So every year I peruse a bunch of year-end "Best" lists published at places like NPR, PopMatters, Pitchfork, the New York Times, Stereogum, The New Yorker, Bandcamp, etc., etc., with the aim of finding potentially interesting stuff to check out--in all different genres. I probably pay the most attention to the lists and critics (and artists and genres) I already know/like/respect, but if I read a compelling nutshell description of/by someone I don't know--or if I see something showing up in multiple places--then I'll earmark it, even though I'm reflexively skeptical of critical groupthink. This year I wound up with 50+ items. (Maybe a dozen or so were actually already in my Apple Music library. How hip am I?)
Here's the cool part: around half of that half-hundred have Atmos mixes, or at least nominal Atmos mixes. Some titles are almost inevitable (I lost track of how many lists had Bey's RENAISSANCE at the top), many less so. I'm sure that if we took a poll at QQ, we'd get consensus on 50 more great new albums with Atmos mixes from 2022 that flew beneath the critics' radar. Anyway: for anybody who's interested, here's what I wound up with. (Sorry--haven't taken the time to get links.) I'm looking forward to checking out the unfamiliar ones.
Angel Olsen, Big Time
Aoife O’Donovan, Age of Apathy
Bartees Strange, From Farm to Table
Beyonce, RENAISSANCE
Bjork, Fossora
Black Country, New Road, Ants from Up There
Caroline Shaw & Attaca Quartet, Evergreen
Cecile McLorin Salvant, Ghost Song
FKA Twigs, Caprisongs
Greentea Peng, GREENZONE 108
iLe, Nacarile
Kendrick Lamar, Mr Morale & the Big Steppers
Kojey Radical, Reason to Smile
Leikeli47, Shape Up
Little Simz, No Thank You
Lucky Daye, Candydrip
Regina Spektor, Home, before and after
S. G. Goodman, Teeth Marks
Samara Joy, Linger Awhile
Soccer Mommy, Sometimes, Forever
Stromae, Multitude
Sudan Archive, Natural Brown Prom Queen
The Weeknd, Dawn FM
Tove Lo, Dirt Femme
Wet Leg, Wet Leg
