The Aural's Top of 2022

Corsicana performs at UMS 2022 in Denver

Is better late than never? In this case, yes. I didn’t really feel like writing a year-end list for 2022, but I realized that it really is nice to have something to look back on in future years. Sometimes we do things not because they benefit us now, but because they will benefit us later. So here’s my musical time capsule of sorts for 2022 (playlist included). 

My big takeaways from 2022 are that COVID-19 is, unfortunately, here to stay for a while in the world and in music, we need to be better fans for the sake of each other and the musicians we love, and outdoor live music will be my lifeboat for the foreseeable future. 

Read more:
Want live music to last? Wear a mask
Thank god for UMS

I went to two shows and one festival this year: Joywave at The Bluebird in Denver, the Underground Music Showcase in Denver, and Corsicana plus Yellow Ostrich at Lost Lake Lounge in Denver. ​

Joywave performs at The Bluebird in 2022

I also wrote three features in 2022, that you may have missed:
Corsicana shines with new single, “The Torchbearer”
Words With: Forever Honey
Words With: MAITA

(And if you're looking for my Spring 2022: New music roundup, well, there it is.)

I did a lot of other things this year, in lieu of live music, including: surviving a local natural disaster (the Marshall Fire) and its fallout, adopting a cat (Gertie-Socks!); organizing and single-handedly putting on a solo exhibition of photography; seeing friends across the country; helping my best friend get married; and honestly, just getting through the year. 

Now, what you (perhaps) came here for: the 2022 playlist! In alphabetical order, below are the albums and a couple songs that became the highlights, mainstays, and curiosities of my year. ​

Alfie Templeman, Mellow Moon
Alvvays, Blue Rev
Amber Mark, Three Dimensions Deep
Anna of the North, Crazy Life
Bad Suns, Apocalypse Whenever
BANKS, Serpentine
Barrie, Barbara
BAYNK, ADOLESENCE
bedabadobee, Beatopia
BENEE, Lychee
Bremer/McCoy, Forsvinder (2016)
Bob Moses, The Silence In Between
Bonobo, Fragments
Cafuné, Running (2021)
Carley Rae Jepsen, The Loneliest Time
Casey Dubie, Half-Hearted
Charli XCX, CRASH
COIN, Uncanny Valley
Day Wave, Pastlife
Dear Rouge, Spirit
Devon Cole, “W.I.T.C.H.”
Ed Carlsen, Gravity
ELIO, ELIO’S INFERNO
Empress Of, Save Me
Everything Everything, Raw Data Feel
Fickle Friends, Are We Gonna Be Alright?
Flock of Dimes, Head of Roses: Phantom Limb
Graveyard Club, Moonflower
Hatchie, Giving The World Away
Joywave, Cleanse
Julia Church, “Oh, Miles” (2021)
Lastlings, First Contact (2020)
Lights, PEP
Lissie, Chasing The Sun
Lizzo, Special
MAITA, I Just Want To Be Wild For You
Mansionair, Happiness, Guaranteed
Metric, Formentera
MICHELLE, AFTER DINNER WE TALK DREAMS
Mild Minds, IT WON’T DO
MØ, Motordrome
Moonchild Sanelly, Phases
MUNA, MUNA
mxmtoon, rising
NASAYA, RÊVES
Neil Frances, There is no Neil Frances
Nilufer Yanya, Painless
ODESZA, The Last Goodbye
Olivia Belli, Somnio Novo
Orla Gartland, Woman on the Internet
POLIÇA, Madness
Rosie Carney, i wanna feel happy
Royal Canoe, Vault (2011-2021) 
Run River North, Creatures In Your Head (2021)
Sigrid, How To Let Go
SOHN, Trust
Square Peg Round Hole, Reservoir
Stars, From Capelton Hill
Stromae, Multitudes
Teenage Dads, Club Echo (2021)
The Beaches, End of Summer
The Envy Corps, Born in Fog
The Wombats, Fix Yourself, Not the World
Tomberlin, i don’t know who needs to hear this
Tove Lo, Dirt Femme
Typhoon, Underground Complex No. 1
VANT, Conceived in the Sky (2020)
Weval, Time Goes and Forever
Yellow Ostrich, Soft (2021)
Zola Blood, Black Blossom