Alright, world 1-1, let’s start this up. For my money, the obsessive list making was my favorite part of Murmurs and led to many new discoveries. So, let’s hear ‘em. What new releases are you listening to in 2022?
Mine:
Annika Norlin - Mentor. Half Hello Saferide, half Sakert!, all great. Though the album is 50% Swedish, which I don’t understand, I’m confident it features incisive lyrics with a good sense of humor.
Beirut - Artifacts. B-sides and reissues, so not the same as a new Beirut album but more of the same is not a bad thing.
Is there such a thing as Tik Tok music? From what I’ve observed it’s the same 3 songs over and over.
I have very distinct memories of discovering The National through Murmurs but the dates don’t line up (came in for Boxer). Maybe it just seems like the perfect kind of REM adjacent band.
TikTok is weird. Some stuff is like 8 year old songs that suddenly go viral (as happened to a band who I actually hired members of to be PA’s, now they went on Kimmel) and some is new (like GAYLE’s “abcdfu”)
RADIOHEAD~KID A/AMNESIAC
R.E.M.~New Adventures in Hi-Fi
DJ Shadow ~Endtroducing
UNKLE~End Titles…Stories for Film
Massive Attack~Mezzanine
Run the Jewels~3
DJ Shadow ~The Mountain Will Fall
UNKLE~War Stories
Public Enemy~Apocalypse 91
I have a serious thing for Jack O’Rourke (Cork small town balladeer) right now. He first came to prominence here in the run up to the marriage equality referendum of 2015 with what was very much a coming out song and his current album channels AFTP something wicked. The lead single:
My vote for the first great album of 2022 is The Runner: Original Soundtrack by the electronic duo, Boy Harsher, based on a short horror film that they themselves directed. I saw Boy Harsher open for Front 242 years ago and have been a fan since.
I love a Vancouver post-punk band, Actors, who released my favorite album of 2021, Acts of Worship.
My prediction for the best 2022 album will be the debut full-length LP from Leathers, which is a side project of Actors keyboardist Shannon Hemmett.
I have been listening to Nation of Language a lot lately. The vinyl edition of their late 2021 second LP arrived at my doorstep recently after being delayed during the Adele vinyl shortage.
The wildest TikTok song of the week recently was when the Mountain Goats’ “No Children” somehow showed up everywhere a few months ago. It might have been the least likely candidate, but good for them.
There’s a few albums so far from this year that I’ve been loving.
Imarhan - Aboogi
Algerian Tuareg band with intricate guitars, vocal harmonies and grooves that pull you in. A wonderful mix of traditional and western sounds.
Erin Rae - Lighten Up
Lush early-70’s So. Cal Country/Soul/Laurel Canyon/Indie Folk. It sounds like a warm summer day with the car windows down.
Lady Wray - Piece of Me
Analog, dusty sounding soul music with a slight hip hop vibe. She has a really incredible voice with a lot of range.
I am also really looking forward to the upcoming albums by PUP and Dedicated Men of Zion.
As a massive fan of The National, I’m eagerly anticipating any news from those guys. I liked Matt’s solo album, but it was released at a horrible time (October 2020) and he couldn’t tour it, plus I think as much as I enjoyed it, it also made me realize why the National is such a great band - together those five guys make some magic that I don’t think separately they shine as bright.
They have all been really quiet on socials, and that usually happens before they suddenly release all this stuff for a new record, including visual identity, etc.
I loved “I Am Easy to Find” and all that went with it, but Sleep Well Beast is a true masterpiece.
