The 2018 end of the year music lists thread

I'm indifferent to the 1975, but lmao at "The millennial We Didn't Start the Fire" being the opening seven words of a write-up of the tenth-best song of the year.

"Love It If We Made It" >>>>>>>>>> "We Didn't Start the Fire"

https://uproxx.com/music/best-albums-of-2018-ranked/

The Independent - Albums of the Year
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/albums-of-the-year-2018-arctic-monkeys-christine-queens-the-1975-janelle-monae-a8661091.html

40. Thom Yorke - Suspiria​
39. Interpol - Marauder
38. Brent Cobb - Providence Canyon
37. Black Peaks - All That Divides
36. Miya Folick - Premonitions
35. Suede - The Blue Hour
34. Cat Power - Wanderer
33. Architects - Holy Hell
32. Robyn - Honey
31. Florence + the Machine - High as Hope
30. Teyana Taylor - Keep That Same Energy
29. The 1975 - A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships
28. Kamasi Washington - Heaven and Earth
27. Novelist - Novelist Guy
26. Nils Frahm - All Melody
25. Camila Cabello - Camila​
24. Mitski - Be The Cowboy
23. Years & Years - Palo Santo
22. Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel
21. Blood Orange - Negro Swan
20. Cardi B - Invasion of Privacy
19. Let’s Eat Grandma - I’m All Ears
18. Ghetts - Ghetto Gospel: The New Testament
17. Cypress Hill - Elephants on Acid
16. John Grant - Love is Magic
15. Pusha T - Daytona
14. Nao - Saturn
13. Travis Scott - Astroworld​
12. Troye Sivan - Bloom
11. Ben Howard - Noonday Dream
10. Shame - Songs of Praise
9. Gaika – Basic Volume
8. Tamino - Amir
7. Mac Miller - Swimming
6. Colter Wall - Song of the Plains
5. Kendrick Lamar/various artists - Black Panther: Original Motion Picture Score
4. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour
3. Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer
2. Arctic Monkeys - Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
1. Christine and the Queens - Chris

(ew)

Treblezine - 10 best electronic albums:
https://www.treblezine.com/the-10-best-electronic-albums-of-2018/

the independent music section is a scorched wasteland

that uproxx list manages to be reeeeallly bad despite having some great albums that other lists haven't mentioned (foxing, etc.)

Total Guitar - The 16 best guitar albums of 2018
https://www.musicradar.com/news/the-16-best-guitar-albums-of-2018

16. The Magpie Salute - High Water I
15. John Butler - Home
14. Thrice - Palms
13. The Marcus King Band - Caroline Confessions
12. Johnny Marr - Call The Comet
11. Paul Gilbert - Behold Electric Guitar
10. Tom Morello - The Atlas Underground
9. A Perfect Circle - Eat The Elephant
8. Alice In Chains - Rainier Fog
7. Billy F Gibbons - The Big Bad Blues
6. Architects - Holy Hell

*break for guitar solo*

5. Slash - Living The Dream
4. Clutch - Book Of Bad Decisions
3. Joe Satriani - What Happens Next?
2. Tremonti - A Dying Machine
1. Joe Bonamassa - Redemption

Lol

i like that treblezine list. i need to check out the lotic album and i'm into anyone putting meat beat manifesto and aphex twin in their top 10 in 2018.

fantasizing about an ill listening club for the total guitar list 🤣

Alice in Chains had an album?

*ilx

that uproxx list manages to be reeeeallly bad despite having some great albums that other lists haven't mentioned (foxing, etc.)

― galaxy brian (voodoo chili), Monday, December 3, 2018 9:05 AM (ten minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

congratulations to travis scott for making uproxx's no. 1 album of the year

straight up

I totally forgot A Perfect Circle and Alice In Chains put out albums this year, but I've never been a huge fan of either. That Tremonti record is surprisingly good, though.

Alice in Chains had an album?

Yep, further consummating grunge's transformation into dad-rock, as if it hadn't happened 20+ years ago already.

Pearl Jam was always dadrock tbh.

maybe musically, but lyrically they were as teenage angsty as you could get, at least for the first few albums.

I'd say Live was always dadrock mainly because my actual dad liked them right out of the gate, possibly even more than I did.

that uproxx list manages to be reeeeallly bad despite having some great albums that other lists haven't mentioned (foxing, etc.)

― galaxy brian (voodoo chili), Monday, December 3, 2018 11:05 AM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah, I personally wouldn't vote for Charlie Puth or Jon Hopkins but those were solid records that I haven't seen mentioned too often. I also feel like Beach House is getting a little overlooked, that one's definitely in my top 20, maybe even top 10.

Joe Satriani - What Happens Next?

More fucking guitar widdling, I'm sure is the answer to that question.

let's eat grandma album is one of the best of the year

― ufo, Monday, December 3, 2018 11:55 AM (six hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yup, absolutely. At this point it's probably my #1 album of 2018.

now that pazz and jop is presumably dead for good will there be anything of similar scope for tracks? i know the pseudoscientific aggregators like metacritic, albumoftheyear etc. will be doing their thing for albums but i am more interested in tracks personally. or would one have to settle for whatever the totally-unbiased acclaimedmusic forum denizens have fed into their machine? (i.e. every guitar-oriented mag under the sun + anthony fantano but also rejecting gay pop music sites as being 'too specialized'/insufficiently generalist)

I’ve only ever bought one guitar magazine and that was probably in ~1987 because I’d just bought my first guitar and i wanted to learn something, anything. it came with a joe satriani flexi disc and the tab for ‘surfing with the alien’ (?) and all I learned was i never wanted to learn any of that shit ever. I have no other context for joe satriani

the purpose of joe satriani ime is to make the most innocuous of videos completely hilarious

https://youtu.be/G7yCFJ3Xwvc

Acclaimedmusic is the weirdest. All music welcome except ambient, classical, jazz and metal.

I have to say, I always like this time of year where I suddenly feel the urgency to discover a ton of great new music.

Lol at the billiards video, that guy definitely plays the invisible whammy bar on his cue as he walks away from the table

https://consequenceofsound.net/2018/12/top-50-albums-of-2018/

Uproxx Music is such a disaster

xp While acknowledging my stannish ways, I just don't understand a list that finds room for Troye Sivan, Robyn, Janelle M., Lily Allen, etc... but not Sweetener. Wtf?

The Wire Albums of the Year

1. Sons of Kemet - Your Queen is a Reptile
2. ZULI - Terminal
3. Ben LaMar Gay - Downtown Castles Can Never Block the Sun
4. Guttersnipe - My Mother The Vent
5. JPEGMAFIA - Veteran
6. Sarah Davachi - Let Night Come On Bells End The Day
7. Senyawa - Squid
8. Autechre - NTS Sessions 1-4
9. Body/Head - The Switch
10. Low - Double Negative
11. Jerusalem In My Heart - Daqa'iq Tudaiq
12. Julia Holter - Aviary
13. Eli Keszler - Stadium
14. Proc Fiskal - Insula
15. Oneohtrix Point Never - Age Of
16. Tyshawn Sorey - Pillars
17. Lea Bertucci - Metal Aether
18. Pusha-T - Daytona
19. Eartheater - IRISIRI
20. Nordra - Pylon II
21. Tirzah - Devotion
22. Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt - Brace Up.
23. Dedekind Cut - Tahoe
24. Jean Grae & Quelle Chris - Everything's Fine
25. Hannah Silva - Talk in a Bit
26. Kate NV - для FoOR
27. Josephine Foster - Faithful Fairy Harmony
28. Agnarkea - Black Helicopters
29. Hailu Mergia - Lala Belu
30. Jim O'Rourke - Sleep Like It's Winter
31. Anne Guthrie - Brass Orchids
32. Eiko Ishibashi - The Dream My Bones Dream
33. Laurel Halo - Raw Silk Uncut Wood
34. Cucina Povera - Hilja
35. Kamaal Williams - The Return
36. Vessel - Queen of Golden Dogs
37. Embassador Dulgoon - Hydrorion Remnants
38. Noname - Room 25
39. Jlin - Autobiography
40. Grouper - Grid of Points
41. Yo La Tengo - There's a Riot Going On
42. Helena Hauff - Qualm
43. Nkisi - The Dark Orchestra
44. Gazelle Twin - Pastoral
45. Gaye Su Akyol - İstikrarlı Hayal Hakikattir
46. Jon Hassell - Listening To Pictures: Pentimento Volume I
47. Ipek Gorgun - Ecce Homo
48. Park Jiha - Communion
49. Musarc/Neil Luck - Bloody Sirens
50. Yves Tumor - Safe In The Hands Of Love

lol I knew The Wire wouldn't snub that incredible Ben LaMar Gay alb, and the mighty H Hauff representing as well.

I feel kind of weird how hard my taste in weird music and Wire's have diverged so utterly

Given how well Low is doing in these lists, and how unsurprising it would have been to show up *somewhere* on their list - I'm surprised they are missing altogether from the CoS list. Seems like a band/album that fits right into the site's wheelhouse.

Wow - I sent The Wire a top 10, and their #1 was my #1, their #7 was my #4, their #8 was my #2, and their #16 was my #8. Sadly, my #3 (Ineffable Demise's Beyond the Marrow Gates) didn't make the top 50 at all.

Ben LaMar Gay sounds intriguing.

it's a run of the mill blend of S Reich/Prince/Brazilian Music/AACM - nothing to see.

It's a compilation of tracks from 7 albums that the label is slowly releasing individually. I tried it and lasted two songs.

lol calzino

I totally don't 'get' Low, the appeal is lost on me

the Eiko Ishibashi from The Wire list is beautiful

11. KALI UCHIS – ISOLATION

[...]

Why It Rules: Every song on this album is a banger, and there are 15 songs on the record. Aptly titled, Isolation makes for one hell of a solo dance party. Uchis’ voice is gold, her attitude is fierce, her writing and perspective and lyricism are one of a kind. The artist makes use of brilliant production, savvy sampling, and a kick-ass roster of guest vocalists to lend endless textures and vibrancy to her wildly creative sound. And she maintains cohesive emotional themes about being alone (even around other people) that land with elegant authenticity. –Kayleigh Hughes

Checking out this LP, based on the above from Consequence of Sound. The blurb doesn't seem to describe the album very well... very few of these tracks are "bangers" (that's not a value judgement; these just aren't "banger"-type songs). The album is light, and pleasant enough; it has a throwback trip-hop/neo-soul vibe in some spots, and a more modern feel in others. But...

This is not good blurb writing

Why It Rules: On a personal level, Sivan is an active member of the LGBTQ+ community; he’s paid homage to queer pioneers before him, repeatedly spoken up about the importance of being true to yourself, and even stars in Boy Erased, a new film about conversion therapy. He approaches his music the same way — Sivan both understands pop’s history and context and his specific place within it.

He cites High School Musical and Grease as influences, but also engages with Carly Rae Jepsen producers and The Knife’s experimental catalog to marry old and new and bend boundaries. He sings about the timeless topics of love, sex, and relationships, but through his own lens (heck, opening track “Seventeen” is all about hooking up with older men on Grindr).

Bloom isn’t a flawless record, but it’s Sivan’s big personality personified and certainly the album to justify calling the 23-year-old artist a queer pop icon.

god forbid these lists would overhype dull or otherwise mediocre music

Like the Wire's list this year. Nice to see Senyawa''s 'Squid' record get some love on a list - that record is really dope.

it's a run of the mill blend of S Reich/Prince/Brazilian Music/AACM - nothing to see.

― calzino, Monday, December 3, 2018 3:07 PM (fifty-two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ha well done, I am extremely curious about this now

the Eiko Ishibashi from The Wire list is beautiful

Hm, yeah, this is pretty cool a few tracks in. I wonder if there's a translation of the lyrics somewhere.

soty is bitch I’m a cow

^ finally someone gets it

that year where the wire had '56 nights' and 'dirty sprite 2' is such a weird anomaly for them taste-wise, i take that maybe just as deference to noz?

feel like yves tumor dropping from top ten to number 50 is a direct result of his 'mainstreaming' via pitchfork lol