Welcome! To the 6th Annual Baltimore Music Festival! 2022 finally saw the full return of live music, a sorely missed socio-cultural activity that had essentially been wiped out by the pandemic. Even Rage Against the Machine, who had postponed their whole tour for two years, finally returned (and gave me Covid...worth it) after over two decades of silence. People everywhere, including yours truly, poured into venues of all sizes, starving for live music, proving that nothing beats the real thing, no matter what Daniel Ek might tell you. Get vaxxed, get masked, go support your favorite artists.
Shoutouts
Adeem the Artist White Trash Revelry, Ashenspire Hostile Architecture, Joey Bada$$ 2000, Black Dresses Forget Your Own Face, Cave In Heavy Pendulum, Chat Pile God's Country, The Comet Is Coming Hyper-Dimensional Expansion Beam, Conway the Machine God Don't Make Mistakes, Dehd Blue Skies, DJ Premier Hip Hop 50: Vol. 1, Doechii She/Her/Black Bitch, Dry Cleaning Stumpwork, Everything Everything Raw Data Feel, Lupe Fiasco Drill Music in Zion, FKA Twigs Caprisongs, Florist Florist, Freddie Gibbs $oul $old $eparately, Ginger Root Nisemono, Ghost Impera, Harry Styles Harry's World, Julia Jacklin Pre-Pleasure, Carly Rae Jepsen The Loneliest Time, J.I.D The Forever Story, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Changes, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Laminated Denim, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Omnium Gatherum, Cate Le Bon Pompeii, Nas King's Disease III, OFF! Free LSD, Orville Peck Bronco, Daniel Rossen You Belong There, Rina Sawayama Hold the Girl, Sirom The Liquefied Throne of Simplicity, Spiritualized Everything Was Beautiful, Soccer Mommy Sometimes Forever, Suede Autofiction, Earl Sweatshirt Sick!, Taylor Swift Midnights, SZA SOS, Tears for Fears (yes, that Tears for Fears) The Tipping Point, Toro Y Moi Mahal, Viagra Boys Caveworld, Jack White Entering Heaven Alive Wormrot Hiss, Nilufer Yanya Painless.
Thus begins the countdown...
Honorable Mentions
Darklife
Vaporwave (Listen)
De Todas las Flores
Chamber Folk (Listen)
Hellfire
Brutal Prog (Listen)
The Car
Chamber Pop (Listen)
46. Yard Act
The Overload
Post-Punk (Listen)
"Hello, Hi"
Psychedelic Folk (Listen)
Closure
Cold Synth (Listen)
Crash
Dance-Pop (Listen)
Un Verano Sin Ti
Reggaeton (Listen)
Ramona Park Broke My Heart
West Coast Hip Hop (Listen)
Gemini Rights
Neo-Soul (Listen)
Arrangements
Post-Punk (Listen)
Being Funny in a Foreign Language
Pop Rock (Listen)
Lucifer on the Sofa
Indie Rock (Listen)
We've Been Going About This All Wrong
Indie Rock (Listen)
Tropical Dancer
Art Pop (Listen)
Electricity
Electro Afro-Funk (Listen)
Fear of the Dawn
Blues Rock (Listen)
Big Time
Americana (Listen)
Motomami
Neoperro (Listen)
Fossora
Art Pop (Listen)
"When I was a girl, I fell in love with a building." Girl, same.
In These Times
Jazz Fusion (Listen)
Preacher's Daughter
Dream Pop (Listen)
It's Almost Dry
Gangsta Rap (Listen)
Skinty Fia
Gothic Rock (Listen)
Renaissance
Dance-Pop (Listen)
I Love You, Jennifer B
Art Pop (Listen)
His Happiness Shall Come First Even Though We Are Suffering
Industrial Hip Hop (Listen)
Natural Brown Prom Queen
Alternative R&B (Listen)
Ugly Season
Art Pop (Listen)
A Light for Attracting Attention
Art Rock (Listen)
Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava
Jazz-Rock (Listen)
Diaspora Problems
Hardcore Punk (Listen)
No Thank You
UK Hip Hop (Listen)
Chloë and the Next 20th Century
Lounge (Listen)
Aethiopes
Abstract Hip Hop (Listen)
Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers
Conscious Hip Hop (Listen)
And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow
Baroque Pop (Listen)
Ants from Up There
Art Rock (Listen)
Runners Up
The Ruby Cord
Progressive Folk (Listen)
Richard Dawson has been on quite the tear over the past several years: the disturbing medieval folk of Peasant, the harsh experimentalism of 2020, the progressive metal of his collaboration with Circle Henki. Now he returns to folk instrumentation on The Ruby Cord, but the lessons he's learned along the way come too. 41-minute opener "The Hermit" is a test of sheer perseverance, though its many movements keep the time from dragging, instead turning the epic into a sort of twee concerto. "Thicker than Water" picks up the pace (and drastically cuts the time) while Dawson returns to more familiar songwriting territory--a fun ditty complete with warm guitar tones and fuzzy jazz drums. "Museum" takes us back into Dawson's medieval instrumentation and vocal balladry, including flits of beautiful harps and confident falsettos. Closer "Horse and Rider" brings a harder edge to its folk underpinnings, despite what the crying violin solos might suggest. Every song is also tinged with Dawson's characteristic sardonic wit and scathing social commentary, hidden beneath lush arrangements and perpetually unique sonic choices. As long as this man is around, folk will never be boring.
Melt My Eyez See Your Future
Conscious Hip Hop (Listen)
I am and (barring any unforeseen terribleness) always will be a Denzel Curry supporter. This man consistently releases some of the most forward-thinking, inventive, and provocative hip hop around. I LOVED TA13OO, and was incredibly high on ZUU and Unlocked, each changing subtly while keeping that addictive Zel sound. But Melt My Eyez is Curry's riskiest attempt yet, and the rewards are beyond measure. This is Curry's most mature and expansive effort to date. The sample carrying from the end of intro "Melt Session #1" to "Walkin'" is the perfect inflection point to move from jazzy to boom bap. "The Last" sees Zel jumping on a cloudy trap beat to rap about how tomorrow is never promised. The Saul Williams closing spoken word feature of "Mental" is a welcome blast from a sadly forgotten past, even if the topic of suppressing suicidal thoughts is probably the heaviest subject on the album. T-Pain's feature on "Troubles" is incredibly fun, as always, but especially contrasting Zel's growly delivery. The variety of styles offered that is somehow contained in an album that is undeniably Denzel Curry makes Melt My Eyez one of his most rewarding, and, perhaps, his best album yet.
Once Twice Melody
Dream Pop (Listen)
At first glance, the prospect of an 85-minute, 18-track dream pop record sounds like an idea that could fail spectacularly. But on Once Twice Melody, Beach House found a supremely elegant solution to this dilemma: show up with some of your best songs yet. The gorgeous strings on the title track, the melodies on "Superstar" that will literally never leave your head once you hear them (this is a warning), the the addicting synth arpeggio that cuts in and out of "Pink Funeral" create the best three-track opening on any Beach House record. Album star, "New Romance" brings a hit of that 2010's indie sound, that classic Beach House formula hidden in a new structure that reminds you of when the world wasn't scary, but shining and brand new. Songs like "Sunset," and "The Bells," are dives into dream folk, while "Illusion of Forever" has an almost Cure-esque quality to its grand production, and closer "Modern Love Stories" is certainly their most weirdly ominous attempt at ending an album. In a recent interview with Pitchfork, Legrande and Scally both implied that this may be the end of Beach House, and while it would be an unfathomable shame to never hear any new music from arguably the best dream pop group of all time, it's harder to think of a more monumental and fitting way for them to go out. (Seriously though, please don't leave us)
Blue Rev
Shoegaze (Listen)
Who doesn't love a good, no, GREAT shoegaze record? This is nostalgia done right, using sound to plant the listener in a halcyon age of their teenage selves, sending ripped copies of Alvvays songs to their friends over AIM. Blue Rev still includes Alvvays' hallmarks of saturated exuberance, soaring melodies, and powerful vocals, but the sound palette here is significantly noisier and heavier. Molly Rankin's lyrics are more desperate, but she delivers them beautifully over a wash of guitar noise that pulls your ears in every direction. Blue Rev is an immersion therapy album for the modern world: it's anxious, disillusioned, and constantly asks "what if," but does so wrapped in a fuzzy blanket, on a comfortable sofa, with a warm cup of tea; a wistful, glowing haze of static and reverb; the soundtrack to a daydream.
God Save the Animals
Indie Rock (Listen)
Alex G(iannascoli) is adamant that not all of his songs are about dogs, but God Save the Animals uses our furry (and feathered, and scaly) friends to discuss the world through non-human eyes, both innocent and beautiful. On "Miracles" Alex G decides that maybe having children isn't as horrible as he once thought, "after all, there's no way up from apathy." "Ain't It Easy" seemingly provides calm, but it's constantly interrupted by ominous whispers. Halfway through the album, glistening jangle-folk guitars give way to breakbeat hyperpop. The blown out sounds of album highlight "Blessing" provide a strangely intentional tone of late-80's pre-grunge weirdness that these days feels almost completely novel. God Save the Animals has you thinking of the future, rather than pining for the past, in an almost religious way. This is Alex G's most hopeful record, grounded in patience and stunning simplicity.
Cheat Codes
East Coast Hip Hop (Listen)
Seventeen years in the making, and boasting an impressive array of supporting characters (including legends MF DOOM and Raekwon, Joey Bada$$, A$AP Rocky, and Conway the Machine), Danger Mouse's return to sample-based production, and Black Thought's jazz-influenced lyricism find an extraordinary balance for the most efficient and effective hip hop album of 2022. This short album immediately sounds like a timeless classic, where every track is of the utmost importance. "Because" perfectly meshes the soul styling of Dylan Cartlidge with the varied flows of Black Thought and a bevy of guest appearances. The posthumous verse of MF DOOM on "Belize" is just one more piece of evidence that the late rapper was (and still is) one of the most important in the history of the genre. The sheer beauty of "Aquamarine"'s perfect sample matching exactly with Michael Kiwanuka's chorus and Black Thoughts' dark, winding tale following him from the formation of The Roots to his future as an artist. Danger Mouse's perfect mixing of styles new and old remains impressive to both hip hop newcomers and golden age devotees. The combination of both Mouse and Thought creates a brilliantly layered evolution that simply pours into the ears.
In 2013, the Black Angels made a drastic decision: organs are psychedelic too. While that sentiment is historically true (the roots of the late 60's and early 70's psych-rock movement were certainly propelled by organ-driven bands like the Doors, Barrett-era Pink Floyd, and 13th Floor Elevators), the Angels' approach was uncharacteristically clean. When they changed their fuzz pedals for wurlitzers, they lost their grit, their edge, that feeling of dropping acid in Hendrix's basement. Sure, the songwriting was as tight as ever, but the presentation became a sterile affair--less drug den, more model home. 2017's Death Song, followed a similar trajectory: even though they brought the guitars back and wrote some of their most popular songs to date ("Comanche Moon" alone has been used in uncountable commercials and episode credits), it was just so...pre-packaged. This, however, is not like the others. Call it a 180, a regression, or a step back if you want, but for my money, Wilderness of Mirrors is the sound fans were hoping these elder statesmen of psych would move into after their magnum opus Phosphene Dream. Here, the bass and drums work together to drive every song forward like a demonic piston, the guitars are appropriately--even maximally--fuzzed and distorted, echoing off the walls of even the most soundproofed room, and Alex Maas' uncanny voice belts over the wild storm to deliver some of his most prescient and vital lyrics yet. Lead single "El Jardin" is as fun in its delivery as it is disturbing in its content. "Firefly" is the Black Angels at peak neon-psych, while the title track is so delightfully strange it's guaranteed to expand your mind. "The River" uses its many layers of acoustic guitars and desertscapes to create a whirl of sonic color that equals anything the band have done. Penultimate track, the cheekily titled "Icon," sees the return of the blues-rock garage style that made the Angels famous all the way back in aught-six. Wilderness of Mirrors is a brilliant return to form for the Black Angels, one that sees them continuing to fight for a world that's gone to hell in a handbasket.
The Best of the Year
Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You
Indie Folk (Listen)
The title track of Big Thief's longest and most intense effort is a haunting and atmospheric ballad that sets the tone for the entire record. Lead singer Adrianne Lenker's raw, emotive vocals are the perfect match for the intimate and introspective sound that explores themes of love, loss, and the search for connection. Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You is a masterpiece of indie folk that showcases the band's incredible songwriting abilities and heartfelt performances.
Standout track (and my personal favorite), "Time Escaping," is a catchy and upbeat tune that showcases the band's knack for crafting infectious melodies and curious harmonies. The song's ear-worm percussion section, paired with a spare but much appreciated keyboard, is guaranteed to get stuck in your head, and provides the perfect backdrop for Lenker's delightful voice.
"Heavy Bend," is a beautifully crafted bit of songwriting that showcases Lenker's folksy side of her soulful vocals. The song's stripped-down arrangement and intimate lyrics make it one of the most emotionally powerful tracks on the album. Conversely, "Blurred View" is an immense departure, incorporating programmed beats, detuned samples, and faux lo-fi production, like a slow Deftones song. This album is a wild ride.
Country-fried songs like "Spud Infinity" and "Red Moon" provide a lightness to the album while still celebrating Big Thief's folk background and influences and expertly highlighting their musical talent and diversity. "Red Moon" in particular features driving, hoedown-inspired instrumentation while providing an emotional and personally reflective message about love and loss.
Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You is a breathtaking and deeply moving album that showcases the incredible talent of Big Thief. Whether you're a fan of indie folk or just looking for some truly beautiful and heartfelt music, this album is a must-listen. Besides, look at that cute little campfire up there. There's a cool dinosaur, and a bear playing guitar. For just a moment (or, like, 90 minutes of moments) feel the warm glowing warming glow.
Wet Leg
Post-Punk Revival (Listen)
"When I think about what you've become, I feel sorry for your mom," Rhian Teasdale sings on "Ur Mum," Wet Leg's cheekiest single from their self-titled debut. Rare is the debut album that is willing to be this daring. Rarer still is the snark accompanied by such a joyous expression of what rock can be, and surrounded by a record full of songs equally giddy and silly that are immediately unforgettable.
Full honesty, this will probably be the simplest recap of an album in the #2 slot I've ever written, but it's for a great reason: everything I can say about every song is that it's fun. SO FUN! I have never had this much fun listening to a post-punk album. Usually they're sobering, technical affairs (see Preoccupations further up this list) that rely on an admittedly problematic history of exploiting a band member's expression of their mental illness: Joy Division, Swans (pre-experimental phase), Sisters of Mercy...umm, Suicide.
But Wet Leg's version brings forward the punk half of "post-punk," driving bass and drums, simple-yet-catchy guitar melodies, and smile-inducing lyrics. "Wet Dream" is the kind of pop rock singalong that you hear more from J-pop songs, so upbeat and--and I can't stress enough how often this word will be used here--fun, you'll be clapping and singing along after just one pass of the chorus. "Beam me up! / Count me in! / 3, 2, 1 / Let's begin!" Please, let's do.
Incredibly silly first single, "Chaise Longue" sees Teasdale referring to her college degree as "the big D," which given the state of student debt these days, seems a little too close to home. It's paired with a brilliant bit of production in the pre-chorus, the call-and-response of "Excuse me. .......... what" that's just delicious. And lordy how I love the rhythm of the line "Is your mother worried? Would you like us to assign someone to worry your mother?" Ha!
Previously mentioned "Ur Mum," is like, my spirit animal, a song about how you can never leave a party early enough, constantly hounded by people trying to make inane conversation. When Teasdale performs her "loudest and longest scream," phew, we've all been there, screaming inside, while, like the instrumentation of the song, we mask it with upbeat party rock.
And of course, in typical Wet Leg fashion heaviest song, "Oh No," is reserved for the most superficial of things: doomscrolling. "3 AM / Fucking zen / Oh no / Suck the life from my eyes / It feels nice / I'm scrolling, I'm scrolling." It's the perfect encapsulation of what it feels like to escape the drudgery of life with insipid internet bullshit, "I went home all alone / I checked my phone / And now I'm inside it."
I'm going to stop here now, because to divulge anymore would be telling. This album is fun. I can't, nay, I shan't stop saying it. Fun, fun, fun! Stop whatever sad year-end recap traditions you have right now and listen to this fun album for fun.
Fun!
Laurel Hell
New Wave Art Pop (Listen)
Let's
Step
Carefully
Into
The Dark
When I originally reviewed Mitski's Laurel Hell earlier this year (my only review this year, sorry), I analyzed many of the songs with a reading that, while emotionally true, was fairly surface level: this person's life is stalked by tragedy in love. However, there is a more allegorical take that even Mitski herself has coyly agreed is accurate: Laurel Hell is an allusion to her falling out of love...with music. Looking at the album this way, the symbolism is almost face-palmingly ham-fisted. But if there's anyone who can tread such a fine, dangerous line, it's Mitski.
Opener "Valentine, Texas"'s opening lines (see above) create a thrilling scene where all is dark except the light of a fire. Be it spooky woods or haunted house, we know that perhaps we are not accompanied by the most trustworthy of guides. This is very easily substituted for the stage before a show. "Once we're in I'll remember my way around," she murmurs: Mitski knows exactly where all the wires and props and lights and amps and drums are. The stage performance metaphor continues, more existentially, "who will I be tonight? Who will I become tonight." Perhaps alluding to the cutthroat world of music, she threateningly announces her lupine transformation, "I'll show you who my sweethearts never met / Wet teeth / Shining eyes." When the synth stabs out of nowhere, it shocks and jars us; she is not the same and our view of her will never return to the energetic "sad girl" that we knew. Her lycanthropy complete, she bemoans what she has become, "clouds look like mountains / Let me watch those mountains from underneath / And maybe they'll finally float off of me."
"Working for the Knife" is...too obvious for me to need to explain it here, but I will go on and on about the off-time metal clang countering the smooth, deep synth backing, lightly plinking piano, and sumptuous shoegaze guitars that come in at the end of each verse. For an editorial about how much someone hates being trapped in the music industry, goddamn is this song gorgeously produced.
When the funky, disco rhythms of "Stay Soft" break the silence, the sarcasm only becomes more biting. "It's why I've arrived, your sex god / Here to take you where you need to go / To where the dark remembers you," Mitski croons, implicating the audience of her shows as mere users of her talent to gain access to a more emotive realm. She then steels herself for the inevitable backlash of critical and fan dis/approval, "Open up your heart like the gates of Hell / And stay soft, get beaten / Only natural to harden up." The chorus is a sickening blend of sexual innuendo and self-reassurance, the disturbing dichotomy of being a woman in today's spotlight. Unable to live with the constant demand of persnickety fans any longer she goes on, "just tell me what you want to do / Tell me what you want to burn away / So I can be your stoker." Mitski is no longer having fun; everything is a chore, everything is scrutinized, we are just the worst.
"Everyone," with its incredibly simplistic beat also ends up being the most heart breaking. "I left the door open to the dark / I said, 'come in, come in, whatever you are' / But it didn't want me yet," she tells us, describing--not so subtly--her start in music, producing her first few albums herself with no studio or label backing. Worn down by the struggle to get noticed, she returns: "And I opened my arms wide to the dark / I said, 'take it all, whatever you want' / I didn't know that I was young / I didn't know what it would take." Her regret is beyond compare, and even with the space afforded her from years of hit singles, she is still trapped, "Sometimes, I think I am free / Until I find I'm back in line again."
Massive single "Love Me More" follows the same story, "if I keep myself at home / I won't make the same mistake / That I made for 15 years / I could be a new girl / I wish that this could go away / But when I'm done singing this song / I will have to find something else to do to keep me here." But despite her hatred of the industry, disgust with her fans, and dreams of moving on to other art forms, she just can't help herself, singing "here's my hand / There's the itch / But I'm not supposed to scratch," before the song explodes into a glorious cacophony of 80's synths. Her love of music itself keeps her in an abusive relationship, "how do other people live? / I wonder how they keep it up / When today is finally done / There's another day to come." Knowing she's trapped in a permanent cycle of wanting to create, then needing greedy label-men and intrusive fans to express that creation, she contents herself with fantasy, "we'll pretend it ends tomorrow." The devastating chorus is a plaintive cry to music itself, begging in the dust for some sign, "I need you to love me more / Love enough to fill me up / I need you to love me more / Love enough to drown it out / Drown it out / Drown ME out."
Emotion destroying ballad "There's Nothing Left for You" is a heart-rending letter from Mitski to herself. A 10CC-inspired synth loop opens before she begins breaking up with her younger, optimistic self: "Try and go outside / Nothing waits for you / You had it once before / Not anymore." She laments all the missed opportunities to escape the cycle, the burden of the creative mind, and how it has destroyed he hopes and dreams: "You could touch fire, you could fly," she belts over top of an ever-increasing crescendo of guitars and cymbals, "it was your right, it was your life / And then it passed." The din cuts to near silence, like a knife in the dark. "There's nothing left for you."
And if you ever find yourself in need of a good cry, might I recommend, "I Guess," which is sad enough through my initial surface-level reading of a breakup. But looking through the lens of Mitski falling out of love with music, the sadness increases by orders of magnitude. "I guess this is the end / I'll have to learn to be somebody else / It's been you and me since before I was 'me' / Without you I don't yet know quite how to live." Just...let that sink in. Mitski has been making music since she was a precocious, artistic teenager, her brain still not fully formed. And now, purely to keep up appearances at this point, she's still doing it, having long fallen out of love with the artform. This isn't fun or fulfilling anymore, it's just...empty, and there's nothing else. The reverb and distorted string break point to Mitski being locked in her own mind, unsure of what, if anything, she should do: "If I could keep anything of you / I would keep just this quiet after you."
Closer "That's Our Lamp" (song title of the year, btw), fortunately turns the mood around, despite its sincere content. The simplistic synth intro gives way to an ebullient 80's pop-country style made famous by Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" and GODDAMN is it a fun sound that, I mean, who knew we were missing that so badly? To return to our allegory, the lyrics act as a sort of letter to Mitski's own creativity. Once, as a girl, it was free, wild, and constantly opening doors: "you say you love me / I believe you do." Now, many years later, it's a slog, a boring chore, a demanding, manipulative, jealous boyfriend: "you just don't like me / Not like you used to." But much like a jealous boyfriend, creativity, ominously, never leaves: "I'm standing in the dark / Looking up into our room / Where you'll be waiting for me." Mitski has totally fallen out of love with music at this point, but as her mood changes in the cheery parade of the outro, so does our perspective of the past.
Regret is a waste. "That's where you loved me." Maybe, perhaps, we'll fall in love again.
