I Don't Hear A Single Albums Of The Year 2022 : 81-90

This year, the standard has been the highest since IDHAS began six and a half years ago. Narrowing things down to this 100 as been really difficult. For each album, I've posted a song from it and a link to the IDHAS Review where you can find further details and how to listen or buy the album. 

A reminder that anything reviewed on I Don't Hear A Single is highly recommended. 

No 81 : The Minders - Psychedelic Blacktop       IDHAS Review

No 82 : Nick Piunti And The Complicated Men - Heart Inside Your Head      IDHAS Review

   

No 83 : Pulse Park - Phonac Music      IDHAS Review





No 84 : Secret Molecules - Secret Molecules      IDHAS Review

No 85 : Kevin Stevenson - Reality Alley      IDHAS Review

No 86 : Walker Brigade - If Only      IDHAS Review





No 87 : The Well Wishers - Blue Sky Sun      IDHAS Review     





No 88 :  The Dead Century - The Well       IDHAS Review

No 89 : Northern Portrait - The Swiss Army      IDHAS Review

 

Matinée Recordings · Northern Portrait - At Attention

No 90 : Gaz Hunter - Lysergic Soundscapes Of Dreamadelica      IDHAS Review

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I Don't Hear A Single Albums Of The Year 2022 : 91-100

For the last few years I have compiled annual Best Of 's  because these posts seem so popular and the aim of this Blog is to get exposure (and Sales) for the artists. A reminder that anything reviewed on I Don't Hear A Single is highly recommended. 

This year, the standard has been the highest since I DHAS began six and a half years ago. Narrowing things down to this 100 as been really difficult. For each album, I've posted a song from it and a link to the IDHAS Review where you can find further details and how to listen or buy the album. 

No 91 : Starter Jackets - Dead Malls       IDHAS Review

No 92 : Phil Angotti - Once Around Again          IDHAS Review





No 93 : The Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness - The Third Wave Of        IDHAS Review

No 94 : The Airport 77s - We Realize You Have A Choice          IDHAS Review

No 95 : The Confusions - Black Silhouettes      IDHAS Review

No 96 : Bigger - Les Myosotis     IDHAS Review

 

No 97 : The Stroppies - Levity      IDHAS Review





No 98 : The Smivets - Mountain Highway     IDHAS Review

No 99 : Fontanarosa - Are You There?   IDHAS Review

No 100 : The Wheel Workers - Harbor    IDHAS Review

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IDHAS Ten Songs Mix 46

Volume 45 reached the Mixcloud Global op 100 of all 5 charts it qualified for including No 3 in the Global Power Pop Chart and No 14 in the Global Pop Rock Chart. This week's mix features tracks from 2023 albums, 10 of the tracks are so.

This week's is a little different. Normally Mixes contain plenty of real riff driven affairs. There is some of that here, but also a lot of great Intelligent Pop. You will also notice that there are 11 songs this week. This is because I got this week's selection down to 11 and couldn't decide which to leave out. 

Arranging the track order was particularly difficult, so please listen to the full mix if you have the time. A reminder that these songs are not arranged in order of preference, but in what I think suits the variation in the mix. 11 Songs in 37 minutes and I assure you that this is an absolute cracker.

The Mixcloud link is below and at the foot of the page is the Mixcloud Player which takes you directly to the music. Thank you for your continued listening. The Mix is certainly more popular than we ever expected. 

Here is the playlist of the Eleven songs this week :

01 The Foreign Films - Cosmic Lover

02 Young Lions - Kaleidoscope

03 Papernut Cambridge - Jump in Your Heart

04 Steve Stoeckel - The Power Of And

05 Real Terms - Kite

06 Strange Neighbors - Hotline Psychic

07 John Howard - Pre-Dawn (Prof. Stoned Remaster)

08 Itchy Teeth - Magic

09 Peter Hall - Click Your Fingers

10 The Happy Somethings - Anglepoise

11 the black watch - nothing left to say

IDHAS Ten Songs Mix 46

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IDHAS Top 100 Albums Of 2022 : A Quick Update

 

Compiling this year's Best Of has been the hardest since it began. The standard is so high, that I could have extended it to a 150 or even 200. However, the intention was always to stay with 100 Albums as that is more than enough to keep people interested. 

It is hoped that the usual format of counting down in groups of 10 with posts that provide links to the IDHAS Review and a track off each album, that people remain interested. I believe just producing one long list doesn't do much for the artists, although one is posted at the conclusion for those that prefer that.

The quality of the year has meant narrowing down the choices has taken much longer than usual. The long list is now down to 122 from over 250. It is intended to be narrowed down to a 100 tonight and then the order is decided tomorrow. If enough progress is made 91 - 100 will appear tomorrow.

There will also be some smaller categories for the first time. After the Best 100 is announced, there will be a Top 10 EPs Of 2022, along with a Top 5 Reissues and a Compilation Of The Year. EPs in particular is something we should have done before.

I am currently also compiling the latest IDHAS 10 Song Mix which will feature only 2023 releases.

Listening To This Week

 

I Don't Hear A Single largely caters for Album Reviews. Individual Songs don't get much of a look in. There is the IDHAS 10 Song Mix that is really popular, but Mixcloud have recently restricted how many mixes are archived. So I was looking for a way to let you know about songs we like on a weekly basis.

I think many of you know that I don't use Spotify or Apple Music etc. You Tube isn't ideal for anything much and a self compilation raised copyright problems and piracy. So I thought this weekly feature may be the best thing to tell you about these songs. Some may be included on future IDHAS 10 Song Mixes, but so much fights for this space,

This feature is solely for submissions, not the usual stuff that we dig out ourselves.  Please investigate the artists further. 

AP Tobler - Claustrophobia

Unfamiliar People - Most People

The Lonely Goats - Vaccination Vacation 

The Lonely Goats · Vaccination Vacation

The Roves - Drug Deal

Plans To Sand - So What

Best Of Feelings - Do I Need To Wake Up

Jon Tyler Wiley And His Virginia Choir - I Won't Miss You

Milio Pagnotta - Me Oh My

Mobvibe - The Best Days Are Yet To Come

Pony In The Pancake - There She Goes Again

The Moonjacks -Lemonade

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Best Of Feelings - Mild Myopia

 

There is so much great 2023 coming in that I feel that I can't hold back compiling the Best Of 2022 list any longer. So this will be the last of the 2022 releases that could appear in the Best Of Year. I am sure that there will be others to come which is fine and there are a couple of compilations that haven't yet appeared. However the main rule for that list is that the album has to have been reviewed on IDHAS. Anything that appears on I Don't Hear A Single is Highly Recommended as you know.

So to Barcelona's Best Of Feelings who are sort of masters of Indie Pop without ever being stuck in that genre. Mild Myopia was initially planned as a random ragbag of B Sides and Outtakes, but the band felt it to be more cohesive than that and it certainly is.

This allows Best Of Feelings to demonstrate different shades of what they do. When The Air Cooks is a wonderful shuffle, more Jazzy than anything whilst sitting a sort of Windmills Of Your Mind vibe. The follow up is very different, a sort of Psych Telstar affair that is mindblowing and melodic

How To Be Free is all jaunty moodiness, yet Nowintomorrow is a mixture of Toytown, early Fleetwood Mac and 60s Euro Cinema. Xtra Virgin (Coca Cola Kisses) is splendid 80s, a little Lilac Time in feel and Seven Parts is a splendid C86 Instrumental with a driving Bass Guitar Run.

There are three Spanish Language songs amongst the 12 and for the Philistines who run from songs that are not sung in English, they are as good as all that surround them. Particularly, Zancandilla which lands somewhere between Psych and UK Beat.

The standout here is the magnificent Rabbit Hole which lands somewhere between Psych Pop and the Indie 80s, yet is great Guitar led Beat Pop. It is atmospheric, yet catchy and shows just how easily Best of Features can switch between genres.

Mild Myopia is a maelstrom of ideas, demonstrating both the inventiveness and variety in the band. There is a real tightness amongst the band, particularly rhythmically that allows the more way out ideas to be kept on a level footing. Highly Recommended!

You can listen to and buy the album here. The download is at Name Your Price, so what have you got to lose?

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Catch The Breeze - Into The Wide

 

The Danish Trio Catch The Breeze seem to have been lumped in with the shoegazers, a hip place to currently be, but I don't hear at all. Their second album, Into The Wide, is much more of a soundscape that has more in common with Psych.

The rhythms at times are almost Prog. It is a long time since I've heard a rhythm section so tightly connected. Unusual Drum Patterns are linked to driving Bass riffs allowing the Guitar to build the sound, at times hypnotically. This album may be more about a vibe and a little Space Rock on occasions. 

As well as providing this six string cinematic sound, Aage Kinch is the vocalist and that is where the album takes on yet another direction. Kinch sounds more like Berlin Bowie or David Sylvian and this allows the material to take on an even greater dimension.

The Guitar is largely riff led, imagine U2's Edge going Psych and that has a mesmerising effect that washes completely over and around you. It is a strange yet wonderful feeling. Although these are ten individual songs, the album is more of a whole 43 minute piece and it seems unfair to single anything out.

I've been thinking of previous listens to compare the band. I was once entranced by Masters Of Reality live and taken by how their live performances were so different to the albums. Catch The Breeze remind me of that live version and I definitely hear Mew a little in them.

This isn't an album for pop pickers. It is Rock, but probably not as you know it. I can't emphasise enough how addictive the Rhythm combination is. If you love your music, have a Psych or Prog bent or just like to discover something different, this is for you. It certainly is for me, I love it.

You can listen to and buy the album here. You can find out more about the band here.

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