The 2018 end of the year music lists thread

The only big mainstream album I've heard all year was the Janelle Monáe, and I thought it was...a couple of good singles (and one really bad single) and a bunch of stuff I've already forgotten.

From the Decibel list, I've heard Hate Eternal (very good), Monster Magnet (OK), Horrendous (not for me), Visigoth (great), Sleep (yawn), Funeral Mist (amazing), Haunt (OK), Pig Destroyer (yawn), Judas Priest (better than I expected), and Tribulation (good).

Time list is mega corny but ofc ilx likes it 🙄

Time list is mega corny but ofc ilx likes it

It ticks all the 2018 boxes:

- more women than men
- token country album
- Robyn (an artist whose entire audience consists of music critics)
- two Latin artists
- two "rock" albums (but no actual rock)

I'm waiting for the Let's Eat Grandma album to show up on one of these...

Robyn (an artist whose entire audience consists of music critics)

rmde go to a gay club some time

^^^

xp
LEG was on the first list posted itt at #11

Of course we can't have more women than men, or any latin music, it's pc gone mad, the natural order is for real proper whiny white indie dude rock to dominate and anyone disagreeing must be just pretending to like other things to tick identity politics boxes, amirite fellas?

unperson isn't particularly interested in the dull flowers of indie rock iirc

the time list isn't corny bc it fills some imaginary quota

personally i don't think the troye or camila records can hang in a top ten. and the songs list is... not good

who even is J Balvin and what are the odds all their shit sounds like Despacito reheats

xxp yeah thought he probably didn't (seems unlikely on here anyway) but accusing people of tokenism simply for including more women than men puts him in the club with those dudes anyway

well yeah

who even is J Balvin and what are the odds all their shit sounds like Despacito reheats

― imago, Friday, November 16, 2018 2:41 PM (two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

One of the most popular artists in the world, and odds are small. It does, however, sound very derivative of the rap music that is notably missing in most part from either list

and the songs list is... not good

Anybody's tracks list that doesn't have Boo'd Up some place in the top 4 is a bad list and should be ignored on principle.

I like Boo'd Up just fine but it won't even make my Top 50 tbh

If you want to get around feeling obligated to include it, it’s worth mentioning it came out last year ... like early last year

pvmic

One of the most popular artists in the world, and odds are small. It does, however, sound very derivative of the rap music that is notably missing in most part from either list

screaming at Rufus Du Soul (an Australian band that's basically like Jon Hopkins x Coldplay) somehow making into that TIME song list

You started out well, but then mischaracterized Balvin’s music just to make a point about the rap music that is notably present in the upper echelons of both lists

― breastcrawl, Friday, November 16, 2018 4:29 PM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ur right about jbalvin, thats my bad, i was thinking of difft artists

i don't think cardi & childish gambino are very representative of the rap im talking about though -- travis/gunna/lil baby type music is not at all represented

which is where a lot of the latin trap stuff is coming from ...

I guess now that we're almost into the final lap of the decade that - while I can still easily put together a list of 100 albums released over the course of the decade that I love - this is/has been possibly my least favourite decade for music ever.

Makaya McCraven, too. (Full disclosure, I'm doing a jazz list for Stereogum and all 3 will be on it.)

― grawlix (unperson)

Lookin forward to it. Maisha too? I forgot to mention that, Maisha's There Is A Place is pretty great too.

That Maisha album is really great, but I didn't have room for it. My runners-up and picks for reissues/archival releases of the year will all be in my December column.

I really like the Tony Allen & Jeff Mills collab, hope that gets some attention. Afrobeat Kosmische Jazz Electro Fusion has been my background music - rhythm, repetition, texture, and a touch of space madness.

Oh shit, how did I not know about this?

I bought tickets to see them both in London next year but the album disappointed me a bit, it felt like Mills was being a little too deferential to Allen. Enjoyable enough though.

J Balvin is probably the best reggaeton artist in the mainstream nowadays. Energia is a better album than Vibras imho but he’s been pretty consistent in his material and collaborations. I am actually glad to see it represented in there.

But yeah it doesn’t sound like Despacito.

My data-generated ranking of new albums by Spotify listener dedication is here: http://everynoise.com/tview.cgi?source=album_populism_2018 (recalculated daily until the end of the year...)

Arctic Monkeys and Panic! At the Disco have been close to tied at the top for a while now...

Surprised anyone listened to Kamikaze more than once.

I did, but it's far from being one of my favourite albums released this year.

who even is J Balvin and what are the odds all their shit sounds like Despacito reheats

Is this the level of informed and trenchant critique we can look forward to all month then?

oh i can do much worse and you know it

Glen I'm really interested in your list but I'm not quite following the ranking methodology there? XXX and Post Malone seem really low but I guess they've got a very large number of people listening more infrequently?

Legit amazed that the Arctic Monkeys album is that popular though.

incredible album tbf

Yeah, the Arctic Monkeys album is quite comfortably one of the best of the year, IMO.

Arctic Monkeys seem exactly the sort of act to be near the top of a chart like that - mainstream rock band with large-but-still-sort-of-cult fanbase

xxp Yes, Glenn — how do “points” work in your rankings?

The point-scoring formula is a closely guarded secret, meaning I don't remember the exact math without looking it up, but it's just a fancily-combined weighting of total listeners and "adjusted" listeners, where adjusted listeners prorates listenership by how much of the album people tend to play. So Post Malone has a ton of listeners, but most of them are only playing one or two songs

For an album with no discernable singles compared to their past ones, I’m surprised at Arctic Monkeys at number one in there. None of the top 10 songs in spotify are from this album, I’ve listened to it twice and couldn’t remember any song afterwards. For me it was a bit of a chore tbh.

Top 10 arctic monkeys songs I mean, and afaik they are not actually positioned by total number of listens but monthly ones I think?

happily imago's grousing prompted me to listen to the J Balvin album and it is of course excellent.

Yes, it is. Totally deserves its place in that list. It will be in my EOY’s as well.

I was thinking of bad bunny

I wasn’t sure of paying for the last two J Balvin’s albums
on vinyl and imago’s seal of dissaproval has prompted
to do so.

Mojo albums list. "Something for everyone here," etc.

https://www.mojo4music.com/articles/kate-bush-heads-up-mojos-best-of-2018-issue-1
https://www.albumoftheyear.org/list/1022-mojos-best-albums-of-2018/2

20. Let's Eat Grandma - I'm All Ears
19. Low - Double Negative
18. Young Fathers - Cocoa Sugar
17. Gaz Coombes - World’s Strongest Man
16. Cypress Hill - Elephants on Acid
15. Tracey Thorn - Record
14. Paul Weller - True Meanings
13. Kurt Vile - Bottle It In
12. Pusha-T - Daytona
11. Fatoumata Diawara - Fenfo (Something To Say)
10. The Breeders - All Nerve
9. Spiritualized - And Nothing Hurt
8. Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel
7. Ryley Walker - Deafman Glance
6. Idles - Joy as an Act of Resistance
5. Christine and the Queens - Chris
4. Janelle Monáe - Dirty Computer
3. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Hope Downs
2. Arctic Monkeys - Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
1. Kamasi Washington - Heaven and Earth

Gaz!!!!

great tunes there

Not sure where to plonk this, so here will do as I seem to have also started the thread.

https://centuriesofsound.files.wordpress.com/2020/01/2018-icon.jpg

Centuries of Sound - 2018

This is the tracklisting with just the 112 music tracks - there are also 98 clips of speech in-between which are listed behind the link. It's free to stream or download, and it's a bit long, sorry.

0:00:20 Geoff Barrow & Ben Salisbury – Excerpt from “Annihilation” OST
0:00:51 Mount Eerie – Distortion
0:01:07 MGMT – When You Die
0:02:02 Ravyn Lenae – Sticky
0:03:58 Grace Vonderkuhn – Worry
0:05:54 Anna von Hausswolff – The Truth, the Glow, the Fall
0:07:27 Tune-Yards – Colonizer
0:09:07 Spice – Tik Tak
0:10:41 Hoodboi – Glide feat. Tkay Maidza
0:13:13 Nilufer Yanya – Thanks 4 Nothing
0:15:29 Leif – Number 13
0:17:14 JPEGMAFIA – 1539 N. Calvert
0:18:47 Kero Kero Bonito – Only Acting
0:22:50 E Ruscha V – Who Are You
0:24:03 ionnalee – Blazing
0:24:52 Simmy ft. Sun-EL Musician – Ubala
0:26:51 Peach – Silky
0:29:40 700 Bliss – Cosmic Slop
0:31:05 Stormzy – Brit Awards Performance
0:31:34 Loski – Cool Kid
0:33:41 Andrew W.K. – Music Is Worth Living For
0:36:20 Jon Hopkins – Emerald Rush
0:40:05 Natalie Prass – Short Court Style
0:42:16 Doja Cat – Go To Town
0:44:46 Novelist – Stop Killing the Mandem
0:45:50 Peggy Gou – It Makes You Forget (Itgehane)
0:47:21 Bicep – Opal (Four Tet Remix)
0:49:31 Grouper – Parking Lot
0:52:00 Sarah Davachi – Hours in the Evening
0:53:08 Hammock – Build a Castle (Reinterpretation)
0:55:32 Cavern Of Anti-Matter – Solarised Sound
0:58:01 Tyler, The Creator – OKRA
0:59:42 Jimothy Lacoste – Subway System
1:02:08 Gila – 106 Slipper
1:03:09 Jean Grae & Quelle Chris – Peacock
1:04:33 Henry Kaiser – Spoonful
1:04:50 Sons of Kemet – My Queen Is Ada Eastman
1:08:23 Cazzu – Chapiadora
1:10:31 Kali Uchis – In My Dreams
1:12:00 Autechre – All End
1:14:40 KAREN MEAT – Overdwelled
1:17:13 Donato Dozzy – Cleo
1:19:16 Róisín Murphy – All My Dreams
1:21:17 DJ Koze – Pick Up
1:22:45 Valee – Womp Womp (feat. Jeremih)
1:24:16 Childish Gambino – This Is America (Video Version)
1:26:35 Joy O, Ben Vince – Transition 2
1:28:04 Simian Mobile Disco – Defender (feat. The Deep Throat Choir)
1:29:33 Laura Jean – Girls On The TV
1:33:56 MEUTE – You & Me (Flume Remix)
1:37:33 Pusha T – If You Know You Know
1:39:22 Daphne & Celeste – BB
1:43:14 Melody’s Echo Chamber – Quand Les Larmes D’un Ange Font Danser La Neige
1:46:30 Lizzo – Boys
1:48:31 YOTA ft. MF DOOM – Drop the Bomb
1:50:05 Colin Stetson – Steve
1:51:34 Low – Fly
1:55:54 Hilary Woods – Sever
1:57:42 BLACKPINK – DDU-DU DDU-DU
1:59:30 DeJ Loaf feat. Leon Bridges – Liberated
2:01:56 Sophie – Immaterial
2:03:31 Koelsch & Tiga – HAL
2:06:19 Ella Mai – Boo’d Up
2:08:43 Emily Harrison – I’d like to thank the Academy (Tips on getting Prozac from your GP)
2:09:12 Mr Twin Sister – Jaipur
2:12:13 Denzel Curry – Black Balloons
2:14:31 Charli XCX – Focus
2:17:00 Mitski – Nobody
2:19:23 Moses Sumney – Rank & File
2:20:55 Yves Tumor – Noid
2:23:00 Daniel Avery – Quick Eternity (Four Tet Remix)
2:24:11 Daveed Diggs – Blindspotting – End Rap Scene
2:26:11 CHVRCHES – Out of My Head (feat. Wednesday Campanella)
2:28:55 Christine and the Queens – 5 Dollars
2:30:47 Kink – Perth (Dusky Remix)
2:31:35 Mac Miller – What’s the Use (feat. Thundercat)
2:35:00 Diana Gordon – Wolverine
2:36:16 Oh Sees – Sentient Oona
2:40:25 mewithoutYou – Julia (or, ‘Holy to the LORD’ on the Bells of Horses)
2:42:29 Louis Cole – When You’re Ugly
2:44:21 Paul Woolford feat. Kim English – Hang Up Your Hang Ups (The Only One) (CamelPhat Remix)
2:45:35 Szun Waves – Temple
2:47:30 Thom Yorke – Unmade
2:50:00 Tim Hecker – This Life
2:50:59 Suede – Roadkill
2:52:45 Illingsworth – Greens
2:53:50 Miljon – What Does It Take
2:55:50 Julia Holter – I Shall Love 2
3:00:02 Shackleton – Wakefulness & Obsession
3:02:01 Bruce – What
3:03:35 Low – Tempest
3:05:46 AdriAnne Lenker – Symbol
3:07:54 Sigrid – Sucker Punch
3:10:23 Lafawndah – Joseph
3:11:22 Marie Davidson – Work It
3:13:52 Lando Chill – Peso (feat. Quelle Chris & REY)
3:15:26 Toro y Moi – Freelance
3:17:16 Sam Wilkes – Tonight feat. Sam Gendel, Louis Cole & Brian Green
3:20:47 Daughters – Long Road No Turns
3:23:31 Neneh Cherry – Natural Skin Deep
3:25:07 Lone – Pulsar
3:26:20 Makaya McCraven – Mantra
3:27:47 Kelly Moran – Radian
3:29:07 Octo Octa – Beam Me Up (To The Goddess Mix)
3:30:57 The Good, The Bad & The Queen – Merrie Land
3:34:08 Zuli – Nari (feat. Abyusif, Mado $am, Abanob, R-Rhyme)
3:35:20 Earl Sweatshirt – Nowhere2go
3:36:37 Jonathan Personne – Comme Personne
3:38:18 The 1975 – Love It If We Made It
3:41:53 Holly Herndon & Jlin (feat. Spawn) – Godmother
3:43:10 Beta Librae – Problem Solving Program
3:45:10 Lubomyr Melnyk – Barcarolle
3:47:50 Andrew Bird – Bloodless