Officially A Yuppie: November 2022

It is that time of the year again, our favorite time actually, as we look back on the year in music and select the 10 best albums of the year.

See List of 2022 Honorable Mentions

10) Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Cool it Down"

9) Yard Act - "The Overload"

8) Nas "King's Disease 3"

7) The Smile - "A Light For Attracting Attention"

6) The Afghan Whigs - "How Do You Burn?"

5) Kendrick Lamar - "Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers"

4) Sharon Van Etten - "We Have Been Going About This All Wrong"

3) Maggie Rogers - "Surrender"

2) King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - "Omnium Gatherum"

1) Beyonce - "Renaissance Pt. 1"

2022 The Albums: League of Their Own

This award started long before the site was even a thought, in one publication, radio show or another. Since 2000, I have handed out a "League of Their Own" Award to an album that is made by an artist who is the most forward thinking, open minded, revolutionary musician out there today. Their accomplishments in the past 12 months have either resurrected a sound, broke down walls and created new frontiers or have totally reinvented a genre all together. The choices for "League of Their Own" have become more than just the best album of the year but the most important record to be released at that time.

See List of 2022 Honorable Mentions

In the past winners have included:

2000 - Radiohead - Kid A

2001 - The Strokes - Is This It?

2002 - NERD - In Search of...

2003 - The White Stripes - Elephant

2004 - The Killers - Hot Fuss

2005 - The Mars Volta - Francis the Mute

2006 - TV On The Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain

2007 - Kanye West - Graduation

2008 - Santigold

2009 - Mastodon - Crack the Skye

2010 - Gorillaz - Plastic Beach

2011 - Bjork - Biophilia

2012 - Flying Lotus - Until The Quiet Comes

2013 - Arcade Fire - Reflektor

2014 - Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels 2

2015 - Kamasi Washington - The Epic

2016 - David Bowie - Blackstar

2017 - Kendrick Lamar - DAMN.

2018 - Richard Russell - Everything is Recorded

2019 - King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Infest the Rats Nest

2020 - Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters

2021 - St. Vincent - Daddy's Home

...and now to add to this ever growing list is a band who is taking the sound of rock and roll that we have grown accustomed to and bending, manipulating and altering them in ways that will leave you spellbound and astonished that what they are doing is possible.

The 2022 League of Their Own winner is...

Black Midi - Hellfire

The young British band has been a favorite of Officially A Yuppie since they came on our radar in 2019 with their stellar debut and since have steadily released one fantastic album after another. However, their 2022 offering, their third record overall, "Hellfire" is a combination of heavy metal, prog and alternative that it is no wonder that Australia's mighty King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard asked them to open for them on a select number of shows. Musicianship aside, the tongue-in-cheek and ironic lyrics from singer Geordie Greep just add to the magic. This record is a wild experience that plays out like a horror movie but you don't want it to end. Welcome to the hellfire, indeed!

2022 The Albums: Honorable Mentions

via GIPHY

In keeping our Thanksgiving weekend tradition, we are coming out of hiatus to post our year-end music lists for the year. Here is the first of three lists dedicated to our favorites of the calendar.

Instead of presenting everything over the course of three weeks as we did last year, we are going to just get them all out now over the course of this weekend.

Here is our first list -- Honorable Mentions -- records, in no particular order, that were good but not strong enough to crack our top 10.