The 2018 end of the year music lists thread

PopMatters - The 20 Best Avant-Garde and Experimental Albums of 2018
https://www.popmatters.com/best-experimental-albums-2018-2623308555.html

FACT - The best ambient of 2018
https://www.factmag.com/2018/12/16/best-ambient-2018/

Mixmag - The Top 50 Albums of 2018
https://mixmag.net/feature/top-albums-2018?curator=MusicREDEF

dazed kpop list is pretty decent, quite a few favorites in there

Fester's Lucky 13: 2018 Year-End Summary
http://fastnbulbous.com/lucky-18/

Spotify | 2018 Breakdown: Genre Lists | Shows, Videos | Movies, Television & Books

1. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever – Hope Downs
2. Graveyard – Peace
3. Peluché – Unforgettable
4. Mansion – First Death Of The Lutheran
5. Teen Judge – Teen Judge
6. Bambara – Shadow On Everything
7. Birth Of Joy – Hyper Focus
8. Jack Harlon & The Dead Crows – Hymns
9. Sir Robin & The Longbowmen – Prozacco
10. MaidaVale – Madness Is Too Pure
11. The Native Cats – John Sharp Toro
12. Messa – Feast For Water
13. Maggot Heart – Dusk To Dusk
14. Vanishing Kids – Creation
15. Lucifer – Lucifer II
16. Neurotic Fiction – Pulp Music
17. Sleep – The Sciences
18. Bas Jan – Yes I Jan
19. Ancestors – Suspended In Reflections
20. Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats – Wasteland
21. White Denim – Performance
22. All Them Witches – ATW
23. The Exploding Eyes Orchestra – II
24. Body Type – Body Type EP
25. The Ocean Party – The Oddfellows’ Hall
26. Crepes – In Cahoots
27. Khemmis – Desolation
28. Windhand – Eternal Return
29. Santa Librada – Santa Librada
30. Pale Divine – Pale Divine
31. Wytch Hazel – II: Sojourn
32. Witch Mountain – Witch Mountain
33. Castle – Deal Thy Fate
34. Oh Sees – Smote Reverser
35. Amgala Temple – Invisible Airships
36. Dream Wife – Dream Wife
37. Goat Girl – Goat Girl
38. Viagra Boys – Street Worms
39. Melbourne Cans – Heat Of The Night
40. Ought – Room Inside The World
41. ILL – We Are ILL
42. Tropical Fuck Storm – A Laughing Death In Meatspace
43. The Third Sound – All Tomorrow’s Shadows
44. Steeple Remove – Vonal-Axis
45. Parades Against Parades – Driving Me Stoned
46. Sitka Sun – Sitka Sun
47. Wooden Shjips – V
48. Black Salvation – Uncertainty Is Bliss
49. Cave – Allways
50. Druid – The Seven Scrolls
51. Weedpecker – III
52. Kikagaku Moyo – Masana Temples
53. Needlepoint – The Diary Of Robert Reverie
54. Iceage – Beyondless
55. LITHICS – Mating Surfaces
56. Glintshake – Benefit
57. The Breeders – All Nerve
58. Shopping – The Official Body
59. Moab – Trough
60. Alastor – Slave To The Grave
61. The Necromancers – Of Blood And Wine
62. Spiritual Cramp – Television
63. King Buffalo – Longing To Be The Mountain
64. Tony Allen & Jeff Mills – Tomorrow Comes The Harvest
65. Orb – The Space Between
66. Somali Yacht Club – The Sea
67. Greenleaf – Hear The Rivers
68. High Reeper – High Reeper
69. Earthless – Black Heaven
70. JIRM – Surge Ex Monumentis
71. Choral Hearse – Mire Exhumed
72. Mythic Sunship – Upheaval
73. The Wizards – Rise Of The Serpent
74. Les Big Byrd – Iran Iraq IKEA
75. Magmakammer – Mindtripper
76. Amyl And The Sniffers – Big Attraction & Giddy Up
77. Makaya McCraven – Universal Beings
78. Ezra Collective – Juan Pablo: The Philospher EP
79. Maisha – There Is A Place
80. Al Doum & The Faryds – Spirit Rejoin
81. Goatman – Rhythms
82. Trés Oui – Poised To Flourish
83. Massage – Oh Boy
84. Salad Boys – This Is Glue
85. Electric Citizen – Helltown
86. Dunbarrow – Dunbarrow II
87. Nekromant – The Nekromant Lives
88. Crippled Black Phoenix – Great Escape
89. Green Dragon – Green Dragon
90. Dos Santos – Logos
91. Spiders – Killer Machine
92. LIINES – Stop-Start
93. Szun Waves – New Hymn To Freedom
94. Public Practice – Distance Is A Mirror EP
95. Rough Spells – Modern Kicks For The Solitary Witch EP
96. Petite Noir – La Maison Noir: The Gift And The Curse EP
97. Vital Idles – Left Hand
98. Sammal – Suuliekki
99. Black Moth – Anatomical Venus
100. Ty Segall – Freedom’s Goblin

boring top 2 but an otherwise cool list

To clarify, the RYM top 10 is kind of awful, but there's plenty of good stuff in the 100

I actually quite like the new (old) Car Seat Headrest album though - there's my terrible confession

the music industry's greatest terrible secret is that that kid is actually really fuckin' good at making killer indie rock songs. don't tell anyone, tho.

xp I like it a lot, too (though haven't really gone back to it much since around the time it came out). Don't know why it's some kind of dirty word around here...

I can't think of another current popular songwriter more desperately in need of an editor

i've hated on this board before but it's true that he has a few good songs!

just like get to the point my dude!

xxpost Matthew Healy

*ducks*

to be clear:

i do think CSH guy could use an editor
i also think Healy could use an editor, probably just as / almost as much
i like the 1975 way more than CSH

I agree Will Headrest can be long-winded; but I also feel like that can be part of his "charm," or something. (I wouldn't cut anything from Teens of Denial; even from the most drawn-out jams.)

Like he's the drunk guy on yr couch, still hanging when the rest of the guests have gone home, whose ranting is too much fun for you to kick him out & go to bed

pretty solid description as i think it perfectly explains why i don't like him

boring top 2 but an otherwise cool list

98% success ain't bad ;). Those interested in specific genres might find the breakdowns more interesting. For example:

Avant, Experimental, Modern Classical, Ambient & Drone

1. The Messthetics – The Messthetics
2. Secret Chiefs 3 – Malkhut
3. Daughters – You Won’t Get What You Want
4. Anna von Hausswolff – Dead Magic
5. Toundra – Vortex
6. Black Dresses – WASTEISOLATION
7. The Skull Defekts – The Skull Defekts
8. Oneida – Romance
9. Nils Frahm – All Melody
10. Årabrot – Who Do You Love
11. Gnod – Chapel Perilous
12. The Garden – Mirror Might Steal Your Charm
13. Author & Punisher – Beastland

Art Pop

1. Peluché – Unforgettable
2. Vital Idles – Left Hand
3. Eiko Ishibashi – The Dreams My Bones Dream
4. Julia Holter – Aviary
5. Arc Iris – Icon Of Ego
6. Halo Maud – Je Suis Une Île
7. Mr Twin Sister – Salt
8. Jenny Hval – The Long Sleep EP
9. U.S. Girls – In A Poem Unlimited
10. SOPHIE – OIL OF EVERY PEARL’S UN-INSIDES
11. The Black Queen – Infinite Games
12. Yves Tumor – Safe In The Hands Of Love
13. Gazelle Twin – Pastoral

multiple x-posts, but I got bored at work and didn't want to scroll through the entire Mixmag album list, so I scraped it.

1: Tirzah - Devotion
2: Skee Mask - Compro
3: DJ Koze - Knock Knock
4: Helena Hauff - Qualm
5: Jon Hopkins - Singularity
6: Objekt - Cocoon Crush
7: Daniel Avery - Song For Alpha
8: Sophie - Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides
9: Ross From Friends - Family Portrait
10: Marie Davidson - Working Class Woman
11: Martyn - Voids
12: Bruce - Sonder Somatic
13: Amnesia Scanner - Another Life
14: Nines - Crop Circle
15: Maribou State - Kingdoms in Colour
16: Children of Zeus - Travel Light
17: Robyn - Honey
18: Lotic - Power
19: Leon Vynehall - Nothing Is Still
20: George Fitzgerald - All that must be
21: Marquis Hawkes - The Marquis of Hawkes
22: Oneohtrix Point Never - Age Of
23: Young Fathers - Cocoa Sugar
24: Nu Guinea - Nuova Napoli
25: Yves Tumor - Safe in The Hands of Love
26: Spence Parker - Dance Music
27: Rüfüs Du Sol - Solace
28: Âme - Dream House
29: Kids See Ghosts - Kids See Ghosts
30: Oliver Coates - Shelley's on Zenn-LA
31: Mr Fingers - Cerebral Hemisphere
32: Pariah - Here From Where We Are
33: Max Cooper - One Hundred Billion Sparks
34: Mr G - A Part of Me Volume 2
35: Nils Frahm - All Melody
36: Break - Another Way
37: The Blaze - Dancehall
38: Soulwax - Essential
39: Detroit Swindle - High Life
40: HVL - Ostati
41: Orbital - Monsters Exist
42: Jensen Interceptor - Mother
43: Taiki Nulight - Murky Manor
44: The Digital Blonde - Neon
45: Blocks & Escher - Something Blue
46: Roman Flügel - Themes
47: DJ Taye - Still Trippin'
48: Parquet Courts - Wide Awake
49: Against All Logic - 2012-2017
50: Byran Chapman - 7 Shadows and Iron Lungs

Passion of the Weiss 50 Best Rap Songs

https://www.passionweiss.com/2018/12/16/best-rap-songs-2018/

nice to see Orbital finally make an appearance

Nice to see that Soulwax album appear but that Mixmag list top 10 is very obvious

I don’t like The 1975 and CSH at all and still don’t understand what it is that people like about them so much.

There are many artists outside my interests which I do understand why people might like them but these two in particular make me feel like I’m deaf because I just don’t hear what’s so special about their music.

That said I don’t hate them, I just don’t get it.

I can't help you w/the 1975 (tho I'm sure the long thread about them has some clues), but here's something I posted about why I love the CSH album from a few years back: Car Seat Headrest--Teens of Denial

CSH is decent but was incredibly overrated critically when his last album came out and the new version of Twin Fantasy only doubles down on all his weaknesses

he's got talent, sure, but "desperately needs an editor" is otm as well as desperately needing a good producer to help him stop making all his songs way longer than they need to be. he is simply not very good at writing the epics that he loves to unfortunately, and loves to drag out what should be a tight & catchy 3-4 minute pop song to 5+ minutes every single time

Feel like I need to give that Skee Mask record another go. I sorta liked it at first, then it fell off.

To clarify, the RYM top 10 is kind of awful, but there's plenty of good stuff in the 100

I actually quite like the new (old) Car Seat Headrest album though - there's my terrible confession

― imago

without having seen it i'm gonna say that the list from 401-500 is probably better than the list from 1-100

of course all lists get boring at the top, particularly those that involve reaching some sort of "consensus"

i picked up a lot from chaucerian myth's 2018 list, he suggested this record by bronzewing which i think he's possibly the only person to have heard? anyway it's great, like if yaraandoo was recorded in the '80s

tinymixtapes albums list:

https://www.tinymixtapes.com/features/2018-favorite-50-music-releases

50 Sheck Wes - MUDBOY
49 Satoshi Nakamoto - NYPD Records Volume 2: Satoshi Nakamoto's dOPENet
48 Amen Dunes - Freedom
47 JPEGMAFIA - Veteran
46 Gas - Rausch
45 Parquet Courts - Wide Awake!
44 Jeff Witscher - Approximately 1​,​000 Beers
43 Hermit and the Recluse - Orpheus vs. the Sirens
42 Matthew Revert / Vanessa Rossetto - Everyone Needs a Plan
41 Delroy Edwards - Rio Grande
40 Perfume - Future Pop
39 U.S. Girls - In a Poem Unlimited
38 Roc Marciano - Behold A Dark Horse
37 Beach House - 7
36 Teyana Taylor - K.T.S.E.
35 Seth Graham - Gasp
34 Sarah Davachi - Let Night Come On Bells End The Day
33 Laurel Halo - Raw Silk Uncut Wood
32 Armand Hammer - Paraffin
31 Rosalía - El Mal Querer
30 Klein - cc
29 Prime Minister of Doom - Mudshadow Propaganda / DJ Healer - Nothing 2 Loose
28 Fire-Toolz - Skinless X-1
27 Simple Affections - Simple Affections
26 The Caretaker - Everywhere at the End of Time - Stage 4
25 Tierra Whack - Whack World
24 Eartheater - IRISIRI
23 Kanye West - ye
22 RP Boo - I'll Tell You What!
21 Tim Hecker - Konoyo
20 serpentwithfeet - soil
19 Amnesia Scanner - Another Life
18 Mitski - Be the Cowboy
17 Barrio Sur - बड़ा शोक (heart break)
16 Playboi Carti - Die Lit
15 Bamba Pana - Poaa
14 Pendant - Make Me Know You Sweet
13 Mount Eerie - Now Only
12 Julia Holter - Aviary
11 Eli Keszler - Stadium
10 Shygirl - Cruel Practice
9 Grouper - Grid of Points
8 Pusha T - Daytona
7 Low - Double Negative
6 Elysia Crampton - Elysia Crampton
5 Tirzah - Devotion
4 Charli XCX - Pop 2
3 Lolina - The Smoke
2 Yves Tumor - Safe in the Hands of Love
1 SOPHIE - OIL OF EVERY PEARL'S UN-INSIDES

nice

serpentwithfeet and Tirzah are the big discoveries for me from the EOY lists.

I think I’ve had my fill.

these things are inevitably personal but I've never heard as much good new music as I have this year

I'm not even sure we should do this next year. I guess it gives a sort of limp foretaste of the big ILX poll

But really, most of these lists are falling over each other to boost exactly the same music in the same way, which encourages incurious listening habits. The great boon of the new streaming reality is that you can hear almost anything, and there's never been more to hear either. And if you can't put your faith in these lists, what's the point of them? I suppose a few are noteworthy, but in the main, and viewed collectively, they're stultifying

I mean that's obviously really pompous of me but as as ILXors I feel we actually have some sort of collective duty to listen to and chronicle as much as we possibly can

What would be good is some kind of automatic database that lists albums that appear in three or fewer of these lists. That kind of filter would make it more worthwhile. Like, nobody needs to know that Parquet Courts are apparently the 45th best band of the year yet again (morelike 450th amirite) but who's Eli Keszler, are they any good, etc

any news on the ilxor poll? think noms normally open round about now

23 Kanye West - ye

lol @ tmt

i'm never sure which of the acclaimed ones i've heard, because i immediately forget any music i'm not into once i listen to it. and then i get confused between "serpentwithfeet" and "mewithoutyou"

other than that i'm not particularly bothered by reading several dozen lists with sophie and yves tumour on them

i will say as someone who likes novelty in music i'm more interested in the names on the lists i haven't read a hundred times. an aggregator of those names wouldn't be useful to me, though, because it'd just be hundreds of records that i have no idea if i'd like or not - the blurbs are extremely helpful to me. that's why i haven't made a personal 2018 list, no time to blurb!

has anyone agreed to run EOY this year?

imago, this thread seems to be full of weird/unique lists, in addition to the more conventional lists with plenty of overlap. And aren’t the lists with overlap also useful, as a view to which are the “consensus” albums?

https://www.albumoftheyear.org/list/1156-the-av-clubs-20-best-albums-of-2018/

finally Ezra Furman makes a top ten

https://www.albumoftheyear.org/list/1154-papers-top-20-albums-of-2018/

this one seems ilxor taste-adjacent

xxp Also, if I see a list with one or two albums I know & like, I may be more inclined to check out the unfamiliar stuff from that list (b/c the familiar signposts are useful).

One other point is that the aggregate of lists in this thread is sort of similar to ILM as a whole — where a few things seem to be discussed a lot over the course of the year, and most of the rest only mentioned in passing (one or two posts on a “Rolling...” thread, etc.).

This one's a bit different with a few new names on this one for imago to get all excited about:

Q Magazine - Best Albums of 2018

50. The Orielles - Silver Dollar Moment
49. Manic Street Preachers - Resistance is Futile
48. Kamasi Washington - Heaven and Earth
47. The Good, The Bad & The Queen - Merrie Land
46. Cardi B - Invasion of Privacy
45. Mac Miller - Swimming
44. Panic! At the Disco - Pray for the Wicked
43. Everything is Recorded - Everything is Recorded
42. SOPHIE - Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides
41. Lykke Li - So Sad, So Sexy
40. Kids See Ghosts - Kids See Ghosts
39. Cat Power - Wanderer
38. Bill Ryder-Jones - Yawn
37. Beach House - 7
36. Eleanor Friedberger - Rebound
35. Julia Holter - Aviary
34. Go-Kart Mozart - Mozart's Mini-Mart
33. Shame - Songs of Praise
32. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Sparkle Hard
31. Florence and the Machine - High as Hope
30. Kurt Vile - Bottle It In
29. Gaz Coombes - World's Strongest Man
28. Neko Case - Hell-On
27. Daniel Avery - Song for Alpha
26. U.S. Girls - In a Poem Unlimited
25. Father John Misty - God's Favourite Customer
24. Elvis Costello and The Imposters - Look Now
23. Tracey Thorn - Record
22. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Hope Downs
21. Low - Double Negative
20. Spiritualized - And Nothing Hurt
19. Pusha T - Daytona
18. DJ Koze - Knock Knock
17. Ty Segall - Freedom's Goblin
16. Mitski - Be the Cowboy
15. Blood Orange - Negro Swan
14. Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel
13. Gruff Rhys - Babelsberg
12. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour
11. Interpol - Marauder
10. Anna Calvi - Hunter
9. Paul Weller - True Meanings
8. Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer
7. IDLES - Joy as an Act of Resistance
6. Christine and the Queens - Chris
5. Parquet Courts - Wide Awake!
4. Robyn - Honey
3. The 1975 - A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
2. Let's Eat Grandma - I'm All Ears
1. Arctic Monkeys - Tranquillity Base Hotel & Casino

Vibe - 30 Best Albums of 2018
https://www.vibe.com/photos/best-albums-2018-list

***spoiler alert: no paul weller that one i'm afraid***

and not even gaz coombes could crack this one:

FACT - Best House & Techno of 2018
https://www.factmag.com/2018/12/18/best-house-techno-tracks-2018/

https://www.albumoftheyear.org/list/1156-the-av-clubs-20-best-albums-of-2018/

finally Ezra Furman makes a top ten

― We were never Breeting Borting (President Keyes), Tuesday, December 18, 2018 3:22 PM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

trust the AV Club to turn up and make me regret hating on this thread (slightly) with that Only Love placement

Pfork's rap list is up - https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-best-rap-albums-of-2018/