The older I get, the clearer the trends in my playlist become. First, it's becoming harder to make myself listen to something "complex". Second, lyrics are becoming increasingly important to me. Third, in principle I now listen to less music than I did before, although still more than normal people. Of course, the COVID years leave their mark, work has gone remote, there's almost no time "on the road" that I always devoted to music. Well, against the background of work, complex music doesn't work at all.

So I dragged out the top until mid-February, but thanks to this I was able to re-listen to everything that others wrote in their tops and form my opinion more thoroughly.

By tradition, in one line about who didn't make it to this top, but could have: Royal Blood, Nothing But Thieves, Architects, While She Sleeps, Don Broco, Grechka, Spiritbox, Stereopolina, Noize MC, Loop of Addiction, Dayte Tank (!) with the brilliant musical Parasite Words, Perturbator, Garbage, Komsomolsk, Mukka, Annisokay and many others, about whom I can say only good things.

Surprisingly, but again, as in 2021, there aren't so many releases about death. As if this is a protective reaction of the body in these difficult years - the brain wants positivity. Or this is my conscious choice, it's hard to say, but it is what it is.

Let's go.

Albums

9. ATL - Radio Apocalypse

Incredible artist. Just a mixtape, just better than most of Russian hip-hop. Although it's even hard to call this hip-hop - it's rock, and electronics, and rap - a mix that makes ATL ATL. Youth-89 without options is one of the best tracks of the year, you don't expect such a cannon as the eighteenth track, but it hangs there and waits for its shot.

One of the few performers whose concert this year I managed to attend. And this is unequivocally the best concert of the year.

8. Oxxxymiron - Beauty and Ugliness

Discussing Oksi's album on the day of release has become bad form, but let's try... What we have in the dry residue: the most diverse album in the discography, perfect hit into the TikTok era, meme upon meme, quote upon quote. Gorgorod, of course is great, but it's not quite Oxymiron, but Beauty and Ugliness - yes, this is him. It was simply impossible to release better. To my taste he went a bit overboard with namedropping, someone will surely count dozens if not hundreds of names mentioned over these 22 tracks, in place and out of place.

7. Loqiemean - Control

And here's about death, yeah. Powerful lyrics about powerful upheavals. Lonely Cannibal makes such impressions that you want to drink. Round Dance with Jinjer's vocalist on the feature, being the second track on the album already inscribes this release in the top albums of the year. To my taste, this is the Loquimean album that transfers him from the category of a promising and hyped dude to the category of mature established artists. Moreover, for some reason I believe that it will only get better.

6. Neuromonakh Feofan - Ancient Russian Rave

The most diverse Feofan album. I say this about every album, yes. But along with this you feel how Pnevmoslon's popularity is catching up and overtaking. Oleg is devoting less and less time to this project, perhaps understanding himself that the potential is gradually fading and there's a high probability of going into self-repetition. The album turned out without cosmic hits like on all previous ones, but you still want to start dancing. Oh, it's been a long time since I was at a Feofan concert, oh I miss it.

5. Dead Blonde - Princess from Khrushchevka

In every year there must be its guilty-pleasure. I don't understand why besides Boy on the Nine this isn't playing everywhere.

4. Anacondaz - Call Me Back +79995771202

This is classic Anacondaz. I don't know how they do it. Every time listening to a new release it seems like some nonsense, it was better before. And then it turns out that you've been running them on repeat all year and enjoying every track, with a million listens each track reveals itself cooler and cooler, hidden meanings open up, open meanings turn out to be not so open. Class.

3. God Is An Astronaut - Ghost Tapes #10

And again to death. The only foreign release in this top. The Irish are moving away from the total blackness of the previous record, hope for a bright future is visible, but emotions still fly up and down. What a pity that concerts are postponed and postponed. Getting to a GIAA live show is now my concert goal number one. I want to dissolve in this. No other band knows how to transmit emotions to me like they do.

2. SHARY - Malachite

Shary before this album existed somewhere in a parallel universe from me, occasionally reaching me with their catchy pop-punk songs. Then the band moves to St. Petersburg, loses all members except the frontman and releases an insanely diverse release about the classic St. Petersburg lifestyle of youth, where every track hooks, every track does something far beyond what you expect from a pop-punk band. The most unexpectedly wonderful release this year. It was in my first place in the top for a very long time, and would have stayed there if not for one other release.

I don't need saving No, don't call a doctor Pain can be a reward A reason to start

1. Zatochka - Take It and Put It

Every next release from Zatochka I await with great skepticism. And how pleasant it is to be wrong every time. Take It and Put It this year became for me a release that I can listen to at any time of day or night, in any mood, even when I don't want to listen to other music at all. At least for this reason Take It and Put It is the album of the year. And if you take the fact that against this background previous albums have been re-listened to and revealed much more strongly, then Zatochka is two heads above everything. Lifts the mood in any situation, you scream out loud at the moment when you think about the meaning of the lyrics and every subsequent time. These are songs, you walk around and like an idiot hum for months in your head or out loud when nobody sees. I want to scream Foil Hat at a concert like it's the last time. I want to be sad under Floors together with the entire dance floor.

And it doesn't matter where and with whom To build your floors Because the whole day is still ahead A whole life is ahead

Results

The blow to my main hobby continued another year. Where have you seen that in a year I attended only three concerts? The hopes for twenty-two are huge. But in any case we won't be left without good music, even in this new contactless world.

And playlist...

Well, and by tradition a playlist with the best tracks of this year.

Let's be friends on Spotify.