Twangville’s 2022 Favorites are…

Cruel Country by Wilco

The Twangville pick for Best New Album of 2022 is Cruel Country by Chicago-based band, Wilco. This list combines best of year picks from our Twangville critics plus the Readers’ Picks which you helped us create from our polls throughout the year. Congrats to all the finalists. Bring on 2023!

Official Twangville Top 50 of 2022:

01. Wilco – Cruel Country (82)
02. John Fullbright – The Liar (77)
03. Charley Crockett – The Man From Waco (75)
04. Sarah Borges – Together Alone (63)
05. Ian Noe – River Fools and Mountain Saints (57)
06. Arlo McKinley – The Mess We’re In (55)
07. Marcus King – Young Blood (50)
08. Plains – I Walked With You A Ways (48)
09. Old Crow Medicine Show – Paint This Town (47)
10. Larkin Poe – Blood Harmony (44)
11. Cory Branan – When I Go Ghost (41)
12. Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway – Crooked Tree (40)
12. The Sadies – Colder Streams (40)
14. Jamestown Revival – Young Man (38)
15. Sarah Shook & the Disarmers – Nightroamer (36)
16. Anthony D’Amato – At First There Was Nothing (35)
17. North Mississippi Allstars – Set Sail (33)
17. Tyler Childers – Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven (33)
19. Caamp – Lavender Days (31)
20. Vandoliers – The Vandoliers (30)
21. Tedeschi Trucks Band – I Am The Moon (29)
22. Calexico – El Mirador (25)
22. Fantastic Cat – The Very Best of Fantastic Cat (25)
22. Ryan Adams – Chris (25)
22. Wreckless Strangers – When the Sun and a Blue Star Collide (25)
26. Blue Moon Marquee – Scream, Holler & Howl (24)
26. Joseph Decosimo – While You Were Slumbering (24)
26. Willie Carlisle – Peculiar, Missouri (24)
29. Caroline Spence – True North (23)
29. Hiss Golden Messenger – Wise Eyes (Live at the Neptune) (23)
29. Jake Xerxes Fussell – Good & Green Again (23)
29. The Cactus Blossoms – One Day (23)
29. The Hooten Hallers – Back in Business Again (23)
29. Whiskey Myers – Tornillo (23)
35. Amanda Shires – Take it like a man (22)
35. American Aquarium – Chicamacomico (22)
35. Elliah Heifetz – First Generation American (22)
35. Paul Cauthen – Country Coming Down (22)
39. Butch Walker – Butch Walker… As Glenn(21)
39. Lee Bains and the Glory Fires – Old-Time Folks (21)
39. Moontricks – Currents (21)
39. Ryan Adams – FM (21)
39. Shemekia Copeland – Done Come Too Far (21)
39. The Delines – The Sea Drift (21)
45. Ben Harper – Bloodline Maintenance (20)
45. Charlie Musselwhite – Mississippi Son (20)
45. Josh Ritter – Truth is a Dimension (Both Invisible & Blinding) (20)
45. The Whitmore Sisters – Ghost Stories (20)
45. Zach Bryan – American Heartbreak (20)
50. 49 Winchester – Fortune Favors the Bold (19)
50. Adeem the Artist – White Trash Revelry (19)
50. Dropkick Murphys – This Machine Still Kills Facists (19)
50. Ryan Adams – Devolver (19)
50. Sunny Sweeney – Married Alone (19)
50. Taj Mahal & Ry Cooder – Get on Board (19)
50. The Black Keys – Dropout Boogie (19)
50. Town Mountain – Lines in the Levee (19)

Additional Twangville Best of 2022 lists:

Twangville Hall of Fame
Finally to celebrate our 17th year, the Twangville Hall of Fame. Here’s our #1 picks starting from 2005.

2022: WILCO, Cruel Country
2021: JAMES MCMURTRY, The Horses and the Hounds
2020: JASON ISBELL & THE 400 UNIT, Reunions
2019: JOSH RITTER, Fever Breaks
2018: BRANDI CARLILE, By The Way, I Forgive You
2017: JASON ISBELL & THE 400 UNIT, The Nashville Sound
2016: LYDIA LOVELESS, Real
2015: JASON ISBELL, Something More Than Free
2014: JOE FLETCHER, You’ve Got The Wrong Man
2013: JASON ISBELL, Southeastern
2012: I SEE HAWKS IN L.A., New Kind of Lonely
2011: JASON ISBELL & THE 400 UNIT, Here We Rest
2010: JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE, Harlem River Blues
2009: LUCERO, 1372 Overton Park
2008: DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS, Brighter Than Creation’s Dark & THE HOLD STEADY, Stay Positive (tie)
2007: JASON ISBELL, Sirens of The Ditch
2006: JACKIE GREENE, American Myth
2005: KATHLEEN EDWARDS, Back to Me

We hope you’ll follow us for more music reviews, interviews, and playlists throughout the year. Be sure and vote for your favorites in our Readers’ poll every week.

About the author: Washington, D.C. area creative by day. Music is my muse. I host Twangville’s weekly Readers‘ Pick.