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Austin B. Harvey presents: The Liquid Diet writesCHIRP Radio’s Best of 2022: Austin B. Harvey
Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2022. Our next list is from DJ/Assistant Music Director/Softball Team Manager (On Hiatus) Austin B. Harvey.
Newborn's asleep, time to rank some music:
#1 Endure by Special Interest (Rough Trade)
The year's best album came courtesy of some New Orleans electro-punks who took the DFA/Franz Ferdinand/!!! model of '00s dance-punk and fused it with a scuzzy, more political, and more electronic urgency. The result is messier and less marketing-friendly, but it's also more honest and violent. It's what the genre, and the general moment, deserves.
#2 Entropy Is the Mainline to God by The Veldt (The Acid Test/Little Cloud)
The comeback album for brothers Daniel and Danny Chavis is a triumphant, moody assault on the eardrums. Daniel's booming tenor and Danny's swirling guitars move beyond the Madchester-influenced beats of Afrodisiac and into a brave new century with steady grooves and "nothing to lose".
#3 Blue Rev by Alvvays (Polyvinyl/Transgressive/Celsius Girls)
Alvvays waited five years between Antisocialites and Blue Rev, and the result is proof-of-concept, plain and simple. A post-breakup mood board of romance, lust, pain, twee, and shoegaze fuzz, Blue Rev sparkles as it bounces from three-minute nugget to three-minute nugget of pure pop bliss. "Belinda Says" was 2022's best song, too.
#4 Natural Brown Prom Queen by Sudan Archives (Stones Throw)
LA-via-Cincinnati violinist-singer-songwriter Brittney Parks releases her magnum opus. NBPQ is a deft, complex, verbose melange of hip-hop, R&B, sampledelia, disco, rock, and experimental. A wonderfully flirtatious ode to making a home, this album isn't afraid of its roots or the bedroom.
#5 God's Country by Chat Pile (The Flenser)
The best heavy music album of the year was the debut of this OKC quartet. Combining thundering riffs, Jesus Lizard-esque hijinks, and flyover country's crushing sense of anomie, Chat Pile captured the darkly humorous absurdity of life on the margins in the Rust Belt.
#6 Sick! by Earl Sweatshirt (Tan Cressida)
Earl's latest is less hazy than Some Rap Songs and less dark and violent than his early work. But, the jazzy, introspective, self-aware raps that characterize the best Earl Sweatshirt tracks are all here in spades. The samples are all over the place, but his focus is laser-trained.
#7 Ants from Up There by Black Country, New Road (Ninja Tune)
BC,NR imagine '00s chamber-pop indie with notes of klezmer, Midwest emo, post-rock, and even fellow British neoclassical mega-band Caroline (more on them later).
This is a denser, peace-in-the-chaos sort of record than last year's For the First Time, BC,NR escape the trappings of the most tender of the suspenders-wearing bands of yore with self-effacing lyrics, dense arrangements, and the confidence to let these songs breathe.
#8 Bar Mediterraneo by Nu Genea (NG)
Berlin-based Italian production duo Nu Genea reimagine disco through the lens of various dance musics from across the globe. Despite its tongue-in-cheek vibe, this is serious music for whatever party you want to soundtrack.
#9 How the Light Felt by Smut (Bayonet)
I've been waiting for a song like "Soft Engine", a jangly, Madchester-y, shoegazey chunk of pop delight, for ages. The rest of the record reimagines the best parts of '90s alt-rock with a singer who bears more than a passing sonic resemblance to The Sundays' Harriet Wheeler.
#10 Sonancy by Loop (Cooking Vinyl)
Robert Hampson's psychedelic drone-rock project is suffocating in its simplicity: repetitive beats, simple melodies, and guitars bigger than God. The dancier beats later in the record really make this comeback record, 32 years after the last Loop LP, sparkle.
Honorable Mentions
11. Young Guv - Guv III & IV (Run for Cover) The best Matthew Sweet records you've never heard were released this year by Canadian Ben Cook, who's moved past the Dirty Mind-era Prince post-punk to full on power pop impresario.
12. Honey Dijon - Black Girl Magic (Classic) It's nice to have a record that doubles as an easy-choice collaborative party soundtrack and as a great house album in its own right.
13. caroline - caroline (Rough Trade) This British octet marries the folkish neoclassical new music of ensembles like eighth blackbird and Rachel's with Midwestern emo and post-rock.
14. Beth Orton - Weather Alive (Partisan) The English singer-songwriter's big comeback LP has a vibe similar to The Weather Station, but with the experimental thoughtfulness of Kate Bush.
15. Plains - I Walked with You a Ways (Anti-) Kate Crutchfield and Jess Williamson combine forces for a lovely, chill album of Lucinda Williams and Boygenius-inspired country-folk.
16. Makaya McCraven - In These Times (International Anthem) You hear synth, sitar, harp, marimba, and strings in the first minutes of this generously-vast jazz record from one of Chicago's most forward-thinking musical minds. This listener hears corollaries to Sun Ra and Parliament/Funkadelic in these loose, massive, and sumptuous arrangements.
17. Joe Rainey - Niineta (37d03d) The Red Lake Nation member's debut LP of experimental electronic Pow Wow music turns one of the oldest of protest musics on its head with losing its fire or its message. One of the year's most essential listens.
18. Jockstrap - I Love You Jennifer B (Rough Trade) Hyper pop that has a human and earnest sheen. "Concrete over Water" was one of our favorite songs of the year.
19. Panda Riot - Extra Cosmic (self-released) The Chicago dream-poppers/shoegazers swirl and pulse with tone and delightful melody. 20. Wilco - Cruel Country (dBpm) The Chicago institution's first country album, and first double album, since the 90's is expansive, cozy, and as political as Tweedy & Co. have ever been.
21. Spiritualized - Everything Was Beautiful (Fat Possum) Every album from J. Spaceman is a joyous gift at this point, and this heartbursting collection of thoughtful space-rock is no different.
22. Suede - Autofiction (BMG) The ninth Suede LP finds the Britpop heroes as massive in scope as ever. Like drama, a huge rockstar voice, and big-ass guitars? Look no further.
23. Hikaru Utada - BAD??? (Sony) The J-pop superstar's first English-Japanese hybrid LP finds them experimenting with style, furthering their artistic discovery, and making a 12-minute house anthem.
24. Charlotte Adigéry / Bolis Pupul - Topical Dancer (DEEWEE) This Belgian duo blessed us with a unique album of fractured, minimal disco and synthpop.
25. Yaya Bey - Remember Your North Star (Big Dada) On this jazzy, loose collection of R&B song snippets, Bey invites the listener into her world rich with self-assurance and memory.
26. Lambchop - The Bible (Merge) Kurt Wagner's meditation on American anomie throws genre to the wind and lets a songwriting legend fly free, Leonard Cohen-style.
27. Working Men's Club - Fear Fear (Heavenly) The Yorkshire band's second is like New Order synthrock fused with 21st Century dread. But you can dance to it, it's fine.
28. Russian Circles - Gnosis (Sargent House) The Chicago metal legends' 8th LP gets a little post-rocky while still packing seven expansive tunes into a tight 40 minutes.
29. Cass McCombs - Heartmind (Anti-) McCombs is fast becoming one of the better folk singers going right now.
30. Cate Le Bon - Pompeii (Mexican Summer) Chill bedroomy pop from the dependable Welsh singer-songwriter.
31. billy woods - Aethiopes (Backwoodz) An exciting, sinister rap album from one of NYC's finest, full of unexpected sounds and samples.
32. Rachika Nayar - Heaven Come Crashing (NNA Tapes) New-age-y soundscapes that, like post-rock or ethereal dream pop, seem to always escalate to euphoric climaxes with each tune.
33. Ravyn Lenae - Hypnos (Atlantic) Hushed-vocal headphones R&B on this Chicagoan's chill debut.
34. Soul Glo - Diaspora Problems (Epitaph) Philly's Soul Glo do a better job of combining rap and hardcore than any other artist that's tried before them. Impressive stuff.
35. Spread Joy - II (Feel It) Another frantic collection of breakneck punk from this incredibly original Chicago band.
36. Destroyer - Labyrinthitis (Merge) Yeah, I'll concede that a Destroyer disco album is a pretty cool idea, even if only half of it is really disco.
37. Vein.fm - This World Is Going to Ruin You (Closed Casket Activities/Nuclear Blast) The neo-nü-metallers' sophomore effort branches out a bit and will still beat your ass.
38. Horsegirl - Versions of Modern Performance (Matador) You're doing something right when Steve Shelley and Lee Ranaldo guest on your debut LP, and this high-potential Chicago band are doing plenty right.
39. Spoon - Lucifer on the Sofa (Matador) The Austin band's latest record is the most uneven since Transference, but it doesn't that just make for a more fascinating listen?
40. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - All Lights Fucked on the Hairy Amp Drooling (self-released) I'll be honest, I was only 30% sure this even existed, but its seeing the light of day was delightful to see and hear.
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