Taking notes on a year of music

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/12/2022 (630 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As is our December tradition, the Free Press’s trio of freelance album reviewers — John Kendle, Keith Black and Holly Harris — have pored over a year’s worth of listening to and writing about music to bring you their top 10 picks for 2022. From fresh new acts to established artists, there’s something here for every ear.

POP/ROCK/ROOTS

1. ALVVAYS

Blue Rev (Polyvinyl)

Alvvays is the guitar-based dream-pop quintet led and fronted by Molly Rankin and its third full-length album features 14 songs (delivered in an economical 39 minutes) that take the group’s pop sensibilities and rev them up a notch or two with layers of shoegazey guitars, squalling, messy solos, bursts of noise-rock synths and alternately droning or blissful keyboard washes. Working with producer Shawn Everett (the War on Drugs, Haim, Adele, Big Thief, etc.) and a new rhythm section of drummer Sheridan Riley and bassist Abbey Blackwell, this version of Alvvays is capable of turning on a dime

2. WET LEG

Wet Leg (Domino)

The Wet Leg esthetic is a blend of sardonic lyrics, gently mocking the silliness of love and youth culture, matched with a musical celebration of all the best elements of new wave and indie pop-rock. Musical partners Rhian Teasdale (the dark-haired one) and Hester Chambers have been the darlings of indie rock since mid-2021. After all the hype, their debut record delivered 12 three-minute modern pop gems that should leave everyone wanting more… and a chaise longue.

3. MORGAN WADE

Reckless (Deluxe Edition) (Thirty Tigers)

Technically a cheat, as the first, 10-song version of Reckless was released in 2021. However, the 16-song deluxe edition came out in January 2022, and these tunes became the soundtrack of early summer. Wade’s a deceptively insightful Americana/country singer-songwriter who was “discovered” at her hometown festival by Jason Isbell’s guitarist, Sadler Vaden, who became her producer. She’s capable of soaring pop choruses, such as the hit Wilder Days, as well as confessional tales of sorrow, regret and survival (check out Last Cigarette, Run and The Night).

4. PUP The Unraveling of Puptheband (Rise Records/Universal)

5. BODEGA Broken Equipment (What’s Your Rupture?)

6. SPOON Lucifer on the Sofa (Matador)

7. CRAIG FINN A Legacy of Rentals (Thirty Tigers)

8. JENNY BERKEL These Are the Sounds Left from Leaving (Outside)

9. PIERRE KWENDERS José Louis and the Paradox of Love (Arts & Crafts)

10. BONNIE RAITT Just Like That

— John Kendle

JAZZ

1. JAMES BRANDON LEWIS

MSM Molecular Systematic Music Live (Pyroclastic Records)

Several years ago Lewis released a quartet album called Molecular. In May 2021 the quartet did a live concert in Zurich where they stretched out on the same playlist from the earlier album. It is totally brilliant.

2. EMILE PARISIEN

Louise (ACT)

One of Europe’s finest jazz musicians, soprano player Parisien draws on influences from a wide musical background to create contemporary jazz that is simply wonderful. He has worked with musicians from around the world and this album has both French and North American musicians. It is accessible and beautiful.

3. CHET DOXAS

Rich In Symbols II (Justin Time)

Saxophonist Doxas has composed a set of tunes that refer to the work of Canadian artists Tom Thomson and Emily Carr that is an extraordinary musical journey through a blending of visual and aural art. In concert, Doxas displays the relevant paintings as the referenced tune is being played. Unique and exciting.

The rest, in no particular order:

ERNESTO CERVIN Joy (TPR Records)

PATRICIA BRENNAN More Touch (Pyroclastic Records)

NATE WOOLEY Ancient Songs of Burlap Heroes (Pyroclastic Records)

DAN McCARTHY Songs of the Doomed: Some Jaded, Atavistic Freakout (TPR Records)

MARY HALVORSON Mary Halvorson (concurrent related EPs): Amaryllis and Belladonna (Nonesuch)

GENTIANE MG Walls Made of Glass (TPR Records)

THE OGJB QUARTET Ode To O (Tum Records)

— Keith Black

CLASSICAL

1. BJARTE EIKE & BAROKKSOLISTENE

The Playhouse Sessions, Bjarte Eike & Barokksolistene (Rubicon Classics)

This sleeper hit album parties like it’s 1642 as it pays homage to England’s rich legacy of “alehouses,” which served as creative hothouses for artists after theatres were shuttered at the beginning of the English Civil War. But the boundary-pushing release also celebrates the power of imagination in bringing centuries-old works to life for 21st-century ears.

Baroque violinist Bjarte Eike leads the Barokksolistene ensemble in turning traditional works by Purcell, Dowland, and others firmly on their head, and you’ll never listen to Titania’s lullaby from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, You Spotted Snakes, in quite the same way again.

2. SHOSTAKOVICH SYMPHONY NO. 7

London Symphony Orchestra, Gianandrea Noseda, Conductor (LSO Live)

Gianandrea Noseda leads the London Symphony Orchestra in this take-no-prisoners performance of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7 in C Major, Op. 60, regarded one of the Soviet-born composer’s three “war” symphonies penned during the Second World War. It’s the fifth album in the LSO’s ongoing cycle of works by this arresting voice, which sounds more compelling than ever.

3. BACH (CPE): SONATAS AND RONDOS

Marc-André Hamelin (Hyperion)

Canadian pianist extraordinaire Marc-André Hamelin, renowned for his thirst for musical adventure, brings his incomparable artistry to solo keyboard works by one of J. S. Bach’s gifted offspring, dazzling listeners with his world-class artistry in pieces including C.P.E.Bach’s Solfeggio in C minor, H220 Wq117/2, while further sealing his place as one of this country’s beloved musical sons.

4. GUSTAV MAHLER: SYMPHONY NO. 4 Sabine Devieilhe, soprano; Les Siècles, on period instruments, François-Xavier Roth, conductor (Harmonia Mundi)

5. LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: PIANO SONATAS OPP 106 & 111 Angela Hewitt (Hyperion)

6. RACHMANINOV: VESPERS & COMPLETE ALL-NIGHT VIGIL OP.37, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Paul Hillier (Harmonia Mundi)

7. JOHANNES BRAHMS Complete Liebeslieder, Walzer Op.52 & 65, Hungarian Dances; RIAS Kammerchor Berlin, Justin Doyle, conductor, Angela Gassenhuber & Philippe Mayers, piano 4 hands (Harmonia Mundi)

8. ARVO PÄRT Stabat Mater; Aleksandra Kurzak, Roberto Alagna and Andreas Scholl; Morphing Chamber Orchestra, Tomasz Wabnic (Aparté)

9. SCHUBERT STRING QUARTETS NOS 10 & 15, Jubilee Quartet: Tereza Privratska, violin I; Julia Loucks, violin II; Lorena Cantó Woltèche, viola; Toby White, cello (Rubicon Classics)

10. BOUNDLESS, Clarinet Sonatas, Pablo Barragán & Sophie Pacini (Aparté)

— Holly Harris