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Tyler Clark presents: Local Mythologies writesCHIRP Radio’s Best of 2022: Tyler Clark
Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2022. Our next list is from DJ and Programming Committee member Tyler Clark.
The last time I filled out one of these year-end lists, I'd just finished listening to the most new releases I'd ever managed in a single year in my entire life.
I come to you today with the opposite of that achievement--for the first time since I started keeping track back in 2016, I failed to listen to at least 100 new albums for the year. In fact, I'm currently sitting at just about half of my total for 2021, which felt so disappointing at the time that I didn't even bother to fill out this survey. (In case you're wondering: my album of the year was Dry Cleaning, and it wasn't particularly close).
If the pandemic cabin fever of 2020 helped me plow through nearly 400 new releases, the slow reemergence of the last two years has felt more like an extended exhalation than a renewed call to urgency. Call it a cultural hangover, I guess.
That's not to say I've been spending any less time with my headphones on. On the contrary--my son was born in February, so I've probably been awake and in need of tunes more this year than any since college.
I also found myself on the road again, this time to France and Germany for another bike trip with the best of buds. I mostly filled those midnight feedings and trip-planning sessions with classics both familiar and novel; for instance, according to Spotify, I was in the top 0.1% of Mel Tormé listeners this year.
The Velvet Fog was in good company; check out my honorable mentions section for a list of older artists who demanded the lion's share of my attention in 2022, as well as some Franco-German favorites from the collaborative trip playlist.
Anyway, this list is about new music, so let's talk new music. Presented for your consideration: the 10 albums from 2022 that I'll probably carry forward in some way or another once the calendar hits 2023. No rankings, no big valedictory blurbs. Just some music I think is good and also neat. Check out the list below, then try to convince me that that Wet Leg record should've been in there somewhere.
Blue Rev by Alvvays (Polyvinyl)
The Class of '13 just crowned a new valedictorian. Sorry, Sky Ferreira.
When the Wind Forgets Your Name by Built to Spill (Sub Pop)
The best BTS record since Ancient Melodies of the Future. Cover's still ugly as sin, though.
Heartmind by Cass McCombs (Anti-)
This record is deeply middle-aged and uncool, all sad soldiers and awkward karaoke nights and songs about unsexy islands. Good thing that's my brand now.
Topical Dancer by Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul (Deewee)
If this record was just "HAHA" 13 times, it would still make this list. (It's not, but the rest of the songs make for a pretty decent consolation.)
Cherry by Daphni (Jiaolong)
If I still danced in public, I'd do it to this record.
Labyrinthitis by Destroyer (Merge)
Some high school classmate voted Dan Bejar "most likely to spend middle age scribbling mean poetry on the subway," and by God if he hasn't spent 25 years living up to that superlative.
Electricity by Ibibio Sound Machine (Merge)
Pretty sure I spent one of those midnight feedings listening to "Protection From Evil" on a 90-minute loop. No evil came to us that night, so I feel confident saying it works.
Tremblers And Goggles By Rank by Guided By Voices (GBV Inc.)
The fact that "Lizard on a Red Brick Wall" didn't make the live set should be a crime in the state of Ohio. Call your drunkest congressman.
Sore Thumb by oso oso (Triple Crown)
Finally, an ode to Gatorade that sounds like a lost Rooney b-side from 2002. Reminds me of a friend who used to insult pop songs she didn't like by saying they "sounded like they were written for a gum commercial."
At Scaramouche by Shabason & Krgovich (Idée Fixe)
Nobody captures elder millennial domesticity better than Nick Krgovich.
Honorable Mentions
10+ ALBUMS FROM 2022 THAT I ALSO LIKE BUT HAVE EVEN LESS TO SAY ABOUT
Animal Collective, Time Skiffs
Big Thief, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You
Braxe + Falcon, Step By Step EP
Cate Le Bon, Pompeii
Damien Jurado, Reggae Film Star
Dry Cleaning, Stumpwork
Emily Blue, The Afterlove
Father John Misty, Chloe
Fontaines D.C., Skinty Fia
Hatchie, Giving the World Away
Hot Chip, Freakout/Release
Junior Boys, Waiting Game
KAINA, It Was a Home
My Idea, CRY MFER
Spoon, Lucifer on the Sofa
Yard Act, The Overload
10+ ALBUMS FROM 2021 THAT WOULD'VE MADE MY LIST (HAD I MADE ONE)
Arlo Parks, Collapsed in Sunbeams
Ben Howard, Collections from the Whiteout
Brijean, Feelings
Cassandra Jenkins, An Overview on Phenomenal Nature
Damon Locks and Black Monument Ensemble, NOW
Dinosaur Jr., Sweep It Into Space
Dry Cleaning, New Long Leg
Ducks Ltd., Modern Fiction
Fimber Bravo, Lunar Tredd
Floating Points and Pharoah Sanders, Promises
For Those I Love, For Those I Love
Katy Kirby, Cool Dry Place
The Mountain Goats, Dark In Here
Palberta, Palberta5000
Parranoul, To See the Next Part of the Dream
Sons of Kemet, Black to the Future
Spirit of the Beehive, Entertainment, Death
Turnstile, Glow On
OLDER ARTISTS WHO I SPENT LOTS OF TIME WITH IN 2022
Cannonball Adderley
The Bonzo Dog Band
Circuit Rider
The Connells
Dave Brubeck
Dr. Feelgood
Emperor X
Fountains of Wayne
Lefty Frizzell
Peter Ivers
The Millennium
Patsy Montana
Moondog
NRBQ
Buck Owens
Zoot Sims
Mel Tormé
Ernest Tubb
Voxtrot
Kitty Wells
Kai Winding
BONUS LIST: THE BEST OF MY FRANCO-GERMAN BIKE TRIP PLAYLIST
Dalida, "Génération 78"
Die Goldenen Zitronen, "Weil wir einverstanden sind"
Democrates D, "Le crime"
Dimitri From Paris, "Sacré français"
EAV (Erste Allgemeine Verunsicherung), "Ba-Ba Banküberfell"
Francis Cabrel, "Edition spéciale"
Chicks on Speed, "Kaltes Klares Wasser"
Elegance, "Vacances j'oublie tout"
Extrabreit, "Hurra, hurra, die Schule brennt"
Geier Sturzflug, "Bruttosozialprodukt"
Hubert Kah, "Sternenhimmel"
Karat, "Der blaue Planet"
Hildegard Knef, "In Dieser Stadt"
Kraftwerk, "Europe Endless"
Lionel D, "Les mots les mots"
Markus, "Ich will Spass"
MC Solaar, "Qui seme le vent recolte le tempo"
Nigara, "L'amour à la plage"
Edith Piaf, "L'Homme à la moto"
Django Reinhardt, "Swing 39"
Bob Sinclar, "Gym Tonic"
Hugo Strasser, "Black Night"
Taco, "Singin' in the Rain"
Tocotronic, "Digital ist besser"
Joachim Witt, "Goldener Reiter"
Yvon, "Sprezzatura"
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