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Jan 27, 2023

Best of 2022


The world is on fire, but here's some good stuff from the past 12 months or so.



ALBUMS

There is no order to the below, other than the sequence in which I came across them. Links provided for all albums and songs on title.


In a year with some great ambient releases, this record stands above. A musing, gorgeous journey. It is insane that this was made in a 72-hour period.

Bangerz only.

If the Boy$ release an album in any given year, it will be on this list. That's just the game, baby.

Burial is a Mt. Rushmore artist for me. And while this isn't a standout release for him, there is simply no denying how singular his sound is. So, even his doubles look like home runs when compared to others.


Honorable mentions: RIP Swirl, Tangerine Dream, and The Smile were all just outside the cut.




SONGS

Again, the order here being when they were found within the year.


King Push. Just love this man so dearly.

For the majority of 2022, this was my song of the year...

Here are the lyrics to this jam. Not much going on there, right? And yet, I think I "sang" this song the most this year. Walking around, just belting "Me-, Me-, Me-, Me-...Physical (Physical)" to nothing in particular.

I fucking dare you to listen to this and not have a good time. The title, the bass, the first "Ooh!". It's pure fun.

Kieran Hebden, AKA Four Tet, AKA KH, AKA 00110100 01010100, AKA The King (not official) does this crazy thing where he releases multiple songs a year — every year — that are unreal. He's been doing this for some time now.

We love Ethel 'round here. And when this kicks in, it's like slipping into a warm bath. Or the oxy kicking in. Choose your own adventure.

Chorus of the year? Chorus of the year.

Crescendo of the year? Crescendo of the year.

  • Nick León feat. DJ Babatr "Xtasis"

Unsure how many police chases we had across America in 2022, but I would like to imagine this soundtracked them all.

A beautiful tune. The kind of thing you listen to while star gazing.

With "Anyone Can Play Guitar" and now this, Midwife is getting into the habit of dropping the most emotionally devastating thing you've ever heard every couple of years. This has a certain patience to it, like it's staring you in the face and daring you not to feel something between the guitar plucks and ethereal vocals.

As stated above, Fred and I. Jordan had my favorite track for the majority of the year. That is until, in the 80th minute of 2022, Fever Ray come out with the best thing they/their brother has produced since Silent Shout. That record being a '00s landmark. The same magic is at play here, some 16 years later.


Here is a link to my full 2022 song playlist, if you're into that.




FILM

I'll save my big Film in 2022 thoughts for an inevitable Academy Awards rant, but below are some of my favorite first time watches (non-2022 division).


Cure (1997)


When Harry Met Sally... (1989)


The Wailing (2016)


Chungking Express (1994)


The Hitcher (1986)


Underwater (2020)


Don't Look Now (1973)




TELEVISION

Even in the year of our lord 2022, I'm still far from an enthusiast when it comes to TV. My total watched in this golden age is (far) below yours or probably anyone you know. Nevertheless, and with a grain of salt, below are my top three...


Severance


White Lotus


The Bear


Honorable mentions: The Resort was surprisingly strong. Euphoria paired its style with some more interesting story developments in S2 (much to its betterment). Tokyo Vice and Station Eleven were fascinating. Lesser seasons of Barry and Stranger Things still rocked.




OTHER


The Greatest Living Americans update for 2022 is unchanged from 2021:

3. Marshawn Lynch

2. Dolly Parton

1. Paul Rudd


Many good sports things across the year, but it's tough to top the spectacle of the World Cup Final. Only rivaled by the insanity that was the BUF/KC Divisional Game. Also: this slo-mo from the World Series is continually funny. And this edit of Brian Robinson's first NFL game after being shot goes HARD.


Youtube...

  • Trash Theory is one of the best accounts I've ever come across. His Aphex Twin video is particularly fantastic, but you can't really go wrong with any upload.

  • Denis-Carl Robidoux posts 35mm film trailers pretty much daily. In other words, he does the lord's work. This Strange Days example from 2021 was the first I found, and have since watched about 200 times.

  • Murderville didn't garner a mention above, but was still quite fun. That being said, it did feature this scene that made me laugh harder than anything else all year.

  • Please Don't Destroy rules.


Other random things...

The guerilla marketing of Smile. Wherein they paid actors to sit behind home plate at baseball games and...smile. Just awesome. Also, this thread on the Messinian salinity crisis/Zanclean flood. Something I'd never heard of and of which the details are hard to comprehend in any real way. And finally, a perfect tweet.


Two highly, highly recommended reads: Pro Publica's article on a tenant and a landlord in Milwaukee. Absolutely heart-eviscerating. And the late Jonathan Tjarks' piece about his son and his life. It's beautiful.


Lastly, to finish off a write up where I list a bunch of media things that I enjoyed, a quote from Mark Fisher that pretty well sums up my feelings on where most media is at these days.


"In the last ten to fifteen years, meanwhile, the internet and mobile telecommunications technology have altered the texture of everyday experience beyond all recognition. Yet, perhaps because of all this, there’s an increasing sense that culture has lost the ability to grasp and articulate the present. Or it could be that, in one very important sense, there is no present to grasp and articulate anymore.”
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