Half the year is gone. My top ten favorites of 2022 so far.
- John Mellencamp – Strictly a One-Eyed Jack – Mellencamp has dropped two of his best albums in the last five years.
- Mondo Cozmo – This Is For The Barbarians – Catchy, relevant, anthemic, and in search for a genre to put him over the top.
- Hugar – Rift – The instrumental, peaceful album of the year.
- Bill Callahan and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – Blind Date Party -A collection of cover songs put together like a quarterly of written short stories.
- Sly5thAve & Roberto Verastegui – Agua de Jamaica – The album that turns my head when a track I haven’t memorized comes on.
- Carrtoons – Homegrown – What is this lovely R&B experience?
- Orville Peck -Bronco – No sophomore slump here, just pure growth.
- The Black Keys – Dropout Boogie – Did we finally get the sequel to El Camino?
- Frank Turner – FTHC – Of all the solid middle of the road rock albums this year, this is the stand out.
- Kendrick Lamar – Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers – We waited five years for this, he deserves top ten status. (for now)
On the outside looking in includes: Kevin Morby, Wilma Vritra, North Mississippi All Stars, Denzel Curry, S.G. Goodman, Lupe Fiasco, and Spoon.
I wrote about some pretty records.