2022 In Review

1. Introduction + Best Album Art
2. Song of the Year
3. Album of the Year
4. R&B and Soul
5. Rock and Alternative
6. Rap and Hip-hop
7. Dance and Electronic
8. Pop and Ballad
9. Folk and Country
10. Jazz and Blues
11. Crossover and World
12. Best Collaborative Work
13. Rookie Artist of the Year
14. Artist of the Year
15. Other Recognition
16. Concluding Remarks

In 2022, folk music didn’t dominate the top of our lists like it seems to do so often, but even in a relatively quiet year, the seen abounded with solid quality. Doma’s beautiful second album was completed by bandmate Gunwoo and released posthumously after Kim Doma’s passing; Kwak Pureunhaneul and Lee Gwon-hyeong each released third studio albums after establishing themselves as flag-bearers after their first two; experimentation with electronica and spoken word, studies in acoustic solitude, and Delta blues were all fair game.

Notes:

• The “Next 10” and honorable mention lists are sorted by artist name.
• The 2022 Folk and Country Spotify playlist is here and also embedded below:

Albums

Best Folk and Country Album 2022

Mulgwaumm – 잠재적 초점 (Latent Focus)

More often than not the waters of Mulgwaumm – literally “water and note” – are murky and refractive. The veteran acoustic musician’s first solo full-length is filled with ponderous and drawn-back singing flanked by echoes, and an ambient soundscape that’s really as much noise electronica as it is folk guitar. (It’s reminiscent of Mid-Air Thief’s work in the best way, in moments like “Peeping Tom” and “Red Rope”‘s chopped and shattered sounds.) But surprisingly, inexorably, out of this haze arise some of the most beautiful melodies in folk and beyond, both taking firm shape (“Crimson”) as well as flowing in tranquility (“Sediment”). These make Latent Focus an absorbing experience that demands your full attention, but it’ll give back richly.

The Runner-up

E_so – E_so

E_so is the artist’s name, but it also means to move out of a nest. This self-titled album that isn’t the debut album thus sings of departure and disruption, sometimes directly (“Voyage of Sleep”, “Nest”) and sometimes through forlorn acoustics and lapping waves of tentative melody. But what the album really excels at is imbuing its unsettled stories with wiry strength and defiance, and the spirit in its arrangements are a big part of that. “Island”‘s mysterious atmosphere and curious percussion, “E_so Blues”‘ exotic chorus, and “To. L”‘s almost chiptune-like plucked strings add color and understated energy.

The Next 10

Choi Beck-ho – 찰나 (Moment)

Doma – 도마 (Doma)

John Eun – Suna

Kwak Pureunhaneul – Nearly (T)here

Lee Gwon-hyeong – 창작자의 방 (The Creator’s Room)

Lee Jung-in – 나의 정체 (My Stagnation)

Lucid Fall – 목소리와 기타 (Voice beside Guitar)

Soopeul – Promenade

Summer of Thoughts – 손 (Hands)

Xeuda – 이름 없는 것들 (Nameless Things)

Songs

Best Folk and Country Song 2022

Ha Heon-jin – 날 사랑해 주오 / 병원에서 말하길 (Love Me Again / Doctor Said)
Written, composed, and arranged by Ha Heon-jin

The deep country-blues groove generated by the crooning guitars and Ha Heon-jin’s hefty, matter-of-fact vocals start in the first measure and drive the whole length of the track. At first, the riff is rugged and the narrator’s courtship honest. Then the “Doctor Said” portion kicks in about halfway in after a long solo: the lyrics take a darker turn, Ha finds an opening to soar up, and it’s a full body rock. Drenched in lamentation and dripping in fidelity, both halves of “Love Me Again / Doctor Said” are irresistible listens.

The Runner-up

Xeuda – 터널을 지나가요 (Through a Tunnel)
Written and composed by Xeuda; arranged by Cacophony, Xeuda

Like E_so, Xeuda’s title track is about staying on the move, though her recounting is about a much more laborious trek. Xeuda’s narrator practically drags herself across the tunnel, “wearing a backpack full of heavy rocks”, the lights going out, enduring derision. The sense of isolation and urgency are palpable, between the driving guitars and pounding toms, even to the subtle wind howl effects oscillating between the stereo channels. The escalation of the final minute-and-a-half is a test of will for the narrator, a spellbound moment for us.

The Next 10

E_so – 섬 (Island)

Gimyoungsoyoung – 낙법 (How to Fall)

Kang Tygu – O

Kwak Pureunhaneul – Coyote

Mulgwaumm – 퇴적 (Sediment)

Seohee – 무지개 개구리 (A Rainbow Frog)

Sagong – 유령궁전 (Ghost Palace) (Feat. Darin)

Summer of Thoughts – 착륙 (Landing) (Feat. Kim Sawol)

uGOGOng – 자전거 뒷자석 (Bicycle Back Seat)

Xeuda – #2 칼 (No. 2 Blade)

Honorable Mentions

Albums

Big Baby Driver – Remainder
Gonne Choi, Kim So-yeon – 오늘의 난 미지근하게 축제 (Friendhood)
Ha Heon-jin – 너의 행복 (Happiness)
Herhums – Humming in Chaos
Jeon Chan-jun – 흐름 (Hreum)
Jeon Woo-song – 흰 (White)
Jihwan – I’m No Stranger to You
Kang Asol – 충무에서 (Chungmu)
Kang Tygu – Farewell to O
Kim Dae-seung – Rusty but Lusty IV All My Reasons
Kim Pil-sun – Feel Sun
Lee Jane – 나의 시선 끝에는 (At the End of My Gaze)
Leegoyo – 우리네 (We All)
Park Jong-beom – 우리의 계절 (Our Season)
Park Kang-soo – Album 9
Sagong – Here, Mr. Reindeer
Seohee – Rainbow Season
Shin Ji-hoon – 별과 추억과 시 (Stars and Memories and Poetry)
Simun – Scent
Siwa – 잠 못 이루는 당신에게 (For a Tranquil Night)
Slow 6 – Night Owl
Son Hye-eun – 기억의 조각들 (Pieces of Memories)
uGOGOng – 1집이 아닙니다 (This Is the 0th Album)
Won Tae-rim – 세상의 모든 말과 노래 (Every Word, Every Song)
Yisaheul – 볕과 그늘 (Platband)
Yoon Sai-han – 편히 (Unbend the Mind)
Yozoh – 이름들 (Names)
Yujin Sol – Mandala

Songs

Big Baby Driver – O
Choi Beck-ho – 찰나 (Moment)
Doma – 겨울 발라드 (김도마 ver.) (Winter Ballad (Kim Doma ver.))
Doma – 화양연화 (In the Mood for Love)
E_so – 둥지 (Nest)
E_so – 물결 (Flow)
E_so – 이소 블루스 (E_so Blues)
Eundohee – Belief
Gonne Choi – 축제 (Festival)
Heo Hoy-kyung – I Hope You’re Well
Herhums – The End
Hwang Puha – 신세계 (New World) (Feat. Lang Lee)
Im Woong – 숨은 숲 (Hidden Forest)
Jihwan – Later…
Jisan – 내가 찾을게 (I’ll Find It)
John Eun – Doppelganger
John Eun – Weak
Ju Ha-neul – 공중누각 (A Castle in the Air)
Kang Asol – 충무에서 (Chungmu)
Kim Cho-won – Forbidden Love
Kim Dae-seung – 그저 웃지요 (Let’s Just Smile)
Kim Dae-seung – 참 잘했어요 (Good Job)
Kim Hyun-joong – 담벼락 (Childlike)
Kim Sawol – 둥글게 (Ritual)
Kwak Pureunhaneul – Wild Meadow Ballroom
Kwak Pureunhaneul – 도시 + 하니랜드 (Dosi + Honeyland)
Lee Gwon-hyeong – 석촌호수 (The Lake) (with Ye Ram, Chun Yong-sung)
Lee Gwon-hyeong – 얼간이들 (The Fool)
Lee Jane – 풀꽃 (Grass Flower)
Lee Jung-in – 괜찮은 하루 (A Good Day)
Lee Seol-ah – 바다가 보이는 곳에서 살아요 (Ocean View)
Lucid Fall – 사피엔스 (Sapiens)
Mulgwaumm – 적끈 (Red Rope)
Mulgwaumm – 크림슨 (Crimson)
Nasun – 생각 (Think)
Park Kang-soo – 슬픔도 춤춘다 (Even Sorrow Dances)
Sagong – Dear, Ann
Seohee – 순자야 (Sunja)
Shin Ji-hoon – 남은 이에게 (To the One Left Behind)
Simun – 시소 (Seesaw) (Feat. Kim Sawol)
Smacksoft – 별의 기억 (Star)
Son Hye-eun – 바다로 (To the Sea)
Soopeul – 새벽달 (Dawn Moon)
Summer of Thoughts – 너는 내가 (You) (Feat. Kwon Wol)
Won Tae-rim – 세상의 모든 말과 노래 (Every Word, Every Song)
Won Tae-rim – 향초, 부스러기 (Candle, Fragment)
Xeuda – 잘 가 (다시 만나자) (Goodbye for Now)
Yisaheul – 밤산책 (Night)
Yoon Sai-han – 편히 (Unbend the Mind) (Feat. Ye Ram)
Yozoh – 짝사랑 (Unrequited Love)
Yujin Sol – 얼굴들 (Faces)
uGOGOng – 김지민에게 (To Kim Jimin)

Lyric translations by author. Artist profile and album cover images from Bugs Music.

Read our past series:

2021 In Review

2020 In Review

2019 In Review

2018 In Review

2017 In Review

2016 In Review

2015 In Review

2014 In Review

2013 In Review

2012 In Review