Here Are the Check This Out! Most-Read Articles and Interviews of 2022!
Plus, introducing subscriptions for next year.
When I look back at all of the reviews and articles I’ve written for Check This Out! in 2022, it’s hard to believe that we’re already at the end of another year. Dividing the months into personal deadlines can sometimes be overwhelming, but it is also a total blur of all the outstanding records we’ve been gifted this year.
With the beginning of my year-end wrap-up, I’m also celebrating two years of publishing this newsletter. Check This Out! started not only as an outlet to share my love of music but also as a way to get back into writing after many years away from an old habit that allows me to process the world's anxieties. What started as a small mailing list club of friends and family has turned into so much more, and 2022 has seen Check This Out! go to levels I haven’t imagined. By taking the jump, I’ve made many new friends and acquaintances while interviewing some of my favorite artists and am fortunate to share the entire experience with you, the reader.
This success is also why some of my posts will be subscription-only for the first time next year. I’ve kept the newsletter free for as long as I can, as I want everyone to find their new favorite album they might have never heard of otherwise while helping promote artists that don’t have entire teams and corporations behind them. At the same time, Check This Out! takes far more time than just the actual writing - between digging through so much new music every week, research, creating playlists, and the dreaded content for social media, a lot of hours go into bringing this to you eight to nine times a month.
I know you are drowning in subscriptions, and giving a handful of dollars a month to so many services adds up. I know times are tight for everyone. But I hope that if you’ve been reading since the beginning or one of the new faces from the past few months, you’ve found this newsletter helpful and just maybe found your new favorite song from one of my weekly playlists. Or perhaps you now know about Denzel Curry and are automatically the coolest person at your nephew’s birthday party.
Subscriptions to Check This Out! are $5 a month or $50 for the year, which gets you two months for free. You may also generously pay more if you have the means, but any amount showing your appreciation for the newsletter is endlessly treasured.
Thank you to everyone for reading - you are why I’m excited to continue the newsletter and always look for ways to improve the experience. Remember, your subscription supports one person paying bills and isn’t going to The House of Mouse or whatever poor Frankenstein body part Warner Bros. is now.
The year-end festivities will continue to be free, so you have the full opportunity to hear some albums that most likely won’t appear on the usual lists you see from the major music publications. Here are my favorite records from the past two years for you to revisit - I know of nowhere else that has Circles Around the Sun releasing the best album of 2020 and Flamingosis’ Daymaker as the crown jewel of last year.
Check This Out!’s Favorite 40 Records of 2020
Check This Out!’s Favorite 50 Records of 2021
Friday’s newsletter includes the best EPs of the year, followed by working through my 50 favorite albums of 2022, which will wrap up on December 19th.
Let’s also close out the year by revisiting some of the most-read articles and interviews:
I’ll be back Friday with the best EPs of 2022. In the meantime, revisit last year’s list… you just might see some of these names again!
If nothing else, 2022 was the year I fell back in love with the EP. Excited to check out who/what made your list this year!