Best Ever Albums

Re: 2022 Music

Streams — Sun, 5 Feb 2023 14:03:43 GMT

Author: Streams

Posted: 02/05/2023 19:03

my year-end list is in here

and then some other favorites included: Jacob Wick - Standards; Hugjiltu 胡格吉乐图 - Cycle 循环; and Markus Eichenberger & Christoph Gallio - Unison Polyphony.

Re: 2022 Music

LTSings — Sun, 22 Jan 2023 13:45:53 GMT

Author: LTSings

Posted: 01/22/2023 18:45

Calvary Will Never Run Out of Songs - Destiny Rambo Khouri - There's no video for this song but here's a Spotify link https://open.spotify.com/album/2ID3ejithweINgiL0zArDm?si=vqMo6TzpTOSpk9N-tHYTng

This song is so beautiful! Definitely one of my favorites from 2022, even though I didn't discover the song until 2023.

Re: 2022 Music

travelful — Sat, 31 Dec 2022 16:13:32 GMT

Author: travelful

Posted: 12/31/2022 21:13

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All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster (Live From Red Rocks) by Zach Bryan

One of the best live albums I've heard. Top 5 for sure. I'm probably biased though since Zach Bryan has become an all-time favorite artist for me.

Re: 2022 Music

Hayden — Tue, 27 Dec 2022 11:36:02 GMT

Author: Hayden

Posted: 12/27/2022 16:36

LedZep wrote:

Agree, I was hyped to listen to it, but it kinda fell flat. Nothing wrong with it, it's some tasty, modern spiritual jazz, but it lacks the adventurous character which they displayed on last year's The Space etc etc. I'm not sure if I like or dislike the spoken word parts. Still a cool listen, mind you.

I've been on a bit of a jazz spree lately, since I've heard literally two 2022 jazz albums before last month. But between The Comets, Time Wharp, Hedvig Mollestad & Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, Angles, Niechęć, Shabaka, Mary Halvorson, Anteloper, Szun Waves, Jasmine Myra, Makaya McCraven, Work Money Death etc. I can safely say that 2022 has been a fantastic year for jazz.

Yeah— just wasn't as hot as it should have been. Still, good. I dug the concepts of the spoken word parts, but I think they needed a slightly more interesting voice (timbre, etc) to do it.

The list you jotted— particularly Myra, McCraven and Shabaka— are all fantastic notes. Myra's record is one fo my favourites of the year. (Haven't heard Angles or Hedvig yet). I don't know if I've said this around these parts, but I'm going to reiterate I think this recent wave of jazz (since 2014/2015) is the best scene since the mid-70s. As someone who's watched/listened to jazz trends/movements/eras over the decades, I love seeing how strong the flux of albums has been the last few years, especially in the UK, USA, Germany, South Africa, Denmark and Norway. It wasn't that long ago jazz was practically dead (the 90s/00s/early 10s weren't... umm... flush with quality material). To see how vibrant (and young) the genre is right now is fantastic.

All said, some other noteworthy 2022 jazz—

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The Hands Of Grace by Ishmael Reed
The fact Ishmael Reed hadn't made a record until now (he's almost 85!) almost feels weird. It has that Monk-esque offkilerness, with gospel/southern influences and nuances (the album consists of compositions for his latest play, The Slave Who Loved Caviar). Glad we got this one. Being said, compared to his prose, it's a relatively tame album (in a good way though— very well-controlled).

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Shebang by Oren Ambarchi
Not sure where jazz starts and post-rock begins, but this is a beautiful composition. Oren Ambarchi is the only two artists who have two albums in my top 100 of the year, and I'm very excited to see what he does next.

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Live In Algovia by Aaapuz
Bavarian/Serbian-influenced free jazz by the German trio. Very punchy, fun, lively— they let loose a little and have a blast. Not nearly as harsh at the cover looks. I think everyone could get something out of this one.

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Kjenslevarulv by Dei Kjenslevare
Ambient tonalities. If air was jazz.

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Pigments by Dawn Richard & Spencer Zahn
This is another gorgeous record, and one I wasn't expecting in the slightest. I'm going to be mean— I don't like Dawn Richard's previous music that much, so I eschewed this without a second thought. Brilliant compositions— lovely post-minimalism new age work. On a technical level it might lean more towards being labelled classical, but it's worth noting nonetheless.

Re: 2022 Music

LedZep — Fri, 23 Dec 2022 08:01:49 GMT

Author: LedZep

Posted: 12/23/2022 13:01

Hayden wrote:

—Handful of solid neo-jazz records out recently. Leland Whitty (BBNG) dropped a solid (but short) record, and Work Money Death released a record that's really close to being great, but the full potential of the record never fully hits. Needed 25% more oomph, y'know? Few more risks. NCY Milky Band's latest (which has a Quelle Chris verse of all things) is another standout. Regardless, all are well worth a spin.

Re: 2022 Music

Hayden — Thu, 22 Dec 2022 21:29:31 GMT

Author: Hayden

Posted: 12/23/2022 02:29

Repo wrote:

Little Simz is a Goddess!!! :love:

Wild how quite this release was. Looking forward to giving it a spin soon. (Along with SZA).

I've been writing like crap recently, so this is just going to be lazy, but here's some of my final 2022 notes—

—Gave the new 1975 album a listen and found it far surpassed my expectations. Came across like an energetic group of guys getting together and making some punchy pop-rock. Fun record, bit of bite— maybe I was just in the mood for it, dunno, but I thought it was a really solid album.

—Got around to Renaissance. There's a couple Beyonce songs I enjoy— I'm not a hater by any means— but I'm not a fan of how Beyonce's delivery has developed. Even compared to her '03-13 output, I find her demeanour here... almost... rude? She sounds obnoxious. Songwriting's okay-ish, the repainted 80s/90s vibe is fun (and, the production in general is ace), but I couldn't get with her delivery. There's this inauthenticity to what she's saying that's just so glaring. A lot of her words sound dead.

The design of the record was cool though. Front-to-back progressive house party. Dug that. Just wish her personality was more like how she acted in her 20s.

—Gave MUNA a listen. Ok. Again, not my thing, but it's fun.

—Tinariwen dropped a pretty dull record too unfortunately. Disappointed in the production.

—Relistened to Jockstrap's critical darling. Still not sure how they manage to wrap you up in such minimal instrumentation. They wove a blanket out of air. Wish the vocalist had a bit more strain/versatility/diversification, but there's a lot of brilliant ideas there.

—Handful of solid neo-jazz records out recently. Leland Whitty (BBNG) dropped a solid (but short) record, and Work Money Death released a record that's really close to being great, but the full potential of the record never fully hits. Needed 25% more oomph, y'know? Few more risks. NCY Milky Band's latest (which has a Quelle Chris verse of all things) is another standout. Regardless, all are well worth a spin.

—After nearly a full year, I spun Hikaru Utada's Bad Mode. Too skeletal for my likes, but when it comes together, it comes together really nicely. Finally two tracks are the best part by quite a bit. Somewhere Near Marseilles is dope. Might land my chart.

—Richard Dawson's The Ruby Cord is brilliant. First (colossal) track alone is worth a record. The fact Dawson's offkey vocal style works overtop these rich Newsom/Kozelek/Callahan-esque instrumentals is alien. Nothing like it, and people should be scared to even try.

—That Big Joanie album is plain awful.

—Metal Preyers also have a new record out that's worth listening to too. Experimental ambient afrofuturism.

I'll wrap it with that.
(Still have about a dozen albums from the year on my radar that I want to get around to, and I haven't even begun digging through year-end lists).

Re: 2022 Music

Repo — Fri, 16 Dec 2022 14:34:57 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 12/16/2022 19:34

Little Simz is a Goddess!!! 🥰

Re: 2022 Music

LedZep — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 19:06:59 GMT

Author: LedZep

Posted: 12/14/2022 00:06

Several pretty good discoveries while going through the stuff I've missed earlier in the year. All of them under the radar it seems.

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Gone by Clyde And The Milltailers
Country and Americana. Whiskey and cigarettes.

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Spiro World by Time Wharp
Third stream and electronic minimalism. Bleeps and bloops.

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With The Incrowd by Agat
Industrial rap (?) and whatever. Pink Siifu and Zelooperz.

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A Muted Reality by Angles
Big band and avantgarde. Swedish and jazzy.

Re: 2022 Music

travelful — Mon, 12 Dec 2022 14:00:17 GMT

Author: travelful

Posted: 12/12/2022 19:00

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Heroes & Villains by Metro Boomin

Metro dont miss

Re: 2022 Music

DommeDamian — Thu, 8 Dec 2022 16:21:00 GMT

Author: DommeDamian

Posted: 12/08/2022 21:21

My top 100 releases of 2022 here!!!!

Re: 2022 Music

DommeDamian — Sun, 4 Dec 2022 18:06:22 GMT

Author: DommeDamian

Posted: 12/04/2022 23:06

After about 1,040 albums I have decided to stop now with 2022 music. My top 100 of the year will be done in some days. What a crazy ride.

I can say that overall I prefer this year to 2021 enormously.

Re: 2022 Music

LedZep — Sat, 3 Dec 2022 05:14:56 GMT

Author: LedZep

Posted: 12/03/2022 10:14

travelful wrote:

I've come to say....

Kings Disease III best album of the 2020's

I've heard it 3-4 times now and I'm still of the opinion that II was better. Feels like Nas keeps on rapping about the same themes over and over. He does it really well, but idk, something just didn't click with me this time. Still a pretty good album, mind you.

Re: 2022 Music

travelful — Fri, 2 Dec 2022 16:52:51 GMT

Author: travelful

Posted: 12/02/2022 21:52

I've come to say....

Kings Disease III best album of the 2020's

Re: 2022 Music

Norman Bates — Mon, 21 Nov 2022 14:57:46 GMT

Author: Norman Bates

Posted: 11/21/2022 19:57

Tap wrote:

I've been too lazy to do a list on here, but I'm starting to put one together at http://endaural.com/jumble22.html

It's truly in no order, it'll get randomly rearranged every time you load the page (if you haven't disabled javascript). Just 10 items so far but they're all really great!

Great, this, thanks! Favourited

Re: 2022 Music

LedZep — Sun, 20 Nov 2022 08:51:15 GMT

Author: LedZep

Posted: 11/20/2022 13:51

Hayden wrote:

Nas for some reason is good again not sure what happened but I'm pointing my finger at Droog

I mean he said so himself, must be true

Link

Weyes Blood sounds similar to the last one and it's still my AOTY. She's that good.

Re: 2022 Music

Hayden — Fri, 18 Nov 2022 15:52:49 GMT

Author: Hayden

Posted: 11/18/2022 20:52

*uncrumples note*—
Weyes Blood is dreamy cowgirl country popstar and she is somewhere else
Run The Jewels cannot be Bad Bunny, for it sounds silly — insert bunny go boom joke
Springsteen's cover album is in ultimate cool grandpa mode
Olafur Arnolds made another texturey piano record
Duval Timothy made an Olafur Arnolds record
Nas for some reason is good again not sure what happened but I'm pointing my finger at Droog
He needs more to rap about though
Junior Boys made an album that sounded like a very boring dream
Balka Sound comp good
Daphni bad
Takuya Kuroda needs less Hancock
Wiki / Subjxct 5 album too long but still being underappreciated
Che Noir needs more to rap about
Yodfather's too short
Droog has stuff to rap about
There's a solution somewhere here somehow
Birds In Row yell a lot and grindcore is having a stupid good year
So is Griselda
I mean—

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10 by Westside Gunn

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Kiss The Ring by Rome Streetz

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The Liz II by Armani Caesar

In the worlds of Zoey Deutch— we have all been Buffaloed.

Streams wrote:

Hugjiltu 胡格吉乐图 - Cycle 循环

And this is good stuff.

Re: 2022 Music

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Nov 2022 03:47:09 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 11/18/2022 08:47

The new Weyes Blood is predictably very good. Similar to Titanic Rising with mebbe a bit softer sound, some more harmonies and a bit more ambient synthy stuff going on. On a first listen, this certainly sounds like being one of the year’s best albums. It’s very melodic, but you probably guessed that anyway.

Update: it’s a genuine AOTY contender, with at least a couple of SOTY contenders on there.

Re: 2022 Music

Tap — Wed, 16 Nov 2022 15:18:01 GMT

Author: Tap

Posted: 11/16/2022 20:18

I've been too lazy to do a list on here, but I'm starting to put one together at http://endaural.com/jumble22.html

It's truly in no order, it'll get randomly rearranged every time you load the page (if you haven't disabled javascript). Just 10 items so far but they're all really great!

Re: 2022 Music

Streams — Sun, 13 Nov 2022 13:01:56 GMT

Author: Streams

Posted: 11/13/2022 18:01

been awhile so a dump of favorites I don't remember posting here yet.

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Hugjiltu 胡格吉乐图 - Cycle 循环

melodic environments for tsuur, morin khuur, voice, synthesizer, recordings, and a custom guitar grafting the tunings of Mongolian lute and fiddle

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Jacob Wick - Standards

premiere CDMX improvising quintet sings Springsteen, Waylon Jennings, and more

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mattie barbier - threads

solo elegies, fanfares, and melodies for low brass in the long reverb of a water tank

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Nabelóse - OMOKENTRO

horn and piano and voice reverberate in another water tank

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Masahide Tokunaga - Leverages 杠杆

sines and lines for solo saxophone

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Julián Galay - ɣ

the strata of the sustained hum of a room laced with tuning forks

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Brian Harnetty - Words and Silences

pleasant chamber arrangements accompany some profound musings of the monk Thomas Merton from his hermitage

Re: 2022 Music

LTSings — Sun, 13 Nov 2022 11:41:23 GMT

Author: LTSings

Posted: 11/13/2022 16:41

Thank You Jesus For The Blood - Lauren Talley

Link

a Charity Gayle cover from Lauren Talley's new release.