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Post by barny on Dec 18, 2022 10:28:59 GMT
10. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Cool It Down Short and varied comeback record, it feels like nobody really cared but I think it was a fine addition by a really peculiar band.
9. Malamute - Una Gran Decepción Spanish duo with incredibly fun and witty, self-deprecating lyrics in front of an amateurish version of Weezer-y power pop and a voice so sweet it’s bordering on annoying. Tune after tune.
8. Whitney - SPARK At first sight it might look like a very different Whitney, but behind the gloss and the more synthetic approach you can find the bittersweet and warm melodies they’ve always created. Maybe not a fully rounded creation like the debut, but easily more rewarding than the sophomore.
7. Joyce Manor - 40 oz. to Fresno Probably the highest hooks per minute ratio in 2022. When did I become a big fan of American emo slash pop-punk?
6. Big Thief - Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You Unlike other famous double albums, this is not the result of a band crumbling down and arguing against each other. Instead, it feels a work of unity, definitely the tightest they’ve ever been. A culmination and a release, there’s levity and lightness, heartbreak and healing, grandmas and potatoes. They’ve always been described as some kind of folk aliens (especially Adrianne), earthy but celestial. Instead here they’ve embraced both humor and ambition like never before, and it works marvels in finally making them look like human beings.
5. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Omnium Gatherum Their first double (and even if we didn’t know at that point, one of their 5 2022 records) is their best since Nonagon for me. After many concept-tight records, this acted like a compilation of all their different styles (won’t list them as it’s what I saw on eeevery review) but the batch of songs is stronger this time. Opening with a tour de force like The Dripping Tap makes it hard to dislike, I wish they embraced more soul-like moments. 4. Guerilla Toss - Famously Alive This is the kind of mix of rock backbone, modern production, great melodies, psych touches and all over unexpected madness that I usually love. It starts strong but the whole record is just a fun ride tbh, like a theme park for my ears. 3. Dazy - OUTOFBODY In order to describe his music, James Goodson uses words like guitars, fun, loud, catchy and simple. Also his influences are well known: Ramones, JAMC, Britpop, Green Day, Nirvana. At some point he realized the unfinished rock’n’roll inspired room demos he had been piling up sounded actually better than a potential full band real-drums version. So it’s kinda lofi but meant to sound big, with lots of distortion layers and huge choruses.
2. Julia Jacklin - PRE PLEASURE It is incredible what she can do with apparently so little, with these quite worn-out ingredients. Everything is misguidedly simple, but the songs manage to get under your skin, her voice lulling you into a comfort zone (only using her full range every now and then for full effect) and it’s then when the words hit harder. Tension is built with no hurry, and releases are sometimes so subtle you might miss them if you blink. I’d like to highlight the two last songs but especially “Be Careful With Yourself”: bordering trite indie rock with no chorus, words deceptively direct but actually measured and on point, one of my favorite songs of the year. “she can be funny, introspective, and dark at the same time on some of these songs, and her writing is often pretty cleverly charming.” “a triumph in storytelling … Jacklin has an ability to hold a mirror up to society without ever preaching”
1. Alvvays - Blue Rev It has all the ingredients of a good indie rock record: fantastic melodies, amazing guitars, interesting production and unexpected turns, poignant lyrics, good performances. Energy and humor. Intros, choruses, breaks and bridges. Start-stop, loud-quiet-loud. Less jangle/twee (even if there are a couple of Smiths moments) but more muscle. Guitars sound big and distinct on every song and there are textures and solos and everything in between. Achieving all that while making it look effortless and fun is a fantastic success. Oh, and the first seconds of Pharmacist when the wall of sound kicks in, don’t forget about that.
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Post by mahoney on Dec 18, 2022 17:19:18 GMT
Yes Barny!
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Post by titchjuicy on Dec 20, 2022 21:17:42 GMT
This thread is no place for films. But it's not much of a place for music lists either at the moment, so fuck it.
Five decent films from this year.
The Banshees of Inisherin Everything Everywhere All At Once The Fabelmans The Batman The Swimmers
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Post by mahoney on Dec 20, 2022 22:06:09 GMT
who the FUCK do you think you are?!?!?
Tucker, remove this man.
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Post by Fuzzy Dunlop on Dec 20, 2022 22:16:51 GMT
Get your Spotify wrapped out for the lads: All about the chamber psych, me.
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Post by jp on Dec 27, 2022 14:57:47 GMT
i had a terrible thought earlier that superjohnny could die without seeing my full top 40 list. so here it is guys!!
40, Working Men’s Club – Fear Fear
Their debut was my album of the year and I had high hopes for this. Initially I thought it sounded great but ultimately it hasn’t had the staying power of the debut and lacks the big memorable tunes. I still enjoy this a lot but it was always going to be a challenge to match the debut for me.
39, Chill Rob G – Empires Crumble
I can’t say I’m massively knowledgeable about Chill Rob G. I know and liked Ride the Rhythm from 89 but hadn’t listened to any of his releases since then until now. I really like the production on this album and while it still has that 90s boom bap sound I dig with my hip hop it does also sound a bit more modern than some of the total pastiche stuff I like.
38, The Smile – A Light for Attracting Attention
It’s basically a Radiohead album ain’t it and it’s basically as good as the last few Radiohead albums. Grown on me as the year has gone by and seeing them live helped.
37, The Skinner Brothers – Soul Boy Vol II
Zach Skinner has caused a bit of a stir on the social media by being a bit of an outspoken gobshite of the new wave of ladrock this year. I had great fun with this album though and particularly during the first half of the year hammered this loads.
36, Action Bronson – Cocodrillo Turbo
Bronson seems to be finding a bit of consistency with his last couple of releases. I doubt we’ll ever reach the highs of Dr Lecter again but this is a lot better than the blip he had a few years back. One of those voices I’ll never tire of.
35, The Wave Pictures – When the Purple Emperor Spreads His Wings
A constant fixture on my end of year lists, The Wave Pictures. One of many acts who have gone down the double album route this year which I’m not normally a fan of. Over an hour of tunes can be a bit much to digest in one go but this is mostly great with huge bonus points for a song dedicated to Hazel Irvine.
34, Ural Thomas and the Pain – Dancing Dimensions
Ural is a new discovery for me this year with a great backstory. He was a soul singer in the 50s and 60s with the likes of Otis Redding, James Brown etc then disappeared from public eye for decades. He was rediscovered in the 2010s and has put out a few albums since with this being the latest. He’s now 82 but this is great psychedelic soul music.
33, Good Grief – Shake Your Faith
Scousers who sound nothing like Scousers and instead rip off the likes of Husker Du, The Replacements and The Lemonheads. Nothing original but I really enjoyed this and it worships a load of my favourite bands.
32, Blak Madeen – Amongst the Living Dead
90s centric hip hop that I’m a big sucker for. Lots of scratching and great samples give this a real golden era feel. Bonus points for featuring a guest spot from Edo G.
31, Czarface – Czarmageddon!
I’ve been a little bit hit and miss with Czarface stuff. They’ve been pretty prolific which can be hard to keep up with and while I’ve loved some of it, other releases have left me cold. This is definitely one of, if not their best for me. Fearless and Inventive is one of my favourite Kool Keith appearances in years too.
30, Julia Jacklin – Pre Pleasure
I loved Crushing and tbh still don’t feel like I’ve spent enough time with this. Her voice is just timeless though and I look forward to letting these songs get under my skin as initial impressions are this is a strong follow up.
29, Jarvis Cocker – This is Going to Hurt
Big surprise this one. I nearly didn’t bother as I assumed it was just an instrumental soundtrack but gave it a go and it ended up being a fully formed album with songs with words and everything. As always with Jarvis, lyrically it is great and the tunes are just as good as anything on his other solo albums. I reckon lots of people will have overlooked this one.
28, Craig Finn – A Legacy of Rentals
In recent years I’ve ended up enjoying Craig’s solo albums more than The Hold Steady. I’m pleased to see him follow the style of God In Chicago here with a couple more spoken word style tracks as I’m a huge sucker for these. Messing with the Settings and Break from the Barrage have ended up as two of my favourite ever Finn penned tracks.
27, PVA – Blush
This is banging. Kinda similar ground to Working Men’s Club but they’ve come up with the bigger and better tunes this year. Enjoyed their set supporting Dry Cleaning in Sheffield. Need to catch them again now the LP is out.
26, Ribbon Stage – Hit with the Most
I was a big fan of their EP from a couple of years back but had kinda forgotten about them until I saw the album had been released. 11 songs in under 20 minutes here so this flies by. Lofi indie pop with a c86 influence. I’m a sucker for this stuff and it is done really well here.
25, Spiritualized – Everything was Beautiful
I’ve always had loads of time for Spiritualized and this is probably their strongest release since Ladies and Gentlemen… for me. It’s nothing new but really strong songwriting and has a real classic feel.
24, Black Midi – Hellfire
I still think the debut lp was the best thing they’ve done by far. These last couple have been good but there was some real unhinged energy that’s been missing since that first record. When I’m in the right mood this sounds great but lets face it, they’re not as good or original as their strange fans like to make out.
23, The Sherlocks – A World I Understand
Yeah, they’re proper meat and potato rock but there’s always been something about them I quite like. It’s one of the least original sounds you can think of but they know their way around a decent tune. I’ve spent a large part of the year listening to ladrock like this so it has ended up being one of my most listened to albums of the year. Proper anthems for proper lads.
22, Nord1kone and DJ MROK – Tower of Babylon
Ridiculous lineup of talent on this one. Guest spots from Chuck D, Phill Most Chill, Kool G Rap, Gift of Gab etc give you everything you need to know about the sound of this one. As always with a hip hop recommendation from me it harks back to the early 90s golden era and is a brilliant throwback.
21, Tim Burgess – Typical Music
I love Tim but wasn’t keen on this at first. Again, I think it suffered from being too long and a lot to take in. A few tunes stood out though and was enough to keep me coming back and the whole thing eventually clicked in a big way.
20, Daniel Avery – Ultra Truth
Avery has probably overtaken Four Tet in recent years as my favourite electro artist. He consistently releases top albums that have exactly what I look for in electronic music which is a combination of ambient darkness with the occasional banger. I found this slightly disappointing on first listen but after spending a bit more time with it the subtleties have really revealed themselves.
19, Andy Bell – Flicker
Similar to the Tim Burgess album I struggled with this a bit initially due to the length but again there were a few standout tracks that kept me coming back. Just recently I've been in a real shoegaze phase and listening to a lot of Ride, Slowdive etc so decided to spend some proper time with this album again and have ended up really loving it. It particularly sounds great in headphones on my early morning bus ride to work in the dark. Bell is still hugely underrated for me as both a musician and a songwriter. Easily one of my favourite guitarists and wrote what is possibly my favourite song of all time in Vapour Trail. These tunes have a real feeling of nostalgia which I'm always a huge sucker for. Need to pick this up on wax.
18, Bodega – Broken Equipment
Their best release yet. I always quite liked them but found them slightly annoying. That’s pretty much fallen away with this release and it is just a great album. Pillar on the Bridge of You is massive.
17, Fontaines DC – Skinty FIA
I loved the last album but this took its time to click with me. I really wasn’t feeling it for the first couple of listens but got there in the end. Clearly one of the best bands of the past 5 years or so and I really need to get round to seeing them live.
16, Kae Tempest – The Line is a Curve
Kae has always been an artist I’ve appreciated but maybe not fully clicked with an album until now. This is a special piece of work though and consistently great throughout.
15, Jamie T – The Theory of Whatever
Huge surprise this one. I’ve tried with Jamie T several times before and never got the hype at all. Even saw him live twice with a mate who loves him and still nothing. In fact I’m not even sure why I even bothered to listen to this but it got me instantly. Loads of big hooks and just a great fun listen.
14, The Cool Greenhouse – Sod’s Toastie
A continuation of the sound and lyrical wit of the debut. Only this time without being conned into growing stinging nettles.
13, Liam Gallagher – Come on You Know
Huge album. Liam sounds great, loads of big tunes. His best solo release yet. There’s even fucking reggae!
12, Embrace – How to be a Person Like Other People
An Embrace album this high up in 2022, I know. I normally give new Embrace releases one listen for old times sake, cringe at how bad it is then never listen again. This was different though, it’s actually really good! Reminds me of The Good Will Out in sound and their best work since then for me. Led to a bit of a moment where I rediscovered my old love for Embrace too. Danny Mac 4ever.
11, Young Prisms – Drifter
First album in a decade for the San Francisco shoegazers. I’d been a casual fan of their debut but can’t say I remembered much about it, this one has really clicked with me though. Honeydew is a huge standout and has a bit more of an indiepop feel and even reminds me of something that could have fitted in on The Pains of Being Pure at Heart debut. High praise indeed.
10, Stone Foundation – Outside Looking In
I’ve really grown to love these in the last few years. It can be slightly cheesey in places but overall it is just really well crafted funk/soul music.
9, Horsegirl – Versions of Modern Performance
I loved the early singles so was really pumped for this. It just has that classic American indie sound I love and some wonderful guitar noises. A real consistent highlight of the year.
8, Johnny Marr – Fever Dreams
Another big surprise this one. Johnny is obviously a legend but I’ve always found his solo work nothing more than decent. This one just clicked with me though and I ended up playing it loads. Great guitars as you’d expect but some big tunes on this. Reminds me quite a lot of Music Complete by New Order.
7, Jermiside and The Expert – The Overview Effect
Never heard of these before but this combination of old school hip hop sounds and 60s psychedelia was a real winner for me.
6, Dry Cleaning – Stumpwork
Shock! Last year’s number one and my most raved about new band in years only make 7 on this year’s chart. This is still a wonderful album but a whole lot more subtle than the debut. I still feel it is growing and I may go on to love this more over the coming months and years but for now this feels about right.
5, Monophonics – Sage Motel
Colemine Records have become one of my favourite labels in recent years and this is a soul classic from their roster. Psychedelic soul and its finest and I always love a concept album.
4, Yard Act – The Overload
I was initially slightly disappointed when this came out. Those early singles were so good that the first tracks that came out from this couldn’t help but feel slightly underwhelming. They also clearly took a massive step towards the mainstream with their sound too which I wasn’t sure about at first. What I’ve come to realise though is that this is still a brilliantly written album with great hooks, personality and storytelling full of humour. Seeing them live again helped it all click into place and this is utterly deserving of one of my albums of the year.
3, Black Country New Road – Ants from Up There
From first listen I knew this was something special. The debut was great but this is a step up. It’s just a shame that with the singer getting all sad and afraid they were never able to properly tour this album as I’m sure it would have been even bigger. A sublime piece of work.
2, Dangermouse and Black Thought – Cheat Codes
This is unfortunate to miss out on the coveted number one spot. It had held it since release but in the end just lost out. It’s an incredible album that just sounded like a lost classic from the very first spin. Everything about this is great from the production and samples to the vocals. Even Michael Kiwanuka doesn’t ruin it! A hip hop masterclass.
1, Just Mustard- Heart Under
My biggest grower of the year. I initially thought this was pretty good but kept coming back to it for some reason. I then saw them live and everything fell into place and I’ve been obsessed ever since. It helps that I tend to listen to shoegazey stuff like this a lot more in winter months and I’ve been hammering this album in my headphones while on my bus journey to work in the dark each morning lately. It really works in that setting. Obvious influences here from Cranes, MBV and The Cure but they also have enough originality to make a sound their own.
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Post by mahoney on Dec 27, 2022 16:05:20 GMT
i had a terrible thought earlier that superjohnny could die without seeing my full top 40 list. so here it is guys!! Sounds more like you'd finally done your big reveal to your instagram followers!!
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Post by Stocky 2: Cruise Control on Dec 29, 2022 16:29:52 GMT
30. Angel Olson – Big Time
This is a really good album and probably would have been higher in this list but for the fact that I may have slight Angel Olson fatigue after years of listening to her albums. This one is a back to basics country influenced album and it’s a welcome change after the big operatic strings of the last album. It feels warm, intimate and is a lovely chilled listen.
29. Goat – Oh Death!
Not really listened to anything from these since their excellent debut LP world music which was released ten years ago. For some reason this caught my eye though and I gave it a listen. It’s proper proper psyche music, feels more out there than the debut. It’s all afro beats, Funkadelic style guitars with the occasional sitar and a real rhythmic groove throughout.
28. Dry Cleaning – Stumpwork
Wondered whether these would fade into obscurity after the big hype of their debut album, its quite a specific sound and vocal delivery and I was unsure if they could present anything different without it being total shit. They’ve done a decent job here though with slight tweaks to their sound – the guitars feel lighter but more layered and the vocals seem a bit more nuanced. It does lose something though and doesn’t feel as instant as the hook laden first few EP’s and albums. Still a very good effort though and worth checking out.
27. Black Midi – Hellfire
Absolutely bonkers album that’s really hard to pin down as it’s absolutely veering all over the place in the most chaotic fashion imaginable. It’s an interesting and challenging listen, part of me thinks it’s shit but yet I keep coming back to it. There’s definitely something alluring about it’s frenetic palette of sounds and the singers weird funny voice. They certainly are incredible musicians, no matter what you think of their odd take on song writing.
26. Spiritualized – Everything Was Beautiful
Anyone who enjoyed Spiritualized in their 90’s pomp will surely love this album too. It has the classic spiritualized feel of lots of guitars, droning organs, harmonicas, brass, gospel vocals and strings. Only real difference between this and their 90’s stuff is he sounds like a much happier man on this and as we know depressive trumps happy when it comes to music.
25. WARMDUSCHER – At The Hotspot
Has a proper party feel to it this album, all disco basslines, funk guitars and silly lyrics delivered in Clams Baker’s enigmatic half sung, half ‘rapped’ style. It’s actually impossible to listen to this album and not end up tapping your feet like a twitching cokehead.
24. Daphni – Cherry
Everything Dan Snaith touches turns to gold and this is no different. Feels different to the first Daphni records and probably has more in common with the most recent Caribou album. This is a proper album of 90’s inspired house music, all the tracks are short and sweet instrumental bangers which would sound great on the dancefloor. It’s all super clipped and mega catchy stuff on this album and it doesn’t really take in much in the way of extended intros, outros or pointless noodling.
23. The Smile – A Light For Attracting Attention
The highlights from this album are incredible, some of the best music Thom and Johnny have made in a good few years. Can’t understand why this isn’t a proper Radiohead album really as it just sounds so Radioheady, don’t know why they did it without the other 3 members when they ended up with something like this which could easily be the 10th Radiohead album.
22. Kendrick Lemar – Mr Morale & The Big Steppers
Took me a while to realise that this is yet another superb album from a man who’s yet to release anything even remotely resembling a dud. It feels like this is his most personal work yet, less a social commentary and more a session with a therapist. In spite of it’s inward looking tone there’s no shortage of in your face hooks though, N95, Silent Hill & Purple Hearts are some of the most poppy beats since the Good Kid Mad City album.
21. Sorry – Anywhere But Here
Superb set of songs on here. Has a proper shambling out of tune but in tune feeling to it this one. The back and forth, his and her vocals work really well and I love her almost childlike voice, it has a real sadness and longing to it. It’s just a super collection of catchy tunes with just enough tonal shifts to keep you on your toes.
20. Alvvays – Blue Rev
A magnificent set of shoegazed tinged indie-rock songs. It’s not like it’s throwaway lo-fi stuff either, it has a really well polished sound with some soaring guitars and lush vocal takes. This album just goes by in a flash when you listen to it, everything is so pleasantly listenable.
19. Special Interest – Endure
Up there with Black Midi as one of the most ‘out there’ bands on this list. Special Interest can best be described as a mash up between punk & industrial electro music but with an air of almost shoegazing my bloody valentine atmospherics over the top, it’s a real heady claustrophobic mix. This, their 3rd album, whilst still retaining their signature sound has a slightly more cleaner feel to it with Alli Logouts vocals sounding more up front than on the previous releases. They seem to be getting a bit more attention recently and its well deserved too as this is a triumph.
18. Just Mustard – Heart Under
Impossible to describe this without using the word haunting. They’ve really nailed their sound on this consistently across the whole album. Previously they had a few fantastic songs but weren’t consistent enough, Heart Under has enough guitars to achieve a suitably alternative sound but not too much as to swamp the absolutely fantastic vocals which are given more room to breathe. For something that on the face of it has such an industrial sounding guitar tone it’s really surprisingly tuneful.
17. Little Simz– NO THANK YOU
This came out of nowhere right at the end of the year. You can tell she just wanted to get this out as quickly as possible as she sounds mega angry about her treatment by the industry. Harsh on her but it’s great fuel for the fire as she sounds absolutely fantastic on this. Don’t know how long they worked on this but it does trail off slightly, could have been a guaranteed album of the year had they worked a bit longer on it I reckon. Love that she’s just dumped it out in December with zero promotion like it ain’t no thing, really bodes well for her future. Probs the best MC out there at the moment, scary talented and with a great producer in tow (inflo), can’t wait to see what she does next.
16. Yard Act – The Overload
Sharp as fuck Mark E.Smith style post punk. This album combines catchy punky guitar licks and a decent story telling vocalist to great effect. The lyrics have both poignance and humour in them which is just what you’d expect from any self respecting Northern band who deal in social commentary. The wonderful song Tall Poppies is probably the best example of the excellent story telling lyrics.
15. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Cool it Down
The first Yeah Yeah Yeahs album in nearly a decade is an absolute triumph. It’s very melodic with lots of piano, keyboards & much softer vocals than the shouty vocals of their early releases. The production from Dave Sitek is consistently good, strikes the right balance of clean and dirty sounds. I think the songs Wolf, Burning & Lovebomb are as good as anything they have ever done.
14. Soccer Mommy – Sometimes Forever
Really nice blend of the bedroom guitars of her first album and the big layered synthy production on her second album. This is just an impeccable selection of eminently listenable American singer songwriter style indie rock. The best tunes are the ones she effortlessly knocks out big choruses like Don’t Ask Me & Shotgun.
13. The Orielles – Tableau
I’ve been following these since I saw them as 14 year olds playing jangling indie tunes in a basement of a Liverpool venue, never imagined seeing them then that they would morph into producing something as interesting and experimental as this. Their last album was fairly whacky as it was to be honest as they did a weird spacey loungey take on disco music but it was actually a lot duller than it sounds. This is really good though, focused and tuneful even with it’s many genre twists. Has more of a live groove to it and the keyboards really come into their own on it and actually sound like part of the songs rather than a tacked on afterthought. It’s over an hour this album which is quite long for modern standards but it flows excellently and the time goes by like a flash.
12. Cate Le Bon – Pompei
Her most synthy album to date, this feels a lot less like the weird folky art rock of previous albums and more of a 80’s synth rock sound. It’s really good though, there’s a lot more room for her vocals within the simple spacey sounds. It’s an unbelievable run of form she’s on as her last four albums in a row have all been brilliant and all shown off slightly different angles to this magnificent artist.
11. Wet Leg – Wet Leg
I wanted to not like this album as they came out in a blaze of hype which I always need to overcome to enjoy something. The sheer infectious fun of this album won me over though, lyrically it’s a lot of fun with some really silly lyrics, the sport which only a young band like these can get away without sounding ridiculous. Pretty much impossible to listen to songs like Chaise Lounge, Wet Dream & Being In Love without ending up walking around humming the tunes to yourself after. Indie pop gold.
10. Toro Y Moi – Mahal
Not heard much from these (Toro Y Moi is the stage name for Chaz Bundick) for years, after being really into him around the time of his first few releases back in the early 10’s. Mahal is a really funky album with a distinctly home made sound, it has a really laid back slacker feeling throughout, albeit fired by some very punchy bass. It has a distinctly psychedelic flavour and some of the shifts and jazzy bits are very madlib-esque. Been a real grower for me this, one that I didn’t pay much attention to at first but has got better and better on every listen.
9. Horsegirl – Versions of Modern Performance
Anything like this that comes out in 2022 instantly gets my respect and attention. The sound of this is so utterly everything that I like, all big foggy chugging early 90’s Sonic Youth / Dinosaur Jr style guitars. It’s funny (and a sign that you’re becoming a fossil) when you notice that there are kids like these that weren’t even born in the 90’s that are recreating these sounds. These three teenagers from Chicago do a magnificent job of it.
8. Black Country New Road – Ants From Up Here
A magnificent album which is both a victory and yet tinged with sadness as the vocalist Isaac Wood left the band not long after his release citing mental health issues. Whilst this may be the best thing for him it’s a shame for us as they’ve only put two albums out in two years and both have been brilliant. Ants From Here is of a similar vein to the debut but it’s perhaps a little less noisy and more accessible with more anthemic qualities to it. Hopefully they knock it out the park again on the 3rd album.
7. Gilla Band – Most Normal
A truly violent cacophony of noise. If you can make it through the opening song and still want to hear more then you are one of the chosen few, congratulations. This is the most together release of their relatively young career. Previous albums whilst having song great songs were more of a tough listen. This one however noisy it is manages to contain and package the noise in a much more satisfactory way. A powerful, beautifully discordant piece of work.
6. Bodega – Broken Equipment
Absolutely love this album but I seem to be the only one as it’s got really average reviews. It’s every bit as catchy as the first album which received universal praise back in 2018. I love how they don’t take themselves too seriously, there’s almost an element of style over substance, which is something I wholeheartedly endorse. The vocals are quite spoken wordy (what isn’t these days) and easily switch between Ben’s & Nikki’s takes as they are similar styled but obviously different being a male/female dynamic. The song ‘Doers’ is one of my faves of the year with it’s big chorus, silly nu-metal DJ touches and its ability to rhyme the word doers with connoisseurs.
5. TVAM – High Art Life
I feel proper daft that I only heard of these just a month or two ago. To have a Manchester band like these who play Shoegazing psychey electronic music exist under my nose for all this time (they started making music in 2015) feels like a big oversight. Seen him play this album at a Piccadilly records event which was my introduction to him, he played without his band but it was still absolutely brilliant. All throbbing electronics, ethereal keys and soaring guitars, it’s like if someone got into my brain and scooped out exactly what I would do if I had the talent, vision or application to do it.
4. Wu-Lu – Loggerhead
One of the most inventive but natural sounding genre spanners on this list. A super accomplished, straight to business debut album with absolutely no messing about. Wu-lu manages to mix grungey skate sounding guitars with J-Dilla style hip hop atmospherics and mainly rapped lyrics and it just sounds so right you think why hasn’t this been done before. Love the lofi murky production on this too, it’s absolute perfection and really captures the absolute darkness of living in an urban environment in the UK in 2022.
3. Michael Head and Red Elastic Band– Dear Scott
Never really listened to any of Mick Head’s acclaimed previous bands (Shack & The Pale Fountains) so I’m a complete late comer to his charms. This is a wonderful album though that’s completely unobjectionable on any level. The songs are beautifully crafted and well produced by Bill Ryder-Jones who seems to turn everything he touches into gold. I don’t normally like much straight ahead mid tempo semi acoustic stuff like this but there’s just something really warm and charming about this. He has a really personable style of song writing which is earnest but not too over the top, scousers have always been able to tell a good tall tale.
2. Fontaines DC – Skinty Fia
This band just go from strength to strength, each album has shifted the sonic palette just enough to sound different but similar enough to the one that came before. Its beautiful to see these blossoming into a huge huge live band as they have absolutely magnetic stage presence that I haven’t really seen from any guitar band for maybe a decade. This is a proper dark masterpiece that feels very different to the straight up punk of the first album. It speaks to their skill as a band that there’s barely a chorus on this album but its become their most popular release. The one-two of I Love You and Nabakov that close the album are absolute stunners and probably the two best Fontaines songs around.
1. Real Lies – Lad Ash
Such a wonderfully evocative album, this is a love letter and echo of a rave filled past and is the sound of zipping round the city on MDMA going from house to club to the streets to house and back again. It sounds exactly like a melancholic cross between Pet Shop Boys and Mike Skinner. To me this album may not be the most clever or inventive album on this list but it absolutely crackles with emotion which being a soul enthralled to electronic music and everything that goes along with it really chimes with me. It’s weird really as this sound seems both familiar but also original. Reckon this pipped the Fontaines by a nose, probably just on the fact that this is the first i’ve heard of this band before. Pop on the song Since I and tell me you don’t feel anything.
See you next year x
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Post by jp on Dec 29, 2022 17:07:06 GMT
Yes stocky!
Glad to see some more Just Mustard love. I'll check out that tvam album as I see they're playing Norwich next year.
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Post by mahoney on Dec 29, 2022 18:43:43 GMT
Stocky! 😍
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Post by titchjuicy on Dec 30, 2022 9:16:59 GMT
Well in JP and Stocky!
I'm seeing PFM KrBurg for football on Sunday. I'll pin him down and record him spouting his top 20 and live stream it.
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Post by titchjuicy on Dec 30, 2022 9:17:20 GMT
Well in JP and Stocky! I'm seeing PFM KrBurg for football on Sunday. I'll pin him down in a wrestling hold and record him spouting his top 20 and live stream it.
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Post by Fuzzy Dunlop on Dec 31, 2022 11:45:30 GMT
Posting this as it's the results of a large poll of actual people on Music Twitter for 2022 albums of the year. Other than the no.1 album, would expect most of the top 15 to feature a lot on the Soapy list (and another strong showing for Just Mustard good to see):
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Post by tucker on Jan 1, 2023 11:15:18 GMT
Will have my list up today.
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Post by mahoney on Jan 2, 2023 9:51:59 GMT
WAITING
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Post by tucker on Jan 2, 2023 10:34:19 GMT
Not posting it until someone listens to my new song.
Only kidding, here it is in all it's glory.
30. Weezer - SZNZ: Spring Enjoyed this, nice summery vibes and some nice melodies.
29.Weezer - SZNZ: Autumn Better than Spring. Saw it labelled as "dance rock" but I don't see how it is. Louder and crunchier than Spring.
28. Wet Leg - Wet Leg Didn't grab me on first listen but kept coming back to it. A highly-enjoyable record.
27. The Spanish English Dictionary - loss of motor control Very lo-fi and amateur sounding indie rock I found on Bandcamp
26. Weeping Mist - Lonely Streets Another Bandcamp find. Sounds like early 60s psych rock.
25. Svaneborg Kardyb - Over Tage Minimalist Scandinavian (Danish I think) thing. I guess it's a bit...jazz? I dunno. Anyway, it's quite gorgeous and has a very warm ambience.
24. Dropper - Don't Talk To Me Chuggy dream pop with lots of crunchy guitars. Very pleasant indeed.
23. Darkwas - Waiting For A Way Chilled-out, proggy instrumental stuff. I actually got onto this after a suggestion from Facebook popped onto my timeline.
22. Personal Trainer - Big Love Blanket Indie-rock that incoroporates quite a lot of different styles and gendres
21. Brian Eno - Forever And Ever No More Feels like his best in a while? Really love the whole vibe.
20. Feeder - Torpedo Feeder are a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. To me, this is just really good, classic Feeder.
19. The Black Angels - Wilderness of Mirrors Don't think I bothered much with previous releases tbh, and not really sure why I tried this but I'm glad I did 'cos it's a damn fine record.
18. Cola - Deep In View Caught this late on and it connected with me instantly. Just really well done, spikey-in-places post punk.
17. Danger Mouth & Black Thought - Cheat Codes I think this is the only hip hop/rap album I listened to this year. Great stuff, masterfully produced.
16. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushroom And Lava Almost feels like a best of with them tackling a lot of their different styles all on one album. A joy to listen to.
15. Pixies - Doggerel Maybe my favourite Pixies album since they started releasing stuff again. Has a real menace and snarl about it and it feels like they're finding their sweet spot.
14. Alwways - Blue Rev Absolutely class indie-pop/rock. Sweet in all the right places with some very nice touches production-wise throughout.
13. Guided by Voices - Tremblers and Goggles by Rank Some really interesting stuff on here. Doesn't feel like a typical GBV record but I really like the approach on this one.
12. Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band - Dear Scott Have never really tried Mick Head stuff outside of Shack but this is ace, just really really beautiful.
11. Liam Gallagher - C'MON YOU KNOW Another excellent record from Liam. I think he takes some risks (opening with More Power, the weirdness of Moscow Rules, I'M FREE) that pay off. There were also a few tracks that I thought were not very good that grew on me.
10. Fontaines D.C. - Skinty Fia Wasn't feeling this at all when I first heard it but after a few listens it really clicked. Still think I like the last album better, but this is still very good.
9. Arctic Monkeys - The Car A natural progression from the last album, and it's better than the last one IMO. Although the persona is annoying as all heck, the crooner style really fits Turner and the band at this point in their career.
8. Kevin Morby - This Is A Photograph Becoming a huge fan of Kevin Morby. I love his style - the music, his vocals, his lyrics. Smashes it out of the park again with this one.
7. Sea Power - Everything Was Forever Such a good album and has become probably one of my favourite BRITISH Sea Power albums
6. The Smile - A Light For Attracting Attention Think someone already said but it's basically a Radiohead, innit? And a bloody good one. if this was released as Radiohead, critics would be spunking all over it.
5. Guided By Voices - Crystal Nuns Cathedral Really grew to love this. Almost everything on it made my huge GBV Spotify playlist. Maybe in my Top 10 GBV
4. Goat - Oh Death Nothing they do will ever be as good as World Music but this give it a good go. Absolutely sublime stuff.
3. Black Country, New Road - Ants From Up There Such a beautiful and well crafted piece of work - it really is a work of art.
2. black midi - Hellfire A rollercoaster of a record and it's such a thrill to listen to.
1. Spiritualized - Everything Was Beautiful I expected to like this album, but my goodness, it absolutely FLOORED me. So, so good, and I think perhaps my 2nd favourite Spiritualized album behind Ladies & Gentlemen.
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Post by krburg on Jan 2, 2023 20:13:32 GMT
Here are numbers 30-11 of my list, apologies for some of the rambling, though think i managed to keep it trim this year. Also, i'm looking after a dog at the moment and didn't realise until i started editing this together that you can hear him gnawing away at chew toys for some of it..
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Post by Fuzzy Dunlop on Jan 3, 2023 12:57:38 GMT
Breaking news: Ambulance crews called to attend the scene after the kicking received by Yard Act in the above video.
Fake edit: Delays expected as the ambulance has turned up at the Kaiser Chiefs studio instead by mistake.
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Post by mahoney on Jan 3, 2023 18:48:46 GMT
Hey Dunlop, have a guess what the dog is called that Kevin is looking after?
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Post by Fuzzy Dunlop on Jan 3, 2023 18:55:47 GMT
Ricky Wilson?
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