Best of 2022

During the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic, back in late 2020/early 2021, I started to wonder how living through such a life-altering event would affect the media we consume. Having already seen how movies, TV, music, and books were changed after some of the major events of my lifetime, like the Cold War ending, 9/11, and the Great Recession, I saw the inevitable return to a "new normal" not with trepidation but with keen interest. What would the artists who lived through this period have to say about it, and what would we as their audience respond to and identify with?

Now firmly entrenched in my 40s and falling further and further away from the crux of pop culture, I no longer feel the need to keep my fingers on the pulse of every little thing. It's freeing, really, to no longer be in the crosshairs of marketing and advertising campaigns. I can sit back and watch new TV shows come and go, knowing that most of the characters I see on the screen have not been created to appeal to me. Movie trailers all seem over the top and silly now that they're not tuned to get my 18 to 35 year old heart pounding. And pop music, well, pop music and I had a falling out long ago. Whenever we have a chance encounter, I’m quickly reminded of why I moved on to other things. (Yes, that means I haven’t listened to the new Taylor Swift album. Sue me.)

But what I have seen from the more indie/alternative side of music in the past year has been interesting. The '90s are making a big comeback, for one. I'm a fan of this simply because being able to rock out like I'm 16 again is a fun departure from the reality of being 43. I've managed to mostly brush aside the uncomfortable truth that the people making these albums are the offspring of my fellow Gen Xers. It just gets in the way of enjoying their take on the formative music of my youth. At the same time, I've noticed more older-than-average artists (see: people around my age) making their musical debuts or revitalizing their careers, which is always a blast to see. I also noticed plenty of experimentation and expansion of sounds from some established artists, fueled by what feels like a sense of "hey, why not?" that definitely feels heightened at this moment. The world is all topsy-turvy and on the precipice of…something, so why not go for broke? Why not try something new? That sort of artistic expression has always fascinated me, simply because of the wild creativity and experimentation that accompany it can reveal some pretty amazing things.

As for myself, I’ve grown tired of the hamster wheel feel of collecting the newest and latest hot single or artist of the month. Truth be told, I was starting to feel more worried about keeping up and less about actually enjoying what I was listening to. I had become a collector of shiny baubles doomed to collect digital dust, falling further and further down my “recently added” list. The music didn’t wash over me so much as rush by.

I still keep an eye out for stuff that might blow my hair back, but I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m becoming one of those people who describes actors as “you know, that gal from the show from the 2000s. The brunette. You know the show. They hang out in a bowling alley a lot…its the one with Brody from Mallrats in it.” I can’t - and don’t want to - keep up with every bit of media ephemera. The world is rolling along just fine without needing to appeal to me, and that’s okay. I think that my listening habits from the past year pretty accurately reflect that change. There are some nostalgic faves (Spoon, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Hurray for the Riff Raff), more recent artists that I can’t help but enjoy (Sudan Archives, The Beths, gang of youths), and newer artists who I’m just now discovering (Denzel Curry, Willi Carlisle, Personal Trainer).

Plenty of my favorite albums either obliquely or directly address the unpleasant uncertainty of the past few years, but they’re all shaped by it in some way - and that’s where I am at, as well. Changed in ways both big and small and trying to see the path forward through the chaos of the present. When it came time to come up with my favorite album of the year, the answer was surprisingly easy to come by. Most years, it’s a such a struggle that I don’t even bother to mention my unequivocal top album, falling back on a non-numerical list to avoid tipping my consistently undecided hand. When I looked back at the artist that I returned to the most not just over the past year, but over the past few years, Bartees Strange came up every time.

Truly a pandemic success story, his excellent debut full-length, “Live Forever,” came out in 2020 to minor acclaim. As bands slowly returned to touring, he started to make a name for himself as an opening act. His 2022 release, “Farm to Table,” is incredibly present in the current moment. Strange veers from bedroom confessionals to soaring guitar anthems to synth-drenched hip-hop so seamlessly - a true child of the past 30 years of music. His songs, while catchy and anthemic, are very grounded in real experiences that aren’t just relatable but essential. “Farm to Table” is an album filled with songs about coming to terms with newfound success (Heavy Heart, Cosigns), new experiences that didn’t always live up to expectations (Mullholland Dr, We Were Only Close for Like Two Weeks), and the harsh reality of being black in America (Hold the Line, Hennessy). It is an album of the times we are all living through and it’s gorgeous and uplifting and sad one of the best things I’ve heard all year.

His name is Bartees Motherfucking Strange, and you better not forget it.

The rest of my Top Ten is a real grab bag of goodness. Here it is in no particular order:

Hurray for the Riff Raff - Life on Earth

Gang of Youths - Angel in Realtime

Spoon - Lucifer on the Sofa

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Cool It Down

Willi Carlisle - Peculiar, Missouri

Kennebec - Without Star or Compass

Personal Trainer - Big Love Blanket

Denzel Curry - Melt My Eyes See Your Future

Danielle Ponder - Some of Us Are Brave

And here are some of the albums that just missed the cut!

Steve Lacy - Gemini Rights

Momma - Household Name

Makaya McCraven - In These Times

The Beths - Expert in a Dying Field

Toro Y Moi - MAHAL

Pillow Queens - Leave the Light On

Wet Leg - Wet Leg

Guerilla Toss - Famously Alive

Alvvays - Blue Rev

Sharon Van Etten - We've Been Going About This All Wrong

Carson McHone - Still Life

And, if all of that isn’t enough, here’s a playlist of my 50 favorite songs from 2022!