The 2018 end of the year music lists thread

I don't listen to near enough jazz to have a take on that jazzwise list, but I'm enjoying the Roller Trio (one of the few recordings from that list which is on bandcamp; gonna check out Nicole Mitchell - Maroon Cloud next)

the salvant album is good

i'm surprised there are so many things on their list i hadn't read people repping this year, i've listened to a LOT more jazz than has been my habit.

whoa I didn't even know there was a new Nicole Mitchell, cool

it's a very old-ilm album

I would think a fairly now-ILM album would be Peluché - Unforgettable. It was mentioned in the rolling post-punk thread a couple months ago, and it's a different facet of Raincoats influence, Odyshape era, with Sade-level lushness. The trio of women built a studio out of a garden she shed where they like to jam (here's a snapshot in their environment, Shed Session #1). Older singles "Ohio/Cinnamon" and "Sin" are less original but super fun.

Yeesh, what happened to the time when Jazz album covers were so beautifully designed it made you want to hang them on your wall. Most of those are either boring as hell, really ugly or both.

there's been some shaping up in those recently, beyond the ECM/present-day blue note domination of styling, but yeah, still some egregious offenders, that's what happens when musos without budgets get their hands on design decisions

Bas Jan is the harpist/songwriter Serafina Steer doing indie pop, it's nice but nothing especially memorable.

Bas Jan' lyrics are great imo

I'm appreciating the Peluché record, thanks for that FnB

^^^^ This is great.

yeah this is a delight, what is it?

Interesting, that Musicophilia list has a TON of albums I've been digging this year (and is closest to what I'll eventually submit here), and every other list is barren or has 1-3 I even recognize. WTF

tbf most of the lists posted so far are from indie record shops or genre sites/mags. There will be a whole bunch of exciting lists with Mitski in the top five coming soon!

if that's shade then it's ill-chosen shade

not really shade--just that complaints that these lists are full of albums-I-haven't-heard-of will soon be remedied by soothing dips of consensus

Mitski and Kacey should go on tour together

The Best Metal of 2018, according to Pop Matters:

20. Vein - Errorzone
19. Thou - Magus
18. Skeletonwitch - Devouring Radiant Light
17. Slaves BC - Lo, and I Am Burning
16. Portal - Ion
15. Ghost - Prequelle
14. Tribulation - Down Below
13. Daughters - You Won't Get What You Want
12. Imperial Triumphant - Vile Luxury
11. Horrendous - Idol
10. Pig Destroyer - Head Cage
9. Boss Keloid - Melted on the Inch
8. Agrimonia - Awaken
7. Chaos Echœs - Mouvement
6. Sleep - The Sciences
5. Tomb Mold - Manor of Infinite Forms
4. Slugdge - Esoteric Malacology
3. Mournful Congregation - The Incubus of Karma
2. Sumac - Love in Shadow
1. Yob - Our Raw Heart

Decent list, overall. I don't much care for Yob but it's good to see Mournful Congregation, Tomb Mold, Chaos Echœs, Horrendous, Imperial Triumphant and Portal.

https://www.popmatters.com/best-metal-of-2018-2621689330.html

Bleep's Top 10 Albums of the Year 2018:

1. Tirzah – Devotion
2. Skee Mask – Compro
3. SOPHIE – OIL OF EVERY PEARL'S UN-INSIDES
4. Yves Tumor – Safe In The Hands of Love
5. Chris Carter – Chemistry Lessons Volume 1
6. Kamaal Williams – The Return
7. Paper Dollhouse – The Sky Looks Different Here
8. Marie Davidson – Working Class Woman
9. Pariah – Here From Where We Are
10. Khruangbin – Con Todo El Mundo

https://bleep.com/Bleeps-Top-10-Albums-of-the-Year-2018

to paste the Paste list

50. Yo La Tengo - There's a Riot Going On
49. Blood Orange - Negro Swan
48. Ashley McBryde - Girl Going Nowhere
47. Flasher - Constant Image
46. Phosphorescent - C'est La Vie
45. Paul Kelly - Nature
44. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour
43. Caroline Rose - Loner
42. Bettye LaVette - Things Have Changed
41. Adrianne Lenker - abysskiss
40. Kelly Moran - Ultraviolet
39. Alejandro Escovedo - The Crossing
38. Richard Swift - The Hex
37. Preoccupations - New Material
36. Lonnie Holley - MITH
35. I'm With Her - See You Around
34. DJ Koze - Knock Knock
33. Rosanne Cash - She Remembers Everything
32. Noname - Room 25
31. Neko Case - Hell-On
30. Haley Heynderickx - I Need to Start a Garden
29. The Beths - Future Me Hates Me
28. Camp Cope - How to Socialise & Make Friends
27. Ought - Room Inside the World
26. Superchunk - What a Time to Be Alive
25. Idles - Joy as an Act of Resistance
24. Iceage - Beyondless
23. Elvis Costello & The Imposters - Look Now
22. Big Red Machine - Big Red Machine
21. Courtney Marie Andrews - May Your Kindness Remain
20. Arctic Monkeys - Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
19. Robyn - Honey
18. Father John Misty - God's Favorite Customer
17. MGMT - Little Dark Age
16. Sunflower Bean - Twentytwo in Blue
15. The Decemberists - I'll Be Your Girl
14. Janelle Monáe - Dirty Computer
13. U.S. Girls - In a Poem Unlimited
12. Shame - Songs of Praise
11. Amen Dunes - Freedom
10. Hop Along - Bark Your Head Off, Dog
9. Low - Double Negative
8. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Hope Downs
7. Pusha-T - Daytona
6. Mitski - Be the Cowboy
5. Snail Mail - Lush
4. Soccer Mommy - Clean
3. Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel
2. Parquet Courts - Wide Awake!
1. Lucy Dacus - Historian

I'm glad to see Pusha on a second wind but Daytona is not v inspired imo

milquetoast indie: a compendium

Glad to see the love for Richard Swift. Hop Along too low, obviously. Some nice choices on the list until it takes a turn for the conventional in the top half

I didn’t realize anyone cared about the new decemberists album... (I also didn’t realize there was a decenberists album this year)

http://www.tedgioia.com/bestalbumsof2018.html

100 albums including Mississippi bluesman (& RL’s grandson) Cedrick Burnside, Janelle Monae, Steve Reich, Carl Stone, Wayne Shorter, Sons of Kemet , Tirzah, and many more

Just finished puking from all these lists. I don't think I'm going to be able to eat until 2019, it's all so sickening.

oh, good to see ted gioia's list is up, i picked up a great bagpipe record from his list last year. he listens to a lot of stuff other people don't.

like, an archival bruce haack record came out this year? who knew?

xp yeah just picked out the Sarah Davachi album from that list and it's great: organ drone that reminds me of Basinski at times. Cool.

like, an archival bruce haack record came out this year? who knew?

I love the Bleep list, Tirzah es mi numero uno.

I did! And it's rather fantastic!
― willem

it is! there's gotta be some kind of story about that one... the guy who did "the electric lucifer" recording for a christian record label, around the same time he was recording the much, much darker "haackula"? i get the general impression there are lots of stories about haack that people don't really want to talk about, though...

The story's in the booklet, part of which is reproduced/available as an introduction on the label's website:
https://www.telephoneexplosion.com/products/bruce-haack-preservation-tapes-lp-pre-order

re the bleep list, I guess here's where I say that I think the skee mask album is super uninspired. warmed over 'idm'-is-a-cool-flavor-now super griddy ugly sounding and boring. so many better techno

i love it

Good to see the Chris Carter album in a list. Old Master Doing What Old Master Does Best in a convincing manner.

I think that skee mask album is great! it's definitely one of my favorites of the year

the radiophonic workshop chris carter remix is good too

I guess the Objekt - Cocoon Crush album was released too late to show up on any of these lists, but it is so great

https://twitter.com/i/events/1068961391954935809

gross

what it's just gary

I get the assessment that the Skee Mask album is basic, but still it didn't stop me from thoroughly enjoying it.

whatever. everyone should listen to the shed album from last year instead.

actually the lauer album, released at the end of november, is arguably even more basic but way the fuck more fun. it's got a direct new order bite with peter hook bass and everything. it's a fucking blast.

feel like i can think of a few other techno albums from this year that are better than compro. it's blander than pampa people.

if 2018 is the year you want to get into drum n bass you can do a lot better

i'd be overjoyed if every compro mention were replaced with cerebral hemispheres by mr. fingers, which is just a b+ (it's overstuffed) but certainly better than compro.

I like Compro but yeah, the Mr. Fingers album deserves better. Its inconsistency is kind of charming.

word

Mr Fingers record is definitely on my list of faves this year, and yeah, definitely higher than Skee Mask.

Will DiMaggio's At Ease was also pretty good, I wonder if it will show up on some lists?

Bjorn Torske's Byen on the space-disco tip and the Don't Mess With Cupid, 'Cause Cupid Ain't Stupid trip retro-hardcore comp were also things I enjoyed... I imagine the latter might make it onto the RA list.

xp "crying over you" is better than anything skee mask has ever done, even when he was like 18 or w/e with Ilian Tape

i have not heard those, space-disco has me intrigued atm. will check out.