By April I was working at my new job — not only working full time after two years, but back in retail after at least seventeen. Immediately I realized that while it might have been physically exhausting, mentally it was a walk in the park. Compared to the daily stresses of the Former Day Job, I knew I could stick with this one for a while and not have to ever return to that bullshit ever again. It also helped that my commute is a full eight blocks instead of thirty miles! It’s not the work-from-home I enjoyed so much in the past, but it’s a fair trade given how much I’ve come to enjoy it. And I get to listen to new music on my off hours!

EMF, GO GO SAPIENS, released 1 April. Now this was a band that no one expected to hear from again, given their last original album had been back in 1995. A welcome return to an underrated band unfairly judged on a one-hit wonder.

The Clockworks, The Clockworks EP, released 1 April. An EP from one of my favorite finds from last year? Yes, please!! I am so looking forward to more from this band as they sneak out new singles. Highly recommended!

Orville Peck, Bronco, released 8 April. Is he country? Is he alternative? is he alt-country? Whatever he may be, his style is a fascinating listen and he really does know how to write a great crooning love song.

Jack White, Fear of the Dawn, released 8 April. The first of two full records from the ex-White Stripes singer, he only seems to get better with each release.

Oceanator, Nothing’s Ever Fine, released 8 April. Elise Okusami’s quirky and catchy guitar-based tunes are all sorts of fun to listen to and well worth checking out.

Kae Tempest, The Line Is a Curve, released 8 April. They began releasing their fascinating beat style brand of pop and poetry, often gritty and frustrating, back in 2011 but their latest is a gem.

Wet Leg, Wet Leg, released 8 April. Speaking of spoken word, this duo hit the charts last year with the catchy and goofy “Chaise Longue” and followed it up with even more bonkers and irresistible alt-pop.

SAULT, AIR, released 15 April. The first of six (!!) albums to be released this year by this secretive yet incredibly prolific collective, they turn their attention away from their oddball R&B towards…classical? This one’s like a score for an unmade film and it threw quite a few fans, yet it only proves that they are exceptional musicians.

Hatchie, Giving the World Away, released 22 April. Their sophomore album is just as bouncy and fun as 2019’s Keepsake, which was one of my favorites of that year.

Fontaines DC, Skinty Fia, released 22 April. This band continues to be in its own little universe of strange yet captivating songs. Whether they’re spoken, sung or both, they’re never boring.

Bloc Party, Alpha Games, released 29 April. Always a fascinating band that can be twitchy one track and calm the next, they’ve always released great records that are excellent from start to finish.

Röyksopp, Profound Mysteries, released 29 April. This Norwegian duo always surprises me, as their releases can range from full-on chillwave electronica to laid back synth contemplation. This — the first of a three-volume set — blew me away with their great single “Impossible” with the always lovely Alison Goldfrapp on vocals. Definitely on my top ten of the year.

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Coming next week: May through July!

Now that I’ve gotten my head around the many albums that came out this year (and, I admit, having forgotten that some of these dropped as I’d been too distracted by adjusting to the New Day Job and other things), I can confirm that yes, there are indeed quite a few great records that I’m glad I got to check out!

Here’s a sample of some of March’s great releases!

Letting Up Despite Great Faults, IV, released 4 March. This band explores the lighter side of dreampop with what feels like a nod to The Church with its chiming guitars and reverb-drenched melodies. Their first album in quite some time has been a welcome return.

Steve Kilbey, Of Skins and Heart (The Acoustic Sessions Vol 1), released 4 March. Speaking of the Church, its front man dropped an acoustic reworking of the band’s debut album from 1981, proving these songs have definitely lasted the test of time.

Stereophonics, Oochya! released 4 March. Originally planned as a compilation of hits and rarities, singer Kelly Jones found himself inspired by some of those unreleased songs, retooled them and wrote new tracks to fill out the rest of the album instead. A band that never quite gets its due here in the States but continues to impress.

Nilüfer Yanya, Painless, released 4 March. Yanya’s second album is a study of less-is-more, with several of its songs so sparse they’re almost delicate, yet never losing any of their power. “Stabilise” is definitely on my top ten favorite songs of the year. Highly recommended.

Bob Moses, The Silence in Between, released 4 March. Yet another band on my ‘I will download anything from them’ list, their latest comes on darker and harder than previous releases yet never obscures the lighter touch of their melodies.

(G)I-DLE, I NEVER DIE, released 14 March. This K-Pop band gets punkier and poppier with this release, going full-on P!nk with lyrics and moves that are sassy, brassy and fun.

Stabbing Westward, Chasing Ghosts, released 18 March. A welcome full-album return to this band, coming back hard with their classic wall of sound style.

PLOSIVS, PLOSIVS, released 18 March. Quite possibly my favorite band name of the year — it perfectly fits their fast, gut-punching post-punk sound. “Broken Eyes” got the same reaction out of me that Interpol’s “PDA” did back in the day (…what the hell is this, and were can I find it??) and it’s high up there on my favorite albums of the year list.

Bauhaus, “Drink the New Wine” single, released 23 March. Just when you thought this band was going to implode once more, the four guys revisited the exquisite corpse style of writing (last heard with the “1-2-3-4” b-side) during the Covid lockdown by recording their own segment separately over a slow beat. It’s a weird yet surprisingly cohesive experiment.

Placebo, Never Let Me Go, released 25 March. This band has definitely mellowed with age, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, considering Brian Molko writes such great songs that are both quirky and extremely heartfelt.

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Stay tuned tomorrow for April tunage!

Given that we’re already in the last month of the year with only so many days left to blog about the year’s tunage, I will be doing my best to post here three times a week to ensure I hit all twelve months! I haven’t posted that much in ages, so hopefully I won’t be pushing it too hard!

And now for an extended look at February’s great releases…

cruush, “bckwards 36” single, released 2 February. This is a KEXP find, the kind that’s perfectly in my wheelhouse: muddy, dreamlike shoegaze with lovely wandering melodies and vocals (from Manchester at that). They kind of remind me a lot of the Boston band Mistle Thrush, who had a very similar sound. I don’t know much about them other than that they have a handful of singles on Bandcamp that I really need to get!

Love, Burns, It Should Have Been Tomorrow, released 4 February. This band really does sound like early Lloyd Cole & the Commotions if they’d chosen to go the psych rock route. It’s a fascinating listen.

Korn, Requiem, released 4 February. I’d mentioned on a friend’s Discord recently that I was surprised by how melodic this album is, and that it’s really good because of that. Sure, the drop-tuning and the vocal growling is still there as well as the doom-laden lyrics, but with age they’ve become a stronger and more cohesive band.

The Reds, Pinks & Purples, Summer at Land’s End, released 4 February. One of my favorite super-local bands — Land’s End is a cliffside hiking area of Lincoln Park that overlooks the Pacific Ocean and Golden Gate Bridge, just west of my apartment — released yet another banger of an album that I keep coming back to. He sounds even more like Felt here, not quite lo-fi but certainly sticking deep in that lane and I love it.

Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, Cold As Weiss, released 11 February. Groovy and infectious bluesy jazz that’s a super fun listen any day. These guys played on the front porch of KEXP’s morning DJ John Richards around the time this came out and it was a brilliant set.

Eddie Vedder, Earthling, released 11 February. Vedder’s newest solo record is a counterpoint to Pearl Jam’s last record Gigaton from last year, its music more contemplative and restive than his band’s sound. His powerful voice still soars just like always, creating a lovely and uplifting album in the process.

Andy Bell, Flicker, released 11 February. The Ride vocalist and lead guitarist (and former Oasis member as well) came out with a sprawling yet wonderful eighteen-track album full of his trademark brand of shoegaze — melodies that always seem to be on their way somewhere yet never quite arriving, giving the sense of weightless movement — and it’s an excellent listen from start to finish.

Spoon, Lucifer On the Sofa, released 11 February. Spoon albums are always a trip as you’re never quite sure where they’re going to lead you, with Britt Daniels’ off-kilter and twitchy songwriting style. Yet “The Hardest Cut” is one of those tracks that you just want to crank up because it’s just so great!

Urge Overkill, Oui, released 11 February. This was a year of unexpected returns of long-missed bands who’d been mostly doing live shows instead of recording, and UO’s last album had been released eleven years earlier. It’s a welcome return for a loved band from the late 80s-early 90s!

Alt-J, The Dream, released 11 February 2022. An album written and recorded during the height of Covid, it’s the band’s lightest yet most lonesome record yet. Tender in places and pained in others, it’s a tough listen but it’s beautifully crafted.

White Lies, As I Try Not to Fall Apart, released 18 February. I’ve always liked this band’s brand of not-quite-goth, not-quite-synthpop blend of melodies that are equally danceable and contemplative. This is a gem of a record and I really should be listening to it a lot more!

Beach House, Once Twice Melody, released 18 February. Originally released as four EPs over the course of late 2021 into early 2022, this band once again nails it with their own brand of dreampop that’s not just evocative of Cocteau Twins and classic 4AD but transcends that style and makes it their own. Dreamlike and sprawling, it’s a lovely listen from start to finish. One of my top ten albums of the year.

Gang of Youths, angel in realtime., released 25 February. This London-by-way-of-Sydney band has a sort of Springsteen-meets-Future-Islands high energy about it that makes their music powerful without being overly intense. It’s a great album worth checking out.

Deserta, Every Moment, Everything You Need, released 25 February. Their follow-up to Black Aura My Sun (one of my favorites from 2020) is just as dense and sprawling in its echoey and aching dreampop, and well worth the wait. “Lost in the Weight” is an absolutely lovely track.

Johnny Marr, Fever Dreams Pts 1-4, released 25 February. One of many musicians that released an album in bitesize EP parts before gathering them together, Marr continues to write excellent alternative pop that’s equally enjoyable and adventurous.

Tears for Fears, The Tipping Point, released 25 February. The duo’s first album together since 2004, it feels like time has caught up with Smith and Orzabal, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, considering their music has always been about being caught up in situations.

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Stay tuned tomorrow and Thursday for more 2022 music!