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Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2022. Our next list is from DJ-in-Training Comus Rivera.
This was without a doubt a funky year for music. Maybe it's because some of the stuff that's deeper in the weeds just so happened to manifest in front of me, but I found a lot of new sounds that threw me in every direction. Speaking of, some of my favorite releases over this last Sol rotation were...
#1 Body N. Will by Kumo 99 (Self-Released)
Kumo 99's Instagram headline reads "99 ways to die, choose one". Well, if I had to choose, it'd be in the middle of the jungle-breakbeat-eurocore rave that I imagine a Kumo 99 concert must be. I don't know how this jawn first found it's way to me, but the second the opener, Body N. Will, came on I was hooked. If you like too-cool-for-school deep electronic that draws from a million genres while still managing to have a whole lotta fun, I can't recommend this album enough!
#2 God's Country by Chat Pile (Flenser Records)
Moving as far away from Kumo 99's hyper-danceable underground electroclash rave as we can, we now stumble into the murky hellscape that is a Chat Pile album. If I had to describe this album as best I could, I would say this is the music equivalent of standing in existential fear after accidentally tripping into your fridge and falling through it face-first into a dimension of eldritch monsters. If that doesn't make any sense, go take a gander at the album's closer, a beautifully titled "grimace_smoking_weed.jpeg", and get back to me.
#3 Most Normal by Gilla Band (Rough Trade Records)
Take all the danceability of Kumo 99, add in the nihilistic chaos of Chat Pile, and you're left with Gilla Band's Most Normal. I don't know if I could do this album justice in one short bit. So instead, I'll leave you with a snippet I sent my friend 2 seconds after throwing it on: "Album starts BWONGGGG synth Pure noise, hurts head Lyrics: Aughhehhhahhhngggg ...It's perfect. I love it."
#4 Triple Trey by Butcher Brown (Concord Jazz)
This was an absolutely great year for jazz rap, and I don't think anyone worked the genre quite like Butcher Brown. Triple Trey acts as a rework of the MC Tennishu's 2019 album of the same name, but with the added jazz-funk touch that Butcher Brown gives to all their albums. Butcher Brown didn't just rework an already great album here, they brought it up to a whole new level of greatness.
#5 Diner Coffee by Mamaleek (Flenser Records)
Since we're already in the world of jazz, let's check a look at what's happening in the supergenre's weird fringes. What's happening, if you'd believe it, is the always-amazing Mamaleek is out here making avant-garde jazz metal, with a dash of screamo and a twinge of slowcore. This album is a metal version of Edward Hopper's Nighthawks, or maybe Twin Peaks, and that makes it amazing.
#6 Ugly Season by Perfume Genius (Matador Records)
What does it mean to be beautiful? What does it mean to be ugly? In singer-songwriter Michael Hadreas' perfume genius beauty is ugly, and ugliness is beautiful. This album takes pop music and breaks it in 5 places, giving way to an amazing end piece that is just as graceful as it is haunting. And then when you think you know where the album's heading, Hellbent comes on and says it's time for noise pop. When this album came out I was in a class about noir movies, and this album is without a doubt musical noir.
#7 Black Country, New Road by Ants From Up There (Ninja Tune)
It's okay, I'm here, you can let it all out. People talk about a 'good cry', where sometimes you just need 10 minutes to go for it and feel what you gotta feel. This album is a good cry. It's emotional, melancholic, honestly I'd even say it's cathartic. And, just like a good cry should be, when it's all done and over, it's tranquil.
#8 Endure by Special Interest (Rough Trade Records)
Good cry done, it's time to thrash. This album makes me move in the same way Kumo 99's Body N. Will does, but this time through the route of heavy, rhythmic punk. It's studded collars, black lipstick, knee high boots, and all the stomps of the 80s rolled into one album. Endure came out right at the tail-end of the year, and I don't think there's a better way to close out 2022 than with punk fashion and a fun, angsty mosh.
#9 Hellfire by Black Midi (Rough Trade Records)
The horrors of war, murder in a live boxing match, harvesting stomach acid, Hellfire really has it all. I always loved Black Midi's weird approach to modern prog, and then in this album they decided "hey, let's add some flamenco". Lest I say more? I never thought the 2020s would bring some of the best weird prog music we've ever had, but here we are and I for one think we're all better off for it.
#10 Classic Objects by Jenny Hval (4AD)
We've done it, we've gone through 10 lovely albums and ended out on the other side. And to end it off, Jenny Hval is here to lull us into a nice, curious album. "Trees, sticks, rocks, bamboo leaf, bamboo leaf again...", in my opinion Jenny Hval listing off everything she sees in front of her in a curious, almost elated tone marks a new milestone in art pop. I don't mean that jokingly either, because every single time Cemetery of Splendor comes on I find myself smiling and finding joy in every small thing around me. From the autumn leaves turning winter leaves to the discarded Tootsie Roll and Dubble Bubble wrappers.
Honorable Mentions
There was a lot of amazing music this year, and there was no way I could summarize it all in one short 'best of' list. So here, please have some more lovely lil' doodads. Thanks for checkin' out my list, and for joinin' me on a nostalgic look back at some of the best albums from the year.
Honorable Mentions:
Viagra Boys - Cave World (Year0001; It's dance, it's punk, it's great)
Yaya Kim - a.k.a. Yaya (Self-Released; Noir jazz, in 2022?!)
Jockstrap - I Love You Jennifer B (Rough Trade Records; Glitch pop's never been this good)
death's dynamic shroud - Darklife (100% Electronica; Again, glitch pop's never been *this good*)
caroline - caroline (Rough Trade Records; Post-rock at it's most saudade)
Thanks so much for checkin' my faves out, see y'all on the other side!
Peace and Love, Comus
Next entry: CHIRP Radio’s Best of 2022: Mike Bennett
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