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The CHIRP Blog
Nikki Stout writesPatti Smith’s “A Book of Days” as 366 Testaments to Gratitude
Authored in tandem by Bradley Morgan and Nikki Stout
On December 30th, Patti Smith celebrates 76 years of a journey that has seen joy, grief, discovery, love, and prayer. Using words, music, and art, Patti has sought ways to revere Mother Nature for her gifts, to relish in her love, and to respect her for her limits. Patti’s awareness comes from a curiosity to explore her relationship with the world around her, which becomes an energy driving her music, poetry, and a now-published collection of Polaroids created with her Land camera.
We see this relationship unfold over the course of a year in Patti’s latest work, A Book of Days, a collection of 366 photographs elegantly documenting a life lived artistically. Photos of old friends, curiosities, feelings, and memories illustrate the way Patti moves through the world, curious and distant at times, always at the ready to create, seek inspiration, or respect a stillness that answers a deeper question, or invites you to dive further. In the introduction, Patti shares that the first photo on her Instagram account was a hand, writing that it is a symbol that is a, “Direct correspondence between imagination and execution," with the capacity to heal and to hurt.
Those hands were raised to welcome, celebrate, and click through presentation slides when Patti toured for A Book of Days at the Music Box Theatre as part of the Chicago Humanities Festival on November 20. She shared stories and answered questions submitted by the audience as she clicked from slide to slide, highlighting photos from her latest book, and inviting us into her world of wisdom and musings, occasionally turning to a musical moment joined by her son Jackson on guitar. These were moments that captured a unique connection to the world, much like the photos in A Book of Days.
CHIRP DJ writesCHIRP Radio’s Best of 2022: Kevin Shields
Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2022. Our next list is from DJ-In-Training Kevin Shields.
Back Home by Big Joanie (Kill Rock Stars)
Been waiting for this for years, the sophomore follow up to 2018's equally brilliant Sistahs. No weak links on this year's model, I'll continue to enjoy Back Home immensely for a bit till I start yearning for the next one.
Tyler Clark presents: Local Mythologies writesCHIRP Radio’s Best of 2022: Tyler Clark
Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2022. Our next list is from DJ and Programming Committee member Tyler Clark.
The last time I filled out one of these year-end lists, I'd just finished listening to the most new releases I'd ever managed in a single year in my entire life.
I come to you today with the opposite of that achievement--for the first time since I started keeping track back in 2016, I failed to listen to at least 100 new albums for the year. In fact, I'm currently sitting at just about half of my total for 2021, which felt so disappointing at the time that I didn't even bother to fill out this survey. (In case you're wondering: my album of the year was Dry Cleaning, and it wasn't particularly close).
If the pandemic cabin fever of 2020 helped me plow through nearly 400 new releases, the slow reemergence of the last two years has felt more like an extended exhalation than a renewed call to urgency. Call it a cultural hangover, I guess.
That's not to say I've been spending any less time with my headphones on. On the contrary--my son was born in February, so I've probably been awake and in need of tunes more this year than any since college.
I also found myself on the road again, this time to France and Germany for another bike trip with the best of buds. I mostly filled those midnight feedings and trip-planning sessions with classics both familiar and novel; for instance, according to Spotify, I was in the top 0.1% of Mel Tormé listeners this year.
The Velvet Fog was in good company; check out my honorable mentions section for a list of older artists who demanded the lion's share of my attention in 2022, as well as some Franco-German favorites from the collaborative trip playlist.
Anyway, this list is about new music, so let's talk new music. Presented for your consideration: the 10 albums from 2022 that I'll probably carry forward in some way or another once the calendar hits 2023. No rankings, no big valedictory blurbs. Just some music I think is good and also neat. Check out the list below, then try to convince me that that Wet Leg record should've been in there somewhere.
Blue Rev by Alvvays (Polyvinyl)
The Class of '13 just crowned a new valedictorian. Sorry, Sky Ferreira.
DJ Swallow writesCHIRP Radio’s Best of 2022: Kevin Swallow
Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2022. Our next list is from DJ & Marketing Director Kevin Swallow.
Music I walked to, music I worked out to, music I cooked to, music I did the dishes to, music I painted to — my favorite albums of 2022, in no particular order.
Lucifer on the Sofa by Spoon (Matador)
Peter Zimmerman writesCHIRP Radio’s Best of 2022: Pete Zimmerman
Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2022. Our next list is from DJ Pete Zimmerman.
I listened to a lot of great music in 2022, but these are the records that I continued to come back to throughout the year.
angel in realtime by Gang of Youths (Warner Bros.)
