Albums Of The Year, 2022
After another tumultuous year and a cavalcade of great music, choosing our 50 favourite albums of 2022 hasn’t been easy.
Jim Jupp ‘Farmer’s Angle’
Jim Jupp mulls over ‘Farmer’s Angle’, his debut Belbury Poly EP from 2004 – the release which launched the iconic Ghost Box label and also kickstarted 21st century hauntology
Kurt Dahlke
DAF and Der Plan legend Kurt Dahlke – aka Pyrolator – reflects on how he ended up performing at an Argentinian “future discotheque”
Richard Barratt ‘Testone’
Sweet Exorcist’s Richard Barratt – aka DJ Parrot/Crooked Man – recalls the making of 1990’s essential bleep techno cut, ‘Testone’, with Richard H Kirk
Thomas Fehlmann
Thomas Fehlmann recounts how The Orb managed a surprise return to the top of the UK charts… by way of a rejection from Jean-Michel Jarre
Carl Cox
Having recently released ‘Electronic Generations’, his first album in over 10 years, veteran producer and house/techno DJ Carl Cox digs deep into his formative influences
Halina Rice: Divine Rice
Producer Halina Rice creates immersive, audiovisual environments where music, art and technology intersect. Her second long-player, ‘Elision’, takes you on a deep journey into abstract soundscapes
Joe Meek: No Ordinary Joe
Hidden away for decades, Joe Meek’s near-mythical “tea chest tapes” have finally seen the light of day, revealing much about the working practices of the legendary producer responsible for The Tornados’ pioneering, electronically hued 1962 single, ‘Telstar’
Lucrecia Dalt: Space Invader
Lucrecia Dalt’s latest album is a sumptuous and radiant sci-fi meditation in which the bolero, salsa, mambo and merengue influences she absorbed throughout her childhood are refracted through “machinic distortions”. But an alien presence is lurking…
Simple Minds: Natural High
Simple Minds have just put out a new album… and it’s their best since the band’s heyday in the 1980s. From the striking cover to the upbeat tunes and sometimes dark lyrics, Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill explain how ‘Direction Of The Heart’ came together, as well as reflecting on their enduring friendship and the 40th anniversary of their 1982 classic, ‘New Gold Dream’