My Top 30 Albums of 2023

 

My Top 30 Albums of 2023 (and other great records)

My annual list, so late it’s silly – but it’s more for me and my personal music history and reference.  With that in mind, my reviews are scaled back a bit into quicker blurbs.  

30.  Lost Ships – Atoms Collide Forever

Jangly indie rock from the UK.  It’s pretty straight up with its basic guitar pop structures and reminds me of early 90’s Canadian alternative pop/rock, like Lowest of the Low and The Weakerthans.  There are hints of Badly Drawn Boy and Shame About Ray-era Lemonheads, and it feels like the same successful recipe of contemporaries Quivers.

29. The Tubs – Dead Meat

Bad band name paired with an off-putting album name.  Were it not for copious recommendations from indie tastemakers, I would have just passed this by.  This is extremely tight jangle/power pop clearly influenced by Flying Nun and Slumberland artists.  Recommended if you like The Bats, The Clean, The Feelies, Close Lobsters, Sumos, EggS, Holy Tunics, etc.  Choice track:  “Duped”.

28. Guardian Singles – Feed Me To The Doves

Shoegazey post punk/punk, like Shame meets Wire meets The Adicts.  At times, this sounds just enormous. And snarly. Choice track: “Metal Fingers’. 

27. Sands – The World’s So Cruel

I possibly learned of Sands through a review from Elizabeth Klisiewicz, the prolific music critic from The Big Takeover and digital radio (her tastes are so up my alley, she’s become a treasure trove).  Sands have a lot going on, but in such an integrated way that the influences are hard to discern at first listen.  At its core, this is a melodic guitar pop, pretty, tight, and polished.  There’s lot’s of 60’s pop here, some 70’s AM radio, a bit of new wave, and Shoes-like power pop.  It's pretty under the radar and really really good.  Choice track:  “The Lines Been Drawn”.

26. Emma Anderson - Pearlies

Fuzzy dreampop godmother from Lush graces us with a proper solo album, after some furtive releases with Sing Sing.  Her signature voice brings me right back to the early 90’s .  This is a more chill and downtempo affair when compared to her work with Lush, and is closer to Air and Cocteau Twins.  Lovely.  Choice track: “Willow and Mallow”.

25. En Attendant Ana – Principa

France’s EAA return after blowing my mind with one of the best records of 2020, Juliet.  Less fuzz and more Stereolab lounge-jazz this time around, Principia is not as strong, but still exceptional and super cool.  Choice track: “The Cutoff”.

24. Th Da Freak – Indie Rock

Not sure how this came across my ears.  It was possibly from checking out the Howlin’ Banana Records roster, which has been putting out some excellent records in recent years (Special Friend, Pop Crimes, EggS).  This on-the-nose album title just begs listening.  What a treat.  This is fuzzy, warbly lo-fi… indie rock!  The approach feels like early Elephant 6 releases (e.g., The Gerbils, early Beulah) with all it’s charming DIY sonic choices.  Sometimes it’s just straightforward 90’s indie rock that you might find in a (cool) used CD bin, sounding like Number One Cup, Archers of Loaf, or Tobin Sprout.  Contemporary comparisons might be Mac Demarco, Dog Day, or Petite League.

23.  Flyying Colours – You Never Know

These Aussies wowed me with 2016’s Mindfullness, an album of heady and ethereal psych shoegaze.  2021’s Fantasy Country and 2023’s You Never Know are equally excellent.  This most recent offering adds new elements however, such as quasi-danceable synths and trebly guitar riffs that tie them to 80’s new wave and countrymates Tame Impala.  I am also reminded at times of Brian Jonestown Massacre, American Analog Set, Stars, and Lilys.  Good stuff.  Choice track:  “Hit The Road”.

22.  Angelo De Augustine – Toil and Trouble

I had started to grow a little weary of DeAugustine, who’s gentle, emotionally laden folk started to sound overly precious and, well, “sad sack”.  That fragility remains on Toil and Trouble, but the song structures and production are more interesting this time around, distracting from the melancholic self-pity.  He’s a fabulous singer and the folky melodies are wonderful and dreamy.  He fills a hole that Sufjan Stevens sometimes leaves when he is off on one of his experimental jaunts.  Choice track: “The Painter”.

21. Nation of Language – Strange Disciple

After wowing me with 2021’s A Way Forward, Nation of Language finally return with their absolutely perfect distillation of 80’s new wave/synthpop, like a reincarnated AI amalgam of China Crisis, Depeche Mode, and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. I always love a good 80’s analog synth throwback, but Nation of Language is simply peerless in mining the special sounds/feels of that time.  Choice track:  “Stumbling Still”.

20. Bully – Lucky For You

Bully is Spotify-friendly pop-punk, seemingly tailor-made for the dwindling number of emo kids who still want to rock out to high energy guitar riffs.  Regardless, you cannot argue that Alicia Bognanno is not laying it all on the table, with edge and grit and authenticity.  You can tell she is having a blast while simultaneously exorcising whatever demons that may need confronting.  The production is a little thin and inferior to her own work (she produced all the previous Bully albums), but that can’t stop the hammerstrokes of these songs.  Think Hole, Breeders, and Sleater Kinney.  Choice track:  “All I Do”.

19. Blue Ocean – Fertile State

Blue Ocean can be added to the not so little corner of my music collection that is unassumingly lo-fi, seemingly recorded in small bedrooms, and replete with fuzzy guitar lines, noise, and reverb.  It’s possible that they were trying to make a big shoegaze record, but I suspect Blue Ocean was making exactly what they wanted to hear.  Guitar pop songs sent through a dizzying chain of budget pedals, with copious reverb on the vocals (setting: empty bathroom).  Choice track: “Radiant Edge”.

18. Pop Crimes – Gathered Together

I could almost take the above review Blue Ocean’s Fertile State and drop it in here.  This is catchier lo-fi fuzz pop, but with fewer pedals, and almost sounds like it was recorded live off the floor.  There is also much more jangle going on here.  An album like Gathered Together demonstrates to me that, despite my sniffy dismissal of so much music, I am simultaneously really easy to please.  This is simple stuff.  Give me a good melody and a few guitar chords and I’m pretty happy.  This is the ongoing legacy of The Velvet Underground, punk ethos, and the tireless championing of record labels like Slumberland and Sarah Records (and now, it looks like, Howlin’ Banana).  Choice track: “Ends and Begins”.

17. Great Lake Swimmers – Uncertain Country

Great Lake Swimmers have been giving us high quality, beautiful folk music for 20 years now and I initially missed their 2023 release, only noticing it upon seeing them live in 2024 (in which I loudly requested “Various Stages” when Troy Dekker took requests for a solo encore – he relented and it was beautiful).  Uncertain Country surprised me.  It is a much bigger sounding record, with more electric guitar and other added instrumentation.  The title track could be a Broken Social Scene song and it’s wonderful to hear Dekker’s voice over top a song that rocks out. Several songs have a full gosepl choir. It’s gorgeous orchestral folk and one of the best entries in their catalogue.  Choice track:  “Uncertain Country”.

16. White Poppy – Sound of Blue

Dreampop, which I've always associated with the likes of Cocteau Twins and Lush, has bifurcated into two streams:  the original incarnation and a more synth-based approach, which sort of took ambient music and injected pop structures and sensibilities.  Ground zero of this evolution (and thus a wider application of the genre label) was the emergence of Beach House in the mid-2000’s (and several others, such M83 and School of Seven Bells).  Beach House’s surprising reach has led to many bands seeking to emulate this recipe of synth-based arpeggios, ethereal vocals, and cathedral-level reverb.  White Poppy’s Sound of Blue is a truly beautiful example.  Choice track: “Happy”.

15. Drop Nineteens – Hard Light

The last decade has seen a surprising (and welcome) revival of the shoegaze/dreampop genre, with a gazillion new bands and, perhaps due to the resurgence, a flood of reunion tours and albums by the old guard:  Slowdive, Swervedriver, Medicine, Ride, My Bloody Valentine, Lush, and many others.  A “lost classic” of the genre was Drop Nineteens’ Delaware, in which the band was quickly pigeon-holed as American shoegaze (their second and final album was Dinosaur Jr. informed indie rock).  While I loved Delaware, I honestly forgot about this band until they reemerged in 2023 with Hard Light.  The shoegaze label is apt, albeit with some shifts and exceptions driven by pop/indie-rock sensibilities.  It’s a little dreamier, with smoother edges, and is really strong top to bottom.  “Another One Another” captures the old gazey Delaware sound, but you’ll also here some acoustic guitar and synthy moments.  Stand out track “Gal” sounds like a Yo La Tengo clone, straight out of the I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One sessions.  Choice track: “Gal”.

14. Sumos – Surfacing

Sumos, a new band to me, surprised me with this excellent collection of fuzzy, jangly power pop tunes along the lines of Apples In Stereo, The Bats, or Fountains of Wayne.  Super tight, mid-fi, energetic, and catchy as all hell.  Every song is a hooky treat.  I’m looking forward to what these Mancunians do next.  Also, I disagree with their self-applied label “scuzz pop”, which does them a disservice.  I’ll accept fuzz pop.  Choice track:  “Enemies”.

13. Melenas – Ahora

I discovered Spain’s Melenas in 2020, with their tremendous Stereolab-inspired fuzz pop Días Raros. (What a bumper crop 2020 was for female led indie rock/pop/shoegaze – with Melenas joined by En Attendant Ana, Jetstream Pony, Uniforms, Gum Country, Lomelda, Hazel English, Pia Fraus, High Water Marks, Aiko El Grupo among my top records).  2023 follow up, Ahora, is just as great.  Their apparent love of Stereolab is even more foregrounded this time around, with droning synths, propulsive bass lines, and a vocal delivery that is almost indistinguishable from Laetitia Sadier.  All of this is most welcome.  Choice track: “1986”.

12. Draag – Dark Fire Heresy

This popped up on a recommended list from a well-respected YouTuber reviewer (The Omaha Introvert) and the assessment was bang-on.  I’ve said in this space before that there are many many good shoegaze records of late, but few truly great ones.  The ability to match melody and hooks with the fuzzy haze is tricky, and Draag seems to do it effortlessly.  Not only is pretty much every song enjoyable, each is also surprisingly distinctive, an accomplishment that makes this album stand out it in the landscape (how many shoegaze albums drift by as if one long song?).  Choice track:  “Good Era Doom”.

11. Jenny O. – Spectra

Jenny O. beguiled me with 2020’s New Truth and I was looking forward to her next release.  Spectra does not disappoint.  There are quite a few influences going on here and pegging her as a singer-songwriter seems almost demeaning.  The eclecticism is wonderful.  At times I hear a lot of Julia Holter and Weyes Blood, but she switches gears often.  “Advice at Dinner Party”, for example, is 80’s disco pop, as if Banarama has reappeared (but way better).  It’s all strong, but the highlight is the bouncy guitar pop/punk of “Solitary Girl”.  It’s my song of the year and has the best chorus I’ve heard in forever, matching the hookiest harmonious heights of the Go-Go’s and The Bangles.  I must have listened to this song a hundred times already and I already know that it will remain an all-time fave for the rest of my days.  Choice track: Obviously “Solitary Girl”.

10.  Seablite – Lemon Lights

San Francisco’s Seablite appears to be a faithful reincarnation of Lush and I fucking love it.  Gorgeous fuzzy dream pop with an underground/cool factor, sung by disaffected Ghost World girls with (fallen) angel voices.  If you told me this was the new project by Miki Berenyi and Emma Anderson, I would believe you.  Choice track:  “Drop Of Kerosene”.

9.  Young Fathers – Heavy Heavy

A friend who was only guessing at my musical taste sent me a Young Fathers track and I was immediately gobsmacked.  How did I miss this?  Young Fathers scratch that itch that TV On The Radio have not be scratching of late, which is rather hard to describe.  An arty indie rock base, but blown out in numerous incredible musical directions – hip hop, African/Caribbean motifs, synthetic choirs, darkwave drones, industrial beats, and beat poetry.  All delivered with amped up energy and conviction.  I must see this band live!  Choice track: “Rice”.

8. Golden Apples – Bananasugarfire

Jangly mid-fi indie rock from Philly, Bananasugarfire is one of those records that exemplifies a genre without being generic.  If you said “I love Guided By Voices, Sloan, and early Teenage Fanclub”, I would be 100 percent positive that you would love, and not merely like, this album.  It’s got all the ingredients of toe-tapping indie rock, that perfect blend of fuzz and chime, melody and harmony.  Golden Apples are a pitch-perfect match to Matador and Merge records, circa 1994.  Choice track:  “Waiting For A Cloud”.

7. Crystal Canyons – Stars and Distant Light

Crystal Canyon return with classic shoegaze sounds, tying them directly to My Bloody Valentine and Lush.  The “glide” guitar of MBV is liberally used, with that signature pitch-shift wailing that is almost narcotic in effect.  The vocals performed by Lynda Mandolyn are pretty and cool, and suggest she looks up to Bilinda Butcher and Rachel Goswell.  With song titles like “Dreamray”, “Catatonia”, “Pulsars and Magnetars”, and “Cobra Aurora”, you know this band is committed to the craft.  I may sound like a broken whammy bar, but what makes this stand out above the innumerable shoegaze acts that have emerged in the last decade is melody.  Like Fleeting Joys, Ringo Deathstarr, Soft Science, Westkust, Pia Fraus, and other great second (third?) generation ‘gaze acts, I came for the haze and stayed for the hooks.  Choice track:  “Catatonia”.

6.  Film School – Field

Film School is routinely grouped into the shoegaze genre, but there is more than that going on here.  On Field they introduce more danceability, propelled by Krautrock rhythms and tempos.  “Defending Ruins”, for example, is a runaway psychedelic train, persistent in its drive and intensity and made for an underground dance floor.  There are lots of classic shoegaze sounds, but also post-punky goth (“Is This A Hole”) and some bright janglegaze (“All I Need”).  If there is a “west coast shoegaze” sound, Film School seems to define it.  Choice track: “Defending Ruins”.

5. Sufjan Stevens – Javelin

Sufjan Steven’s apex mountain for me was always Illinois (2005), which seemed like the logical conclusion to his preceding two masterpieces, Michigan (2003) and Seven Swans (2004).  Subsequently, Stevens embarked on a range of artistic explorations and art-house soundtracks that always left me disappointed.  On 2015’s plaintive Carrie & Lowell, he returned to the beautiful folky spareness of Michigan, and that was lovely.  More experiments and tangents followed and now, finally, we have Javelin, a record that is within throwing distance of Illinois’ greatness.  Take Everything That Rises as a demonstration track.  That banjo-like capoed guitar paired with Steven’s fragile and pretty voice, then joined by strings and choir, some digital loops, and then…you get the picture -- that signature blossoming of sound that evolves a humble tune into an emotional anthem.  This is the recipe throughout and represents such a compelling return to form, reintroducing every strength that made Sufjan Stevens among the most exciting artists to emerge in the early 2000’s.  Choice track:  “Everything That Rises”.

4. Big Bliss – Vital Return

My all-time favorite bands may be so because they’re inimitable in their greatness (Beatles, The Clash, Swervedriver, R.E.M., Stereolab, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Arcade Fire, etc.).  Great bands can approach the sounds and feels of such luminaries at times, but can never get all the way there.  Big Bliss gets pretty damn close at capturing the sound/style/substance of R.E.M., at least in the Lifes Rich Pageant (1986) to Out of Time (1991) period, which was an incredible run.  While not as varied in approach as R.E.M., Big Bliss nail that literate and weighty college rock vibe with methodical tightness.  First track, “A Seat at the Table”, starts with a guitar riff that feels like it could be on Reckoning.  You cannot listen to track 2, “Sleep Paralysis”, and not hear R.E.M.’s direct influence - propulsive guitar chords paired with Peter Buck’s jangly picking, the counter melodies of Mike Mills' bass, and Stipe's knack for melody and poetics.  Next track, “Proof of Life”, channels Michael Stipe’s slower and meditative songs that pepper and enhance R.E.M.’s catalogue.  The R.E.M. DNA is everywhere.  I could never hear this as a “rip off” – it is an artistic accomplishment to land this so perfectly and does nothing but honor its mighty lineage.  Choice track:  “A Seat At The Table”.

3. Zoon – Bekka Ma'iingan

I was swept away by Zoon’s debut Bleached Wavves and it’s glorious gazey/hazy soundscapes that lead, Daniel Monkman, refers to as “moccasin gaze”, a tongue-in-cheek nod to his Indigenous heritage.  There are plenty of shoegaze records out there and plenty of ambient experiments as well, but this album rises above, hitting me in the spiritual pleasure centre that precious few can.  For me, this means Bekka M’iingan reaches the same dizzying heights as Sigur Rós’ Ágætis Byrjun, Godspeed You Black Emperor’s Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antenna to Heaven, and Spiritualized Laser Guided Melodies.  I hear these bands in Zoon, and also elements of Flying Saucer Attack, Slowdive, and My Bloody Valentine.  But there is something else, something unnameable going on here.  A divine sort of sadness that transcends mere human ideas of sadness.  And this imparts a sort of otherness, a deified combination of wisdom and hope that sits differently in the dimensions of space and time. Now THIS – what I have just said, which does not reference musicality directly – sounds like crazy talk, or grasping at spiritual straws, or just too much mumbo jumbo.  Sorry.  Big feels here.  I literally do not comprehend how someone envisions these song structures and sonics, pursues them, nurtures them, and releases them to the world like Zoon has.  Whatever Daniel Monkman is being guided by, it stands apart from me and my experience.  That makes it magnificent to hear and I’ve heard some things.  Choice track:  “Awesinh (A-Way-See)”.

2. Being Dead – When Horses Would Run

At least once a year, some band emerges (to my ears, anyway) with a completely bonkers approach to musical vision and production that is as jarring as it is beautiful.  Taking the last five years, for example, records by Black Country New Road (2022), Smoke Bellow (2021), Floral Tattoo (2020), Alex G (2019), and Spirit of the Beehive (2018) pushed all sorts of boundaries as to what a modern rock/pop music can sound like. It would be easy for things to go wrong, leading to songs that are just too, well, weird, to cross into that ephemeral space of “likability”.  Being Dead may be the most accomplished of these, inevitably prompting the questions: “how the hell did these youngsters arrive at THIS conceptualization of music?  How did they manage to make these choices? What musical experiences, listening habits, and tastes underpin this mélange of left-field folk/rock/pop?”.  They clearly love old surf and rock n roll, 60’s psych rock, gothy folk, old-timey country and…well, I guess it’s a bit of a laundry list of genres.  A single song shifts and pivots multiple times, pulling you in, pushing you out, and shaking you.  The musicology of it all is astounding, reminding me of my first listens to Foxygen, Cindy Lee, and recent Smashing Times.  The production sounds like a 78 RPM shellac record, anachronistically confusing/delighting the listener. Choice track:  “Last Living Buffalo”, but you should listen to it all the way through.   

1. Sunnsetter – The Best That I Can Be

Any number one album of the year for me will always be amongst “the best ever” in my personal estimation.  My annual #1’s (and many #2’s and some #3’s) are automatically classics, de facto.  But among these, there are those particularly special albums that stand apart further still, the best of the best, the most favorite of the favorites, the exemplifications of the music I love.  To my surprise, The Best That I Can Be is definitely in the conversation for this status.  I looked back at a mid-year Instagram post and had written:  “It’s gorgeous - folky songs at the core with a beautiful, heady overlay of shoegaze and dreampop. It’s been on repeat and I just can’t get enough. Please check this out, it’s so deserving of wide exposure.” So that, but x10.  Andrew McLeod (also a member of Zoon) strikes that perfect sonic balance of his acoustic and electric guitars, enhanced by warm keys and ambient textures.  I'm sure he must be a fan of Sigur Ros and Mellon Collie-era Smashing Pumpkins. His vocals are lovely and his lyrics are honest and heartfelt.  But adjectives cannot convey how well it hits my sweet spot of music, combining (almost) all I love in one place, perfectly assembled and performed.  This is hard to understate for me.  Everyone who likes enriched folk, dreampop, shoegaze, indie rock, etc., should hear this.  Congratulations Sunnsetter, you’ve entered my pantheon. Choice track: “Float in Circles”.

Other worthy releases

The 1981 – Move On.  Post-goth jangle wave, with a toe dipped in 70’s nuggets psych.

Beach Fossils – Bunny.  Sunny jangle pop for the sad kids.

Bodywash –  I Held The Shape While I Could. I heady mix of Beach House dreampop (see "Kind of Light"), gothy pop, and shoegaze.

Bry Webb – Run With Me. Rustic heartfelt folk from Constantines’ leading man.

Colored Lights – Colored Lights.  Folky psych pop with some edge.

Couchboy – Singles and What Nots: 2021-2023.  A comp of recent EPs that is effectively an album.  Lo-fi jangle/power pop.  Great!

Cult of Lip – Marsha. Woozy shoegaze, thick with noise, nausea, and no wave.

Daiistar – Good Time. Psychedelic dance recalling Charlatans and Stone Roses.

Diners – Domino.  Power pop channeling Apples in Stereo and Beulah.

Eluvium – (Whining Marvel’s In) Consensus Reality.  Song name “Mass Lossless Interbeing” kind of sums up these avant- neoclassical instrumentals.

Fruit Bats – A River Running To Your Heart.  The prolific Eric D Johnson does it again with another collection of beautiful contemporary folk rock songs.

Griffin McElroy – Ethersea, Vol. 1.  This dungeon master/podcaster soundtracks his own campaigns and this underwater story is beautifully scored with lovely instrumental motifs.

Grrrl Gang – Spunky!.  Pop punk firecrackers from great grrrl group.

Jess Williamson – Time Ain’t Accidental.  Williams shifts a little away from Mazzy Star and more towards the alt-country twang of Waxahatchee and Angel Olsen.

Julian Never – Pious Fiction. Lo-fi fuzzy indie pop/rock from Australia. 

New Pornographers – Continue As Guest.  Usually making my Top list, the New Pornographers nonetheless still deliver tremendous indie rock in 2024.

Photocopies – Unprofessional Conduct.  Prolific flagship band of label Subjangle (a treasure trove of underheard bands) give us peppy jangle pop on every track.

Pia Fraus – Evening Colours.  Estonian dreampoppers never seem to falter with yet another chill and nuanced record.

PJ Harvey – I Inside The Old Year Dying.  IMHO Harvey has had trouble returning to the heights of masterpiece Let England Shake, but to be fair her subsequent albums are nonetheless great.  This one included.

Reds, Pinks and Purples – The Town That Cursed Your Name.  I have no clear understanding of RPP’s releases – they seem to come out every three months with highly similar album covers and the songs are samey.  But it’s a good samey, and the jangle has been given more warm fuzz this time around.  Always great stuff.

Rose City Band – Garden Party.  Sun-kissed jams of canyon country/folk from Ripley Johnson (Moon Duo, Shjips).  This album is a grandchild of the The Byrds and Grateful Dead, and a first cousin of Beachwood Sparks

Sand Pebbles – The Antagonist. Lightly psyched-out VU-inspired rock.

Shame – Food For Worms.  High calibre, angsty post-punk/emo.

Sigur Ros – Atta.  Perhaps a step back from their lofty past, but still pretty stuff.

Small Intestines – Hide In Time.  Another VU-inspired lo-fi gem.

Special Friend – Wait Until The Flames Come Rushing In. Strongly reminds me of the underground folk of  Ida and the collective of artists that birthed Sonora Pine, Retsin, etc.  Bands that like to be spare and quietly dark, but also willing to add some noise.

Spires – Woke Up Strange.  Indie rock/power pop, and while that’s a generic description, this is a really good listen.

Trillion – So Soon Now.  This one was truly flirting with Top list status…lovely fuzzy astral shoegaze.  Something about the layered vocals and actively punchy bass makes it a stand out.

Whitney’s Playland – Sunset Sea Breeze.  Fuzzy indie pop with a welcome (vinyl only) cover of GBV’s "Motor Away".

Yo La Tengo – This Stupid World.  A welcome return to form, circa Electro-Purra.

My Top 20 Songs of 2023

“Solitary Girl” – Jenny O.

“Float In Circles” – Sunnsetter

“Awesiinh (A-Way-See)” – Zoon

“Sixes and Sevens” – Jetstream Pony

“Gold” – Sigur Ros

“Solid Gold” – Red Sleeping Beauty w/ Amelia Fletcher

“Defending Ruins” – Film School

“Everything That Rises” – Sufjan Stevens

“Enemies” – Sumos

“A Seat At The Table” – Big Bliss

Thanks for reading and listening!

My Top 30 Albums of 2022 (and other great recordings)

For a Spotify playlist of all my favourite songs from 2022, click here!

Well, here we are in June and my 2022 year end list is only now appearing.  For posterity, and so on.  As has become tradition, a quick send off to some people who left us:

RIP 2022

So many musical luminaries left us in 2022:  Jet Black (drummer, The Stranglers), Christine McVie (Fleetwood Mac), Bunny and Tabby Diamond of reggae greats The Mighty Diamonds, Andy Fletcher (Depeche Mode), Gord Lewis (Teenage Head), Keith Levene (The Clash/PiL), Gary Brooker (Procol Harum), Alan White (drummer, Yes), and Gary Roberts (guitarist, Boomtown Rats), among others. 

I was hit a little harder by the passing of Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees).  I read his autobiography, Sing Backwards and Weep, and it is pretty harrowing and a bit of a miracle he was still with us to begin with.  Another gut punch was the death of Terry Hall, singer/co-founder of The Specials.  He was an incredible man, providing the teenage me with an education in British politics and a bridge from punk to reggae. 

Mimi Parker - Low

But most heart wrenching was the premature death of Mimi Parker, one-half the the husband and wife duo Low.  I can say with confidence that Mimi was my all-time favourite female vocalist.  She was an angel, an incredible songwriter, a sweet person, a strong woman, a devoted mom.  What a loss.  Her voice and her songs will be an enduring gift to me. 

My Top 30 Albums of 2022

Yes, 30 albums, not 25 or 20, as I have done in the past.  There were simply too many albums of high quality to eject some while retaining others.  In fact, there were many others (which I briefly list later) that could have made the list.  The volume of great music continues unabated, as so many small and worthy projects can now make it to our ears with ease through digital channels. 

30.  No Age – People Helping People

Every single No Age album seems to make my corresponding year end list.  Their consistency is only matched by precious few artists who have the same longevity and pace (New Pornographers immediately comes to mind).  It’s been some time since the definitive noise-pop moment of 2007’s Weirdo Rippers and its been full steam ahead ever since.  People Helping People is yet another tremendous record of indie/punk/noise that never sacrifices melody.  Their approach may not gain new fans (and their absence of year end lists is notably sad) but it’s noise-rock solid.  Choice track: “Rush To The Pond”.

29.  Northern Portrait – The Swiss Army

Northern Portrait is literate and lush indie pop from Copenhagen, taking obvious cues from Belle and Sebastian, Camera Obscura, and the like.  The crooniness also calls back to the 80’s indiepop new wave underground of Aztec Camera, Style Council, Go-Betweens, and Lilac Time.  This is no naïve bedroom indiepop.  The instrumentation is rich and varied, the vocals are pitch perfect, and production is gorgeous and meticulous.  If this is your thing, you should also check out similar acts 3 A.M. Again and Love, Burns, also on this list.  Choice track: “Business Class Hero”.

28.  3 A.M. Again – Cherry Street

Subjangle, a South African-based DIY label, is the labour of love of Darrin Lee, founder of the Jangle Pop Hub blog.  I’ve found the blog indispensable in its consistent reviews and endorsements of mostly under the radar acts.  Subjangle takes this passion and breathes life into it, releasing numerous CD EPs and LPs of its most favored acts.  Through this little unpretentious label I have discovered so much great music, such as The Photocopies, Cozy Slippers, fine., Umbrella Puzzles, and Radio Field.  A particular stand out to me is 3 A.M. Again, the bright guitar pop of Massachusetts-based English teacher, Michael Telles.  Sumptuous, spritely strummed acoustic guitar, Beach Boys vocals, and summery melodies give Cherry Street a boundless and welcome energy.  Telles also sounds a fair bit like Noah Lennox (aka Panda Bear of Animal Collective) and its nice to have that airy sort of voice fronting such strong melodies.  The CDs from Subjangle are super limited and I am going to have a rough time collecting them…but I shall, as music as strong as this needs a physical form.  The Cherry Street release is actually a quick turnaround 2023 reissue with bonus tracks, many of which are just as strong as the rest of the original 2022 album.  Choice track: “What’s Hurting You”.

27.  Flasher – Love Is Yours

Flasher keep evolving out of their D.C. punk roots (with members formerly of Priests).  2018’s Constant Image was a favourite of mine, with its taut new-wavey post-punk.  Love Is Yours is more open, accessible, and danceable, with similarities to Stereolab, Komeda, Hazel English, and the like.  Super cool and well-crafted retro-future dance pop with enough indie rock guitar edge to keep it honest. Choice track: “LittleThings”.

26. OMBIIGIZI – Sewn Back Together

Daniel Monkman (Zoon) and Adam Sturgeon (Status/Non-Status, formerly WHOOP-Szo, see #19) both produce explosive, heady music in their own acts, running the noisy gamut from shoegaze to doom metal.  Here they join together to create more meditative and gentler songs, while exploring their Anishnabek identities and experiences. Sewn Back Together is spacious, emotional, and warm (mostly – there’s some harder numbers).  You can hear the production influence of Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew and perhaps the influence of fellow Canadian Daniel Lanois.  An excellent record. Choice track: “Ogiin”.

25.  Panda Riot – Extra Cosmic

Panda Riot fly under an already low radar of shoegaze pop – I rarely see their name among other similar favourites, such as Ringo Deathstarr, Eternal Summers, Winter, and Soft Science.  This seems arbitrary, as they have been undeniably consistent in the ability to put out super quality, hyper-catchy tunes, all with that woozy overlay of bending fuzz.   And this time around things are a wee bit more straight down an indie rock path, suggesting you may be hearing a new Alvvays or Wolf Alice track (or an older Breeders b-side).  Choice track: “1000%”.

24.  Beach House – Once Twice Melody

Beach House have bee surprisingly prolific, if only because their catalog is so “samey” – floaty midi synths, drum loops and pixie-dusted vocals.  Even though it’s all very good, to the point of becoming emblematic of this certain form of dream pop, I can tire of it, or at least stop paying much attention. They switched things up a wee bit with 2017’s 7, introducing a bit more shoegaze to the mix.  Once Twice Melody has the band moving into the slightly dancey territory of M83 and School of Seven Bells, with some well-placed motorik drums, some welcome guitar, and evolving layers of sound.  It may be their best album.  It suffers from being a little long (a double album with almost all tracks topping 4 minutes) but it rewards when you give it the time it demands.  Choice track: “Sunset”.

23.  Weird Nightmare – Weird Nightmare

Weird Nightmare serendipitously shuffled onto my headphones based on some Spotify logarithm and I nearly skipped over it, hearing some initial pop punk strains that were rubbing me the wrong way.  But the energy, urgency, and overall tightness won me over and I kept listening.  It just got better and better from there, followed by a creeping familiarity.  After a quick search, I was happily surprised to discover that WN is the new vehicle of Metz’s Alex Edkins.  I’m a big fan, with the caveat that I need to be in a specific sort of mood to enjoy their fiery brand of frenetic post hardcore (truly one of the heaviest bands I listen to).  Weird Nightmare seems to be an outlet for Edkins to pursue a poppier structure – it’s still heavy and fuzzy and fierce, but it’s just as close to Green Day as it is to The Jesus Lizard.  Think Bully (Alicia Bognanno of Bully guests on a track), Sugar/Husker Du, and the early outings of Buffalo Tom and The Lemonheads.  Choice track: "Darkroom" 

22.  Winter – What Kind of Blue Are You?

Winter is Samira Winter, a Brazilian dream popper now residing in L.A.  This one took me by surprise.  It is a definite bedroom indie feel, similar in sound/ethos to Sasami, Jaysom, or Palehound, but the self-assuredness and intentionality of the production is striking – fuzzy and rough in the right places, mixed perfectly into ringing reverb and funky drum loops, all in service of her confidently pretty vocals.  I hear contemporaries Wolf Alice and Hazel English, but also old school Sundays and Cocteau Twins.  Can’t wait to hear more.  Choice track:  “Lose You”.

21. Yves Jarvis – The Zug

Jean Sebastian Audet, aka Yves Jarvis (and formerly Un Blonde) continues to stun me with his challenging fusion of folk, soul, rock, and jazz.  Each of his albums has landed on my year-end list since his incredible 2016 LP Good Will Come To You.  His approach is kind of inscrutable.  He could easily and effortlessly produce mainstream RnB/Soul hits if he was so inclined, but he’s not.  Experimentation appears to be a central aim, potentially befuddling the listener with unexpected time/rhythmic changes and quirky vocal runs/refrains/repetitions.  The melodies are often oblique and frustrating to access, but these are punctuated by moments of perfect pop that draw you back in.  It’s slightly frustrating – the most hooky track (and my favorite, “Prism Through Which I Perceive”) – comes in at one minute, leaving me severely wanting. But deeper listens lead to new discoveries.  I’d guess one might call it “progressive folk” but it feels more tangible to describe The Zug as a free associated recording session of Yes, Queen, and Prince.  Or, a more obscure reference, a kindred spirit to the freaky folk/soul of Luke Temple (of Here We Goes Magic). Worth emphasizing are Audet’s vocals, which are luminous and impossibly pristine.  They are conveyed like an intimate whisper but with perfect clarity.  Such a talent.  Choice track: “Prism Through Which I Perceive”.

20.  Velveteen – Empty Crush

In terms of faithfully mining the foundational sounds of My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive, Velveteen are 100% successful.  In fact, I think this is closest cloning of MBV I have heard, and there have been many attempts over the years.  This earns Empty Crush the title of my favourite shoegaze album of the year (eclipsing Winter, #20 above).  The ingredients:  Hazy, woozy, layered “glide guitar” over top gossamer vocals, given form and meaning by exceptional melodies.  If you buy one shoegaze record this year, make it this one.  But generally, my recommendation is that you buy lots of shoegaze records.  Choice track:  “If You Could”.

19. Status/Non-Status – Surely Will Travel

In 2021, Guelph, Ontario’s WHOOP-Szo changed their name to Status/Non-Status to draw attention to the legal distinction that impacts the identity politics and experiences of Canada’s Indigenous population.  With the new name comes a new sound and approach, moving away from WHOOPS-Szo's psychedelic doom guitars to an eclectic and satisfying indie rock. Lead singer Adam Sturgeon sounds like a comforting mix of Lee Mavers (The La’s), Tim DeLaughter (Polyphonic Spree), and Dave Bidini (Rheostatics).  In the music itself, I hear Out of Time/Monster-era R.E.M., Built To Spill, Rheostatics, and occasionally the anguished anthems of Silver Mt. Zion.  Quite a year for Sturgeon, who also appears on this list as one-half of Ombiigizi, with Zoon’s Daniel Monkman.  This is a great album, top to bottom, and although I miss the intensity of WHOOP-Szo, there is more to dig into here, lyrically and sonically.  Choice track: “Mashkiki Sunset”.

18.  Love, Burns – It Should Have Been Tomorrow

I’ve always loved the jangle pop genre, but I’ve been way more intentional in my pursuit of that perfect combination of acoustic guitar, cleanly reverbed electric guitar, earnest (sometimes naïve) lyricism, and up-tempo beats.  In the last few years, I’ve been smitten with the likes of Ducks Ltd., Massage, Red Pinks and Purples, Chime School, and The Shop Window.  Love, Burns (essentially the solo output of Phil Sutton of Pale Lights and Cinema Red and Blue) lands nicely in this group, but with a smidge more soul and instrumentation, suggesting a persistent lineage that harkens back to Lloyd Cole and the Commotions through to Belle and Sebastian and Ladybug Transistor.  Sutton has a insistent croon that gives the songs greater weight and soulfulness than you might otherwise find on straight up jangle.  It’s a grower and a keeper.  Choice track:  “Dear Claire”.

17.  Alvvays – Blue Rev

Despite a 5 year hiatus, Alvvays have re-entered the indie rock world and immediately returned to their lofty positions on everyone’s year end lists.  It’s remarkable and almost arbitrary.  Bands like Alvvays are more often likely to ride a rather temporary buzz and fall back down just as rapidly to a more modest fan base.  And by “bands like Alvvays”, I mean the peppy indie rock bands that I hold dear to my heart, like Veronica Falls, Dum Dum Girls, Melenas, Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Bully, etc.  There is some sort of can’t-put-my-finger-on-it quality to Alvvays that might matter, though, like a near-perfection sonic recipe that is part 80’s guitar pop (Go-Go’s, Primitives), part shoegaze/dreampop (Lush), and part fuzzy indie rock (Throwing Muses, Breeders).  The production is tremendous, balancing the edge, fuzz, and sheen in equal parts, with Molly Rankin effortlessly punching through it all with her fabulous range.  Choice track:  “Belinda Says”.

16.  Ribbon Stage – Hit With The Most

Take Alvvays, above, strip off a few years of experience and put them in the basement with some basic gear and you have the lo-fi indie/fuzz pop of Ribbon Stage.  Bands like this hit me in that melodic DIY sweet spot, like old Primitives, Bangles, Popguns, The Clean, and The Icicles (and newer acts like Aiko El Grupo, Kids on a Crime Spree, EggS, and Petite League).  It is basic and scrappy and happy, music for music’s sake, full of noisy spirit.  If I heard this in 1985, they’d be a revelatory favorite, that sort of hidden gem that you only find because someone’s cool brother bought an obscure mail order 12 inch.  Choice track: “Playing Possum”.

15. Widowspeak – The Jacket

In 2020, I rated Widowspeak’s Plum at #3 on my year end list and suggested it may be better than any record by their primary influence, Mazzy Star.  Again, not said lightly, because Mazzy Star is an all-time favorite of mine.  2022’s The Jacket is 100% of the same ilk, and almost of the same calibre.  Singer Molly Hamilton exudes that sexy-sad-cool style mastered by Hope Sandoval, while the laid back guitar lines chill the listener into submission.  While Mazzy Star suffered from a sort of samey-ness at times, Widowspeak always keep things interesting and varied, albeit within their own folky, softly psychedelic boundaries.  Perhaps not as grand as Plum, this one still has lots on offer and warrants repeated listens. Choice track: “While You Wait”.

14. Horsegirl – Versions of Modern Performance

I first heard Horsegirl via their single “Billy”, which immediately evoked Yo La Tengo, Pavement, and Matador records of the 90s.  Sounds like a concocted, self-serving story given this young band named dropped both these bands in their pressers and, like clockwork, were signed by Matador for their debut album, Versions of Modern Performance.  While I can be smug about naming their influences, they really do channel that 90’s indie rock aesthetic defined by albums like Electro-Purra, Slanted and Enchanted, and a bit of Liz Phair’s Exile in Guyville (and Guided By Voices, Sebadoh, Archers of Loaf, Versus, etc.).   It is sooooo encouraging to see teenagers/twenty-somethings discovering 90’s alternative and going out forming bands that emulate the sounds.  Horsegirl do it so well -- hooky melodies and chord progressions but with that detached, slacker, arty bent that makes it more interesting than straight up pop/punk.  Excellent debut.  Choice track:  “Billy”.

13.  Bonny Light Horseman – Rolling Golden Holy

Eric D. Johnson has not only been incredibly prolific in the recent times, he seems to be, after 20 years of Fruit Bats releases, at the very top of his game.  2021’s Pet Parade was my album of the year and will forever remind me of the hazy, lost times of the pandemic.  I assume its gotten its share of critical accolades but it remains underappreciated – I’ve exhorted to anyone who will listen that this album would be considered Bob Dylan’s greatest achievement of his career if the old man dropped it instead of Fruit Bats.  Johnson also put out a fabulous outtakes double album this year and also had time in 2021 quietly release a brilliant interpretation of Smashing Pumpkin’s Siamese Dream.  In addition to all of this, he launched side project, Bonny Light Horseman, with Anais Mitchell and Josh Kaufman in 2020.  “Deep in Love”, from their eponymous release, was my song of the year.  The band reconvened for Rolling Golden Holy and it is another gorgeous folk rock triumph.  Mitchell is a beautiful counterpoint to Johnson’s countrified delivery and one is reminded of Fleetwood Mac, Richard and Linda Thompson, and summery 70’s yacht rock.  Consider my heartstrings pulled.  Choice track:  “California”.

12.  Kiwi Jr. – Chopper

Toronto’s Kiwi Jr., with their third album Chopper, appear as the rightful heirs to Halifax’s power pop veterans Sloan.   Granted, Sloan had a different trajectory, enjoying a meteoric rise to North American fame with the unexpected hit “Underwhelmed” and the endorsement of then powerhouse label Geffen; whereas Kiwi Jr. is still a modest outfit that does their thing in rather big ocean of indie bands.  But the Sloan-like quality is undeniable, with catchy-as-hell guitar pop, creative/sardonic lyrics, and terrific harmonies.  They are also heavily influenced by that slackified brand of arty indie rock, like Pavement, Jonathan Richman, and Boyracer – they would pair nicely on tour with Parquet Courts. Their debut, Football Money, was so accomplished, Sub Pop signed them for their follow ups and the critical reception has been fairly gushing.  Produced by Dan Boeckner (Wolf Parade, Handsome Furs), Chopper may be their best yet.  Give indiepop gem “Clerical Sleep” a listen and tell me your toes didn’t tap.

11.  Angel Olsen – Big Time

I’ve long been a fan of Angel Olsen, starting with 2014’s Burn Your Fire For No Witness, and sang her praises back then as channeling the varied sounds of PJ Harvey, Hole, Linda Perhacs, and Mazzy Star.  In the interim, all her records have been solid, good-to-great representations of that underdefined genre of indie singer-songwriter.  With a few listens of Big Time in my head, I had the pleasure of seeing Olsen on tour with Sharon Van Etten and Julien Baker and realized fairly quickly that she is now something much grander.  Now the touchstones are entries in the great Americana songbook, such as Carole King, Dolly Parton, Dusty Springfield, and Patsy Cline.  On Big Time, Angel Olsen sings her heart out in such a mature and refined manner (with just enough alt.music feels) that she seems larger than life, like a country music heroine with platinum records and red carpets rolling out with each of her steps.  Every song is gorgeous.  Choice track:  “Go Home”.

10.  Cozy Slippers – Cozy Slippers

Cozy Slippers is an indiepop outfit from Seattle that, at first listen, immediately reminded me of the Bangles and other rich guitar pop with female leads, like The Sundays, Go-Go’s, Wild Strawberries, Crash Vegas, and 10,000 Maniacs – there is most definitely a late-80’s/early-90’s feel.  The vocals seem to be an equal part mix of Susanna Hoffs and Natalie Merchant which, prima facie, makes Cozy Slippers amazing.  The songwriting and production more than back up the quality vocal performances, with jangly guitars, keyboards, and an overall anthemic hookiness pulling you in over the course of its too-short 35 minutes.  I wonder if they are fans of Amelia Fletcher’s numerous incarnations (Heavenly, Talulah Gosh, Tender Trap, Catenary Wires) as I hear a lot of her royal indiepop influence here. This is such an assured debut and I can’t wait to hear more.  Choice track: “Boat House”.

9.  Black Country, New Road – Ants From Up Here

I’ll never comprehend how a 22 year-old, with so precious little time on this earth, can conjure the sort of artistic tour-de-force on display on BCNR’s Ants From Up Here.   I am speaking of Isaac Woods (and the rest of the band) who’s intimate and often harrowing lyrical self-flagellation seems way beyond his years, like he’s some reincarnated old soul who in a past life won a Pulitzer prize for poetry.  Others might feel the same incredulity of when first hearing The Decemberists, Bright Eyes, Arcade Fire, or Wolf Parade.  But Woods seems beyond even these luminaries, joining the ranks of savant geniuses like Jeff Mangum and his fever dream fantasies with Neutral Milk Hotel; or a young Nick Cave or Bob Dylan.  There would normally be the risk of experiencing these songs as self-pitying and tiring indulgence but Woods, in his seasoned baritone, seems to capture the darkest feelings of most young people in a way that comes off as universal.  It's just that it is a very rare person who possesses the emotional depth, conceit, and tenacity to put those feelings into words and song.  Incisive and clever turns of phrase give novel insights into daily microaggressions, self-doubt, fear, loathing and the occasional moment of cautious optimism.  What makes the artistic statement of Ants From Up Here so profound is the coupling of Woods lyrics and world-weary voice with the accompanying music.  “Post-rock” is the catch-all term that is most often used, but, like Neutral Milk Hotel, it is the pre-rock flavors that surprise – improv jazz, klezmer, showtunes, and classical forms put this album out of time/place so fundamentally that it is hard to grasp the musical objectives at times.  This makes things unsettling, tightly wound, and occasionally frustrating to listen to.  Which makes the melodic, anthemic, crescendoing moments all the more rewarding and satisfying.  This is not a record to throw on piecemeal – it demands an attentive listen, beginning to end, and probably alone.  Woods left the band four days before the release of this album.  He was unhappy and one might predict that his unhappiness, as contritely described to fans, is probably profound and crippling in actuality.  Like an inevitable casualty of genius, like Jeff Mangum disappearing into eastern Europe soon after In The Aeroplane Over The Sea blew up.  Choice song: “Concorde”.

8. Petite League – Thrill Seekers

Since the release of No Hitter in 2016, the New York (and baseball) obsessed indie rockers Petite League have lost exactly zero steam, slamming out excellent LPs year after year.  To keep the baseball metaphor going, the band has perfected it’s swing and does not seem inclined to change their form.  Yes, perhaps they could switch things up in an attempt to go bigger and aim for bleachers, but why mess with such a great hit percentage?  They remain consistent in their approach, weaving clever stories about their city and the people in it over top of peppy, fuzzy guitar.  The production choice to treat Lorenzo Cook’s vocals so it sounds like he is coming out of handheld transistor radio remains.  This is a good thing – along with his nasally/scratchy quasi-punk vocal style, this IS the sound of Petite League and it never gets old to me.  Ever since hearing “Hang the Cowboy” (on 2019’s Rattler) I’ve been a fan and bloody impressed that every single song is good to excellent.  Fun fact:  Lorenzo Cook offered a limited number of Instagram friends to throw him a song that he would cover for a small fee.  I gave him my very own “Forest For Trees” (on 2019’s For Fear, under my moniker Green Palm Radiation) and he didn’t disappoint.  So amazing to hear it through the Petite League filter.  Choice song: “Nite Stairs”.

7.  The Loyal Seas – Strange Mornings in the Garden

I completely lost track of post-Belly Tanya Donelly and in the interim she’s apparently gone through some magical musical transformation.  The Loyal Seas may be best described as countrified orchestral folk pop and modern comparisons could maybe include Sharon Van Etten and Angel Olsen (“Early Light” is a good example).  But so much more seems to be going on here.  This album took me completely by surprise and I struggling with my superlatives.  These are gorgeous and sublime ballads buoyed by Abbey Road level production.  There is a mature 70’s AOR depth, with Fleetfood Mac feels.  I neglect to mention that Loyal Seas is a duo of Donelly and Brian Sullivan (Dylan In The Movies), the latter of whom I know nothing.  His dulcet baritone is right in your ear and is maybe even jarring at first.  He sounds a little bit like Ken Griffin (Rollerskate Skinny, Favourite Sons) and a lot like whoever sings lead for The Mink Lungs.  Donelly, meanwhile, croons and soars with a measured skill that simply wasn’t present in her Belly days.  There is rich instrumentation throughout, with piano and strings joining acoustic guitar and jangly electric chords and arpeggios.  Sometimes the tempo shifts up to catchy indiepop territory, as with title track (and first single), an amazing highlight that eschews the country for Belle and Sebastian/The Ocean Blue vibes.  This record is not on Spotify (good for them!) but I sure hope people find it on Bandcamp.  It may be the greatest hidden gem of the year.  Choice track:  “Strange Mornings In The Garden”.

6. fine. – Love, Death, Dreams, and the Sleep Between

Went back to my initial notes on this:  “Wow…what a find!  Kind of Quivers, Weepies, great big pop choruses.  Every song is great, many are fantastic.”  Months later, my first impressions have held firm.  Subjangle Records does it again (the THIRD entry into my Top 30 from this modest little label) with England’s fine. (yes, this band's name is unnecessarily lowercased with a period, making them annoying to write about and even more difficult to search online.  Herein, they will be more simply called “Fine”).  This is rich and upbeat jangle pop, albeit with a more vocals heavy, Phil Spectorish wall of sound production.  It opens gently and with a choral arrangement style that invites some sort of specific adjective that does not exist.  I was immediately reminded of “Invisible Republic” by Young Galaxy and the all-hands-on-deck vocal approaches of Broken Social Scene, Stars, New Pornographers, Architecture in Helsinki, and Arcade Fire.  It’s not that annoying gang vocal approach that has been adopted by many indie bands and car commercials – but nonetheless it is multiple voices belting out melody with close harmony with a combination of fervor and precision.  Every song has a catchy verse and chorus, lovely build ups and breakdowns, and usually some irresistible crescendo.  Fine may indeed get lost in the overly crowded world of contemporary indie, especially as it's hard to pinpoint who the audience is here.  Whoever is still listening to Belle and Sebastian maybe? (I know I still am). I think the band would have been better positioned in 2004 or so to garner a following (a fledgling Pitchfork.com would have drooled over them, and would probably dismiss them today, as their reviews are now often inscrutable and asinine).  Also throwing back to the early 2000’s is the number of tracks – we are treated with 19 (!) songs, all strong, as if they have been stockpiling them for this release (another reason CDs are great). I hope they get some press.  This is a GREAT record and they deserve some recognition. Choice track: “(Breathe Out) Dreams II”.

5. Papercuts – Past Life Regression

Because of my love for spritely indiepop on the one hand and woozy shoegaze on the other, many of my favorite albums land right in the middle, and are best described as “psychpop”.  Bands like Apples in Stereo, The Minders, High Dials, Mantles, Woods, Brian Jonestown Massacre and many, many others come to mind.  Papercuts – which is essentially the work of San Francisco’s Jason Quever – have been active for almost 20 years, with the 2004 release of LP Mockingbird.  I’ve discovered Papercuts late in the game and only now am I accessing their rich discography.  On Past Life Regression, there is a jangly foundation but it is enhanced by a warm psychedelic vibe – some MBV glide guitar, vintage organs treated with tremolo, and airy sounding vocals that sound similar to Anton Newcombe, who himself mines the sounds of British 60’s sounds of the Rolling Stones and Zombies, and others of that era.  Sometimes they sound like Luna and share the deep-rooted influences of the Velvet Underground.  “I Want My Jacket Back” sounds like a Left Banke song.  All the comparisons aside, why this album is so highly rated to me is that every song is engaging and interesting while producing a palpable nostalgia for summers of love.  Choice track: “Sinister Smile”

4.  Jaguar Sun – All We’ve Ever Known

There is a hard to describe brand of indiepop that that deftly and subtly uses swirling keyboard backdrops, drum loops, and copious reverb to create a chill, breezy, summery sound.  See, that sentence does not quite capture it.  I’d say “chillwave”, but that invokes bands like Washed Out and Small Black that have roots in electronica and dance.  If you instead add a folky foundation – with airy guitars, straight up verse/chorus structures, and attentive singing – you get closer.  Examples include Real Estate, Yot Club, Cayucas, Candy Claws, Toledo, Tennis, Day Wave, Wild Nothing, and Amber Arcades.  Toronto’s Jaguar Sun have appeared to have created the quintessential album in this hard to pin down subgenre.  I’m smitten.  If I were to recommend an album in order to sonically describe this particular indiepop formulation, it’s All We’ve Ever Known.  Every song captures the essential qualities just described.  It’s calming, almost hallucinatory, a true thing of beauty, and perfectly done.  I highly recommend everything on this list, but I somehow feel like Jaguar Sun needs the most love.  Search it out.  Choice track:  “Midnight Man”. 

3. EggS – A Glitter Year

In their recent history, France’s EggS propagated a mystery, with a scarce online footprint and stories of presumed band members denying their membership, followed by hasty retreats.  There are stories of blank dismissals of record labels seeking to represent them, with inscrutable evasions and misdirects.  Perhaps this approach was all intentionally concocted to build interest, or perhaps it never happened at all.  Whatever the case, I first heard the lead track “Local Hero” on A Glitter Year courtesy of a Youtube clip posted by Sam (aka, the Vinyl Douche) and I was immediately obsessed.  I was lucky enough to score a copy of this now hard-to-get LP and it quickly shot up the ranks of my favorite 2022 releases.  It is rollicking, revved up indie pop/rock, with rough fuzzy edges, impossibly catchy melodies, and cathartic boy/girl vocals.  It’s an uncut diamond in the rough fields of common indie rock, with a sort of proletarianism at work.  On every dimension of this well-worn genre, EggS is superior, which sort of blows my mind – how is it possible?  There are intangibles here and certainly personal taste (which is pretty much indescribable) plays a huge role.  Is it because they put a sax part on almost every song? A big deal for me are the vocals. Charles Daneau’s voice is ragged and unrefined, the sort of high energy, wound up, punk-adjacent style that makes Titus Andronicus or the Thermals so thrilling. But wait, those female vocals?  At first listen, the familiarity was flummoxing.  Turns out both Margaux Bouchaudon and Camille Fréchou of En Attendant Ana are core members of EggS.  En Attendant Ana may be my most favorite newer band (Juillet from 2020 was a revelation) and it’s no wonder I’m so taken by EggS.  I want more more more!  Choice track: “Local Hero”.

2.  Florist – Florist

Florist opens with a rather grating singing saw soundscape that sounds like an old Neutral Milk Hotel outtake.  It’s off-putting and an inauspicious opener (one might call it brave, but I just think it’s merely ill-advised).  It does, however, introduce the artistic conceit of the album, namely, short and experimental instrumentals alternating with fully formed pretty folk songs and ballads.  This works because each conventional song includes in their backdrop a range of oscillating waves, field recordings, and other atmospherics that are on full display in the brief instrumental pieces.  And I love it.  This track ordering breaks up the soft folk pieces, which may otherwise wear thin back-to-back-to-back, while giving them a unifying ambience and thematic feel.  The conventional songs themselves are gorgeous and creative, with measured finger-picked guitar, sweet understated vocals, and occasional horns and woodwinds.  The experimental sounds therein do not make this a “folktronica” record – there are merely interesting accoutrements that enhance the experience and tell you that Florist is not your basic folk act.  You will hear tape hiss and bird songs, with the group recording most of the tracks on a screened in front porch.  You can almost hear the bucolic surroundings.  The songs are sad, lonely, regretful, and pregnant with emotion – it’s one of those few records in which I orient immediately to the lyrics.  I think I heard all the words the very first time I heard “Red Bird, Part 2 (Morning)” and got goosebumps.  In hearing Florist, the first comparison that came to mind was Mutual Benefit, a criminally underrated orchestral folk group that has put out some of my most favorite albums over the past three years.  The Weepies and Adrianne Lenker (Big Thief) are also in the same category of beautifully sung, plaintive folk.  Florist took me completely by surprise.  I hadn’t known them even though they have been going since 2013 under the leadership of Emily Sprague.  Now, after happening upon them due to an intriguingly high Metacritic score, and I will certainly be exploring their back catalog.  Choice track:  “Red Bird, Part 2 (Morning)”.

1. Big Thief – Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You

Adrianne Lenker and Big Thief continue their run of exemplary and eclectic albums with the oddly named Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You (shouldn’t there at least be a comma in there?).  Largely gone is this overdriven indie rock sounds of their early work; but neither do they revert to the soft and plaintive approach present in Lenker’s solo acoustic work (and much of 2019’s UFO-F).  And it is a gigantic double LP, coming in at 80 minutes.  Lenker’s voice naturally cries out for countrification and the band gives it their all on a bunch of old-timey tunes.  “Red Moon” is such a delightful romping hoedown that makes me want to spin in circles.  There is some pretty and spare folk throughout but also lots of interesting creative indie rock.  “Time Escaping” with its found sound drum patterns and electo-pulses sounds like a Juana Molina track.  “Little Thing”, with its flanged/tremoloed guitars and circular chord progression is like a brilliantly hypnotizing Here We Go Magic track. “No Reason” is a plea for collectivism and, with a children’s chorus, sounds like it could have been on the Free To Be You and Me soundtrack of the early 70's (I say this with reverence, I can’t believe how perfectly this is done).  There is so much to enjoy here, but if I were to say there was singular influence, I would say The Band.  It’s a heady mix of Americana storytelling that is expertly played and sung.  There are many incredible albums on this list, but Dragon is ahead of all the curves and easily the best Big Thief album to date, asserting them as one of the most important contemporary American bands producing music today.  Choice track: “Red Moon”.

Other Amazing Albums and Releases from 2022

Although pushed off my list by small degrees, below are a pile of albums that I deem to be in the “A” range (at least 8/10 on my personal rating scale) and are all definitely worth checking out.  It’s an exercise in splitting hairs to put some of these below rather than on the main list.

Air Waves - The Dance

Air Waves – The Dance.  Nicole Schneit’s unassuming  indiepop returns with its characteristic charm and naiveté.  Slightly more sheen this time, but it’s this bedroom sound that makes it so attractive, like Lomelda and Hand Habits.

Beth Orton – Weather Alive.  Orton’s vocals have become a little strained and gnarly, but there are gorgeous moments that remind me of Daniel Lanois’ early records. Overall, a solid album.

The Beths – Experts in a Dying Field.  Catchy, high-energy and pop/punk comparable to Bully, Veronica Falls, and The Muffs. 

Bill Callahan – Reality.  Somewhat inconsistent in keeping my attention, but enough stellar tracks on here to make this yet another worthy addition to Callahan’s impressive discography.

Built To Spill – When The Wind Forgets Your Name.  Welcome back Doug Martsch and company!  The veterans of 90’s indie rock show that they are still masters of their era.

Frankie Cosmos - Inner World Peace

Ex-Void – Bigger Than Before.  Often furious, scuzzy indie rock/punk in the same ballpark as early The Men and Cloud Nothings.

Frankie Cosmos – Inner World Peace.  Lovely, interesting, and effortless folk/indiepop.

Gold Dust – The Late Great Gold Dust.  Kindling’s Stephen Pierce continues to explore his own personal psychedelic folk rabbit hole.

High Water Marks – Proclaimer of Things.  Norweigan fuzz pop band (along with American Hilarie Sidney, formerly of Apples in Stereo) gives another toe-tapping record worthy of the Elephant 6 legacy (i.e., compares favorably to the best Minders, Elf Power, and Beulah records, and of course Apples in Stereo). 

Jim Nothing - In the Marigolds

Jim Nothing – In The Marigolds.  Velvet Undergroud-inspired indie rock from Christchurch NZ in the manner of Twerps, Sonny and the Sunsets, Butterglory, and all things David Kilgour-related.  This one pushes the main list.

Kids On A Crime Spree – Fall In Love Not In Line.  Basic fuzzy indiepop and more quality fare from Slumberland records.

Lavender Blush – You Are My Moonlight.  Excellent indie rock through a shoegaze prism, similar to Whimsical and Panda Riot.

Lightning In A Twilight Hour – Overwintering.  Bobby Wratten’s (Field Mice/Trembling Blue Stars) new project focused on slowed down, forlorn indiepop.

Model Shop – Love Interest.  Bouncy jangle pop forming out of indiepoppers Math and Physics Club.

Nurse and Soldier - Let's Spend the Day Together

Modern Nature – Island of Noise. Moody and spare emo-jazz dirges and hushed tales revolving around the saxophone. Not my favorite instrument, but it works here. Cousins to American Analog Set, Morphine, and Arab Strap.

Nurse and Solider – Let’s Spend the Day Together.  Bobby Matador (Oneida) and partner Erica Fletcher continue to make understated, minimalist pop tunes with synths, fuzz, and love. 

The Orielles – Tableau.  Contemporary indie/art/goth fusion, The Orielles are at times difficult but cinematic and always interesting.

Peel Dream Magazine – Pad.  Loungey, spacey pop that takes their cues very directly from Stereolab and High Llamas.

Pink Mountaintops – Peacock Pools.  Stephen McBean (Black Mountain) returns with his other psychedelic rock outfit.  Another fiery salvo of rawk, this time with some gothy/post-punk elements.

Smut - How The Light Felt

Smut – How The Light Felt.  I’m not sure what “smut” sounds like, but it’s not this.  This is instead pretty indie folk / dream pop that recalls The Sundays, Wolf Alice, and Mae Moore.

The Stargazer Lilies – Cosmic Tidal Wave.  A pretty apropos title, as one is likely to be overwhelmed by the waves of psychedelic noise (and they actually have chilled out a bit!). But if you like this kind of drowning, do jump in.

The Stroppies – Levity.   Catchy indie-rock with some post-punk signposts (think Wire or Pylon) and great melodies/harmonies.

Sunnsetter – All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace.  Beautiful, ambient meditations similar to Jónsi & Alex (or Sigur Ros) and Eluvium.  My favorite ambient album of the year.

The Shop Window – A 4 Letter Word.  Reverb heavy, 80’s informed jangle pop that has its origins in British bands like Housemartins, Lloyd Cole, The Go-Betweens, and Crowded House.

Tess Parks – And Those Who Were Seen Dancing. Parks’ tobacco and whiskey soaked vocals weave together a series minimalist psychedelic jams reminiscent of Spaceman 3, Mazzy Star, Lightning Dust, and Opal.

Toledo - How It Ends

Toledo – How It Ends.  Was waiting patiently for the full-length follow up to their EP Jockeys of Love.  More summery, pristine indiepop that somehow references every decade of music.  And it’s smooooooooth. 

Trademark Issues – Eight.  Power pop, a bit of 90’s indie rock, a bit of other things; a different times I hear old Dandy Warhols, Fountains of Wayne, They Might Be Giants, and Beat Happening (and all done in a bedroom).

Weyes Blood – And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow.  Natalie Mering follows up my #2 album of 2019 (the sublime Titanic Rising) with another great record.  Not the same heights, but still an excellent revival of Karen Carpenter and 70’s AM radio gold.

Whimsical – Melt.  Impossibly pristine and pretty vocals front an overdriven, reverb-heavy shoegaze. 

Yot Club – Off The Grid.  At first listen, this sounds like you’re in for some keyboardist new wave pop but, while the MIDI-loops are there, this is all riding on incredibly tight guitar performances that sound pre-programmed.  Also, great vocals - reminds me Andy McCluskey of OMD.  Catchy as shit.

Young Prisms - Drifter

Young Prisms – Drifter. Underheard shoegaze act returns with another stellar record that bows at the altars of Slowdive, Curve, and My Bloody Valentine.  I think they also must listen to Lovesliescrushing.  I keep returning to this and feel like this should have maybe made the main list.

I can also confidently recommend the 2022 releases of Submotile, The Photocopies, Say Sue Me, Wild Pink, Resplandor, Hurry Up, Reds Pinks & Purples, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, and Sharon Van Etten.

Other 2022 Releases of Note

We were treated with comprehensive b-sides/outtakes/retrospectives from Joe Strummer, PJ Harvey, and Fruit Bats, all treasure troves.  Dummy reissued their first two EPs on vinyl, which was great to acquire.  Also have to call out a compilation put out by The Photocopies, which pulls together all their recent digital singles and eps onto a limited CD – an amazing number of great fuzzy, janglepop songs.

Besnard Lakes - Are The Prayers For The Death of Fame 

It is really hard to keep up with single releases on digital platforms, as they arrive at an untenable pace.  I check things out as much as possible, but try to stick to physical releases if available or take note and wait (some bands only release digitally, but are so good and force my hand).  Numerous singles and EPs got my attention this year.  Some EPs I recommend are Besnard Lakes (Are the Prayers for the Death of Fame), Stephen’s Shore (Green), Aluminum (Windowpane), Umbrella Puzzles (On the Meadow), Persian Leaps (Machines for Living), Mo Dotti (Guided Imagery), The Radio Field (Simple), and a split EP of Buddhist Bubblegum and Wiggly (Dreaming of the Desert).

I was also so happy to get some new music from Light-Heat (i.e., Quentin Stoltzfus, formerly under the name Mazarin) – an EP and two singles digitally via Bandcamp (and not Spotify). I love his stuff so much.  A couple singles worth nothing:  Nation of Language (two 7 inch singles, Androgynous and From the Hill) and Seablite (Breadcrumbs).

And that is that.  I’m writing this well into 2023 and there is much to be excited about musically:  New En Attendant Ana, Yo La Tengo, Zoon, Fruit Bats, Jess Williamson, Bully, Angelo De Augustine, Mutual Benefit, Soft Science, and Jenny O. to name a few!

Be well all.

Jay