Tag Archives: daniel2022albums

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Song of the Day #5,292: ‘Sculptures of Anything Goes’ – Arctic Monkeys

Guest blogger Daniel concludes his countdown of the year’s top albums…

First, two honorable mentions:

Indigo – RM

‘Change pt.2’ has some of my favorite production of the year. It starts with a sparse, borderline obnoxious, bass line in the first half before shifting to an inspired jazz influenced chord progression opening up the second verse. This is one of the most clear indicators throughout this record that RM is simply having fun. There’s a palpable excitement pervasive throughout this record of somebody breaking away from his band looking to find his sound. It’s the same feeling as Harry Styles or Justin Timberlake’s debut album. There are some truly beautiful moments such as ‘Forg_tful’ and irresistible bops such as ‘Still Life.’

It’s Almost Dry – Pusha T

‘Dreamin of the Past’ also has some of my favorite production of the year from one my least favorite people right now. Throughout this album Pusha does what he does best. There’s a sincere respect I have for somebody who knows their lane and bodies it every time. JAY-Z also puts forth what may be my favorite verse of the year on ‘Neck and Wrist’ with lines cold as “Neither I nor my wrist move mockingly, y’all spend real money on fake watches, shockingly”

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Song of the Day #5,291: ‘Inside My Head’ – Clean Cut Kid

Guest blogger Daniel continues his countdown of the year’s top albums…

Best Albums of 2022 – #2
HISS – Clean Cut Kid

I’m not quite sure where to begin with this record. I guess I’ll start with the story of how it was recommended to me by my sister when I visited her in California. I’m impressed mainly by how Maddie was able to explain to me why and how much she loved this record without overhyping it. This is a task that I’ve always found somewhat difficult and will likely fail in accomplishing now with this review.

When I did finally create the space to truly appreciate this album on the red eye back from California to Florida, I was so overwhelmingly surprised in the best way. I can’t remember the last time I was put on to a new artist that instantly was able to make this much of an impression on me.

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Song of the Day #5,290: ‘Gone Girl’ – SZA

Guest blogger Daniel continues his countdown of the year’s top albums…

Best Albums of 2022 – #3
SOS – SZA

I felt about this album a lot how I felt about Kendrick’s project. They both have such an inimitable style and output where everyone’s expectations are so high that even when they’re performing at such an elevated level you still want more!

However, much like Kendrick’s album I loved how SZA broadened her range in what she was willing to tackle. While Kendrick’s journey was mostly emotional, SZA’s was far more sonic. With “Ctrl”, SZA’s debut studio album she essentially cemented herself as the new defining voice of R&B.

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Song of the Day #5,289: ‘3AM on Glenwood’ – Drake & 21 Savage

Guest blogger Daniel continues his countdown of the year’s top albums…

Best Albums of 2022 – #4
Her Loss – Drake & 21 Savage

To put it in the simplest, most rudimentary terms of my generation: this album slaps.

More than any of the other album on this list, my personal feelings on this record are most certainly influenced by the social components associated with it. This is par for the course with Drake who indisputably is one of the biggest hitmakers of our generation. If you’ve gone to any club, bar, or restaurant in the past 10 years odds are you’ve heard a Drake song. He enters the rare territory shared by Taylor Swift where love him or hate him you know him at least casually and have some opinion on his music.

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Song of the Day #5,288: ‘Count Me Out’ – Kendrick Lamar

Guest blogger Daniel continues his countdown of the year’s top albums…

Best Albums of 2022 – #5
Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers – Kendrick Lamar

I vividly remember when this album dropped because it was the same day my family was going on a cruise. I thought to myself: “How will I be able to download this album on Apple Music in the middle of the ocean?” How could something I love so much cause me such an inconvenience?

All was good as luckily my parents had splurged in paying for some minutes of wi-fi in the interest of not ruining their respective Wordle streaks. Luckily, in this sacred time I was able to download the album and prepared myself emotionally for the journey I was about to go on both nautically and musically.

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