Top 30 Songs of 2022

[transformers2]

Just sent my 1st 10 picks over to Shryke. Looking forward to the imminent launch of this yearly soiree.

[JohnErle]

While we're waiting for the actual countdown to begin I thought I'd start the ball rolling with a few honourable mentions.

When I was compiling my list to send to Shryke I found a few songs that were actually released in late 2021 even though I heard them for the first time this year. That seemed like a good reason to cut them from the list and make room for a few other bubble picks.

Aeon Station - Fade

I'm pretty sure I discovered this on a shared Spotify playlist Leestu and I set up this year, so maybe it'll appear on his list, but I wanted to include it anyway.



Beach House - Runaway



Mason Jennings - Tomorrow

This was a top 20 track for me all year on Spotify, but when I finally saw the video last week it suddenly came off as a bit too schmaltzy. The images this song creates in my mind when I close my eyes and listen to it are much more appealing than the official video. That fact, plus the Dec 2021 release date pushed this one into my honourable mentions.

[JohnErle]

And here's a few older tracks that were released in 2022 but recorded much earlier...

The Smithereens - Stop Bringing Me Down

"Had a band and management
Had a record deal but it came and it went
It's too late"

In the early 90s, when Grunge was ruling the airwaves, the Smithereens were dropped by Capitol Records and found themselves in music industry limbo. They went into the studio at their own expense and started working on a self-produced album that was later abandoned and never got an official release until 2022.

This new-to-me track seems to be the most personal on the album as the band must have been wondering if their careers as musicians were coming to an end, and for a fan like me, it was such an unexpected treat to hear Pat Dinizio's voice again so many years after his death.



Sparks - Islington N1

The only new-ish music released by Sparks in 2022 were the bonus tracks included on deluxe editions of their 21st century albums. The highlight for me was this self-deprecating ode to the posh London neighbourhood where Sparks played twenty albums in twenty nights back in the early 2000s. Anyone with enough stamina to attend all 20 shows received a CD single of this song as a memento, but I didn't hear it until 2022.

[numbersix]

That Islington song made me chuckle. I've smelled the culture many times there.

[Leestu]

Shryke asked me to let you know he is having laptop issues atm but he will start this countdown in a day or two
So get your songs in to him if you haven't already

[Leestu]

Shryke asked me to let you know he is having laptop issues atm but he will start this countdown in a day or two
So get your songs in to him if you haven't already

[shrykespeare2]

Hey Guys.

My old laptop died the day after Christmas, but my new one arrived today.

I will post the results of the leagues next week. I am getting the next leagues' pricing schemes in the mail ASAP. PLEASE send them back ASAP.

As for the music countdown, I have the first few songs from JohnErle, Leestu, Six, and Tranny. Waiting on Ron B, and then we can get started.

ETA: Ron B said he'd do a Top 10-20, so we are good to go. We can start anytime.

[Leestu]

Yeah Fade by Aeon Station came out in Dec 21 so won't be eligible for my list this year, and I hadn't heard in time for last years

[shrykespeare2]

Okay guys. It's a new year. I have everyone's lists who pledged to do a Top 30 (Chien and Ron B will join us later), so let's kick this off.

Those of you who are on FB, Leestu and I are doing a Top 100, both of which started today, so if you're interested, check our walls. Some good stuff in store.

And now...



SONG #30


JOHNERLE

Eli Winter, Davening In Threes

Who needs lyrics when you can play like that?





LEESTU

Soul Glo, Gold Chain Punk (Whogonbeatmyass?)

It’s been a while since I got into an aggressive hardcore punk album but with their creative use of elements of screamo, metalcore, rap rock, and noise they made this album interesting, all on display here with my highlight of the album





SHRYKESPEARE

lozeak, No Saving You

I've pulled you out from hell too many times to count
But, you keep going back

I'm done with all this free therapy, and
I'm running out of shoulders for you to cry on, I've
Heard it all a million times
I'm done with you, yeah, you're using me, yet
I've wasted all my stiches sewing up the same old wound
There's just no saving you

Found this on a random YouTube click and instantly fell in love with it. Lozeak is a 19YO singer, model, and TikTok influencer from the UK. I made a comment under the video (which was hearted by lozeak herself) that “if Arya Stark had a microphone instead of a sword, this would be it”, and I stick by that assessment… she’s pretty badass in this song. I usually don’t include too much pop on my list, but if it has an edge to it, I’ll listen. This song, about being in a relationship with someone truly self-destructive, has an edge that cuts like a razor.





SIX

Kendrick Lamar, Auntie Diaries

I’m writing this with some haste, so I’ll be brief. Kendrick released another album that confounded and thriller in equal measure. An album devoid of hits, yet full of surprises that for the most part worked (and the least ambitious ones not quite being on par with his best). On this track he addresses the great transgender debate, weaving through the argument with a grace and humanity rarely seen in the ultra-aggressive world of hip-hop.





TRANNY

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Magma

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard finally decide to fully indulge their jam band tendencies on the appropriately titled "Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava". Of all the psychedelic noodlings they assembled during these studio sessions, "Magma" is my favorite. Each extended section flows seamlessly into the next and the grooves - particularly on the latter half-are completely fucking mesmerizing.

[Chienfantome]

I'll be joining you guys later for a Top 10 with songs in French, Portuguese and English, but I'll comment in the meantime.

#30

John
Eli Winter, Davening In Threes
It was a bit long and at some point I got a bit bored I must confessed.

Leestu
Soul Glo, Gold Chain Punk (Whogonbeatmyass?)
Definitely not for me. Too agressive for my taste.

Shryke
lozeak, No Saving You
Can't say I hate it, can't say I like it.

Six
Kendrick Lamar, Auntie Diaries
Always difficult to really listen to lyrics in hip hop, it's usually too fast to understand for a foreign ear, but this one is easy to understand. Well at least most of it. I've never been a fan of Lamar, except here and there I can like it. This one is definitely a good one. Nice.

Tranny
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Magma
It's pretty easy to listen to compared to what I'm used to with you It's alright. Definitely fun to listen to. Not sure I'll really want to listen to it again, but it was still nice.

[Leestu]

John
Eli Winter, Davening In Threes
A nice peice of Ameican primitivism witb enough interesting things happening throughout to maintain it's length without drifting off (apart from the type of drifting off that this encourages)
BTW, The Smithereens song rocked harder than I know them to have usually been. I liked it. Sparks were Sparks.

Shryke
lozeak, No Saving You
Is this going to be the decade of Tik Tok artists? Apart frim the lyrics you quoted above which are quite good (although I never would have paid attention to them in a sing like this if they weren't written down) there is nothing here for me. Happy ro never hear this again

Six
Kendrick Lamar, Auntie Diaries
There were a few songs I really liked from this album and this was one of them. Great lyrics, and that very last line made me chuckle the first time I heard it

Tranny
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Magma
Jam King Gizz is one of my favourite King Gizzes...a couple of years ago they were going to play 5 nights in a row here with each night a totally different themed set. A jam set, a garage rock night, an acoustic one, a microtonal night, and a heavy metal night. The first ticket I picked up was for the jam night. I later got a garage rock one as well. Unfortunately the borders closed a week or two before so it never got to happen here.
Anyway awesome song that just missed out on my 30 (it's my #31) and the highlight from this album (although another song from it is also in my top 100) so I'm theilled to see it here

[shrykespeare2]

#30

JohnErle - Eli Winter - Not sure if lyrics would have helped or not, but I found this utterly boring. And three minutes too long.

Leestu - Soul Glo - Sorry, Stu, too unintelligible for me.

Six - Kendrick Lamar - A lot of you fellas are into this guy. I'm not there yet. Probably never will be. This was ok, though.

Tranny - King Gizzard & LW - Funky, in a really good way.

[shrykespeare2]

SONG #29


JOHNERLE

Jack Broadbent, Midnight Radio

Not being a musician or a music critic, I sometimes struggle to articulate why I chose one three-minute song over another, and over-analyzing them doesn't always seem appropriate. That's why I'm going to borrow an idea from a CBC Music web series called Jam Or Not A Jam? and simply say that this is a jam.





LEESTU

Beach House, Runaway

From the first time I heard their latest album this song stood out for me and ended up my most played song of the year. I think it was the unmistakeably Beach House take on the early ‘80s synth vibe of OMD (Enola Gay?) and early Depeche Mode and the like that clicked with me





SHRYKESPEARE

Tears for Fears, Rivers of Mercy

Spinning upside down
In the wake of mighty waves
See the anger of the world
When feelings run high
When feelings are so raw
We will give in to the night

In sharp contrast to my #30 comes this song by TTF, best known for their 80s hit “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”. In 2022, the UK duo of Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith (both now 60) decided to create their first album together in eighteen years, and it’s a thing of beauty. The Tipping Point gave me a lot of choices for inclusion on my list, but it’s this slow-moving lament for how crazy the world has gotten that really tugged at my heartstrings. That’s the great thing about music – some songs make you want to get up and move, but some make you want to break down and cry while uplifting your spirit. This is one of the latter.





SIX

Bjork, Fossora

Bjork is back with her liveliest album in a decade. This title track is the highlight, which utilises odd, unrhythmic beats and wind instruments into a surreal trance track. It’s like she manages to turn Iceland’s nature into a nightclub.





TRANNY

The Smile, Thin Thing

Good things tend to happen when Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood make music together and their latest Radiohead side project The Smile is no exception. Their excellent debut record "A Light for Attracting Attention" has quite a few standouts, but naturally, I really gravitated towards this eerie little ditty that's full of frantic guitar riffs and hazy vocals.

[numbersix]

I have been listening


John: First one was nice, 2nd one didn't sound much different of better than any blues act you'd get in pub on Sunday afternoon

Leetsu: Soul Glo was okay but didn't stick with me. That is a mildly different sound for the samey Beach House, that's for sure. A pleasant surprise.

Shryke: Neither for me, sadly

Tranny: Liked both tracks. I've stopped trying to catch up with King Gizzard's output, but this does sound different. A little too jammy, but okay nonetheless. As for The Smile, this is good, and more on them later.

[transformers2]

#30:
John: Pleasant enough, but it overstayed its welcome at 6 and a half minutes.

Leestu: This whole record is nuts and this just might be the most delightfully aggressive cut on there. Great stuff.

Shryke: Her youth makes the angst feel sincere. The rest of it is pretty uninspired, like somebody put Demi Lovato, Avril Lavigne and Halsey in a blender then put it behind vaguely punky synthpop beat they made with loops on Garage Band in 15 minutes.

six: Even after multiple runs through of Mr. Morale, I have no clue how I feel about this. It kind of tows the line between being an earnest portrait of acceptance and completely tone deaf. That being said, Kendrick does deserve credit for attempting to convey his thoughts in a thoughtful manner.