I usually try to write this post while people are still at work and using the internet but it didn’t go down this way in 2022. Oh well.
This year has been a weird one for me musically. My quest to find more music with some kind of attitude or edge but remaining funky has led me to start looking less and less at the current house/techno/electro/disco genres as most of this music now sounds more like the Muzak played at the mall food court than anything I want to ever hear. In addition to going back to more punk, metal, and industrial from my past (including seeing some great concerts performed by literal senior citizens or close to it like Front 242, MDC, and Napalm Death which put almost any modern music in those genres to shame), I’ve had to go further into more experimental strains of modern music to find what I’m looking for.
I’ve always looked for music from a wide variety of styles and genres, but I can’t recall having to so drastically adjust my listening and buying habits to find better results like I did this year. I’m not sure if it’s just my own tastes shifting slightly, or if it comes down to house and techno related musics being drastically more safe and boring than ever before. Or perhaps some combination of both. Either way, for this year’s wrap up post I’m adhering less to those styles and more to the overall depth and breadth of what I spend time listening to.
These will be short little blurbs. Anything mentioned is worth checking into more deeply. I hope you find something cool to check out.
Theo Parrish – Detroit Forward – K7! 2xCD and 3xLP
Meftah – multiple releases – multiple formats
I did a full post about this Theo comp last week so I’m not gonna spend time rehashing that, but for me this is easily one of the best releases of the year. For more in this vein check out Jihoon’s “Explanations” 12” which features Detroit Forward alum Meftah and Sound Signature artist Thomas Xu on the funky and jazzy tip. Meftah and Thomas’s Meeting Point 001 is another 2022 highlight that may be tough to find, but is well worth it. Meftah’s solo Life-Like EP mashes up hip-hop beats and jazz funk influenced dance jams to perfection as well.
Mark Grusane – multiple releases – multiple formats
His crazy acid on the Bad Cavity EP on HEAT and the dark italo vibes of the Dance Intensity EP for Rush Hour were the two standout records by him this year, but also some digital releases of old trax done by him are worth checking out on his Bandcamp. While his disco edits might be more known, his trax are what is really doing it for me in 2022.
Armand Hammer – WHT LBL – no label LP
Last year’s Alchemist produced Haram was a big album for me, and this tour only white label is basically just as good. Featuring grimy productions by Earl Sweatshirt, Alchemist, Muggs, and more, this is dark, dense lyrical rap music that feels like the future.
Various Artists – Venom EP – 7 Days Ent. 12”
The Strickland family is on the top of the house music game right now in my opinion. Every record they drop is essential, simply because their tracks drip with attitude. Generation Next takes the cake here, but Butterbandz and Big Strick aren’t fucking around either. Homie Ron Cook also throws in a heater to round it off.
Their cousin Omar-S also had a killer 7” on his Fxhe label this year with Supercoolwicked’s “Ever Green”.
Pino Palladino And Blake Mills – Notes With Attachments – Impulse LP
The digital of this album came out in 2021 but the wax finally appeared in my mailbox this year. Absolutely bananas good modern jazz, it sounds unlike anything else I can think of. Funky, groovy, and deep as fuck.
Mr. Fingers – Around the Sun Pt. 1 – Alleviated 2xLP
Larry Heard is still held in the highest of esteem and for good reason: even 35+ years into his career, each new release is still incredible. This one has an almost modern soul vibe at times, with final cut “Shimmer” the highlight for me. It was also lovely to see Amnesia get an official triple vinyl rerelease on Alleviated.
Roberta – Brooklyn Ave Sessions – Worldship 12”
Various artists – Herald Traccs Vol 1 – Worldship 12”
Aaron Paar’s Worldship label continues to drop some of the nicest house music in the world since he resurrected it a few years back. Roberta’s sample heavy grooves always stand out, but here she delivers perhaps her best overall release and the Teflon Dons and Pur Royale mixes add a nice darker dimension. For the Herald Traccs comp, three new names are added to the Worldship roster and each delivers a solid cut from LA’s Santiago Salazar and Kelvin K to Ireland’s Westcoast Goddess. Throw in a Teflon Dons jam and it’s an unmissable package.
Strictlybutters – PBS Nights (Star Hustler) – Galaxy Sound Co. 7”
Two instrumental hip-hop 7”s in two years, and both are killers. Strictlybutters manages to capture the feel of old sample based beats like few are able to, plus his IG account features so many tossed off headnodders that it is insane. Can’t wait for the LP in 2023.
Hugo LX – The Platinum Wave – Doma Music 12”
Hugo LX – Japan Tour 2022 – Doma Music 7”
Hugo has been making some outstanding house music for a while now, typically spreading the love across a number of the best house labels out there. 2022 saw him launch his own imprint, and for me this represents his best work so far. Mixing up the different soulful sounds that influence him into these tracks, you can hear bits of jazz and boogie, but expertly fused into something that feels modern and distinctive. I’m really interested to see where he goes with it next.
Pat Thomas – New Jazz Jungle: Remembering – Feedback Moves 2xLP
This one isn’t new, having been originally released on CD all the way back in 1997. But thanks to Feedback Moves, we now have it on vinyl and it remains just as crazy sounding as it must have 25 years ago. Pat is deep into free improvisation on keys, and is clearly no stranger to dissonance as these weirdo breakbeat jams show. Really compelling stuff if you like jazz and future music.
Floppy Life – Stokeswood Sessions Vol 1 & 2 – NDATL 2xLP
Floppy Life is Kai Alcé and Stefan Ringer, two of Atlanta’s very best. This is their most fully realized collaboration so far, crafting the kind of soulful techno and house instrumentals that are timeless but all too rare these days. Stefan’s 12” Nitecap EP with Marquinn Mason and the “Callin Me” 7” with Chris Irvin both on his FWM label are also lovely, exploring jazzy 808s and neo soul vocals respective. Kai also dropped the great Distinctive Collection Vol 1 and of course 2022 Special Edition (featuring a jam by the great Damon Lamar!!!) on his always killer NDATL label.
EDB – The Long Way Up – Mother Tongue 12”
EDB’s catalog is now only two solo releases deep, but each one is an opportunity for him to flex just how solid his understanding of good dance music is. This one has a couple broken beat cuts, a couple house cuts, and a killer downtempo jam, all packed with fat basslines and beautiful melodies. It also comes with a nice art print. EDB also worked with Gary Superfly on “The Fifth Floor” for Mother Tongue’s Yellow Jackets series which is a Chicago house tinged dancefloor smasher. Kaidi Tatham and Patrick Gibin remixed EDB and Gary’s collab “Pressure” from last year’s Madre Lingua comp and turned it into perhaps the biggest dancefloor smasher of the year. Hunt it down.
Sun Ra Arkestra – Directed By Marshall Allen – Living Sky – Omni Sound 2xLP
Sun Ra and his Arkestra – Prophet – Modern Harmonic LP
Marshall Allen may be 98 years old (?!?!) but his lifetime commitment to music means his works still stand out. On this second album of recent works, we find the Arkestra in a somber and introspective mood. The vibe could almost be soothing if there wasn’t constant flecks of dissonance and energy sprinkled throughout. Really beautiful music, and the prints of Damon Lachs’ illustrations of Marshall and Sun Ra himself are an excellent inclusion with the special edition.
On Prophet we get to hear lost recordings made in one day by the Arkestra with Sun Ra playing one of my favorite synths of all time, Sequential Circuits’ Prophet VS. The odd tones generated by the VS give this album a feel unlike anything else in the Sun Ra catalog.
Scott Grooves – The New Moon – CANO cassette
I think I bought more stuff from Scott this year than any other musician. A bunch of 7”s, a sick 12”, and a handful of cassettes, but this one is the standout. Full of a modern take on classic Detroit techno and electro, this feels different from his other work with its loose rhythms and gritty production. The other releases leaned more towards a dub techno vibe on the 7”s or loopy techno on the 12”, but all are worth checking out.
Nardo Says – I.W.M.B.R.W.H – Digital album
Pittsburgh vocalist and beatmaker Nardo Says drops an album of instrumentals that feels more like the city than most of the music I hear coming from here. Digging deep into his sampler and synthesizers, he creates tracks that exude gritty energy. A fitting tribute to Reese “Vex” Brown, may he rest in peace.
Rebecca Goldberg – Trois Cent Trois – Detroit Underground 12”
Rebecca continues to impress, this time with a ghetto tech feel added to the acid she is becoming so well known for. If you miss that era of fast paced but funky techno from the late 90s and early 00s, she delivers it here. She also made a lovely hi tech soul jam “Our Morning” with Jon Dixon (whose Vocal Sessions Volume 1 on his 4evr 4wrd label is also worth peeping) that is so epic it almost hurts.
Being – There – Apartment Records cassette
It is cool to see labels and artists dropping less obviously dancefloor material on cassette, a format long associated with experimental and self released music. Here it all comes full circle as cassette was the format this music was originally recorded to. This is super lush machine music of the highest order.
Linkwood – Stereo – Athens of the North LP
Linkwood dropping a new album is always a noteworthy development, and on his follow up to Mono he continues the lush synthetic electro funk vibes he is becoming known for. You can hear bits of old Drexciya or Carl Craig classics, but given that beautiful modern production that Linkwood excels at so it has a fresh vibe.
Parallax – Vol 1 – Delicate Cashmere 12”
Pittsburgh killers Nice Rec, Grand Ear, and C. Scott come together to drop this record of uptempo soulful music inspired by Brazilian music and jazz funk. Vocals by Erik Rico and sax by Dom Grande help put this over the top for one of the best releases of the year.
Bill Nace – Through a Room – Drag City LP
Bill Nace is a name I only really knew from Inzane Johnny memes I didn’t fully understand, but thanks to a local record shop playing this album loudly, he now resides in a place of prominence in my ambient section. This is apparently done by playing guitar and a few other instruments through a crazy FX chain, and the results are just as organic and free flowing as you might expect from that description. Easily one of the most organic sounding productions I heard this year.
Jordan GCZ – My Brain’s Brain – Minimal Detroit 2xLP
We have long been fans of Jordan’s music here at ISM, and here on his first solo album he does not disappoint. Going fully into introspective mode, this is as honest of a representation of him as an artist that I have heard. Mashing production techniques from a number of styles together with his skills as a player, he delivers all the abstraction you’d expect but holds it together with memorable melodies and ideas.
Various artists – FC002 – Feral Colony 12”
The man Chris Mitchell put together a strong compilation EP for the second record on his new Feral Colony label. Distortion heavy and clearly influenced by old school industrial (pre-metal crossover era lol), banging jams by Sons of Traders, Chupacabras, and Chris himself mix it up with weirder ambient joints for a well rounded listen.
Charles Stepney – Step On Step – International Anthem 2xLP
Another new but not exactly new record, this collection of lofi demos by master arranger and songwriter Charles Stepney manages to sound more futuristic and funky than almost anything made in 2022. These were made upwards of 40 years ago, but their approach and musicianship lend it a timelessness that you just don’t hear much on modern releases. The fact that these were not meant for the general public’s ears makes them even more impressive. Incredible music.
Arbeid Adelt!/Hieroglyphic Being – Death Disco (Marcellus Pittman Edit)/An Astronomical Object – Yellow Jackets 12”
Mother Tongue’s Yellow Jackets series has seen a lot of great artists putting out some really compelling music, but so far this has been the best one. Marcellus Pittman’s edit of Death Disco is quite simply a killer jam, while Jamal Moss’s trippy ambient side takes the reins on the flip. This is exactly the kind of “dance” record I am looking for in 2022. Or 2023. Or 3023. Afrofuturist grooves.
Mano De Fuego – UR Presenta Mano De Fuego – Underground Resistance 12”
UR jumped back into the game with a number of new releases this year, but the top spot of them goes to this record by Mexican duo Mano de Fuego. This one is heavily indebted to the classic melodic sounds of Mad Mike and Gerald Mitchell that the label is known for, but in a way that feels genuine and perfect for pushing that sound forward.