You can read all our latest end-of-year lists here. This is our final Top 10 list before we share our Top 100 Albums of 2022. The album titles beneath link to our album review, and there is also an album purchase link (most of which link to Bandcamp).
Here is David Morrison’s Top 10 list in alphabetical order:
Big Thief – Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You (4AD)
I must be honest in admitting that, while all around me were fawning at their feet from Day One, it took me some time to ‘get’ Big Thief – the obstacle, I think, being the fragility of Adrianne Lenker’s voice. I just couldn’t hear past it, but then with 2019’s U.F.O.F., the penny finally well and truly dropped. Having backtracked from there and followed the band since, they’ve progressed enormously – but following this 80-minute work of genius, I have to wonder if they will, or can, ever craft a better album..?
Blue Moon Marquee – Scream, Holler & Howl (Independent)
Ridiculously, Blue Moon Marquee’s finest, most fully realized album to date was recorded in just 12 days. Listen to it and tell me that’s not astonishing. A cauldron of steaming hot blues, swing, gypsy jazz, rock ‘n’ roll, lounge and all manner of other cyclopedic sonic references that, overall, makes them difficult to concisely pigeonhole, with the aid of Duke Robillard and other skilled collaborators A.W. Cardinal and Jasmine Colette truly knocked it out of the park with this killer collection of songs.
Gina Davis – Field Notes (Self-released)
As I stated in my review of this unarguably charming debut, I first encountered the delightful Gina Davis in what was initially simply a reunion of friends at the centrally convenient location of my house, yet ultimately turned into an impromptu three-act living room concert. Possessed of the sweetest voice and a composer of pretty, quirky wee folk songs, while Gina is blessed with an effervescent personality, she is deadly serious and all-in when it comes to performance and her craft. Definitely, one to watch.
Jake Xerxes Fussell – Good and Green Again (Paradise of Bachelors)
In seeing The Magnetic Fields in Vancouver in April, my wife and I finally managed to check off a bucket list band. We had no idea in advance who was opening, and when the lights went down, a regular dude ambled onstage, sat down and said, “Hi, I’m Jake,” then proceeded to deliver a set of unfeasibly laidback country-blues that held the entire house in his palms. Utterly smitten with his voice and demeanour, we consequently scooped up his four-album catalogue within days, beginning with this absolute beauty.
Kyle Morgan – Younger at Most Everything (Team Love Records)
When I reviewed this wonderful record back in February, I concluded the piece by saying, “…my goodness, we’re just a few weeks into the year, and I already have a likely shoo-in for inclusion in my 2022 Folk Radio Top 10.” A display of exquisitely rendered, masterful chamber-pop songwriting, here it is, as predicted (but not guaranteed), rightfully nestling within a selection of truly great records. In respect of my tastes, this has been another vintage year, but it all kicked off with this beautiful thing.
Jeb Loy Nichols – The United States of the Broken Hearted (On-U Sound)
Every year I both arrive late to the party of a brilliant artist or band and rediscover one I’d inexplicably forgotten about: 2022 delivered Eric Chenaux to me in the former category and Jeb Loy Nichols in the latter. In Nichols’ case, it was actually 2021’s Jeb Loy album, issued on Daptone of all labels, that re-kickstarted my interest in the man’s gorgeous, chill material, but in his politically-tinged 2022 offering of stunningly arranged, gentle earworms, we have one of my Top 5 albums of the year from any genre.
Mali Obomsawin – Sweet Tooth (Out of Your Head Records)
A release that opened a whole can of worms for me to express myself politically alongside an assessment of its powerful sonics; I’ve never penned a longer review for any album than I did for this extraordinary record. Not only is it an exhibition of dazzlingly composed and performed, deep, spiritual jazz, but from cultural and historical perspectives, it arrived at a point in time to mark it as something of a zeitgeist work of art. Think of it as commensurate with Max Roach’s We Insist! Freedom Now Suite.
Of The Sun – Still Rising (Self-released)
There is so much more to the appreciation of this lovely album than its music. My health has been a total disaster this year, but when I start feeling overly sorry for myself, I only need to think of what Marian van der Zon has been through just to stand upright in the wake of a life-changing accident, let alone her tortuous path to the release of this affecting solo debut. Chronicling aspects of that journey within a framework of catchy folk songs, this is an album you’ll want if in need of an inspiring kick in the pants.
Pharis & Jason Romero – Tell ‘Em You Were Gold (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings)
I like everything about Pharis & Jason Romero. Besides their dazzling vocal and instrumental skills that make their earthy folk music sound effortless, I’m fascinated by their rural, downhome existence and highly impressed by their work ethic. They seem like humble, sweet humans, and at the end of the day, they release glorious albums like this latest effort, a long-awaited all-banjo project on which Jason plays seven different banjos, every one of which he and Pharis built. Really, what is there not to love?
The Unthanks – Sorrows Away (Rabble Rouser Music)
Since first emotionally connecting with music as a child via my parents’ handful of classical LPs, I’ve held a deep appreciation of impassioned sonic grandeur. Marry that regard to my love of 70s British folk music and, in The Unthanks, we have my idea of the perfect band. And as a project exhibiting intriguing thematic imagination and lofty musical ambition, they are as unique as they are thrilling. With each successive release, my jaw unfailingly drops at what they’ve achieved – Sorrows Away is no exception.