Operation Manatee Music Prize: Top 5 Albums of 2022

Another year of incredible music! There are still so many great projects going on and once again I’ve found myself listening to more new music than in any year prior.

After relistening to all of the incredible releases I’ve found this year, I’ve boiled it down to the 5 essential; the very best, the most interesting, the most exciting.

I highly recommend picking up a copy of any of these albums and supporting the makers of music that you love.

With that said, I give you my top 5 albums of the year!

Operation Manatee Music Prize 2022: The Long List

The amount of excellent new music being produced these days is staggering. I’m sure COVID played no small part in this: musicians on lockdown collaborating over email and dropbox for months or years, then suddenly being able to go out and play again. I know I’ve said it before but if nothing else, the past 2+ years have provided us with a lot of great music!

The long-running, highly-coveted Operation Manatee Music Prize Long List is here!

This is my own wrap up on 2022! This is a list of stuff that got repeat listens or deep dives from me. I figure I’ve listened to around 249 days x 9 hours = 2241 hours of almost entirely new music(based on listening during work days – not counting any other listening, ie, car, morning, evening, etc.)!

With that in mind, in an attempt to keep this list from growing out of control (as it’s been known to do in the past), there are so many really good albums that just aren’t listed here. That said, the ones below are my faves. Have a listen. Anything great you heard this year that I missed?

Operation Manatee #377

Tune in and chill out.

Operation Manatee #376

1. Watsky – Aw shit
2. Sessa – Pele da Esfera
3. Ariel Sim – I Love You
4. SOUL GLO – Gold Chain Punk (whogonbeatmyass?)
5. Liv Moon – El Dorado
6. P’tit Belliveau – J’aimerais d’avoir un John Deere
7. The Interrupters – Kiss The Ground
8. Horace Andy – Safe From Harm
9. Alex Southey – Common Fantasies
10. Shad – Black Averageness
11. The Hu – Black Thunder

Operation Manatee #375

1. Melted Bodies – Therapy
2. Bierbabes – Partytram
3. Akawui – Breath of Fire
4. Kid Koala – Jump & Shuffle (live at the Hardware Store)
5. Ada Rook – Gravity Weapon
6. Killer Mike – TALK’N THAT SHIT!
7. Gonemage – Father Times Grandfather Clock
8. Men I Trust – Billie Toppy
9. Ofdrykkja – Hårgalåten
10. Loxy & Resound – Divine Light
11. Carl Sanders – Skullfuck Ritual

Operation Manatee #374

Tune in from 11:00 to Midnight tonight for the good stuff!

1. Run The Jewels – Ju$t (Toy Selecta remix)
2. Royce Wood Junior – Slush
3. Alestorm – P.A.R.T.Y.
4. Hubert Lenoir – VILLE MARIE a
5. Propter Hawk – Theatre of the Whole World
6. Andy Shauf – Wasted On You
7. Sparta – Spiders
8. Ela Minus – P​á​jaros en Verano
9. Keys n Krates – Get Up
10. Twin Carbon / Incognito
11. SW2 ft Yoni Mayraz – Incognito (ZeroFG Remix)

Operation Manatee #373

1. Polyphia – ABC
2. Alex Figueira – Maracas
3. Thumpasaurus – I’m Pissed
4. Lady Lykez – Killa Bee
5. KMFDM – Hyena
6. molotov ape – four
7. Fake Shark – Paranoid
8. Dan Mangan – Fire Escape
9. The Toxhards – Ængus, The Prize-Winning Hog
10. Dead Cross – Strong and Wrong
11. Steven Hero – Forty-Foot Limo
12. Raz & Afla – This Cycle

Operation Manatee #372

We made it! We’re back from that weird otherworld, just in time for Operation Manatee. Tune in from 11:00 to midnight for some music and good times.

1. The Beaches – My People
2. David Myles – Mystery
3. Mobley – Themesong
4. The Beths – Silence is Golden
5. Baby Mullet – Tea
6. Theon Cross – Wings
7. Death From Above 1979 – Don’t Stop Believing
8. Rich Aucoin – Algorithm
9. The Steadies – Can’t Stop Dancin
10. Avantdale Bowling Club – F(r)iends

BEEP BOOP ZORK! OPERATION MANATEE #371 FFFradiothonZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZspecialSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH

I’d better type this quickly. I don’t know how much time I have until the next “event”.

Not even sure what happened! We seem to have entered a fourth dimension or alternate universe! Cory and I have been turned into some kind of robotic monsters! What bizarre force caused this weird calamity? More importantly, can we use weird music to get back?

Tune in tonight from 11:00 to midnight to find out.

Operation Manatee #370

Hey we’re back! Another Tuesday night in the Queen City – sans “queen” now. Maybe we should also retire that nickname now. Back to the “City that Rhymes with Fun” I guess.

It’s almost Radiothon time again, but before we jump into the annual CJTR fundraiser, we have another episode of new, top-of-mind radio goodness. Tune in at 11:00 pm MST on 91.3 FM within city limits or online at http://www.cjtr.ca/listen.