Underrated records 2018

What do you think?

I thought the indie crowd would be down with Amen Dunes but almost none of the big blogs and zines included it in their mid-year best of lists. Most underrated record of 2018 for me so far.

Others which are great and deserve more attention:

Hana Vu - how many times have you driven by
Hookworms - Microshift
Tove Styrke - Sway
Daphne and Celeste

Sway is so good

Starting to feel like I say this every time they release a new record, but the La Luz album, Floating Features, from earlier this year is great and has gotten next to no attention. Weirdo Shrine was a hard album to follow up, but Floating Features, while maybe not quite as good, certainly rises to that challenge. They're such a great band. I know they do well touring, but it would be great to see them really grab a spotlight for at least a few minutes.

Hovvdy

https://konvojrecords.bandcamp.com/album/seagull-sonatas

Seagull Sonatas
by Ola Paulson & John Tilbury

Soccer mommy - Clean
ionnalee - everyone afraid to be forgotten
snail mail - lush (here, not critically)
peach kelli pop

These will probably land in my eoy top 20 list:

Now, Now - Saved
Suuns - Felt
The Liminanas - Shadow People
Kraus - Path

Cornelia Murr - Lake Tear of the Clouds

fob mania

Cucina Povera - Hilja

Onuka - Mozaika
Wednesday Campanella - Galapagos
Trust Fund - Bringing the Backline

jim o'rourke - sleep like it's winter
hong chulki/will guthrie - mosquitoes and crabs
Bruno Duplant - Chamber and Field Works 2015 - 2017

The new Taken By Trees album is great.

Cornelia Murr - Lake Tear of the Clouds

so much this

a new Linda Catlin Smith album on Another Timbre, called 'Wanderer'. it has a more direct (recorded) / studio version of this track on it: https://soundcloud.com/lcsmith-2/velvet ...two pianos--it's lovely

Ralph White (former Bad Livers) and Steve Marsh (I dunno) put out a great collaborative album this year, fully zoned & idiosyncratic American roots oldtime music, reminds me of a spacier jammier Michael Hurley, highly recommended:

https://open.spotify.com/album/0V1MPVtS6pnnqLgDvv5vuJ?si=T9eIDniLRUub9be0wRwNQA

I've mentioned it on some other threads, but Lake Ruth - Birds of America is a fantastic album, top grade psyche pop, very worth a listen.

underrated 2018 records I am loving:

The Ex - 27 Passports (a masterpiece)
Legendary Pink Dots - The Tunnel EP (their best in years IMO)
Daniel Bachman - The Morning Star (a major statement)
Brian Eno/Kevin Shields 12" (love the heavy sound on this)

2018 archival releases I am loving:

Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar - the 2 releases on Ideologic Organ (recorded in the mid-80s)
Various - Switched-On Eugene (hometown pride, also great)
Michael Hurley - Living Ljubljana LP (very nice 2002 live show)
No Trend - You Deserve Your Life (savage sludge-punk demos, most hateful band ever in the best possible way)
Tall Dwarfs - Bovril (odds & ends archival comp, available on Bandcamp)

FACS - Negative Houses is super good

xp I haven't checked in on Bachman in a long time, thanks for mentioning that.

that Mouse on Mars record seems to have gotten next to no attention whatsoever

xp if you're even a casual fan I think you'll really dig it, much more experimental and diverse than his earlier records

Hollow Hand - Star Chamber

It’s arguable that Hollow Hand’s first full release trumps the lot; an assured, inspired record that mixes English eccentricism, glorious pop, folk and psych, and which matches Ray Davies at his best. It’s that good.

https://www.thefourohfive.com/music/review/review-hollow-hand-find-a-blissful-melodic-balance-on-star-chamber-154

Sums it up well enough for me. My favorite release of the year.

Esperanza Spalding - 12 Little Spells

a day with the homies by panda bear has been buried by its own vinyl-only conceit. it's easily his best record since Person Pitch imo, and better, and hardly anyone knows about it. the new one coming out in February is not going to be as good

the amen dunes guy kinda lost me with that new one, surprised people think it's his breakthrough. still think 'love' is their best

Mark Fell - Intra
Alex Zhang Hungtai - Divine Weight
Dan Weiss - Starebaby
Dairo Miyamoto - Last Picture
Kukuruz Quartet - Julius Eastman Piano Interpretations
The End - Svårmod och Vemod Är Värdesinnen

^^

I think these are all fab + they won't be troubling any listicles, and some might say that's a good thing!

cosigning divine weight

https://seilrecords.bandcamp.com/album/last-night

Paperbark - Last Night

"The album was composed using a Buchla 200, Verbos eurorack system, cocoquantus and plumbutter. The Octatrack provided the glue." - nice and minimal / repetitive sort of ambient music

Colter Wall -- Songs of the Plains

20-something Canadian conjures the ghosts of Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and the open prairies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrIUdXrRZuY

First thing coming to mind is Kelly Moran's album Ultraviolet, which has flown mostly under the radar (despite being released on Warp, of all places).

The Yoshinori Hayashi album on "smalltown supersound is great weird leftfield anstracty

whoops

abstract-y leftfield downtempo houseish

CTM's "Red Dragon"

probably because the promo text for it is really bad

Sangam and Kid Smpl - Shadow Knight

Ups and downs on the ambient electronic sea

https://open.spotify.com/album/7hx0l8LXVfOR9bk0Si11ko

don toliver released one of my favorite albums of 2018 that i barely see anyone talk about

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-jPkNA78Kk

this is really good

Cornelia Murr - Lake Tear of the Clouds

― J. Sam,

Just heard this a few weeks ago, lovely record.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUxEA_9CmIk

Free Love - Luxury Hits. Electro pop from the band formerly known as Happy Meals

don toliver 👌🏽

^

totally love the opening stretch & "amg"/"run up"

Haven't seen Natalie Prass on a single list yet, so, that.

Bon Voyage Organisation's 'Jungle? Quelle Jungle?' doesn't get enough love imo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iL4Y5KFM0o

Two I haven't seen on a list yet: Burna Boy's Outside and Estelle's Lovers Rock

Haven't seen Natalie Prass on a single list yet, so, that.

― resident hack (Simon H.), Saturday, December 8, 2018 11:06 AM (twenty-one minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oh yeah wtf

NPR has "Short Court Style" in their top 100.

prob the likeliest opportunity for her to appear anywhere tho given they premiered the album

@ paolo

this is also really good. & not v _glasgow_

It's kind of driving me nuts that nobody is hearing Roy Kinsey's 'Blackie,' which is just unbelievably great. One of the best lyricists, best flow, greatest emotional impact, some of the best timeless production I've heard.

http://www.roykinsey.com/new-album/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOg7b8zdpJ8&list=OLAK5uy_kzsUCJP-67h04-hP6RtgGuv3HXS0xqDhw

Especially don't miss "Mississippi Mud," "Jungle Book," "Great Aggin" (with Pete Sayke & Stik Figa who are also great), "For Colored Boys (Meditation)," "Ring Ring," "Mrmr"

The Kelly Moran record is fantastic

I've only seen the ERR record covered on metal sites, weirdly enough

Jeff Carey's Zero Player Game is a gem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cy5fbfGPNA

^ agreed

Dur Dur Band - Volumes 3&4

The Kelly Moran record is fantastic

This!

some more that I forgot in my initial revive:

Ralph White & Steve Marsh - Two Distinguished Gentleman (acid-fried loner folk styles, very very cool, from ex-Bad Livers guy)
Knife Knights - 1 Time Mirage - came out too late to have much impact? Shabazz Palaces related.
Bombino - Deran - solid desert blues album
Yamantaka/Sonic Titan - Dirt (OK I guess some of us are talking abt this?)
Black Moth Super Rainbow - Panic Blooms (not as good as Cobra Juicy but what is?)
Body/Head - The Switch (super dark and moody, great noise textures, my favorite release of theirs so far)

The Body/Head album is very good!

agree on the new the ex album, i kind of forgot about it but it rules

stuff i like that i'm not seeing much chatter about:
lonnie holley - MITH - ecstatic soul-jazz workouts
exploded view - obey - kraut-synth, like stereolab's evil twin
ovlov - TRU - pure dopamine rush indie-fuzz rock
warm bodies - s/t - spazz-out punk freaks
jerry quickley - (american) fool - somewhere in between hip-hop and spoken word
EXEK - ahead of two thoughts - PIL-like dub-post-punk
axis:sova - shampoo you - drum machine rockers with hooks

i don't love the whole "we're not talking" album by the goon sax but it has maybe 3-4 of my favorite indie pop songs of the year on it - "love lost" in particular is a great song

cool list, thanks

I just got that Lonnie Holley yesterday, have not even opened it yet but I'm excited

Black Moth Super Rainbow - Panic Blooms (not as good as Cobra Juicy but what is?)

Dandelion Gum

My two favorites of the year:

Rose Mercie: https://sdzrecords.bandcamp.com/album/rose-mercie

De Leon: https://manarecs.bandcamp.com/album/de-leon

new to me, and possible AotY. incredibly infectious.
https://badmoves.bandcamp.com/album/tell-no-one

^^good listen for anyone who thought the Beths record was too slick/polished (I am not one of those people but I do like this a lot)

Amerie's double EP -- Mulholland 4AM/After 4AM -- is one of my favorite releases this year, and it seems to be getting very little attention (I haven't seen it on any lists).

don't think the weird format did it any favours tbh

definitely not

Mih-Ty!!

Maybe new objekt ...

as per usual, most of the albums I have enjoyed this year are unloved.

the black dog - post truth/black daisy wheel
kenneth james gibson - fields of nothing
blood wine and honey - fear & celebration
oddzoo - future flesh
microfilm - cherry amore
fahrland - mixtape volume #1
thomas fehland - lagos
gui boratto - pentagram
gost - possessor
john tejada - dead start program
master boot record - direct memory access
hollywood burns - invaders
chrome sparks - s/t
jacco gardner - somnium
l'enfant de la foret - strangled

also the soho rezanejad LP is so amazing

Roy Montgomery's Suffuse is new to me and quite beautiful. He's got different vocalists on each track (including Circuit des Yeux, Grouper, Purple Pilgrims, Julianna Barwick) singing over some multi-tracked ambient guitar soundscapes. Perfect Northern Hemisphere December listening.

I'll second NA's above endorsement of the EXEK and Exploded View records.

Haven't seen much EOY hype on the following:
State Champion - Send Flowers (calling all Silver Jews fans)
Thee Open Sex - White Horses (single-minded Krauty psych done right)
Primo! - Amici (charming ramshackle indie-pop from Australia)
Constant Mongrel - Living in Excellence (more Aussies, fans of the punkier side of
Total Control would dig)

I was gonna mention Constant Mongrel

some other stuff I've liked from this year that I haven't seen mentioned:

Beta Blockers - Stiff Prescription
Candy - Good To Feel
Life Fucker - Z
Permission - Drawing Breath Through A Hole In The Ground
Shopping - The Official Body
Snob - Snob

and Bib - A Band In Hardcore which is a comp of singles etc from before 2018 but is excellent snotty hc punk

I really dug the Lonnie Holley record on my first listen, cool stuff, reminds me of Van Morrison's more amorphous side with a healthy dose of Lonnie Liston Smith vocal styles

plus "I Woke Up In A Fucked Up America" is one of the year's best song titles

may be that it's just a more digestible amount but the new E-40, gift of the gab, has become my favourite of his in a minute

The Rezzett LP is not on very many lists so I guess it's underrated. Really thought it'd be on the FACT list.

Hollow Hand - Star Chamber

It’s arguable that Hollow Hand’s first full release trumps the lot; an assured, inspired record that mixes English eccentricism, glorious pop, folk and psych, and which matches Ray Davies at his best. It’s that good.
https://www.thefourohfive.com/music/review/review-hollow-hand-find-a-blissful-melodic-balance-on-star-chamber-154

Sums it up well enough for me. My favorite release of the year.

― afriendlypioneer, Friday, December 7, 2018 2:35 PM (one week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I like this one. Thanks for the tip

Die Nerven - Fake
German tuneful punk from Stuttgart. The loudest concert I have ever been to. Ferocious hypnotic stuff.

keysha’s “stop it”

diana gordon’s “wolverine”

Amanda Shires - To The Sunset

keysha’s “stop it”

100% otm

agreed, but isn't it from like ~1990 or something?

one of my favourites is this cheeky bassline banger from sharda

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqC1RtSIdRI

also this song is incredible imo but no-one is talking about it or the album it came from...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRbR7qKcZrM

Fatima - Westside

Gouge Away- Burnt Sugar
https://gougeawayfl.bandcamp.com/

Self Defense Family - Have You Considered Punk Music
https://selfdefensefamily.bandcamp.com/album/have-you-considered-punk-music

Closer - All This Will Be
https://closernyc.bandcamp.com/

agreed, but isn't it from like ~1990 or something?

Plus not sure it's really underrated as it's got lots of love from the Balearic (and connected) communities

$320 for an original copy on discogs ugh

Hilary Woods - Colt

Jack Drag - 2018

the amen dunes guy kinda lost me with that new one, surprised people think it's his breakthrough. still think 'love' is their best

― global tetrahedron, Friday, December 7, 2018 1:55 PM (two weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm, i also think he's pushing the goat warble vocals to the breaking point and like i just can't vibe with it

not all the way through the record yet, but the debut full-length by the babe rainbow ("double rainbow") out of AUS is sounding very good to my ears! subdued, good hooks, mellow mood, interesting textures, less '60s worship-y than they get credit for, just very enjoyable, pleasant, MOR indie rock. which isn't a diss at all.

recommended if you are flappy bird

:)

https://thebaberainbow.bandcamp.com/

And on a totally different tip the Catherine christer hennix is a nice spooky slice of fucked up just intonation noodling

R.Seiliog - Megadoze is nice if you need a 'doze' of some ambient, minimal techno. I've been aware of hm for a couple years, but wasn't aware he had a new release in 2018--November 2018. Looks like it even got reviewed by a couple outlets. I think it's a pretty good record that could've hit a wider audience, but that name! I get some early MOM vibes from this, too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4VnSt1BVVU

The Roves LP is flying way under the radar, but it's the best jangle-rock album I've heard in a long while:

https://theroves.bandcamp.com/album/the-roves-lp

And on a totally different tip the Catherine christer hennix is a nice spooky slice of fucked up just intonation noodling

― Vapor waif (uptown churl), Thursday, December 27, 2018 7:07 AM (four weeks ago)

Catherine Christer Hennix yes yes

the No Age record

Miss Red - K.O.

which I only found a couple of days ago. This album is amazing, surprised that there is almost no mention of it anywhere on ilx. I guess this is something like techno industrial dancehall, I don't know I've never been very good at adequately describing music.

I haven't heard that album yet, but I know one of her earlier mixtapes and that sounds about right. There should probably be a dedicated thread for mutant dancehall / descendants of The Bug; Gaika seems well liked out in the non-ilm world too

Big Kitty: "...A Legend in the Field of Entertainment" - https://letspretendrecords1.bandcamp.com/album/big-kitty-a-legend-in-the-field-of-entertainment-tape
La Mecanica Popular: "Roza Cruz" - https://nyctrust.bandcamp.com/album/roza-cruz
Koenjihyakkei: "Dhorimviskha" - https://koenjihyakkei.bandcamp.com/album/dhorimviskha
Jon Hassell: "Listening to Pictures" - https://jonhassell.bandcamp.com/album/listening-to-pictures-pentimento-volume-one
Hailu Mergia: "Lala Belu" - https://hailumergia.bandcamp.com/album/lala-belu

oooh, that mecanica popular record is indeed good!