End-Of-Year Roundup
The 50 Best Albums I've Heard Since June
The year’s effectively over, so it’s time to take stock of things. As I mentioned back in June, when I did my Half-Year Roundup, I keep an Excel spreadsheet that I call “INCOMING MUSIC.” I organize it all by Artist, Album Title, Release Date, Genre, and whether it’s a promo, a purchase, or just something I downloaded from somewhere. I also make notes on Coverage: whether I include it in my Stereogum jazz column, review it for The Wire or DownBeat, write about the artist for Bandcamp Daily, or write about it for Burning Ambulance.
All told, 1091 albums (box sets count as a single entry) landed here in 2022. Of those, the 50 that have given me the most pleasure in the second half of the year are listed below, unranked, in alphabetical order. If I’ve written about a given album somewhere, or if someone’s written about it for BA, I’ve provided a link. A lot of them are also part of my Bandcamp collection, so feel free to check that out, too.
A few notes/links, before we begin:
• The ebook version of Ugly Beauty: Jazz in the 21st Century is available for half price from the publisher through the end of the year, along with all their other titles; click here and use the code FESTIVE50 at checkout.
• I’ve put together Stereogum’s Best Jazz Records of 2022 list (10 ranked selections and 10 alphabetically listed runners-up), which you can read over there
• Last week on the Shfl, I reviewed records by Jon Anderson, Scorn, the Moritz Von Oswald Trio, Surgeon, Gas, and the album that got me into Kraftwerk in 1991; here’s that link
• An excellent tribute to the late Greg Tate, one year after his shockingly early passing, by Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah at The Believer
And so you’re fully caught up, here’s the first half of this list, from the end of June:
And now, at last, the 50 best albums of July-December 2022:
JD Allen, Americana Vol. 2 (Savant): a brilliant set of blues meditations from my favorite living/currently active tenor saxophonist, reviewed on Stereogum here
Antigama, Whiteout (Selfmadegod): Polish grindcore veterans come back blasting; reviewed here in July
The Bad Plus, The Bad Plus (Edition): once a piano trio, they’re now a sax-guitar-bass-drums quartet and rocking harder than ever; reviewed on Stereogum here
Peter Brötzmann/Keiji Haino, The Intellect Given Birth to Here (Eternity) is Too Young (Black Editions): a 4LP set of live rituals, reviewed on Stereogum here
The Bug, Absent Riddim (Pressure): one concussive rhythm given to more than a dozen vocalists, including Justin Broadrick, Moor Mother, Dälek and Jaimie Branch
The Comet Is Coming, Hyper-Dimensional Expansion Beam (Impulse!): the latest from Shabaka Hutchings’ electro-jazz party band, reviewed on Stereogum here
Dead Neanderthals, Metal (Utech): grind meets Suicide in trance-doom catharsis, reviewed in this newsletter here
Whit Dickey Quartet, Root Perspectives (Tao Forms): one of the best free jazz drummers around; this is his second album of 2022, reviewed on Stereogum here
Billy Drummond, Valse Sinistre (Cellar Live): a great drummer’s first album as a leader in a quarter century, reviewed on Stereogum here
Early Moods, Early Moods (RidingEasy): debut full-length by an all-Latin doom metal band from L.A.; RIYL Black Sabbath, Candlemass, Trouble
Ezra Collective, Where I’m Meant to Be (Partisan): second full-length by a funky UK Afro-jazz band; reviewed on Stereogum here
Faceless Burial, At the Foothills of Deliration (Dark Descent): grimy, intricate death metal from Australia
Satoko Fujii, Hyaku: One Hundred Dreams (Libra): 100th release from a brilliant avant-jazz pianist; reviewed for The Wire
Johnny Gandelsman, This is America (In A Circle): three CDs’ worth of solo violin compositions by Gandelsman, performed by a stunning array of musicians; reviewed here in July
Goatwhore, Angels Hung From the Arches of Heaven (Metal Blade): the first album I’ve ever liked from a New Orleans metal institution; part black metal, part death metal, part Motörhead-esque blast ’n’ roll
Muriel Grossmann, Universal Code (Dreamland): post-Coltrane, post-Pharoah Sanders spiritual jazz from an Austrian saxophonist based in Spain; reviewed on Stereogum here
Joanna Gutowska, Saariaho: Works for Cello (Dux): like the title suggests, some brilliant music for between one and eight cellos, all performed by Gutowska, whom I interviewed in this newsletter here
Susie Ibarra & Tashi Dorji, Master of Time (Astral Spirits): fantastic, meditative guitar-drums duos, reviewed for We Jazz magazine
Imperial Triumphant, Spirit of Ecstasy (Century Media): epic, avant-garde black metal mixed with modern composition, plus a guest sax solo from Kenny G (yes, that one) that you will not laugh at
Soweto Kinch, White Juju (LSO Live): a jazz/hip-hop work of theatrical agitprop, discussed in this very newsletter last week
Kirk Knuffke Trio, Gravity Without Airs (Tao Forms): two CDs’ worth of cornet-piano-bass pieces that feel like avant-jazz chamber music; reviewed on Stereogum here
Kokoroko, Could We Be More (Brownswood): the long-awaited full-length debut from London’s finest Afrobeat-meets-jazz ensemble, reviewed on Stereogum here
Krisiun, Mortem Solis (Century Media): face-punching Brazilian death metal from one of the best bands to ever do it; reviewed in this newsletter here
Tomomi Kubo & Camila Nebbia, Polycephaly (Tripticks Tapes): cloudy, disorienting duos for tenor sax and ondes Martenot, reviewed in this newsletter here
James Brandon Lewis Quartet, Molecular Systematic Music Live (Intakt): a double disc of smokin’ hot liveage, reviewed on Stereogum here
INTERMISSION! Here’s 35 incredible minutes of the Cecil Taylor Unit live in 1969, with Jimmy Lyons on alto sax, Sam Rivers on tenor sax, and Andrew Cyrille on drums. Amazingly, this was part of a European tour where they were co-headlining with the Miles Davis Quintet featuring Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette.
Makaya McCraven, In These Times (Nonesuch/International Anthem): a brilliant work of collective improvisation, groove, and orchestration, plus after-the-fact post-production; reviewed on Stereogum here
Tumi Mogorosi, Group Theory: Black Music (Mushroom Hour Half Hour): second album as a leader by a killer South African drummer who’s also a philosopher (read his book DeAesthetic); reviewed on Stereogum here
Hedvig Mollestad & Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, Maternity Beat (Rune Grammofon): one of jazz’s heaviest guitarists puts together a fascinatingly weird large-ensemble work; reviewed on Stereogum here
Moor Mother, Jazz Codes (Anti-): poetry meets jazz meets electronic music, with a ton of guests; I interviewed Moor Mother for Stereogum here
Mythic Sunship, Light/Flux (Tee Pee): heavy psychedelic instro-rock jams with loads of wailin’ sax
Qasim Naqvi/Wadada Leo Smith/Andrew Cyrille, Two Centuries (Red Hook): trumpet, electronics and drums from three masters, one a generation after the other two; reviewed on Stereogum here
Neptunian Maximalism, Finis Gloriae Mundi (Utech): a monster live set from this Belgian art-doom-meets-free-jazz ritual ensemble; reviewed on BA by Todd Manning here
Gard Nilssen’s Acoustic Unity, Elastic Wave (ECM): third studio album by a fantastic free-jazz-adjacent trio from Norway; reviewed on Stereogum here
Emeka Ogboh, 6°30’33.372”N 3°22’0.66”E (Danfotronics): dubby techno mixed with field recordings from a central bus station in Lagos becomes a vast, immersive, head-spinning audio experience; like nothing else you’ll hear on this list or anywhere else this year
Organectomy, Nail Below Nail (Unique Leader): Absolutely concussive brutal death metal from New Zealand
Oxbow & Peter Brötzmann, An Eternal Reminder of Not Today: Live at Moers (Trost/Sleeping Giant Glossolalia): an amazing live collaboration from 2017; I reviewed it for The Wire and Todd Manning covered it for BA here
Jeff Parker/Eric Revis/Nasheet Waits, Eastside Romp (RogueArt): one of today’s most exciting jazz guitarists teams up with the rhythm section from avant-jazz collective trio Tarbaby; I interviewed Revis for Stereogum here
Ivo Perelman, Reed Rapture in Brooklyn (Mahakala Music): a dozen encounters between Perelman and fellow saxophonists, including Roscoe Mitchell, Tim Berne, Joe Lovano, James Carter and more; reviewed in detail in this newsletter here
Perfume, Plasma (Universal Japan): the best work in a decade from the long-running Japanese electro-pop quartet (three vocalists and their producer); reviewed in this newsletter here
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Live at the Fillmore 1997 (Warner Music): like the title suggests; reviewed at length in this newsletter here
Joshua Redman/Brad Mehldau/Christian McBride/Brian Blade, LongGone (Nonesuch): the second reunion album from an all-star quartet who weren’t stars when they first worked together, reviewed on Stereogum here
Sahg, Born Demon (Napalm): former doom metal purveyors from Norway go power metal, writing anthemic, fist-in-the-air, shout-the-chorus metal anthems
Tyshawn Sorey Trio, Mesmerism (7yeros): brilliant interpretations of jazz standards featuring pianist Aaron Diehl
Soulfly, Totem (Nuclear Blast): Ultra-heavy, grinding thrash from Sepultura founder Max Cavalera; reviewed here in August
Stabbing, Extirpated Mortal Process (Comatose Music): ultra-heavy brutal death metal from Texas; I reviewed this for The Wire, believe it or not
Sumerlands, Dreamkiller (Relapse): soaring traditional metal in the 1980s style, with some ’80s AOR hard rock thrown in; RIYRRRL (recommended if you really, really, really like) Dio, Mercyful Fate, Ozzy circa The Ultimate Sin, and/or Deep Purple’s 1980s reunion albums
Chad Taylor Trio, The Reel (Astral Spirits): piano, sax and drums (no bass) led from the back but fundamentally collaborative; reviewed on Stereogum here
RA Washington/Jah Nada, In Search of Our Father’s Gardens (Astral Spirits): a psychedelic spiritual jazz odyssey that uses the recording studio to its full potential; reviewed in this newsletter last week
Wormrot, Hiss (Earache): long-awaited and possibly final (their singer quit) album by a brilliant grind band from Singapore; reviewed here in July
Writhing, Of Earth & Flesh (Everlasting Spew): a hard-charging blend of old-school death metal styles (some Immolation, some Morbid Angel, some early Gorguts) from Australia
That’s it for now...and that’s it for 2022. See you in January!