Top 30 songs of 2022 - The #1's

[JohnErle]

I'm not gonna bash your shouty-demon songs as much as some **cough cough JohnErle cough cough**

Careful, Shryke. That frog in your throat may, in fact, be a shouty demon.

[numbersix]

Tranny time!

Generally I respect your lists of music, and this year was no different. Like the rest of us, the shouty demon music isn't quite for me, although at times when it veers ever so slightly towards math rock, or sludge, I can appreciate it. Even your #1 pick, which was a bit too much for me, was impressive for switching up its rhythm, at times biding its time instead of just being an all-out racket.

But it was the other material I liked more from your list. The impossible-to-keep-up-with King Gizzard always produced interesting stuff, and you probably could have had a Top 30 King Gizz list that would have been varied and surprising. Your hip-hop picks were good, especiall SZA. Some of The Weeknd was good, and your Kendrick track was a serious contender for my own Top 30. Plus, it was a pleasant surprise to see you like 50% of Radiohead, and post a song that was on my own list.

Never stop screaming, dude.

[Leestu]

Top 30 Recap:

30. Soul Glo, Gold Chain Punk (Whogonbeatmyass?)
29. Beach House, Runaway
28. Fontaines D.C., Jackie Down the Line
27. Talk Show, Leather
26. Yoo Doo Right, Say Less Do More
25. Sprints, I’m In A Band
24. Ball Park Music, Manny
23. Black Midi, Welcome To Hell
22. LCD Soundsystem, new body rhumba
21. Wet Leg, Angelica
20. Sprints, Little Fix
19. The Afghan Whigs, I’ll Make You See God
18. My Chemical Romance, The Foundations Of Decay
17. English Teacher, A55
16. Courting, Loaded
15. Black Midi, 27 Questions
14. Fontaines D.C., In ár gCroíthe go deo
13. Denzel Curry, Walkin
12. Black Country, New Road, Haldern
11. Sprints, Delia Smith
10. Mdou Moctar, Nakanegh Dich
9. Wet Leg, Ur Mom
8. Dope Lemon, Howl With Me
7. Fontaines D.C., I Love You
6. The Smith Street Band, I Don’t Wanna Do Nothing Forever
5. Ball Park Music, Stars In My Eyes
4. Viagra Boys, Ain’t No Thief
3. Yard Act, 100% Endurance
2. Black Country, New Road, Basketball Shoes

#1 King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard, Dripping Tap

Here are some of the things I love about King Gizzard that make them my favourite band of the last decade or so.
- when Ambrose takes the vocal lead instead of Stu...sure Stu is the main singer and I wouldn't want that to change, his voice is an integral part of their overall sound, but I think Ambrose is the better singer with a bit more soul and it is always a treat when he sings (Straws In The Wind, Billabong Valley, Beginner’s Luck, Fishing For Fishies etc)
- their energetic noisy garage rock with so much going on
- their groovy rhythms
- their prog like song structures
- their ability to jam and capture you in that jam so that you are part of it even if it is as just the head bobber, not just standing back detachedly admiring it, How they mange to make it sound like it is one big impromptu but with seven of them working together as one as if they all know exactly what each other is going to do
- epicness

This song has all of these things and is their masterpiece of 2022. It may now be my favourite song of theirs ever. To make a song this long that has sections and changes but still always sounds like the same song, and not just maintains your interest but fuels your interest so it grows and grows as the song goes on. in other words no time to get bored in an 18minute songs is not easy to do and an incredible accomplishment. but it is not one of those long epics that you think are a great experience but you are not gong to come back to very often - this had me coming back again and again and again, singing along to the singing parts as if it was a 3min catchy banger, and it ended up my 2nd most played song of the year according to spotify wrapped. Which surprised me a bit - I thought it was going to be my #1 most played song of the year.
And yes I am aware that my top 2 songs of the year take up 30mins of a playlist...my family heard them both together many times in shared playlists and gave me lots of friendly ribbing about it...but as they know well I am just a huge fan of epic long songs

[Shrykespeare]

Leestu,

I love your obsession with music lists, and though our tastes overlap more than others in this forum **cough cough Six cough cough**, most of your songs vacillated between meh and decent. Sprints was a good find, and it's good to hear Afghan Whigs again. As for your LOTR-length finale... well, it was good. (I was so ready to rip you a new one after seeing the running time, but, darn you...) Anyway, always happy to gab with you on RS or FB or wherever. Glad you're still a part of this motley crew.

[numbersix]

Leetsu,

Always great to have you on board. With Surf being a real human, you've got the closest taste to mine.

Pleasantly surprised to see you be such a fan of Sprints, more so than me! We had two direct crossovers, and a few near misses (Let Leg, Black Country, Yard Act. In fact, I think the Chemical Romance song was the only one I didn't like. The rest ranged from good to great. Excellent list!

As for King Gizzard, they are definitely enjoyable to listen to. They really surprised me last year with the different styles they've embraced, and the pace of releasing they continue to do. Your #1 song was quite the epic, and most of the parts there were excellent. Worst I can say is that they are often very derivative, so it's more of a one-and-done song for me, but it was still a great listen.


Oh and Shryke, you need to do something about that cough, otherwise you might tell the truth one day.

[JohnErle]

Leestu,

My thoughts on your #1 are virtually identical to my thoughts on your #2. I've tried to listen to this song and this album on more than one occasion and I've never made it to the end. King Gizz seem to be the next Grateful Dead, capable of banging out 30 minute jams that their fans can't get enough of while the rest of us have already headed for the exits.

I usually have more overlap with you than anyone else, but that didn't seem to be the case this year, at least in your top 10. That shared playlist on Spotify has introduced me to a few songs I've liked, and Pawnshop Dollar Bills was in your top 100 on FB, and we almost had a crossover with Beach House and Aeon Station, so maybe we'll have a true crossover some day, especially since you responded so well to a lot of my top 10.

[Shrykespeare]

Oh and Shryke, you need to do something about that cough, otherwise you might tell the truth one day.

You wound me, sir! We duel at dawn!!

[numbersix]

My #1

Fontaines DC- I Love You




Firstly, and most importantly, thank you Shryke, our stalwart friend for kicking us into action and ensuring that we completed this exercise in January, just before the onslaught of tunes from 2023 begin to hit.

The good news for all of you is that if you didn’t like this song when Leetsu posted it, you don’t have to listen to it again. And if you did enjoy it, I can give you more context.

The third album by Fontaines DC, Skinty Fia, felt like it was written for me. That band relocated from Dublin to London a while back, just like I did 7 years ago. The album is all about the feelings of ambivalence, towards moving to somewhere new, but also looking back at the homeland with nostalgia but also a critical eye. Not everything was rosy.

The feeling is perfected in I Love You, an impassioned song that starts like a love ballad, as Grian Chatten sounds like he’s wooing some fine lass. But it’s not about a woman, it’s about the country he just left, and soon the poetry of romance is undermined and revealed to be a sort of psychosis, until he breaks into bouts of shouting about corruption: “this island's run by sharks with children's bones stuck in their jaws”. It’s powerful stuff accompanied by fine music, evoking The Cure, 90s Brit Pop, with a sense of drama and breath-taking climax. It may be their greatest song to date.

[transformers2]

Leestu:
The Dripping Tap is a tremendous song. Omnium Gatherum was my favorite King Gizz release of the year and this monstrous epic opener was a great reflection of the freewheeling spirit that made that double album so great. If this was list was 50-60 songs in length, I would've included it.


As for the rest of your list, there was a lot of stuff that I dug. The introduction to Wet Leg that you were half responsible for and Mdou Moctar were much appreciated, the Sprints and Viagra Boys tracks were pretty cool and the Soul Glo, Denzel Curry and MCR tracks are all songs that I spun a number of times during the year. My favorites of the bunch ended up being Angelica, Little Fix, Nakanegh Dich, Gold Chain Punk, and of course, The Dripping Tap.

[Shrykespeare]

VI,

Your musical tastes are quite eclectic, which is one of the things I appreciate the most about you. They don't often jibe with my own tastes, but I come away from this countdown with a broadened since of the world. No, not kidding. I'm still firmly off the Fontaines D.C. bandwagon, though I will say that your #1 grated on me far, far less than the others I've heard in the last month. This felt more in my early-80s sounding wheelhouse than most of your list, so this as good an ending to your list as I could have hoped for.


Tomorrow, JohnErle.

[JohnErle]

Six,

You must have felt a bit lonely this year without Surfer's laser focused on the UK indie scene, but Leestu helped to fill the void, and even I picked Yard Act and Perfume Genius, two artists I'm pretty sure you were at least partly responsible for introducing me to in previous years.

Without a recap in front of me it's hard the remember many of the details of what you posted, but a lot of it seemed to offer the usual mix of anger and moroseness, so there wasn't a lot that appealed to me, but I did really like that Bodega track, and based on that song I can easily picture them opening for Blondie at CBGB in 1978. It's hard to believe no NYC band has ever used that name before.

As for #1, I listened to it again for the sake of camaraderie, but it still didn't do much to stand out from its influences or its genre, but the context you provided helps explain why it's your favourite song of the year. That story reminded me of when Steve Earle released El Corazon shortly after I moved to Vancouver. That album had multiple songs about naïve country boys trying to make it in the big city, so it really struck a chord with me the same way your #1 does for you. It's just not for me.

[JohnErle]

#1

Cloud Cult – One Way Out Of A Hole

“Are we on our own? No we're in this together
Are we all alone? No we're parts of each other
So screw the diagnosis, you're going to be all right, friend.”



I love songs that slowly build to an epic climax, and this one certainly does that, but in interesting and unexpected ways. That, plus the incredibly dynamic production and great lyrics makes this my #1 song of the year.

Cloud Cult formed in the late 90s, and I listened to them a bit in the 00s, but I was pleasantly surprised to be blown away by this spectacular song from a band I'd more or less forgotten about. If you're a disillusioned fan of Arcade Fire looking for a less creepy alternative, you could do a lot worse than Cloud Cult.

Here's the obligatory recap, and the asterisk means I have listened to the album in its entirety and would recommend that as well if you liked the song I highlighted.

1. Cloud Cult – One Way Out Of A Hole*
2. Gaby Moreno - 'Til Waking Light*
3. Shearwater - The Empty Orchestra*
4. Taj Mahal & Ry Cooder - My Baby Done Changed The Locks*
5. Margo Price - Been To The Mountain
6. St. Paul & The Broken Bones - The Alien Coast*
7. Sarah Shook - Talkin' To Myself*
8. Frank Turner - A Wave Across A Bay
9. The Cactus Blossoms - Hey Baby
10. Christian Lee Hutson - Rubberneckers
11. The Dead Tongues - Pawnshop Dollar Bills
12. Companion - How Could I Have Known
13. Jamestown Revival - These Days
14. Amanda Palmer - Surface Pressure
15. Valerie June - Use Me
16. Spoon - Held*
17. Perfume Genius - Pop Song*
18. Yard Act - Tall Poppies*
19. Alt-J - I'm Happier When You're Gone*
20. Adia Victoria - Ain't Killed Me Yet
21. Carson McHone - Still Life*
22. Angel Olsen - All The Good Times*
23. The Smile - You'll Never Work In Television Again*
24. Typhoon - New Wife
25. Fantastic Cat - C'Mon Armageddon
26. Leyla McCalla - Vine We
27. Rhett Miller - Follow You Home
28. Kevin Morby - This Is A Photograph
29. Jack Broadbent - Midnight Radio
30. Eli Winter - Davening In Threes
31. Will Stewart – New World Daydream*

I snuck in Will Stewart at the end because he was a last minute cut from my list, but I listened to the album for the first time after the countdown started, found a song I liked even more than the one I cut, and I really enjoyed the whole album as well, so if I had to do it all over again I would have found room for him. The album is recommended for fans of early Wilco.

Now, on to 2023, which has a new Sparks album scheduled for March, so they're obviously the odds on favourite to score my #1 next year. Will someone manage an upset? Only time will tell.

[numbersix]

Without a recap in front of me it's hard the remember many of the details of what you posted.

Whoops, my bad.

30. Kendrick Lamar, Auntie Diaries
29. Bjork, Fossora
28. Bodega, Territorial Call of the Female
27. Dry Cleaning, No Decent Shoes for Rain
26. The Smile, The Smoke
25. Black Country, New Road – Concorde
24. Big Joanie – Your Words
23. PVA – Bunker
22. Chat Pile – Anywhere
21. Osees – A Foul Form
20. Wu-Lu – Blame/Ten
19. Rosalia – HENTAI
18.Cate Le Bon – Pompeii
17. Bob Vylan – Take That
16. Just Mustard – Seed
15. Catcher – Comparing Saviours and Friends
14. DITZ – I Am Kate Moss
13. Arcade Fire – Unconditional II (Race and Religion)
12. Gilla Band – Eight Fivers
11. Viagra Boys – Ain’t No Thief
10. SPECIAL INTEREST – Concerning Peace
9. Sorry – Screaming in the Rain
8. Wet Leg – Wet Dream
7. Crack Cloud – Please Yourself
6. Angel Olsen – Go Home
5. Interpol - Toni
4. Mitski – Heat Lightning
3. Yard Act – Dead Horse
2. Kendrick Lamar – Count Me Out

[transformers2]

six:
I thought the Fontaines songs was pretty solid when Leestu picked it, but your commentary on it made me view it in a higher light. The conflicted feelings toward home as well as moving somewhere new definitely stood out more upon re-listen.

Coming into these things every year, I can pretty much bank on having the most in common with you and Leestu and that was once again the case this time around. We shared the only crossover I had with anyone in The Smoke, Wet Leg and Chat Pile were my top 2 discoveries in this countdown and while the songs you picked weren't ones that I viewed in an overly favorable light, those Kendrick Lamar and Mitski records produced songs that I enjoyed very much. This year, also had some inclusions that stopped me dead in my tracks in the form of Rosalia and the aforementioned Chat Pile-which became even more shocking when I listened to the whole record and discovered "Anywhere" is the heaviest song on it. My favorites outside of the aforementioned ones were Go Home, Ain't No Thief and Fossora.

[numbersix]

Would you say that Anywhere is the heaviest song on the record? I figured Why grimace_smoking_weed are heavier, but you definitely know more than me on this!