The year is slowly but surely coming to an end. As usual, you are thenbombarded by lists of end-of-year overviews and that year is no different.With us you already got to read the best albums from Belgium and theNetherlands, but now the most filled list follows: that of all internationalalbums from the past year. We picked the fifty best for you, with a number onethat proved very convincing to us after we counted the votes of the editors.The top 50 has become a diverse list with some surprises, some albums thatalmost had to be included and of course some hidden gems. We only added onealbum per artist, so if an artist released several full-lengths this year,only the record with the most votes made it to this list. You will no longerfind all these albums and artists in other lists, because we want to put asmany artists in the spotlight as possible.
50. Chat Pile – God’s Country
From the American Midwest, best known for its fragile and eventful emo andindie rock, this Chat Pile rises from the ashes of those flattened clichés.This rock-hard record is bubbling with grinding instrumentation, existentiallyrics and crumbly, tight production. The fact that the post-hardcore andsludge metal quartet from Oklahoma can pull this off on a debut album, aremoments like that that convince that rock, and metal by extension, is far fromdead. A genre that contains this kind of passionate music cannot possibly die.The album is also very simple in intention. A noisy, industrial, with a neverunnecessarily overwhelming sound and crunchy riffs create a franklyterrifying, stuffy atmosphere. It therefore sounds as if the music itself isin pain and begs for help. This one God ‘s Country is a successfulrevitalization of a genre that has long been yearning for a new standardbearer.
49. Alex G – God Save The Animals
Alex G is a bungler. By that we don’t mean that he doesn’t bake anything, butthat he likes to play a lot with small and bigger ideas in his process ofwriting songs. In the past this sometimes led to inconsistent albums where thehigh peaks were alternated with less interesting tinkering. on God Save theAnimals (sandy) Alexander Giannascoli found the perfect balance between thislove of experimentation and writing really good songs. The whole is anaddictive, smooth listen where nothing disappoints. “Mission”, with itsmelancholy guitar lines a highlight on the album, shows that he has far fromlost his talent for writing strong folk songs. On “Cross the Sea”, forexample, with his heavily processed voice, the experiment is paramount. Yetthe puzzle pieces fit together perfectly and the listen feels very balanced.In our humble opinion Mister G at his best!
48. Rammstein–Zeit
The total spectacle that Rammstein brings up again and again duringperformances, makes the mouths of those who have never seen it fall open andthe eyes sparkle with the fans who are not ready for their first firespectacle. Their reputation has stood firm since the mid-1990s, and thatdoesn’t just apply to the stage; the music should not lose quality either. Thefact that the Germans are already releasing eight albums about the same, is aconsequence that we like to add. Time is the record that was not reallygoing to be released, but sounds more melancholy than what we were presentedwith before. The cold sadness that predominates on songs like “Armee derTristen” and title track “Zeit” in combination with the ever-known heavyriffs, highlights another side of this explosive band. We could see that suchsongs also come into their own live during the shows they brought to Ostendthis summer. However, Rammstein has not forgotten to add a funny and oftenmocking touch to the hard songs, as witnessed by “Zick Zack” and “DickeTitten”, both songs that scored well in many charts. Due to the strongpresence of melancholy Time a ‘special’ within the Rammstein discography,but it certainly does not have to be inferior. Time will tell whether the bandactually wants to say “Adieu” with the last song. It would be a pity anyway.
47. Working Men’s Club – Fear Fear
Ravers and punks have probably shared a love with Working Men’s Club for a fewyears now. The band combines a lot of elements from the underground post-punkscene with heavy synths and drum computers. Many were already impressed by thenameless debut, but Fear Fear is even better in every way. The lyrics speakof even more melancholy, but the band mainly excels musically. Songs like“Widow” and “Cut” turned out to be extremely catchy and danceable, while “19”and “Money Is Mine” ripped many a subwoofer to shreds. Very strong work fromthe band around Sydney Minsky-Sargeant, who are increasingly showingthemselves as one of the talents in the British alternative scene.
46. Silvana Estrada – Marchita
Marchita by the Mexican singer-songwriter Silvana Estrada excelled at thebeginning of this year in all its simplicity and purity. This record focuseson the unmistakable talent of Estrada, a talent that is rooted in melancholicMexican folk music, but also has jazz as its cornerstone. On this sensitiverecord, her beautiful vocals are supported by rich, colorful arrangements thatare seemingly simple, but always give her songs an extra dimension. Togetherwith her talented fellow musicians, Silvana Estrada has released a record thatbrings calm, but is also filled with emotion.
45. Beach House – Once Twice Melody
Few bands were as ubiquitous in 2022 as Beach House. The group brought us intoheavenly ecstasy both in De Roma and at Best Kept Secret and a new album wasalso released with no less than eighteen songs on the track list. Once TwiceMelody was released to the fans in four parts, as a result of which theanticipation had been reaching boiling point for some time. Fortunately therewere highlights: “Runaway” unleashes cool synths over the familiar group soundand “Superstar” is the better layering of a band rotten with experience. Asthe parts progressed, some saturation might set in, but that was only becausethe first parts had already set the bar very high. Once Twice Melody isnevertheless the glorious return of a band that takes its listeners into abig, pink dream for almost an hour and a half.
44. Wilco–Cruel Country
Wilco has never succeeded in producing an unlistenable album in the past 25years, something that is still no different with this twelfth. _Cruel Country_is the first record in eleven years on which all six band members contributeand is also the best since then. This time the double album is fully committedto alt country, which we could only notice hidden on their most famous work.Despite the tasteless cover full of Christmas themes, the songs always keep itunpretentious and pleasant. Jeff Tweedy stays away from the overarchingconcepts and lets the delicate guitars speak more than his voice. This ensuresthat the twenty-one writings continue to pass light-footed. As the titlesuggests, he often muses on the divided social situation of his country: therural United States. The overall message here is one of forgiveness andreconciliation. Isn’t that ideal for the holidays?
43. Now Genea – Bar Meditarraneo
2022 was also a top year for Nu Genea. The duo, consisting of Massimo Di Lenaand Lucio Aquilina, was still in our year-end list with the 101 best singlesof 2021 with “Marechià” at the end of last year. The future already lookedrosy and so it happened with Mediterranean bar. With that long player, theNeapolitan duo brought the summer in a catchy and danceable jacket. Sittingstill is difficult, that much is clear with the title track “BarMediterraneo”, the rhythmic “Vesuvio” and of course our favorite “Tienaté”.Apparently not only we were fans of the latter, because the single ended up inthird place in our summer hit list. Even the songs that make us move a littleless are still just as catchy; “Gelbi” for example and the closing number ofthe album “La Crisi”. The Italo-Disco of this long player also caught on withmany festival goers, as their visit to Pukkelpop proved last summer.Meanwhile, we are in December and the temperatures sometimes go belowfreezing, but then it’s great to have this one Mediterranean bar again, sothat we can think back to that warm and especially danceable summer of NuGenea.
42. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever – Endless Rooms
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever fits into the ‘bands that should be much morefamous’ category. The sympathetic jangle rockers produced a third full-lengthin 2022 with apparent ease, which is not inferior in quality to their firsttwo albums. There are serious style breaks, something that usually drivesserious reviewers wild Endless Rooms not to be heard. “Caught Low” showsthat the group doesn’t always have to keep going to achieve its goal, but wejust as much enjoy the familiar chaos that a song like “My Echo” produces.Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever will always keep releasing good albums. So itis not yet too late for a conversion.
41. THUMPER – Delusions of Grandeur
The Irish band THUMPER has been on the live circuit for a while, but in 2022they finally released their long-awaited debut album to the world. And whetherthat left an impression! The ten songs on Delusions of Grandeur blazing withvitality and energy, and THUMPER thoughtfully takes the time to build songstructures and work towards high points. Quite a few songs clock in at overfive minutes, but boredom never sets in. At a few moments the six-piece groupproves that they can be witty in short songs, but it is mainly longcompositions such as “25” or the epic “Down In Heaven” with which they grabyou by the scruff of the neck. ‘Rock ‘n’ roll is here to stay’, the band singson “Topher Grace”. Of Delusions of Grandeur she herself already provides thebest piece of evidence for this statement.