i first listened to this album in feb 2020, initially looking for music that i could use as some loud background noise to work or sleep to, but i ended up liking a few of the songs so much that i couldnt focus if it was on in the background lol. over time, i enjoyed more and more of the songs from the album. during the first lockdown over that summer, it was one of the 2 albums i had on repeat as i bunkered down in my little basement bedroom. i slowly started to listen to more interpol songs, and even if antics isnt maybe actually my absolute favourite interpol album (i think el pintor has the most hits imo), i have it as #1 because of how it introduced me to my favourite band and i can't deny that it is iconic

fave songs: c'mere, narc, evil

grizzly bear's most famous song, two weeks, was a staple in my house growing up and also played frequently on the radio in the car. i never paid attention to who was singing it though on account of being a child, so it was a pleasant surprise to "discover" the album two weeks was on during lockdown, which led me to listen to soooo much other grizzly bear over the months and years, including this album. i think i probably listened to their veckatimest album twice a day in may and june that year (i just checked apple music and i played that album 193 times that year) and while i still love veckatimest (two weeks and ready, able are my faves from it), i think this album is the most consistently solid in sound and vibes. i'm really not sure how or why it took me so long to fall in love with this album because it really just is the best. also, i just gotta say that grizzly bear's live performaces are so good. always as great as their studio recordings and often times better. it's not from this album, but their performance of "sun in your eyes" in the sydney opera house still gives me chills. theyve disbanded now but damn... what i would give to see them live

fave songs: neighbors, morning sound, losing all sense, wasted acres, sky takes hold (i really coulndt just pick a top 3)

not to be all "i liked them before they were cool" (aka before a remixed version of Time Moves Slow blew up on tiktok with the adult swim trend) but goddamnit i did like them before they were cool. i got into them in 9th grade through their album III, which i would listen to on the bus to and from school most days. i actually saw them in concert in 2017 and then again in 2021. through their collaborations, BADBADNOTGOOD also introduced me to future islands, which i am very grateful for! anyways, i got into this album september 2021 and damnn it blew me away. it was an essential part of my decompression/dedepression walks home from late nights at the library, sitting under a street light in the park and watching the leaves fall. it had come out earlier that summer, but i will always associate it with chilly autumn evenings and taking a minute to take the world in either on my way to class or coming back from them.

fave songs: city of mirrors, beside april, love proceeding (all these songs featuring arthur verocai)

i had really gotten into gorillaz the year before this came out, and so i was out there downloading it the minute it came out. i listened to it over. and over. and over. i was sneaking wearing my earbuds during silent work time in the classes with chill teachers, and i was listening to it every time i was on the bus or lying in bed. it was the first time i was really into a band, and so it was exciting to already be a fan when the album was released. i'll be honest: this isn't even my favourite gorillaz album, but it is in this list bc of the aforementioned reasons. i know gorillaz is basic and that this album wasnt super well received, but i like it >:( i ended up seeing gorillaz later that year with my family, my gf at the time, and her family lol. we were allll the way out in the back (outdoor music festival) but it was soooo fun.

fave songs: strobelite, andromeda, we got the power

well this is embarrassing. my top 2 songs are from the artist that represented finland in eurovision this year. i dont even like that style/genre of music but i guess i just got really into the eurovision spirit this year + i was having a lot of fun trying to learn all the words to these songs. other than that, it was a very interpol-heavy year. i really came to appreciate their el pintor album. i had liked a few songs from it for a few years now, but discovering "same town, new story" and "my desire" pushed it into favourite album territory. "cadence" is kind of the outlier here but damn it is sooo good. "sail away" by the same artist only just didnt make it into my top 10, but it is there in spirit. i listened to those 2 songs a LOT this march/april on my panicked 8am walks to the library to try and finish what was meant to be my semester-long project that i had left until the final week. oops. it all worked out in the end... i can still feel the dirty slushy snow under my feet and angry wind on my face when i listen to them now. i suppose the good news of this year's top 10 is that only 2 of them make me feel despair, unlike every previous year where my most played songs just remind me of feeling awful lol

looking at my top songs over the years, it's pretty evident that i listen to a lot of music when i am fucking going through it. this top 10 basically all comes from feb-april, with young again spilling over from my september '21 problems lol.i can't really explain why there is so much wild beasts music for this year. all the king's men was my song of choice for my feb '21 crisis and so i guess i branched out from there for the depression of '22. i guess i needed loud music to keep myself awake for all the allnighters i was pulling at the time

c'mere is #1 of course, as it always is in my heart. a lot of the other songs here i was playing on repeat in february. i was turning 20 that month and was feeling Not Good about it on account of not imagining life past 20. but i'm still here :') for my own wellbeing, i should just not allow myself to listen to any more beach house. like,, ever

doing the unstuck as #1 is a cry for help lmao. i was muttering the positive lyrics through gritted fucking teeth on my way to 8:30 french class in the january/february cold, and then through the shitshow of march and onwards as The Real Problems of the the world made themselves apparent. this was definitely the year i listened to the most music, on account of there not being a whole lot of else to fucking do. i really have no excuse for alexander rybak being on here though lmao. he won eurovision in 2009 with truly the song of all time, and so i wanted to listen to what else he had done. the answer is nothing very good imo, but i was taking a russian language summer course online and so this song (it's a pain to find the html entities for displaying cyrillic) was fun to sing along to to practice pronunciation. i feel the same way about men i trust as i do about beach house. some hotline number should pop up if i try to listen to numb or show me how ever again