USD Radio’s 2022 Mixtape

Members of USD Radio were asked what their favorite albums released in 2022 were. Some thought long and hard, others knew right away. Since there were so many great records released last year, who can blame them! Here are their wonderful responses, and who knows? Maybe you might discover something new to add to your music collection.

Sofia Fouroohi Martin, Senior
Preachers Daughter / Ethel Cain

“Her music is hauntingly beautiful. The whole album is amazing and has this dark melancholy at its core and heavy Southern gothic vibe,” Martin said.” I fell in love with the album after my first listen. I first listened to ‘American Teenager’ because it was on Obama’s songs list and people were joking on twitter that it must’ve been a mistake. At that point I’d heard of Ethel Cain before, but that was the push to make me actually look her up and listen.”

Favorite Tracks: “Gibson Girl,” “A House in Nebraska,” “Ptolemaea”

Caroline Kirkpatrick, Sophomore

Five Seconds Flat / Lizzy McAlpine

“First of all, she’s one of my favorites. But also her vocals are stunning,” Kirkpatrick said. “The stories she creates through certain metaphors give me chills and are so creative and literal poetry. Not all the songs sound the same, which is great because I feel that some artists get stuck having just one sound and are unable to differentiate one song from another. McAlpine talks about a lot of different facets of breakups and relationships on the album. I’m also in love with her. The people who are featured on her album are also musical geniuses in my humble opinion (Jacob Collier, Finneas, etc).”

Favorite Tracks: “erase me,” “ceilings,” “doomsday”

Diana Jamaleddine, Junior
Highway / Kid Bloom

“So many reasons! I have loved and listened to Kid Bloom since high school when he released the song ‘I Kissed A Girl, and She Kissed Me,’” Jamaleddine said. “And so, when I went to Kidbloom’s concert last fall, I had already liked the newest album but experiencing the songs in person made me fall in love with it even more. This is also definitely a no skip album, as I genuinely enjoy and listen to every song that’s on it. If you haven’t already, please give it a listen while cooking, doing homework, or just going for a drive!”

Favorite Tracks: “Cowboy,” “Have U Seen Her,” “Just the Thought” (they’re all good though!)

Nick Brumbach, Senior

Omnium Gatherum / King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

“Omnium Gatherum is the most prolific album from the most prolific band,” Brumbach said. “This album transcends genres and still is a cohesive work. It is also almost an hour and a half and starts with a 20 min song… so that’s pretty crazy.”

Favorite Tracks: “Gaia,” “Kepler-22b,” “Evilest Man”

Honorable Mentions: “Ambergeris,” “Grim Reaper,” “The Dripping Tap”

Christiana Torres, Sophomore
“Dawn FM” / The Weeknd

“Dawn FM was kind of shockingly great and I think it was very different than most of his other stuff,” Torres said. Loved ‘Gasoline.’” 

Favorite Tracks: “Gasoline”

Abodi Aljehani, Junior

‘Astral Fortress / Darkthrone

“Darkthrone tends to change genres while still keeping their original second wave Black Metal sound; they just combine it with a different genre, and they went through a few such as Crust Punk, Aljehani said.” But this album is their take on Doom Metal, which is a genre that I’ve been getting into recently. They managed to find the sweet spot of the haunting distortion and dark atmosphere of Black Metal and combine it with the sluggishness of Doom Metal.” 

Favorite Tracks: “Caravan of Broken Ghosts,” “Impeccable Caverns of Satan,” “The Sea Beneath the Seas of the Sea”

Katherine Ely, senior
Minions: The Rise of Gru / The Minions

“Say what you want, but those yellow, one-eyed buggers put together one of the most unexpected soundtracks I have ever seen,” Ely said. “A collection of nostalgic tunes from the disco era that graces your ears in the grooviest of fashions, the 19-track album is overflowing with a ton of cool features. Who in their right mind gave the Minions that kind of power?” 

Favorite Tracks: “Shining Star, “Fly Like An Eagle,” “Desafinado”

Alejo Valle, Graduate Student
It’s Almost Dry / Pusha T

“I barely listened to it prior to going to Outside Lands in August, but when I saw Pusha T live I was like ‘damn… this guy doesn’t MISS!’ I played it again and then,” Valle said.” I didn’t realize that Kanye and Pharrell both collaborated with Pusha T. ‘Diet Coke’ is the best song to play when you are getting your lift in.”

Favorite Tracks: “Diet Coke,” “Open Air,” “Brambleton”

Maddie Glenna, junior
Rolodex / French Cassettes

“French Cassettes are an artist I discovered this past year and I really like every single song they have released,” Glenna said. “They are a pretty small artist, but I think their music is good to the point where I bought their vinyl. Just overall really good vibes from their music, in particular ‘Santa Cruz Tomorrow’ is my favorite.” 

Favorite Tracks: “Santa Cruz Tomorrow,” “Dixie Lane,” “Sunday Soda”

Maris Soland, sophomore
5SOS5 / 5 Seconds of Summer

“Their baselines are FANTASTIC,” Soland said. ‘You Don’t Go To Parties’ is gorgeous. Gorgeous. And the quality of their lyrics goes up with every album they come out with.”

Favorite Tracks: “You Don’t Go To Parties,” “Moodswings,” “BLENDER”

Hannah Johnson, junior
“Heroes & Villains” / Metro Boomin

Heroes and Villains is my favorite album from last year for many reasons. To me, the collaborations on the album were masterfully chosen, with features like 21 Savage, Don Tolliver, Young Thug, John Legend, and Travis Scott. I believe that Heroes and Villains has almost no skips. However the two that I personally always skip are ‘Feel The Fiyaaaah’ and ‘All The Money.’ I skip them honestly because they are not my kind of rap songs, but overall I think they are pretty good as well! I was very impressed with the marketing for the album– I saw posts on Tik Tok of all the rappers featured on the album as either a hero or villain with their own comic book cover. As a comic book nerd myself, that made me incredibly happy. The creativity of the album as a whole, from the production value to the featured verses or the aesthetic of the cover art, Heroes and Villains will definitely stay as one of my favorite rap albums for years to come.” 

Favorite Tracks: “Walk Em Down (Don’t Kill Civilians),” “Metro Spider,” “Trance”

Nik Knapp, Sophomore
Omnium Gatherum / King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

“King Gizzard is a band that has always stayed true to their pursuit of art,” Knapp said. They don’t care what other people think– they make what they want, when they want, however they want to. And best of all they make it their own. This album has multiple different vibes, like chill psychedelic, rap, and even some heavy rock. Their song ‘Ambergris’ is especially good, and I must have listened to it 100 times last year.”

Favorite Tracks: “Ambergris,” “Magenta Mountain,” “The Garden Goblin”

Katherine Ely, Senior
Red Balloon / Tank and The Bangas

“A soulful squeeze to the heart, Tank and The Bangas’ 2022 Grammy-nominated album is the burst of artistic prosperity the world might not have known it needed,” Ely said.” A fusion of pop, jazz, soul and disco-funk, the album takes its listeners on a rollercoaster of musical madness. I first heard of Tank and her lovely Bangas in 2017 when they released what is now my favorite Tiny Desk to date. I love their previous albums and EPs, but when I heard Red Balloon, I got the sense that the band has really grown into their sound and they are much more comfortable making the music they want to make. Go check them out if you like the album Surf by Donnie Trumpet.”

Favorite Tracks: “Heavy,” “Oak Tree,” “Jellyfish”

Austin Smith, Senior
Low Altitude Living / Ocean Alley

“This album is a huge step forward in musical variety and holistic vibe for the band while still being an easy listen,” Smith said. “Their last album was one of my favorites, and they stepped it up even more this time around.

Favorite Tracks: “Perfume,” “Simple Pleasures,” “Drinks and Cigars”

Damion Richardson, Senior
Special / Lizzo

“I love this album because it is a collection of songs all about love, self-love and more,” Richardson said.” It is such inspirational music. I heard this album when I was staying at UCLA for an internship I had with HBO Max last July, and I just adored the title track ‘Special.’”

Favorite Tracks: “Special,” “About Damn Time,” “Coldplay”

Christiana Torres, Sophomore
“Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers” / Kendrick Lamar

“I saw Kendrick live at TD garden in Boston. I was general admission, and I was maybe 10 feet away. It was totally amazing since he was a bucket list artist for me,” Torres said. “His set was visually beautiful– the dancers were phenomenal, I loved the black, white and red color scheme, and overall just fit very nicely with the vibes of the album and the older music that he played. I love the story that the album tells. He just kind of does his thing, not really trying to generalize and relate to the wider population which I think makes it more deeply meaningful. We get to listen in on his mind. ‘Die Hard’ went nutssss and is still my favorite 🤩.”

Favorite Tracks: ‘Die Hard’,” “Savior,” “United In Grief”

Lalita Arslan, First Year
Waiting to Spill / The Backseat Lovers

“It is so different from any of their past albums, and just so happened to be exactly the kind of tunes that I needed at the time when it came out,” Arslan said.

Favorite Tracks: “Growing/Dying,” “Morning in the Aves,” “Know Your Name”