The 2018 end of the year music lists thread

always one of the best lists:

http://www.ravensingstheblues.com/rstb-best-of-2018/

Interesting list.

https://www.billboard.com/photos/8489227/best-albums-2018-staff-picks

yesss

hehe that nytimes kacey video was funny, well done too

stables is a total bop
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3Ej0aTITk4

Nice to see Vital Idles finally getting a mention (on the Bandcamp list).

The Anne Garner album from Textura list is sounding like the best album of the year for me right now too.

Hammock sounds interesting too. I had never even heard of them before but their songs on spotify all have millions of plays which is weird for ambient/post rock, they have double the listeners than say, Stars of the Lid.

I love the DJ Healer - Nothing 2 Loose that has been featured on the GvB and Noisey lists

https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-50-best-albums-of-2018

p4k albums list is fine but nothing interesting about it at all

That seems like an overstatement .. id say cupcakke placing over cardi is surprising ... mitski over kacey disappointing

It seems weird that a record that came out 10 days ago could place 7th.

If I pretend Pitchfork’s 11-25 are actually the top 5, I like their list way better.

No. 5: Noname - Room 25
No. 4: Amen Dunes - Freedom
No. 3: Tirzah - Devotion
No. 2: Cupcakke - Ephorize
No. 1: Ariana Grande - Sweetener

Pitchfork’s album and song list for this year were very uninspiring imho, always looked forward to their eoy lists and this time it feels like I’ve seen that list already a dozen times.

i actually thought the lists were more interesting than usual this year ... not afraid to take a stand anyway ... at least relative to other pubs, there was some volatility /unpredictability

wrong gangin

i guess biggest surprise on the p4k albums list is lack of janelle who's been a staple everywhere else - i know they didn't BNM it or anything but as usual there's plenty of other things that placed well in EOY that they didn't rate earlier on

the tracks list definitely felt like it had more character to it than the last few years but there's not much about the albums list that stands out except for a few details in the placings. really im just a little disappointed that nothing i havent heard, let alone heard of, snuck into the list really because that's the real joy of eoy lists season and usually theres 1 or 2 even in the p4k list

I actually find the pitchfork list very agreeable, and I guess that is why I don’t like it. I know it sounds unreasonable but it feels to me that besides some odd, very “pitchfork” choices - like “Snail Mail at #5 - it doesn’t feel as unique as other years.

yeah i completely understand what you mean by that - but i've also found the eoy critical consensus this year more agreeable than usual so when a list that's almost as centrist as can be wrt that it's bound to feel bland

does anyone else read these lists and feel like the generational disconnect between working critics with poptimist ideals and young people who listen to actual popular music is more pronounced than it ever has been

it's like an uncanny valley sensation except instead of creepy eyeballs it's soccer mommy and earl sweatshirt

idk i'm probably guilty of it too and not necessarily mad at the results i'm just saying

like i just typed soccer mommy into youtube and the most popular result is a ski mask the slump god deep cut titled "soccer mom"

funny most people riding 1975’s D but no lists have placed the best 1975 (not 1975) song, narcissist

creepy eyeballs lol

I have no idea what people actually listen to anymore. I had a conversation with a 25 year old today who had no idea who the 1975 was, but who was familiar with Helena Hauff

If you go clubbing enough in a big enough European city you're bound to have at least had the opportunity to have seen Helena Hauff at some point. She's definitely an artist that exists in social spaces rather than just a niche internet thing.

It's impossible to imagine any British person who doesn't attend holiday camp festivals voluntarily choosing to listen to an artist called 'Soccer Mommy' though. I mean Snail Mail was bad enough you guys.

Pitchfork list is very boringly Pitchfork and virtually indistinguishable from all the others.

I deeply felt the disconnect after 2017's EOY list season. Same as last year, I'm reading through these and I have no idea how anyone can use them for solid recommendations, which is supposed to be the whole point. Every list is just the same old boring shit.

But that's alright isn't it? I mean it's better than dutifully treating them as revision material and listening to dozens of them over December. It's better than not listening to the music you love on the way to the Christmas Party because 2018 is nearly over and you haven't heard Sheck Wes yet.

yeah i'm with deej, p4k lists feel kinda spicy this year. i'm into it (even if i disagree with a lot)

It's impossible to imagine any British person who doesn't attend holiday camp festivals voluntarily choosing to listen to an artist called 'Soccer Mommy' though. I mean Snail Mail was bad enough you guys.

― Matt DC, Tuesday, December 11, 2018 2:16 AM (forty minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

jess argued convincingly on fb 'snail mail' is actually the worse name for being chosen by someone who never actually used 'snail mail'

This album is perfect imo.

Lol wrong thread soz.

at one level all the lists are bad, but at another level they're not that bad, and pfork its less bad than others, imho. like i still get the idea that some people are interested in the music they're repping for & writing about there

This album is perfect imo.

― Tim F, Tuesday, December 11, 2018 3:00 AM (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Tim exposed as closet snail mail stan

On the topic of snail mail vs soccer mommy I think I only have room for one badly named nineties rock throwback solo female artist in 2018 and I already like Hatchie so.

I didn't know Ty Dolla Sign had an album this year so I guess I will listen to it.

i think part of the reason i like this list is for all its quaint predictability it does resist the tastefulness trend of most pubs' rap coverage (including playboi carti, sob rbe, sheck wes). At the same time it resists the migos/sremmurd/uzi/cardi b/drake years where it seemed like every pub was suddenly trying to keep up w/ every aspect of the rap zeitgeist. Instead, it's a good middle ground

likewise they're willing to take a stand about stuff thats praised elsewhere (janelle monae not making it) or ignored elsewhere, stick to their core audience (it's so Not My Thing but Mitski is undeniably on brand) while opening up to pop & non-indie (Kacey Musgraves) in high places ... idk i think its pretty good, as a list critic

What would a surprising list from a mainstream publication even look like in 2018?

I’m not saying that in the sense of “it’s impossible”, more in the sense that I’m not sure what platonic ideal people have in their heads when they measure these lists and find them wanting. I find these lists interesting and occasionally invaluable but rarely “surprising”.

surprising is usually bad tbh .. its like failing to live up to its brand is 'surprising' but even moreso its 'jarring'

1975 is a great number one single for pitchfork because it bucks both the staid indie dude status quo & the more conservative aspects of the new poptimist regime at the same time, nice Leadership! esp compared to Bodak Yellow imho

(further mitski at #1 is slightly more conservative/less poptimist than kacey which is disappointing for me personally but good for list balance ... let 1975 have the singles but the more predictable/on brand choice gets albums)

imo they should've just switched snail mail and soccer mommy, it'd have paired well with the cardi/cupcakke upset: the more formally proficient artists who play more against type in their respective genres over the zesty hyped new stars.

soccer mommy also plays more with open tunings and ambient noise in a way that fits more with the ~soundscape~ leanings that p4k feels focused on at this point, snail mail just makes pretty good-to-sometimes-very good punk-pop

"stables" is awesome

Happy to see Mitski at #1 but lol @ Sleep being the only top 50 worthy metal band according to p4k (unless you count Deafheaven…).

mitski is a great pick for #1 and only someone who'd listened with half an ear would call her a conservative choice

plodding nonsense

you mean, dazzling, intricate and emotional songwriting with beautiful production and a flair for the unexpected

no laurel halo, no deal

didn't mind the p4k albums list (though it's missing most of my personal faves) but there was nothing on it I didn't already know so was mostly interesting to see their arbitrary ranking of artists/albums which I don't care much abt

and then there's lists like the Textura one which seem to exist in a seperate universe because I don't even know any of the ~100 artists that made the best music of 2018 in their world (but I'm checking it out now and there's def good stuff there)

you mean, dazzling, intricate and emotional songwriting with beautiful production and a flair for the unexpected

― imago, Tuesday, December 11, 2018 4:31 AM (seven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

idk to me it sounded like tom tom club sorta

wat

Textura is extremely good for discoveries, and their recommendations usually make about 25% of my non-metal year lists, but they do exist in a highly idiosyncratic universe to the rest of the internet music community - that wonderful Anne Garner record that made their #1 has only four ratings on RYM (and one is mine). Chloe March (#4, another favourite of mine) has none. Maya Beiser (#1 classical) has none. Nobody seems to even listen to this stuff, it's crazy.