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.
