A little late getting it out, but once again starting another year of Recommended Albums, where I pick around 10 records from each month and write a little memorable description about them. I’ve been doing this since 2016 – I ain’t stopping now!

We’ve got everything from booming doom, to moving groove, to snazzy jazz. It’s the hits! Check it out below along with a few song favorites as well.

Anna Von Hausswolff – Live at Montreaux Jazz Festival [Southern Lord]
An ancient witch preserved by the ashes of time unseals a door that held back lovecraftian horrors.

Black Flower – Magma [Sdban Ultra]
A monolithic puzzle juts out of the forest floor in a dense jungle, its runes pulsating with unknown power.

Burial – Antidawn EP [Hyperdub]
Recalled memories of a foggy city corridor, beyond its glory days but before its faded demise.

Claire Dickson – Starland [Self-Released]
The sunrise reflecting off snow, glazed with pre-dawn ice.

Combo Chimbita – IRÉ [Anti-]
Staring at a massive bonfire surrounded by dancers swinging torches yields sweaty hallucinations.

Immanuel Wilkins – The 7th Hand [Blue Note]
Holding hands with a sunbeam.

Krallice – Crystalline Exhaustion [Self-Released]
An icy hand creeps over the entire planet, freezing everyone in its shadow in permanent anguish.

Martha Skye Murphy & Maxwell Sterling – Distance On Ground [American Dreams]
Finding a phone booth at the bottom of a hidden waterfall with ghostly voices echoing from the receiver.

Molly Nilsson – Extreme [Night School]
A dated corporate infomercial on VHS tells you how to succeed in the workplace.

GR8 SONGS OF JANUARY 2022::

• Allegra Krieger – “Taking It In”
• Anna Von Hausswolff – “Pomperipossa”
• Anna Von Hausswolff – “Ugly & Vengeful”
• Aoife O’Donovan – “Lucky Star”
• Black Flower – “Magma”
• Black Flower – “Morning In The Jungle (feat. Meskerem Mees)”
• Bonobo – “Age of Phase”
• Boy Harsher – “Give Me A Reason”
• Burial – “Shadow Paradise”
• Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul – “Ceci n’est pas un cliche”
• Claire Dickson – “Sea Change”
• Combo Chimbita – “Yo Me Lo Merezco”
• Destroyer – “Tintoretto, It’s For You”
• Earl Sweatshirt – “2010”
• Fontaines D.C. – “Jackie Down The Line”
• Krallice – “Telos”
• LEYA – “Glass Jaw (feat. Julie Byrne)”
• Martha Skye Murphy & Maxwell Sterling – “86km”
• Modern Nature – “Brigade”
• Molly Nilsson – “Obnoxiously Talented”
• The Weeknd – “Take My Breath”
• Widowspeak – “Everything Is Simple”