My Top albums of 2022

I appreciate the notion that folks shouldn't rank works of art, but my firm sense of order compels me to rank albums. I listened to, at least once, 246 LPs and EPs that were released in 2022. Only a smattering of those did nothing for me (I try to avoid stuff I won't like). I only rank albums that I own, so perhaps some favorites of yours didn't make it because I never got around to buying them (like Big Thief or Kendrick Lamar). I also had some albums that came in too late in the year for me to fully grasp (like SZA and Lous and The Yakuza) that might have made my list otherwise. 

Moreover, as you go further down the list, my preferences are pretty incremental, and by the time you get to the bottom, there at least a couple dozen other albums that could have made it. There was so much good music this year. That being said, I really, really dig the the stuff at the top of the list. I hope there are some things folks can discover on here, which is why I love looking at others' top album lists.

December 10, 2022 CHIRP Radio Playlist (Show #645)

9:00 AM Howlin' Wolf • Going Back Home • Smokestack Lightning The Complete Chess Masters 1951-1960 • Geffen/Hip-O Select

9:03 AM Joan Shelley • We'd Be Home • Joan Shelley • No Quarter

9:06 AM Ben LaMar Gay • Warmth Be Unto You • Certain Reveries • International Anthem

9:13 AM SZA • Ghost in the Machine (feat. Phoebe Bridgers) • SOS • Top Dawg/RCA

December 3, 2022 CHIRP Radio Playlist (Show #644)

9:01 AM The Persuasions • People Get Ready • Street Corner Symphony • Capitol

9:04 AM Laura Marling • I Was An Eagle • Once I Was An Eagle • Virgin

9:08 AM Dana Buoy • Maidenhair • Experiments in Plant-Based Music: Vol. 1 • Everlong

9:14 AM Susan Voelz • Symphony • Trust the Waves Will Hold You • Pravda

November 26, 2022 CHIRP Radio playlist (Show #643)

9:00 AM XTC • This World Over • The Big Express • Virgin

9:05 AM Yola • Shady Grove • Walk Through Fire • Easy Eye Sound

9:08 AM Dawn Richard and Spencer Zahn • Crimson • Pigments • Merge

9:14 AM Bethany Thomas • How to Fight Loneliness • single • self-released

November 19, 2022 CHIRP Radio playlist (Show #642)

9:01 AM Belle & Sebastian • The Fox In The Snow • If You're Feeling Sinister • Matador

9:05 AM Meshell Ndegeocello • Tender Love • Ventriloquism • Naive

9:07 AM Nick Hakim • Feeling Myself • COMETA • ATO

9:13 AM Split Single • Mangled Tusk • Callado • self-released

November 12, 2022 CHIRP Radio playlist (Show #641)

9:01 AM FKA twigs • I'm Your Doll • M3LL155X EP • Young Turks

9:04 AM King Crimson • Heartbeat • Beat • EG

9:08 AM Plains • No Record of Wrongs • I Walked With You A Ways • Anti

9:13 AM Weyes Blood • The Worst Is Done • And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow • Sub Pop

November 5, 2022 CHIRP Radio show playlist (Show #640)

9:01 AM Jamey Johnson • Living for a Song • Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran • Mercury Nashville

9:04 AM Erykah Badu • Sometimes... • Baduizm • Universal

9:08 AM Nora O'Connor • Outta Space • My Heart • Pravda

9:14 AM First Aid Kit • Nobody Knows • Palomino • Columbia