My Favorite Records of 2022

3 min readMar 16, 2023

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Music is a very significant part of my life. I was a full-time musician for a number of years, with a lot of records and shows under my belt. But more immediately relevant, I’m a music fan. I listen to music all day, every day.

Every December I compile a list of my favorite releases of the year. I have previously published this for close friends on locked social channels and in group chats.

Last December I published my list publicly for the first time, on Mastodon. But social posts are fleeting. I thought I should capture them somewhere a little more sticky. It’s still a relevant list, with most everything here still in regular rotation.

In alphabetical order…

Black and white ornamental etching illustration with the band name in blue overlaid

Cape Fade, “Cape Fade”

Favorite track: Lost My Head
Listen: https://capefade.bandcamp.com/album/cape-fade

Black and white photo of the bust of a shirtless tattooed man wearing a black hooded monster mask with sharp teeth

Charlie No Face, “Eleven Thousand Volts”

Favorite track: Flat Circle
Listen: https://forbiddenplacerecords.bandcamp.com/album/charley-no-face-eleven-thousand-volts

Cassette cover with black ink on red paper, cover illustration of a medieval battle scene, band/EP name, and song list

Domain, “2022 Promo”

Favorite track: Life’s Cold Grasp
Listen: https://dazestyle.bandcamp.com/album/2022-promo

Black and white illustration of the bottom part of a skull shape that’s merged upward into some skulls on a hill, with a church in the background, and then into some dark hooded people

Edict, “Self-Titled”

Favorite track: Salvation
Listen: https://edict666.bandcamp.com/album/ep

Black and white collage of torn paper grainy prints of various buildings in Baltimore and a group of protesters

End It, “Unpleasant Living”

Favorite track: New Wage Slavery
Listen: https://flatspotrecords.bandcamp.com/album/fsr59-unpleasant-living

Pewter figurines of a band performing with instruments/microphones in hand, clustered together over a silver textured background

Gatrot, “Dark Days Ahead”

Favorite track: Dark Days Ahead
Listen: https://gat-rot.bandcamp.com/track/dark-days-ahead

Black and white illustration of a mace smashing into and distorting a checkerboard pattern, with a blue corner tag with the record name, and blue/white band names in a decorative font

Gel, “Shock Therapy” (Split EP)

Favorite track: Mental Static
Listen: https://gelhc.bandcamp.com/album/shock-therapy-a-split-with-cold-brats

Colorful illustration of a demon riding a battle-dressed horse out of a burst of fire/smoke with the band names in decorative black fonts and the record name in a yellow font overlaid

Graveripper, “Faster Than the Fucking Devil”

Favorite track: Mind Filled with Dread
Listen: https://graveripper.bandcamp.com/album/faster-than-the-fucking-devil

Blue/white illustration of a 70s car with yellow lights with the yellow record title and orange artist name on the windshield in futuristic city in the background

Konata Small, “Major Moves”

Favorite track: MNYPWR
Listen: https://ffm.to/ksmajormoves

Black and white photo looking through a gap in a fence at two snarling dogs with the artist name in red and the record name in blue, both in a pained-style font overlaid

Linqua Franqa, “Bellringer”

Favorite track: Wurk
Listen: https://linquafranqa.bandcamp.com/album/bellringer

Photo of Little Simz with her dreadlocks in a dark-blue hoodie with the hood down over her shoulders in front of a white abstract art sculpture

Little Simz, “No Thank You”

Favorite track: Gorilla
Listen: https://littlesimz.ffm.to/nothankyou.OWE

Digital illustration of an abstract mesh of bright/vivid colors, with one hole shape showing a grainy photo of a Native American man wearing traditional garb

Medicine Singers, “Medicine Singers”

Favorite track: Hawk Song
Listen: https://medicinesingers.bandcamp.com/album/medicine-singers

Five versions of Stromae standing together facing each other in a circle, each wearing the same blue plaid suit-style outfits with their hair sculpted into flat cylinder shapes, with a solid light blue background

Stromae, “Multitude”

Favorite track: Santé
Listen: https://stromae.lnk.to/monamourxcamila

Full-color illustration of a feminine mouth with the tongue protruding forward into a saliva bubble as a silhouette over a light gray/yellow gradient background with the artist/record name overlaid in a block font in a light pink-to-orange gradient

Tanya Tagaq, “Tongues”

Favorite track: Tongues
Listen: https://tanyatagaq.bandcamp.com/album/tongues

Colorful painting of women working in a weapons factory in an early 20th century American setting

Wrong War, “Once Upon a Weapon”

Favorite track: Once Upon a Weapon
Listen: https://wrongwar.bandcamp.com/album/once-upon-a-weapon

I really loved compiling this list. I hope you find something on it that nourishes your soul.

Mark Wyner

Written by Mark Wyner

Activist, family man, creative professional, technologist, soccer fanatic, meditator, lover, hater, potty mouth, mostly vegan.

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