
The Weeknd — Dawn FM
Miscellaneous Favorites
DIXSON — 004 Daisy
Saba — Few Good Things
Smino — Luv 4 Rent
Top 8
Some albums, for whatever reason, become special to us. For me, it’s not quite something I can explain, but you know something’s special when you hear it. For me, there are stylistic elements that I’m often drawn to, but more than style, I’m often drawn to albums that have riveting songwriting and excellent production (instruments. I like instruments); albums that say something about the world. I like seeing artists take risks, opting not for what’s en vogue, but for something a bit more idiosyncratic, and so on. Here are a few albums I not only returned to time and again, but I’m sure will be in rotation for years to come.
Makaya McCraven — In These Times
Nick Hakim — COMETA
Immanuel Wilkins — The 7th Hand
KAINA — It Was a Home
Beyoncé — Renaissance
Kendrick Lamar — Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers
Lucky Daye — Candydrip
The Smile — A Light for Attracting Attention
Albums That Came Out in December
One of the funniest things about year end lists — to me — is that they typically come out in November, leaving December releases in the internet’s dust. (There’s no way someone would say Little Simz or Leland Whitty’s albums aren’t some of the best from the year!) This is to say, December releases deserve love, too. Here are a few that’ve come out in December that are special to me, and I want to spend more time with.
