Finally, as 2022 crawls on bloodied hands and knees towards the finish line, Quietus editors John and Luke have realised it is time to pull back the curtain on the arcane, esoteric (and some would say unspeakable) rites that they must perform annually in order to create the triple behemoth of the Albums, Reissues and Tracks of the Year charts.

For the first time ever – if you are Sound & Vision and Low Culture subscribers who have access to this podcast at least – the pair have diverted from their usual conversation about Guernsey jumpers* and Airfix models supplemented with misty-eyed reminiscences about when they were young enough to get absolutely clattered at Eastern European raves, to shine a light on how the all-important, seasonal chart making happens, the ancient cosmic forces that must be appeased, the terrible, terrible way in which the ballots are counted and how they scrub the ceremonial pouffe clean of spillages at the end of the shocking ceremony.

And for those of strong heart and stomach who make it psychically unscathed through that section there is a discussion of some of their favourite albums of this year including the pre-Christian, neolithic-themed Irish freak folk of Moundabout; why Luke thinks Richard Dawson is like Erasure; why John is sure he’ll still be listening to The Ruby Cord in ten years time; the correct way to pronounce Shit + Shine; the otherworldly genius of Valentina Goncharova and how they’re both in agreement that I Love You Jennifer B by post-genre young team Jockstrap is the album of the year.

Thanks to our producer Alannah Chance, to Lisa Cradduck for the illustration and thanks to you, dear reader, for helping us do what we do.

(*You will be relieved to hear there is actually still plenty of conversation about Guernsey jumpers.)

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