Best Albums of 2022: the Colorado Sound Staff Picks

What a fantastic year! At least in terms of the music – what we heard, who we saw live, what we shared with our friends, family, and communities. And speaking of sharing, members of the Colorado Sound staff have put together lists of their personal favorite albums released in 2022.

Wherever you are, we hope you, too, had a year full of great music. Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you in 2023!

Stacy’s Top 10 Albums + Extras

	Artist Name	Album Title	Quick Take	Description
1	Broken Bells	Into the Blue	Dream Pop	James Mercer and Brian Burton (Danger Mouse) offer up a wonderfully diverse collection of tunes that range from stripped back folk to trip-hop, while maintaining cohesion – a perfect pop melancholia mix.
2	Destroyer	Labyrinthitis	Moody	Destroyer (Dan Bejar) delivers another mind melting, trippy musical journey filled with nuance and unexpected musical choices… an oddly satisfying listen.
3	The Smile	A Light for Attracting Attention	Ambient Cool	By recording under The Smile, Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood can ignore the expectations of a new Radiohead album and be free to experiment without the pressure. There is some familiarity to the spectral sound but with a renewed playfulness.
4	Nilüfer Yanya	Painless	Ethereal Vocals	A dynamic showing on her sophomore release, British singer/songwriter/guitarist Nilüfer Yanya, showcases heartbreak and triumph in a manic but coolly controlled release.
5	Rosalía	Motomami	Attitude!	I took notice of Catalan pop sensation Rosalía after seeing her Zane Lowe interview…she is such a musical force to be reckoned with.
6	Wet Leg	Wet Leg	Fun	After being in and out of other bands, Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers formed the duo Wet Leg. Their quirky, debut single “Chaise Longue” quickly gained millions of streams, but the rest of the album proves these ladies to be more than a one-hit novelty group.
7	Phoenix	Alpha Zulu	Oui!	Phoenix’s seventh release is everything you’d hope from the French pop phenoms.  A totally fun romp through synth pop fantasy land.
8	Steve Lacy	Gemini Rights	Summer Jam	Steve Lacy’s Gemini Rights defies genres as it combines R&B/funk/indie/shoegaze all in one rawkish romp. The album details heartache and triumph, at times cartoonishly forlorn, but all together refreshing.
9	Yeah Yeah Yeahs	Cool It Down	Haven’t lost a Beat	Karen O hasn’t lost her edge. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ first full-length release in nine years delivers all the angst, intuitive lyricism and drive you’d hope for.
10	Maggie Rogers	Surrender	Transformative	What a tremendous leap from that NYU video with Pharrell to her sophomore release Surrender. Maggie is magnificent.

Extras:

Spoon‘s Lucifer On The Sofa is devilishly good. And for a change of pace, check out Lucifer on the Moon, a remake of the Spoon album by legendary U.K. dub producer Adrian Sherwood.

Ron’s Top 10 Albums

	Artist Name	Album Title	Quick Take	Description
1	Lee Fields	Sentimental Fool	Old-school soul	There are artists who try to capture that soul sound of the 60s.  Lee does it because he LIVED it in the 60s!  And what a show he put on at the Bluebird this year!
2	Beach House	Once Twice Melody	Dreamy	I’ve always been drawn in by the ethereal sounds of this Maryland group.
3	Bartees Strange	Farm to Table	Surprisingly rockin’	Seeing him open for the National showed me there was A LOT more to Bartees than what we get on record. It caused me to hear this album in a deeper way.
4	Johnny Marr	Fever Dreams Pts 1-4	Layered guitars	Johnny made a name for himself with The Smiths.  But he’s never stopped working, playing with dozens & dozens of acts.  All that practice has only sharpened his chops, which I love!
5	Drive-By Truckers	Welcome 2 Club XIII	A throwback	Drawn in by my love of the DBT sound, they’ve paused their reflections on the world and instead turned the spotlight on the band’s own history. It’s still that wonderful Hood & Cooley sound!
6	Wet Leg	Wet Leg	A GREAT debut	it can be hard to come out of the gate with a style that tells the world who you are, not simply sounding like others. Maybe you did this the 1st time you heard Wet Leg…I looked at the speakers saying, “WHO IS THIS?!?!” And the rest of the album makes me keep doing it.
7	Mavis Staples & Levon Helm	Carry Me Home	From the vaults	If you’re a fan of an artist, it can be hit-or-miss when the label pulls something unreleased out of the archives. But if it’s Levon Helm AND Mavis, well, you just pour a drink then sit back and enjoy it. Taped in 2011 (6 months before Levon left us), this album shows Mavis’ singing and Levon’s drumming still had plenty of punch!
8	Mdou Moctar	Afrique Refait	World music today	It’s primitive. It’s tribal. It’s basic. The music from Africa has been in our souls for millennia. Here, Mdou’s Afrique Victime album gets the remix treatment from other African artists.
9	Craig Finn	A Legacy of Rentals	Just great storytelling	Like many others, I, too, became a Craig fan through his band the Hold Steady. But it’s his solo efforts (this is his fourth in seven years) that allow his deep storytelling to really get its groove.
10	Bonnie Raitt	Just Like That	A true treasure	Long before the Nick of Time GRAMMYs, I got pulled into ‘Bonnie World’ by her thoughtful songwriting and emotive covers. Somehow she’s only elevated the observations she and other songwriters make.

Margot’s Top 9 Albums

	Artist Name	Album Title
1	Brian Eno	ForeverAndEverNoMore
2	Calexico	El Mirador
3	Charley Crockett	The Man from Waco
4	Hermanos Gutiérrez	El Bueno y El Malo
5	Kevin Morby	This Is a Photograph
6	The Sadies	Colder Streams
7	Mountain Goats	Bleed Out
8	Tigram Hamasyan	Standard
9	Suede	Autofiction

Ben’s Top 10 Albums

	Artist Name	Album Title	Quick Take	Description
1	Death Cab for Cutie	Asphalt Meadows	Nostalgia	I will always love Ben Gibbard’s voice. This album feels very classic Death Cab, and I love every minute of it.
2	Spoon	Lucifer on the Sofa	Consistent	Spoon might be the most consistent band of all time. Not sure they’ve ever made a bad album. Lucifer on the Sofa is some of their best work in years.
3	Metric	Formentera	Post-Apocalyptic	This album is so good. Metric has been around forever and still sound great. Emily Haines’ voice fits so well with the guitar/synth driven music of Metric. Songs like “All Comes Crashing” and “What Feels Like Eternity” are great earworms.
4	Wet Leg	Wet Leg	Catchy	Every song on this album is a catchy tune. I’m excited to hear more from these ladies. They rock, and this album is so much fun.
5	Leon Bridges & Khruangbin	Texas Moon	Smooth	This album is such a groove. Leon Bridges and Khruangbin need to become a band already. They’ve made two EPs and both are awesome. Leon’s smooth voice with Khruagbin’s instrumentals fit so perfectly the world needs more.
6	Tears for Fears	The Tipping Point	Comeback	Roland and Curt prove they haven’t lost their touch. Very emotional album from an iconic band.
7	Beach House	Once Twice Melody	Wow	This double album is some of the most creative work from the duo Beach House. This album is so easy to listen to.
8	Phoenix	Alpha Zulu	Energy	Phoenix is back and as good as ever. Channeling their inner pop stars, this album will have jamming to some songs and dancing to others.
9	Gang of Youths	Angel in Realtime	Emotion	Angel in Realtime is like one long emotional story. An incredibly moving album.
10	Black Country, New Round	Ants from Up There	Unique	This album is unlike anything I’ve ever listened to. Isaac Wood’s unique vocals might not be for everyone, but this album is a work of art.

Kurt’s Top 10 Albums + Extras

I heard a ton of great music this year – some hit me immediate (Kevin Morby and Danielle Ponder, I’m looking at you), others took some time to sink in. The Tyler Childers album (a set of eight songs done three different ways) I’m still digesting – bold move, and I love that he took chances. SUSS is beautiful ambient country, while Kikagaku Moyo (a band I only got turned onto this year) is a wild ride. I can’t get the Yeah Yeah Yeahs out of my head – nor the awesome country songs of Gabe Lee, Kaitlin Butts, and Ian Noe. I threw in some extras, too, because I couldn’t help it. Avi Kaplan, man, what a voice! And like all the music from SUSS, Recordings from the Åland Islands is quiet, complex, and beautiful. I’m also digging the latest from Colorado bands Wovenhand and Gasoline Lollipops. And if country’s your thing, don’t pass up on 49 Winchester.

	Artist Name	Album Title	Quick Take
1	Kevin Morby	This Is a Photograph	Beyond the surface
2	Tyler Childers	Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven	Taking chances
3	SUSS	SUSS	Ambient country
4	Hurray for the Riff Raff	Life on Earth	Take me places
5	Danielle Ponder	Some of Us Are Brave	Her voice!
6	Kikagaku Moyo	Kumoyo Island	Into the beyond
7	Gabe Lee	The Hometown Kid	Honky tonkin’
8	Kaitlin Butts	What Else Can She Do	Longing
9	Ian Noe	River Foots and Mountain Saints	Those songs
10	Yeah Yeah Yeahs	Cool It Down	Sharp and satisfying

Extras: 

First Aid Kit, Palomino
Zach Bryan, American Heartbreak
49 Winchester, Fortune Favors the Bold
Danger Mouse & Black Thought, Cheat Codes
Angel Olsen, Big Time
Wovenhand, Silver Sash
Avi Kaplan, Floating on a Dream
Gasoline Lollipops, Nightmares
Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer, Recordings from the Åland Islands
Wax Machine, Hermit’s Grove

Dawn’s Top 6 Albums + Extras

	Artist Name	Album Title	Description
1	Fontaines D.C.	Skinty Fia	Their melodic punk-rock aesthetic, along with their brash obstinance, is infective.
2	Bear’s Den	Blue Hours	This duo from across the pond write beautiful, lyrical songs that stick in your head in the best way.
3	First Aid Kit	Palomino	Our favorite Swedish sisters weave harmonies like no other, well, maybe like their countrymates, Abba, but that’s a compliment!
4	Beyonce	Renaissance	People throw around the ‘masterpiece’ moniker for this one, but the Beyhive call all her albums a masterpiece. Others can debate that, but what I love about this album is how it harkens back to my favorite disco records of the 1970s. It’s so danceable that I must be careful listening in my car!
5	Plains	I Walked with You a Ways	This combo (Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee and Jess Williamson) is a once-in-a-lifetime pairing. What I love most are the stories they paint with their lyrics.
6	Yeah Yeah Yeahs	Cool It Down	Check out the Showtime documentary, Meet Me in the Bathroom, to see the beginnings of this great band, led by the incomparable Karen O. “Burning,” from this new album, is one of those songs you remember where you were when you first heard it – so good!

Other good stuff I like this year:

Phoenix – Alpha Zulu
So infectious and a great video, too!

Lost Leaders – Jealous Sun EP
Lost Leaders is Byron Isaacs, who we know from The Lumineers, and Peter Cole. “Long Way Down” sounds like summer to me.

Boy and Bear – Just to Be Kind
One of my favorite bands from Australia released this song as they headed out on tour. Hopefully there’s a full album coming soon.

St. Paul & the Broken Bones – The Alien Coast
One of the best from Birmingham, Alabama, delivering yet another fun, danceable, and lyrically cool album.

Amanda Shires – Take It Like a Man
A woman at the height of her powers. This album is a revelation.

Khruangbin & Leon Bridges – Texas Moon
This record is cool no matter what but check out the video for “B-Side.” Inspired by spaghetti western films, it’s just well, cool as hell.

Amythyst Kiah – Chained to the Rhythm
Covering Katy Perry’s song on her latest EP, Kiah’s voice is simply stunning.

Chris K’s Top 10 Albums

	Artist Name	Album Title	Description
1	Charley Crockett	The Man from Waco	From the first time I saw him perform as an opening act at Red Rocks, I knew I had fallen into something special.  If they were still alive today, I could see Hank Williams and Woodie Guthrie sitting around a fire with Charlie, trading stories, trading songs, drinking whiskey out of old tin cups, and eating hobo stew. The songs on this record would be Charlie’s contribution to the party.
2	Emily Scott Robinson	American Siren	– I got introduced to Emily late in the year, a full year after American Siren was released.  The Telluride resident and winner of the 2019 Telluride Troubadour Award wrote the songs for her debut on John Prine’s Oh-Boy Records during the COVID isolation of 2020.  Relying on minimal and effective instrumental arrangements allows Emily’s smooth voice and her story telling to shine through.   It earns my pick for Colorado Americana-Country album of the year. #COmusic
3	King Cardinal	“Runaway”	OK, it’s just a single, but I’ll admit that I’m a Steely Dan fan and apparently so is King Cardinal founder and songwriter Brennan MacKey.  Now if only it was part of an album. #COmusic
4	MaryLynn Gillaspie	Secret Language	A GRAMMY nominee with the Boulder-based vocalese band Rare Silk in the ’80s, MaryLynn also earns my Colorado Comeback Artist of the Year pick after a 25-year absence. Then she goes and writes lyrics to Herbie Hancock’s Dolphin Dance and covers King Crimson in the same breath. Nice.  It also earns my pick as Colorado Jazz Album of 2022. #COmusic
5	Mike Clark and the Sugar Sounds	Moon Rock	The alter-ego of Mike Clark’s acoustic roots band The River Arkansas, the Sugar Sounds explore psychedelic rock and soul ala 1968. Just in time for folks to explore both the music and the fungi (legally). #COmusic
6	Monday Michiru	ENSO	I have no idea why I got on a vocal jazz and world music kick late in the year, but discovering ENSO made it all worth it. The Japanese/American jazz vocalist is a legend in her native Japan, where she’s regarded as a pioneer in Japanese club music.  ENSO swings easily between jazz, soul, spoken word, rock, and Brazilian rhythms.
7	N3ptune/Rusty Steve	Renaissance	There’s a term bouncing around the radio world called Urban Alternative. If this album doesn’t define that term, I don’t know what does. Ruggedly polysexual and at times crossing into politically aggressive language, Denver’s N3ptune makes the boldest lyrical and musical statement of the year in Colorado.  Rusty Steve adds the kind of guitar styling that speaks to the gods of shred. #COmusic
8	Robert Plant & Alison Krauss	Raise the Roof	Most sophomore albums seem to not rise to the level of a debut. Their debut, Raising Sand, earned five GRAMMY Awards. This one “raises the roof” a bit for me. Is there a better vocal pairing in the Americana universe?
9	Spoon	Lucifer on the Sofa	I’ll bet nearly every rock fan has listened to this album at least once. I have listened to no other rock record more than this in 2022. If it were vinyl, I would have worn out two copies already.
10	Tedeschi-Trucks Band	I Am the Moon	A four-disc set of Susan’s voice and husband Derek’s slide? Oh, hell yes. Most bands are lucky to have one album worth of songs for an album every few years. This is 24 original songs. Front to back, it’s a two-hour listen. Frankly worth every bit of 120 minutes.