WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT the FiRST QUARTER of 2022?!!

ROUTES & BRANCHES

featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music

March 31, 2022

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT the FiRST QUARTER of 2022?!!

I'm alright with the releases from the first quarter of the year. As expected, we haven't published as many reviews as we'd like, but we've kept up nicely with what's come our way, with few whiffs. Just between us, if we were to call a close to 2022 tomorrow (I'm not opposed), I'd be looking at Big Thief as my favorite record, with the songs we've heard from Orville Peck's Bronco record posing a fine challenge pending a peek at the remaining tracks. But that won't reach us until April, so doesn't show up on today's list of my favorite albums to date (in order of appearance): 

- Ryan Culwell, Run Like a Bull  (Culwell, Jan 28)

- Kill County, All That Remains  (573668 Records, Feb 3)

- Erin Rae, Lighten Up  (Good Memory, Feb 4)

- Big Thief, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You  (4AD, Feb 11)

- Hurray for the Riff Raff, Living On Earth  (Nonesuch, Feb 18)

- Sarah Shook & the Disarmers, Nightroamer  (Abeyance, Feb 18)

- Sophie & the Broken Things, Delusions of Grandeur  (Petaluma, Feb 25)

- Justin Peter Kinkel-Schuster, No Tongue Can Tell  (Constant Stranger, Mar 4)

- Ian Noe, River Fools & Mountain Saints  (Lock 13, Mar 25)

- Freakons, Freakons  (Fluff & Gravy, Mar 25)

But this year we've made an effort to focus on songs as opposed to records, sharing our ten favorites at the close of each month. We'll do the same here as March crawls towards submission. Here is what has carried us through the minefields of the last thirty-some days: 

1. Father John Misty, "Goodbye Mr Blue" Chloe and the Next 20th Century  (Sub Pop, Apr 8)

2. Dead Tongues, "Dust" Dust  (Psychic Hotline, Apr 1)

3. Rhyan Sinclair, "Gasoline in the Morning" Letters to Aliens  (Sinclair, Mar 4)

4. Angel Olsen, "All the Good Times" Big Time  (Jagjaguwar, Jun 3) ^

5. Caroline Spence, "Clean Getaway" True North  (Rounder, Apr 29)

6. Ian Noe, "Burning Down the Prairie" River Fools & Mountain Saints  (Lock 13, Mar 25)

7. Orville Peck, "Curse of the Blackened Eye" Bronco  (Columbia, Apr 8)

8. David Quinn, "I Just Want to Feel Alright" Country Fresh  (Down Home, Apr 15)

9. SG Goodman, "Teeth Marks" Teeth Marks  (Verve, Jun 3)

10. 49 Winchester, "Russell County Line" Fortune Favors the Bold  (New West, May 13)

And finally, on this brief Episode of lists, the ten releases we're most looking forward to for the second quarter of 2022:

Dead Tongues, Dust  (Psychic Hotline, Apr 1)

Orville Peck, Bronco  (Columbia, Apr 8)

Father John Misty, Chloe and the Next 20th Century  (Sub Pop, Apr 8)

Caroline Spence, True North  (Rounder, Apr 29)

Delta Spirit, One is One  (New West, May 20)

Zach Bryan, American Heartache  (Belting Bronco, May 20)

SG Goodman, Teeth Marks  (Verve, Jun 3)

Angel Olsen, Big Time  (Jagjaguwar, Jun 3)

John Calvin Abney, Tourist  (Black Mesa, Aug 5)

Lee Bains III + Glory Fires, Old-Time Folks  (Don Giovanni, Aug 5)