Pet Door Show Best of 2022

Hannah Werdmuller
5 min readDec 31, 2022

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L-R Top row: Billy Bronsted, Caleb Kunle, Uninvited, Stacy Antonel, Kobo Town, A’Revolution. 2nd row: Deau Eyes, Acid Coco, F.A.B.L.E, Marince Omario, Red Linen Antlers, WesWill. 3rd row: The Burning Hell, Erik Pedurand, Sandy Dish, Da$htone. 4th row: MAITA, LOUJAY, POM, Keep for Cheap. 5th row: Sundae May Club, Zretro, The Macks, Papeo Abán y Los Herederos, Matt Hsu’s Obscure Orchestra, Dibson T Hoffweiler & Yoko OK. 6th row: Kubasonics, Flamy Grant, Breaks and Swells, The Pussywillows, wyd, Sadie Gustafson-Zook.

Every week on the Pet Door Show on Shady Pines Radio (Thursdays 2–4pm Pacific / 5–7pm Eastern / 10pm-12am GMT), I share two hours of my personal favorite new tracks that have been released in the past year by independent and underplayed artists from around the world, of all genres and geographies, and all by amazing artists with under 5,000 instagram followers. The end result is that my year has been blessed by heaps of heaps of amazing new music, and I’ve loved having the opportunity to share that with Pet Door Show listeners.

There are three things I like to do as the year comes to a close, in this order: 1) collapse in a cookie-induced stupor while languishing in a pit of blankets, 2) share the Pet Door Show Best of, a list of my absolute favorite tracks released this year that I’ve played on the show, and 3) share the Pet Door Show Up-and-Coming Artists You Should Know, a list of artists that I’ve played on the show who’ve been hustling and growing and have blown past my self-imposed 5,000 follower limit, to celebrate their success and hard work.

Welcome to number 2 on the list: the Pet Door Show Best of 2022! Trying to whittle down the abundant wealth of this year’s music to a mere 2 hours was super hard, but after much deliberation, I am thrilled to share these 32 tracks that wiggled their way into my soul and into my feet, that I hope will be stuck in my brain for a long time to come.

For ease of browsing, there’s a handy dandy Spotify playlist, but I’ve included purchase and social links in the list below (arranged in playlist order, vaguely by genre: soul → folk → hip hop → rock). I highly encourage you to support the artists by buying anything you’re enjoying listening to on Bandcamp or elsewhere, and following the artists to be kept in the loop for future releases, live shows, and all that good stuff.

Without further ado, here are the Pet Door Show Best of 2022! Enjoy!

Caleb Kunle All in Your Head
Laois, Ireland. Soul.
Single released May 4, 2022.

Breaks and SwellsMurder Hornet
Seattle, WA. Soul.
From the album Entomology, released April 1, 2022.

The PussywillowsPeach
Atlanta, GA. Soul.
Single released August 19, 2022.

wydWMN
Columbus, OH. Indie soul.
Single released May 9, 2022.

Erik PedurandOu ban mwen tout — live in studio
Paris, France. Indie folk soul.
From the EP Live Session, released August 26, 2022.

Papeo Abán y Los HerederosNo Es Justo
Lima, Peru. Afroperuvian folk.
From the album Dos Generaciones, released July 23, 2022.

The MacksBreakfast (In Bed)
Portland, OR. Psych jangle pop.
From the album Rabbit, released March 11, 2022.

Billy BronstedLife Ain’t Pretty
Wausau, WI. Folk americana.
From the album Rhythm, Racket, & Romance, released May 2, 2022.

Flamy GrantWhat Did You Drag Me Into?
San Diego, CA. Americana.
From the album Bible Belt Baby, released September 22, 2022.

Deau EyesAnother One Comes Around
Richmond, VA. Americana.
From the album Legacies, released June 10, 2022.

Stacy AntonelNot Looking for Love
Nashville, TN. Indie americana.
From the album Always the Outsider, released June 17, 2022.

Sadie Gustafson-ZookBirdsong
Nashville, TN. Folk americana.
From the album Sin of Certainty, released April 22, 2022.

Dibson T Hoffweiler & Yoko OKTextured Elevation
Oakland, CA. Antifolk.
From the EP Cat Music, released October 7, 2022.

Acid CocoCara Dura
Geneva, Switzerland. Indie champeta pop.
From the album Camino Al Mar, released February 25, 2022.

Zillin* & Marince Omario** — Outstanding
Hamburg, Germany* / Accra, Ghana**. Hip hop.
Single released August 5, 2022.

A’RevolutionGot Dreams
Portland, OR. Hip hop.
From the EP Verse•a•tile, released February 1, 2022.

Zretro ft. BadooAunty Deloris
Naarm, Australia. R&B / soul.
From the album Zretro, released May 20, 2022.

WesWillEx Girl
Cleveland, OH. Hip hop.
From the album First Kiss In ’03, released June 22, 2022.

Da$htone ft. Kelsey MadsenPlayin’ Role
Chicago, IL. Hip hop funk.
From the album Futuristic Reminiscin’, released June 29, 2022.

F.A.B.L.E, Dre IzayaWe Goin’ Places
Chicago, IL. Hip hop.
From the album Green Room, released July 31, 2022.

LOUJAYLa Gasolina
Panamá. Hip hop pop.
Single released September 8, 2022.

Matt Hsu’s Obscure OrchestraEat the World
Meeanjin, Australia. Indie art folk.
Single released July 20, 2022.

Red Linen AntlersWho gave you the right to be so cool?
Detroit, MI. Indie synthpop.
From the 2-track Who gave you the right to be so cool?, released March 16, 2022.

MAITARoad Song
Portland, OR. Indie rock.
From the album I Just Want to Be Wild For You, released February 18, 2022.

Keep for CheapSegway
Minneapolis, MN. Folk rock.
From the album Bundle, released June 10, 2022.

Kobo TownCarnival of the Ghosts
Toronto, Canada. Gothic folk calypso.
From the album Carnival of the Ghosts, released April 8 2022.

KubasonicsKalyna
St John’s / Newfoundland / Labrador, Canada. Polka punk.
From the album Kubasongs, released March 4, 2022.

Sundae May Club Sekai Chizu Seifuku
Nagasaki, Japan. Indie rock.
From the album Shoujyo Manga, released March 9, 2022.

The Burning HellThe Last Normal Day
Prince Edward Island / St John’s, Canada. Indie rock.
From the album Garbage Island, released June 24, 2022.

POMEarth Sick
Amsterdam, Netherlands. Indie post punk.
Single released May 6, 2022.

Sandy DishDUMP HIM
Naarm, Australia. Post punk.
From the album The Whore that Broke the Camel’s Back, released August 22, 2022.

UninvitedBehind The Black Door
Glasgow, Scotland. Rock.
Single released January 21, 2022.

Congratulations, you reached the end of the list! Here’s that Spotify playlist again. If you liked this list, check out Pet Door Show’s Up-and-Coming Artists You Should Know in 2023, and last year’s Pet Door Show Best of 2021 and Pet Door Show’s Up-And-Coming Artists You Should Know in 2022. Tune in every Thursday, 2–4pm Pacific / 5–7pm Eastern / 10pm-12am GMT on Shady Pines Radio, and help keep the Pet Door Show on the air by making a tax-deductible donation to Shady Pines Radio and buying me a coffee. Thanks!

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Hannah Werdmuller

Hannah Werdmuller:: frontperson of Django Moves to Portland / singer in Chonk! / Hosts the Pet Door Show on Shady Pines Radio, Thursdays 2-4pm (PST) / they/them