New Releases:
- bvdub – Violet opposition (n5MD)
- Mark Barrott – Travelling Music EP (International Feel recordings)
- S.O.N.S. – The Escape (S.O.N.S.)
- Zakè & 36 – Stasis Sounds For Long-Distance Space Travel II (PITP)
- Biosphere – Shortwave Memories (Biophon records)
- Horace Andy – Midnight Rocker (On-U Sounds)
- Horace Andy – Midnight Scorcher (On-U Sounds)
- Kyle Hall – Good Hado EP (Forget The Clock)
- Eris Drew & Octo Octa – Day After A Night With U / Stars & Water (fabric originals)
- Marine Eyes – Chamomille (PITP)
- Karsten Pflum – Camera Obscura (Touched Music)
- Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – When The Lights Go (Nice Age)
- Bon Enfant – Diorama (Duprince)
- Veronica Stanton – Caught Up On A Feeling (s/r)
- Tiken Jah Fakoly – Braquage de Pouvoir (Chapter Two)
- Khondo – Plus Haut Que La Tour Eiffel (La COuvreuse)
- Mademoiselle K – Mademoiselle K (Kravache)
- Les Gordon – Nuances (Morning Crash Record)
- Bjork – Fossora (One Little Independent Record)
- La Féline – Tarbes (Kwaidan Records)
- Zazie – Aile-P (La Zizanie)
- Montparnasse Musique – Archeology (Real World Records)
- Maxence CYrin – Melancholy Island (Warner Classics)
- Fally Ipupa – Formule 7 (F’Victeam Entertainment)
- This Immortal Coil – The World Ended A Long Time Ago (Ici Ailleurs)
- Gaël Faure – L’Eau et La Peau (Zamora Label)
- Arovane + EMHO – In Between (Sonic Dialogue)
- Gimmik – Sonic Poetry (n5MD)
- Okada – Fragility (n5MD)
- Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxymore (Columbia, Sony Music)
- Gaël Faye, Grand Corps Malade & Ben Mazué – Éphémère (Anouche Records)
- Aldous Harding – Warm Chris (4AD)
Re-releases & compilations
- v/a – Penrose Showcase, Vol. 1
- v/a – NFRv_009 Natural Rhythm, Saison, Risk Assessment (No Fuss Records)
- v/a – Found Sound, VOl. 3 (Touched Music)
- Adham Shaikh – Early Works 1992-1994 (re-discovery records)
- FM Skyline – Deluxe Memory Suite (100% Electronica)
- Nuron + Fughe – DAT Tapes 1993-1994 (De:tuned)
- v/a – Dailysession Gig Pak EP 1 (Dailisession Records)
- This Immortal Coil – The Dark Age of Love (Ici Ailleurs)
- v/a – Inside Records, Vol. 1 (Inside Records)
- OrelSan – Civilisation (7th Magnitude, 3ème Bureau, Wagram Music)
Babu Best of 2022
Babu’s New Releases
- Beyoncé – Renaissance (Parkwood)
- Shygirl – Nymph (Because)
- Junglepussy – Jp5000 (Junglepussy)
- Sudan Archives – Natural Brown Prom Queen (Stone’s Throw)
- FKA twigs – CAPRISONGS (Young)
- Black Rave Culture – BRC Vol 2 (Black Rave Culture)
- Paurro – Galavisión (Cómeme)
- Björk – Fossora (One Little Independent)
Albums that are not new but I fell in love with during 2022 (Babu)
- Solange – True (Terrible)
- Lady Gaga – ARTPOP (Interscope)
- Sunbear – Sunbear (Soultrain)
- Arca – KICK ii (XL)
- Arca – kick iiii (XL)
- Azealia Banks – Broke With Expensive Taste (Prospect Park)
- JAY-Z – The Blueprint (Roc-A-Fella)
- Blood Orange – Coastal Grooves (Domino)
Live Shows (Babu)
- Smino – March 11 – Lower Sproul @ UC Berkeley
- Yves Tumor – March 18 – 1015 Folsom
- Doja Cat – April 17 – Coachella
- Phoenix – June 8 – Primavera Sound
- Gorillaz – June 9 – Primavera Sound
- Arca – Sept 24 – Portola
- Five Armed Sloth – November 4 – Battle of the Bands @ UC Berkeley
- Machine Girl – November 29 – Regency Ballroom
DJ sets (Babu)
- Ash Lauryn – February 6 – The Monarch
- Jamie xx – April 17 – Coachella
- Tygapaw – June 11 – Primavera Sound
- Honey Dijon – June 20 – Battle Hymn – NYC
- Mike Q – October 1 – Space 550 San Francisco
- Physical Therapy – October 8 – Club 6 San Francisco
- The Carry Nation – October 30 – Unter – NYC
Microtone: A few notable compilations, collections, and retrospectives
- Kiyoshi Yamaya, Toshiko Yonekawa, Kifu Mitsuhashi – Wamono Groove: Shakuhachi & Koto Jazz Funk ’76 (180g)
- Liang YiYuan 梁奕源 – Those that Die in a Dream: A Twenty Years Retrospective (Unexplained Sounds Group)
- Various Artists – Begging the Moon: Phleng Thai Sakon & Luk Krung, 1945-1960 (Death is Not the End)
- Various Artists – Drifting with Friends (Eating Music)
- Various Artists – For Ukraine Volumes 1, 2, and 3 (Headphone Commute)
Microtone: 22 Albums I Kept Returning to in 2022 (chronological by release date)
- The Soundcarriers – Wilds (Phosphonic)
- Voision Xi 喜辰晨 – Lost for Words 欲言又止 (JZ Music)
- Big Thief – Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You (4AD)
- Carmen Villain – Only Love from Now On (Smalltown Supersound)
- Park Jiha – The Gleam (Glitterbeat)
- YĪN YĪN – The Age of Aquarius (Glitterbeat)
- Maya Youssef – Finding Home (S/R)
- Saphileum – Ornaments (Oslated)
- Amine Mesnaoui & Labelle – African Prayers (Lo Recordings)
- Golden Brown – Luminous (Inner Islands)
- Billow Observatory – Stareside (Felte)
- Wema – WEMA (!K7)
- Shabaka Hutchings – Afrikan Culture (Impulse!)
- Acid Twilight – Mustang Zodiac (Not Not Fun)
- Salamanda – Ashbalkum (Human Pitch)
- Esmerine – Everything Was Forever Until It Was No More (Constellation)
- Medicine Singers – Medicine Singers (Stone Tapes/Joyful Noise)
- Skyminds – Terra Preta (Not Not Fun)
- Sun Dawei – Yòu 右 (SR)
- Emeka Ogboh – 6°30′33.372″N 3°22′0.66″E (Danfotronics)
- The Soft Pink Truth – Is It Going to Get Any Deeper Than This? (Thrill Jockey)
- Lucrecia Dalt – ¡Ay! (RVNG Int’l)
2022 Favorites
New Releases:
- Cate Le Bon – Pompeii (Mexican Summer)
- Papercuts – Past Life Regression (Slumberland)
- OSEES – A Foul Form (Castle Face)
- Alvvays – Blue Rev (Polyvinyl Record Co.)
- Father John Misty – Chloë And The Next 20th Century (Sub Pop)
- John Carroll Kirby – Cryptozoo (Stones Throw)
- Automatic – Excess (Stones Throw)
- Mitski – Laurel Hell (Dead Oceans)
- Kendrick Lamar – Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers (TDE)
- Vince Staples – Ramona Park Broke My Heart (Blacksmith Recordings)
- Duster – Together
- Weyes Blood – And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow (Sub Pop)
- Kikagaku Moyo – Kumoyo Island (Guruguru Brain)
- Thee Sacred Souls – thee Sacred Souls (Penrose)
Reissues:
- Betty Lou Landreth – Betty Lou (Backatcha)
- Frank Ocean – Blonde (Blonded)
- John Coltrane – Blue Train (Stereo & Mono) (Blue Note)
- Hallelujahs – Eat Meat, Swear A Oath (Black Editions)
- Grachan Moncur III – Evolution (Blue Note)
- Farm – Farm (Guerssen)
- Grant Green – Feelin’ The Spirit (Blue Note)
- Jiro Inagaki & Soul Media – In The Groove (Deep Jazz Reality)
- Sandro Brugnolini – L’Uomo Dagli Occhiali A Specchio (Edizioni Musicali Redi)
- Alice Coltrane – Ptah, The El Daoud (Verve)
- Sun Ra – The Futuristic Sounds Of Sun Ra (Savoy)
- Harold Budd – The Pavilion Of Dreams (Superior Viaduct)
- Ziad Rahbani – Houdou Nisbi (Wewantsounds)
- Miho Kei & Jazz Eleven – Kokezaru Kumikyoku (HMV)
Compilations:
- V/A – America Dream Reserve (Smiling C)
- V/A – Busy Is Good (Big Nice)
- V/A – Down & Out (NTS)
- V/A – Padang Moonrise (The Birth Of The Modern Indonesian Recording Industry 1955-69) (Soundway)
- V/A – Perfect Motion (Perfect Motion)
- V/A – Saturno 2000-La Rebajada De Los Sonideros 1962-1983 (Analog Africa)
- V/A – Sky Dust Drifter (Forager)
- V/A – V4 Visions: Of Love And Androids (Numero Group)
- V/A – Vacation From My Mind (Forager)
- Norma Tanega – I’m The Sky: Studio And Demo Recordings, 1964-1971 (Anthology)
- Roberta Vandervort & Sally Townes – Roberta Vandervort & Sally Townes (Forager)
- Mary Lattimore – Collected Pieces: 2015-2020 (Ghostly)
- Stereolab: Pulse Of The Early Brain (Switched On Vol. 5) (Duophonic UHF)
- Karate – Time Expired (Numero Group)
7”:
- SvenWunder – Asterism Waltz (Piano Piano)
- Caroline Polachek – Billions (Perpetual Novice)
- Thee Oh Sees – Dark Weald (Philthy Phonographic)
- Sven Wunder – Jazz At Night (Piano Piano)
- Surprise Chef – The Positive And The Negative (Mr. Bongo)
- Thee Sacred Souls – Trade Of Hearts (Penrose)
Live Shows:
- Osees @ The Chapel
- Karate @ Great American Music Hall
- Kikagaku Moyo @ The Warfield
- Thee Sacred Souls @ The Chapel
- The Smile @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
- Stereolab @ The Fillmore
- Cate Le Bon @ The UC Theater
- King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard @ The Greek
- Cindy Lee @ Rickshaw Stop
- The Red Pears @ Bottom Of The Hill
- Margaritas Podridas @ Eli’s Mile High
- Os Mutantes @ The Chapel
- Hania Rani @ The Chapel
- Broken Social Scene @ Gundlach Bundschu
Film Close-ups’ Favorite Films of 2022:
- Aftersun
- Banshees of Inisherin
- The Batman
- Confess, Fletch
- Crimes of the Future
- EO
- Everything Everywhere All At Once
- Fire of Love
- Flee
- Glass Onion
- Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
- Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
- Hatching
- I Didn’t See You There
- Memoria
- Men
- The Menu
- Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris
- My Old School
- Nope
- The Northman
- Petite Maman
- Prey
- Remember This
- Tár
- Three Thousand Years of Longing
- Turning Red