Interactive Poll: 2022 Favourites, so far!

Ana Alcaide (five points)

My favourite, and if not for Midlake, by a large margin. I love the instrumentation and the vocals. The melody is quite beautiful, and almost impossibly becomes even more so when the harmony kicks in. Wow! Just, wow! I love this!

Midlake (three points)

Only just pipped to the post by Ana Alcaide, but these two are so far ahead of the other two, that it seems almost wrong for them to be allocated points so close in value. Honestly, without even hearing any other submissions, I already feel like two of my vote for the final poll have been sorted! I love the strong, almost math rock, insistent beat to this song, and the way it dominates and leads the song, rather than the quote subdued and understated vocals (which I also love).

Returned to Earth (two points)

Read so much about this album, and all has been glowing. First I’ve actually listened, and I really like the music, but the vocals aren’t so pleasing to my ears. Reminds me a little of the debut Bardic Depths album (I’ve not yet listened to this year’s), where I found the music really interesting, but struggled a little at first with the vocals. It’s not that the vocals for Bardic Depths or Returned to Earth are bad (at all), so much as they don’t sound, to my ears, a particularly good fit. I do like this a lot, though, in spite of the vocals.

Mary Fahl (one point)

Even though I’ve never heard of Mary Fahl, I expected to enjoy this, simply because I pretty much never don’t enjoy Nicky’s offerings. It started out very promisingly, too. But I just can’t get on with the vocals, and as they are pretty much the focal point of the song, it’s hard to get past that. I won’t go so far as to say I dislike the song, but it’s definitely, and easily, my least favourite.

Mila

Lalalar (five points?)

Obviously there is one track yet to come, but whatever it is will have to good to displace Lalalar and the Adigéry & Pupul tracks. There’s not a great deal in it between them, but I’m inclined to give Lalalar the edge. The subverted motorik rhythm combined with all the Eastern flair is addictive and earwormy.

Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul (three points?)

Oh yeah, as above, I really like this one. Not that it particularly sounds like any track from The Adults’s second album, it does remind me of it. And I love that Adults album.

black midi (two points?)

I am familiar with the band, of course. black midi’s album of last year was easily one of my favourite releases from 2021. However, I’ve not yet listened to the new one, so this track is new to me (even if the band is not). I thought it would be my favourite, simply because I know I already love the band. But, perhaps because it is simply out of context (I’ve never listened to a single black midi song before, having only listened to the albums), or perhaps because it’s simply not as impressive, I find it is definitely lacking in comparison to the other two offerings (so far). In a way, that’s handy, as I don’t generally like to vote for artists I’m familiar with, and with this track, I don’t think I would be.

(to be continued…)

Greg

YAYA (five points)

It was really hard to choose between this and Perfume Genius. Too simply gorgeous songs soaked in ethereal beauty and haunting melody. While they are quite different in sound, they share a lot in atmosphere and aesthetic.

Perfume Genius (three points)

As above.

Melody’s Echo Chamber (two points)

What an appropriate name, as the vocals seem to have a subtle echo effect that gives a padded wall of sound I’m happy to bounce off, wrapped comfortably in a straitjacket whose constraints match perfectly the restraint in the performance. This is one chamber you can confine me too. Go ahead. Close me in, and throw away the key.

Current 93 (one point)

Somewhat akin to black midi, with Mila, I expected to like this more. I am familiar with, and a fan of, Current 93, but have not yet listened to this year’s album. Again, like black midi, it’s not a case of not liking this, so much as being impressed more by the other offerings.

George

SG Goodman (five points)

Perfume Genius had teeth, but SG Goodman leave teeth marks. There’s an awful lot of similarities I could draw between those two tracks, and what I like in both is the same. If anything, SG Goodman has more bite, which perhaps explains why this track is teeth marks, rather than Perfume Genius’s teeth. I described Perfume Genius as ethereal, haunting and atmospheric, and SG Goodman is all that, too, but with extra edge and tension. I like it. A lot.

Kikagaku Moyo (three points)

I kind of don’t want to rank this so highly, especially after what I wrote about black midi and Current 93, but dammit - even if I am familiar with, and a fan of, this band, this is damn near irresistible! It’s sad that this is their final album, but at least they’re going out with a bang(ing tune).

We Broke The Weather (two points)

Well the weather definitely seems broken over here in the UK. Temperatures rarely dropping out of the 30s, and even hitting 40 (which might not be unusual in other parts of the world, but is VERY unusual - pretty much unheard of - in the UK); no rainfall, leaving us in almost unprecedented drought with everything tinderbox dry. It’s certainly fire season, and there have been no end of wildfires. You probably couldn’t even fart in the countryside without starting a fire. Nice groove, if not as explosive or incendiary as I expected from the title. More of a slow burn, but a very pleasant one.

Spooky Cool (one point)

Just as there is little to separate my top two from your selections, there is little to separate my bottom two. The only real difference is between the two pairs, as I do enjoy the first two waaaaaay more than these two. But there’s not a dud here, and I could quite happily listen to any of these again.

Kees

Yôkaï (five points)

I really like the way this track builds. It grabs me from the start, and just keeps getting bigger and bigger. It’s an easy favourite out of your four.

Mondkopf (three points)

It’s a much harder task to find second place, as while I thought it would be a foregone conclusion (before listening to the final two) that Mondkopf would take it with this quiet and exotic number, the louder and in your face Lisa LeBlanc song is a lot of fun, and I liked it as much as I did this. I’m giving this the edge purely on the assumption that it has longer legs than Lisa, and would give me greater enjoyment over time.

Lisa LeBlanc (two points)

Honestly, I really, really, really like this (and I’ve never been a fan of disco, disliking far more than I like). It’s a really fun track that I could easily have put in second place, but I just wonder if I would enjoy it as much after hearing it a hundred times. I’m not sure about that, but I do think I would still enjoy the Mondkopf on the hundredth play through.

Big Big Train (one point)

I have never really liked Big Big Train. I have liked the odd song, but never more than that, and certainly never enough from any one album to want to buy it. There are a couple of albums I like enough songs to almost consider buying, but I’d rather spend my money on something I enjoy entirely. This isn’t even one of those songs I like.