Usually I do my top 3 albums of the year. Honestly this year I can’t whittle the list down. With so many great albums out in 2022 I just can’t narrow the field down enough for it to make sense (Cat Temper, Porcupine Tree, Marillion, and so many more!). Plus, why keep doing the same list every year?
So this year, I give to you my top three musical experiences of the year presented in their own categories.
Show of the year
While I managed to see a lot of amazing concerts this year, the Gypsy Moths, Sonic Rock Solstice (Krankschaft, Zub Zub, etc.), Goblin, etc. there is one show that simply stunned me like no other and made me feel like a teenager again. That was Vanilla Fudge at the Bull Run in Shirley MA. Let me start by saying, they were not exactly like their albums, which makes me happy, because if you sound just like your records, why am I venturing out to see your show when I could just listen to you at home? Vanilla fudge while keeping their 60’s sound has also modernized it a bit by adding some prog and slight metal tones into their sound palette. The show was loud and visceral in the best sense. There was another show I saw in 2022 that I wanted to be loud and fierce, but it came off as too polished, Vanilla Fudge delivered the loud rock and roll that I wanted. A great first for me at this show was seeing/hearing a Leslie rotating speaker in action! For those curious folks who are unfamiliar with the Leslie, follow this link for more info https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_speaker Hauling something as fragile and yet incredibly heavy as that speaker is a huge act of dedication to their sound. It really made a difference in their keyboard sound, giving it a rich tone. Carmine Appice performed a phenomenal drum solo. If I am lucky enough to get the chance to see them again, I will go!
Album of the year
This title goes to the band Smoke for their 2022 album Groupthink. Every song feels linked lyrically. The line “Worry no more your mind is not your own” appears in at least two of the songs. The blend of huge booming tones and the sole beautiful acoustic number all shine. The acoustic song, Supplication of Flame, has a somber heavy feel with growling bass notes sputtering below the acoustic guitar. The production blends raw power mixed just the right amount of slightly smoothed edges. This album came recommended to me by my friend Garry Lee. It’s not easy to count all the interesting music that Garry has hipped to me. I really want to hear more music from this band. I bet they would be tremendous live. Despite all the other great new albums that came out this year, this is the one I kept wanting to blast on the stereo the most.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4BZt4a6os8
https://thecultofsmoke.bandcamp.com/album/groupthink
Musical Moment
Usually I try to distance anything I do in the audio sphere from my top lists of the year, as it feels self-aggrandizing, and how can I judge anything I’m involved with impartially? Well, this year I can’t separate this out, so I won’t. My top musical experience occurred thusly; I was on stage at the Sonic Rock Festival for our second Astro Al set. During our song Come to Me I looked over at DNA girl while she was playing her guitar solo. Suddenly, the flying, wading through customs, all the planning, every seemingly endless practice, burning power supplies, all of that, led our musical journey to the stage in Bromsgrove UK and that culminating moment in a joyous convergence of pure bliss. The sounds of it in my mind and soul are never going to be emotionally captured on any recording except within me. No medium could archive the music my heart heard. The sounds that DNA Girl made on that Sunday afternoon are burned into me and will always be there whenever I need to experience them. That moment is pure transcendent spiritual electricity. It felt gorgeously endless and when it finally stopped, there were no regrets, just the knowledge that pure beauty was created on that stage and I felt it.
Yours in auditory experiences,
Count Robot
