Easton Connell

I don’t post much on the internet these days. I don’t post very often on social media, haven’t posted here since 2019. Yet I still spend a ton of time on the internet, checking out what my friends and artists that I like post, reading articles and newsletters. It hit me the other day that this might be like when I hosted a show on pirate radio – I was always uncomfortable getting on the mic, but loved hearing my friends talk about the music they were playing when I listened to their shows. Realizing that encouraged me to speak more during my shows and my experience was enriched because of it. If you’re at home next to the radio wondering when I’m going to finally get on the mic, here I am.

Friends have always been a wonderful source of new music for me. I love when I get a text out of the blue from someone I haven’t heard from in awhile with a link to something they’ve been digging lately that they think I’d enjoy, or sending those texts myself. I miss the days of walking into Missing Link Records and asking Matt and Adam what record I hadn’t yet heard of I should buy and walking out with a new obsession. If you’re looking for something new to listen to, here are my favorite new albums from 2022 that largely didn’t make the most widely read Best Of lists.

1. Say She She – Prism

Quick shoutout to the recent resurrection of the email list. I’m late to the substack train and very much enjoying the handful I’m subscribed to, but record labels have been reliably and effectively using email lists for awhile and it’s a great way to keep new releases on your radar, especially with the absolute fuckery that social media algorithms have become. I only became aware of several of my favorite albums from last year because I subscribed to their label’s newsletters. Prism is one such record. The hype sticker on the front declares it as “Say She She’s dreamy discodelic debut” and that perfectly describes their sound. Candy sweet driving grooves, interesting instrumentation, and vocals so captivating I’d consider the three singers’ voices three more prominent instruments in the band rather than just the words on top. Say She She’s vocal harmonies are sometimes blissful, sometimes haunting, and always tight. The music backing them up is very much within the vein of the great modern soul / R&B / disco being released by labels like Colemine and Daptone, but with some truly unique flavor to it. KEXP just put up a live performance of theirs on youtube that is very much worth your time.

2. Bobby Oroza – Get On The Otherside

I can’t remember if I first got turned onto Bobby Oroza from a Daptone newsletter or while doing research on Finnish bands before visiting family (and a lot of record shops) in Finland in 2019, but Oroza’s first record This Love became an instant favorite when I first heard it. Delicate and crisp guitar licks, Oroza’s breathy singing at once mellow and impassioned, the perfect pocket of Cold Diamond & Mink (the Timmion Records house band) providing the foundation. Something about Oroza’s specific sound makes it feel equally at home soundtracking a winter afternoon by the fire watching the slate grey skies slowly turning black through foggy windows or a summer drive down a sunny southern California street with the windows down. Everything I loved about This Love is present on Get on the Otherside yet sounds more grown, emotionally and musically. Listening to the two side by side, there’s almost an innocence to This Love compared to the brooding sound of Get on the Otherside. I’m reminded of Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, though it’s not a perfect comparison. Oroza has been touring the US in recent years and I really hope to have the opportunity to see him perform sometime soon.

Fun aside – Bobby Oroza and I both share South American and Finnish roots (his mother is from Bolivia and his father is Finnish; my grandfather is Colombian and my grandmother is from Finland).

3. Last Artful, Dodgr – Hits of Today

I’ve been waiting for this record to come out since I first heard Dodgr’s music when they were still living in Arcata. Dodgr has been putting out incredible music in the interim – a battery of bangin’ singles, a killer collab album with Neill Von Tally, fantastic features on songs from artists like Mark Ronson, Anderson Paak, Blu & Exile – but I’ve been waiting for a full album of nothing but Dodgr and they delivered. I’m not sure how to describe the music – to call it hip-hop undersells it, perhaps R&B from the future? Dodgr seamlessly weaves between singing and rapping in a way that leaves me feeling like they’re an underappreciated singer and an underestimated rapper – their voice is powerful, hypnotic, and shines whether belting choruses or ad libbing melodies at the end of a line, and their lyrics are delivered so musically the cleverness of the rhymes and rhythms take a second to sink in. Dodgr has one of my all time favorite filthy rap lyrics on “Cloverfield” – “tryna leave a Gary trail in them bikini bottoms”. Dodgr’s music has been a staple in my DJ sets for a long time and I’m stoked to finally have an entire album to play with. This is Dodgr’s first major label release, meaning that this is only the beginning. Don’t sleep.

Another fun aside – I interviewed to join Humboldt Free Radio Alliance in Dodgr’s backyard, back when the Green House in Arcata was still green.

4. Danger Mouse & Black Thought – Cheat Codes

Whew, this album lives up to the hype and long wait that preceded it. Danger Mouse is one of my absolute favorite producers and his previous collaborations with emcees are legendary – DangerDOOM, Ghetto Pop Life with Jemini – and this new collaboration with Black Thought earns its place on the top shelf with the others. Black Thought seems to have returned to the forefront of the public consciousness as one of the most adept and highly skilled hip-hop lyricists in the last few years, likely in the wake of his nearly 10 minute freestyle on Hot 97 that went viral in 2017. Longtime fans of the legendary Roots crew have always had Black Thought near the top of their shortlist of GOAT emcees with his signature dense yet deftly delivered rhymes, and it’s nice to see him getting his flowers from more corners. There are some other great guests on this album as well – Raekwon, Run the Jewels, Joey Badass, and the specter of MF DOOM. I’m looking forward to hearing Black Thought’s recently announced album backed by El Michels Affair later this year.

5. Thee Sacred Souls – Thee Sacred Souls

Classic cruising soul from San Diego, the city I grew up in. I wouldn’t shut up about this band when I first heard their debut single “Can I Call You Rose?” and sent the music video to anyone I knew who liked soul music and to most of the friends I grew up with in SD. It’s a lovely slice of San Diego nostalgia. Thee Sacred Souls’ sound is timeless. It’s everything I love about Daptone and Bosco Mann’s new socal based label Pennrose. I’m stoked to finally get a chance to see them perform next month in Arcata.

PS – shoutout to Andre Cruz and Chris Lujan for knocking it out of the park with their recently released rocksteady rendition of “Can I Call You Rose?”.

There are some other albums I really loved that didn’t make the top five but merit mentioning:

Lizzo’s Special. I don’t care if the critics didn’t fawn over this the way they did with Cuz I Love You. I unapologetically love this album and its message to unapologetically love yourself. Coming out of the shadow of COVID, this record was like medicine the first time I heard it. It’s been a blast to dance to and to workout to this year. Also, the William Bell sampling, Lauryn Hill interpolating, Leon Michaels and Tommy TNT Brenneck featuring, Mark Ronson produced “Break Up Twice” is a masterpiece. My only complaint about this album is that it didn’t include “Rumors”, which was a fantastic song and one of my favorite music videos to come out in years.

Freddie Gibbs’ $oul $old $eparately. Gibbs doing Gibbs shit better than ever. Bars hard as iron and beats fit to match, featuring producers like Alchemist, Jake One, Madlib, Anderson Paak and Tommy Brenneck. The interludes on this one are hilarious.

Richie Cunning’s Big Deal. I DJ’d a show for the first time since 2020 last year, a few nights weaving together hip-hop and its sample sources at the Miniplex with Goldylocks. One of my favorite things about DJing with Goldylocks is our mutual push to impress each other with our sets – with transitions, selections, and in Lox’s case scratches (seriously – Goldylocks has become a formidable scratcher while I still haven’t even scratched the surface of that skillset). Lox blew my mind with “Work It Out” from Richie Cunning one of those nights. Big Deal isn’t quite as hard hitting as Night Train, but it’s solid and smooth.

There are some others I only recently checked out that have been in heavy rotation since I became aware of them – SZA’s SOS, JID’s The Forever Story, Coast Contra’s Apt. 505. I haven’t listened to these albums enough to write much about them, but dig them enough to want to put them on your radar. There are some others I weirdly haven’t listened to yet that I’m sure I’ll enjoy – Black Star’s No Fear of Time (I’d buy this without listening to it, but signing up for yet another streaming service has proved a surprisingly effective stumbling block) and Smashing Pumpkins’ ATUM – Act I (it’s admittedly been awhile since a new Pumpkins album has really excited me). There are albums I’m already excited for in 2023 – Future from the new lineup and newly christened Westing (fka Slow Season), Glorious Game from Black Thought and El Michels Affair. These albums I’m excited about, the ones I missed but want to listen to, the 2022 releases I highlighted in this post – these are just my favorites. Which of your favorite new albums slipped by me last year?