Drone / Jazz / Virtuosity

Mo Léan by Róis is one of the strangest and most affecting albums I heard this year, exploring the Irish tradition of keening in grief. Róis’s tremendous voice is like a falsetto PJ Harvey, and the album is steeped in wonky electronics, field recordings and spoken interludes.

Plays John Coltrane and Langston Hughes by Raphael Rogiński is similarly startling. I barely recognise any of the Coltrane compositions he adapts, and I know none of the Hughes; Rogiński’s meticulous, meditative hushed guitar style is all his own.

Then to four artists who seem to feature every year in my list of favourites. All Life Long by Kali Malone is as staggering as anything the pipe organ virtuoso has produced before. FAÇADISMS by Rafael Anton Irisarri contains signature washes of abstract sound that build to epiphanies. Violinist Laura Cannell’s series of EPs (Firelore, Witchlore, Harvestlore, Ghostlore, Mammothlore, Wolflore, Ravenlore, Mountainlore, Riverlore, Earthlore, Sealore) are immaculate early folk, pagan and mystical and often overwhelming. Ghosted II by Oren Ambarchi, Johan Berthling and Andreas Werliin is perhaps a touch more mechanical than the first Ghosted album, and more so than Ambarchi’s earlier work, but the fragility of a live performance undermines the tightly locked grooves.

The Way Out of Easy by Jeff Parker and ETA Ivtet is similar in many ways to the Ambarchi record, featuring jazz-inflected motorik grooves. The echoes of Parker’s TNT-era Tortoise guitar licks is what makes it for me.

Spectral Evolution by Rafael Toral is a hypnotic combination of electronica and field recordings, and it’s no wonder it’s featured on so many artists’ own end-of-year lists.            

Rock / Post-rock

For me, You Never End by Moin is head and shoulders above all other rock albums this year. It sounds like a grungy, permanent-sunglasses mix of Sonic Youth and Slint, yet the revolving-door roster of guests vocalists makes it constantly varied. I love it.

The Jesus Lizard are a band that have always passed me by, but on the strength of Rack, I should remedy that. I don’t often listen to heads-down, hard-riffing rock and roll these days, but I’ve listened to this album a lot.

As It Happened: Horse Lords Live by Horse Lords is more my usual fare (that is, belligerently, maddeningly repetitive), and an obvious hit for me, as I desperately want to see Horse Lords live.

>>>> by Beak> is very much Portishead’s Geoff Barrow doing his motoric, kosmiche thing, but he’s earned the right. The Silver Apples tone of ‘The Seal’ is just perfect.

All kinds of days by Good Sad Happy Bad is another slightly indulgent side-project by a composer better known for their film soundtracks: Mica Levi. It’s very good-natured and whimsical, and loveably raw, rather like Mica Levi and Alpha Maid’s collaborations under the name Spresso.

Pop / Indie

I listened to a surprising amount of meticulously produced year-2000-vibe pop music this year. My favourite was blush by Mexican artist Girl Ultra, especially the absolutely nuts earworm ‘bruce willisss’. The fact that the EP is only 15 minutes long is irrelevant as I always listen to the whole thing on repeat.

I’m far from the intended listener of Young-Girl Forever by Sofie Royer, and it certainly doesn’t act as a rallying call for me, but it features some of the most infectious pop tunes I’ve heard this year, such as ‘Keep Running (Sebastian in Dreams)’.

SOPHIE, the posthumously released second album by SOPHIE, is outstanding, and the guests stars on each track make it come across like a very well-curated compilation. It ranges from Ibiza sunset anthems (‘My Forever’) and techno bangers (‘Berlin Nightmare’).

Affection by Bullion harnesses an early 2000s sound associated with Animal Collective, and it even features Panda Bear on one track. At its best, its down-to-earth lyrics are as well-observed as the best short stories.

Songs

Mayday by Myriam Gendron reinforces that she’s one of the most exciting folk singers to have emerged in recent years. Her voice is very like Karen Dalton’s, and the arrangements are gorgeous.

Tindersticks have always seemed to operate in the margins, overshadowed by other bands. Soft Tissue is unlikely to change that, with a smooth sound at the direct midpoint between Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (specifically, the album No More Shall We Part) and Lambchop (specifically, Nixon). But the songs! They’re lovely.

Similarly, Portishead’s Beth Gibbons creates no surprises on her first solo album, Lives Outgrown, but it’s rawer than you might expect, and her frailty is front and centre.

The entirety of Cellophane Memories by Chrystabell and David Lynch is an absolute swoon.

Electronic / Weird

Dawuna’s 2022 album Glass Lit Dream is still one of my favourite albums of recent years. This year he offered an EP, Southside Bottoms, and an album Naya, and thankfully both are wonderful, though they amend his lo-fi R&B/dark ambient sound. On both records his voice is lifted out of the murk – now his voice is recognisable as a mix of Prince and Sly Stone – but the scuzzy static interference of Naya undermines the sweetness effectively.

Folklore 1979 by Milkweed is intentionally a disturbing hauntological artifact, and knowingly folk-horror. Its combination of zithers and pipes underpinned by clumsy hip hop beats have earned the group the description ‘slacker-trad’.

Carrier produced two essential techno EPs: Neither Curve Nor Edge and In Spectra. No messing.

Compilations / Reissues

The Holy Grail: Bill Callahan’s “Smog” Dec. 10, 2001 Peel Session by Bill Callahan / Smog was one of my favourite listening experiences of the year, blasting the intense, raw live version of ‘Cold Discovery’ at full volume while driving in pitch darkness.

We Have Dozens of Titles by Gastr Del Sol is an almost two-hour indulgence of one of my favourite bands, featuring excellent live versions and deep cuts.      

Similarly long and generous is rpm by Philip Jeck, featuring spacey collaborations with amazing artists such as Gavin Bryars, Chris Watson, Fennesz, Rosy Parlane and David Sylvian.

The Peel Sessions by Aerial M is a far more sedate experience than the Smog record, but the wonderful version of ‘Skrag Theme’ makes it essential.              

Souvenirs by Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru is another revelation of a collection from the Ethiopian pianist who has only recently become appreciated.

The reissued 2019 EPs Boundary Road Snacks and Drinks and Sweet Princess by Dry Cleaning are as fantastic as the band’s recent output.

My favourite field-recording album of the year is Night Passage by Alan Lamb, a 1980s recording of Lamb’s ‘Faraway Wind Organ’: ten miles of telegraph wires played by the wind.