My Favorite Records of 2022

January 17, 2023

Grid of all of the record covers shown below in this article.

Music is a very significant part of my life. I was a full-time musician for a number of years, with a lot of records and shows under my belt. But more immediately relevant, I’m a music fan. I listen to music all day, every day.

Every December I compile a list of my favorite releases of the year. I have previously published this for close friends on locked social channels and in group chats.

Last December I published my list publicly for the first time, on Mastodon. But social posts are fleeting. I thought I should capture them somewhere a little more sticky. It’s still a relevant list, with most everything here still in regular rotation.

In alphabetical order…

Black and white ornamental etching illustration with the band name in blue overlaid.

Cape Fade, “Cape Fade”

Favorite track: Lost My Head

Listen: https://capefade.bandcamp.com/album/cape-fade

Black and white photo of the bust of a shirtless tattooed man wearing a black hooded monster mask with sharp teeth.

Charlie No Face, “Eleven Thousand Volts”

Favorite track: Flat Circle

Listen: https://forbiddenplacerecords.bandcamp.com/album/charley-no-face-eleven-thousand-volts

Cassette cover with black ink on red paper, cover illustration of a medieval battle scene, band/EP name, and song list

Favorite track: Life’s Cold Grasp

Listen: https://dazestyle.bandcamp.com/album/2022-promo

Black and white illustration of the bottom part of a skull shape that’s merged upward into some skulls on a hill, with a church in the background, and then into some dark hooded people.

Edict, “Self-Titled”

Favorite track: Salvation

Listen: https://edict666.bandcamp.com/album/ep

Black and white collage of torn paper grainy prints of various buildings in Baltimore and a group of protesters.

End It, “Unpleasant Living”

Favorite track: New Wage Slavery

Listen: https://flatspotrecords.bandcamp.com/album/fsr59-unpleasant-living

Pewter figurines of a band performing with instruments/microphones in hand, clustered together over a silver textured background.

Gatrot, “Dark Days Ahead”

Favorite track: Dark Days Ahead

Listen: https://gat-rot.bandcamp.com/track/dark-days-ahead

Black and white illustration of a mace smashing into and distorting a checkerboard pattern, with a blue corner tag with the record name, and blue/white band names in a decorative font.

Gel, “Shock Therapy” (Split EP)

Favorite track: Mental Static

Listen: https://gelhc.bandcamp.com/album/shock-therapy-a-split-with-cold-brats

Colorful illustration of a demon riding a battle-dressed horse out of a burst of fire/smoke with the band names in decorative black fonts and the record name in a yellow font overlaid.

Graveripper, “Faster Than the Fucking Devil”

Favorite track: Mind Filled with Dread

Listen: https://graveripper.bandcamp.com/album/faster-than-the-fucking-devil

Blue/white illustration of a 70s car with yellow lights with the yellow record title and orange artist name on the windshield in futuristic city in the background.

Konata Small, “Major Moves”

Favorite track: MNYPWR

Listen: https://ffm.to/ksmajormoves

Black and white photo looking through a gap in a fence at two snarling dogs with the artist name in red and the record name in blue, both in a pained-style font overlaid.

Linqua Franqa, “Bellringer”

Favorite track: Wurk

Listen: https://linquafranqa.bandcamp.com/album/bellringer

Photo of Little Simz with her dreadlocks in a dark-blue hoodie with the hood down over her shoulders in front of a white abstract art sculpture.

Little Simz, “No Thank You”

Favorite track: Gorilla

Listen: https://littlesimz.ffm.to/nothankyou.OWE

Digital illustration of an abstract mesh of bright/vivid colors, with one hole shape showing a grainy photo of a Native American man wearing traditional garb.

Medicine Singers, “Medicine Singers”

Favorite track: Hawk Song

Listen: https://medicinesingers.bandcamp.com/album/medicine-singers

Five versions of Stromae standing together facing each other in a circle, each wearing the same blue plaid suit-style outfits with their hair sculpted into flat cylinder shapes, with a solid light blue background.

Stromae, “Multitude”

Favorite track: Santé

Listen: https://stromae.lnk.to/monamourxcamila

Full-color illustration of a feminine mouth with the tongue protruding forward into a saliva bubble as a silhouette over a light gray/yellow gradient background with the artist/record name overlaid in a block font in a light pink-to-orange gradient.

Tanya Tagaq, “Tongues”

Favorite track: Tongues

Listen: https://tanyatagaq.bandcamp.com/album/tongues

Colorful painting of women working in a weapons factory in an early 20th century American setting.

Wrong War, “Once Upon a Weapon”

Favorite track: Once Upon a Weapon

Listen: https://wrongwar.bandcamp.com/album/once-upon-a-weapon

I really loved compiling this list. I hope you find something on it that nourishes your soul.

#Music #FavoriteRecords #BestOf2022 #Metal #Hardcore #Punk #HipHop #Indigenous #NativeAmerican #Inuit #French

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I’m Mark Wyner, an activist, dad, husband, Designer, writer, public speaker, and Mastodon moderator. If you want me to write for you or speak at your event please say hello.