Natalia Lafourcade

Feelin’ U: The Top Albums and Songs of 2022

The Top 50 Albums of 2022

1. Moor Mother- Jazz Codes

Review.

2. Mary Halvorson- Belladonna

Review.

3. Natalia Lafourcade- De Todas las Flores

4. Oren Ambarchi- Ghosted

Review.

5. Joyce DiDonato- Eden

6. Rosalía- Motomami

7. Nate Wooley- Ancient Songs of Burlap Heroes

Review.

8. Pusha T- It’s Almost Dry

9. The Weeknd- Dawn FM

Podcast discussion.

10. Dave Douglas- Songs of Ascent: Book 1- Degrees

11. Sarah Davachi- Two Sisters

Review.

12. Billy Woods- Aethiopes

13. Bad Bunny- Un Verano Sin Ti

14. Tim Bernardes- Mil Coisas Invisíveis

15. Brad Mehldau- Jacob’s Ladder

Review.

16. Bobby Watson- Back Home in Kansas City

Review.

17. Anat Cohen- Quartetinho

18. Caroline Shaw and Attacca Quartet- Evergreen

19. Miranda Lambert- Palomino

20. François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles- Claude Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande

21. Vince Staples- Ramona Park Broke My Heart

22. Sault- (God)

23. Matthew Shipp Trio- World Construct

24. Mitsuko Uchida- Beethoven: Diabelli Variations

Review.

25. Beyoncé- Renaissance

Review.

26. Hermon Mehari- Asmara

Review.

27. Samantha Ege- Black Renaissance Women

28. Danger Mouse and Black Thought- Cheat Codes

29. Tyshawn Sorey- The Off-Off Broadway Guide to Synergism

30. Nduduzo Makhathini- In The Spirit of Ntu

31. Silvana Estrada- Marchita

32. Carolin Widmann- L’Aurore

33. Robert Levin- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: The Piano Sonatas

34. Megan Thee Stallion- Traumazine

35. Gerald Clayton- Bells on Sand

Review.

36. iLe- Nacarile

37. Jóhann Jóhannsson- Drone Mass

38. Lucrecia Dalt- ¡Ay!

39. Lise Davidsen and Leif Ove Andsnes- Edvard Grieg

Review.

40. Daniel Villarreal- Panamá 77

41. Wilco- Cruel Country

Review.

42. Sault- 11

43. Tedeschi Trucks Band- I Am the Moon III: The Fall

Review.

44. Cyrille Dubois and Tristan Rais- Fauré: Complete Songs

45. Clarice Jensen- Esthesis

46. Caroline Shaw and I Giardini- The Wheel

47. Tony Malaby’s Sabino- The Cave of Winds

Review.

48. Benny the Butcher- Tana Talk 4

49. Sault- Air

Review.

50. 2 Chainz- Dope Don’t Sell Itself

The Top 50 Songs of 2022 (Spotify playlist)

1. Porridge Radio- “End of Last Year”

2. Kae Tempest featuring Lianne La Havas- “No Prizes”

3. Celeste- "To Love a Man"

4. Anna Butterss- "Doo Wop"

5. Ice Spice- “Munch (Feelin’ U)”

6. Jana Rush featuring DJ Paypal- “Lonely”

7. Jimetta Rose & The Voices of Creation- "How Good It Is"

8. Lee Fields- "Forever"

9. Rod Wave- "Cold December"

10. More Eaze featuring Claire Rousay- "floor Pr. 2"

11. DJ Snake- “Disco Maghreb”

12. Anitta featuring Chencho Corleone- "Gata"

13. Horace Andy- "Watch Over Them"

14. Kaitlin Butts- “She’s Using”

15. Soul Glo- “Gold Chain Punk (whogonbeatmya–)”

16. Drake- "Down Hill"

17. Leikeli47- “LL Cool J”

18. Babehoven- “Fugazi”

19. Sunny Sweeney featuring Vince Gill- “Married Alone”

20. Cécile McLorin Salvant- “Ghost Song”

21. Steve Lacy- "Bad Habit"

22. Aldous Harding- “Fever”

23. Ibibio Sound Machine- “17 18 19”

24. Blackstarkids- “Sex Appeal”

25. Camilo and Nicki Nicole- "Naturaleza"

26. Hailey Whitters- “Everything She Ain’t”

27. Plains- “Hurricane”

28. Big Joanie- “In My Arms”

29. Horse Lords- “Rundling”

30. SleazyWorld Go featuring Offset- “Step 1”

31. Rauw Alejandro featuring Baby Rasta- “Punto 40”

32. Cole Swindell- “She Had Me at Heads Carolina”

33. Willie Nelson- “I’ll Love You Till the Day I Die”

34. Tank and The Bangas featuring Lalah Hathaway and Jacob Collier- “Where Do We All Go”

35. Drake and 21 Savage- “Major Distribution”

36. SZA- “Kill Bill”

37. Big K.R.I.T.- “So Cool”

38. Emily Nenni- “On the Ranch”

39. Ohma- “Seeing Beyond What Is Here”

40. Thotcrime- “You’re Like a Black Hole, The Way You Expect My Life to Revolve Around You”

41. The Smile- “Opposite”

42. Jon Pardi- “Mr. Saturday Night”

43. Lyle Lovett- “12th of June”

44. Animal Collective- “Cherokee”

45. Hiatus Kaiyote- "Get Sun (Georgia Anne Muldrow remix)"

46. Coi Leray- "Players"

47. Leland Whitty- "Awake"

48. Regina Spektor- “Becoming All Alone”

49. Craig Finn- “Messing With the Settings”

50. Peter Lehndorff- “Nothing Can Change”

The Top 25 EPs of 2022

1. Earl Sweatshirt- Sick!

Review.

2. Tom Skinner- Voices of Bishara

3. Drug Church- Hygiene

4. DJ Premier- Hip Hop 50, Vol. 1

5. The Adam Larson Trio- With Love, From Kansas City

Review.

6. Sault- Aiir

7. Iceboy Violet- The Vanity Project 

Review.

8. Shabaka- Afrikan Culture

9. Your Old Droog- Yod Stewart

10. Christian Nodal- EP #1 Forajido

11. Christina Aguilera- La Fuerza

12. Flee Lord- Pray for the Evil 3 

13. Duckwrth- Chrome Bull

14. Ryley Walker- So Certain

15. Your Old Droog and Tha God Fahim- The Wolf On Wall St. 2

16. WiFiGawd- Chain of Command

17. Chubby and the Gang- Labour of Love

18. Brain Tourniquet- Brain Tourniquet II

19. Lil Uzi Vert- Red & White

20. Khruangbin and Leon Bridges- Texas Moon

21. Otoboke Beaver- Super Champon

22. Portico Quartet- Next Stop

23. Elvis Costello- The Resurrection of Rust

24. Flatland Cavalry- Songs to Keep You Warm

25. Lil Ugly Mane- I Believe the World Would Be a Better Place Without You

The Top 25 Reissues, Compilations and Reimaginings of 2022

1. Charles Stepney- Step on Step

2. Saturno 2000: La Rebajada de Los Sonideros 1962-1983

Review.

3. Miles Davis- That’s What Happened 1982-1985: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 7

Review.

4. Brian Harnetty- Words and Silences

Review.

5. Prince and the Revolution- Live

6. Son House- Forever On My Mind

Review.

7. The Beatles- Revolver: Super Deluxe

8. Ray Charles- Live in Stockholm 1972

9. Pastor Champion- I Just Want to be a Good Man

10. Bert Jansch- Bert at the BBC

11. The Pyramids- Aomawa: The 1970s Recordings

Review.

12. Quattro Modigliani- Schubert: The String Quartets

13. Elton John- Madman Across the Water: Deluxe Edition

14. África Negra- Antologia Vol.1

15. Andrew Cyrille, Elliott Sharp and Richard Teitelbaum- Evocation

16. Pavement- Terror Twilight: Farewell Horizontal

Review.

17. Biluka y Los Canibales- Leaf-Playing in Quito, 1960-1965

18. Geri Allen, Charlie Haden and Paul Motian- Live at the Village Vanguard: Unissued Tracks

19. Cecil Taylor- The Complete, Legendary, Live Return Concert at the Town Hall N.Y.C. November 4, 1973

20. Charles Mingus- The Lost Album from Ronnie Scott’s

21. Norah Jones- Come Away With Me: Super Deluxe Edition

22. Nancy Mounir- Nozhet El Nofous

Review.

23. Marius Constant- Xenakis: Syrmos, Polytope de Montréal, Medea, Kraanerg & Oresteia

24. Staples Jr. Singers- When Do We Get Paid

25. Pauline Oliveros and James Ilgenfritz- Altamirage

October 2022 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of the trailer of Opera North’s reworking of Monteverdi’s “L’Orfeo” by There Stands the Glass.

Top Ten Albums of October

1. Natalia Lafourcade- De Todas las Flores

Rapturous beauty.

2. Bobby Watson- Back Home in Kansas City

My review.

3. Brian Harnetty- Words and Silences

My review.

4. Dave Douglas- Songs of Ascent: Book 1- Degrees

Advanced harmolodics.

5. Boston Modern Orchestra Project- Anthony Davis: X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X

A new rendering of the neglected opera.

6. Anat Cohen- Quartetinho

Exquisite chamber jazz.

7. Evgueni Galperine- Theory of Becoming

A Ukrainian Morricone.

8. Armani Caesar- The Liz 2

The month’s best Griselda album.

9. Babyface- Girl’s Night Out

Sultry collaborations.

10. Caroline Shaw and I Giardini- The Wheel

I prefer this hushed recording to the widely praised The Blue Hour.

Top Ten Songs of October

1. Plains- "Hurricane"

Leveled.

2. Grupo Marca Registrada and Luis R. Conriquez- "Puro Campeón"

A true champion.

3. iLe- "Lo Que Yo Quería"

Celestial pop.

4. Ozuna featuring El Cherry Scom- "Perreo y Dembow"

Dizzying.

5. Quavo and Takeoff- "Two Infinity Links"

I’m 250 pages into Joe Coscarelli’s Rap Capital.

6. Jamila Woods- "Boundaries"

Blurred lines.

7. LF System- "Hungry (For Love)"

Famished on the dance floor.

8. SleazyWorld Go featuring G Herbo- “Glitches”

Shots fired.

9. Nardo Wick featuring Polo G- "G Nikes"

If the shoe fits…

10. Hardy- "Truck Bed"

Hick-hop goes pop-punk.


Top Ten Performances of October

1. Marin Alsop and Orchestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo at Helzberg Hall

My review.

2. Ohma and FKJ at the Midland Theater

My review.

3. Raven Chacon’s “American Ledger no. 1” at Agnes Arts

My review.

4. Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt at the Uptown Theater

My review.

5. Terence Blanchard with Turtle Island Quartet at Atkins Auditorium

My review.

6. Alter Destiny at Charlotte Street Foundation

My review.

7. Karen Hsiao Savage, Hyeyung Sol Yoon and Gregory Beaver at White Recital Hall

My review.

8. Stan Kessler, Rod Fleeman and Bob Bowman at a driveway concert

Three of Kansas City’s best on a glorious fall afternoon.

9. Esthesis Quartet at the Blue Room

My Instagram clip.

10. Alex Mallett and Jeff Harshbarger at Market at Meadowbrook

Folklore.


Last month’s survey is here.