I don't usually name the albums in contention for my yearly My Favorite Albums list in advance. Unfortunately, this time out, I'm not sure what kind of shape I'm going to be in to write about it by the end of the year.
So these are the LPs that I have rated at least 3.5 out of 5 so far in 2022. They're roughly in the order I like them in now, except for the last one, which I haven't officially ranked yet. And certainly, the order could change a lot.
Faun - Pagan - 11th LP from this German neo-Pagan folk band from Munich.
Matisyahu - Matisyahu - 7th LP from this American Hasidic Jewish hip-hop/reggae artist. He's back living in New York, in Rockland County, with a newborn infant daughter born during the pandemic. Album was produced by the Columbian musical duo Salt Cathedral.
Johnny Marr - Fever Dreams Parts I-IV - Former lead guitarist of The Smiths with a collection of his four most recent solo EPs. It's his 4th solo LP.
Avril Lavigne - Love Sux - 7th LP from this Canadian pop rock star. This is her most scorching LP in years.
Nocturna - Daughters of the Night - Debut album from a Italian gothic symphonic metal band with two female vocalists.
Royksopp - Profound Mysteries - 6th LP from this Norwegian electronic music duo. Album features several guest vocalists.
Visions of Atlantis - Pirates - 8th LP from this Austrian female-fronted bombastic symphonic metal band.
Beach House - Once Twice Melody - American dream pop duo from Baltimore, MD with a collection of their four most recent EPs. This is their 8th LP.
The Monochrome Set - Allhallowtide - 16th LP from this British post punk new wave band.
Chaos Magic - Emerge - 3rd LP from this Finnish symphonic metal band fronted by Chilean singer Caterina Nix.
Alexia Avina - A Little Older - Ethereal acoustic artist who was born in Southeast Asia and currently lives in Queens, NY. This is her 4th full-length album.
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Unlimited Love - 13th LP by this world-famed alternative rock/funk band from Los Angeles, CA.
Hallas - Isle of Wisdom - Swedish progressive rock/hard rock band. This is their 3rd full-length album.
Calexico - El Mirador - 12th LP by this Tucson, AZ-based Tex-Mex indie rock band.
Darkher - The Buried Storm - 2nd LP from this West Yorkshire, UK-based doom metal/folk musician.
The Birthday Massacre - Fascination - 9th LP from this gothic alternative rock band from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Moonlight Haze - Animus - 3rd LP from this Italian symphonic power metal band.
Graveyard Club - Moonflower - 2nd LP from this American synth rock band from Minneapolis, MN.
Those are my highlights of 2022 so far.
