Monolith Cocktail Blog

The second part of the Monolith Cocktail teams favourite albums of 2022.

A recap in case you haven’t yet read part one

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 23^rd spot and another the 22^nd; 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

No Base Trio  ‘II’  (Setoladi Maiale)  DV
Review

Noah  ‘Noire’  (Flau)  DV
Review

Che Noir  ‘Food For Thought’  (TCF Music Group)  MO

O.

Old Fire  ‘Voids’ (Western Vinyl Records)  GD
Review

Open Mike Eagle  ‘A Tape Called Component System With The Auto Reverse’ (Auto Reverse Records)  MO

Orange Crate Art  ‘Contemporary Guitar Music’  (Somewherecold)  DV
Review

P.

The Paxton/Spangler Septet  ‘Ugqozi’  (Eastlawn Records)  DV
Review

Peace De Résistance  ‘Bits And Pieces’ DV

Penza Penza  ‘Neanderthal Rock’  (Funk Night Records)  DV

Le Pietre Dei Giganti  ‘Vetie e Culti’  (Overdub Recordings)  DV
Review

Plastic Candles ‘Dust’  (Paisley Shirt Records)  BBS
Review

Plop & Junnu  ‘S-T’  (Fiasko Records) DV

R.

Revelators ‘Revelators Sound System’ (37d03d records)  GD
Reviews

J Rocc  ‘A Wonderful Letter’  (Stones Throw)  MO

Robert  ‘Orange is the New Black’  (Antelope Records)  MO

Scott Robertson  ‘Footprints In The Butter’  (Subjungle)  BBS
Review

S.

Salem Trials  ‘Love Joan Jett’  (Metal Postcard Records)  BBS
Review

SAULT  ‘AIR’  (Forever Living Originals)  ACK
Review

Say What  ‘S-T’  (We Jazz)  DV
Review

Shabaka  ‘Afrikan Culture’  (Verve/Impulse!) DV

Ignacio Simón ‘Old Friends’ (Bandcamp)  GD
Review

Širom  ‘The Liquefied Throne Of Simplicity’  (Glitterbeat)  DV

Sis  ‘Gnani’ (Native Cat Recordings)  GD
Review

Silverbacks  ‘Archive Material’ (Full Time Hobby)  GD
Review

The Soft Pink Truth  ‘Is It Going to Get Any Deeper Than This?’  ACK

Spygenius  ‘Jobbernowl’  (Big Stir Records)  BBS
Review

Staraya Derevnya  ‘Boulder Blues’  (Ramble Records)  DV
Review

Stepbrothers featuring the Honourable Ted  ‘S/T’ EP (German Shepherd Records)  GD
Review

Shepard Stevenson  ‘Man Down’  (Somewherecold)  DV
Review

Stereolab  ‘Pulse of the Early Brain’ (Duophonic and Warp Records)  GD

Robert Stillman  ‘What Does It Mean To Be American’ (Orindal Records) DV

Carl Stone  ‘We Jazz Reworks Vol. 2’  (We Jazz)  DV
Review

Gillian Stone ‘Spirit Photographs’ DV
Review

STS & RJD2  ‘Escape From Sweet Auburn’  (RJ’s Electrical Connections)  MO

Misha Sultan  ‘Roots’  (Hive Mind)  DV
Review

Sweeney  ‘Stay for the Sorrow’ (Sound in Silence)  GD
Review

T.

Team Play  ‘Wishes And Desire’  (Soliti) DV

Mauricio Takara and Carla Boregas  ‘Grande Massa D’Agua’  (Hive Mind)  DV
Review

Tone Of Voice Orchestra  ‘S-T’  (Stunt Records)  DV
Review

Trupa Trupa  ‘B Flat A’  (Glitterbeat)  DV
Review

V.

Various/Solidary  ‘Blue And Yellow’ & ‘Yellow And Blue: Help For Ukraine’  (Binaural Space)  DV
Review

Various  ‘Live at WOMAD 1982’  (Real World)  DV
Review

Various  ‘Mensajes del Agua: Nuevos Sonidos Desde Peru Vol 1’  (Buh Records) DV

Various  ‘Music For Ukraine’  (We Jazz)  DV
Review

Various  ‘Pierre Barouh And The Saravah Sound: Jazz, Gumbo And Other Hallucinatory Grooves’  (WEWANTSOUNDS)  DV
Review

Various  ‘Spirit Of France’  (Spiritmuse)  DV
Review

Vera Di Lecce  ‘Alter Of Love’ DV

Violet Nox  ‘Eris Wakes’  (Infinity Vine)  DV
Review

Vukovar  ‘The Body Abdicator’  (Other Voices)  DV/BBS
Review

W.

Wish Master & Axel Holy  ‘First Nature’  (Official Recordings)  MO

Ethan Wood  ‘Burnout’  (Whatever’s Clever)  DV
Review

Billy Woods  ‘Aethiopes’ & ‘Church’ (Backwoodz Studioz)  MO

X.

Iannis Xenakis  ‘Electroacoustic Works’  (Karlrecords)  ACK

Z.

THE Zew ‘IFI1IFO’  (Numavi Records)  BBS
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.