2022 in review... AND BEYOND! (Patreon)

That post title looks way too exciting. And it most certainly is. I don't know, I'll try to live up to it and everything. At least I didn't use multiple exclamation points, then I'd really be sunk. Anyway, I thought I'd wrap up the year with a message to all of you, my Patrons.

First and foremost, thank you to everyone who has joined me here. Those of you who have been around a long time are a beacon of motivation, and those who are new are appreciated no less. I'm glad for the opportunity to keep entertaining you with music and perhaps by my application of the written word.

The internet is full of opinions on anything, and there's no special reason why mine are any more worthwhile than anyone else's. Nevertheless, I mentioned that I would offer up my thoughts on the 'best' of 2022 as judged by me. In reflecting on that topic, I was surprised first by how narrow my media consumption has become in a lot of ways, and secondly by how hard it was to determine from memory what actually came out in 2022! Time and space have only a tenuous grip on me.

Serialized narrative entertainment (what many call 'TV' or 'streaming' nowadays) is the genre I can comment most fluently upon. There were a lot of really good series delivered this year. I feel that will probably thin out a bit in 2023 as the business end of streaming is flailing an axe at anything it can hit. If the new year yields a thinner crop of ripe programming, perhaps this list will give you something to catch up on!

TOP 5 SERIES OF 2022

• Andor (Disney)
• Severance (Apple+)
• The Sandman (Netflix)
• House Of The Dragon (HBO)
• Stranger Things 4 (Netflix)

There are a lot of other series from 2022 I enjoyed and hold in high esteem. It is ironic that the one I had the lowest hopes for and which I looked forward to the least turned out to unquestionably be the best. 

Andor is a show about a character whose fate we knew going in, and who I did not find all that likeable in his one previous appearance. Through skillful characterization, outstanding attention to visual detail, and masterful acting, the team making Andor created a compelling and resonant sci-fi masterpiece. I'd write a full review if I still did that sort of thing, but suffice it to say that Andor proved Star Wars is a setting within which mature stories can be told that treat serious topics with depth and insight. The season finale was a powerful, cathartic elegy in more ways than one, and even featured my favorite musical moment of 2022.

Severance was almost as good, and told an eerily plausible sci-fi story of its own that was both grounded in our contemporary culture but infused with equal parts surrealism and psychological horror. The show's pitch-black humor was balanced with gripping drama. If David Lynch and Stanley Kubrick had created The Office, it might have ended up sort of like Severance.

The Sandman is a weird and beautiful adaptation of Neil Gaiman's comic series. House of the Dragon successfully echoed its narrative predecessor and exceeded it on occasion. Speaking of echoes, Stranger Things 4 called back another perfect pastiche of its 80s influences, and left the characters in a dire place to set up the conclusion of its story. 

Special call-out to His Dark Materials s3, for providing the most gut-wrenching conclusion of a story. Fans of the books knew what was coming, but I didn't, and it hit hard. 

TOP um... 4 I GUESS ALBUMS OF 2022

• Ghost - Impera
• Clutch - Slaughter Beach
• Imperial Triumphant - Spirit of Ecstasy 
• Revocation - Netherheaven

I don't listen to as much music as I used to. Actually, I know I listened to more albums than these, mostly metal or metal-adjacent. Some of what I listened to and liked the most was catching up on material from 2021 or prior. Every year around this time, I hit Angry Metal Guy to scan their "Top 10 of 20__" lists so I don't completely miss out and become disconnected from the genre. The albums above stood out, though.

Ghost manages to morph their sound on every album, but does so with expert craft and skill. Tobias Forge can really write songs. Nobody blends pop, prog, and just enough metal into gothic anthems of longing and deviltry like him. The songs on Imperia are generally more layered, complex, and delicate than previous albums. They remain utterly listenable and often very catchy. None quite reach the heavenly heights of Cirice or He Is, which remain my two favorites from their catalog, but I found this album a great listen.

Clutch remain titans of bluesy hard rock, and Neil Fallon is vocally and lyrically as sharp as ever. Their song "Red Alert (Boss Metal Zone)" was the most fun track I enjoyed listening to all year. Be sure to read the video's description to learn the genesis of the song's title reference.

Imperial Triumphant offer the opposite of fun, or at least what most people consider fun. I find avant-garde nightmare metal fun to listen to sometimes. They're nuts. Even by the standards of extreme metal they are... extra. Their videos really enhance the whole experience, and may even be necessary to fully appreciate what they're doing. Try this one, after fortifying your mental shields. Kenny G is in it!

And if you want some blistering high-octane thrashy death metal: Revocation.

TOP 1 GAME OF 2022

• Vampire Survivors

Ok, so I only really played one 2022 release this year. I also played Fallout 3, which I have many good things and some bad things to say about, but that is an old game and it was free on the Epic Games Store. 

The only other thing I played was Vampire Survivors, and I guess I picked well since it's on a lot of best-of lists, and in fact is the best-of on many of those. It's just... such a perfectly distilled dopamine drip. The way the game constantly gives you some new challenge, tool, or diversion to keep hitting that reward center of the brain is a masterclass. The glorious excess of standing amid a roiling sea of enemies so densely packed that they are just a writhing wall of color and somehow holding them at bay is great. The deckbuilder-style mechanics of assembling your loadout are deceptively simple yet meaty enough to be deep and interesting.

TOP 23 THINGS I AM WORKING ON IN 2023

Um.   Hmm....

• Everyone's Stranger OST
• [name TBD] card game design
• Time Machine: Digital Dreams Music Pack
• Hopefully twenty more things

You can guess what #3 on that list is, and you'll be getting some music from it beginning next week, most likely. I have several tracks done. Done-ish. I keep going back and revising. It's my followup to The Analog Age, this time focusing on the later wave of mid-late 80s digital synths that had their own character and style.

Everyone's Stranger is a game that I've been involved with for the last couple years, working on music, voice acting, and writing. And a little art. Its nearest gaming relative is probably Stardew Valley, but... mostly it's a game about meeting a whole bunch of weirdos in a Terry Pratchett-esque fantasy setting while you try to figure yourself out and manage an Inn. Trailer coming soon, and hopefully a full demo this year. I'll see if I can give you a preview of the soundtrack in the near future, too. 

I'm also designing a (virtual) card game. Hopefully this comes to fruition. It's early stages but I think the chances look good. I've had a lot of game designs floating around in my head for quite a while, and an opportunity sort of manifested so I've been getting the base layer of mechanics fleshed out. If you can imagine a mashup of ideas from Race For The Galaxy, Dominion, Star Realms, 7 Wonders and more, that's where I'm coming from. I'll discuss this more as it materializes. 

The game asset business has been... bad. 2022 was bad, and followed in a generally declining series of years with a little outlier bump up in 2020 when everyone was locked indoors. So I'm re-evaluating how much time I can spend making game asset music packs. I'll definitely make some, but I've got to sort out where I can focus other efforts. I'll likely make some tracks intended for sale on royalty-free markets like Pond5, and you'll get those here. I will probably also produce more music for TV licensing libraries. Unfortunately, that music is required to be exclusive, so I cannot pass it on to you. 

If I had my way, I'd work only on game music, but in terms of profit motive, it is an increasingly bad use of time and effort. I'd love it if that turned around. We'll see how things develop. If I was operating strictly based on intelligent commercial planning, I'd probably stop making game asset music immediately. But fortunately for you, I have no business sense and continue to work on things for reasons of creative fulfillment!

Thanks for reading if you didn't TL;DR 95% of this!

Happy New Year and I wish you an auspicious 2023!