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authorSteph Enders <steph@senders.io>2024-02-29 09:31:15 -0500
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- <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>
- <div id="footer">
- <i>January 03, 2023</i>
- </div>
- <div id='copyright'>
- © 2023 senders dot io - <a rel="license external noopener noreferrer"
- target="_blank"
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