The Top 50 Albums Of 2022

Hey. Remember me?

I’m the guy who runs this here website. Maybe “ran” is a better word choice considering I don’t think I posted at all this year. Even after promises to be more active life seemed to get in the way once again, and here we are on the eve of 2023 with nothing to show for the previous 364 days. Once again, I ask for your sincerest apologies. I’ll write more about 2022 in the days or weeks to come, but for now let’s get to this year’s list of my favorite records. That’s why you’re here, right?

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Alright kids, look at this as if it’s a naked chick with her legs spread out before you. Everything is yours for the taking. You can seek these records out and buy them, you can download them from Bandcamp or Apple Music, you can stream them on Spotify or Tidal, you can do whatever the fuck you do to consume music. Just make sure you respect the artists enough to pay for their work. New this year: I am no longer posting MP3s from these albums. I’ll post Bandcamp links where available, as most of these are available to stream there and proceeds (usually) go to the artist.

And don’t even thinking about pointing out any typos. I don’t want to hear it. But please let me know if any of the links are broken.

It goes like this. Ranking #. Artist – Title (Record Label). I’ve written blurbs for all of this year’s entries, but they vary in length and content because, well, it would take forever to really get in depth about why these artists resonated with me this year. I also had COVID last week when I started putting this together and I’m pretty sure my brain still isn’t operating at 100% efficiency. Honestly I forgot I was supposed to include MP3s until five minutes ago.

The Top 50 Albums Of 2022

Honorable Mention:
Author & Punisher – Kruller (Relapse)
Bill Callahan – YTI?A?? (Drag City)
Keiji Haino & Sumac – Into This Juvenile Apocalypse Our Golden Blood To Pour Let Us Never (Thrill Jockey)
Aeviterne – The Ailing Facade (Profound Lore)
Blackbraid – Blackbraid I (Self Relelased)

50. Candy – Heaven Is Here (Relapse) – It’s hard to make metal and hardcore sound too interesting in 2022, at least enough that I want to listen to something multiple times. I can’t count the number of metal records I left off this list because I played through them once or twice and didn’t care too much to revisit throughout the year. Heaven Is Here was released mid-way through 2022 and it was in pretty regular rotation since then, which I think is a testament to how unique it sounds compared to other/similar albums on this list. Give its melange of metal, hardcore, industrial, goth shoegaze a chance. It’ll bore a hole in your brain and keep you entertained. [Listen On Bandcamp]

49. Angel Olsen – Big Time (Jagjaguwar) – Because Jonathan Goes Country was already taken as an album title. It’s fine, it has some enjoyable tracks, but honestly at the end of the day if I want to hear a great singer doing the alt-country thing I’d probably listen to Nina Nastasia’s Road To Ruin. [Listen On Bandcamp]

48. Smino – Luv 4 Rent (Zero Fatigue, LLC) – I was a little back and forth on Smino this year. I love his work with Saba and Noname, but parts of this record leave me a little underwhelmed. He’s just not a great lyricist. That said, if you can disregard what he’s saying, this can be an immensely enjoyable listen.

47. Nas – King’s Disease III (Mass Appeal) – How could I leave any album that samples “Narco” by Blasterjaxx and Timmy Trumpet off this list? Not only is it Edwin Diaz’ entrance music for the Mets, it was the damned song I walked down the aisle to at my wedding a couple months ago. Nas showing his Mets bonafides while giving me more incentive to enjoy this album more than warrant its inclusion here.

46. Aldous Harding – Warm Chris (4AD) – I found this one way harder to approach than Designer, which at first made me kind of revile it. As the year wore on I would return to it, and each time pick up on something new that made me appreciate it a little more. A subtle melodic trick I hadn’t noticed here, a smile-inducing string of seemingly nonsense words there…I loathe to say something like it requires “active listening” in order to really enjoy it. Honestly I don’t know whether I love Aldous Harding’s music or hate it. I just know I keep listening to it in the hopes that I’ll come to a conclusion, and it ends up being that I just listen to her a lot. Take from that what you will. [Listen On Bandcamp]

45. Kreator – Hate Uber Alles (Nuclear Blast) – Still doing it after all these years, one of the OG thrash bands came through with yet another powerful addition to their canon. Perhaps the fact that it was recorded by one of the guys from Sumerlands (who also worked with Power Trip?) adds a little modern flair. [Listen on Bandcamp]

44. Calexico – El Mirador (City Slang) – I think the last time I saw Calexico perform it was 2007 or 2008. I’ve listened to their records since then — and enjoyed bits and pieces of them all — but El Mirador is the first record since (I think?) Carried To Dust that has really struck a chord with me. There were little moments when I thought, “Oh that sounds like something on Black Light” or “Man these guys were so good live — I bet this one would be a showstopper.” Even if it serves only to remind you of the band’s glory days…you should do yourself a favor and listen. Even if it just brings back fond memories (for me it was that Cinco de Mayo show in LA, or their jaw-dropping set at NXNW in Philly back in the day) that’s more than most new releases are capable of these days. [Listen On Bandcamp]

43. Denzel Curry – Melt My Eyez See Your Future (Loma Vista) – My favorite Curry release since TA13OO. “Walkin'” is a definitely highlight and one of my favorite tracks of the year. Granted, the track he shares with Slowthai here is pretty abysmal, but other than that it’s a thrilling record. [Listen On Bandcamp]

42. Zola Jesus – Arkhon (Sacred Bones) – This is about as “pop” as my tastes get these days. Maybe instead of ranking albums numerically based on the amount of joy they bring me, I should rank them on a scale of how dark they are. This would be the low end of the spectrum (“Dark”), and something like the Mizmor/Thou collab would be the opposite pole (“None More Dark”). [Listen On Bandcamp]

41. Freddie Gibbs – $oul $old $eperately (Warner) – It’s no Alfredo, but I’m still enjoying it. I guess if I want my Alchemist fix I can just listen to Armand Hammer? That Roc Marciano album from this year wasn’t bad either…Shit. Is it too late to amend this list and put that in place of…I don’t know, Angel Olsen? No? Oh well.

40. Blood Incantation – Timewave Zero EP (Century Media) – It feels weird calling this an EP when it’s longer than some full-length albums on this list, but nevertheless an EP is an EP, and this 40-minute space drone epic is as trippy as anything you’ll hear this year. Bonus points for the best atmospheric ambient record of 2022 being recorded by a death metal band from Denver. Bet you didn’t have that on your Bingo card for this year. [Listen On Bandcamp]

39. Boris – Heavy Rocks (Relapse) – I think it was Ian who asked if I’d listened to Heavy Rocks yet, and my first thought was, “Why would Boris reissue that album? I remember it was really good and was only available on CD at the time of its release but…now?” It was then that I learned that Boris recorded an entirely new album, also called Heavy Rocks…and it’s almost as good as the one from 2002! The trio also released an album called W that is supposed to be paired with No from 2020. [Listen On Bandcamp]

38. Worm – Bluenothing (20 Buck Spin) – Last year’s Foreverglade just barely missed my list, but this year a new offering (a mini-album according to Discogs!) meant a new opportunity to impress me and, man, is this good. An unrelenting, mammoth 26-minute barrage of black and death metal. [Listen On Bandcamp]

37. Mamaleek – Diner Coffee (The Flenser) – Definitely one of the weirder (in a good way!), more experimental metal albums of the year. Very different from other experimental records put out this year by the likes of Aeviterne (just missed this list — worth a listen!) or Ashenspire, Mameleek is a little more… funny? Tongue in cheek? I’m not sure what the right term is, but it definitely hits different. I mean, it was issued by The Flenser, so that should give you some idea that it will be abnormal, or obtuse. Imagine Eugene Robinson singing blackened covers of songs from Nighthawks At The Diner in a nightmare in which you’re trapped in the Black Lodge. [Listen On Bandcamp]

36. Future – I Never Liked You (Epic) – For as long as I am making these lists, as long as Future has a new release there will be a spot on this list for it. Better than High On Life, on par with The Wizrd, and slightly worse than everything that came earlier…that’s pretty good for a Future double album! 

35. Sharon Van Etten – We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong (Jagjaguwar) – It’s kinda crazy to think about just how good the three Sharon Van Etten albums have been, 2014’s Are We There, 2019’s Remind Me Tomorrow, and her new record this year. Just an unbelievable run of world class music. This one leans a little heavier into electronic instrumentation and the result is a sound a little more synthy than last time, but with the same arena-rock energy that I think I called Springsteen-ian a few years ago. I may or may not be listening intently when Christine does that “bop or flop” thing on Instagram because “Mistakes” is the boppiest bop that’s ever bopped (that’s what the kids say, right?) and I can’t wait to not say “flop” for the first time when that song is inevitably put up for debate. [Listen On Bandcamp]

34. Zeal And Ardor – Zeal & Ardor (Mvka) – If you’ve been following Manuel Gagneux since Devil Is Fine back in 2016, you know what the deal is. If you haven’t, I’ll quickly elaborate: black metal meets country/blues and gospel. Yeah, it actually does work, and it’s glorious. His newest is no exception. [Listen On Bandcamp]

33. Kavinsky – Reborn (Record Makers) – Somebody please answer me. Where the hell have I heard “Renegade” before? Because I have 100% heard it in a movie, or TV show, or video game…but even after listening to this record pretty regularly for six or seven months I can’t remember the first time I heard it. Maybe it’s just so good it feels like a song you’ve heard a million times before. Or maybe my Covid brain fog has wiped its origins from my memory. In any event — and even IF my introduction to it was, like, an episode of Gossip Girl or something — it’s probably the catchiest song of the year. 

32. Birth – Born (Bad Omen) – Insanely accurate portrayal of ’70s prog from a San Diego band formed in 2018. Is it original? Nope. Is it good? Quite, yes! Come for the mellotron and Hammond B3, stay for the soft, effusive vocals that elevate a couple tracks. Fans of King Crimson and Nektar and Khan will be pleased. [Listen On Bandcamp]

31. Come To Grief – When The World Dies (Translation Loss) – It might not reinvent the wheel but it certainly checks all the right boxes. Sludgy, monolithic riffs juxtaposed to caustic, throat-shredding vocals. We are living in volatile times, and every so often you just have to lean into it. [Listen On Bandcamp]

30. Shearwater – Great Awakening (Self-Released) – The most Rook-ian Meiburg has sounded in years. Those who find this album “plodding” or “frustrating” likely weren’t old enough at the time to comprehend just how brilliant the post-Will Sheff era was, from Palo Santo to Animal Joy. Or, maybe their critical touchstones extend only as far as Mark Hollis, so a Kevin-Krebs-meets-Mid-Air-Paul-Buchanan stunner like “Milkweed” is described as filler. Shame. [Listen On Bandcamp]

29. Oren Ambarchi – Shebang (Drag City) – This is not your Suspension / Flypaper Oren Ambarchi. It is as quiet a tour-de-force as you will encounter this year. A focused groove is embellished upon with impeccable restraint by an ensemble of supremely talented players. It unfurls over 35 minutes, never content to entrench itself in any one genre like, “this is math rock” or “this is jazz” or “this is trance”. It just is. [Listen On Bandcamp]

28. Viagra Boys – Cave World (Year0001) – Much like Kavinsky, my introduction to Viagra Boys came from a video game (in this case it’s MLB The Show 22) — OH MY GOD YOU GUYS, I just looked up the soundtrack to MLB The Show 2022 and lo-and-behold it was ALSO where I first heard “Renegade!” I’m not crazy. I’M NOT CRAZY! Jesus. Have I played that much Show in ’22 that two of those albums somehow snuck onto this list? How embarrassing. Jesus fucking Christ I hate myself. 

27. Falls Of Rauros – Keys To A Vanishing Future (Eisenwald Tonschmiede) – It checks all the right boxes for those of us who enjoyed the Nth wave of metal (who the hell can keep track when new waves start…yearly? biannually?) which saw a rise in the number of bands who added “unique” elements of other genres to traditional black metal. You know, like Agalloch in the late ’90s and early ’00s, Alcest in the later ’00s and Spirit Adrift more recently. Falls of Rauros fit in nicely with those bands who deftly blend atmospherics into their sound. Which brings me to… [Listen On Bandcamp]

26. Spiritworld – Deathwestern (Century Media) – Someone asked me this year what I thought of Deathwestern and my first response was, “You mean like the motel chain?” These guys and their total commitment to cowboy imagery is one of the more giddying elements of the metal scene I stumbled upon in 2022. The guys look like they stepped off the cover of a Flying Burrito Bros. album but they play a killer blend of heavy metal and hardcore. I love it. I’m so jealous I didn’t think of this idea first. [Listen On Bandcamp]

25. Jenny Hval – Classic Objects (4AD) – It’s Jenny Hval, she’s basically a God at this point in her career. If you haven’t been on the bandwagon since Innocence Is Kinky pretty much nothing I say now is going to change your mind. She’s a genius. That is all.

24. Sumerlands – Dreamkiller (Relapse) – This year’s award for best new Sabbath-and-Priest-inspired hard rock/metal record definitely goes to Sumerlands. Super catchy, great riffs, and it clocks in at a svelte 35 or so minutes, making it the perfect for a hungover Saturday morning 5k. If you’ve made it as far as the Pallbearer or Khemmis in terms of modern heavy music, Sumerlands will be a welcome new addition to your growing metal playlist. [Listen On Bandcamp]

23. Pan-American – The Patience Fader (Kranky) – I love to see Mark Nelson continuing to put out compelling records. I still listen to Labradford on the reg (Mi Media Naranja is never far from my turntable). A new Pan-American record receives the kind of response from me normally reserved for, like, when you get the birthday present you’ve secretly been hoping for all year. One of the prettiest records of the year. [Listen On Bandcamp]

22. Russian Circles – Gnosis (Sargent House) – Twenty years in and Russian Circles are still running laps around all these other bands trying to enter the post-rock/post-metal scene. No one does it better right now. [Listen On Bandcamp]

21. Brutus – Unison Life (Sargent House) – This was one of my most anticipated albums of the year and it did not disappoint. It’s a little more dynamic than Nest, and to me the lyrics are a little more heart-on-sleeve (which is hard to achieve with such…visceral songwriting), which makes it an even more compelling listen than its predecessor. The highs might not quite reach as high as “War,” off that aforementioned album, but from start to finish this is a stunning followup album. I can’t wait to see what the band does next. [Listen On Bandcamp]

20. Saor – Origins (Seasons Of Mist) – Melodic/atmospheric black metal with some inspiring moments and folksy flourishes (InB4 bagpipes!). Think Scottish folk-inspired metal sounds a bit much? Trust me, it’s really catchy. [Listen On Bandcamp]

19. Kae Tempest – The Line Is A Curve (American Recordings) – I have to be honest I hadn’t heard of them until I saw this record recommended on some blog or another, and it practically leapt out of my speakers and strangled me, it was that arresting. I also love how the songs seem to progress from bleak to hopeful over the course of the record. Really — and I think I’ve said this previously but I mean it this time — this is unlike anything else you’ll hear this year.

18. Saba – Few Good Things (Saba Pivot LLC) – The marketing surrounding the release of this kinda sucked (you had to sign up for text alerts when the vinyl was announced and the texts didn’t really stop coming in until well after your order arrived) but the album itself is fantastic.

17. Cloakroom – Dissolution Wave (Relapse) – Another one of my most anticipated albums of this year. I’ve worn out my copies of Further Out and Time Well. So when I heard they were releasing a concept album about, like, some kind of planet-wide disaster that erased all the world’s art and now the planet runs on music (?) I was….intrigued. I’ve listened to this record like 50 times now and I still have no idea how any of it works based on the lyrics, but I’m willing to go along for the ride because it’s a really fun listen. Check it out, maybe you can make sense of it for me. [Listen On Bandcamp]

16. Dead Meadow – Force Form Free (Blues Funeral) – The guitar solo Jason whips out on “Binah” is probably the single best moment I heard on any record all year. Even if the rest of the album is pretty standard DM fare, that one solo is so fucking good I couldn’t stop listening to it from the first time I heard it until right now as I’m writing this. This band is (still) so fucking good. [Listen On Bandcamp]

15. Moor Mother – Jazz Codes (Anti-) – I’d say “How the fuck can you put out two world class albums in the span of nine months?” But Billy Woods exists, and seems to do that every couple years, so I guess it’s possible! Speaking of which they collaborated on an album like two years ago so in hindsight this makes perfect sense. Anyway, I prefer this to Black Encyclopedia Of The Air (which was on everyone’s best of 2021 list). [Listen On Bandcamp]

14. Nina Nastasia – Riderless Horse (Temporary Residence Ltd) – It’s a tough listen, but a worthwhile one. I mentioned above that the Brutus record is very heart-on-sleeve, and well…Nina’s record can run laps around that one in terms of how earnest it is. Do I miss Jim White’s brushed drums, or those perfectly arranged strings that elevated Dogs, Run To Ruin and The Blackened Air to rarified air? Yes. But you know what made those albums so fucking good? Nina. It’s always been about her, and this album has her front and center (as she should be) and it is stark and haunting and brilliant because of it. I hope we get more soon. I can’t wait another twelve years. [Listen On Bandcamp]

13. Horse Jumper Of Love – Natural Part (Run For Cover) – There are Evan Rock bands who rock, and then there are Evan Rock bands who…schlock? Horse Jumper fall into that latter category. They’re shambolic, not-quite-sloppy instrumentation juxtaposed to pretty melodies is exactly what I want from my indie rock these days. “I Poured Sugar In Your Shoes” might be my favorite pop song of the year. That should say a lot about what I consider to be “pop” music. [Listen On Bandcamp]

12. Vince Staples – Ramona Park Broke My Heart (Motown) – It’s Vince. He’s never not going to appear on this list. No more blurb needed.

11. Cave In – Heavy Pendulum (Relapse) – There’s a certain…Mutoid Man-ness to some of these songs that got me really stoked about getting to hear a new Mutoid Man record (2023?!), but the majority of these tunes are decidedly CAVE IN. It doesn’t hurt that the two best tracks on the album are the opener (“New Reality”) and the closer (“Wavering Angel”), the latter of which sounds like the heaviest Pink Floyd song imaginable. [Listen On Bandcamp]

10. Spiritualized – Everything Was Beautiful (Fat Possum) – To say I was absolutely giddy the first time I heard the new Spiritualized would be an understatement. All the little easter eggs nodding to Ladies And Gentlemen… aside, it’s a fantastic record that succinctly and perfectly distills the whole space-drugs-religion MO that has sustained J. Spacemen and Co. for like, thirty years now. Fan-fucking-tastic. [Listen On Bandcamp]

09. Greet Death – New Low EP (Deathwish) – I normally revile EPs and shun them on my year-end lists but a few this year stood out as worthy of inclusion. This is one. Misery, Nihilism, Contempt. They’ve never come wrapped in such cute hooks! RIYL the idea of Aidan Moffat (sans accent) backed by Cloakroom. [Listen On Bandcamp]

08. Earl Sweatshirt- Sick! (Tan Cressida) – I have to admit, from Earl to Sick! his career really has progressed way differently than I would have expected back in 2010 or 2011. He’s working with the Alchemist and Black Noi$e…it’s a big shift from, you know, “Couch.” 

07. Kendrick Lamar – Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers (Top Dawg Entertainment) – It’s fucking Kendrick Lamar. He played the Super Bowl Halftime show less than a year ago. If I have to tell you why this is worthy of inclusion on a Best of 2022 list, your musical tastes are beyond saving.

06. Billy Woods – Aethiopes / Church (Backwoodz Studios) – I swear, if we get two Billy Woods records every year from now on, I’m not going to have time to listen to anything else. According to my Spotify wrapped I listened to SO MUCH MORE Billy Woods than any other artist this past year. I think I’m in the top 1% of Billy Woods listeners at this point. Anyway, if you haven’t yet, drop what you’re doing and go listen to…well, any Billy Woods record. The guy sampled Calexico on History Will Absolve Me. He rapped about Spongebob on Hiding Places. And he released two INSANE albums this year. Unbelievable. Enough to top Kendrick, who pretty much everyone agrees released the best rap album of the year. [Listen On Bandcamp]

05. Chat Pile – God’s Country (The Flenser) – There’s always one band every year that makes Ian text me or Gchat me out of the blue with a line like, “I found the best new Evan Rock album of the year.” And, undoubtedly, he’s right. Every single time. This year’s inductee in The New Evan Rock Band Hall Of Fame is Chat Pile. Congrats, fellas. Welcome to the club. Someday you’ll get to play a festival with other Evan Rock luminaries like Killdozer, Bear Claw, The Narrows (not that Narrows — the one who recorded Alligator and Benjamin), Harvey Milk, Couch Slut, Horse Jumper Of Love, and countless others. [Listen On Bandcamp]

04. Cult Of Luna – The Long Road North (Red Creek) – It was a bit of an ordeal getting a copy of this record from Red Creek (sorry, Johannes!) but once it arrived I was listening at least once a day for the first couple weeks of its release. These guys were the last band I saw live before the world locked down in 2020, and I really hope I get to see them perform these songs in person someday soon. [Listen On Bandcamp]

03. Dream Unending – Song Of Salvation (20 Buck Spin) – By far the prettiest metal album on this list, I would recommend Song Of Salvation to anyone reading this who wants to dip their toe in the world of metal but isn’t sure where to start. Listen closely and you might hear strains of Pink Floyd, The Blue Nile, or the Cure. Just don’t expect to hear the velvety vocals of Paul Buchanan here. As friend-of-the-blog Scott Tennant might say, it’s full of “cookie monster” vocals. [Listen On Bandcamp]

02. White Ward – False Light (Debemur Morti) – I found myself watching live footage of White Ward last week as I was starting to compile this list, because I have never had the chance to see them live and wondered…how do they pull it off? Like, they sound like an amalgam of Bohren and Der Club of Gore with killer Black Metal…and now they’re adding in a Factory Records element (several songs pay major homage to Joy Division)…and it’s just…fuck man, I hate saying “It’s not like anything else you’ve ever heard” but I actually mean it this time. And all the live footage I watched of them performing live in the last couple years proves they can pull it off in front of a crowd, which makes it even more impressive. In any other year this would have been an obvious choice for the best record of the year. “Leviathan” was my #2 song of the year according to Spotify. It beat out literally everything else I heard…except… [Listen On Bandcamp]

01. Mizmor / Thou – Myopia (Gilead Media) – I went home to visit my family in April and this shit literally dropped while I was there. I woke up one morning and was about to go for a run and I got a text from Ian telling me that there was a collaboration between Thou and Mizmor. I think I’ve listened to this…100 times since then? 150? According to my Spotify wrapped for this year, “Perfect” was my #1 song of the year (most plays was 11 on April 23rd, 2022). On one of those days home I drove up to meet Ian and I think I listened to it all the way to his place and back. It is just…it achieves an ungodly level of awesomeness I don’t think any other album this year can equal. I think…I think I’m in love with it. [Listen On Bandcamp]

There it is! See you in 2023. I promise.