After what I considered to be a pretty down year for music in 2021, 2022 felt like it bounced back in a big way, with releases from some of my favorite artists, some new discoveries, and even releases from old artists I was always lukewarm on that finally made me a convert. Read on if you want a three months late list of albums to check out and round out your own 2022 playlists.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

16. MTV – Mo Troper

Mo Troper songs come in two varieties: straight forward power pop diddies, or melodious little drops of poison meant to wound and alienate their targets. What brings the two together, outside of Troper’s songwriting chops, are his eerie, warped falsetto and scratchy lo-fi production, which give even his prettiest songs a kind of cracked disposition. Even at its most lovestruck, MTV sounds like a mysterious 45 recovered from a storm drain that was recorded by someone who would end up becoming a serial killer or a presidential assassin, mixing in sweet, starry eyed lyrics with lines about bulimia and torture. In a lesser artist’s hands, this mixture would feel empty and annoying, but Troper is a skilled enough craftsman to pull it off.

Recommended Tracks: “Between You and Me,” “I’m the King of Rock and Roll,” “I Fall Into Her Arms”

15. Farm to Table – Bartees Strange

Bartees Strange burst onto the scene in 2020 with Live Forever, a bleary mix of rap, country, and indie rock that felt like the culmination of 20 plus years of post-genre discourse. His followup, Farm to Table, is much more slanted in the indie direction, and much more focused on longing and heartbreak, but its big choruses and shining guitars keep it from being a sad sack affair. Strange is clearly a fan first, and Farm to Table knows that listeners don’t want to wallow in their emotions with him – they want to clasp hands and shout along choruses about his feelings instead. The record’s powerful instrumentals and Strange’s soaring vocals are equal to the task.

Recommended Tracks: “Heavy Heart,” “Mulholland Dr.,” “Hennessy”

14. Chopper – Kiwi jr.

While I enjoyed Cooler Returns, Kiwi jr.’s 2021 release, there was something about frontman Jeremy Gaudet’s vocals and delivery that smack of smarm – like he thought he was better than the characters he was singing about and singing to. This approach was more effective than note (see “Nashville Wedding”) but can only take an album so far. 2022’s Chopper solves this problem by taking a softer, more sympathetic perspective on Gaudet’s characters – when an extra gets cut out of a film (“The Extra Sees the Film”) or a would be screenwriter has their dreams crushed (“The Sound of Music”), their pain becomes Gaudet’s pain too, and the slicker, more synth and organ heavy instrumentals give him a sleeker but no less jagged background to tell their stories. Nasally songsmiths like Stephen Malkmus and Joanthan Richman must be proud.

Recommended Tracks: “Unspeakable Things,” “The Extra Sees the Film,” “The Sound of Music”

13. (watch my moves) – Kurt Vile

Kurt Vile has always teetered on the edge of being something of a self-parody – at his best, he’s a sneakily profound stoner poet, at his worst, he’s a guy who likes to get high and strum the same chord progression over and over again for ten minutes. (watch my moves) doesn’t necessarily innovate on his sound, but it does return it to form a bit. Songs like “Like Exploding Stones” and “Hey Like a Child” recall the woozy, early morning warblings of Wakin on a Pretty Daze, and the album’s extended guitar sections take on zen, almost jazz-like quality. Vile’s never going to tighten up his playing or arrangements, never going to give in to brevity – but also long as he puts out records that sound this slippery and shimmering, he’ll never need to.

Recommend Tracks: “Palace of OKV in Reverse,” “Like Exploding Stones,” “Hey Like a Child”