In my previous life teaching English abroad, each December I would prepare a list of events to have my students discuss and reflect on major news stories, breakthroughs, milestones, etc. from that year. In 2022, I need to do it for myself. Outside of "Russia invades Ukraine" and "Argentina beats France in epic World Cup final" my mind is largely blank outside of one significant event from my own life: my wedding. With so much time and energy spent on that amazing day with Ashley back in June, many things took a backseat this year, including, at times, music. When I think of this year, the world "blur" readily comes to mind. But, to paraphrase Bob Weir, the music never stops, and there was plenty of goodness to go around, including, in alphabetical by artist order, my ten favorite albums of 2022:

Black Country, New Road - Ants From Up There
Cheekface - Too Much To Ask
Benjamin Clementine - And I Have Been
King Buffalo - Regenerator
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms, and Lava
Makaya McCraven - In These Times
Melt Yourself Down - Pray For Me I Don’t Fit In
Kevin Morby - This Is a Photograph
Weyes Blood - And In the Darkness, Hearts Aglow
Whitney - Spark

Coincidentally, the first one listed above is also my favorite: Ants From Up There. As I wrote back in March, it took me some time to warm up to Black Country, New Road's second LP, but since I did, it hasn't left the pole position. Makaya McCraven's In These Times was a late challenger, but something keeps drawing me back to the English outfit whose lead singer left the band four days before Ants From Up There was released. The group marches on, but surpassing Ants will be a tall task. 

As always, here are ten more 2022 albums I enjoyed but didn't get featured in a write-up:

The 1975 - Being Funny In a Foreign Language
Alex G - God Save the Animals
Andrew Bird - Inside Problems
Paul Cauthen - Country Coming Down
Jeff Coffin - Between the Dreaming and Joy
Destroyer - Labyrinthitis
The Dip - Sticking With It
Interpol - The Other Side of Make Believe
Klangstof - Godspeed to the Freaks
Lettuce - Unify

Finally, the traditional two mixes of some of my favorite tunes of the year from albums not featured here. Part 1 is the more rocking, upbeat collection, part 2 more chill.

Tracklist (Artist - ""song"" - Album)

Twofer 2022 - Take 1 (Listen on Spotify)

1 Rubblebucket - "Earth Worship (Intro)" - Earth Worship
2 Rubblebucket - "Earth Worship " - Earth Worship
3 Everything Everything - "Cut Up!" - Raw Data Feel
4 The Black Keys - "Wild Child" - Dropout Boogie
5 Sports Team - "Dig!" - Gulp!
6 The Wombats - "Work Is Easy Life Is Hard" - Fix Yourself, Not the World
7 Great Gable - "Another Day" - On the Wall In the Morning Light
8 Peach Pit - "Vickie" - From 2 to 3
9 Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard - "New Age Millennial Magic" - Backhand Deals
10 Peter Mulvey - "You and (Everybody Else)" - Love Is the Only Thing
11 Night Shop - "Slow Dancing at the Wax Museum" - Forever Night
12 Jeff Coffin - "Vinnie the Crow" - Between the Dreaming and Joy
13 Son Little - "Drummer" - Like Neptune
14 The Amazons - "Ready For Something" - How Will I Know If Heaven Will Find Me?

Twofer 2022 - Take 2 (Listen on Spotify)

1 Ben Harper - "Below Sea Level" - Bloodline Maintenance
2 Khruangbin & Leon Bridges - "Mariella" - Texas Moon
3 Bakar - "Youthenasia" - Nobody's Home
4 Jaguar Sun - "One Day" - All We've Ever Known
5 The Dip - "Real Contender" - Sticking With It
6 Pinegrove - "Habitat" - 11:11
7 Interpol - "Fables" - The Other Side of Make-Believe
8 Fleet Foxes - "A Sky Like I've Never Seen" - Wildcat (Soundtrack)
9 Teen Suicide - "get high, breathe underwater (#3)" - honeybee table at the butterfly feast
10 Alt-J - "Get Better" - The Dream
11 Jack Johnson - "Don't Look Know" - Meet the Moonlight

Happy New Year everyone!