Top 30 Songs of 2022

[Shrykespeare]

#11


JohnErle - Dead Tongues - Very pleasant. Enjoyed it.

Leestu - Sprints - A lot to like here, but not enough to make me want to listen again.

Six - Viagra Boys - I kinda liked this.

Tranny - The Smoke - I definitely like this. Again.

[Shrykespeare]

Top Ten Time!!


SONG #10


CHIENFANTOME

Lambchop, His Song is Sung

Here’s a strange song. The very first notes make you think this is the new 007 song, but this sentiment quickly fades away. It slowly turns into a classical tune, with piano, and you think it’s gonna be a music only track. And suddenly that unexpected voice appears, still building softly, before taking another turn with brass gearing up. It’s a fascinating song.





JOHNERLE

Christian Lee Hutson, Rubberneckers

It's funny how things you don't normally enjoy can really work in certain contexts. I know this is just a drum machine, but somehow it meshes perfectly with that bass, that voice, and that groove. Don't pass by this jam without taking a long, hard look.





LEESTU

Mdou Moctar, Nakanegh Dich

Mdou Moctar made my top in 2021 too….more great Hendrix-style Saharan sounds.





RON B

King Stingray, Lupa





SHRYKESPEARE

Electric Callboy feat. Finch, Spaceman

My name is Tekkno, I am travelling space
I got a rocket on my back fueled with big bang bass
I am Tekkno, my religion is rave
And I bring it to the outerworld, so let me hear you say

This German metalcore band caught my attention when I watched the video for “We Got the Moves”, which ended up cracking my Top 50 of 2021. (They were called Eskimo Callboy at the time, but changed it to Electric because they didn’t want to incorporate a racial slur into their name.) They followed it up with this gem, which is awesome in every conceivable way. So much metalcore is overly serious and depressing, but not them. They are hysterical, they make hilarious videos, and they are clearly having a BLAST. The video for “Spaceman”, which features German rapper Finch, features tributes to a whole host of classic sci-fi, and even pays homage to Elton John (“Rocketman”). I don’t know who I like more, vocalists Sebastian Biesler and Nico Sallach alternating between dirty and clean, or the way David Friedrich pounds away at his drums like they owe him money. Enjoy. (P.S. Yes, the spaceship has a mustache.)


 


SIX

SPECIAL INTEREST, Concerning Peace

The last band I saw before lockdown, and one of the first after. They are an intimidating bunch, with their pounding beats and funky bass ensuring some fine hooks, like in this breathless political punk song.





TRANNY

Tallah, The Impressionist

I could write a paragraph waxing poetic about how Tallah took the two metal subgenres they grew up with (nu metal, metalcore) and spiked them with a shot of chaotic adrenaline and seething rage, but it's probably a better idea to just provide you with a warning of what you're getting into before you press play. This song contains shouty demons, rapping, clean singing, turntable scratches, slamming downtuned guitars, random screeching noises being made by both man and machine, a drum solo, a guitar solo and about 20 seconds of soft, distant piano to close things out. Enjoy the 4:30 of fun that I curated just for you guys!!!

[Chienfantome]

#11

John
The Dead Tongues, Pawnshop Dollar Bills
It's okay, but nothing memorable for me.

Leestu
Sprints, Delia Smith
Meh. Didn't grab me.

Shryke
The 1975, Oh Caroline
Again, nothing great for me.

Six
Viagra Boys, Ain’t No Thief
I like nothing in this round or what ? Another no for me, it was tiring.

Tranny
The Smile, The Smoke
Who would have known ? Tranny saved the round for me. Very good song, as we already said. Crazy it took this long to see a crossover.

[Chienfantome]

I finally enter the countdown and my first choice isn't appearing

Maybe here it will work :
My #10 song, His Song is Sung, by Lambchop

[JohnErle]

10

Lambchop – I'm not a huge fan of his voice, but I liked pretty much everything else about this. And FYI: the video Shryke posted appeared just fine for me, but the one you posted didn't. Welcome aboard, Chien.

Mdou Moctar – I like it, but not as much as Afrique Victime, and when it popped up on Spotify with basically the same artwork I assumed it was a 2021 track. Either way, it's a good listen.

King Stingray – Something about the production had me worried at first, but I quite liked this, and it's great to hear back-to-back songs from unexpected parts of the globe in languages I can't understand. Welcome aboard, Ron.

Electric Callboy – Even your idea of metal manages to sound too slick and radio-friendly for me. And German rap is even more annoying than English rap. Not for me.

Special Interest – I didn't find this intimidating, just dull and repetitive.

Tallah – Speaking of not very intimidating, a ginger math geek with a peach fuzz goatee and a hoodie makes the shouty demons even more laughable than usual.

[Chienfantome]

#10

John
Christian Lee Hutson, Rubberneckers
That's a very pleasant track. It's true the elements work well together.

Leestu
Mdou Moctar, Nakanegh Dich
Indeed, Hendrix-style sounds. Pretty good.

Ron
King Stingray, Lupa
Not sure I'd listen to this one often, but it feels good to listen to something really different.

Shryke
Electric Callboy feat. Finch, Spaceman
Oh la la. What's that, Shryke ? That's a (big) no for me !

Six
SPECIAL INTEREST, Concerning Peace
No special interest from me towards this one. Can't understand anything, and the music is saturated.

Tranny
Tallah, The Impressionist
I didn't find The Impressionist impressive. No thank you. But you knew I'd write that !

[Ron Burgundy]

Hey guys! Glad to hop on the countdown train Apologies in advance for any negative comments...its never easy to love a song with 1 or 2 listens but i give it my best.

Chien- very interesting indeed. At the start i wasn't sure, but the tune picked up midway and in the end i liked it. 6/10

John- This reminds me of someone...i cant put my finger on who...its pleasant though. 5/10

Leestu- Funky. Groovy. I like the distorted hippy vibe. 7/10

Shryke- This was fun, especially the video clip. I didnt fully agree with the german rap but the chorus is catchy, so thumbs up from me. 6/10

Six- With a few songs from previous countdowns becoming big favs of mine (Grimes, Portishead, Idles, Amyl and the Sniffers) i give your songs a bit more time. This has a bit of a earworm but id have to be in that type of mood, which i think would be anger, not quite the sunday morning stuff. 5.5/10

Tran- Ahh the good ol metal. If i can remove the vocals i might kinda like it if im in the gym or something. 4.5/10

[Leestu]

#11

John: The Dead Tongues
Aahhh...was it through you I found out about this band? I don't remember where but this is a great song that made my 100, and made me listen to the album. Agreed this is the only great song on the album though

Shryke: The 1975
never understood the hype for this band...I've tried 3 of their albums and found 1 song I like so far, but that one is very atypical song for them...this one isn't and has no chance joining that one

Six: Viagra Boys
love this song...from a top 10 album of the year for me...hope I get to see them live one day, enjoy, should be good...

Tranny: The Smile
good to hear this again

[Leestu]

#10

Chien: Lambchop
neither of the videos worked here and I couldn't find it on youtube but it is on spotify...a rather unique song and style, interesting but not that likeable

John: Christian Lee Hutson
I didn't think much of his last album so I haven't heard anything else after but this was likeable, very pleasant voice and a bit of a '90s singer-songwriter nostalgia vibe
John - the Mdou Moctar song is a previously unreleased song from the deluxe edition of Afrique Victime that came out in Feb 2022, one of the times an added song from the deluxe edition is worth hearing, and was released as a single at that time too, so it counts as an exclusively 2022 song

Ron: King Stingray
good pick...they are doing some great things this year...their ballsy cover of Yellow by Coldplay was incredible, can't believe they pulled it off...I have a different song of theirs in my top 100

Shryke: Electric Callboy
sure there is some fun to be had in here (including the German rap), it's just a shame the chorus is so bad

Six: Special Interest
well I liked it...there were some very interesting sounds in there as the beat chugs along nicely getting my head bopping along...not surprised most people wouldn't like it

Tranny: Tallah
considering I can sometimes struggle with nu metal and metalcore this was was surprisingly a fresh blast of fun

[numbersix]

Well, the gang is back together again

Chien: A great start. Loved this song, loved how sparse and tender it is. Last year I listened a lot to Talk Talk, particularly their last two albums, which you should check out if you like this.

John: The drum machine wasn't enough to make this stand out. However, totally get what you mean about the ability to be surprised. Last summer I even found myself enjoying a reggae song. Maybe one day I'll not want to puke whenever I hear UB40.

Leetsu: Good track. I got to see him live last year, and loved him. Definitely a convert.

Ron B: Not too often you hear a didgeridoo in a song. Kudos to these guys for doing something interesting with their heritage.

Shryke: Wow, that was something. The kinda thing you'd hear during the Eurovision that would either get no points or win the competition outright. It was silly, ridiculous even, and I laughed at it. But appreciate they don't take themselves seriously.

Tranny: Not a fan of any of of the component genres, so this wasn't for me. Hated the singer, though the drum solo was cool.

[JohnErle]

John: The drum machine wasn't enough to make this stand out. However, totally get what you mean about the ability to be surprised. Last summer I even found myself enjoying a reggae song. Maybe one day I'll not want to puke whenever I hear UB40.

Well, UB40 are hardly the high water mark for reggae, so I wouldn't let them tarnish an entire genre for you. Peter Tosh represents the angry, political side of reggae, so his solo stuff or the early Bob Marley albums with Tosh involved might be your gateway into reggae.

[JohnErle]

#11

John: The Dead Tongues
Aahhh...was it through you I found out about this band? I don't remember where but this is a great song that made my 100, and made me listen to the album. Agreed this is the only great song on the album though

Yeah, that was me. I sent you the occasional track I thought you might enjoy and probably hadn't heard and this was one of them. I look forward to seeing it pop up on your FB countdown at some point. EDIT: I didn't realize "at some point" would mean today!

I agree the album was disappointing, and the weird thing to me was that they chose to open the album with this song. The rest of the album is closer in tone to the first four minutes of Pawnshop Dollar Bills, yet not as memorable, so that jam feels like an obvious album closer to me since they had nothing that could follow it.

[Shrykespeare]

Last summer I even found myself enjoying a reggae song. Maybe one day I'll not want to puke whenever I hear UB40.

As someone who has seen UB40 in concert FIVE times since 1985... ouch.

[Shrykespeare]

#10

Chien - Lambchop (no Shari Lewis??) - Never got the 007 vibes, even at the beginning. It felt rather more like the soundtrack of a schmaltzy 1950's black and white movie. My feelings toward this pretty much echo John's. (As for the other thing - the link you sent me didn't work when I posted, so I replaced it with one that did, but THAT link didn't work for you. And neither worked for Leestu?! YouTube is weird....)

JohnErle - Christian Lee Hutson - I don't have a problem with drum machines. I don't have a problem with how music is made, even though many people do (not pointing fingers, just saying). All that matters to me is how it goes into my ears. And I really enjoyed this. It has a cool, laid-back vibe, and Mr. Hutson's voice has that Jackson Browne-level of smoothness. Definitely one of my faves of yours.

Leestu - Mdou Moctar - I don't remember even a note of your 2021 pick of this guy. I definitely get the Hendrix comparison when it comes to the guitar. It's about the only thing that sets it apart, to me, from 90% of the music that comes from that part of the world. I have endeavored to become more worldly in my old age, so I welcome my first (second?) foray into Nigerian music.

Ron B - Sting Kingray - Looked these guys up. They are Australian. Is this musical considered "aboriginal"? (Leestu?) It takes an awful lot for me to like a song whose words I can't understand, but this came doggone close. The instrumentation definitely had a 60s feel to it that was quite impressive.

Six - Special Interest - It was interesting, like if Sid Vicious became the lead singer of Ministry. It definitely harks back to the Sex Pistols' anti-establishment stuff. This is what punk should be.

Tranny - Tallah - I didn't really like it, but there was nothing about it that I actively hated. As for the piano solo, I don't think I"ve heard any song that went that hard for the duration that ended in something THAT soft since Faith No More's "Epic".

[transformers2]

#10
Chien: It has its moments (especially when the strings and glitchy keys kick in around the 3:20 mark), but the stagnant vocals drag it down.

John: Well well well, look at who discovered the joys of electronic drums This was a pleasant listen with an endearing dream-like atmosphere and that little burst of distorted guitar near the end was a nice surprise.

Leestu: Wow, this is almost like Africa's answer to King Gizzard. Loved it.

Ron: Definitely the 1st time I've heard anything from an Indigenous Australian band. This particularly song didn't blow me away, but the framework for some special groovy rock is there.

Shryke: Their take on trancecore is refreshing since it's so purposefully goofy and every bit as interested in writing massive pop hooks as it is delivering legitimately heavy, well-timed breakdowns. That being said, "We Got the Moves" is such a perfect execution of this sound that everything else just including this just pales in comparison.

six: The palpable anger and breakneck energy is great. Real shame about the abysmal production.