And hey presto, that’s it again for this (music) year – over before you’ve even really gotten into the groove. I don’t think I have to say much about 2022 as such – it is well known that it has brought a lot of gloom over the world. After all, things went a bit uphill, at least musically, after Corona had paralyzed many bands for two years – now material that should actually have been released earlier is being released, since the musicians are finally performing their new songs live on tours to the fans again can. (By the way, I attended my last concert in December 2019 (OMD in Hamburg), so I’ve been “in withdrawal” for three years now…)
Musically, it was an obscure year for me – probably more strange than any other year so far. Actually, more and more good albums have been released, which would be a reason to be happy when viewed in isolation. However, my album charts have never reflected my actual listening habits as little as they do in 2022. Of the albums in my top 20, only a handful of songs even made it into my extended “heavy rotation”, ie even my favorite albums tended to be hit-free for me . That’s why I actually thought about adapting the order of my blog postings to the importance, first the LPs, then my song charts, but since I do write more about the albums (old habit ;-), it would somehow be a bit too stressful for me be, so close to Christmas. So the fact that I start with the songs as usual doesn’t say anything about their importance to me.
The truth is on the spot, as the saying goes, and so in 2022 the actually relevant chart list is the one that last.fm shows me incorruptibly, ie my most listened to songs. The overlap between my song charts (below) and this list is remarkably small, and if you look at the composition of the top 20, you see something unprecedented: Of the 20 songs I listen to most often, 17 are by Japanese artists. Because this year I found a new favorite band for me, which almost single-handedly made the music year gold for me – RAISE A SUILEN.
RAS was formed for an anime and game, but four of the musicians (who are all also the voice actors for this anime) previously played together in a band, which served as a template for the characters there. Most of them are experienced musicians with many years of experience (e.g. the drummer used to be in a metal band, the guitarist in a rock trio), which can be seen in their energetic live shows, where they show off their dynamics and the fun they have. sweep the audience away (including me on the screen). That’s why I enjoyed their songs almost exclusively via live videos – as a studio version, many songs are a bit overproduced. Their mix of J-rock, pop, metal, rap, electronic, with dubstep and punk thrown in, is fun and addictive and extremely Japanese. In any case, the RAS dominance in my charts is massive. This is reflected in the most listened to artists:
01. RAISE A SUILEN (411 scrobbles)
02. Lana Del Rey (224)
03. BABYMETAL (205)
04. Mylene Farmer (95)
05. T-ARA (72)
06. Muse (64)
07. Marie Flore (63)
08. Etienne Daho (58)
09. Exit (55)
10. Cats on Trees (54)
But even more, of course, with the most frequently heard songs:
01. HELL! Or HELL? (live) – RAISE A SUILEN (69 scrobbles)
02. Roly-Poly – T-ARA (59)
03. OUTSIDER RODEO (live) – RAISE A SUILEN (47)
04. EXPOSE ‘Burn out!!!’ (live) – RAISE A SUILEN (42)
05. Divine Attack – 神神 – BABYMETAL (34)
06. Welcome To Heavenly Secret Base – Lonesome_Blue (28)
07. SOUL SOLDIER (live) – RAISE A SUILEN (28)
08. Spiderweb – BRATS (27)
09. A DECLARATION OF ××× (live) – RAISE A SUILEN (27)
10. ABNORMAL – MUTANT MONSTER (25)
11. R･I･O･T (live) – RAISE A SUILEN (25)
12. CORUSCATE -DNA- – RAISE A SUILEN (22)
13. UNSTOPPABLE (live) – RAISE A SUILEN (22)
14. Repaint (live) – RAISE A SUILEN (20)
15. Takin’ my Heart (live) – RAISE A SUILEN (16)
16. Monochrome – BABYMETAL (15)
17. Last Night – Message (15)
18. DRIVE US CRAZY (live) – RAISE A SUILEN (15)
19. Domination to world – RAISE A SUILEN (14)
20. Out of My Head ft. Wednesday Campanella – CHVRCHES (13)
So my song of the year is actually «HELL! or HELL? », even if it is in this version from 2020 – I’ll just present it here anyway, as you know, I don’t know anything about it. 😉
But of course I want to bow to the traditional customs of annual charts and have therefore, as always, put together a sorted top 21 of imho the best songs in 2022 – logically Japanese acts have also left their mark here this time. I awarded first place three times because I just couldn’t decide which of these three very different songs was best:
01. Metric «Doomscroller»
01. BABYMETAL “Divine Attack”
01. Sofia Portanet «My Love»
04. RAISE A SUILEN «Repaint (live)»
05. Lonesome_Blue «Welcome To Heavenly Secret Base»
06. Betterov «Dussmann»
07. Hitsujibungaku «OH HEY»
08. The Birthday Massacre «Dreams of You»
09. BRATS «Spiderweb»
10. Izïa “Dark Star”
11. RAISE A SUILEN «CORUSCATE -DNA- (live)»
12. Placebo «Try Better Next Time»
13. Emily Jane White «Crepuscule»
14. Cats on Trees «She Was A Girl»
15. Re:NO «Realize»
16. Suki Waterhouse «Melrose Meltdown»
17. BABYMETAL «Monochrome»
18. Princess Chelsea «Love Is More»
19. “Teeth” goods
20. Magic Wands «Fortune»
21. Future Conditional «Demolitions (feat. Bobby Wratten, Beth Arzy)»
21. Lana Del Rey «Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd»
Other great songs (unsorted):
Christin Nichols “Bielefeld”
Charles Watson «Beauty Contest»
Muse «We Are Fucking Fucked»
Shelly Archer «Lovebird»
ATARASHII GAKKO! «HANAKO»
Minimal hit «Submission»
Mars Argo «Angry»
The Sunshine State «Pushing 30»
Izia “Speed”
Mitski «Love Me More»
Minimal hit «Before»
Suki Waterhouse «Devil I Know»
Ciel «Baby Don’t You Know»
INVSN «Burn Baby Burn»
Zella Day «Radio Silence»
Sasha Alex Sloan «I Blame The World»
Charlie Collins «Backseat Valentine»
Mylène Farmer “Green Ray (feat. AaRON)”
The Mountain Goats «Make You Suffer»
Gwenno «An Stevel Nowydh»
Shark Sorrow “Today, Tomorrow”
Still Corners «Far Rider»
Suede «Turn Off Your Brain And Yell»
Sharon Van Etten «Darkness Fades»
Bleach Lab «Talk It Out»
Jenny Hval «American Coffee»
scratch «secret»
Soccer Mommy «Shotgun»
Beverly Kills «New Berlin»
Ekkstacy «Wish I Was Dead»
The House Of Love «Dice Are Rolling»
Pale Blue Eyes «Dr Pong»
Wyldest «Everytime You’ll Be Mine»
The Dharma Chain «His Head»
Scratch «Believe»
Night Shop «Let Me Let It Go»
Brooke Annibale «What if You»
Ladytron «City of Angels»
Dove Cameron «Breakfast»
And as usual, I have also prepared a Spotify playlist with my favorite songs of 2022:
Source: https://coast-is-clear.blogspot.com/2022/12/der-groe-coast-is-clear-jahresruckblick.html
