Top 10 new singles & EPs of 2022

In the current era of home studios, direct-to-consumer distribution, mobile listening and streaming, the single is no longer just for Top 40 music.  If you're not following singles and EPs in whatever genres you listen to, much of today's most compelling music is breezing right past you.

 

I've made a concerted effort in recent years to play singles and EPs on Global A Go-Go, and for the past 4 years I've done a year-end recap of the best singles and EPs of the year.  This year's recap (Sunday January 1, 1:00-3:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards at wrir.org/listen, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site) once again has some killer material, just as good if not better than what I played on the top albums of 2022 episode two weeks ago.  Tune in and hear for yourself.

Without further ado, here are my top singles and EPs of 2022:

Irie Christmas Spectacular

Breadfruit roasting on an open fire / Mongrels nipping at your toes / Dancehall songs being sung by a choir / An' we dress up in we bashment clothes

 

Yes, nothing says "Deck the halls with lots of collie" quite like two hours of Christmas songs from the Caribbean.  Reggae, ska, dancehall, calypso, soca, steelpan -- you'll hear them all on this special Christmas Day edition of Global A Go-Go: Sunday December 25, 1:00-3:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards at wrir.org/listen, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site.

 

Bill's guest co-host is an even bigger reggae fan, Eric Walters of Wide Ear Folk (alternate Tuesdays at 5 PM on WRIR).  Together they'll be putting the pum-pum back in rum-pa-pum-pum.  Fun for the whole family, if you're that kind of family.

Top 10 new albums of 2022

It's the most wonderful time of the year, the time to find out who's been naughty and nice.  No, I'm not talking about the holiday season; I'm talking about when everyone's Best Of The Year lists come out.

 

I'll be rolling out my own lists over the next three weeks on Global A Go-Go.  On this week's program (Sunday December 18, 1:00-3:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards at wrir.org/listen, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site) I'll present my top ten new albums of 2022 plus ten honorable mentions.

 

Next week on Christmas Day it will be Global A Go-Go's Irie Christmas Spectacular: all reggae, calypso and soca Christmas songs with myself and special guest selector Eric Walters (host of Wide Ear Folk, heard alternate Tuesdays at 5 PM on WRIR) at the controls.

 

In two weeks on New Year's Day, you'll hear my favorite singles and EPs of the year gone by, and in three weeks it will be selections from my favorite compilations, reissues and historic recordings of 2022.

 

Without further ado, here are my top new albums of 2022:

Charts December 5-11, 2022

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 PERU SELVATICO: SONIC EXPEDITION INTO THE PERUVIAN AMAZON 1972-1986 | various artists | Analog Africa

2 SUPERFONICOS | "Primera Luz" [Single] | self-released

3 OLIVER NAYOKA | Oka Mmadu | Odogwu/Palenque

4 BABA COMMANDANT AND THE MANDINGO BAND | Sonbonbela | Sublime Frequencies

5 PABLO MOSES | Revolutionary Dream | Baco

6 LA SONORA MAZUREN | "Charanga Mazuren" b/w "Cachicha" [Single] | Names You Can Trust

7 T.P. ORCHESTRE POLY-RYTHMO | Afro-Funk | Albarika Store

8 SHURWAYNE WINCHESTER AND DAVID RUDDER | "Bacchanal Come" [Single] | SW Limited

9 JULIVERT | A Tamarit! | Microscopi

10 AL-QASAR | Who Are We? | Glitterbeat

Land of the honest men

December 11, 2022 is Burkina Faso's 64th Independence Day.  This small (roughly the size of Colorado), densely populated (about 22 million people), landlocked West African nation formerly known as Upper Volta has had its struggles: eight coups d'etat including two in 2022 and a current bout of Islamic fundamentalist terrorism among them.

 

No Burkinabè musician has yet become a pan-African or worldwide star, but the music that has been produced in Burkina Faso since independence is superb in quality and variety.  This week on Global A Go-Go, you'll hear an hour of some of my Voltaic favorites, and I assure you that I'll only be scratching the surface of what's out there.

Also this week (Sunday December 11, 1:00-3:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards on the wrir.org archive player, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site): Latin soul and a new single from Austin's Superfónicos, and birthday tributes to Cuban bandleader Pérez Prado and Yugoslavian mischief-maker Dr. Nele Karajlić.

Charts Nov 28 - Dec 4, 2022

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 CABRUERA | Sol A Pino | Polen

2 SONA JOBARTEH | Badinyaa Kumoo | African Guild

3 FILA BASELE | La Kumba Music | Une Plume Une Voix Une Guitare

4 ZINA GASRINIA | Ya Ammi El Khateb | Star Voice

5 IFTIN BAND | Mogadishu’s Finest: The Al-Aruba Sessions | Ostinato

6 MOONLIGHT BENJAMIN | "Haut La Haut" [Single] | Ma Case

7 JOAO SELVA | "Passarinho" [Single] | Underdog

8 LUCIANA DEMINGONGO | Rando Une Plume | Une Voix Une Guitare

9 EL COMBO BATANGA | "Toca La Campana" [Single] | Lovemonk

10 LIRAZ | Roya | Glitterbeat

Album of the year?

Sona Jobarteh is the world's first female virtuoso of the kora, the West African harp-lute which is the characteristic instrument of the Mande musical tradition.  She and her band were a highlight of 2018's Richmond Folk Festival, but her performances in Richmond in no way prepared me for her new album Badinyaa Kumoo, which might be my favorite new record of 2022.

 

I still have a couple of weeks to make up my mind about that -- the December 18 edition of Global A Go-Go will feature my top 10 new releases for the last year.  But on this week's show (Sunday December 4, 1:00-3:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards on the wrir.org archive player, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site) you'll hear a track from Badinyaa Kumoo for yourself.

 

Also this week: new Brazilian sounds from João Selva and Cabruêra, salsa con sabor cubano, electro-cumbia since last week's cumbia wasn't enough, Moonlight Benjamin's brand new single, and the amazing sounds of Somalia.