This is it, the final Playlist of 2022. There were a few surprises, a few new tracks from favorite artists, but on the whole I found the struggle with curated playlists on streaming services limiting.
A quick digression.
The Apple Music formula is this: add a song to your library and the ENTIRETY OF THE TRACKLIST from that album will be cycled through your Made For You playlist in subsequent weeks. This isn’t altogether annoying, but you get the picture after two or three weeks of recommended tracks from the same album appearing over and over again. I get it: It’s good for the artists and for listening to tracks that you might skip should new artists pack a Made For You playlist instead, but this gets tiresome. It’s a small nitpick from otherwise helpful playlists curated by music streaming services.
Digression over.
Anyway, the good stuff from the last quarter of 2022 was noteworthy and addictively repayable:
“Shoot Me in the Grocery Line” by youproblem is a fantastic new track. It reminds me of a swath of recent female-lead artists such as ALASKALASKA and Elise Trouw that combine tantric rhythms with gunfire lyrics (I’m doing my best Pitchfork music review impression, if you can’t tell). On the newer side, Goldpark and j.flowers.mp3 hit the mark in terms of replayability, specifically with tracks like “If That’s What You Want” and “Rome, with Love (featuring Leah Cleaver, AKS & Yelfris Valdés)” Add in the familiar bombastic lyrics of another Abhi the Nomad (featuring shane doe) banger with “Cobain”, and this playlist makes for a great low-key mix to keep playing in the background for just about anything (sans family night–Explicit lyrics are the norm on my playlists, I’m afraid).
Ashamedly, this last quarter of 2022 was my first foray into the world of Taylor Swift (I know, WAY TOO late to the T. Swift party; her new album “Midnights” was excellent). I’m not giddy enough to drop an entire pay cycle to win auctioned tickets from Ticket Master, but I’ll nod knowingly that I did, in fact, miss out after all this time avoiding T. Swift fandom. I was ecstatic to find a new Halloween staple that will be playing every October from now on by the great Jeremy Messersmith titled “666”. It’s hard to dethrone “The Monster Mash”, but as a hipster update to a Halloween jam, Messersmith’s new track hits the mark and I love it.
As always, I love exchanging music and hearing what everyone else is currently playing, so please feel free to add what you’re listening to below in the comments!
Until then, enjoy this last offering of 2022. And hey, here’s hoping for another abundant year of music in 2023. Until that next playlist drops, keep well everyone!
- “Did I Make You Up?” by half-alive
- “Shoot Me In the Grocery Line” by youproblem
- “F**k It I Love You” by Oh Wonder
- “Unholy Appetite” by Barrie
- “Surfing in Iceland” by Goth Babe
- “dandelion” by Winnetka Bowling League
- “666” by Jeremy Messersmith
- “If That’s What You Want” by Goldpark
- “Deep End” by Dayglow
- “Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version)” by Taylor Swift
- “World’s Smallest Violin” by AJR
- “Void” by Crystal Glass
- “Pizza Boy” by Everything Everything
- “Living Life Right” by Anna of the North
- “Cobain” by Abhi the Nomad & shane doe
- “The Core” by Babe Club
- “Rome, with Love (featuring Leah Cleaver, AKS & Yelfris Valdés)” by jflowers.mp3
