Not for me!
For the genres I listen to (various subgenres of prog, jazz, modern classical), 2022 was a pretty good year. Not as good as some, but still good.
This is probably about 25% of my purchases of new, not reissues or archive material, in 2022.
Green Asphalt - S/T / New Swedish band with some definite Gentle Giant influences. Really good stuff, this!
Eclectic Maybe Band - Again Alors? / Belgian avant-prog band, with a bit of Zappa influence, and even a touch of Canterbury. This one is certainly ’out there’, but it is still compelling. There are 21 musicians that play on the album, but not all at the same time.
Alex Anthony Faide - Particles of the Infinite / To say this is a Fripp/Crimson inspired recording, does not do it justice. This Argentinian guitarist has Fripp’s monstrously difficult picking technique down. But he uses Fripp as a jumping off point, and adds his own personality.
Karfagen - Land of Green and Gold / While I admit, this Ukrainian artist/band treads over some familiar prog ground, it is done so well, with such great melodies, that it is hard to argue with the results. Not breaking any new ground, but just plain good.
Scatter The Atoms That Remain - Emancipation Suite / The best terms I could use to describe this monster album, would be ’spiritual jazz’, not too unlike something from Pharoah Samders. All members are world class jazz players.
Yang - Designed for Disaster / Quite heavy (but not metal) Crimson influenced prog, from long time influential French guitarist, Frédéric L’Épée.
October Equus - Noches Blancas, Luces Rojas / Spanish band in the avant-prog subgenre. Somewhat dark, but with moments of playfulness.
Bubblemath - Turf Ascension / Unique sounding prog band from the US. Usually quite complex, but doesn’t lose sight of melody.
Knekklectric - Alt Blir Verre / very good melodic prog band from Norway, with a touch of jazz.
Janel Leppin - Ensemble Volcano Ash / Excellent chamber-jazz, with a bit of avant-garde leanings.
The Tangent - The Songs from the Hard Shoulder /Another killer release by prog band, The Tangent. Van Der Graaf Generator heaviness at times, with some Canterbury touches.
Thumbscrew - Multicolored Midnight / NY scene jazz with the great Mary Halvorson on guitar, and Michael Formenak on upright bass. Sometimes avant-garde.
7th Sense - Light in Chaos / Contemporary jazz. While not avant-garde, it is certainly progressive. Great playing, and rhythmically complex.
Mary Halvorson - Amarylis / Near brilliant progressive jazz by this creative guitarist.
Mary Halvorson - Belladonna / More in the chamber-jazz vein.
Unsuk Chin – Scherben der Stille (Shards of Silence), for violin and orchestra / This woman can do no wrong, in my book. Another great contemporary composition.
Magnus Lindberg - 3rd piano concerto
This list is far from complete, and I didn’t even list any of the great ECM label releases for 2022.
