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Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2022. Our next list is from DJ and Assistant Music Director Danielle Sines.
Per usual, my top ten list is female dominated 😉 The music gods were kind to us this year. We were blessed with many great records and EPs, and the epic full return to live music.
In 2022, I finished listening to my A-Z vinyl collection (pop/rock) and have moved onto other genres in the challenge (see my CHIRP blog entry for more on this)... but thankfully the need to quarantine at home and listen to vinyl all day has shifted back to the luxury that it was pre-pandemic.
I'm currently in my "vocalist" section of the records, just finished Connie Francis. Hopefully 2023 is filled with even more wonderful music.
I heard from a little birdy that Impulsive Hearts could be releasing more music soon... so cheers to the new year and all that it brings.
#1 Wet Leg by Wet Leg (Domino)
I thought this record deserved all the attention that 2022 brought it; even if the rumors that the band is an industry plant are true. Good! Maybe the industry is finally getting sassy-sexy-fuck-it-all-women.
This record was on repeat throughout the year because of its catchy hooks and brazen lyrics. One of my favorites is the track “Loving You” with an accordion accompaniment with lyrics like, “Don't call me up/ You fucked it up/I’m not your friend/I’m not your pal” before diving into a chorus about not staying friends with your ex.
The track “Too Late Now” has ample screaming and an almost spoken tongue-in-cheek rap about the woes of dating “don't need no dating app / to tell me if I look like crap / to tell me if I'm thin or fat / to tell me should I shave my rat / I just need a bubble bath to send me on a higher path.” Amen.
#2 PAINLESS by Niyufer Yanya (ATO)
This record is driving, filled with catchy guitar hooks and deep sensual vocals and emotions.
When I first heard the track “Shameless,” the lyrics and swelling instrumentation made me cry from the very first listen. The song builds until the end lyrics sweep away the whole gorgeous song: Caught me out here (when you call it's shameless) In the sunlight (In these four walls I'm faithless) You can hurt me (Like when you caught me, graceless) If you feel like (Until you fall it's painless) It’s a beautifully complex album from start to finish with Yanya’s stunning emotive vocals anchoring the entire record.
#3 Renaissance by Beyoncé (Parkwood)
What can I say about this record that hasn’t yet been said?? It’s been on repeat since it came out, with different songs in my head each time I finish it. Put it on to have your own personal dance party, work out sesh, or just to give yourself an hour of upbeat personal affirmations.
The whole record is filled with bangers that made me question my own existence (especially after I spent a long day recording vocal harmonies, only to hear “Virgo’s Groove,” which showcases some of the best harmonies that I’ve ever heard).
The whole record is epic, completely out of this world. I’m sure that music graduate theses will deconstruct this album for years to come.
#4 Natural Brown Prom Queen by Sudan Archives (Stones Throw)
OMG BRITT this album is fire! It’s so catchy and fun. Sudan Archives (aka Brittney Parks) the LA, by way of Cincinnati, self-taught violinist and experimental electronic artist’s sophomore record combines her fierce violin skills with R&B and traditional African music. The combo is like nothing you’ve ever heard before.
The opening track, “Home Maker” is a danceable gem with great lyrics that, as an avid gardener, I immediately fell in love with. She starts the song with: I just gotta run up on my plants and hoping that they'll thrive around the madness Won't you step inside my lovely cottage, Feels so green, it feels like fucking magic/ Only bad bitches, and mad trellis And baby, I'm the baddest.
The production throughout the record is fresh and engaging. Check out the track “Freakalizer” for an example of the quick beats, synth and style that is all her own.
#5 Big Time by Angel Olsen (Jagjaguwar)
Angel’s slide into alt-country seems rather effortless. And yet for those who say “this isn’t country…” you are also right. It borders on the genre, bending it like one of her vocal refrains.
At times the record even harkens glimmering lounge acts akin to Julie London. She’s exploring, uncovering aspects of herself and at times even dresses like Sherlock Holmes himself.
The record is sad, sensual and filled with unrestrained love and promise. The last track “Chasing the Sun” is my favorite - it feels like an old movie, an instant classic. And if you’ve ever been in love, you completely relate to the whole track. She encapsulates the feeling in its entirety; especially with chorus lyrics, “Everyone's wondered where I've gone / having too much fun, doing nothing. Busy doing, doing nothing.” It swells with the emotions of being in love, and yet still sounds beautifully forlorn.
In its entirety, Angel Olsen creates another gorgeous masterpiece.
#6 Walked With You A Ways by Plains (Anti)
Katie Crutchfield (of Waxahatchee fame) and Jess Williamson teamed up to form Plains after a mutual admiration of each other’s work brought them together. As a duet, they delivered a lovely, classic country folk record similar to Dolly Parton’s trio with Emmy Lou Harris and Linda Rondstant.
Try the opener “Summer Sun” for a taste of the excellent harmonies that reside throughout the record. Each artist trades lead vocals to create a unique almost '90s alt country pop album (think The Chicks, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Shania Twain ) that is rich in lyricism and still classic country.
#7 I Object To Everything by Axons (Impossible Colors)
Ten years ago, December 2012, two bank robbers - Kenneth Conley and Joseph “Jose” Banks - awaiting sentencing for separate robberies escaped the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Chicago by chiseling a hole in a 17th-floor wall and rappelling down the side of the building with bedsheets sewn together with dental floss.
Go back and read that sentence again. Local civil rights lawyer and power-pop singer-songwriter Adele Nicholas chronicles this incredible story in great detail on the first full-length Axons release. In a year that we collectively spent time analyzing and discussing serial killers ad nauseam, this record was the perfect soundtrack to that criminal chaos.
As I finished the Netflix Dahlmer series the chorus to “Twenty More Years” raged on in my head. She sings, “If I sit here for twenty more years, I’m never going to get comfortable here.” Just like Ted Bundy’s multiple escapes, “Suspended” imagines what rappelling down the side of the building in the midday sun might have felt like.
When I watched Bundy put on his own legal spectacle I thought of the imagery of Pixie’s tinged “Shove It” - which uses actual court transcripts as lyrics where Conley tells the judge he could “shove it up his ass.” Or on “Past, Present, Future” where Banks representing himself says he objects to everything, past, present and future. Me too, buddy.
#8 Talk Talk Talk by The Paranoyds (Third Man)
This record is part Devo, part Blondie, part Chicago’s Ovef Ow and 100% fun.
The LA fuzz four piece’s 2nd album and (first on Jack White’s Imprint on Third Man) delivers with fast-paced, driving tracks with breezy cheeky vocals and delivery.
I absolutely adored the track “Freak Out” with its call and response and catchy guitar riffs. Try the retro track “Lizzie” with shouty punk style vocals and witty lyrics; some of which got stuck in my head… “am I too depressed to want success?” Fair question.
#9 Expert in A Dying Field by The Beths (Car Park)
The third album from New Zealand indie pop quartet darlings is filled with hooks and jangly, soaring guitars. I’ve been obsessed with Elizabeth Stokes and co since their 2018 debut Future Me Hates Me and this record is a strong continuation of great power pop jams.
The title track “Expert in a Dying Field” is a fuzzy tune about letting go of a relationship with witty lyrics like “plausible deniability?, I swear I’ve never heard of it” and emotional daggers like, “I can close the door on us but the room still exists, and I know you're in it.”
She tackles emotions with sweet sounding songs about wishing away anxiety, wishing that you could be someone else, and wishing that you could quiet your mind. When I saw them live, I got even more appreciation for the group - each are talented musicians that give it their all during a show. I had the pleasure of meeting them after the show and they were so sheepishly shy; I loved them even more.
#10 Excess by Automatic (Stones Throw)
LA’s Automatic’s second album is filled with poppy post-punk with quick beats and jagged synths. It is the perfect driving music for late night road trips when you need something to wake you up,windows down, cool breeze kinda vibe. It’s something hip to put on at a party and have someone ask you, “who is this?!” Instant cool girl chic.
Drummer, Lola Dompe, (daughter of Bauhaus/Love and Rockets/Tones on Tail drummer Kevin Haskins fame) and Izzy Glaudini (synth) trade off vocals, keeping the sound fresh and invigorating, sometimes reminiscent of the dreamy nature of Angelo Badalamenti’s Twin Peaks. My favorite track is the high energy bop, “NRG” with Le Tigre meets Devo vibes.
Honorable Mentions
11. Julia Jacklin - Pre Pleasure
12. Mia Folick - 2007
13. Drama - Don't Wait Up
14. Alvvays - Blue Rev
15. SZA - SOS
16. Momma - Household Name
17. SVE - We've Been Going About This All Wrong
18. Mitski - Laurel Hell
19. Girlpool - Foregiveness
20. Lavender Country - Blackberry Rose (RIP)
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