The 2018 end of the year music lists thread

Kali Malone

totally misread this btw

good to see mariah place. that record is really good

Be The Mailman

xpost, too slow

Pitchfork - Best Experimental Albums of 2018
https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-best-experimental-albums-of-2018/

It’s so funny to think that the old joke about Pitchfork was that they were hipsters and “they only cover bands you haven’t heard of” or w/e and now it’s like

"I’ve never been to an actual band concert." https://t.co/601WL9PBEg

— Pitchfork (@pitchfork) December 14, 2018

Like no beef at this piece of editorial, it’s totally fine, I just think it’s a funny trajectory from like 15 years ago

Meant to post that in the P4k thread but enjoy it here

some good things on here...

Noisey - 31 Essential Records You Might Have Missed This Year
https://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/article/kzvkaz/essential-records-you-might-have-missed-2018

enjoying that 700 bliss record

Wondering what this year's L'Rain might be - the diamond in the Pitchfork experimental list rough. First glance suggests perhaps Kelly Moran - will check out

that noisey 31 sleeper list has some real gems

xp not this year's L'Rain but the Laraaji is really nice

happy to see KKB and local heroes Respire on that Noisey list

Rolling Stone - 50 Best Songs of 2018
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/50-best-songs-of-2018-764204/

they sure like drake eh

i have to wonder how the rolling stone lists are constructed, the way they're typical enough but always have one or two mediocre works by classic rock acts fairly high is just so odd. it was more understandable a decade ago when they went all out with that, giving every new springsteen etc. album a perfect score and album of the year but now that they don't lean as strongly towards doing that it feels even weirder

nice to see some love for tove styrke though

Listening to the Frederic Hand album from the Textura list and this is definitely up my alley. I have to say, though, that I'm a little intrigued by Textura's love of Hand. They listed him in 2016 too. I never see other classical guitar albums on their EOY lists. I think e.g. John Gordon Armstrong's album from last year and Steve Cowan's from 2016 were really good and more envelope-pushing. William Beauvais had a decent album in 2016 in an accessible style not that far removed from Hand's.

Probably one for the classical thread.

Safe from some weird choices at the top I find The Rolling Stone song list way better than the Pitchfork one.

Variety lists: https://variety.com/2018/music/opinion/best-albums-2018-cardi-b-janelle-monae-1203087394/

Nice of them to put Cardi B in the URL despite only being midway down one of the four lists

Listening to Amanda Shires a few ppl have mentioned...

this is really good, good songs and definitely a more adventurous record than Kacey Musgraves

Yeah I think fans of Neko Case (for example) would dig it.

one country-leaning record that i found through the AD list that I really liked a lot on first pass was the Rosali album ‘Trouble Anyway’

some really nice guitars on there if that’s yr thing btw

concreteislands.com Albums of the Year list. I own a disturbingly large number of these.

25. Vic Mars – The Hospice (Clay Pipe Music)
24. Gwenno – Le Kov (Heavenly)
23. Penelope Trappes – Penelope Two (Houndstooth)
22. Sharron Kraus – Joy’s Reflection is Sorrow (Sunstone / Nightshade)
21. AMOR – Sinking Into a Miracle (Night School)
20. Kama Aina + Hochzeitskapelle – Wayfaring Suite (Alien Transistor / Gutfeeling)
19. Chris Carter – Archival Recordings 1973 – 1977 (from the Miscellany box set) (Mute)
18. The Heartwood Institute – Secret Rites (Polytechnic Youth)
17. Barbara Morgenstern – Unschuld und Verwüstung (Fish Prints)
16. Modern Studies – Welcome Strangers (Fire)
15. Let’s Eat Grandma – I’m All Ears (Transgressive)
14. RVG – A Quality of Mercy (Fat Possum)
13. Thought Gang – Thought Gang (Sacred Bones)
12. Spirit Fest – Anohito (Morr Music)
11. The Goon Sax – We’re Not Talking (Wichita)
10. Beautify Junkyards – The Invisible World of Beautify Junkyards (Ghost Box)
9. Chris Carter – CCCL Volume One (Mute)
8. Jon Brooks – Applied Music: Plastics Today (Café Kaput)
7. Bank of Forever – Music for Navigating (Temporary Tapes)
6. Kathryn Joseph – from when i wake the want is (Rock Action)
5. Low – Double Negative (Sub Pop)
4. D. Rothon – Nightscapes (Clay Pipe Music)
3. A Happy Return – A Happy Return (Spillage Fete)
2. The Advisory Circle – Ways of Seeing (Ghost Box)
1. Listening Center – Paths and Surfaces (Temporary Tapes)

Chris Carter – Archival Recordings 1973 – 1977 (from the Miscellany box set)

hoo boy I really did not need to know about yet another must-have boxset, thanks I think?

an old skool metal cru ilxor sent me this via facebook which he helpfully typed out - Kerrang!

errang Albums of 2018

50. Can't Swim - This Too Won't Pass
49. Brian Fallon - Sleepwalkers
48. The Black Queen - Infinite Games
47. Slash - Living The Dream
46. The Story So Far - Proper Dose
45. The Dirty Nil - Master Volume
44. Vein - Errorzone
43. Muse - Simulation Theory
42. Boston Manor - Welcome To The Neighbourhood
41. Smashing Pumpkins - Shity and oh so shite
40. You Me At Six - VI

39. Mike Shinoda - Post Traumatic
38. High On Fire - Electric Messiah
37. Thrice - Palms
36. Joyce Manor - Million Dollars To Kill Me
35. Fall Out Boy - MA N I A
34.The Struts - Young & Dangerous
33. Don Broco - Technology
32. Pagan - Black Wash
31. Greta Van Fleet - Anthem of the Peaceful Army
30. Nine Inch Nails - Bad Witch

29. Panic! At The Disco - Pray For the Wicked
28. Tiny Moving Parts - Swell
27. Parkway Drive - Reverence
26. Trophy Eyes - The American Dream
25. Carpenter Brut - Leather Teeth
24. Single Mothers - Through A Wall
23. The Interrupters - Fight The Good Shite
22. Alkaline Trio - Is This Thing Cursed?
21. Twenty One Pilots - Stench

20. Clutch - Book Of Bad Decisions
19. Conjurer - Mire
18. Alice In Chains - Rainier Fog
17. Mol - Jord
16. Drug Church - Cheer
15. Svalbard - It's Hard To Have Hope
14. Fucked Up - Dose Your Dreams
13. Marmozets - Knowing What You Know Now
12. The Xcerts - Hold On To Your Heart
11. Judas Priest - Firepower

10.Rolo Tomassi - Time Will Die And Love Will Bury It
9. Idles - Joy As An Act Of Resistance
8. Behemoth - I Loved You At Your Darkest
7. Culture Abuse - Bay Dream
6. Nothing - Dance On The Blacktop
5. Ghost - Prequelle
4. A Perfect Circle - Eat The Elephant
3. Architects - Holy Hell
2. Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
1. Turnstile - Time & Space.

Fully half of those are killer. I'm legit impressed

41. Smashing Pumpkins - Shity and oh so shite

lol

Wow, Advisory Circle! I hadn't heard the Beutify Junkyards one until recently, kind of stumbled upon it. It's also quite good, very strong Broadcast vibes on that one.

I forgot all about that Marmozets album, but it's really good. They deserve much more attention than they get.

"errang"? i feel a new username coming on

Bandcamp top 20 is out

20 Ryan Porter - The Optimist
19 Marie Davidson - Working Class Woman
18 Flasher - Constant Image
17 Hatchie - Sugar and Spice
16 Peggy Gou - Once
15 Blood Orange - Negro Swan
14 Alan Braufman - Valley of Search
13 The Beths - Future Me Hates Me
12 Makaya McCraven - Universal Beings
11 V/A - La Contra Ola
10 Say Sue Me - Where We Were Together
09 JPEGMAFIA - Veteran
08 Low - Double Negative
07 Kadhja Bonet - Childqueen
06 V/A - Gumba Fire: Bubblegum Soul & Synth-Boogie in 1980s South Africa
05 serpentwithfeet - soil
04 La Luz - Floating Features
03 Noname - Room 25
02 Aisha Devi - DNA Feelings
01 Jean Grae and Quelle Chris - Everything's Fine

I was just thinking that Aisha Devi's godawful cover art must have put people off her album, but that's two lists in the past two days where she's placed in the top 10.

Nice to see La Luz show up on a list.

Anna Burch not showing uo on these lists. That’s a record I listened to a bucketload of times.

Ditto Ezra Furman

Kind of surprised that Say Sue Me made it to #10 on the Bandcamp list. They may have had the catchiest song of the year with "Old Town" but I thought the rest of the album was kind of a letdown. The Mantar from the Noisey list is amazing and what I come to year-end lists for.

Good to see Say Sue Me in the Bandcamp list. It's great! (It is not better than The Beths album, though.)

Marbecks, New Zealand – top 50 pop albums

Haz Beats - E5
Yoko-Zuna - Voyager
Avantdale Bowling Club - Avantdale Bowling Club
Orchestra of Spheres - Mirror
David Crosby - Here If You Listen
Daniel Brandt - Channels
Julien Dyne - Teal
Connan Mockasin - Jassbusters
Marie Davidson - Working Class Woman
Tim Hecker - Konoyo
Yves Tumor - Safe In The Hands Of Love
Cat Power - Wanderer
Leifur James - A Louder Silence
Marissa Nadler - For My Crimes
Christine & The Queens - Chris
Low - Double Negative
Princess Chelsea - The Loneliest Girl
Blood Orange - Negro Swan
Mitski - Be The Cowboy
Ross From Friends - Family Portraits
The Beths - Future Me Hates Me
Dudley Benson - Zealandia
Ha The Unclear - Invisible Lines
Cowboy Junkies - All That Reckoning
Okzharp & Manthe Ribane - Closer Apart
Tenderlonious - The Shakedown ft. The 22archestra
Kamasi Washington - Heaven & Earth
Jonathan Bree - Sleepwalking
Jorja Smith - Lost & Found
Kamaal Williams - The Return
Father John Misty - God's Favourite Customer
Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer
Mary Lattimore - Hundreds of Days
Parquet Courts - Wide Awake!
John Hopkins - Singularity
Simian Mobile Disco - Murmurations
Emily Fairlight - Mother Of Gloom
Lord Huron - Vide Noir
Rival Consoles - Persona
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Sex & Food
David Byrne - American Utopia
Young Fathers - Cocoa Sugar
Peggy Gou - Once
Stef Animal - Top Gear
Marlon Williams - Make Way For Love
U.S. Girls - In A Poem Unlimited
MGMT - Little Dark Age
Ty Segall - Freedom's Goblin
Khruangbin - Con Todo El Mundo
Nils Frahm - All Melody

... in reverse chronological order, approximately. Either that, or their top album is a 2016 EP with a bonus track.

I cannot stand Ezra Truman's voice at all but I can understand why everyone I know who likes it *really* likes it. The Anna Burch is easily one of my favourites of the year and I'm surprised by how slept-on it seems to be

Xpost: pop albums!? I struggle to hear what’s pop in half of that list.

Aisha Devi’s album cover isn’t thaaaat bad, It’s certainly not good but it’s not offensive. I find Tirzah’s or Robyn’s almost as bad and those two are in almost every EOY list.

Another metal list on the path to overkill:

50 Solstice - White Horse Hill
49 New Light Choir - Torchlight
48 Imperial Triumphant - Vile Luxury
47 Nocturnal Graves - Titan
46 Aorlhac - L’Esprit des vents
45 Hissing - Permanent Destitution
44 Runemagick.- Evoked from Abysmal Sleep
43 Funeral Mist - Hekatomb
42 Svartidauði - Revelations of the Red Sword
41 Varathron - Patriarchs of Evil
40 Golgothan Remains - Perverse Offerings to the Void
39 Un - Sentiment
38 Lecherous Nocturne - Occultaclysmic
37 Sargeist - Unbound
36 Nekrofilth - Worm Ritual
35 Khemmis - Desolation
34 Serpent Column - Invicta
33 Hooded Menace - Ossuarium Silhouettes Unhallowed
32 Hamferð - Támsins likam
31 Thou - Magus
30 Jody Seabody & The Whirls - Hawksamillion
29 Rites of Thy Degringolade - The Blade Philosophical
28 Ascension - Under Ether
27 Green Druid - Ashen Blood
26 Pale Divine - Pale Divine
25 Eosophoros - Eosophoros
24 Brainoil - Singularity to Extinction
23 Mournful Congregation - The Incubus of Karma
22 Faustcoven - In the Shadow of Doom
21 Desolation Realm - Desolation Realm
20 Necros Christos - Domedon Doxomedon
19 Intercourse - Everything Is Pornography When You’ve Got an Imagination
18 Horrendous - Idol
17 King Witch - Under the Mountain
16 Mongrel’s Cross - Psalter of the Royal Dragon Court
15 The Men - Drift
14 Black Wizard - Livin’ Oblivion
13 Rapture - Paroxysm of Hatred
12 Urfaust - The Constellatory Practice
11 Wrong - Feel Great
10 Tomb Mold - Manor of Infinite Forms
9 Embrace of Thorns - Scorn Aesthetics
8 Primordial - Exile Among the Ruins
7 Portal - Ion
6 Obliteration - Cenotaph Obscure
5 Sepulcher - Panoptic Horror
4 House of Atreus - From the Madness of Ixion
3 Satan - Cruel Magic
2 Evoken - Hypnagogia
1 Ghastly - Death Velour

https://grizzlybutts.com/2018/12/14/opinion-the-50-best-albums-of-2018-the-year-in-review/

Someone recommended Ross From Friends to my but that band name....I don't know if I can do it

Have you perhaps considered listening to DJ Seinfeld instead?

ross from friends was definitely surprisingly good compared to how bad the artist name is

DJ seinfeld’s DJ kicks also surprisingly good

fRoots best of 2018 https://frootsmag.com/criticspoll2018

1. CATRIN FINCH & SECKOU KEITA : Soar (Bendigedig)
2. ANNA + ELIZABETH : The Invisible Comes To Us (Smithsonian Folkways)
3. FATOUMATA DIAWARA : Fenfo: Something To Say (Montuno)
4. THE RHEINGANS SISTERS : Bright Field (RootBeat)
5. LISA O’NEIL : Heard A Long Gone Song (River Lea)
6. NORMA WATERSON & ELIZA CARTHY : Anchor (Topic)
7. OLIVIA CHANEY : Shelter (Nonesuch)
8. JACKIE OATES : The Joy Of Living (ECC)
9. KITTY MACFARLANE : Namer Of Clouds (Navigator Records)
10. SANS : Kulku (Cloud Valley)
11. Gaye Su Akyol Istikrarlı Hayal Hakikattir (Glitterbeat)
12. The Furrow Collective Fathoms (Hudson)
13.= Ry Cooder The Prodigal Son (Fantasy)
13.= Sam Sweeney The Unfinished Violin (Island)
15. Richard Thompson 13 Rivers (Proper)
16. Karine Polwart Laws Of Motion (Hudson)
17.= Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldsmith Many A Thousand (Ear Trumpet)
17.= Blowzabella Two Score (Blowzabella)
17.= Grace Petrie Queer As Folk (Grace Petrie)
20 = Ammar 808 Maghreb United (Glitterbeat)
20 = Monsieur Doumani Angathin (Monsieur Doumani)