Do you know what the sound of that fanfare rising from the distance means? It's time for another rendition of my favorite albums of the year list. I've been doing this list for years now and I just realized I've never detailed my odd listening habits, which might give a little insight into the amount of albums I can and can't get to in a year. Alright, here it goes: Every Monday I make a new playlist that I tend to like to keep an hour long, usually containing one album that just came out that I'm interested in, and if that's less than an hour I'll include isolated songs from other albums I haven't been able to get around to. And without fail, I listen to that playlist once a day for seven days straight, and then it's on to the next playlist. Even if I don't end up liking the album on the given week's playlist, I stick with it or else it'll throw off my whole pattern. Obviously, I listen to albums from years past and albums from previous playlists when I have free time elsewhere, but the weekly playlist is a constant.
Is this an overly rigid method, the work of someone who may have a few screws loose? Yes, no question. But it's been working for me for over a decade. However, this year was the first time that I wondered if this method is untenable given the amount of music I want to listen to for contention on this list. With the current process I use, I can only have around 60 total albums to which I can give an ample amount of listens, and there seems to be more records that intrigue me every year. I don't know if 2022 was just an outlier, with everyone who's been holding on to releases due to the pandemic all deciding to drop material, or if this is the new normal. That's a worry for next year though. For now, let's dig into some of this year's best music.
The rules: Everything is the same as usual. The window of eligibility for this list is anything released between January 1, 2022 and now. This list can include albums, mixtapes, EPs, and anything in between.
Honorable Mentions (25-21)
Equal parts beautiful and exhausting, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You is the kind of record only a band as in sync as Big Thief could make. To make up for the wait we endured for SOS, SZA gifted us with 23 tracks of witty, conversational R&B music. Both members of Let's Eat Grandma went through their fair share of emotional turmoil in the time since their debut, and they turn it into moving, iridescent synth pop on Two Ribbons. Labyrinthitis is the 13th album from Destroyer, and Dan Bejar's hieroglyphic songwriting still holds a powerful sense of mystery. 2022 gave us four(!) albums from rapper Boldy James, my favorite of those being Mr. Ten08, his lush collaboration with producer Futurewave.
There are few endeavors as a writer that are more difficult than trying to talk about a billy woods album, because he's undoubtedly smarter than you and his work is deeper than anything you could write about it. His raps are dense texts, laced with coded language, complex thematic ideas, and a grim profundity. From the album's title, the Nigerian film that's sampled throughout it, and the motifs in its songs, I gather Aethiopes is about blackness throughout the history of time, but alot of it continues to be just out of my grasp. Perhaps that's why "Wharves" is the best song, because it feels like the most clearly defined example of the album's thesis, using brutal language describing white slavers to flip the Eurocentric idea of African savagery on its head. The album is littered with references to the African slave trade and its ramifications on black lives today, often traveling time in the span of a bar, the doldrums of equatorial Africa becoming the Jeep of a drug dealer blasting Tha Carter III. Woods' part on "Sauvage" may be verse of the year, a dazzling feat of storytelling and idea construction that starts with "Dre shot his uncle for beating his mom / Beat the case, started 11th grade like nothing was wrong" and only gets more bleak from there. It's that awe-inspiring rapping that keeps the album from being a chore. Aethiopes is the medicine and the spoonful of sugar.
Highlight songs
1. Wharves
2. Sauvage (ft. Boldy James & Gabe Nandez)
3. NYNEX (ft. Elucid, Denmark Vessey & Quelle Chris)
I don't think the emo community agrees with this statement, but 2022 felt like a weak year for the genre, especially compared to the past two years. But Snow Ellet, one of the bright stars of last year who made 2021's list with suburban indie rock star, was back again this year with another EP of fun-sized jams. "19" opens it up with an all-out banger -- so perfectly catchy and angsty -- singing "wish I could stay 19 for a while" halfway between winking and sincerity. "Smile Wide" then amps things up with a rubbery bassline and a buzzsaw twin guitar attack. Snow Ellet perfectly captures the tone and sound of something you'd hear on Fuse in the mid-2000s; the sneering vocals, the youthful abandon. And Glory Days is a masterclass of eyes-forward, surging rock songs with monster hooks that are in and out in a flash. Even when they take their foot off the gas a little bit on closer "Can't Hear the Phone," it's done with verve and color. At first it felt disappointing that we didn't get a full LP, but maybe these 5 song collections are the perfect delivery system for Snow Ellet's music.
Highlight songs
1. Smile Wide
2. 19
3. Brand New
In 2021, Angel Olsen came out as gay to her parents and her dad died three days later, with her mother's death following a few months afterward. It's safe to say she had a pretty rough pandemic. Naturally, the album she made in the wake of such tragedy is a very interior album, preoccupied with talk of dreams and ghosts. Even the brighter songs feel flavored with foreboding. As a result, Olsen scales back the orchestral grandeur of her last album for a more rootsy, country-influenced sound on Big Time. And with that comes a hard-nosed wit in her lyrics that's part and parcel with the genre ("If you've ever been open, there's no way of knowin' / With the way that knowin' you has been" she sings with a smirk on the opening track). It's a good look on her. Big Time is an album of highs and lows -- there are tracks that rise to a big, swinging climax ("All the Good Times," "Right Now") but then there are those that float along with a simmering intensity ("Dream Thing," "All the Flowers"). In the middle of it all is that captivating warble of Olsen's, which rings with such clarity as it navigates complicated emotions. Big Time is another album of ethereal beauty from an artist who never misses.
Korean band Say Sue Me was originally pitched to me as sounding similar to Camera Obscura, my favorite band of all time, so of course I had to check them out. You might be disappointed if you're looking for a 1:1 copy, but there is some broad resemblance in the emotional temperature of their tunes, and more specifically on a song like "Photo of You," which has that old school torch song swing that feels very Camera Obscura. What gives them a distinct personality is the soft, sun-kissed guitar sound that dominates Last Thing Left. That tone is totally irresistible -- fuzzy and almost surf-like on "Me Around You," recalling a sunny day that's laced with a little bit of melancholy. Likewise, "The Memory of the Time" is perfectly named, a gorgeous, twinkle-eyed instrumental that feels like contemplative remembrance. But it's "To Dream" that truly steals the show. It's the only song sung in Korean, but you don't need to understand the words by the time it has 4 breathtaking guitars stacked on top of each other and you have tears in your eyes from the beauty of it. That's the power that The Last Thing Left holds: it's an album that's understated and inward but still packs a powerful emotional punch.
Highlight songs
1. To Dream
2. Photo of You
After the more dance-centric Hot Thoughts and the poppier, boutique sounds of They Want My Soul, it's a comfort to have Spoon back to making a straight rock record with Lucifer on the Sofa. The album starts off with a swaggering cover of Bill Callahan's "Held," and it's off to the races, following that up with "The Hardest Cut," which imagines a world where The Black Keys were making blues rock with this kind of flavor. Frontman Britt Daniel still commands attention after all of these years with his flinty voice and meat n' potatoes song instincts. He'd be an everyman if it weren't for the fact that very few can write effortless gems as consistently as he does. The tracks are laid out perfectly on Lucifer, cresting in the middle with the back-to-back run of the ragged "Wild" and the classic rock piano jaunt "My Babe." In interviews the band mentioned that they wanted to replicate the sound of performing live, and that strategy works wonders, giving the songs a "you're right there" experience that makes it sound like their most lively record in a while. It's probably annoying that every Spoon write-up praises their consistency, but almost 25 years of great albums is seriously impressive.
The method of releasing Once Twice Melody in chapters, each month from November 2021 to February of this year was an odd choice, one particularly ill-suited for generating hype and discussion. But maybe that was the best way to take in Beach House's most massive album to date, an 18-track, 85-minute epic. With that many songs it's especially important for them to shake the "all their songs sound the same criticism," and while that's never been true in the first place, Melody is the most varied sounding release in their catalog. One second you'll have the gauzy, riding-on-a-moonbeam "Superstar" and then they'll transition to "Pink Funeral," which brings back some of the rickety, spooky sound that characterized their early work. As a longtime fan, it's always interesting to hear the subtle shifts in their sound: guitars are more likely to blend into the layer of sonics than pierce through, the drum programming is more skittering and modern. At this point the band's two members are telepathically attuned to each other, operating on pure instinct and drawing the listener into a euphoric trance. This hasn't had the list showing that other Beach House albums usually do, because it's one of those records you start to doubt when you spend time away from it. Every time I found myself doing that this year, I'd return back to Once Twice Melody and be blown away all over again.
Every musical style has that "[genre] for people who usually don't listen to [genre]" band that gets popular well outside their niche. Deafheaven is that for metal, Kacey Musgraves is that for country, Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar are that for rap, and right now Drug Church is the band for hardcore. Their latest album Hygiene is an audio assault -- it's a flurry of punishing, heavy riffs that blazes to the next song before you have any time to breathe. Then, after 26 minutes, it's over. That whirlwind experience makes the album more rewarding on the whole than just listening to its songs in isolation. Amidst the fury, lead singer Patrick Kindlon has some thoughtful lyrics on the meaning we find in art, the state of the world, and even ideas about cancel culture that aren't insufferable. He knows how wrap it in a pithy quote like "Trust this statement: there's no trusting states, man" or "News flash, I need news less" as well. But really, the main draw are those guitars that are designed to be played as loud as possible. Sometimes there's a reason why a band is the entry-level recommendation for a genre, and in Drug Church's case it's because they simply rip.
Highlight songs
1. Plucked
2. Piss & Quiet
Before A Bit of Previous, it had been 12 years since I truly loved a Belle and Sebastian album. I never fully glommed on to the genre push-and-pull of Girls in Peacetime..., the Human Problems EP series was solid but ill-served by its release strategy, and their 2020 soundtrack/album seemed so minor I didn't even listen to it. It's good to have a record that reminds you of how nice it is to grow old with the band. Album opener "Young and Stupid" is a reflection of that, starting off wistful musings on youth, but now they follow life to its logical conclusion, with lyrics about "creaking bones." True to its name, Previous catalogues the collective's sound over the decades. "Talk to Me, Talk to Me" continues the dancefloor-ready sparkle of recent albums, while the big honking power pop of "Unnecessary Drama" wouldn't be out of place on 2006's The Life Pursuit, and "Do It For Your Country" recalls their 90s heyday. And while they're no longer writing the character sketches that made them beloved, their lyrics still are meant for the dreamers and the downtrodden, the people who spend half their lives in their own heads. As long as that continues, they'll always have a fan in me.
People tend to give outsized credit to the male collaborators of female artists, and Sophie Allison had to have known that when she made the surprising decision to record her third album with the adventurous electronic musician Daniel Lopatin. It hardly matters though, because while Lopatin does add his signature glitchy sounds to songs, what makes Sometimes, Forever great is still its essential Soccer Mommy essence. Allison remains a vivid, nakedly emotional lyricist, contending with self-doubt, her precarious mental health, and the complicated intensity of love with a twisted beauty. This record has the added layer of her dealing with the complexities of being a public figure, particularly on album closer "Still," where she sings "Cause I read the things people have to say / They make me feel like I'm not a person." There's no shortage of heavy material on the album, but it goes down easier because of how she renders it through her facility with melody and killer songwriting chops. The power of Soccer Mommy will always be Sophie Allison and a guitar. The rest is just icing on the cake.
11. Dry Cleaning - Stumpwork
10. Sabrina Carpenter - emails i can't send
9. JID - The Forever Story
8. Tree River - Time Being
7. Pool Kids - Pool Kids
6. The Beths - Expert in a Dying Field
At first glance, the star of the Dry Cleaning show is lead singer/talker Florence Shaw. Her deadpan spoken musings give the band their unique hook, with oddball lyrics that run the gamut of being funny, enraged, absurd, and moving. Her voice and words in combination invite you into a different world, one with its own internal logic that starts to make strange sense. She can turn a sign she saw for a missing turtle in passing one day into a song with a whole solemn history and narrative behind it. She understands the power of saying "I don't want to empty your bank account and give you nightmares, but..." and then never finish the thought. But give it some time and you might find yourself thinking that guitarist Tom Dowse is the real heart of the band. He's one of the most interesting six-string slayers working right now, delivering some of the nastiest, most serrated riffs that'll have your face instinctively scrunching up at the sound of them. Between the mangled riff on "Driver's Story," the heavy chord assault that forms the closest thing to a hook on "Hot Penny Day," and the unfurling lines all over "No Decent Shoes for Rain" that voice so many emotions through their sound, Stumpwork is full thrilling guitar moments. The band expands the borders of their sound on this album, but they're always tied to those punishing riffs. Fight the instinct to label Dry Cleaning as a gimmick band; Stumpwork shows that they're fully capable of sustaining their odd alchemy.
It must be tough being Sabrina Carpenter. (I mean, I'm sure it isn't but roll with me here.) She makes better music than most pop singers who get more radio play and Spotify listeners, she's definitely a better singer than any of them who aren't named Ariana Grande or Adele, and yet the most fame she's gotten was being obliquely referenced in a more successful 18 year old's song. Thankfully, she doesn't let that bring her down on emails i can't send, another great record in an increasingly impressive discography. Its songs accentuate her nimble vocals, and the best ones -- often co-written by Julia Michaels -- have playful lyrics and clever conceits. The strongest moments are the ones that recall the R&B-inflected pop of her Singular series, like "Nonsense" and "Read Your Mind," but she still finds success varying her sound on the rest of the album. Emails features some real heat checks, where she flirts with bad ideas (the chorus of "Already Over" sounds like something you'd on the radio from Dan + Shay, those low-level coffeehouse singer verses on "Skinny Dipping") but even those tracks come around to being pretty good. Sabrina Carpenter may never end up being a huge name in the pop world, but real heads know she's got the goods.
Highlight songs
1. Nonsense
2. Decode
Sometimes wordy, technical rappers can become exhausting and mechanical if you listen to them for a while, but JID's inimitable serpentine style finds incredible pockets that always makes for a lively listen. Plus, he's way more versatile than your usual lyrical miracle emcee: He can do storytelling like "Crack Sandwich," which uses its third verse to tell a vivid story about a time he and his siblings got into a fight with other people at a club in New Orleans. He can rap over unconventional beats, as he does over the head-spinning Thundercat basslines of "Lauder Too." He even has moments like "Kody Blu 31" where he shows that he's a surprisingly good singer. Because of that jack-of-all-trades nature, The Forever Story is an exercise in constantly keeping the listener on their toes, evidenced by the neck-snapping beat switches that arrive in the middle of half the songs. It doesn't matter what he raps over, his fusillade of bars and staccato flow lays waste to any loop thrown at him. If you thought Kendrick Lamar's album was a misstep this year, maybe this album from another heady, high-voiced rapper will work better for you.
Guitar music with earnest lyrics sung by a vocalist who possesses a dorky, nasally voice has been a successful formula since the beginning of time. It worked for The Weakerthans, it worked for Death Cab for Cutie, and now it's working for Tree River. While their songs lack the poetry of John K. Samson's or Ben Gibbard's in his prime, the straightforwardness that the band trades for on Time Being has its own potency. Whether they're singing about feeling like everyone in your life is mad at you, or wondering whether somebody is laughing at or with you, they know how to make the most small scale moments feel like massive inflection points. And though they serve up broad phrases like "fuck apathy" and "breathe in time, believe in love," they're capable of getting specific, as they do on album highlight "Same Blood," one of the best songs about dealing with and ultimately overcoming the death of a loved one that's come around in a long time. With clean production, the guitars sound huge and the spaces wide open, all the better for shouting these impassioned hooks at the top of your lungs.
Highlight songs
1. Same Blood
Four years is a long time between albums these days, particularly in the DIY scene, but that's how long it took for Tallahassee's Pool Kids to deliver a follow-up to their promising debut album. It turns out the wait was worth it, because this self-titled record is a huge level up, dazzling with its high drama, dynamic songs. The tracks on Pool Kids keep you on your toes -- they careen and lurch through different mini-movements at will. Because of this, they feel like epic odysseys even though none of them pass the five-minute mark. With each listen, the insane tightrope walk that the band pulls off becomes more impressive: it's moody without sacrificing its catchiness, technical but still accessible. Pool Kids are like a heavier, more math-rock influenced Paramore, and if that sounds at all appealing to you, then definitely give this album a spin.
Highlight songs
1. Arm's Length
3. Swallow
Expert in a Dying Field, the third record from New Zealand power pop greats The Beths, finds a middle ground between their exuberant debut and its more mellow follow-up, landing on something that's richer and more satisfying without relinquishing that sparkling fizz that they're known for. What puts them a level above their peers is they have the instrumentation to keep up with their monster hooks, and their musicianship and chemistry shine through as always. Expert find The Beths more varied than ever: "Silence is Golden" moves like a buzzsaw, perfectly matching the tone of the song's lyrics about anxiety and intrusive thoughts. "I Want to Listen" is off-kilter, almost jazzy with a lead guitar that worms through the song. Meanwhile, the lovely ballad "Your Side" is a swooning midtempo number and "Head in the Clouds" soars by with a driving-with-the-top-down chord progression. Previous Beths albums had so much pep that they flirted with being exhausting after a few listens, but there's none of that so far with Expert in a Dying Field, which might be their best yet.
5. String Machine - Hallelujah Hell Yeah
4. Alvvays - Blue Rev
2. Beyonce - Renaissance
1. Momma - Household Name
Bands are too small these days. Power trios, four-pieces, even five-person bands -- all cowards. Pittsburgh's String Machine understand the simple equation of More People = Better Music. They sport a total of seven members, and they use their ranks to the fullest extent with songs that are bursting with life and sound. Horns? They've got them. Strings? You can find them here. Guitars? Of the acoustic and electric variety. Hallelujah Hell Yeah has a fullness that recalls the indie maximalism of the mid-2000s. Songs like "Churn It Anew" are bright and ornate, powering along with galloping drums, horns, and New Pornographers harmonies. But "Gales of Worry" also exhibits an instinct of knowing when to control their power, keeping the verses restrained before winding up into a big, string-laden chorus. With this album, String Machine has delivered nine songs of resplendent, serotonin-boosting joy. Hallelujah, hell yeah indeed.
Highlight songs
If you thought sophomore album Antisocialites was the platonic ideal of what Canadian cult favorite Alvvays should sound like, Blue Rev might take some time to adjust to. It trades the clean and polished sonics of that album for blown out, wall-of-sound noise. They've always been a band with sneakily impressive guitar work, but there's nothing modest about it here. The guitars are at the forefront of the mix in a big way on Blue Rev, cycling from Smithsian jangle to shoegaze smears. At first, the level of noise on top of the songs feels like a distraction from the band's hooky songwriting, but it starts to feel like an essential ingredient that enhances the pop structures. Every listen reveals another little ingenuity -- they pack so much into the album that it's almost shocking that it's only 38 minutes. The three song stretch of "Velveteen," "Tile By Tile," and "Pomeranian Spinster" in particular is unbelievable, enough to make any songwriter blind with jealousy. Blue Rev once again proves that we have a rare gift with Alvvays, a band often imitated but rarely matched.
If you're an amateur listmaker like myself, then the last few weeks of the year are a stressful time of trying to catch up on anything you might have missed. The irony is that because you're cramming so much in, you're rarely able to digest the records enough for them to make top 20 contention, but sometimes an album's greatness is so self-evident that it makes the cut at the last minute. Such is the case with Air Guitar, which I have to thank Keegan from the band Camp Trash and Michael Brooks of the Endless Scroll podcast for shouting out. Sobs are a band from Singapore who specialize in making sticky, lovelorn tunes that have a way of worming their way into your way brain and never leaving. Some of the songs on Air Guitar are so perfect they feel like they've existed forever -- the band knows every songwriting trick back and forth, and they stack them on top of each other with prodigious ease. A song will already sound fully formed and then they'll add an extra guitar line here or a keyboard splash there to make it even better. At the center of it all is lead singer Celine Autumn's soft, girlish voice, which nestles around these bulletproof pop hooks with her infectious line deliveries. Sobs have mentioned that they don't want to be described as the Asian version of any Western band, but they don't have to worry about that. There's nobody in this hemisphere doing it quite like them.
Highlight songs
1. Burn Book
2. Dealbreaker
3. LOML
A new Beyonce album in 2022 was always going to be rapturously received. She's reached the point of adoration from critics and fans alike that she could have released a record consisting entirely of scatting and slam poetry and it would have ended up on almost every top 10 list at the end of the year. I hardly consider myself a member of the Beyhive -- all of her music is good, but I've always been a little confused by the messianic status placed upon her -- so take my word when I say this: Renaissance is a stunning album. Well, it's almost more a summer dance mix than an album, taking the listener on a tour of deep house, roller rink disco, dancehall, soul, and every other Black music genre under the sun, blending them together seamlessly. It's a magnificently sequenced affair, warming up with the magisterial sway of "I'm That Girl" and then upping the intensity until it closes with the barnburner that is "Summer Renaissance." With the powerful grooves Renaissance is working with, it'd be easy for a singer to get lost in them, but she's always in thrilling command, never breaking a sweat over the feverish music. When a musician has ascended to True Artiste status, there's a tendency to fall victim to self-seriousness. Thank god Beyonce went and made a party album instead.
The rock star is a concept that died somewhere in the 90s or early 2000s, but what if it never did, and you could still achieve that rarified air? That's the thesis statement of Momma's third album, which represents the band going all out to create the biggest rock album they can, with songs like "Rockstar," lyrics about filling auditoriums, and namechecks of bands like Pavement and Smashing Pumpkins. That's not just empty ambition either -- Momma has the chops to back it up. The record has so many exciting songwriting ideas: the way they hold off on the incredible main riff of "Speeding 72" for a few bars in the final chorus, the pre-chorus of "Tall Home" getting heavier each time it pops back up, the restraint it takes to not bring back the opening riff of "Lucky" until three minutes later, the way the big chunky chords of "No Stage" give way to arpeggiated single notes towards the end, having the only true guitar solo on the album be the last thing you hear on the closing track. This is the quintessential guitar album, so in love with the instrument that it can't help but stuff all these riffs and little frills in every corner of songs. That passion shines through in the lyrics too. So much of the record is concerned with plans, hopes, dreams, and yearning for escape. The first two Momma albums were promising, but nobody could have predicted a leap like this. It's almost bracing to hear a modern classic like this just rattle off incredible song after song. So if you haven't heard Household Name yet, drive on the highway speeding at 72 MPH and blast it as loud as you can.
Highlight songs
1. Speeding 72
2. Lucky
3. Motorbike
Well, that wraps things up for my best albums of 2022 list. I love reading other lists, so feel free to share yours in the comments. Or if you want to share your thoughts on my list, then you can do that too! Most of the highlight songs contain Youtube links if you want to listen to them, but I've also created a Spotify playlist if that's your preferred method. You can find it below. And if you want a complete ranking of all the albums that were in consideration for this list, along with some other data you might find interesting, you can find them on this Google Doc.
DAMN I SKIPPED A GOOD ASS ALBUM BY BELLE AND SEBASTIAN
ReplyDeleteI was so convinced it wasn't going to be all that and a bag of chips I never gave it a thought. Hell yes! LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
THE FIVE ALBUMS I LIKED MOST THIS YEAR
1. Beyoncé, Renaissance
Couldn't agree more that this is the pinnacle of her career. INCREDIBLE MUSIC. Listen to it again and again and it still sound vibrant as anything I've ever heard.
2. Flo Milli, You Still Here Ho?
You've gotta listen to this one I loved it. Great rapper. Great melodies. Particularly liked "Pretty Girls" and "Tilted Halo"
3. Vince Staples, RHBMH
Damn seeing this sitting one spot above boring Kendrick Lamar and Arcade Fire (fuck lose butler) albums made me sad. I really liked this record. I will say it did sound like Vince Staples' most plain album. After four straight records that had their own vibes, even if the self-titled was underwhelming, this was the one with the least identity, almost like he's going through the motions. I'm still a big fan of his lyricism and flow though so I do not mind.
4. Pretty Sick, Makes Me Sick Makes Me Smile
I am quite surprised nobody cares about this record. It's like when I think "Fake It Flowers" by Beabadobee is the best album of 2020. I thought this record sounded cool as hell. Real 90s rock vibes I recommend it. "Yeah You" and "Self Fulfilling Prophecy" and "Black Tar" are my favs.
5. Laurel Hell by Mitski
Honestly this could go to Alvvays. But I'll give it to Mitski instead because I listened to it longer and have a better connection to the songs, and honestly feel that it is underrated. But that three song opener on Alvvways was KILLER.
Shoutout to the songs Talk, I Pray for You, Shotgun, New Shapes, and Hotel Lobby fof being great.
Definitely check out the B&S album. Some really quality tunes on that bad boy.
DeleteI definitely need to get around to the Flo Milli album!! I really liked her previous one and this one just came out at a bad time but maybe I'll squeeze it in to the doldrums of January 2023.
I don't know what it was about the Vince Staples record, but I haven't really felt his last two. I like Ramona Park more than the self-titled but he sounds a little bored to me lately. Alot of people really loved this one though so maybe my ears don't work.
I remember seeing the album cover of Makes Me Sick Makes Me Smile and thinking it looked cool, but otherwise I have no familiarity with Pretty Sick. But you gave a good pitch for it, so I'm definitely going to check it out.
I kind of am a Mitski agnostic so I skipped Laurel Hell since it seemed like people aren't as hot on it and also the Mitski fandom exhausts me. But I shouldn't hold that against her.
I def agree about the Mitski fandom. Although tbh I never see any of it outside of people complaining about the people who are too obssessed so it never bothers me.
DeleteI also honestly admire your listening. Habits. Wish I had that same desire to hear all that new music and build a relationship woth an album like that.