Well was I wrong last year when called 2021 the annus horribilis of all years. It has been soundly beaten by the shit-show that is 2022. The invasion of the Ukraine, cost of living crisis, another hideous wave of Covid – which even if the jabs are being rolled out, and the deaths rate, hospitalizations is nothing like the first wave back in 2020, is still causing major illness, absences and disruptions to a society already facing a heap of doomsday scenarios -, strikes, activism, fuel poverty, looming austerity, and the continuing horror show of a zombie government being just some examples. Yes 2022 qualifies as one of the most incomprehensible years on record of any epoch; an ungovernable country in the grip of austerity point 2.0, and greater world untethered and at the mercy of the harridans on either side of the extreme political divide, the billionaire corporates and narcissist puritans.
And yet, it has been another great year for music. Despite the myriad of problems that face artists and bands in the industry, from a lack of general interest to the increasingly punitive costs of touring and playing live, and the ever encroaching problems of streaming against physical sales and exposure, people just can’t quit making music. And for that we, as critics – though most of us have either been musicians or still are – really appreciate what you guys do. In fact, as we have always tried to convey, we celebrate you all. And so, instead of those silly, factious and plain dumb numerical charts that our peers and rivals insist on continuing to print – how can you really suggest one album deserves their place above or below another (why does one entry get the 23rd spot and another the 22nd; unless it is a vote count) –, the Monolith Cocktail has always chosen a much more diplomatic, democratic alphabetical order – something we more or less started in the first place. We also throw every genre, nationality together in a serious of eclectic lists: no demarcation involved.
The lists include those albums we reviewed, featured on the site in some capacity, and those we just didn’t get the time to include. All entries are displayed thus: Artist in alphabetical order, then the album title, label, who chose it, a review link where applicable, and finally a link to the album itself.
This year’s picks have been chosen by (Dominic Valvona), Brian ‘Bordello’ Shea, Matt Oliver, Andrew C. Kidd and Graham Domain.
M.
Machine Girl ‘Neon White OST-The Wicked Heart’ ACK
Billy MacKenzie ‘Satellite Life’ (Cherry Red Records) GD
Mai Mai Mai ‘Rimorso’ (Maple Death Records) DV Review
Nduduzo Makhathini ‘In The Spirit Of Ntu’ (Blue Note) DV
Marlowe ‘Marlowe 3’ (Mello Music Group) MO
Luke Mawdsley ‘Luke Two’ (Spine Records) DV Premiere
Simon McCorry ‘Scenes From The Sixth Floor’ DV Review
Brona McVittie ‘The Woman in the Moon’ (Arts Council of N. Ireland) GD Review
Amine Mesnaoui & Labelle ‘African Prayers’ (Lo Recordings) DV Review
Milc & Televangel ‘Neutral Milc Hotel’ (Filthy Broke Records) MO
Modern Nature ‘Island Of Noise’ (Bella Union) DV
Tumi Mogorosi ‘Group Theory: Black Music’ (Mushroom Hour & New Soil) DV
Montparnasse Musique ‘Archeology’ (Real World) DV Review
Mount Kimbie ‘MK 3.5: Die Cuts | City Planning’ ACK
Muramuke ‘S-T’ (Accidental) DV
Ali Murray ‘Wilderness of Life’ (Dead Forest Records) GD Reviews
N.
Nicole Faux Naiv ‘Moon Rally’ (Bronzerat) DV
No Age ‘People Helping People’ (Drag City) DV Review
Hi, my name is Dominic Valvona and I’m the Founder of the music/culture blog monolithcocktail.com For the last ten years I’ve featured and supported music, musicians and labels we love across genres from around the world that we think you’ll want to know about. No content on the site is paid for or sponsored and we only feature artists we have genuine respect for /love. If you enjoy our reviews (and we often write long, thoughtful ones), found a new artist you admire or if we have featured you or artists you represent and would like to buy us a coffee at https://ko-fi.com/monolithcocktail to say cheers for spreading the word, then that would be much appreciated.
An imaginary radio show if you like, a taste also of my DJ sets, the Monolith Cocktail Social is a playlist selection that spans genres and eras to create the most eclectic of soundtracks. Each month I compile a mixed bag of anniversary celebrating albums (this month being 50 years since the release of Amon DüülII’s seminal acid-rock communions with Yeti, Wolf City, Curtis Mayfield’s equally seminal soul triumph soundtrack Superfly, T-Rex’s big-hitter The Slider, and the more obscure self-titled album of brown-eyed soul and singer-songwriter woes from the mellow New York artists Alzo), newish tracks (this month that includes Wu-Lu, Horsegirl, Cities Aviv, Eerie Wanda, Basia Bulet and Robert Stillman) and music from the last six, seven decades (that includes The Wolfgang Press, Delaney Bramlett, Readykill, 5 Revolutions, Lew Lewis, Sergius Golowin and many more). Expect to anything and everything.
That track list in full—–
5 Revolutions ‘Greetings’ Deeper ‘Willing’ Horsegirl ‘Anti-Glory’ Free Loan Investments ‘BBC’ The Wolfgang Press ‘Shut The Door’ Bill Jerpe ‘Behind The Times’ Delaney Bramlett ‘What Am I Doin’ (In A Place Like This)’ Spontaneous Overthrow ‘All About Money’ Crimewave ‘Disposable’ Krack Free Media ‘Let The Band Play’ Cities Aviv ‘BLACK PLEASURE’ Wu-Lu ‘South’ Readykill ‘Watching The World Going Down’ Thirsty Moon ‘Speak For Yourself’ Curtis Mayfield ‘Little Child Runnin’ Wild’ Patrick Gauthier ‘The Good Book’ Wax Machine ‘Canto De Lemanjá’ Sun Ra Arkestra Meets Salah Ragab ‘Ramadan’ Amon Düül II ‘Sleepwalker’s Timeless Bridge’ Pugh Rogefeldt ‘Haru Sett Mej Va…’ Misha Panfilov Sound Combo ‘Way Higher’ Chris Corsano/Bill Orcutt ‘The Secret Engine Of History’ Idassane Wallet Mohamed ‘Aylana’ Susanna w/Delphine Dora ‘Le Possédé’ Basia Bulet ‘The Garden (The Garden Version)’ Azalia Snail ‘You Belong To Me’ Eerie Wanda ‘Sail To The Silver Sun’ T. Rex ‘Ballrooms Of Mars’ Grave Flowers Bongo Band ‘Squeaky Wheel Oil Can’ Lew Lewis ‘Wait’ Os Mundi ‘Gloria’ Daevid Allen & Kramer ‘Thinking Thoughts’ Shoes ‘Tomorrow Night’ Alzo ‘Without You Girl’ The Ladybug Transistor ‘Windy’ Ben Marc w/Joshua Idehen ‘Dark Clouds’ Robert Stillman ‘Cherry Ocean’ Sergius Golowin ‘Die weiβe Alm’