> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.jamesreeves.co/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # 2022 Rotation - URL: https://www.jamesreeves.co/2022-rotation/ - Published: 2022-12-31T11:31:22.000Z - Updated: 2025-11-15T03:48:42.000Z - Description: This year, release dates be damned. Here’s the music that delivered an unexpected thrill while motoring through the desert. - Author: James A. Reeves - Tags: Notebook, Rotation I’ve given up my hunt for the bleeding edge. Perhaps we’re living in an exhausted age that offers only iterative variations on deep-grooved patterns. More likely, I’m too old to catch the mind-blown thrills I felt twenty or thirty years when I first heard Boogie Down Productions, Drexciya, Autechre, and Thomas Brinkmann. Several of my favorite albums this year came from artists who delivered my favorite albums from other years: Romance, Ralph Kinsella, Pye Corner Audio, and Kali Malone. Bohren & Der Club of Gore did not release a new album this year, but Kevin Richard Martin delivered a pair of records that filled my annual need for a soundtrack for rainy streets. I want to think my aesthetic has become more refined over the years—that by now, I know what I like. But another word for this might be stagnation. Thankfully, the artists listed here had other plans. They’ve pulled off the neat trick of delivering the sounds I love while pushing them into unexpected nooks and alleys and, occasionally, wheeling around and smashing my assumptions to bits. My favorite records this year sounded messier than in years past: scuffed and bruised yet defiant—which sounds like the future. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/85/bb/85bbc222-eb2e-4bcf-8b92-f241768e9260/content/images/wordpress/2022/12/Music-for-Animals.jpeg) ### Nils Frahm – Music for Animals ##### [Leiter](https://leiter-verlag.com/?ref=jamesreeves.co) | [Bandcamp](https://nilsfrahm.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-animals?ref=jamesreeves.co) Nils Frahm nixes the piano and now I like Nils Frahm. This was my most-played album of 2022: three hours of shadowy pulse and thrum that sounds like it’s keeping something darker at bay. A perfect soundtrack for reading and writing. [Music For Animals by Nils Frahm](https://nilsfrahm.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-animals?ref=jamesreeves.co) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/85/bb/85bbc222-eb2e-4bcf-8b92-f241768e9260/content/images/wordpress/2022/12/In-Every-Dream-Home.jpeg) ### Romance & Dean Hurley – In Every Dream Home A Heartache ##### [Ecstatic](http://www.ecstaticrecordings.com/?ref=jamesreeves.co) | [Bandcamp](https://romancedeanhurley.bandcamp.com/album/in-every-dream-home-a-heartache?ref=jamesreeves.co) A symphony for today’s malaise that looks backward, cribbing its title from [my favorite Roxy Music song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSniBxXjK%5F8&ref=jamesreeves.co), the one where Brian Ferry reaches peak modernism and enjoys open-plan living while he romances an inflatable doll. Wrong-headed infatuations and Ballardian ennui also fill this record as soap operas swirl in a half-remembered fog of ringing telephones. [In Every Dream Home A Heartache by Romance & Dean Hurley](https://romancedeanhurley.bandcamp.com/album/in-every-dream-home-a-heartache?ref=jamesreeves.co) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/85/bb/85bbc222-eb2e-4bcf-8b92-f241768e9260/content/images/wordpress/2022/12/Nightcrawler-Downtown.jpg) ### Kevin Richard Martin – Nightcrawler / Downtown ##### [Intercranial](https://boomkat.com/labels/intercranial?ref=jamesreeves.co) | [Bandcamp](https://kevinrichardmartin.bandcamp.com/album/nightcrawler-3?ref=jamesreeves.co) A slightly less despondent cousin visits the house of [Bohren & Der Club of Gore](https://boomkat.com/products/black-earth-31d4d24f-610d-4dae-b42c-5d4358457682?ref=jamesreeves.co), where time no longer works and the only illumination is rain-streaked neon. Trapped in the hour of the wolf, Martin soaks his jazz in static and grain until it potent barrel-aged doom. Nightcrawler by Kevin Richard Martin ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/85/bb/85bbc222-eb2e-4bcf-8b92-f241768e9260/content/images/wordpress/2022/12/In-The-Lives-That-Surround-You.jpeg) ### Ralph Kinsella – In The Lives That Surround You ##### [8D Industries](https://8dindustri.es/?ref=jamesreeves.co) | [Bandcamp](https://ralphkinsella.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-lives-that-surround-you?ref=jamesreeves.co) The guitar gets destroyed but its ghost remains. Kinsella recorded one of my favorite albums [a couple of years ago](http://jamesreeves.co/2020-rotation/?ref=jamesreeves.co), and now he’s returned to conjure visions that blister and flare like the afterimage of something that cannot be named. When I close my eyes and listen to tracks like ‘Holding On To Memory Devices’ and ‘An Ocean In The Pines,’ I see the beauty and drama of a burning cathedral. [In The Lives That Surround You by Ralph Kinsella](https://ralphkinsella.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-lives-that-surround-you?ref=jamesreeves.co) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/85/bb/85bbc222-eb2e-4bcf-8b92-f241768e9260/content/images/wordpress/2022/12/Erasers.jpeg) ### Erasers – Distance ##### [Moon Glyph](https://moonglyph.bandcamp.com/?ref=jamesreeves.co) | [Bandcamp](https://erasers.bandcamp.com/album/distance?ref=jamesreeves.co) Drowsy Casio calypso beats and dead-eyed vocals edge toward a liturgical reenactment of [Murakami’s superflat theory](https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/03/magazine/the-murakami-method.html?unlocked%5Farticle%5Fcode=rt9XtLC8I%5FBSS62gD4ivjdN8DH7ezzZ%5F4aCOOW3Rm%5FaXzEmrq9AQG5fMrXZaBNiOs7h3-rrB3u67daWQMvjsegJ6jtxPQRcYYeopFOckfJCT70vARHBxEC4oGInvgn4lQtdSRTeDuodNlj7YO1gLP1eP4dq7wrGA4CIRY73O1aEf%5FJcEK74xvkrE1AXgQNsVJCO2nfi0sidafPa97svX33k7Cg8b0sTpcwkK80YuqD1dqLSN1UPbUuCLaybjFvy1TUMFT0R6VCqioFXw-krX8oncVkEDyDcQqlMlgcHOv468hkSeRh3NmFCgFIsfhFJVPqFT6YBCJH73K6rqwPA&smid=share-url&ref=jamesreeves.co): pure stasis, the carcass of a cold-wave song circa 1982 buried beneath a thousand layers of acrylic. [Distance by Erasers](https://erasers.bandcamp.com/album/distance?ref=jamesreeves.co) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/85/bb/85bbc222-eb2e-4bcf-8b92-f241768e9260/content/images/wordpress/2022/12/Living-Torch.jpeg) ### Kali Malone – Living Torch ##### [Portraits GRM](https://portraitsgrm.bandcamp.com/?ref=jamesreeves.co) | [Bandcamp](https://kalimalone.bandcamp.com/album/living-torch?ref=jamesreeves.co) A pair of endless liturgical drones with bursts of science fiction at the edges. Thanks to composers like Malone, [Tim Hecker](https://timhecker.bandcamp.com/album/ravedeath-1972?ref=jamesreeves.co), and [Yosuke Fujita](https://hallowground.bandcamp.com/album/fuji-ta-iki?ref=jamesreeves.co), the pipe organ feels essential in the 21st century. (If you worship in [the church of Chain Reaction](http://basicchannel.com/label/chain+reaction?ref=jamesreeves.co), Maxime Denuc’s *Nachthorn* smudges the line between novelty exercise and classic timepiece, esp. “[Dusseldorf](https://maximedenuc.bandcamp.com/track/d-sseldorf?ref=jamesreeves.co)”.) With *Living Torch*, Malone trades the organ for trombone, bass clarinet, and sine wave generators, but her harmonics remain pure stained glass. [Living Torch by Kali Malone](https://kalimalone.bandcamp.com/album/living-torch?ref=jamesreeves.co) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/85/bb/85bbc222-eb2e-4bcf-8b92-f241768e9260/content/images/wordpress/2022/12/Jarnnatter.jpeg) ### **Civilistjävel! – Järnnätter** ##### [Felt](https://f-e-l-t.bandcamp.com/?ref=jamesreeves.co) | [Bandcamp](https://stephenbaker.bandcamp.com/track/after-the-end?ref=jamesreeves.co) Electronic music as topography: plenty of breathing room with miles of alpine air over pristine clicks and deep valleys of bass. This project remained clandestine for a while, harkening back to the golden age of faceless machine music distinguished by clinical names like Model 500 and Basic Channel. Now we know [Civilistjävel!](https://substack.sashafrerejones.com/p/civilistjavel?ref=jamesreeves.co) is the alias of [a quiet Swede](https://truantsblog.com/2022/interview-civilistjavel/?ref=jamesreeves.co), but there’s still plenty of mystery in the music. [Järnnätter by Civilistjävel!](https://civilistjavel.bandcamp.com/album/j-rnn-tter?ref=jamesreeves.co) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/85/bb/85bbc222-eb2e-4bcf-8b92-f241768e9260/content/images/wordpress/2022/12/San-Mateo-Exspiravit-Luminaria.jpeg) ### **San Mateo – Exspiravit Luminaria** ###### [8D Industries](https://8dindustri.es/san-mateo-the-mira-variable/?ref=jamesreeves.co) | [Bandcamp](https://8dindustri.es/san-mateo-the-mira-variable/?ref=jamesreeves.co) 100% uncut Blade Runner aesthetic: plaintive chords and endless twilight, the image of some new lifeform crossbreeding Stars of the Lid with Vangelis at the edge of the sprawl. [Exspiravit Luminaria by San Mateo](https://sanmateo.bandcamp.com/album/exspiravit-luminaria?ref=jamesreeves.co) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/85/bb/85bbc222-eb2e-4bcf-8b92-f241768e9260/content/images/wordpress/2022/12/M.-Geddes-Gengras-Expressed-I-Notices-Silence.jpeg) ### **M. Geddes Gengras – Expressed, I Noticed Silence** ##### [Hausu Mountain](https://hausumountain.com/?ref=jamesreeves.co) | [Bandcamp](https://hausumountain.bandcamp.com/album/expressed-i-noticed-silence?ref=jamesreeves.co) If you prefer a more incense-soaked Vangelian future, M. Geddes Gengras pairs psychedelic twang with his cyborg bells. This was the first album I played when I set up my office in Vegas, where I finally have a desk large enough to enjoy a stereo field, and it’s a deep artificial dream forever looping the moment psychedelic music reached for the sitar, affirming that tomorrow’s music can also steep itself in magic. [Expressed, I Noticed Silence by M. Geddes Gengras](https://hausumountain.bandcamp.com/album/expressed-i-noticed-silence?ref=jamesreeves.co) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/85/bb/85bbc222-eb2e-4bcf-8b92-f241768e9260/content/images/wordpress/2022/12/Pye-Corner-Audio-Lets-Emerge.jpeg) ### **Pye Corner Audio – Let’s Emerge** ##### [Sonic Cathedral](https://www.soniccathedral.co.uk/2022/05/31/lets-emerge/?ref=jamesreeves.co) | [Bandcamp](https://pyecorneraudio.bandcamp.com/album/let-s-emerge?ref=jamesreeves.co) Midnight gets dragged into the sunlight, where it’s peeled and stretched into steam-gathering drones and dreamgaze guitars. A welcome update on the [blissed-out](https://darla.com/products/v-a-the-best-of-the-bliss-out?ref=jamesreeves.co) and [spiritualized](https://spiritualizedband.bandcamp.com/track/ladies-and-gentlemen-we-are-floating-in-space?ref=jamesreeves.co) sound, this album plays like a movie I would very much like to see. [Let’s Emerge! by Pye Corner Audio](https://pyecorneraudio.bandcamp.com/album/let-s-emerge?ref=jamesreeves.co) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/85/bb/85bbc222-eb2e-4bcf-8b92-f241768e9260/content/images/wordpress/2022/12/Brutal-Five-to-One.jpeg) ### The Black Dog – Brutal One to Five Mix v2 ##### [Dust Science](https://www.dustscience.com/?ref=jamesreeves.co) | [Bandcamp](https://theblackdog.bandcamp.com/track/brutal-five-to-one-mix-v2-full-mix?ref=jamesreeves.co) The Black Dog has held the fort since ’89, and with this one-hour mix, they melt down their recent fixation on architecture into glorious ambient exhaust. [Brutal Five To One Mix V2 by The Black Dog](https://duststoredigital.com/album/brutal-five-to-one-mix-v2?ref=jamesreeves.co) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/85/bb/85bbc222-eb2e-4bcf-8b92-f241768e9260/content/images/wordpress/2022/12/Honour.jpeg) ### Honour – Beg 4 Mercy ##### [PAN](https://p-a-n.org/release/honour-beg-4-mercy-pan-122/?ref=jamesreeves.co) | [Bandcamp](https://honour2.bandcamp.com/album/beg-4-mercy-ep?ref=jamesreeves.co) Originating from points unknown, this gunky tape lurches from battered breakbeats to hypersaturated spaghetti westerns to bottomless hum. Each time I play this, I remember the teenage nights when I would drive around Detroit to watch the steam rising from the winter streets. [BEG 4 MERCY EP by Honour](https://honour2.bandcamp.com/album/beg-4-mercy-ep?ref=jamesreeves.co) #### See also: - [2023 Rotation](https://www.jamesreeves.co/2023-rotation/) - [2021 Rotation](https://www.jamesreeves.co/2021-rotation/) - [2020 Rotation](https://www.jamesreeves.co/2020-rotation/) - [2019 Rotation](https://www.jamesreeves.co/2019-rotation/) - [2018 Rotation](https://www.jamesreeves.co/2018-rotation/)