The 2018 end of the year music lists thread

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!!!!

That Cypress Hill album was shockingly good.

My seal of disapproval was more a seal of lazy anticipation. I've never knowingly heard a note of J Balvin - this will presumably change come polling season.

Liking these J Balvin singles. So the 'J' is, in fact, pronounced English-style?

Cool to see the Rolling Blackouts record get a few mentions already. Definitely my favourite rock record of the year.

very happy to see Low's ubiquity on these lists, the rare "late" career record where the critical resurgence is completely justified

I tried to listen to that Rolling Blackouts record and it just sounded like The War On Drugs without any of the droney stuff that helped make them enjoyable once.

I hate to be that guy but the first 2 EPs by RBCF are better than Hope Downs. They are world class at that fast propulsive sound. They don't do it much on Hope Downs.

My non-old brother dragged my old ass out to see Ty Seagall and Thee Oh Sees this year, glad to see them both popping up on year-end lists because they're fantastic.

bump

Musicophilia's Top 50 Albums/EPs

50 Thom Yorke - Suspiria
49 Calvin Valentine - Keep Summer Safe
48 Peaking Lights - Sea of Sand
47 Knife Knights - 1 Time Mirage
46 Jean Grae & Quelle Chris - Everything’s Fine
45 MorMor - Heaven’s Only Wishful EP
44 Mourning (A) BLKstar - The Garner Poems
43 Sons of Kemet - Your Queen is a Reptile
42 Laurie Anderson & Kronos Quartet - Landfall
41 Virginia Wing - Ecstatic Arrow

40 Small Professor - Church Jawns EP
39 Marlowe - Marlowe
38 Lithics - Mating Surfaces
37 Anderson Paak - Oxnard
36 Open Mike Eagle - What Happens When I Try to Relax EP
35 Illingsworth - You’re No Fun
34 Hilary Woods - Colt
33 Cavern of Anti-Matter - Hormone Lemonade
32 Yves Tumor - Safe In the Hands of Love
31 Witch Prophet - The Golden Octave

30 Apollo Brown & Locksmith - No Question EP
29 Kiefer - Happysad
28 Joy Postell - Diaspora EP
27 Tim Hecker - Konoyo
26 Chancha Via Circuito - Bienaventuranza
25 Moses Sumney - Black In Deep Red, 2014 EP
24 Mick Jenkins - Pieces of a Man
23 Kamaal Williams - The Return
22 Kali Uchis - Isolation
21 Georgia Anne Muldrow - Overload

20 Szun Waves - New Hymn to Freedom
19 Sam Phillips - World on Sticks
18 Makaya McCraven - Universal Beings
17 The Midnight Hour - The Midnight Hour
16 Brandon Coleman - Resistance
15 Lando Chill - Maya Maia Mayu EP
14 Kadhja Bonet - Childqueen
13 Jlin - Autobiography
12 The Internet - Hive Mind
11 Melo-Zed - Elven

10 Blood Orange - Negro Swan
09 Noname - Room 25
08 Lando Chill - Landolasso EP
07 Lotic - Power
06 Lando Chill - Black Ego
05 Neneh Cherry - Broken Politics
04 Roy Kinsey - Blackie: A Story by Roy Kinsey
03 Serpentwithfeet - Soil
02 Low - Double Negative
01 Saba - Care For Me

(Caveat that Solange's 2018 album isn't out yet)

that Knife Knights record is good, just heard it yesterday

I need to revisit Serpentwithfeet. I was impressed when it came out, but haven't listened to it since.

I'm currently running down rabbit holes, lists are leading to more obscure recommendations ending up in dark alleys, often enticing singles and EPs that leave you wanting more. For example, C.C.T.V., a northern Indiana art punk/post-punk band allegedly released their third EP, Season Finale. I say allegedly because the only place I can find it so far is a single track on YouTube with funny Jerky Boys style radio bits. There's some intrigue here, with the original posting saying, "rick, if you're reading this please know, you're the devil" and the song titles. Rick is the DJ. I recommend listening to the whole thing, but it ties together at the end. I'm tempted to drive to Hammond for a rare gig on Dec 1. Also:

Body Type - Body Type EP (Melbourne jangly garage pop/punk)
Neurotic Fiction - Pulp Music (UK jangly pop/punk)
Spiritual Cramp - Television (San Francisco chaotic post-hardcore art rock, Deranged compiled their EPs and recent single. I saw them earlier this year, amazing. Admire the tambourine player's total commitment)
ILL - We Are ILL (whacky Manchester psychedelic post-punk)
L.A. Witch - Octubre EP (garage punk noir)
Public Practice - Distance Is A Mirror EP (NY, members of WALL)
LIINES - Stop-Start (UK post-punk)
Ganser - Odd Talk (Chicago energetic post-punk)
180dB - "Road Trip" single (Savages' Ayşe Hassan & Fay Milton with guests Meredith Graves of Perfect Pussy and Nick Zinner. WANT MORE)
Flat Worms - "The Apparition/Melt The Arms"
Goat - "Let It Burn"

Also, after being disappointed by last year's Bulls And Roosters, I've been pleasantly surprised by Together PANGEA's Non Stop Paranoia EP, with a great cover of Devo's "Gates Of Steel"! Interested to see if it shows up on a best EP list somewhere other than mine. Here's a Spotify playlist of certain tracks to explore in the pre-T-Giving lull.