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Best New Albums Of 2018

Started by jamiefairlie, November 30, 2018, 07:08:10 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

jamiefairlie

Ok, it's that time of year again and I'll kick off with these:

Faeland - All my swim    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGBhSXwUXU8

A lovely little folk-rock/pop collection that is reminiscent of Sandy Denny's softer side.

Hater - Red Blinders
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6a73POtc8o

From Malmo, Sweden, they seem to be classed as Dream Pop

Lowtide - Southern Mind    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNtLzsf2iJk

Their name sounds like Slowdive and thankfully so does their music

Modern Studies - Swell To Great      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk-zRQyjtaA

Another one with a folk-rock sound

The Essex Green - Hardly Electronic    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUQIFaYAUhE

Their first album in 12 years, you could call this slightly psych-pop in flavour

The Innocence Mission - Sun On The Square      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kesCVrL1pzc

11th album from one of the best and most consistent artists of the last 20 years.

We Are Muffy - The Charcoal Pool     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PI_X44njCmI

Featuring Nick Duffy of The Lilac Time,





mojo filters

The only new album I've been impressed by this year was the latest Spiritualized - "And Nothing Hurt" which is the best thing Jason Pierce has done since "Let It Come Down" in 2001.

I wish Belle & Sebastian had pared down their new three EPs from 15 tracks of varying quality to one coherent body of work.

To be fair, I really haven't listened to much new music this year.

DrGreggles


samadriel

I'm frustrated that 'DOVE' by Belly isn't in my list; it's okay, it just hasn't lodged in my head like their old stuff, or Tanya Donelly's solo material.

purlieu

Still waiting on three, and one album isn't complete yet (a wonderful track-a-month calendar album). But although I've been severely disappointed by a few favourite artists this year, overall it's shaped up pretty nicely. List coming in forthcoming weeks.

holyzombiejesus

I've been dreading this thread. Serge should fucking be here.

Kane Jones

Quote from: holyzombiejesus on November 30, 2018, 04:16:37 PM
I've been dreading this thread. Serge should fucking be here.

Hear, hear.

chveik

#7
top 10 so far

Anna von Hausswolff - Dead Magic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYPCpjyLDIs

Denzel Curry - TABOO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKAv7eOK2dg

Khalab - Black Noise 2084
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjKj4Cb9TK8

Ruby My Dear - Brame
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maVS3QMIBLs

Alameda 4 - Czarna Worda
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45uzCxMy60M

Koenji Hyakkei - Dhorimviskha
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eBbgkoreGY

Peter Brotzmann/Heather Leigh - Crowmoon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c0lbsFddic

Laurie Anderson/Kronos Quartet - Landfall
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlVXBxAuDGw

Puce Mary - The Drought
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKRANFv_S60

Laibach - The Sound of Music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EavTye99eZA

Best reissue: Dur-Dur Band - Dur Dur of Somalia Vol. 1 & 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsXOazMP7OU


non capisco

I'm gonna surprise approximately no cunt who knows me by saying my favourite album of the year by a country mile is 'Double Negative' by Low. Mimi and Alan throwing their beautiful voices into a pit of pulsing dissonant uneasiness in protest at a world going to shit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1z1ETYnTB7Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzMo-EpWcPA&frags=pl%2Cwn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz5ACAg_iik&frags=pl%2Cwn

alan nagsworth

I'll be back closer to the end of the year with mine, as I've been obsessively poring over as much 2018 stuff as I can get my hands on, and I may still be surprised. I've listened to and rated over 50 new releases and it has been a sensationally good year, in my opinion.

All I'll say for sure is that Earl Sweatshirt, Ty Segall and Parquet Courts are near the top spot, but I don't think anything is going to topple the three releases that I'd deem faultless, boundary pushing and remarkable beyond all else: SOPHIE, Daughters and SHXCXCHCXSH.

Oh and Idles are at the bottom of the list, closely followed by Beach House.

Head Gardener


Head Gardener

ten I like lots


Teresa Winter : What The Night is For



The Doozer : Figurines



Yves Tumor : Safe In The Hands of Love



Pram : Across The Meridian



Aurbennig : Ffordd O Fyw



Wooden Shjips : V



Haley Heynderickx : I Need To Start A Garden



Unknown Mortal Orchestra : Sex & Food



Anna Von Hauswolff : Dead Magic



Snapped Ankles : Come Play The Trees

Z

Kids see ghosts and Daytona

Sophie

jobotic

I saw Anna Von Hauswollf's dad perform once and it was amazing. They're a very different type of thing though aren't they? CM is sort of abstract electronics.

prwc

For me it's Guttersnipe - My Mother The Vent. Ultra visceral no wave/black metal tinged skronk with an abrasiveness rarely heard outside of full bore harsh noise. But the rigorously rehearsed song structures are more influenced by the likes of Captain Beefheart and Sun Ra. Probably a bit much for most listeners but if that description sounds appealing then I hope you find it as thrilling as I do.


RicoMNKN

I forced myself to get back into new music this year after years of mostly listening to old stuff, so pleased that I'm able to name ten I've enjoyed.

* Julian Cope - Skellington 3
Plays up his comic side.  Actually reminds me of Half Man Half Biscuit in places.

* Ezra Furman - Transangelic Exodus
First I heard of him, and was glad to see he's got loads of other albums to discover.

* Let's Eat Grandma - I'm All Ears
Was a bit disappointed at first as it's quite different to their first album.  I now like it more than the first one.

* Tracey Thorn - Record
A strong elecropop album that doesn't outstay its welcome.

* Go-Kart Mozart - Mozart's Mini Mart
Whilst not their best, I'm always happy for more Lawrence, and When You're Depressed is one of their best songs.

* David Byrne - American Utopia
I know people who find it  annoying, but I found it rather charming.

* Daphne and Celeste - Save The World

* Language of Prairie Dogs - The Water Boatman
They did an enjoyably weird Cyndi Lauper-meets-The Associates song about The Shining a few years back, which I liked enough to back this on Kickstarter.  If you like things like The Associates or early Tears for Fears, it's really good.

* Young Fathers - Cocoa Sugar

* Andrew WK - You're Not Alone
It's objectively a bit rubbish, but the relentless optimism cheered me up on an awful holiday, so it works!

Dirty Boy

I stupidly thought there wasn't much i'd got into this year until i sat down and made a list:

koenjihyakkei - dhorimviskha
The Gasman -  Controlled Hallucination
Julia Holter - Aviary
Anna Von Hausswolf - Dead Magic
Daughters - You Won't Get What You Want
Arabrot - Who Do You Love
Nine Inch Nails - Bad Witch
Voivod - The Wake
Uz Jsme Doma - Kry
Zevious - Lowlands
PinioL - Bran Coucou
Imperial Triumphant - Vile Luxury

It's not out until January, but i'm really looking forward to the new stuff from Lost Crowns. More greatness from the Cardiacs gene pond.

Decent releases from Anna Calvi, Bjork and Melvins, but not really super impressed by any of them to be honest.

Dirty Boy

Quote from: prwc on December 02, 2018, 11:36:58 PM
For me it's Guttersnipe - My Mother The Vent. Ultra visceral no wave/black metal tinged skronk with an abrasiveness rarely heard outside of full bore harsh noise. But the rigorously rehearsed song structures are more influenced by the likes of Captain Beefheart and Sun Ra. Probably a bit much for most listeners but if that description sounds appealing then I hope you find it as thrilling as I do.
Sounds great!

Do check out that Imperial Triumphant thing i linked as well.

SteveDave


alan nagsworth

Quote from: Dirty Boy on December 03, 2018, 01:01:30 PM
Decent releases from Anna Calvi, Bjork and Melvins, but not really super impressed by any of them to be honest.

Yeah, I thought this year's Melvins effort was pretty weak too. They're allowed to make disappointing records though, given the rate at which they make them and the amount of gold they've put out already.

I listened to the Anna Von Hausswolf album yesterday and reckon I'll give it another whirl today as I enjoyed it. There are a few experimental albums I've been checking out that have had mixed results:

Puce Mary - The Drought
I found this one fairly middling and nowhere near as hellish as other fans have noted. I wasn't fed up with it at all, but it didn't really draw that much of a reaction out of me.

The Body - I Have Fought Against It, But I Can No Longer
This one I like a lot. They're an excellent outfit and this thing really is brutal.

Yves Tumor - Safe in the Hands of Love
Am I missing something here? I'm reliably informed that their live show is one of the noisiest, most extreme things, but fuck me this album was pedestrian. I do aim to give it another listen but I just don't think I got it. I'd appreciate if someone could explain.

sevendaughters

top 15 in no order, i don't have a definite #1

Gary War - Gaz Forth
Khruangbin - Con Todo El Mundo
Tal National - Tantabara
Mamuthones - Fear On The Corner
Low - Double Negative
Gwenno - Le Kov
They Hate Change - Now and Never Again
Suede - Blue Hour
Sandro Perri - In Another Life
Aphex Twin - Collapse EP
The Necks - Body
Uniform / The Body - Mental Wounds Not Healing
Harmony Rockets - Lachesis/Clotho/Atropos
Chris Carter - Chemistry Lessons Vol. 1
Ceephax - Camelot Arcade

here's a playlist of a track from each sans Spotify refuseniks The Necks: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/260wtXegIBuKQZtqHIhsiY

twonk

MY TOP 10 SO FAR

1.Imperial Triumphant - Vile Luxury
2.Mid Air Thief - Crumbling
3.Kathryn Joseph -From When I Wake The Want Is
4.Charlie Looker - Simple Answers
5.Scott Johnson - Mind Out Of Matter
6.Traden(ex Trad Gras Och Stenar) - Traden
7.The Necks - Body
8.Bosse De Nage - Further Still
9.PinioL - Bran Coucou
10.Jim O'Rourke - Sleep Like It's Winter

Head Gardener

Quote from: alan nagsworth on December 03, 2018, 01:34:26 PM

Yves Tumor - Safe in the Hands of Love
Am I missing something here? I'm reliably informed that their live show is one of the noisiest, most extreme things, but fuck me this album was pedestrian. I do aim to give it another listen but I just don't think I got it. I'd appreciate if someone could explain.

Coke helps

purlieu

Before my top 20 albums, then, here are a few other lists:

Notable EPs & 12"s
Humanoid - 30303
Stakker Humanoid given a breakbeat makeover for its 30th anniversary, backed by two spanking two acid tracks.

Nullptr - Aftermath
Pristine melodic electro from the always reliable Central Processing Unit label. At 6 tracks, one of the best value releases they've put out.

LNS - Recons 1
Superb EP of techno and ambient from Laura Sparrow's excellent LNS project.

The Future Sound of London - Ramblings of a Madman 2
Five solid pieces as an accompaniment to the second volume of their ongoing zine series.

Favourite reissues:
Carbon Based Lifeforms - The Path & Twentythree
Blood Music fills in two of the three gaps in their CBL reissue campaign, and thankfully the band don't go back to remix them beforehand. The Path is effectively a demo album from the '90s, but many moments stand up to their 'proper' releases; Twentythree is largely beatless ambience, and not quite up there with their other records for me, but still worth owning, and great to have at a reasonable price at last.

Nurse With Wound / Aranos - Acts / Bicycle
Two of NWW's collaborations with violin player Petr Vastl - Acts of Senseless Beauty and Santoor Lena Bicycle - both of which were extremely rare and pricey before this two disc collection pieced them together at the start of the year. The former is very much in the '90s NWW electronic soundscape style, while the latter is more folky and contains some of the most ludicrous material in the NWW catalogue.

Charli XCX - Number 1 Angel / Pop 2
Charli XCX's two 2017 mixtapes given a double LP release. Could do without quite so many guest vocalists, but otherwise an immaculate set of boundary-pushing pop.

The Fires of Ork - The Fires of Ork 1 & 2
Six years on from Pete Namlook's death, and his extensive collaborative back-catalogue continues to get new reappraisals. These two Biosphere collaborations came out on Geir's own Biophon imprint as part of his ongoing reissue campaign; the first is on the techno side of ambient techno and firmly rooted in 1993, but the second is an ambient masterpiece and feels, in many ways, like a sequel to Biosphere's own Substrata.

Off Land - Blue Narration & Eventide Passage
Before moving to CD and tape releases in the past five years, Off Land's material was largely confined to digital releases, so it's great to see these two superb ambient albums get CD releases at last. The former is blissful field recording-sourced electro-acoustic ambience, the latter runs closer to microhouse in places, and was mastered by ex-Orb member Thrash.

Nurse With Wound - Sinister Whimsy to the Wretched
Another superb 2CD set from Steven Stapleton (whose self-published reissues are up there with Biosphere's in terms of quality and price), bringing together 1991's Sugar Fish Drink and 1993's Large Ladies With Cake in the Oven (themselves tying together tracks from EPs, splits and compilations). My favourite NWW material generally runs from 1979-1991, from which almost all the tracks on these compilations comes, so there are plenty of favourites here. Standard NWW krautrock-inspired noisy, whimsical experimentation.

Biosphere - The Hilvarenbeek Recordings
Originally an unofficially sanctioned four track 12" from a few years ago, this collection of field recording-based ambient pieces was expanded into an eight track album as part of Biosphere's superb reissue series. A slight release in comparison with some of his works, but beautifully textured throughout.

And the disappointments...
Dubstar - One
Three or four tracks in the second half are quite nice on here, but on the whole it's a pretty dull, forgettable set. Almost uniformly mid-tempo ballads, the album lacks the spark and memorable melodies of the band's original three. Key songwriter from their '90s lineup, Steve Hiller, left the band before they started the album, and it shows painfully: Chris Wilkie's mellow, jangly songs worked as nice foils to the energetic tracks on their earlier works, but are nowhere near interest enough to fill out an entire album.

Manic Street Preachers - Resistance is Futile
This one was both pleasantly surprising and sadly disappointing: although far more interesting than the singles suggested, the bulk of the album is still Manics-by-numbers, of the 'major key pop-rock' variety. The thick, layered, slightly electronic production is lovely, but doesn't particularly suit the material. The Wire-sung closer is nice, and 'Song for the Sadness' matches wistfulness with an unexpected bluesy riff in a really effective way, but the rest is sadly forgettable.

The Orb - No Sounds Are Out of Bounds
A few gorgeous ambient pieces near the end - epic ambient closer 'Soul Planet' does a fairly good impression of 'classic' era Orb - aside, everything here feels half finished: tracks start with some tightly programmed beats, a bassline, some daft samples, and then don't really do much else. This wouldn't be so bad if the sounds were more interesting - the loose grooves of the breakbeats sampled on their classic debut, or some of the interesting textures and samples from Orbus Terrarum - but the very precise production and uninspired 'goofy' samples make it all sound sterile, as if it's just a collection of backing tracks.

Underworld ft. Iggy Pop - Bells & Circles
Underworld provide some excellent backing tracks, only to be ruined by Iggy Pop talking over the top like a grumpy old bloke moaning about the 21st century. He can no longer smoke on aeroplanes or expect women to be ok with him indiscriminately hitting on them, so he complains about it a lot.

Zu93 - Mirror Emperor
David Tibet and Zu come together to create a surprisingly forgettable album of acid folk that really should be a lot more exciting and memorable than it is. A few moments inspire several listens, but the overall effect is very disappointing.

Aphex Twin - Collapse EP
I loved the lead single, but nothing else on this did anything for me at all. I've always preferred the 1990-1995 era of 'classic' Aphex, so perhaps that explains why I took to Syro, Cheetah and Orphaned Deejay Selek a lot more than the hyper-programming of this very percussive EP. I'm aware I am almost entirely alone in finding this one underwhelming.

SteveDave

Quote from: RicoMNKN on December 03, 2018, 12:43:46 PM

* Language of Prairie Dogs - The Water Boatman
They did an enjoyably weird Cyndi Lauper-meets-The Associates song about The Shining a few years back, which I liked enough to back this on Kickstarter.  If you like things like The Associates or early Tears for Fears, it's really good.


I've relayed your review to Matthew from Language Of Prarie Dogs and he's overjoyed with it.

norbert

#27
Quote from: alan nagsworth on December 03, 2018, 01:34:26 PM
Yves Tumor - Safe in the Hands of Love
Am I missing something here? I'm reliably informed that their live show is one of the noisiest, most extreme things, but fuck me this album was pedestrian. I do aim to give it another listen but I just don't think I got it. I'd appreciate if someone could explain.

You're not missing anything, it was pedestrian compared to his other stuff, especially Serpent Music. I think pitchfork touted it as an accessible noise record and his best, but it just fell flat for me after some genuinely great records.

Z

Quote from: RicoMNKN on December 03, 2018, 12:43:46 PM
* Let's Eat Grandma - I'm All Ears
Was a bit disappointed at first as it's quite different to their first album.  I now like it more than the first one.
This was really good actually, yeah. Like half of it is very meh but I really enjoyed the other half a lot and they pulled off a ten minute track so fair fucks to them.

Ja'moke



Pusha T - Daytona

The best hip-hop album of the year? It certainly makes a good case for itself. The first of Kanye West's "five-albums-in-five-weeks" stunt from earlier this year, Pusha T delivers some of his hardest bars of all-time over some of West's finest production. In terms of content and themes, Pusha rarely moves beyond his calling card, 'detailed drug-rap', but he does it with such flair that it's difficult to hold that against him.

"The Games We Play" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j98tczxXKtE



Mac Miller - Swimming

This album took on a whole new meaning when Mac Miller tragically died earlier this year from an accidental drug overdose at just 26-years-old. It was already a beautiful record before that; soulful, jazzy, that funky Thundercat bass, and assembled by soundtrack maestro Jon Brion. It was another step in Miller's evolution from teenage frat-rapper to experimental druggie to respected, well-rounded artist. Swimming was about surviving the shit times (the drug problems, the well-publicised break-up) and coming out the other side, he was finally fixing himself, "self-care... I'm treating meeee right." He was assuring us he was in a better place. Then a month after the record dropped he died.

"Come Back To Earth" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4ocPPhtglU



Kali Uchis - Isolation

More Thundercat production! Isolation is Kali Uchis's first studio album and it's an incredible debut. She has a smoldering voice, kind of old-school sounding, which works really well with the modern R&B production. It's just really catchy, and gave me that same feeling I had when I first heard Anderson .Paak's Malibu.

"Tyrant" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDUOLz9ZL2g



Denzel Curry - TA13OO

Loud. In your face. Dark. The bass on this thing is bone-rattling. Sometimes you just want an album to break your neck to, and Denzel Curry gives you that on TA13OO, although there is some introspective stuff peppered throughout this record too.

"SUMO" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLVaO5PFv_g



Rosalía – El Mal Querer

Maybe my favourite pop album of the year (from an artist I'd never heard of until a couple of months ago). Rosalía mixes classic flamenco music with contemporary R&B/hip-hop-inspired production. Much like the Kali Uchis album, it's just so bloody catchy, and not being able to understand Spanish doesn't affect my enjoyment at all. Her music videos are brilliant too.

"MALAMENTE" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rht7rBHuXW8



Earl Sweatshirt - Some Rap Songs

I know it only came out last week, but I haven't stopped playing it since. Earl bringing back looping as an art-form. It's short, noisy, abstract, distorted, and at times sounds like it was recorded in a toilet cubicle, but that just all adds to the atmosphere.

"Loosie" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bdoltoj_hw

Others:

Saba - Care For Me
Kids See Ghosts - Kids See Ghosts
Soccer Mommy - Clean
J.I.D. - Dicaprio 2
Metro Boomin - Not All Heroes Wear Capes
Mitski - Be the Cowboy
Rico Nasty - Nasty
Jay Rock - Redemption
Smino - Noir
Vince Staples - FM!

Plus a bunch more I'll remember later.