My Top Ten Albums Of The Year

Hi pop pickers! It’s that time of the year when I choose what I consider to be the best albums of 2022. It’s never easy because this year has been a vintage year for new music. You, of course, will have a very different view of the best music of the year, depending entirely on the music that floats your boat. So, it’s not really the best albums: it’s my favourite albums.

For me, the measure of how good a list of records is depends on what you’ve left out and this year has been no exception. No room for Tears For Fears, Gaye Su Akyol, Leftfield, Warmduscher, Confidence Man, Arctic Monkeys, Hermanos Gutiérrez, Erland Cooper, Danger Mouse and Black Thought, Beach House, Gwenno, The Smile, Paulo Nutini, Bruce Hornsby, Rolling Blackouts Fever, Arcade Fire, Father John Misty, Mattiel, Mitski and my current fave Lightning In A Twilight Hour.

As with all lists, it will probably change by this afternoon, but I’ll now announce in reverse order this years choices. If you fancy checking out each band or artist, then just click on the name.

Yer goes, then.

10. For the Sake of Bethel Woods by Midlake. Their first album since 2013’s Antiphon and a stonking return to top form. One of the few bands I saw live this year and they were wonderful.

9. Lucifer On The Sofa by Spoon. Another return to form from the US rockers. Possibly my favourite Spoon album to date.

8. Where I’m Meant To Be by Ezra Collective. Very jazzy record. Try to keep your feet still when listening to this.

7. Dear Scott by Michael Head. On another day this might be at the top. A career high by the ex Shack man.

6. Welcome 2 Club Xiii by Drive-By Truckers. One of the best and most consistent bands out there. A great record.

5. A Very Lonely Solstice by Fleet Foxes. I adore this ‘live’ album which is mostly Robin Pecknold and his acoustic guitar, singing some of the band’s best tunes in a Brooklyn church.

4. Space Force by Todd Rundgren. Well into his 70s, Rundgren is still pushing the musical boundaries. Sheer genius.

3. Reset by Panda Bear and Sonic Boom. Animal Collective’s Panda Bear is everywhere at the moment and quite right too. A lush album.

2. When The Lights Go Out by Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs. In any other year, Orlando Higginbottom’s latest outing as TEED would have strolled it for best album. It’s fantastic.

AND THE WINNER IS….

1. Alpha Zulu by Phoenix. The LA based French band make some of the best music out there at the moment. From the moment I heard Alpha Zulu, I knew it would top my charts. Buy this record.

Thanks for reading. I hope you try, and like, the music.