My Year in Music (2022)
- Garrett Bugay
- Jan 7, 2023
- 3 min read
Apparently the average person gives up the pursuit of finding new music at age 28. Well, I’ve done the exact opposite. My love and desire for music has only amplified as I’ve gotten older. If you know me at all, you probably aren’t surprised to hear I’ve invested more of myself into a hobby. But music became much more of a priority for me in 2022. I spent more time on music these past 12 months than on anything else - - I spent a day and a half of the calendar year listening to Bruce Springsteen alone! I went to six concerts, made countless playlists that will be shared here (Apple Music and Spotify both), and connected with old and new friends over our shared love of the medium.
I’ve used Apple Music for the last several years. Its discovery feature, “Siri play me new music that I like,” led to numerous rabbit holes that highlighted obscure yet wonderful artists and songs. My goal with making this list is to share with you a collection of my favorite stuff I heard in 2022. I’ll mention my favorite albums in a variety of genres and I’ll include my own personal “Best of” playlists - - featuring artists of which I consumed their entire discography, and one completely devoted to songs released in 2022. I’ll conclude with a list of artists I became aware of this year that I think deserve more love.
I listen to a wide variety of genres. According to my Apple Music’s “year in review,” the genres I listen to the most include Alternative, Pop, Rock, and Electronic. Hopefully everyone regardless of taste will be able to find something that I recommend here worthwhile. Without further ado, here’s some of my favorite albums of the year (Genres in Alphabetical Order):
Alternative:
Muna (Muna): Favorite Tracks (Home By Now, Kind of Girl)
Aysanabee (Watin): Favorite Tracks (Long Gone, We Were Here)
Work Drugs (Some You Leave Out): Favorite Tracks (Doubts, Amber Waves)
Yumi Zouma (Present Tense): Favorite Tracks (Give it Hell, Of Me and You)
Skullcrusher (Quiet the Room): Favorite Tracks (Whatever Fits Together, Outside, Playing)
NoSo (Stay Proud of Me): Favorite Tracks (Suburbia, David)
Beach House (Once Twice Melody): Favorite Tracks (Through Me, Over and Over)
Telenova (Stained Glass Love EP): Favorite Tracks (Scarlet, Why Do I Keep You)
Country:
Lissie (Carving Canyons): Favorite Tracks (Chasing the Sun, Carving Canyons)
Electronic:
Causeway (We Were Never Lost): Favorite Tracks (Running to You, Hide and Seek)
St. Lucia (Utopia): Favorite Tracks (Another Lifetime, Touch)
Odesza (The Last Goodbye): Favorite Tracks (Better Now, Light of Day)
The Weeknd (Dawn FM): Favorite Tracks (Sacrifice, Less Than Zero)
Kavinsky (Reborn): Favorite Tracks (Pulsar, Plasma)
Brijean (Angelo): Favorite Tracks (Shy Guy, Ooo La La)
Purity Ring (Graves): Favorite Tracks (Graves, Soshy)
Folk:
Daniel Rossen (You Belong There): Favorite Tracks (Unpeopled Space, I’ll Wait For Your Visit)
Noah Kahan (Stick Season): Favorite Tracks (New Perspective, Orange Juice)
Pop:
Charli XCX (Crash): Favorite Tracks (All of them. Seriously, listen to the entire thing)
Carly Rae Jepsen (The Loneliest Time): Favorite Tracks (Western Wind, So Nice)
Betty Who (Big!): Favorite Tracks (Big, Weekend)
Sigrid (How to Let Go): Favorite Tracks (Thank Me Later, Mirror)
Anna of the North (Crazy Life): Favorite Tracks (I Do You, Meteorite)
Boys and Ivy (Touch and Go): Favorite Tracks (Bumblebee, Boys We Chased)
Hazel English (Summer Nights EP): Favorite Tracks (Nine Stories, Summer Nights)
Alex Amor (The Art of Letting Go EP): Favorite Tracks (Casually Cool, Pleasing People)
Beyoncé (Renaissance): Favorite Tracks (Break My Soul, Cozy)
Empress Of (Save Me EP): Favorite Tracks (Dance For You, Turn the Table)
Aly & AJ (A Touch of the Beat): Favorite Tracks (Pretty Places, Personal Cathedrals)
R&B/Rap:
MICHELLE (After Dinner We Talk Dreams): Favorite Tracks (Syncopate, No Signal)
Nas (King’s Disease III): Favorite Tracks (Legit, First Time)
Danger Mouse & Black Thought (Cheat Codes): Favorite Tracks (Because, Violas and Lupitas)
Rock:
Khruangbin & Vieux Farka Toure (Ali): Favorite Tracks (Tongo Barra, Diarabi)
Khruangbin & Leon Bridges (Texas Moon): Favorite Tracks (B-Side, Mariella)
The Kooks (10 Tracks to Echo in the Dark): Favorite Tracks (Closer, Oasis)
Adrian Quesada (Jaguar Sound): Favorite Tracks (Starry Nights, Rise of the Have Nots)
Girlhouse (The Third EP): Favorite Tracks (Cool Guy, Miss U This Time)
Bruce Springsteen (Only the Strong Survive): Favorite Tracks (Hey, Western Union Man, Do I Love You)
Eva Rose (Everything You Wish For): Favorite Tracks (Final Girl, Revisionist History)
2022 Playlist (Put it on Shuffle):
Best of Playlists:
Bruce Springteen:
Hall & Oates:
James Taylor:
The Cure:
Daft Punk:
Cut Copy:
Macross 82-99:
Work Drugs:
Other Discoveries/Artists to Check Out:
Yellow Magic Orchestra
IDER
DC Gore
Videoclub
Otis Ubaka
Tsatsamis
Mini Trees
Bayli
Isabella Manfredi Juliana Madrid
The Big Moon
Emily King
SYML
Chela Neomi
Two Door Cinema Club
Kamasi Washington
La Pore
Lynagh
1773 & E. Brown - Kotodama
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