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+--post-date: 2023-01-03
+--type: blog
+    <article>
+      <h1>Music Spotlight: My Top Album 2022</h1>
+      <p>The hype is real. I only recently wrote last years, so I bet your hype
+      is nonexistent but for me I was writing that knowing full well there were
+      some bangers waiting to be unleashed in this year end review!</p>
+      <p>If you hadn’t read my previous post for 2021 the link is at the
+      bottom:</p>
+      <blockquote>
+        <p>The winner was “KANGA - You and I Will Never Die”</p>
+      </blockquote>
+      <h2>The album pool</h2>
+      <p>As always the criteria:</p>
+      <ul>
+        <li>it was released in 2022</li>
+        <li>it wasn’t a single</li>
+        <li>if it was an EP it has to be substantial and intentional</li>
+      </ul>
+      <p>And the albums are…</p>
+      <ul>
+        <li>Amining for Enrike - The Rats and the Children</li>
+        <li>And So I watch You from Afar - Jettison</li>
+        <li>Astronoid - Radiant Bloom</li>
+        <li>Carpenter Brut - Leather Terror</li>
+        <li>Cult of Luna - The Long Road North</li>
+        <li>Dance With the Dead - Driven to Madness</li>
+        <li>Elder - Innate Passage</li>
+        <li>Emma Ruth Rundle - EG2: Dowsing Voice</li>
+        <li>Giraffes? Giraffes! - Death Breath</li>
+        <li>God Mother - Obeveklig</li>
+        <li>Jay Hosking - Celestial spheres (and various other releases)</li>
+        <li>Long Distance Calling - Eraser</li>
+        <li>Ludovico Technique - Haunted People</li>
+        <li>MWWB - The Harvest (Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard)</li>
+        <li>MØL - Diorama (Instrumental)</li>
+        <li>Psychostick - … and Stuff</li>
+        <li>Russian Circles - Gnosis</li>
+        <li>SIERRA - See Me Now</li>
+        <li>Starcadian - Shadowcatcher</li>
+        <li>Tina Dickow - Bitte Små Ryk</li>
+        <li>Toundra - Hex</li>
+        <li>Waveshaper - Forgotten Shapes</li>
+      </ul>
+      <p>2022’s playlist (+ 2 albums from bandcamp not on Spotify):</p>
+      <ul>
+        <li>
+          <a rel="external noopener noreferrer"
+              target="_blank"
+              href=
+              "https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2TCd910OyZcTjQ8l8Dc0Jy?si=efd0dc6286b84062">
+          [spotify] senders&#39; Releases 2022 Spotify Playlist</a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          <a rel="external noopener noreferrer"
+              target="_blank"
+              href=
+              "https://emmaruthrundle.bandcamp.com/album/eg2-dowsing-voice">[bandcamp]
+              Emma Ruth Rundle - EG2: Dowsing Voice</a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          <a rel="external noopener noreferrer"
+              target="_blank"
+              href=
+              "https://jayhosking.bandcamp.com/album/celestial-spheres">[bandcamp]
+              Jay Hosking - Celestial spheres</a>
+        </li>
+      </ul>
+      <h2>The Top 5</h2>
+      <p>In alphabetical order:</p>
+      <ul>
+        <li>Carpenter Brut - Leather Terror</li>
+        <li>Elder - Innate Passage</li>
+        <li>Emma Ruth Rundle - EG2: Dowsing Voice</li>
+        <li>Jay Hosking - Celestial spheres (and various other releases)</li>
+        <li>Tina Dickow - Bitte Små Ryk</li>
+      </ul>
+      <h2>Carpenter Brut - Leather Terror</h2>
+      <p>Some metal infused synthwave, Carpenter Brut managed to release a
+      catchy and heavy banger of an album. Featuring a few guest performers,
+      each of these tracks are unique and catchy in what I would consider a
+      very “same-y” genre. It’s nice having an infinite supply of retro synth
+      tracks to drive to, but sometimes it’s hard for one to really break
+      through into “oh shit yes!”. Typically, Starcadian is the one to do that
+      for me, as they add an extra layer to their tracks through their music
+      videos (each track being an “ear movie”).</p>
+      <p>Throughout the year I found myself coming back to a few tracks over
+      and over - especially when I was showering or doing some other short
+      activity and I just wanted something upbeat and fun as heck!</p>
+      <p>Some call out featured songs are The Widow Maker featuring Gunship,
+      Imaginary Fire featuring Greg Puciato, and Lipstick Masquerade featuring
+      Persha. I looped these three songs quite a bit. But there are quite a few
+      more to checkout.</p>
+      <h3>Favorite Track</h3>
+      <p>This is tough, as I looped those three songs quite a bit - each
+      bringing their own unique energy. So I’ll pick all three - my list my
+      rules:</p>
+      <ul>
+        <li>
+          <p>The Widow maker - feat. Gunship This track is representative of
+          the genre. It’s synthwave to the core.</p>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          <p>Imaginary Fire - feat. Greg Puciato This is a metal track with
+          synths. Greg Puciato (of The Dillinger Escape Plan fame) is one of my
+          favorite vocalists and is immensely talented. This is probably my
+          favorite because I can’t get enough of his vocal style - the screams
+          and the clean vocals!</p>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          <p>Lipstick Masquerade - feat. Persha This is a modern 80s track.
+          This is what retrowave was designed around and while tracks like The
+          Widow Maker are more typical of the genre, this is the song they all
+          are basing their sound off of. This is kill pop song.</p>
+        </li>
+      </ul>
+      <h3>Special Commendation - Non Stop Bangers</h3>
+      <p>You throw this album on and it hits you with just banger after banger.
+      I can’t keep myself from dancing. Even as I listen back as I write this
+      gemlog I am grooving in my chair! Like Kanga last year, this is just a
+      series of tracks that just make you dance.</p>
+      <h3>Album Link</h3>
+      <p><a rel="external noopener noreferrer"
+         target="_blank"
+         href=
+         "https://open.spotify.com/album/37PW0ipoWcjx3APS1MN0ql?si=HE0-siOqTsqVlJrlL9MWTw">
+      [spotify] Carpenter Brut - Leather Terror</a></p>
+      <h2>Elder - Innate Passage</h2>
+      <p>I toot’d a bit about this album, a later release in the year, this
+      took this year end review and flipped it on its head. I thought it was
+      wrapped up already with a separate release this year, but this makes the
+      decision so hard.</p>
+      <p>Elder came at us with what feels like a return to form. Having
+      previously released Omens in 2020 and a collaboration album in 2021,
+      Innate Passage takes the best parts of those two albums and builds on-top
+      of more “classic Elder” albums like Lore. Elder has carved out their own
+      niche in the genre making a blend of psych rock and stoner metal, with
+      each release leaning harder and harder into psychedelic realms. Innate
+      Passage has this almost ethereal feeling - especially in their opening
+      track Catastasis.</p>
+      <p>I think, however, they’ve left the doom and stoner metal behind. Dead
+      Roots Stirring and Elder (self titled) were certainly “Doomy” and in that
+      “doom/stoner” metal overlap. Lore, Reflections of a Floating World are
+      both still very “stoner metal”. But is playing psychedelic-metal with a
+      big muff automatically stoner metal? I think since Omens they’re
+      probably, as a band, firmly outside of the stoner metal field - and more
+      soundly in some psychedelic/prog metal genre?</p>
+      <p>They introduce themselves as such in their website actually!</p>
+      <figure>
+        <blockquote>
+          <p>genre-pushing rock band&nbsp;that melds heavy psychedelic sounds
+          with progressive elements and evocative soundscapes.</p>
+        </blockquote>
+        <figcaption>
+          <cite>— <a rel="external noopener noreferrer"
+             target="_blank"
+             href=
+             "https://beholdtheelder.com/elder-bio/">https://beholdtheelder.com/elder-bio/</a></cite>
+        </figcaption>
+      </figure>
+      <p>“Merged In Dreams - Ne Plus Ultra” is the track that flips this whole
+      argument on its head and shows that regardless, they’re still very much a
+      metal band and one that you’ll absolutely be head banging too, horn up
+      \m/.</p>
+      <h3>Favorite Track</h3>
+      <p>I think “Merged In Dreams - Ne Plus Ultra”. A nearly 15 minute track
+      that has everything in it you expect from Elder.</p>
+      <h3>Special Commendation - Excellent Vinyl Record Cover</h3>
+      <p>I LOVE their record covers when they do the circular inserts. You can
+      display this vinyl with having 3 separate views through the port, which
+      while purely aesthetic - it’s very nice!</p>
+      <p>The quality of the vinyl release was great, though I find any
+      non-black Vinyl has a 33% chance of being slightly warped upon arrival. I
+      am going to stick to traditional black vinyls from now on sadly. It’s too
+      freaking often</p>
+      <h3>Album Link</h3>
+      <p><a rel="external noopener noreferrer"
+         target="_blank"
+         href=
+         "https://open.spotify.com/album/5XClGjeje4c3qPjbtT898K?si=PFgsT8S_TD6hu4dwbFp3Jw">
+      [spotify] Elder - Innate Passage</a></p>
+      <h2>Emma Ruth Rundle - EG2: Dowsing Voice</h2>
+      <p>Her second album in her “Electric Guitar” series - Emma Ruth Rundle
+      (ERR from here on out) has released “Dowsing Voice” a haunting follow-up
+      to last years Engine of Hell. Holy holy HOLY hell, this album is an
+      impactful, artistic, just WOW. It’s hard to describe. I was listening to
+      it for this review and my partner, sitting behind me relaxing, said “What
+      the hell are you listening too, this is scary!”. And scary, emotional,
+      and difficult it is. ERR stretches the use of the “electric guitar”
+      title, as the focus here is the additional layers and voices added on-top
+      of the main tracks.</p>
+      <p>An experimental release that, at this time is only available on
+      bandcamp, is one I don’t put on frequently, but when I do am fully
+      captivated. If you like artistic records - please check this out.</p>
+      <h3>Favorite Track</h3>
+      <p>Probably: Keening into Ffynnon Llanllawer - I love the guitar(?) part
+      and the wailing/vocalization. It’s haunting. As a recording is
+      amazing.</p>
+      <p>Though “In the Cave of The Cailleach’s Death-Birth” is the /best/
+      track. Put some headphones on and give this a listen! Just amazing.</p>
+      <h3>Special Commendation - Album Art</h3>
+      <p>This album, IS ART, but the album art is just… really suiting the
+      music.</p>
+      <h3>Album Link</h3>
+      <p><a rel="external noopener noreferrer"
+         target="_blank"
+         href=
+         "https://emmaruthrundle.bandcamp.com/album/eg2-dowsing-voice">[bandcamp]
+         Emma Ruth Rundle - EG2: Dowsing Voice</a></p>
+      <h2>Jay Hosking - Celestial spheres (and various other releases)</h2>
+      <p>This is an interesting pick. Having released JUST in time for this
+      year, this is an album I have been engaging with in many, many ways.
+      Firstly, I am a patron of this performer via Patreon. They make music
+      videos (audio only performance videos of the songs) that they compile
+      into albums. Last year’s album is probably my actual favorite and likely
+      SHOULD’VE snuck into the top 5 because of the final track alone, which
+      was an emotional and just epic banger of a track (Linked at the bottom of
+      this review).</p>
+      <p>Celestial spheres is a compilation of 8 synth jams. Jay bills these as
+      semi-improvisational, and while the YT channel is a synth nerds dream of
+      these informative performances, the songs stand on their own. This one is
+      no exception. Using various different pieces of hardware synths,
+      grooveboxes, drum machines and traditional instruments - each track is
+      unique while still carrying this /energy/ and style. It’s so easy to hear
+      Jays tracks and know it’s him.</p>
+      <p>I’ve been following him for years and really enjoy the music he makes,
+      and the community he’s built up around his music. Due to the disconnected
+      nature of the singles (releasing effectively as YouTube videos prior to
+      the album drop) it’s difficult to ultimately rate these in these lists
+      since I don’t get a chance to really enjoy them /as an album/ until the
+      end of the year (the past two times happened like this where they came
+      out around the end of the year). And on my playlist “Future, Tense” is
+      present as it’s a “2022” album according to Spotify, but was out on
+      bandcamp in 2021, and that’s when I was gifted it by Jay.</p>
+      <p>So yeah - this whole section is like “disclaimer disclaimer” but if
+      you like groovy, typically instrumental synth music - check it out.</p>
+      <h3>The various other releases</h3>
+      <p>This year Jay released a few albums actually which I didn’t want to
+      include separately. If you enjoy this album (which was mostly comprised
+      of 2022 music, so was the primary focus) check out the other albums:</p>
+      <p><a rel="external noopener noreferrer"
+         target="_blank"
+         href=
+         "https://jayhosking.bandcamp.com/album/cinematic-works">https://jayhosking.bandcamp.com/album/cinematic-works</a>
+         <a rel="external noopener noreferrer"
+         target="_blank"
+         href=
+         "https://jayhosking.bandcamp.com/album/away-music-for-a-productive-day">https://jayhosking.bandcamp.com/album/away-music-for-a-productive-day</a>
+         <a rel="external noopener noreferrer"
+         target="_blank"
+         href=
+         "https://jayhosking.bandcamp.com/album/home-music-for-a-productive-day">https://jayhosking.bandcamp.com/album/home-music-for-a-productive-day</a></p>
+      <h3>Favorite Track</h3>
+      <p>Without out a doubt it’s Nychthemeron. It’s truly a wild track, with
+      so much happening in it. I suspect it was his favorite too since he made
+      an actual music video for it:</p>
+      <p><a rel="external noopener noreferrer"
+         target="_blank"
+         href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka-xE3Qo3dA">[youtube] Jay
+         Hosking - Nychthemeron (Official Music video)</a></p>
+      <h3>Special Commendation - Each track has a live performance attached to
+      it!</h3>
+      <p>If you enjoy videos - these each have a corresponding YT video linked
+      at the bottom of the bandcamp page.</p>
+      <h3>Album Link</h3>
+      <p><a rel="external noopener noreferrer"
+         target="_blank"
+         href=
+         "https://jayhosking.bandcamp.com/album/celestial-spheres">[bandcamp]
+         Jay Hosking - Celestial spheres</a></p>
+      <h2>Tina Dickow - Bitte Små Ryk</h2>
+      <p>Tina Dickow (sometimes credited as Tina Dico, depending on the
+      release) is a fantastic Danish singer songwriter. Since her first solo
+      album she’s really found a way to elevate what is just folk indie pop.
+      Her songwriting, arrangements, and performances are always so rich. She
+      knows when to strip the song back - like Chefen Skal Ha&#39; Fri - while,
+      has certainly a lot happening beneath the lyrics - mixes them back a bit
+      to let the layered vocals cut through as the song builds. Each song has
+      so much to listen to! Picking out various instruments, layers, yet every
+      song would work performed just her and her acoustic guitar. I find her
+      style of pop music to be very engaging for that reason. I don’t often
+      listen to this style of music, but the production behind each track is so
+      good it hooks me in. That and her beautiful voice - which drew me in
+      first.</p>
+      <p>It’s a bit harder to talk about this album given the language barrier
+      (I do not speak Danish!) Which is a shame, since her lyrics are often
+      what I love about some of her previous albums. I’ve read the translations
+      and done my own as a learning exercise, but there is a layer missing
+      which is a shame given how strong this album is as whole.</p>
+      <p>I’ve spoken about Tina before in two previous gemlogs (<a href=
+      "gemini://senders.io/gemlog/2021-04-27-music-spotlight-awesome-eps.gmi">Music
+      Spotlight: Awesome EPs</a> and <a href=
+      "gemini://senders.io/gemlog/2021-05-18-5x5-playlists.gmi">5x5
+      Playlists</a> (both gemini:// links)) and is one of my absolute favorite
+      artists of all time. I’ve been slowly collecting her entire discography,
+      which can be tricky, given a lot of copies are out of print and the
+      remaining stock/used copies are often in Europe. (And that 5x5 playlist
+      is very telling given most of those artists have been featured in my top
+      albums lists and were winners! Is this foreshadowing?!)</p>
+      <h3>Favorite Track</h3>
+      <p>I shouldn’t have introduced this section - it has been so hard each
+      time! I think the title track, Bitte Små Ryk. It’s got everything there,
+      and is representative of the albums sound.</p>
+      <h3>Special Commendation - Lovely</h3>
+      <p>This whole album is lovely. There is emotion here too, and while I
+      don’t speak the language its often very clear. But I love Tina and her
+      music. It’s lovely and hits this spot in me thats just warm.</p>
+      <h3>Album Link</h3>
+      <p><a rel="external noopener noreferrer"
+         target="_blank"
+         href=
+         "https://open.spotify.com/album/6YV4Gomk4iy0dUyVqPDN7T?si=e3wO7G3XTI-ZIwhOSCswJA">
+      [spotify] Tina Dickow - Bitte Små Ryk</a></p>
+      <h2>My Top Pick</h2>
+      <p>This year has been especially hard, since I spent so much time
+      listening to 2021s releases which are some of my favorite of all time.
+      And between 2021 and 2022 (and mentioned in my 2021 spotlight) nearly
+      every one of my favorite artists released an album. So I have been
+      blessed with a lot to listen to.</p>
+      <p>Anyone following me on mastodon may have seen Tina Dickow just owning
+      my entire wrapped campaign, but with Elder releasing their album after
+      the data collection stops for wrapped, that certainly isn’t telling the
+      whole story.</p>
+      <p>And it wouldn’t be a top album list if I didn’t mention Starcadian
+      being consistently in the top 10 year after year, just narrowly missing
+      the top 5 - though technically, this release was in my 2020s list, as it
+      was available then, but had since been pulled, and was released
+      “officially” in 2022. Looking at what I can see it’s the same tracklist,
+      but the “inspired by” credits are entirely gone from the 2022
+      release.</p>
+      <h3>Elder - Innate Passage</h3>
+      <p>Each year picking the winner is hard. Part of the reason I do this is
+      I don’t really add stuff to the list I don’t like. A LOT of music comes
+      out each year, and I add what I listen to. I don’t listen to music I
+      don’t like - so by nature of the process - each album is a “top album”
+      for me.</p>
+      <p>But the top 5 is usually a mix of “omg obvs” and “yeah turns out I
+      threw that on way more than I expected” (Carpenter Brut). But its really
+      always a fight between those “obvs” - this year was Elder and Tina
+      Dickow. Their releases were seriously top tier and repeat listens.</p>
+      <p>Tina came in with the advantage of releasing in April, and Elder JUST
+      released theirs at the end of November. But I did some math on my
+      mastodon breaking down the comparison. Elder came at us with a longer
+      albums, under half as many tracks, and over 2x the average song length
+      (about 10min/track).</p>
+      <p>They didn’t waste a single second (neither did Tina) but just being
+      such an accessible album - just direct pure energy and power - BOOM! It
+      was great.</p>
+      <h3>This should’ve been a tie</h3>
+      <p>Honestly, I was ready to call it a tie. I am actually writing this
+      minutes before posting it, because that’s how undecided I am and how
+      close this is.</p>
+      <p>Tina Dickow deserves the number one slot any other year, and both her
+      and Elder’s albums I hope to see more of in the next few years! Both are
+      classic albums in their discographies (both albums of which I own and
+      spin regularly). I forced myself to pick, and just knowing me, my tastes,
+      and all the stuff I said above - I went with Elder. But seriously, listen
+      to this record - Tina manages to pack so much musicality in carving out a
+      unique sound and just amazing style. I love her &lt;3 :)</p>
+      <p>And if her music isn’t your jam - check out her guest tracks on the
+      Zero-7 stuff - angelic voice.</p>
+      <h2>Conclusion</h2>
+      <p>I am REALLY disappointed I had to choose between Elder and Tina Dickow
+      this year. Similarly, last year I had Raised by Swans, ERR, and Kanga!
+      And our winner in 2020 was Bell Witch. These ARE my top six favorite
+      musical artists currently active.</p>
+      <p>I’ll talk about music trends and my tastes later on. But I just wanted
+      to emphasize how much of a banger these last 3 years have been musically
+      and I am grateful I get to share these with you here.</p>
+      <p>I am really excited for 2023!</p>
+      <h2>This year’s playlist (2023)</h2>
+      <p><a rel="external noopener noreferrer"
+         target="_blank"
+         href=
+         "https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4zgdFBZslkcEq0xYFyME7U?si=4bc2bf7d015c4254">
+      [spotify] senders&#39; Releases 2023 Playlist</a></p>
+      <h2>Links</h2>
+      <p>If you use gemini:// you can check out my previous posts (until/unless
+      I decided to port those over too)</p>
+      <ul>
+        <li>
+          <a href=
+          "gemini://senders.io/gemlog/2022-11-30-music-spotlight-top-album-2021.gmi">
+          [gemini] Music Spotlight: Top Album 2021</a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          <a href=
+          "gemini://senders.io/gemlog/2021-03-21-music-spotlight-top-album-2020.gmi">
+          [gemini] Music Spotlight: Top Album 2020</a>
+        </li>
+      </ul>
+      <p>Thanks for reading! I don’t always crosspost - I am trying something
+      out :)</p>
+    </article>
+