Top 10 Songs of 2022
It's my 15th Annual Top 10 Songs Countdown here on my otherwise pretty dormant blog!
This was a year of huge change for me. The year started with a big focus on my work. Two years of the pandemic, with lots of isolation and uncertainty had taken a toll and it seemed like the time was right to start looking for change. I had a couple of big milestones in this pursuit, traveling to New York City in May to complete a leadership program that had begun just weeks after the initial Covid-19 lockdown. In June I attended a conference in Reno where I told anyone who was listening that I was looking for a new job, and on the last day of the conference I had my first, virtual, interview with a company I was very interested in working for. The day before my birthday, I took an hour-long flight for an in-person interview, and before I got on the plane back home, I was offered the job. By mid-July, I had already moved six hours north of Los Angeles to the state capital, Sacramento, although it was another month before Dylan and all our stuff was able to join me up in our new home.
The second half of this year has been consumed by acclimating to my new job, our new home, meeting new people and living in the moment. Dylan has been able to work remotely thus far but he will be looking for a new career opportunity in the new year.
We did have a wonderful trip to Thailand, which we had booked almost a year prior after the very generous gift of air miles from Dylan's work that made the whole thing possible. We spent a few days in Bangkok and a few down on the coast of Phuket.
As the year winds to a close, we've put up our old, familiar holiday decorations in our still-new apartment. I personally have not created or played almost any music since the move. But there has been lots of music in my life, and now you're about to read about the best of it! Here we go, for the 15th time:
HONORABLE MENTIONS
"I Say Nothing" - Voice of the Beehive "Bees" around the world were celebrating the 35th anniversary of "Let It Bee," the debut album of one of our favorite bands, Voice of the Beehive! With the wonderfully packaged reissue, the album was made available on "honey yellow vinyl" and includes a treasure trove of rare and previously unreleased songs, artwork and new liner notes, and even a new "single" in the form of lost classic "Cartoon City," which appeared as a b-side to the later-period single "Angel Come Down," but has now been unleashed it's original form, along with a very cool lyric video.
"Chin Up High" - Ame Bibabi This may be one of those "you had to be there moments." I think this song was a hit on TikTok or something but by the time I heard it, Dylan was playing it and he just kept playing it and it became our song of the summer, so I have to include it here.
Don't Forget" - Sky Ferreira Sky is an enigma, and after appearing in the return of Twin Peaks about five years ago, we haven't heard too much from her. This song marked a welcome return.
"Fortune Favors the Bold" - Joy Oladokun This is a singer to watch, as she's been winning many new fans this year and has released some delightful music.
Roosevelt is an artist who has grown on me and at this point I just come to expect that anything he does will be top notch. This is no exception, as he takes full advantage of the opportunity to collaborate with the master, Nile Rodgers. I've never heard Marius's vocals so clearly, and it's the perfect mix of electronics and funk.
Little Boots is always good for euphoric and slightly off-kilter dancefloor stompers, and "Out (Out)" is no exception. It's about when you don't just want to go out... you want to go "Out" Out!!! Like, taking it to another level. So it's a good song to play when you're hyping yourself up for a night on the town. Long Live the Queen, Victoria Hesketh!
Something about GusGus is just irresistible and unavoidable for me, now. They're the thumping, volcanic beat pulsating beneath the surface, traveling from the pristine icy glaciers of Iceland, underground and underwater through tectonic plates, reaching my receiver all the way in California, or North Mexico. I just want to hold them in my arms, again.
Hazzah! I think I worried too much back in the day when One Direction was still a huge global phenomenon, that Harry wouldn't be taken as seriously as he deserved to be once he inevitably became a solo artist. I had seen that happen with my beloved Spice Girls, but of course they were women, who are still constantly undervalued in the world of popular music. I think we can all agree, Harry has not let us down.
Speaking of not letting us down, Brendan and minions decided to take a different tack for this album, recording it more as a live rock band experience. While apparently many fans were rubbed the wrong way by the results, I am not one of those people. I think it was a much-needed pivot that came at the right time. Brendan's vocals are a little more raw, the instrumentation a bit more organic, but still the right amount of biting lyrics and emotional rage.
Comeback we were blinded by, Betty Boo returned after many years out of the spotlight! While I never forgot about her 90s hits "Where Are You Baby?" and "Doin' the Do," I must admit it had been some time since I had thought of Alison Clarkson. Apparently, she was just laying in wait, flexing her skills here and there behind the scenes until she was ready for a full-fledged return to form! This track is killer, samples the Human League, and reaches a whole new nirvana for electronic pop.
At this point I should really stop being pleasantly surprised by new Bananarama music as it is truly a legendary, well oiled machine at this point! New album "Masquerade" has some extreme ear worm moments and a new sense of identity as it involves a new generation in the form of Sarah's daughter Alice D contributing lyrics, vocals, and probably a little je ne sais quoi. The beat and the banana go on.
Watching an artist develop before your ears is a wonderful thing. I first became aware of Souvenir a few years ago thanks to this awesome thing called the internet, via his gorgeous song "I Don't Want to Love You." Placing number seven on last year's chart with "Human Nature," this year the EP of the same name was released and featured this amazing and heartfelt synthpop masterpiece.
Not to be outdone by Betty Boo, who reappeared on the scene with her first album in 30 years, Clare Grogan and co. released the first Altered Images album since the sublime "Bite," released just one year shy of four decades ago. While I had not been aware of this inimitable Scottish Post Punk band until Clare revived its music and spirit playing festivals in the UK at the beginning of the new millennium, since then Altered Images has become one of my favorite bands. I know that Clare and whoever happens to be performing in the band with her are fantastic live, but a new album of songs in this strange new world we live in now seemed a risky proposition. Rather than a disappointment, the album is a revelation, and "Glitter Ball" is the epic pop piece de resistance that ties it all together.
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