Music of 2022

Jan. 2nd, 2023 04:41 pm
walleye: (Default)
[personal profile] walleye
Oh baper four, we’ve really been through it now, haven’t we.


sorry this is a little late, hope everyone has had a great start to 2023 so far!
 
Spotify says my most listened to song is Love Me More (and the most listened to artist is Mitski) which makes sense but it is certainly a very front-end heavy analysis. I always love exploring new music so was pleased when spotify said my music mbti or whatever was the Explorer One. like yes! Give me variety! But i don’t feel like i deserve that title this year as i do other years. Also, I don’t think there was really anything this year that ended my life like ingydar did last year, though some did come close. And for some reason that I don’t know, looking back at my playlist, I really don’t recognize a lot of the songs I put on it lol. I think i added a lot without properly listening to them so I will have to prune later. Anyways here’s the month by month playback...
 
January
Red with Love
Pom Pom Squad
A very upbeat song with such a sweetness that makes for an addicting listen. I love a peppy, hyperbolic lovesong that is exuding so much affection that you can feel it from the first listen.
Love Me More
Mitski
desperate, frenzied, upbeat, what’s not to love. While Red with Love reflects the giddiness of a love-giver, Love Me More bears the anguished cries of someone in need of Great Love and Attention, and i can certainly relate to that as well. Thank you mitski!
 
Polly
Dora Jar
Repeating what I said in my JAN 2022 post (but more refined):  this is quite a funky beat, it reminds me of something that i cannot quite place but i like the use of repetition in some parts, like with "I hit the ground ground" that adds kind of an auditory "double take" of sorts. very rhythmic and fun!

February
生きる (Ikiru)
Tokyo Incidents
This song is a journey...just like life! Sheena Ringo has such powerful wailing vocals in this song that really lend such gravity and emotion to some really poignant lyrics. It’s just so beautiful <3 
SHALLOW (PPL SWIM IN SHALLOW WATER)
Saya Gray
SOMETHING’S IN THE WEED, MY FRIEND, I’M SEEING MOTHER MARY! wow the way she modulates her voice is so interesting to listen to and this is just a lucky find...19 MASTERS as an album overall is also very interesting both sonically and lyrically, but it won’t be a part of my 2022 review because i technically just listened to it in 2023 lol.

March
クールクールビジョン (Cool Cool Vision)
CHAI
Heard this live and it’s very fun <3 i love the energy that CHAI has and i wish them the best because they have such a Cool Cool Vision themselves.
 
flipp!ng a coin
Billlie
The kind of obnoxious kpop i can get into. It’s just so unusual but it makes for very reliable party kpop.
 
April
Effeminacy
Sega Bodega
I had a lot of fun with a few other songs on this album as well, like “Cicada” and “Only Seeing God When I Come”. Effeminacy was my gateway song, and i love how the first line is a question “You don't own effeminacy, do you?”, that maintains itself as the prime focus of the song, distorted throughout (much like society’s own definitions of effeminacy...Or Something). Good production work on this all overall <3
 
Meteorite
BANKS
I like rhythmic music that builds on itself. Especially when chanting is involved, it sounds especially primal and provocative. I love the way she sings “and the way / You're licking your lips, I know you don't bite / Or maybe you do, I can do it too” is SO FUN, like fast paced catchy banter.
 
Pretty Psycho
Purple Kiss
I'm a freaky purky, purky, purky freaky....
 
May
Edison
WEDNESDAY CAMPANELLA
Okay TIL that the singer of This Song/album is different from the singer of past WC albums that i know and love because the main singer left....the more you know. I love WC songs for always being very ~quirky~ and fun and this is no exception.
 
New York
Ex:Re, Josephine Stephenson, 12 Ensemble
The strings in this feel so cutting and the vocals so haunting...the eerie siren sounds in the background...cities as a focus not of fun and excitement and family but cruel memories and loss. Wow it’s gorgeous <3
 
Worry Bout Yourself
LAUNDRY DAY
Gosh this song is sooooo much fun i love the way they sing “My sweet boy I hate to see you cry” and make “cry”  have more syllables than i thought possible. It’s impossible for me to listen to this without at least starting to bob my head and i think their vocal style is so fun and indicative of their abilities.
 
Choreomania
Florence + The Machine
I just kept spinning and I danced myself to death ! i wasn’t able to vibe with a lot of songs on this album but this one was my favorite. I love how, according to genius, the song is based on an exploration of panic attacks and their similarities to dancing plague events lololol. Feeling out of control, not like yourself, i think these are ideas that florence really expressed well. Plus the song is so catchy, the buildup feels immense but the release so freeing.
 
June
Call Your Mom
Chase Icon
Yet another hyperpop icon <3
 
Misread
Kings of Convenience
I do think all KoC songs sound the same but the guitar is so lovely. I think it’s interesting because you don’t hear a lot of songs about friendship, and even though it’s so easy to get caught up in the soothing instrumentals, the song is very bittersweet.
 
OUCH!
Nxdia
Songs that have lines in different languages are cool to me <3 this song is so great, it’s really the kind of song you can just scream aloud to and i had it going on repeat. Pop rock music with generally relatable lyrics is a perfect formula to Me.
 
July
If I Don’t
Ally Hills
This may be boring to some but i’m a big fan. The synths are just tuned very well!
 
Toddler
Taeyeon
This song has such a funky instrumental but then the lyrics are kinda sad...”Still dreaming like a child” like no queen keep ur head up.
 
I Don’t Have a Pen
Bialystocks
The grandness of the singing in such sharp contrast to the whimsy of the lyrics “I don’t have a pen / You have a pen”. And wow, the vocals truly go off in this, too! I wish I could find a good english translation of the lyrics for this song </3 will have to search harder but im too tired rn akldsjaldfkja
 
August
Forgive Yourself
Foxes
I totally forgot foxes was on that one skrillex song i was obsessed with in middle school. I don’t think she has strayed much from her origins in terms of style but it works and it’s fun!
 
Sisyphus
Andrew Bird
Heard this song on The Bear and really enjoyed it <3 The opening “Sisyphus peered into the mist / A stone's throw from the precipice, paused” flows so smoothly and i really like the way this song provides a more personal retelling/continuation of the myth. It’s interesting to me because if you sing about myths/known characters, that provides a kind of guarantee that listeners will feel the emotions you mean to evoke. You know the futility of sisphus’s struggle from the beginning, but then that leaves more room for you to think about it further, if he were to just give up, let it all go. So cool!  Anyways. Me < guy who still has to finish reading myth of sisyphus by albert camus.
 
After LIKE
IVE
IVE saving kpop rn with love dive and this. God the way that they not only sampled such a legendary song but did it SO WELL! I am in awe, good for them <3
 
HUBBA BUBBA
DAISY
An indulgent bop with great vocals and a very Seductive bassline. Also, I rarely listen to songs all the way to the end once i begin listening to them regularly but the outro for this is so great <3 “Cheeks so red baby look like a bowl of cherries” the imagery, much like the rest of the song, is suggestive and leaves behind that last sweet taste, reminiscent of fleeting relationships.
 
September
Frankenstein
Rina Sawayama
Im sorry i rly could not get into this album </3 it didn’t work out and i think it was cursed from the beginning bc rina did NOT make my town a stop on her tour! But still, I love how frankenstein had such a complex drumline and interesting lyrics about warping yourself for relationships. This, imagining, and your age were my favs from hold the girl. I really do miss the 10-20-40 days so much tbh, when rinad song and music releases were more infrequent and treasured. I feel like a lot of stan culture has kinda ruined the vibe of it all for me but that’s a whole other discussion lol.
 
October
w.o.t.h
Tamino
I know there are a lot of tamino stans out there but tbh i do struggle a bit getting into his music because of how mellow it can be. But this song is so perfect to me...whine...buildup...love as divinity...the outro “But the will of this heart, won't have me looking down” being repeated with increased devotion and derangement...mwah!
 
Soft Shock
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
I hadn’t heard this song back in the It’s Blitz era but revisited the album after the recent yeah yeah yeahs release. Listening to it feels like a very wistful and nostalgic experience, which i think is helped by the vagueness of the lyrics. The gentle instrumentals and guitar riff especially...(closes eyes and evaporates)
 
Welcome To Hell
black midi
I went on rate your music Once and saw this album recommended so i gave it a listen and this song particularly is so much fun. Interesting anti-imperial/war lyrics,  my fav line being - “In this land of oysters, you are the world”, and i love how the instrumental sounds so discordant and jaded.
 
Shooting Star
Carly Rae Jepsen
I enjoyed carlys new album a lot and this was my fav song <3 just an all around good pop bop, wish i could’ve seen her live ;__; anxious (the bonus track) is also an ear worm because the intro to me sounds like a tame impala song. It tickles the mind...
 
November
Silly Boy
Lynks
One of the funnest diss tracks i’ve heard
 
He's a dick, he's a piece of shit, he's a fucking piss-slit
He's the end bit of the banana when you peel it
 
Yes. go off!!
 
Shooting Star
MUNA
Now why does this song make me wanna cry...didn’t really listen to it when the album first came out but revisited it again and AAAAAOUGH. It’s mellow and slow and tormenting and “you're already spanning skylines inside my mind” kills me every time. You can feel the distance between muna and their lover so viscerally and the shooting star imagery makes it feel like they are giving up on their DREAM, their wish. wah...
 
December
Forever
Mïrändä
Love a little bit of toxic relationship in MY music. 
 
Cos I'm not letting you go
You and me are forever you know
You're just a little depressed
But we're working through that I'm the best
 
Her vocals kind of remind me of mitski as well.
 
Peeping Tom - Demo
Frou Frou, Imogen Heap, Guy Sigsworth
Oh yeah this song makes me feel like a lil creeper i love it. Imogen’s “I like it...” said so breathily, it feels a little illicit to listen to this song, but the strings in the background and the other lyrics add a fun Whimsy to the experience.
 
midnight sun
Nilüfer Yanya
Im late im behind etc but this song/the album are really good and i need to delve deeper into her discog. The lyrics feel very empowering ^__^
 
Villain
PIXY
Omg they served soooo hard with this one.
 
Dropped that f- that in the l-
I used to have as
Baby, I just lost my mem'ry in the new l-
Take a look inside-side-side (villain)
 
Tbh i don’t rly know much about what kind of music pixy made before, i think i’ve confused them with so many other similar sounding girl groups but i should rly listen to this whole album at least...
 
Albums
The Gods We Can Touch
Aurora
As an Overall album, i think this was my fav of the year! I have fond memories associated with it, and Aurora’s ~elvish weird girl~ style fucks. My fav songs on it - “You Keep Me Crawling”, “Exist for Love”, and “Everything Matters”. Aaaaough i feel like there’s just so much I could say about this album, from how gorgeous Aurora’s voice is, to how she does a great job of producing an aura of mysticism in her music. Good stuff overall. I do hope to see her live one day...
 
Laurel Hell
Mitski
MITSKI!!!!!!! So many vulnerable and relatable lyrics and it feels like she really is able to see the world with so much Cutting Clarity. Like she has to be the smartest person in the whole world fr. i’m always in awe of her talent and she is just such a thoughtful person overall so i’m big fan. My fav songs: Love Me More, Shouldve Been Me, Working For the Knife.
 
Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You
Big Thief
So much variety on this album but all of it going in such interesting directions. Twenty songs too, how indulgent! A very cozy, uplifting listen.
Fav songs: Simulation Swarm, Little Things, Spud Infinity
 
Get To Heaven
Everything Everything
Im behind again </3 i listened to their 2022 album but it was Just Okay to me (perhaps i need to relisten), but then i listened to this and it was SO FUN! Fun lyrics, addictive instrumentals.
Fav songs: Blast Doors, Spring / Sun / Winter / Dread, No Reptiles
 
Conclusion
Feeling like i need to revisit the way that i listen to music because i think it is the media type i give the least thought to. Normally it is so easy for me to just say i like a song because it sounds nice, but i want to a.) pay more attention to the lyrics b.) understand what the song represents to the album/artist as a whole. It would also sure be nice if this is the year i learn how to talk about music, and if i could just Learn music concepts for real (guy who is too embarrassed to admit they still don’t really get what a melody means LKASJDALSDJ). Sometimes i feel like i will be listening to music and not really Hearing it, like it will be playing but i am just not receptive to it at all and i’m trying to improve on that too, because i think its honestly just an issue of me not being in the right mood when i listen.

i also have not been really into kpop this year...i found the offerings to be kinda weak. maybe i am just phasing out of it but we will see what happens in 2023 with releases. i also did really love stayc poppy but didn't think it rly warranted an entry here lol. anyways ANYONE EXCITED FOR THE NEW VIXX SOON WHICH COMES OUT...TOMORROW?
 
Thank you so much for reading, hope 2023 is treating you all well. Feel free to send me music recs i am always open to everything! Will be taking some time now to read everyone’s end of the year entries and write comments <3
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