Top 5 Local Albums of 2022

It’s only fitting that the first full year “past” the pandemic found Ionia native, turned international bluegrass superstar Billy Strings returning to West Michigan for a triumphant sold-out show at Kalamazoo’s Wings Event Center this fall. Fresh off opening for Metallica at Lollapalooza among other high profile festival slots, and even collaborating with Post Malone, Strings shared the love with the community that gave him his start as a teen, proving that even in the most unexpected musical landscapes anything can happen.

Perhaps following in his footsteps, GR standout Patty PerShayla (and her band the Mayhaps) officially relocated to Nashville this year, after she spent part of the year touring with Traverse City’s The Accidentals, and gigging all over with the Rush cover band YYNOT. Far from the only artist in our area to make that trek in recent years – Jason Singer of Kalamazoo indie rock band Michigander also moved there this year – PerShayla, and others, may help continue to pave a pathway between West Michigan and Music City.

With the pandemic hopefully behind us, 2022 saw an absolute abundance of amazing releases right here, with the return of Grand Rapids rapper Ajax Stacks (on From The North), Wuzee and Dusty Fingerz’ 100 Summers, and Last Gasp Collective’s Our Daily Bread, showcasing the ever growing versatility of hip-hop here in West Michigan, while mainstay rock favorites Desmond Jones (Rays of Light and Stardust) and Nathan Walton & the Remedy (Daybreak) issued flat-out classic albums that stand up alongside their iconic influences.

Needless to say, selecting a shortlist of our favorites became quite a challenge, so forgive us if this list omits anyone also deserving as the range and raw talent of performers seems to have only gotten stronger as we’ve entered something of a local music renaissance since re-emerging from the era of COVID-19.

5TOP LOCAL ALBUMS OF 2022

| by Eric Mitts

LOKELLA – AS WE UNRAVEL Long overdue, in some ways, the first full-length album from veteran Grand Rapids alt-rock/metal band Lokella delivers on all levels. The climatic successor after three EPs released by the band since starting in 2016, As We Unravel disentangles Lokella from all past expectations. Opening with the scathing “Your Music Sucks,” a spoken-word send-up of troll-dom, the album shows no fear, embracing disparate styles, without sacrificing a shred of the band’s riff-driven intensity. Clocking in at exactly one hour, Lokella lays it all bare on songs like “Bleed For You” and “The Drain,” bruised but not broken, and boldly pushing themselves, and boundaries, further than ever before.

M.I.C.BOOK & SAMIL – FORTUNE COOKIES FOR BREAKFAST Hungry in every sense of the word, this collaboration between two of the hardest hustling members of the Grand Rapids hip-hop scene pairs backpack raps with chill, jazz-inflected beats. Lyrically dense with guest spots from Wuzee, Wills Piff, Rello, and Words of the Voice, the 13-track record floats with a near effortless perfection; tackling tough, personal subjects alongside video game references on tracks like “Red Dead Redemption.” Samil’s next level sampling and signature production – also showcased on his incredible instrumental solo release A Summer Night – gives the whole thing such a laidback vibe it’s easy to go back for seconds.

PARLOR VOICE – PV Pristine production meets gorgeous guitar-work on this fantastic full-length from Grand Rapids’ Parlor Voice. Originally something of the brainchild of lead vocalist/ multi-instrumentalist/producer Johnson Cochran, the band has continued to fill out their take on alt/psych rock in the three years since their last release. Packed with instantly catchy guitar hooks, from opener “Recite The Rain,” to lead single “Full Speed to Redemption,” to the driving “People Don’t Go, People Don’t Stay,” the album simultaneously soothes those searching for endless ‘90s indie nostalgia, while giving those eager for something new a fresh yet familiar voice to discover.

PHABIES – FIRE SEED Folk music goes to outer space in the hands, and mind, of Phabies frontwoman Laura Hobson. Coffee shop acoustic guitar gets lifted to new heights with electric leads and synth touches, courtesy of her band, as Hobson’s strong songwriting holds the whole thing together with heartland soul. Her voice, both lyrical and literal, is the shining star in Phabies’ sky of sounds, celestial yet terrestrial, rising from the earth and the core of her being so beautifully on the album’s dense title track centerpiece, and the songs surrounding it. A phenomenal listen for anyone with a burning deep inside.

SHANKOOL – BUBBLE WORLD Simply put, there’s no one else quite like Kalamazoo’s Shankool in the local music scene. Encapsulating the unease of our current era in enigmatic synthpop that shifts with a TikTok attention span from dance to indie with equal skill, this solo project from Noah Shankool truly eschews genres. Existing entirely in his own world, while pulling from cultures far and wide, he assails our increasingly sensationalized, hyperbolized, and polarized society on the mind-blowing “What Happens Next Will Shock You” and elsewhere. Here’s hoping his creative use of technology will help save us all from our impending post-millennial cyber soul death. ■

Sunday Shows return!

01/08/23 Luke Winslow-King

02/05/23 Darcy Wilkin & Drew Nelson

03/19/23 Grace Theisen Band

04/02/23 Seth Bernard & Jordan Hamilton

04/23/23 Charlie Millard Band

Advance Tix & Menus:

saltoftheearthfennville.com

| 114 E Main St. Fennville | 269.561.7258