Photos
- PAINLESS by Nilufur Yanya (Listen)
- sore thumb by Oso Oso (Listen)
- Your Neighbors Are Failures by Bitter Branches (Listen)
- Careening by Hammered Hulls (Listen)
- My Other People by TV Priest (Listen)
- I don’t know who needs to hear this… by Tomberlin (Listen)
- s/t by Wet Leg (Listen)
- Cheat Codes by Black Thought and Danger Mouse (Listen)
- Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers by Kendrick Lamar (Listen)
- Natural Brown Prom Queen by Sudan Archives (Listen)
- The Forever Story by JID (Listen)
- Visitor by Empath (Listen)
- Little Green House by Anxious (Listen)
- God Save the Animals by Alex G (Listen)
- s/t by Spite House (Listen)
- Guitar Music by Courting (Listen)
- Blue Rev by Alvvays (Listen)
- Expert in a Dying Field by The Beths (Listen)
- Don’t Know What You’re In Until You’re Out by Gladie (Listen)
- Skinty Fia by Fontaines D.C. (Listen)
- We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong by Sharon Van Etten (Listen)
- Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You by Big Thief (Listen)
- Few Good Things by Saba (Listen)
- Melt My Eyez See Your Future by Denzel Curry (Listen)
- Farm to Table by Bartees Strange (Listen)
Whelp that was cool. Clouds opened up just in time!
Saw Sunny Day Real Estate tonight - been over 20 years since the last time and they sound just as good as ever.
Can’t believe it’s travel hockey season already. Really glad we fell in with this great group of families & girls. Looking forward to see where they go in their first year at 16u.
Loving the new wallpaper we put up yesterday in our small bathroom. Another step toward completing the project!
21 years with this amazing lady!
Got to see Thrice play The Artist in the Ambulance tonight in full. So good live!
Today, Chet and Watson. So cute. Didn’t last long though. 🤣
Zoey’s high school team won their area championship yesterday and head to states on Friday. Also, Z got her cast off and is able to start playing again. Back at practice tonight!
The Cazenovia girls representing their high school hockey teams before last night’s championship. Playoffs start this coming week! #rollkengi
Zoey was unable to play, but we made the trek down to catch the championship game of her teams tournament. Cazenovia took the ‘ship with the game winner in OT with 10 seconds remaining. 🎉🏆🏒
Zoey’s wrist injury (now in a cast for two weeks) is forcing her to miss the outdoor game of her hockey tournament today. Not too sad. 🥶
Cazenovia ladies won their tournament this weekend in Pittsburgh. Zoey got two goals, the game winner, and MVP. 🏆🏒
This team is ridiculous. 9-0 in league play, no goals allowed. 11-0 in total, with two goals allowed. Some great role models for Z to model her game after in the coming years.
A drink (or two) with the Mrs at a fabulous new neighborhood bar, recently opened by an acquaintance. Can’t beat this within walking distance.
Picked up some new books based on various recommendations I’ve been seeing on micro.blog 🎉📚
Thankful to get out of the house after the blizzard and do some winter hiking and snowshoeing with the Mrs.
Day after the blizzard. Local grocery store is open and queued up to buy groceries. Feel apocalyptic today.
Whelp this blizzard has been something. It’s been insanely windy since Thursday overnight (70 mph gusts), constant whiteouts since Friday AM, -10 windchill, and we’ve gotten about 2 ft of snow - with drifts over 5 feet. Thankfully we are home, safe and warm. Hoping it ends soon!
The Cymande re-issue came! Gonna be listening to this a lot today.
Tired boy
My Favorite Albums from 2022
It’s that time again, though I’m a little earlier than usual! I’m not going to make you scroll to the bottom to find my top recommendation, so here we go:
I really, really hope this record gets it’s due. Everything is top notch: the lyrics, the melodies, the arrangements, her voice. It’s a perfect indie rock album, from someone who obviously loves really good music and knows how to fold those diverse influences into her songwriting. She deserves to be HUGE.
Jade Lilitri can really write a catchy song. Musically, Oso Oso is equal parts emo and indie rock (think Death Cab crossed with Built to Spill crossed with Taking Back Sunday and a touch of Pinback) with really great lyrics that you just can’t help but sing along with… this album is high quality from top to bottom and has been in steady rotation since release day.
With former/current members of Deadguy, Kiss it Goodbye, Lifetime, Walleye, Kid Dynamite, and Paint it Black you can probably imagine what an amalgamation of those bands would sound like and it’s 100% accurate. It’s brutal, chaotic, and at times melodic – and 100% amazing. Definitely my top hardcore album from 2022.
Hammered Hulls is Alec MacKaye (Faith, Ignition), Mary Timony (Helium, Autoclave, Wild Flag, Ex Hex), Mark Cisneros (Make-Up, Medications), and Chris Wilson (Ted Leo, Titus Andronicus) - a veritable supergroup, in terms of DC punk and indie rock. They also put together a total surprise of an album. You’d expect good from this group of musicians, but this is more than good – it’s top 5 of 2022 good. Political, DC punk in an age that NEEDS more of this kind of music. Highly recommended.
The second album from TV Priest is a little more mature and maybe a little more melodic than their debut, Uppers – which was #14 on my 2021 list. They still do the post-punk, The Fall/Nick Cave thing, but in a way that I enjoy more than listening to those two groups. I really, really enjoy Charlie Drinkwater’s voice and lyrics. An underrated band and album for sure.
Despite being on a record label (Saddle Creek, home of Big Thief, Hop Along, Cursive, Rilo Kiley, Bright Eyes, and Spoon) that I tend to follow, I only discovered Tomberlin this year with the release of her second full length. And wow, what an experience. Well written indie folk music, with really great lyrics. Tomberlin really delivers and I honestly think she’s at a higher level than contemporaries like Phoebe Bridgers and even Taylor Swift’s indie folk albums – both of which I really liked.
If you simply listen to Chaise Longue, you may overlook this band as a joke — but this album is REALLY good. Super catchy and fun. There isn’t enough fun in rock music nowadays and this band really delivers.
Black Thought (from The Roots) is an insanely good lyricist. Danger Mouse is a well respected producer who’s been involved in some great projects (Dangerdoom and Gnarls Barkley to name two.) The combination is divine, especially when you throw in guests like A$AP Rocky, Run the Jewels, Conway the Machine, Raekwon, and Joey Bada$$. It’s my favorite hip hop album of 2022.
King Kendrick is going to be on a lot of end of year lists, no doubt. And rightly deserved. Kendrick is hip hop royalty and this album delivers the ambitious lyrics, subject matter, and music you’ve come to expect.
A blend of hip hop, gospel, R&B, folk, and electronic music, Brittney Parks (aka Sudan Archives) delivers a catchy, off-beat, diverse album that is super interesting to listen to as she sways from one mix of genres to another. Highly recommended.
Hip-hop FFO: Earthgang, J. Cole, Denzel Curry, Cordae
FFO: lo-fi, eccentric indie punk with synths
FFO: emo-influenced hardcore/indie rock
FFO: eccentric lo-fi indie rock
FFO: dynamic post-hardcore like Samiam, Seaweed, Jawbreaker
FFO: chaotic, melodic post-punk with electronic textures
FFO: female fronted indie rock with a touch of shoegaze. Think Velocity Girl, Soccer Mommy, Snail Mail, The Beths, and Hatchie
FFO: female fronted punk-tinged indie rock with major hooks
FFO: female fronted punk-tinged indie rock with major hooks (sense a trend?!). Think early Waxahatchee, Lemuria, Cayetana (ex-members), Hop Along, Swearin’
FFO: Post-punk with a hint of folk, electronic, and melodic indie pop
FFO: dynamic indie singer-songwriter
FFO: eccentric indie folk
FFO: introspective R&B influenced hip-hop
FFO: eccentric hip-hop ranging from high energy punk to funk and jazz
FFO: indie rock that incorporates elements of bedroom pop, electronic music, alt-rock, folk, and hip-hop.
Wrap Up
If you are on Apple Music, I’ve added these albums and another 25 or so of my honorable mentions to a playlist. I’ve also got plenty of reports on Last.fm, if you are interested in browsing.
SO, did I miss anything good? There was so much good music this year, I had to have missed something. Hit me up if you have something you think I’d like!
Addendum
Previous Years: Best of 2021, Best of 2020
Note: Looking back at 2021, I’d definitely put Turnstile at #6 and Tyler the Creator at #7, with every album from Quicksand on down moving one spot lower to fill in the remaining order.
Be sure to follow me on Apple Music — I create and share playlists throughout the year and I’m definitely interested in seeing what other folks are listening to!
Some recent vinyl pickups: new Soulside and Hammered Hulls, two classic Dinosaur Jr., and Check Your Head from Beastie Boys. 🔥
The sweetest pitty. Watson wedges himself behind me every single workday.
Beautiful fall day for a hike at Artpark
My assistant is being a little oppressive today. 🥰
