Welcome to the Life on this Planet Blog. We've been posting Best Albums of the Year lists for the last 13 years!
Thank you to our friends from across the world that took the time to compile their lists below! We ditched Spotify this year, so please check out the YouTube playlist (at the bottom of this post) and subscribe to the Life on this Planet YouTube Channel.
2022 has proved to be another stressful year - we hope that you'll discover something new here that will help bring you some joy.
Here's to a better upcoming year.
- Bret and Sarah
P.S. We do earn a commission if you purchase anything through the links in this post.
Bret Helm
10. Hatchie - Giving the World Away
You may have heard the term "sophomore slump" in relation to the difficulty that artists have in following up a strong debut album. That couldn't be further from the truth on Hatchie's second offering. It is filled with one sophisticated, captivating song after another. I had to check the credits to see if Peter Hook was on bass for the wonderful "Quicksand." (He's not, but a keen ear will be rewarded with some New Order vibes).
09. Blood Incantation - Timewave Zero
I definitely enjoy when a band throws out a curve ball. On their third album, Colorado death metal band Blood Incantation abandons metal completely for an entirely instrumental, lush soundscape that falls in line somewhere between Steve Roach and the score to Stranger Things. Check this out.
08. Midnight Oil - RESIST
"Beauty, love and compassion. Spread it everywhere. 'Cause nothing less will do." 45+ years into their career, The Oils have produced another intense, socially-conscious record that the world needs now.
07. Sun's Signature - Sun's Signature
What a treat to get some new music from former Cocteau Twins' vocalist Elizabeth Fraser. While she's made many guest appearances on various albums and soundtracks over the years, Sun's Signature is the first collection of vocal songs (albeit only 5) under her name, since the dissolution of the Cocteaus in the late-90s
06. Tears for Fears - The Tipping Point
Eighteen years since their last album, Tears for Fears return with an emotional, hard-hitting collection of songs. Hopefully they build on this triumph with more new material in the near future.
05. Placebo - Never Let Me Go
There is a section in "Try Better Next Time" from Placebo's first album in 9 years that just completely makes my heart sink: "There's a place in the forest where the animals dance. Carefree and joyous like nobody's watching. And nobody's watching. So they laugh and they dance around mahogany trees, completely unawares they're gonna end up as meat. And nobody's watching. Wake up, wake up. Try better next time." Perhaps it's no surprise that we as humans don't look after each other, let alone Planet Earth, but over the last 6 or so years we've experienced some of the most appalling human behavior. Wake up and try better next time. Truth.
04. Just Mustard - Heart Under
Imagine the scene... band practice. Someone says, "Hey we have a gig next month and it's about time we settle on a band name. Before we read off our lists of potential names, I'm gonna run to the 7-11 and grab some hot dogs. You guys want ketchup?" Someone responds, "Just mustard." Jaws drop and history is made. All joking aside, the second album from this Irish outfit has elements of post-punk, dreampop and shoegaze. Cranes will get referenced for some vocal similarity, but Just Mustard is a force of their own. I'm greatly looking forward to what comes next because Heart Under is quite excellent.
03. Zola Jesus - Arkhon
ZJ is one of my favorite artists to have emerged over the last 15 years. Arkhon - her sixth album - features drummer Matt Chamberlain (Bowie, Tori Amos, etc) and on bass an old acquaintance of mine from the Phoenix music scene of the 90s, Shazad Ismaily, originally of the band One. His playing on my favorite track "The Fall" is exquisite.
02. Ghost - Impera
If you've yet to discover the Swedish "pop" metal band known as Ghost, please do yourself a favor and cue up the track "Call Me Little Sunshine." Their knack for catchy-as-hell melodies mixed with killer riffs, conjures up an image in my mind: is this what ABBA would've been like if they were a metal band? Impera very well might be my favorite LP in their catalog so far.
01. Charli XCX - CRASH
"Don't make me beg for you.... 'cause I'll beg for you." Damn. Two songs ("Beg for You" and "Good Ones") from Charli's fifth album have received more spins than anything else on my list combined. Infectious. Witty. Perfectly crafted. Even the "yeahs" in the post-chorus and outro of "Beg for You" beckon immediate sing-alongs, rewind, sing-along-again.
Sarah Quarrie Helm
Life on this Planet | Instagram
10. Orville Peck - Bronco
09. Widowspeak - The Jacket
08. Sun's Signature - Sun's Signature
07. Just Mustard - Heart Under
06. Khruangbin & Leon Bridges - Texas Moon
05. Tears for Fears - The Tipping Point
04. Beach House - Once Twice Melody
03. Hatchie - Giving the World Away
02. Ghost - Impera
01. Placebo - Never Let Me Go
Keith Creighton
Seattle, Washington | Popdose
Many of my typical “best of list” ringers dropped albums in 2022, including Harry Styles, !!!, Delta Spirit, Frank Turner, Jack White, Royksopp, Charli XCX, Muna, and Radiohead (I mean, The Smile) – and they all have merit, but holy crap, let’s hear it for the newbies.
10. Various Artists - Brother Johnny: A Tribute to Johnny Winter
Come for the Taylor Hawkins track, stay for cameos by Ringo Starr, Billy Gibbons, Keb Mo, Joe Walsh, Phil X, and dozens more in Edgar Winter’s all-star tribute to his blues legend bro.
09. Envy of None - Envy of None
New project from Alex Lifeson is much less of a Rush record, much more of a lipstick goth dance jam or perhaps a fever dream from The Matrix that would pair nicely in a playlist alongside Garbage, Goldfrapp, West Indian Girl, and Monsters are Waiting.
08. Tie: Let’s Eat Grandma - Two Ribbons | Pillow Queens – Leave the Light On
Two indie darlings dare to make a play for a wider audience and a bankable career – and succeed, artistically at least. But hopefully in sales, streams, and concert attendance too.
07. Tears for Fears - The Tipping Point
Most of us thought the jig was up with “Everyone Loves a Happy Ending”, so the fact we get a new stellar album and a world tour is living proof, never say never.
06. Luna Li - Duality
Li draws upon multi-ethnic, trans-continental, Asian-rooted ancestry to take pop into breathtaking new directions.
05. Wet Leg - Wet Leg
I don’t think I’ve seen music bloggers and journalists trip this hard over their dropped and frothing jaws before a band has even released their debut since Veruca Salt in the 1990s. Thankfully, this more than lives up to the hype. The band’s name, a nod to aspiring colonists on the Isle of Wight and, well, not what I thought it meant.
04. Arcade Fire - We
Finally one of the world’s best bands lets go of their own “we’re satirizing over-indulgent pop stars by living as them” schtick that also bogged down U2 for years. Album #6 isn’t a retread of what was, but it is a majestic course correction.
03. NHC - Navarro Hawkins Chaney
Much like how Sublime, The Exploding Hearts, and Mother Love Bone imploded upon takeoff due to tragic deaths in the band, so too goes the “Yacht Rock Supergroup” led by Dave Navarro and Chris Chaney of Jane’s Addiction and the late Taylor Hawkins. 8 tracks were released digitally before Hawkins’ tragic passing.
02. The Weeknd - The Dawn FM
The Weeknd delivers the long-awaited payoff to the cryptic “May U Live to C the Dawn” message that graced many of Prince’s Genius Era album sleeves before he ditched the concept as a “Holy River” cassingle B-side (“Welcome 2 The Dawn”).
01. The Linda Linda’s - Growing Up
Perhaps the brightest spot of this dark year has been seeing four school girls from Los Angeles go from playing the LA Public Library to arenas and festivals around the world – their ages range from 11 to 17 – singer/drummer Mila de la Garza was only 9 when the band blew up. Each member sings lead on one or more of the album’s 10 tracks which is such a genius move in terms of giving the band longevity potential. Songs range from blistering riot-girl to pop punk, delivering a rush I haven’t felt since first-hearing the Go-Go’s Beauty and the Beat. The album clocks in under 30 minutes, but there’s close to another full-album of material available on the bandcamp, an all-star charity comp and a soundtrack.
Dream Pop Jesse
Phoenix, AZ | Instagram
10. Blossoms - Ribbon Around the Bomb
09. Beach House - Once Twice Melody
08. Harry Styles - Harry's House
07. Horsegirl - Versions of Modern Performance
06. Lightning in a Twilight Hour - Overwintering
I am a massive Trembling Blue Stars fan and of anything Bobby Wratten has done. This album feels more like TBS than the previous work as Lightning in a Twilight Hour. Completely love it. Earlier works had a spacious ambient tone - this is more straightforward dreampop.
05. Just Mustard - Heart Under
04. Belle and Sebastian - A Bit of Previous
03. Hatchie - Giving the World Away
02. Planet - Information Overload
01. Sea Girls - Homesick
In 2020 I was digging online for new bands to add to my DJ set (once I would be able to again). I found several newer bands and amongst them Sea Girls, who had an EP and an album on the way. The music is great, very brit-poppy. The vocals have a good range of falsetto to baritone and the lyrics are sarcastic and honest. I have lumped Sea Girls in with new indie/ britpop category with bands like Inhaler and Blossoms.
Kevin Larkin - Angioli
10. Pelican Movement - Fistful of Ivy
The second album from New Paltz-area producer Kevin McMahon’s music project, this ambitious against-the-grain album is essentially one continuous piece of music, constantly changing, split into two parts to take the vinyl l istening experience into consideration.
09. The Smile - A Light for Attracting Attention
I don’t quite have my arms around this latest feral release from the radiohead universe yet, but I have a feeling it’s going to grow on me when the time is right.
08. Tears for Fears - The Tipping Point
A mighty return from these elder gods of sophisticated pop; when I finally got around to listening to it for the first time, “Rivers of Mercy” made my eyes wet.
07. µ-Ziq - Magic Pony Ride
Jungle, drum-‘n’-bass, whatever you call it… I’ve always loved it and it was all the rage in 1997 when Mike Paradinas released what is widely considered his masterpiece, Lunatic Harness. 25 years later, it is all over this new release of his, which incorporates family and Icelandic inspiration for a beautiful and uplifting work of electronica which I am totally in the bag for.
06. Eight Kidneys - Dream Car Cold Car
Two pieces of ambient electronic music that build to moments of transcendence, with clacking percussion, burbling synths, interesting textures, and a crystalline depth-of-field.
05. Just Mustard - Heart Down Under
A truly exciting collection of sounds that slinks, throbs, gasps, exhales, attacks, retreats, stammers, and slams, recalling cranes as so many have mentioned in a way that is wholly welcome. (Thanks for tipping me off to this one, Frank!)
04. Howard Shore - Crimes of the Future
David Cronenberg and Howard Shore are the dream team; finally collaborating again on a film that returns to the obsessions of Cronenberg’s classic era while feeling fresh and new, Shore cooked up a great theme and several incidental pieces that perfectly suited the scenes and stand on their own as a very enjoyable immersive listening experience.
03. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Unlimited Love
This was the only album that got me to care about new music for most of the year so far; the interplay between Chad Smith, Flea, and John Frusciante is wonderful and Anthony Kiedis has his moments, while Rick Rubin did a terrific job and it sounds great on vinyl (I have an ordinary black pressing).
02. Wilco - Cruel Country
A double album to stand alongside previous masterpieces Being There and Sukierae, this is the best Wilco album since A Ghost is Born—I love the way it sounds, the songs, Tweedy’s voice, Tweedy’s lyrics, the choice of instruments (mellotron, pedal steel), the whole vibe... On “Mystery Binds,” Tweedy adapts the poem “Alone” by Edgar Allan Poe and changes the words, not dissimilar to what Lou Reed was up to with “The Raven,” with the reverb up to ten. Yes.
01. CMAT - If My Wife New, I’d Be Dead
This debut album by a brilliant young Irish artist I met in the record shop where I work one day got me totally addicted with enormous vocal melodic hooks, lyrics that combined humor and pathos, and a sound that sprawls contemporary pop and classic cosmic Americana.
Bumped off the list: Thomas Dollsbaum - Wellswood // A voice comes out like a modern-day Michael Hurley, ghostly and Southern, singing an authentic folk-country for today’s cracked America.
John Magness
Uttoxeter, England | Instagram
06. Harry Styles - Harry's House
05. Miles Kane - Change the Show
04. Tears For Fears - The Tipping Point
03. Jethro Tull - The Zealot Gene
02. Soft Cell - * Happiness Not Included
01. Belle and Sebastian - A Bit of Previous
You might have noticed that my list only goes up to 6 and not the prescribed 10!! I took the view last year that I wanted to step back from work and took a long Christmas break well into February. I have been doing a bit of freelance work since, but I usually work 2 days a week maximum. This has meant that I've had a lot more time for listening to music. I've also been curating my collection and removing the records that won't be listened to in the future. I've probably listened to a lot more music this year than in the past, particularly records released in the 70s. When I came to consider the best of 2022 so far, I realised that I couldn't put 10 together. So whilst buying records has probably increased for me, there has been a reduction in 2022 releases to consider. It doesn't help when you buy what you think is a new release (The White Buffalo - On The Widows Walk) and find out it came out 2 years ago on CD but has only just been released on vinyl - or that your actual favourite release is a compilation of B-sides and outtakes (Camera Obscura - Making Money) and so probably doesn't qualify for the list. With a bit more time on my hands I've watched a few Vinyl Community YouTube videos (particularly Norman Maslov) and this has lead me in a few new musical directions but mostly these have been older releases. As for the list itself, the big surprise would have to be the inclusion of Harry Styles. In the past I had a pretty poor opinion of 1D and other similar bands. However Harry Styles has really turned it around for me. Fine Line (2019) and Harry's House are a real step forward, particularly in the choice of the songs he covers. The Miles Kane release was a disappointment, but having listened to it today I may need to give it another good go. Neither Tears for Fears or Jethro Tull albums break new ground but both are really good examples of what both bands do well (yes apparently Jethro Tull is a band again and not an Ian Anderson solo project, I wonder if that had anything to do with sales!!!???). Soft Cell is a real slow burner, the first couple of listens didn't make much of an impression, but since then I find myself hearing new things every time. Top of the list had to be Belle and Sebastian's A Bit of Previous. They have very deliberately made the point that despite being recorded during lockdown it isn't a lockdown album. We've got tickets to see them in November. So to conclude, and I've probably said this before, as I heard Stuart Maconie say "there is no such thing as new music, only music you haven't heard before." Maybe I should do a "10 Best Records I've Heard This Year List" as a companion piece.
Sean Benham
Chicago, Illinois | Instagram
10. Cate Le Bon - Pompeii
A very lovingly strange album, in a David Bowie sort of way. The fretless bass and horns, and song arrangements -- sounding fashioned by someone like Robert Fripp or Adrian Belew. Cate Le Bon, with no relation to Simon Le Bon, created this moniker stage name from his last name.
09. Horsegirl - Versions of Modern Performance
This young trio, like Hater, is calling loudly on 90s indie rock. It's refreshing to hear guitars cranked up with strong melodies. If Liz Phair and Stereolab had a baby, it would be Horsegirl.
08. Pan American - The Patience Fader
I was able to catch Mark Nelson (aka Pan American) at the beginning of the year live. His show was absolutely mesmerizing and this album does the same. It is a cinematic masterpiece. Put on some headphones and drift off.
07. Arms and Sleepers - Former Kingdoms
A band that kind of flies under the radar. This lounge-laden electronic duo from Boston/Portland ME has a dozen plus albums and should not go unnoticed. If you enjoy the beats of Thievery Corporation or Kruder and Dorfmeister, you'll enjoy Arms and Sleepers.
06. Hatchie - Giving the World Away
Hatchie (Harriette Pilbeam) has a very 1980s dream pop sound with many indie pop songs. She's worked with Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins on a few singles and you can really hear it on "Don't Leave Me in the Rain."
05. Andy Bell - Flicker
After years of being under the radar with Ride wrapping up in the 90s, then playing bass for Oasis and joining Beady Eye, Andy Bell has made a comeback starting with Ride, then Glok, and his solo work. He's one of the few musicians who over time has only gotten better. This Beatlesesque/psychedelic/electronic/Laurel Canyon sound is unmistakenly Andy Bell.
04. The Smile - A Light for Attracting Attention
Comprised of Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead, these two along with Tom Skinner on drums have written nothing less than a great Radiohead album by another name.
03. Hater - Sincere
Not the side project band of Soundgarden's Ben Shepherd in 1993, but Hater the indie rock/shoegaze band from Sweden! An amazing list of tracks where any song could be a single. Not since Ivy's Realistic in 1995 have I heard so many classics in one album.
02. Wilco - Cruel Country
I love this double album. This might well be my favorite Wilco release as it keeps growing on me. Cruel Country seems to be a play on words, and feels like a concept album. "I love my country like a little child, Red, white, and blue. I love my country stupid and cruel". So poignant today. There's so many great singalong tracks.
01. Toro y Moi - MAHAL
Chaz Bundick, aka Toro y Moi, is one of those chillwave originators who is a singer, songwriter, record producer, and graphic designer. A combination of Spanish and French in the name meaning Bull and Me. Mahal (meaning 'love' or 'expensive' in Tagalog) is the seventh album by Toro y Moi. This concept album has a sort of funk and psychedelic feel that just smoothly floats along, reminding me at times of a 1970s soundtrack. Apparently the result of being stuck inside during the pandemic, Chaz turns his focus to writing a very interesting masterpiece.
Jaymz Todd
Phoenix, Arizona | Instagram
I’m still waiting for that new Cure album. Until then… this is that good shit. My best for the mid year. No particular order. Just alphabetical. Check em and hear. Deuces.
Blushing - Possessions
Caroline - Caroline
Gabriella Cohen - Blue No More
Docile Bodies - Sculptures in Motion
Foals - Life is Yours
Horse Jumper of Love - Natural Part
Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys - Teen Tapes (for Performing Your Own Stunts)
Caroline Loveglow - Strawberry
Carla Morrison - El Renacimiento
Plastic Estate - Plastic Estate
No comments:
Post a Comment