The Wire's Releases of the Year 2022
On the cover: 2022 Rewind : the year in underground music: Releases Of The Year : We asked our contributors to nominate their top ten records, CDs, downloads and streams of the year, then we added up the votes; Columnists’ Charts : Our specialist critics excavate all crevices of the culture for this year’s most exciting music, from hiphop to modern composition; Books, Films & Events : Emily Bick surveys the year in print, cinema, audiovisual arts and live performance; Critics’ Reflections : Wire writers discuss their cultural highs and lows for 2022. Archive Releases Of The Year : Our contributors voted for their top ten archival records, CDs, downloads and streams, and we counted them all up. Plus: The New Vaudeville : Funny games. By Stewart Smith; Turntablists : Spin cycles. By Rob Turner; Climate : Burning issues. By Phil England; Healing Sounds : Good vibrations. By Emily Pothast; Invisible Jukebox : Kali Malone : Our mystery record selection pulls out all the stops for the composer and organist. Tested by Derek Walmsley. Also inside this issue: Unlimited Editions : REC-on; Unofficial Channels : Xenwiki; Venus Ex Machina ; Daniel Bachman ; Kraus ; Heith ; The Inner Sleeve by Gaye Su Akyol ; Epiphanies by Meg Baird ; many pages of reviews and much more.
Source
One of a pair of strong 2022 releases, Mary Halvorson’s *Amaryllis* finds her in a sextet lineup with Patricia Brennan’s vibraphone as the primary harmonic instrument and tone color. As a brass section and as individual soloists, trombonist Jacob Garchik and trumpeter Adam O’Farrill are superb in every respect. Bassist Nick Dunston and drummer Tomas Fujiwara achieve an ideal balance of driving, funky rhythm and sensitive support. On the latter half of the album, Halvorson adds the adventurous strings of the Mivos Quartet, offering a glimpse of the sounds she’s able to summon with Mivos on the full-length companion release, *Belladonna*. The breadth, detail, and sheer character of her writing on these releases is a marvel, attesting to her prodigious growth as an artist in this period.