Nas has shifted into such an unprecedented prolific streak with Hit-Boy that I haven't totally digested the 4 albums they've released in the last 2 and a half years enough to really rank them, although I suspect Magic is my favorite. King's Disease III is a strong addition to the run, though, "Legit," "Reminisce" and "First Time" are the standouts for me so far. I also loved hearing an uncredited Mario's voice on "Serious Interlude" out of nowhere. Here's the 2022 albums Spotify playlist I update with every new release I listen to. 

The last full-length from Christine and the Queens, Chris, was my #1 album of 2018, just an absolute masterpiece, that came in two versions, with French singer Heloise Letissier singing each song in English as well as in his native tongue. Redcar les adorables etoiles (Prologue) is an introduction of Letissier's new Redcar persona (and new pronouns) as well as the beginning of a new phase -- most of this album is in French, with more music following in English next year. Hip hop legend Mike Dean worked on Redcar, but it actually sounds to me a bit more like an arty synth pop record than the sleek R&B-influenced tracks on Chris, but it's excellent, especially the hypnotic 8-minute "Combien de temps." 

Houston-born country singer Madeline Edwards hasn't broken through to radio yet, but she's toured with Chris Stapleton and her debut album is solid. She has a big, soulful voice, bombastic production that frames it well, and songs with personality, "Spurs" and "The Biggest Wheel" are early standouts for me. 

It's been 5 years since Tom Petty passed away, and the moment was marked with this great 3-hour box set recorded at the Heartbreakers' 20-night residency at the Fillmore in 1997. It's so clear that the band was having a ball, and there are a ton of covers that they probably wouldn't ordinarily play on tour. That being said, I love Petty's songs above all else, so I'd probably enjoy this more if there was more of the Heartbreakers songbook included, but I understand that they wanted to document what was unique about these shows. 

I used to keep MTV Hits as the default channel on my TV in between putting on streaming shows, but I changed my cable plan recently and lost MTV Hits but found a channel called MTV Live that's mostly the same kind of mix of videos plus concerts at night. Anyway, one day "Nobody" by Anna Of The North popped up on MTV Live and this great little synth pop song by someone I'd never heard of really grabbed me. So I looked her up, and it turned out Anna Of The North, who's from Norway, had just released the album that "Nobody" appears on, and it's full of other catchy songs, "Red Light" is probably my favorite aside from the single. 

 

When One Direction splintered into solo careers, Louis Tomlinson was the last member to come out with an album and had the least success on the singles charts (although the album charted higher and was certainly better than Liam Payne's dire debut). But with Faith In The Future, which topped the UK albums charts, Tomlinson joins Harry Styles as the only 1D guys whose second solo album was bigger and better than the first (Payne hasn't released a follow-up yet, so he still has potential for redemption). "Written All Over Your Face" and "Lucky Me" are my favorites so far, it feels like he's still got the Britpop/dad rock palette of his first album but there's a more crisp, contemporary edge to the production on this one. Speaking of Britpop, there's a track on the album called "Common People" that's an original song, and not a good one -- kind of a ballsy, baffling decision. 

Last year Roddy Ricch caught a brick, following up a double platinum debut album with a follow-up that had terrible buzz and didn't even go gold. I don't really understand his whole trajectory, I thought Live Life Fast was a solid record, maybe he's just a casualty of the fickle public. In any event, he's working on his redemption, back at it with a new mixtape, and I hope he gets a hit out of this one, he's got such a great flow and an effortless way of putting together hooks. 

I was a little surprised at how high I placed this in my Spin ranking of Springsteen albums, but it's fun to hear Bruce and his band tear through some soul songs that, for the most part, aren't especially famous or obvious selections. I'd love him try to write an album of originals in this vein. 

I always thought Brockhampton was kind of corny, but they had a few good moments here and there. Their farewell album really has a bad vibe, though, somehow both self-congratulatory and depressingly frank about it being made as a business obligation -- on one track an MC says "only made this to get out the deal partly, so don't ask me if the crew is still talkin'," on the next track another says "the label needed 35 minutes of music." Kevin Abstract has always felt relatively anonymous to me as the central figure of the group, and most of the other guys are way worse. 

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