2018 Records

[shadowplay]

Post your end of years.

I generally don't post in the end of years since I'm very not very listy but I thought up my 50 tracks for a friend and I feel OK about the three albums so here we are. I was going to go an list 3 12's, 7's etc but I've ran out of steam.

Album 3

Gabe Gurnsey - Physical definitely my most played record of the year. The Factory Floor drummer takes you through a night on the town from low lit techno to, Cabaret Voltaire cutup prowl, to hot n heavy Missy Elliot referencing banging in the toilets and on through menthol cool Cosey purr. Masterful, he clearly knows his Quango Quango from his elbow,

Penelope Trappes - Penelope 2 If like me you never really coped with 4AD signing a bunch of American college rockers, look no further than the luminous beauty of Penelope Trappes.

Curses - Romantic Fiction brilliant modern post punk album that flits between canon sounds and modernism without ever losing it's way/

Compilations/reissues

Uneven Paths: Deviant Pop From Europe 1980-1991 honestly worth it just for this.

JD Twitch presents Kreaturen Der Nacht

Indifferent Dance Centre- Flight and Pursuit this seven is a super must have if you like YMG and Weekend.

50 Tracks mostly cuddly vocal stuff and bangers aimed at the person I was sending it to and since I did it I've realised I missed so much stuff but it is what it is and a fair cross section

1. Sextile - Disco
2. Curses - Gold & Silber Feat Perel
3. Mitra Mitra - Shortwave
4. Mehmet Aslan & Idil Messe - Efsun
5. Broken English Club - Animal Town
6. Ossia - Dub Hell
7. Death in Vegas - Honey
8. Ideal Home - Field This
9. Jenny Hval - Spells
10. The KVB - Only Now Forever
11. Confidence Man - C.O.O.L. Party
12. Lucrecia Dalt - Tar
13.Sordid Sound System - You & Me
14. Cucina Povera - Elektra
15. Free Love - Playing as Punks
16 . Gwenno - Tir Ha Mor
17. GULP - Beam
18. Beautify junkyards - Half Marble
19. Paper Dollhouse - Pearl's Theme
20. Years of Denial - We Operate on Each Other
21 . Borusiade - A Body
22. Creepshow - Safe & Sound
23. HTRK - Mentions
24. Tomorrow Syndicate - Dark Matter
25. Virginia Wing - The Female Genius
26. Deaf Chonky - Dolijute (manfredeas remix)
27. Tirzah - Basic Need
28. Epsilove & Eva Geist - Le Silence de l'Ether
29. Marie Davidson - So Right
30. Ike Yard - Ikimono Gitari
31. Silent Servant - Optimistic Decay
32. Audiobooks - Dance Your Life Away and the Weatherall remix
33. Zanias - Exuvia
34. Osynlige Mann - Airports
35. Inhalt Der Nacht & Echoes of November - Die Liebe
36. Penelope Trappes - Maeve
38 .Bassae - untitled side A
39. C.A.R - This City
40. Veronica Vasicka - From Here
41. Marie Davidson & Lamusa II - La Estase
42. WomenSaid - Soft Hell
43. Exploded View - Gone TOmorrow
44. Gabe Gurnsey - Sweet Heat
45. Ancient Methods - Array The Troops (feat Regis)
46. Wrangler - Space Ace (LoneLady Remix)
47. Lia Mice - Overwrite The Past
48. Azar Swan - Silent Like A Father
49.Geniuser - Disconnected
50. The White Screen - Blue Blood
51. Carla Dal Forno - Blue Morning

[Flurko]

I don't tend to notice if something I listen comes from this year or any year within the current decade, so after a bit a headscratching, here are 2 2018 releases that left the biggest mark on me. Not a great music critic or english writer here, so I'll keep everything short.

- Sons of Kemet - Your Queen Is A Reptile - Discovered the band through work just before it came out -working in a music festival has its perks-, and suddenly they were everywhere, magazine covers and all. Really tight jazz album with political tones, powerful hooks and drums that make me dance everytime I put it on

- La Tène - Abandonnée/Maléja - French/Swiss repetitive trio, hurdy-gurdy/indian harmonium/electronics/drums combo, stretching very simple patterns over 20min... This is magic to me. Featuring members of France, various La Novia groups, and Super Parquet.

[shadowplay]

.

- Sons of Kemet - Your Queen Is A Reptile - Discovered the band through work just before it came out -working in a music festival has its perks-, and suddenly they were everywhere, magazine covers and all. Really tight jazz album with political tones, powerful hooks and drums that make me dance everytime I put it on

That was number one in The Wire's chart of the year. Good record and interesting and informative titles. IMO it's a kinda halfway house between a 'proper' jazz record and something like Maximum Joy which keeps it interesting for me.

D

[Jaguar018]

I have liked a number of Shadowplay's recommendations, specifically

Sculpture

and GULP.

It is hard to explain how and why I like Palmbomen so much, but he manages to tap into some primordial ooze made of my teenage angst that lurks in my brain.

Love Cavern of Anti-Matter.

Ah but I am a filthy American who came of age with grunge and indierock (please avert your eyes David). I enjoyed the latest album by Papercuts, which is just moody indie slacker stuff.

The latest Beach House was nice.

[shadowplay]

I have liked a number of Shadowplay's recommendations, specifically

Sculpture

and GULP.

It is hard to explain how and why I like Palmbomen so much, but he manages to tap into some primordial ooze made of my teenage angst that lurks in my brain.

Love Cavern of Anti-Matter.

Ah but I am a filthy American who came of age with grunge and indierock (please avert your eyes David). I enjoyed the latest album by Papercuts, which is just moody indie slacker stuff.

The latest Beach House was nice.

Really like the GULP album, I think they are really onto something.

I think the Cavern of Anti-Matter is better than the sat one but not as good as the first.

Funnily I like a Papercuts song called Unavailable and always meant to check them out properly.

Sculpture is kool too.

Btw I didn't put it in my end of year because I thought it was last year since it's says 2017 on the sleeve but I think it came out in Jan but did you hear The Green Child? I thought it would be up your street, it's a brilliant record and right up there for me this year.

This link/stream is to the tape but I bought it as a record like any sane person. The Green Child.

I plugged it in the radiophonic thread but I'll go again here.

D

[wproffitt]

Off the top of my head, I’d like to vote for :

1) Beach House-7

This one grew on me in a big way. It didn’t hurt that their live show was awesome when I saw them back in August

2) Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever-Hope Dawns

If you haven’t heard Talking Straighthttps://youtu.be/Zj5tH-6vNKY
yet, you’re missing out. The rest of the album has a similar post punk guitar pop thing going on. It sounds simple, like Alvvays, but the arrangements are smart (like Alvvays) and the fact that there are three singers adds a bit of variety.

3) Courtney Barnett- Tell me How You Really Feel
Nameless, Faceless is one of those songs that is so catchy yet so disturbing that, while I can’t stop humming it, I reach for the radio dial to change the channel if it comes on while the kids are in the car! That’s good stuff right there.

****Edit***

4) Snail Mail- Lush
This is a goodie. Kind of 90s lo-fi with a singer-songwriter thing thrown in. Lindsey, the main writer and singer has a distinctive delivery and playing style. Really raw, emotionally. I dig it!

[PJazzmaster]

Post your end of years.
I generally don't post in the end of years since I'm very not very listy but I thought up my 50 tracks for a friend and I feel OK about the three albums so here we are. I was going to go an list 3 12's, 7's etc but I've ran out of steam.

checking all of that tomorrow. THANKS for sharing!

[nanamour]

I've been further behind on new releases than I typically like to be this year, but from what I have bought or heard, great calls on the Gabe Gurnsey, Penelope Trappes, GULP (what a giant leap up from the last GULP album), and Sons of Kemet records, those would all be grappling for top honors on any year end list of mine.

I'll also plug for:

Khruangbin - Con Todo el Mundo Khruangbin can sometimes display their influences on their sleeve a bit too loudly for me, like they were the backing band for The Sublime Frequencies LateNite Show or something...but when they're on it, they're on it, and on Con Todo el Mundo, they tow the right side of the line of where I'd rather just put the source material on, though they stray toward it at times. Some fantastic guitar lixxx if you're into a slightly dreamier ride through the tichumaren/'desert blues,' Middle Eastern psych, etc. worlds. Plus it's not super often that I get to plug a local band, so I'll proudly fly Khruangbin's flag all day long.

Domenique Dumont - Miniatures De Auto Rhythm I'll just link to Shadowplay's thread on this album since he does a excellent job unpacking everything going on here. Sunhat not included.

Pusha T - Daytona A bet of a step off the path of the things I usually post on this forum* and I don't listen to a ton of rap these days, but fuck if this isn't the best no-frills coke rap album to come out since Hell Hath No Fury. A lesson in elocution for the mumble rap generation as a Guardian reviewer put it, mated to Mr K. West's return to his Late Registration-era production toolkit. Nothing going on in Daytona from a lyrical or production standpoint is winning an innovation grant, and I have some issues with the utterly tasteless album cover, but as someone who grew up spinning Clipse albums ad nauseam, this has been one of the most enjoyable and heavily played albums of my year.

[*in my angsty early teen years I was a hip hop obsessee, and while I don't listen to a ton of rap these days I can sincerely thank some pretty briefly lived hip hop production aspirations for getting me enthusiastically diving into bins of obscure international psych, easy listening, and library records...something which I haven't stopped doing yet!]

[nanamour]

It is hard to explain how and why I like Palmbomen so much, but he manages to tap into some primordial ooze made of my teenage angst that lurks in my brain.

I hear what you mean, some of the tracks on that Palmbomen II album..er..12" collection..er..whatever you want to call it are like musical prions.

[Jaguar018]

Funnily I like a Papercuts song called Unavailable and always meant to check them out properly.

Btw I didn't put it in my end of year because I thought it was last year since it's says 2017 on the sleeve but I think it came out in Jan but did you hear The Green Child? I thought it would be up your street, it's a brilliant record and right up there for me this year.

I own and enjoy The Green Child for sure. Glad to hear Papercuts has crossed your radar. That guy has been playing for a while now and he has written some gems. “Unavailable” is one of their best!

I hear what you mean, some of the tracks on that Palmbomen II album..er..12" collection..er..whatever you want to call it are like musical prions.

You should watch the videos he makes. They blow my mind with their vibe. I really like that main ‘hit’ Khraungbin song too.

[sammynb]

2) Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever-Hope Dawns

If you haven’t heard Talking Straighthttps://youtu.be/Zj5tH-6vNKY
yet, you’re missing out. The rest of the album has a similar post punk guitar pop thing going on. It sounds simple, like Alvvays, but the arrangements are smart (like Alvvays) and the fact that there are three singers adds a bit of variety.

Thanks for this. Somehow I had missed RBCF.
They are like the Go-Betweens reincarnated, great stuff.

[s_mcsleazy]

2018 was a weird one for me musically since i didnt have internet for most of it. so it was mainly catchups for me. weirdly most the new albums i enjoyed this year had a math-rock vibe. i cant put them in any real order but here's some of the albums i enjoyed.

memory lame - giraffes? giraffes!
effloresce - covet
animals acoustic - this town needs guns

[MechaBulletBill]

Uhhh Sleep - The Sciences

[crazypaws]

I thought Stephen Malkmus had a good release this year.

[wproffitt]

I thought Stephen Malkmus had a good release this year.

“Middle America” was a pretty good track!

I’d also like to add, in a 90s-rock vein:

Lush, by Snail Mail.
This is a really strong effort. Lindsey Jordan knows how to write a song! Her guitar skills are legit and it all hangs together nicely. Some of the tracks remind me a bit of Pavement or Land of Talk. Standouts are “Pristine” and “Heatwave”. Check it! It doesn’t hurt that she went to my wife’s high school (about 23 years later ) and lives in the town where I now reside, either!