Alright, here is a digital “mixtape” of songs from some records that I enjoyed listening to this year. They are in no particular order, other than what worked well for the order of sequencing. There is also a link to the playlist on Spotify, should you want to listen to it on a streaming platform. All of the bands have been linked to their Bandcamp pages - if you find anything you like, please support the artists directly!
- Straight Outta Hell by Carpenter Brut
- One Twenty Two by Botch
- Tango by Gospel
- Flesh Sacrifice by Statiqbloom
- Handcuff Trick by Colonial Wound
- Seventh Hell by Soul Blind
- Working for the Knife by Mitski
- Io: Second Movement by Blood Incantation
- Host Body by God Mother
- A History of Drowning by Black Magnet
- Reality Spiral by Greg Puciato
- Why by Chat Pile
- Conduit by Russian Circles
- Incinerator by Author & Punisher
- Nauseating Despair by Phobophilic
- Decomposition by Mythic Sunship
- Lost Grip by KEN Mode
- Dire by Glassing
- Cusp by Cloud Rat
- Endless Return by Elder
MP3 Version
FLAC Version
Spotify
A few personal notes about this year’s selection, for anyone who might be interested:
As a full time Dad, I don’t have a lot of free time to search out new music, which is something that I used to spend a lot of time doing. Accordingly, the artists generally don’t branch too far out from ones that I was already familiar with so don’t expect some real deep cuts this time around!
The real surprise album for me was Laurel Hell by Mitski, whom I hadn’t even heard of prior to this album. Generally speaking, a singer-songwriter in the indie/folk/pop genre isn’t something I would listen to, much less enjoy - it’s usually just not my vibe. However, whilst half-assedly perusing the Pitchfork top albums of 2022, something about the description of Laurel Hell piqued my interest and I checked it out on a whim, not expecting much. And I’m certainly glad I did as it’s a catchy, compelling and beautiful album that has been on constant rotation in the month since.
The prospect of a new album from Gospel, whose 2005 masterpiece “The Moon is a Dead World” is one of my favourite albums of all time, was both exciting and nerve wracking since I wasn’t sure how they’d live up to that record, especially after roughly 15 years of not being a band. And while it doesn’t quite live up to The Moon is a Dead World (not that it really could anyways), it’s a fantastic record on its own merits that I listened to many, many times over the year.
We also got a new track from Botch, the first new thing since 2002’s An Anthology of Dead Ends, and it absolutely rules and they haven’t lost a step. I’m still devastated that I didn’t get tickets to the reunion shows in Seattle (as are a lot of people I know) but here’s hoping we get some more new music if it’s going to be as good as this track.
Threat by Statiqbloom got a lot of mileage over the year - dark, dirty and driving, it was particularly great to listen to while working on various graphic design projects. Seventh Hell by Soul Blind also got a lot of listens something about their 90s throwback vibes checks all the right boxes for me. Easy Laugh by Colonial Wound snuck in close to the end of the year but was probably my favourite “heavy” release of the year, absolutely killing it with the type of angular and dissonant noise rock/post hardcore that I simply love.
Blood Incantation killed it with their “ambient” record Timewave Zero, the homies in KEN Mode perfectly captured the essence of the dumpster fire the world has been for the last 3 years and Chat Pile wrote one of the ugliest records I’ve heard in a really long time. Cloud Rat continue to be one of the best grind bands in the world, Author & Punisher continues to evolve his sound and Carpenter Brut made an album with a lot of collaborations that actually felt like collaborations rather than merely guest appearances, especially the one with Ulver. Phobophilic made my favourite death metal record of the year and Elder won me back after a few records that didn’t do it for me.
Greg Puciato’s new solo record was also a bit of a surprise for me - I really like his work in the Black Queen, but I wasn’t sure how much of that was just Joshua Eustis, whose work with Telefon Tel Aviv is among my favourite electronic music of all time. I honestly haven’t liked any DEP records since Miss Machine and I didn’t enjoy Puciato’s first solo record either so this album was a pleasant surprise.
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