playlists

introduction to: folk

introduction to: 21st century indie/alternative

top 50 songs of 2022

introduction to: folk

Folk music is an ill-defined concept that attaches itself to work of earnest endeavour. It might only be bound by an outward approach and an embrace of commonalities. In those qualities, it is both timeless and helplessly human. This playlist comprises 40 of our favourite folk songs from 1937-2023 and within them, thoughts on what it means to be one character in a band of folks.

introduction to: 21st century indie/alternative

By 2000, grunge and britpop had failed to align with the intense commercialisation of the music industry, leaving millions of displaced teenagers and 20-somethings to search for fresh musical meaning. They dispersed across genres and then found the internet: the great promo machine that could turn cassette into ‘Best New Music’ on Pitchfork in a matter of days. Over the next twenty years, these seekers dug, hyped, got bored of, denied ‘ever being into’, then returned to acclaim the tunes they cybernetically discovered. The tracks here cover probably the strangest 22 years of human history through the medium of riffs, irony, and self-deprecation.

100 words top 50 tracks of 2022

In December of 2022, we compiled a list of the finest 50 tracks from the year. Sure, it’s in order, but don’t get hung up on that.

The intention of 100 words is partly to rebuke the idea that ‘they don’t make good music anymore’. They do. They always will. If this list proves anything, it is that they certainly did in 2022.