Jim Carroll's 22 best albums of 2022

What’s below is what 2022 sounded like around here, the 22 albums which gave me the most sport these last 12 months.

There are a few more weeks to go before we put a lock on it, but I don’t think repeated spins of Bob Dylan’s Must Be Santa is going to change the shape of it too much. Might change the shape of me, but that’s not your concern.

Lists are the lengths and breadths of the writing about music game. Everything has a dimension and a place and a ranking and a square rootage so it often feels more about quantity over quality when it comes to rounding up another buckwild year in the fields.

But everyone’s at it so you have a go too. You quickly realise two things. First of all, as someone who no longer writes about or talks about music for a living, I’ve no idea when half the music I listen to was released. My most played tune in 2022 was Confidence Man’s Holiday, which I only got around to a year after everyone else. Still can’t understand why that didn’t become a banger.

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Secondly, it’s hard to keep the list to just 22. This may sound obvious, but bear with me here. There’s an argument floated at this time of year every year by lads (it’s always lads) on the socials (it’s always the socials) that this was a poor year for new releases.

Stroll on by past that one. It’s obvious that you’re just not listening right. You’re not listening enough. You’re not paying enough attention. Every year yields a massive harvest of tunes and records which push popandrock in so many different, fascinating and compelling directions. It’s a joy and a pleasure to watch that drift and catch those waves.

That said, there were some records this year which stunk the place out, but we’ll say no more about them on this outing. Instead, let’s champion the albums which shone like diamonds, the albums which found their space in the room and made a mark in the firmament. Let’s take the time to salute the artists who followed their senses and created something which you’ll be happy to play again and again. Let’s give them some love. These are 22 records to take with you from 2022. In strict numerical order too because anything else would just a cop-out.

(1) Makaya McCraven - In These Times

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(2) Sarathy Korwar - Kalak

(3) Beyonce - Renaissance

(4) Rosalia - Motomami

(5) Panda Bear & Sonic Boom - Reset

(6) Harry Styles - Harry’s House

(7) Daniel Avery - Ultra Truth

(8) Fontaines DC - Skinty Fia

(9) Charlotte Adigery & Boris Pupul - Topical Dancer

(10) Weyes Blood - And In the Darkness, Hearts Aglow

(11) Gabriels - Angels & Queens

(12) Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Cool It Down

(13) Vieux Farka Toure & Khruangbin - Ali

(14) Shygirl - Nymph

(15) Gilla Band - Most Normal

(16) Honey Dijon - Black Girl Magic

(17) HAAi - Baby We’re Ascending

(18) Spiritualized - Everything Was Beautiful

(19) CMAT - If My Wife New I’d Be Dead

(20) Horace Andy - Midnight Rocker

(21) Confidence Man - Tilt

(22) Danielle Ponder - Some Of Us Are Brave

Jim Carroll's 22 best albums of 2022

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