Our 2022 Midyear Report continues with our favorite albums of the year so far.
Art is not sport, there’s no such thing as a best album, and roundups like this one are built on a foundation of sand. We’d happily shove the whole thing into the ocean if we could, and we’d list our favorites in alphabetical order if such an arrangement would generate even half the clicks. But it wouldn’t. Even you, reading four sentences into an introduction, are the exception, lingering on an appetizer as the vast majority of readers scroll to the main course.
But that doesn’t mean the exercise is without value, even beyond the need for independent publications like this one to keep the lights on in an increasingly hostile media environment.
To start, there are the arguments. Oh, we love the arguments! Passion drives the artistic economy, arriving ahead of money like clouds before the rain. Is our list perfect? Of course not. Could we have done better? We’re sure you’ll let us know.
Aside from that, roundups like this have two more virtues. The first is providing a boost to smaller acts who depend on word of mouth, as well as medium-sized acts poised for the big break. And finally, they offer a snapshot of the preoccupations, politics, and musical preferences of both artists and audiences. This year’s trends will be obvious with a little historical distance, but in the moment we can attempt an educated guess.
2022 is shaping up to be the year of the big statement. These aren’t collections of singles surrounded by filler, or lengthy data dumps released in the hope that streaming numbers will push them to undeserved heights on the charts. Many of the most thrilling musical statements are leaning hard on the L in LP — and that includes a couple of great albums that came out after our vote had concluded. We’ll know more later.
For now, let’s revel in a year that seems to delight in large ideas developing over time.
— Wren Graves
News Editor
