This year, I moved to a new city and began seeing live music again after a pandemic-induced hiatus: two things that dramatically reframed and reshaped my listening life. The music that moved me most this year — instant classics from new discoveries like MJ Lenderman and Grace Ives; high-water marks from dependable favorites like Perfume Genius and Alex G; anthems of autonomy from MUNA and Petrol Girls and odes to complicated kinship from Quinn Christopherson and Jenny Hval — propelled me forward, offered a space to recharge and rose above the din of New York's outrageously loud subway system. It's been a rush, a blur, a slog, a thrill; I was grateful for a soundtrack (arranged alphabetically, below) that could keep up with all of it.
Top 10 Albums of 2022
▶ LISTEN ON SPOTIFY
• Alex G, God Save the Animals
• Hurray For the Riff Raff, LIFE ON EARTH
• Grace Ives, Janky Star
• MJ Lenderman, Boat Songs
• MUNA, MUNA
• Perfume Genius, Ugly Season
• S.G. Goodman, Teeth Marks
• Soul Glo, Diaspora Problems
• Special Interest, Endure
• Tomberlin, i don't know who needs to hear this...
Top 10 Songs of 2022
▶ LISTEN ON SPOTIFY
• Alex G, "Runner"
• The Beths, "Expert in a Dying Field"
• Quinn Christopherson, "Celine"
• Jenny Hval, "Year of Love"
• MUNA, "What I Want"
• Plains, "Problem With It"
• Petrol Girls, "Preachers"
• Raveena, "Rush"
• Sadurn, "snake"
• Rina Sawayama, "This Hell"
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.