This is an archive from Klassic Note Web Reports
Saturday, 31 December 2022The Klassic Note Song Awards 2022
Welcome to the Klassic Note Song Awards 2022!
I'm Aozaki Shouhei, Klassic Note's only listener and judge. It's that time of the year again, where I sit down in front of my PC at the end of the year to give out awards and rank the songs I listen over the year. This year shows the return of normality as the world continues to burn, but as it recovers we see more artists come back year after year, being more active and such over the Internet, it can only mean better things from here as the competition of mainstream over solo artists go stronger than ever. As I dig into past year songs to discover new artists, I also continue to go back to ones I've liked, get hype over new announcements over the Internet every week, and enjoy the liberty of online live performances posted online where more music than ever were taken to online video platforms to grab our attention. In every corner, we will always find something that can impress us, no doubt.
As usual, I will state this every year and I will state it again, the results below do not fully represent the many songs I listen to for the year. New songs aren't exactly impressive on the mainstream side but they are comfort food and I take all of those. More innovation is definitely seen on the solo artists side as many of them turn into composition and lyric-writing roles, trying to show their prowess in making songs their way. We have more than ever Collection Artists hitting the numbers and joining the reign so that's good news, with many more on their way seeing how much they have contributed within the year too. We also have almost hit 100% in Apple Music adoption of songs I've listened to which only shows how far we have come since the early days of music streaming where nothing is available and I still had to rely on the Internet community to review new songs. The songs come from more forms and genres than ever, so I try my best to give recognition to as many of them artists as I can. As you will see below, it has only been harder than ever mainly due to be plateauing on my opinions for new songs trying to impress. It has been #KN15YEARS too, by the way, so the pressure is even harder by the year to give unique songs that are good.
The results below will be split into six segments, with the first two covering statistics and analysis of the songs given this year and how they fare. Diagrams will be shown in some segments to give a better overall picture rather than just displaying tables of data. Finally, I'll conclude on with The Top 20 and an audio edit of them by yours truly, so to give you a better idea of what songs truly represent the year around in terms of general mood for the year when it comes to music around me.
(Results finalised on 31/12/2022)
Note: For a detailed explanation of the results, hover/tap over the small paragraphs you see throughout the post, like the one above
[Click here to skip to "The Top 20"]
STATISTICS
This year, I have given a total of 255 songs over the past 12 months. I've spent more time on each release longer compared to past years in recognition of their efforts, and find comfort in giving familiar artists and new artists I picked up alike. The Internet might have helped with exposure even more, and with music streaming services it has become easier than ever to give any recommendation I see a chance, hopefully providing than enough bandwidth to listen new songs too. It did not stop the momentum of giving new songs though; I am just giving more songs per release, more than ever.
Firstly, I break down the songs to who sings them and sort them by artist composition and gender, giving a good look into a usual heavy bias of female solo artists singing good songs, also known as the Vocal Styles Popularity Survey. For this year, Female Solo vocals have risen to the yearly average of 1.3 to 1 against Male Solo vocals, which shows a nice balance of mainstream artists against female solo artists for the year..
Then, we have the Song Integrity Survey. Initially taken as an experimental analysis in Klassic Note to fix my biased opinions of what is a good song, now it is used as a guide to follow past years judgement criteria so my judgement don't go too far off the perpendicular. As I give further detailed analysis to the many songs defaulted to the generic 4-star category, this survey then is an attempt to give a better insight into how most of the songs are rated. It is also became the new benchmark in recent years in pushing me to give more 5-star songs which were then based on early impression which is not possible now with maturity of my song judgement bias. As you can see, there is higher tendency to give more 4-star songs as songs are rated slighy above average rank instead of promoting them to 5-stars.
Thirdly, we have the generic statistics of the songs of the year. These include language (for those with a vocalist), year of release (old songs can appear in the list as far as 2002 for this year), Anime songs (because when I say "sometimes" on Twitter I meant this) and B-side analysis for singles which is a direct representation of proving that songs which are good need not be their release's topic songs, and we should give more criticism and praise to songs not under intentional spotlight.
Last but not least, we have the Song Appetite Report. The chart represents how many songs I've given every month, and show peak and trough periods typically based on release month dependent on the music industry or periods of time where I just want to give more or less songs. I would say despite the difficulties and therefore delays in releasing new songs this particular year, many still were released in due time, and therefore did not miss much in terms of leaving an impression in Klassic Note, and I am thankful for that. Exceptions do apply though, where certain releases are still out of reach with the return of love event-only releases.
Then, we have the Song Integrity Survey. Initially taken as an experimental analysis in Klassic Note to fix my biased opinions of what is a good song, now it is used as a guide to follow past years judgement criteria so my judgement don't go too far off the perpendicular. As I give further detailed analysis to the many songs defaulted to the generic 4-star category, this survey then is an attempt to give a better insight into how most of the songs are rated. It is also became the new benchmark in recent years in pushing me to give more 5-star songs which were then based on early impression which is not possible now with maturity of my song judgement bias. As you can see, there is higher tendency to give more 4-star songs as songs are rated slighy above average rank instead of promoting them to 5-stars.
Thirdly, we have the generic statistics of the songs of the year. These include language (for those with a vocalist), year of release (old songs can appear in the list as far as 2002 for this year), Anime songs (because when I say "sometimes" on Twitter I meant this) and B-side analysis for singles which is a direct representation of proving that songs which are good need not be their release's topic songs, and we should give more criticism and praise to songs not under intentional spotlight.
Last but not least, we have the Song Appetite Report. The chart represents how many songs I've given every month, and show peak and trough periods typically based on release month dependent on the music industry or periods of time where I just want to give more or less songs. I would say despite the difficulties and therefore delays in releasing new songs this particular year, many still were released in due time, and therefore did not miss much in terms of leaving an impression in Klassic Note, and I am thankful for that. Exceptions do apply though, where certain releases are still out of reach with the return of love event-only releases.
Here is how the new songs fared this year:
Female Solo is the most popular vocal style in the songs of 2022.
Female Solo to Male Solo Ratio: 1.365
Female Solo to Male Solo Ratio: 1.365
VERDICT: 4 Stars is the most common rating in Klassic Note 2022.
AVERAGE: 4.043/5
Japanese is the most popular language in songs of 2022.
2022 is the most common year of release in songs of 2022.
VERDICT: Anime songs are 2.03% of 2022 songs, mostly on character songs.
*"Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai" is the most dominating Anime of 2022.
VERDICT: 21 out of 37 singles in 2022 are considered besides A-side.
In comparison 13 of all singles released are in Klassic Note Review 2022.
SONG OF THE DAY
Every day is unique as it is special; songs that surface in our minds will set us in a mood and drive our everyday lives. From waking up to going to sleep, there's always a different melody that will pop up in my mind from listening to the huge amount of songs within and in past years. I would confidently say that my mood for the year could be summarised with the songs I'm listening to every single day.
And that's why we have a tie this year so congrats Kroi and Ryokuoushoku Shakai for being the most memorable Songs of the Year in 2022!!
TOP SONGS TO START THE DAY
TOP SONGS TO END THE DAY
RELEASE RANKINGS
Klassic Note may be all about the songs, but what is with songs if they aren't released in some form? I say that though, but with the rise of digital singles and how music is distributed more often through digital platforms instead of coming up with physical releases to substantiate music libraries, it's always in comfort to listen to albums every once in a while. Many releases performed better than ever as I spend more time with them this year, and I continue to give more songs beyond the one or two topic songs with a music video. Many artists are going for more than one good album with the world opening up, and we do see this year some are adding a couple of singles and/or new songs from time to time within the year. Regardless of their approach, I will still give them due attention, but with best albums looming from artists we've known for long time and mini-albums being a conventional middle between bulk and single releases, I will still give them praise to the albums and surprising singles I have given throughout the year.
Congratulations to CHiCO's collaboration single for best single and Amamiya Sora's best albums for best album(s) for Klassic Note 2022!!
Top 10 Singles
Top 10 Albums
COMMENDATIONS
In Klassic Note there are Awards; And then, there are Commendations. Commendations are thing that are worth mentioning but not necessarily in competition since it can be unique in circumstance. That, or I want to credit them as many of them as possible and it doesn't exactly qualify as a regular award. Many listed may be repeats, but this is the place where I give proper recognition to certain things for songs who stood out amongst the others. Congrats to Kroi for giving me music videos to remember I wish I could put them in more; The effort they make in their videos are just uniquely fantastic. This and many others easily show the power of music videos which are all the more important at a time like this where the Internet is the best place to promote new songs.
Instead of giving them as awards, Klassic Note here compliments videos which stand out better than their music, sometimes better than not, in order to give better representation and thus impression to their audio listeners. And so, I commend and also criticise (a bit) on those, as you can see below too. Many of the music videos can be found online too, so be sure to check those out for yourself. I'll post the links to get you started.
AWARDS
One of the most important things that built the foundation of this Song Awards are of course, the Awards themselves. They have also been historically the toughest to decide every year apart from the Top 20 itself, which shows how much thought is put into figuring out the distinct feels of all the songs I give for the year, and how important they are compared to all of the others above. As with previous years, it has always been a challenge to get the right songs to fit the Awards and what they should represent, and as much as I try I still hardly feel for some of these songs which are worthy of their titles, especially pertaining to certain emotions and moods. Regardless, I have made my decision, so here are the results.
Congratulations to Hitsujibungaku for THE NEWCOMER I need to listen to more of your music library next year to be honest I've not given enough, we finally have competition in THE MUSIC category because PHONO TONES and SPECIAL OTHERS released album this year but we know who wins, and it was hard to decide on THE INSPIRATION so I went for gut feel and amazarashi woke me up once again since 2016, so thanks for that.
THE TOP 20
Last but not least, we have the song rankings. Every year, I try my best to showcase Klassic Note in the most vibrant way possible, hopefully with a good balance of what I truly love and representation of what the year means for Klassic Note in 2022. And in these 20+ songs I recommend, many have left an impression, some I cannot miss putting them in just because, and others I think they are genuinely worth a mention. It was hard to come up with the list as usual, as there have been many dramatic changes to when I initially thought of this, but now that the results are out, I'm not going to think too much into it and hope this is adequate to show what Klassic Note 2022 is after a year in the making. Let's get to the Top 20!
Congratulations to mol-74 for changing my impression of them from meh to great to the #1 song in Klassic Note! Maybe emotional is my theme for the year, so I can't help but dampen the lively tunes to give a moment to remember what the roots of Klassic Note might have been, and these guys are right up my alley.
Below is an audio preview with timestamps of The Top 20 of Klassic Note 2022, for your listening pleasure:
See you all next year for another year of Klassic Note then!! Meanwhile, we have some #KN15YEARS business to deal with. Stay tuned for more announcements over at the special site!
DISCLAIMER
#All content and results are subject to personal opinion, and please do not, in any other manner, attempt to copy or adapt it in any other purpose whatsoever. All data shall stay in this webpage and shall not be published, edited or shared anywhere else in this World Wide Web. If necessary, permissions are not required but all sharing must be linked and/or credited to this page. All audio in preview are copyright (c) respective owners.
AVERAGE: 4.043/5
| Language | English | Chinese | Japanese | All |
| Songs (%) | 7.3% | 0% | 92.7% | 246 Songs |
| Year of Release | 2002-2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | All |
| Songs (%) | 3.92% | 2.35% | 3.53% | 10.20% | 80.00% | 255 Tracks |
| Song Type | Anime Theme Songs | Character/Insert Songs | ||
| Songs (%) | 0.81% | 1.22% | ||
*"Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai" is the most dominating Anime of 2022.
| Total Singles Released 2022 | 60 | ||
| Total Tracks | 1 | 2 | 3 or more |
| Singles | 22 | 16 | 22 |
| Total Considered in List | 7 | 14 | |
In comparison 13 of all singles released are in Klassic Note Review 2022.
Average Monthly Growth: 21.25
Top Active Months: July (+30), February (+26)
SONG OF THE DAY
Every day is unique as it is special; songs that surface in our minds will set us in a mood and drive our everyday lives. From waking up to going to sleep, there's always a different melody that will pop up in my mind from listening to the huge amount of songs within and in past years. I would confidently say that my mood for the year could be summarised with the songs I'm listening to every single day.
And that's why we have a tie this year so congrats Kroi and Ryokuoushoku Shakai for being the most memorable Songs of the Year in 2022!!
The first two tables below show what are the most popular songs I've listened for the year and for each month. The last two tables show the most popular songs to wake up and sleep to to give a different perspective as to how they potentially can feel if you start and end the day with maybe. Criteria are subject to conditions in sleeping habits, mood, and mostly due to songs I've listened recently during certain times of the day.
Starting from 2019, Song of the Day has been transformed into a rank-based system, where every mention pushes you up one rank so that rank sharing will make sense. The results shouldn't show much of a difference though, but it will more accurately reflect on the position of songs within.
Starting from 2019, Song of the Day has been transformed into a rank-based system, where every mention pushes you up one rank so that rank sharing will make sense. The results shouldn't show much of a difference though, but it will more accurately reflect on the position of songs within.
| SONG OF THE YEAR 2022 | |
| Rank | Artist - Song Title |
| 9 | Kroi - Juden |
| Ryokuoushoku Shakai - Yureru | |
| 8 | Ryokuoushoku Shakai - Character |
| Kroi - HORN | |
| Asakura Momo - Mankai Schedule | |
| 7 | Sangatsu no Phantasia - Ivy Dance |
| Yukarisa - Signal | |
| Asakura Momo - Stained Glass | |
| ORESKABAND - Utsukushii Otoko | |
| 6 | Sans - Awa |
| mol-74 - Renew | |
| 5 | Hashimoto Eriko - Dassou |
| harmoe - Futari Pinocchio | |
| No Buses - I'm With You | |
| frederic - KITAKU BEATS | |
| Creepy Nuts - Nobishiro | |
| Polkadot Stingray - Tsukikage | |
| SONG(S) OF THE MONTH 2022 | ||
| 2022 | Artist - Song Title | Rank |
| Jan | fuzzy knot - Set The Fire! | 2 |
| Feb | mao sasagawa - Kore, Mou Kuse ni Natteru | 4 |
| Mar | ORESKABAND - Utsukushii Otoko | 4 |
| Apr | DYGL - Banger Sangatsu no Phantasia - Ivy Dance | 3 |
| May | Hashimoto Eriko - Dassou | 4 |
| Jun | Scenarioart - Aiminor | 3 |
| Jul | Kroi - HORN | 6 |
| Aug | Kroi - Juden Yukarisa - Signal | 3 |
| Sep | No Buses - I'm With You | 4 |
| Oct | Nisshoku Natsuko - Utsurobune | 3 |
| Nov | Kitani Tatsuya - Scar Ryokuoushoku Shakai - Michi wo Yuke | 2 |
| Dec | ClariS - Snow Light | 4 |
TOP SONGS TO START THE DAY
| Rank | Song Title |
| 5 | Ryokuoushoku Shakai - Character |
| Sangatsu no Phantasia - Ivy Dance | |
| Kroi - Juden | |
| Asakura Momo - Stained Glass | |
| ORESKABAND - Utsukushii Otoko | |
| Ryokuoushoku Shakai - Yureru | |
| 4 | SID - Damashiai |
| Hashimoto Eriko - Dassou | |
| harmoe - Futari Pinocchio | |
| Asakura Momo - Mankai Schedule | |
| Creepy Nuts - Nobishiro | |
| mol-74 - Renew | |
| Yukarisa - Signal |
TOP SONGS TO END THE DAY
| Rank | Song Title |
| 6 | Kroi - HORN |
| 4 | No Buses - I'm With You |
| Kroi - Juden | |
| Asakura Momo - Mankai Schedule | |
| Ryokuoushoku Shakai - Yureru |
RELEASE RANKINGS
Klassic Note may be all about the songs, but what is with songs if they aren't released in some form? I say that though, but with the rise of digital singles and how music is distributed more often through digital platforms instead of coming up with physical releases to substantiate music libraries, it's always in comfort to listen to albums every once in a while. Many releases performed better than ever as I spend more time with them this year, and I continue to give more songs beyond the one or two topic songs with a music video. Many artists are going for more than one good album with the world opening up, and we do see this year some are adding a couple of singles and/or new songs from time to time within the year. Regardless of their approach, I will still give them due attention, but with best albums looming from artists we've known for long time and mini-albums being a conventional middle between bulk and single releases, I will still give them praise to the albums and surprising singles I have given throughout the year.
In Klassic Note, top singles are determined by (1) whether they are in Klassic Note Review ie. all songs of the single have been given and is not digital only release and (2) how good they fare in impression, so ratings come to place. Details for giving these singles shall not be discussed further since there is The Klassic Note Review for your reference. Top albums are determined mostly by how many songs have been given in it, so best album have a natural advantage if I've been listening to the artist for years, and mini-albums tend to get an edge on these due to low song count too but they have been put lower in priority to allow full length albums to shine.
Congratulations to CHiCO's collaboration single for best single and Amamiya Sora's best albums for best album(s) for Klassic Note 2022!!
Top 10 Singles
| Rank | Name of Single | Contributing Artist(s) |
| 1 | Bibitto Love | CHiCO with HoneyWorks meets Mafumafu |
| 2 | Stained Glass | Asakura Momo |
| 3 | Abracada-Boo | Ishihara Kaori |
| 4 | Hanarenai Kyori | TrySail |
| 5 | Sasakure | Natsukawa Shiina |
| 6 | Blue Thermal | SHE'S |
| 7 | Ao 100 Shoku | Itou Miku |
| 8 | Kimi ni Koi Shita Toki Kara | miwa |
| 9 | Island Memories | Ohara Yuiko |
| 10 | Jeunesse | SIX LOUNGE |
Top 10 Albums
| Rank | Name of Album | Contributing Artist(s) |
| 1 | Amamiya Sora BEST ALBUM - RED - | Amamiya Sora |
| 2 | Atrium | Ueda Reina |
| 3 | BLACK SWAN | fuzzy knot |
| 4 | Apiacere | Asakura Momo |
| 5 | Amamiya Sora BEST ALBUM - BLUE - | Amamiya Sora |
| 6 | BOHEMIA | ORESKABAND |
| 7 | Composite | Natsukawa Shiina |
| 8 | Platform Folks | ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION |
| 9 | MIRROR | SCANDAL |
| 10 | GENKI!! | MOSHIMO |
COMMENDATIONS
In Klassic Note there are Awards; And then, there are Commendations. Commendations are thing that are worth mentioning but not necessarily in competition since it can be unique in circumstance. That, or I want to credit them as many of them as possible and it doesn't exactly qualify as a regular award. Many listed may be repeats, but this is the place where I give proper recognition to certain things for songs who stood out amongst the others. Congrats to Kroi for giving me music videos to remember I wish I could put them in more; The effort they make in their videos are just uniquely fantastic. This and many others easily show the power of music videos which are all the more important at a time like this where the Internet is the best place to promote new songs.
Commendations are generally given to topics which stand out on their own with unique features (eg. terrible English, same song title) known as Song Commendations, releases that I reviewed and/or are outstanding known as Release Commendations, artists which may or may not be singing this year also known as Artist Commendations, and honours for (promotional) music videos which excelled in impressions also known as Video Commendations.
Instead of giving them as awards, Klassic Note here compliments videos which stand out better than their music, sometimes better than not, in order to give better representation and thus impression to their audio listeners. And so, I commend and also criticise (a bit) on those, as you can see below too. Many of the music videos can be found online too, so be sure to check those out for yourself. I'll post the links to get you started.
| Title | Recipient |
| "The Artist (Non-Japanese)" | Murder by Death |
| "English Can Be Better" | Cwondo |
| "Single Pre-Order" | Natsukawa Shiina - Sasakure [Single] |
| "Single Order" | Amamiya Sora - VIPER [Single] |
| Ryokuoushoku Shakai - LITMUS [Single] | |
| SHE'S - Blue Thermal [Single] | |
| ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION - Empathy [Single] | |
| Itou Miku - Ao 100 Shoku [Single] | |
| Suzuki Masayuki - GIRI GIRI feat. Suu [Single] | |
| Suzuki Airi - Heart wa Oteage [Single] | |
| CHiCO with HoneyWorks meets Mafumafu - Bibitto Love [Single] | |
| nasuo - Honey Jetcoaster [Single] | |
| TrySail - Hanarenai Kyori [Single] | |
| Ishihara Kaori - Abracada-Boo [Single] | |
| Asakura Momo - Stained Glass [Single] | |
| "Abandoned A-side" | Hanazawa Kana - Kakehiki wa Poker Face [Single] |
| KANA-BOON - Kirarirari [Single] | |
| "Lasting Tune" | cinema staff - Byakuya (2021) |
| a flood of circle - Hokkyokusei no Melody (2021) | |
| Toyosaki Aki - TONE (2021) | |
| Ryokuoushoku Shakai - Are You Ready (2021) | |
| Homecomings - Cakes (2021) | |
| No Buses - Girl (2021) | |
| yorushika - Hana ni Bourei (2020) | |
| No Buses - Having a Headache (2021) | |
| Kaguranana - Kodou (2021) | |
| Ryokuoushoku Shakai - LITMUS (2021) | |
| yanaginagi - Shirushibi (2021) | |
| Cocoro Auction - Together (2021) | |
| "It's An Anime Theme Song?" | Hanauta (Dai Go Ryo) - Hajimari e to Tsuzuku Basho |
| "Longest Refractory Period" | mol-74 - Hailsham |
| "Without An Origin" | Kano - Ichigoichie Celebration |
| "PV of the Year" | Kroi - HORN |
| "Awesome PV" | ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION - Demachi Yanagi Parallel Universe |
| "Impressive PV" | MOSHIMO - Matsuri da Wasshoi |
| "Fanservice PV" | TrySail - Hanarenai Kyori |
| "Great PV" | fuzzy knot - Set The Fire! |
| "Quirky PV" | halca - Darekare Scramble |
| "Neglected PV" | No Buses - I'm with You |
| "Plain Boring PV" | Cwondo - Midori |
| "Best Anime Theme Production" | nasuo - Honey Jetcoaster [Kawaii Dake Janai Shikimori-san OP] |
AWARDS
One of the most important things that built the foundation of this Song Awards are of course, the Awards themselves. They have also been historically the toughest to decide every year apart from the Top 20 itself, which shows how much thought is put into figuring out the distinct feels of all the songs I give for the year, and how important they are compared to all of the others above. As with previous years, it has always been a challenge to get the right songs to fit the Awards and what they should represent, and as much as I try I still hardly feel for some of these songs which are worthy of their titles, especially pertaining to certain emotions and moods. Regardless, I have made my decision, so here are the results.
Congratulations to Hitsujibungaku for THE NEWCOMER I need to listen to more of your music library next year to be honest I've not given enough, we finally have competition in THE MUSIC category because PHONO TONES and SPECIAL OTHERS released album this year but we know who wins, and it was hard to decide on THE INSPIRATION so I went for gut feel and amazarashi woke me up once again since 2016, so thanks for that.
The Award titles mean exactly unless stated otherwise, which are as follows:
- THE CHARASON represents all songs from the Anime and Game genres so to give more songs recognition on how good and/or diverse they are (CV refers to "Character Voice" ie. the actual voice actor behind the role)
- THE IDOLISM awards idol songs (sung by voice actress who became solo artists mostly) which have been on the rise and the award goes to the one with judgement possible to be independent of usual criteria eg. melody, music style
- THE INSPIRATIONAL awards songs which spark motivation and/or creativity for me, encouraging and pushing me along in life
- THE NUMBER ONE SONG OF THE YEAR is based on SONG OF THE DAY results, and the Award is presented to the best here
- THE SINGLE and THE ALBUM are based on RELEASE RANKINGS, and the award is presented to the best of each category here
| Award | Recipient |
| THE ARTIST 2022 (JAPANESE CATEGORY) | Ryokuoushoku Shakai |
| THE NEWCOMER 2022 | Hitsujibungaku |
| THE CHARASON 2022 | Aharen Reina (CV: Minase Inori) - AHAREN HEART |
| THE IDOLISM 2022 | Touyama Nao - Brand New Show |
| THE EMOTIONAL 2022 | Ueno Daiki - Te Krage - Natsu no Yuki |
| THE ROMANTIC 2022 | miwa - Kimi ga Suki desu |
| THE LIVELY 2022 | THE ORAL CIGARETTES - ENEMY feat.Kamui |
| THE INSPIRATION 2022 | amazarashi - Kuuhaku no Shasou Kara |
| THE LONGEST 2022 | Hitsujibungaku - Omajinai |
| THE SHORTEST 2022 | Sans - Hello Goodbye |
| THE CONTRIBUTOR 2022 | ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION miwa |
| THE NUMBER ONE SONG OF 2022 | Kroi - Juden Ryokuoushoku Shakai - Yureru |
| THE ALBUM 2022 | Amamiya Sora - Amamiya Sora BEST ALBUM - RED - |
| THE SINGLE 2022 | CHiCO with HoneyWorks meets Mafumafu - Bibitto Love |
| THE MUSIC 2022 | SPECIAL OTHERS - Yagi & Ryota 2 |
THE TOP 20
Last but not least, we have the song rankings. Every year, I try my best to showcase Klassic Note in the most vibrant way possible, hopefully with a good balance of what I truly love and representation of what the year means for Klassic Note in 2022. And in these 20+ songs I recommend, many have left an impression, some I cannot miss putting them in just because, and others I think they are genuinely worth a mention. It was hard to come up with the list as usual, as there have been many dramatic changes to when I initially thought of this, but now that the results are out, I'm not going to think too much into it and hope this is adequate to show what Klassic Note 2022 is after a year in the making. Let's get to the Top 20!
Congratulations to mol-74 for changing my impression of them from meh to great to the #1 song in Klassic Note! Maybe emotional is my theme for the year, so I can't help but dampen the lively tunes to give a moment to remember what the roots of Klassic Note might have been, and these guys are right up my alley.
In Klassic Note, The Top 20 will include certain conflicts in rank number as some of the songs have to share the same rank due to my lack of criteria to differentiate between them, but is also a ingenious method to show certain trends or similarity within topics and timeframes, to a smaller extent. So do not be surprised to see up to 25 songs every year on this supposedly "Top 20" list.
Below is an audio preview with timestamps of The Top 20 of Klassic Note 2022, for your listening pleasure:
[Click on any row on the table above to skip to that track!]
Here are my thoughts about this year's Top 20 as elaborated from above, as a summary:
- I have already set my sights for mol-74 taking in the top spot mainly because none of the others impressed me in the long run with a particularly strong emotion. It was already hard for them to impress even in the short run, which will be the influence of the rankings this year.
- For the idolism grouping rank, I opted for Kouno Marika for a simple song on her 1st album early this year, and Minase Inori which I thought the song which started the year was actually good, which made me hesitant to choose between this and "glow", the topic song from her album in July. I even thought these songs are actually better than mainstream, putting them above Scenarioart and nano.RIPE for comparison. Natsukawa Shiina did not join in the ranks because I felt like her best effort is not going to win her 3rd single, and Asakura Momo went above the ranks just because of a very different melody I can concur.
- It was wise from this year's song list to include mainstream artists whom I think mattered for the year in the review boom halfway through the year, which were Creepy Nuts, Kami wa Saikoro wo Furanai ie. KamiSai, and Kroi. The problem is where to put them. I chose to group the latter two together and put down Creepy Nuts for the rap genre which I'm not too keen but so is Kroi. It was hard to juggle between these and not putting the other one on top on its own, so to speak.
- Prospective artists I want to give more chances to are Kitani Tatsuya who I've known from Anime just recently, and miwa who actually did well overall but hard to pick up songs to give for the Top 20. For the latter I opted to promote her album topic song but even then I can't put myself to place her too high just because.
- The Top 5 songs have already been pre-determined to some extent. Ryokuoushoku Shakai ie. RyokuShaka did well this year so it was obvious to choose between the topic songs of their 2 singles and 1 album for a winner. harmoe is the best idol song which impressed me so I had to leave a spot for them, and I still cannot believe I can be back giving songs to amazarashi and for them to be up on the ranks. I guess depression might be getting back onto me since I ditched it in 2018.
- Genie High is the last-minute option due to me realizing how simple the melody is for this song, and of course that it has been accented by guest vocalist Kouno Marika (see above) so this is just an extra win for the voice actress, in my opinion.
- For emotional tunes there aren't many or even any to be frank compared to last year I just realized, so I'm glad I still remembered the ClariS and TrySail collaboration song to put them in here. As usual, the composer who also did many for Anime series "Madoka Magica" doing wonders every time I get into it.
And that is all for Klassic Note this year; I hope you enjoyed looking through these results, giving them as listen, and enjoyed as much as I did. If you were here to give yourself a chance and listen to the above snippet of what I've listened to in 2022, you're welcome for the glimpse into my music listening experience for the year. If you have given any of them a listen afterwards - even just one of them - it will make me happy. The legacy of Klassic Note has moved ahead once again and with the world outside changing in perspective, I'm still happy to be able to share my thoughts about music every year, how much I have done by the week, and still spare some time and dedication to make all of this happen at the end of the year.
See you all next year for another year of Klassic Note then!! Meanwhile, we have some #KN15YEARS business to deal with. Stay tuned for more announcements over at the special site!
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