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Best New Albums Of 2018

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

Previous topic - Next topic

the ouch cube

Clutch have never been rubbish, but 'Earth Rocker' and 'Psychic Warfare' were a bit meat and potatoes. Haven't heard the new one.

BeardFaceMan

Did I get into Clutch at the right time then? Only discovered them around Earth Rcoker and thought that and the 2 after it were quality stuff. Whqts tye next album of theirs I should try.

Another vote for Therapy?'s Cleave too, I'd put it in my top 3 albums of theirs of all time, its fucking great.

Kane Jones

Quote from: alan nagsworth on December 14, 2018, 08:13:44 PM
saying there's been no good new music this year is the equivalent of one of those dads who's like "there's no bloody good rock bands these days, you know REAL music" on youtube videos of some dogshit quality Queen upload with misspelled lyrics

Agreed.

Can't be arsed to write about them, but here are my top 40 albums of the year.

TOP 10
Leifur James - A Louder Silence
Go March - II
Jacco Gardner - Somnium
Jon Hopkins - Singularity
Spiralmaze - Dunes Of Dorlmeus
Cavern Of Anti-Matter - Hormone Lemonade
Kl(aüs) - Kl(aüs)
Anna Von Hausswolff - Dead Magic
Bjørn Torske - Byen
Ghost - Prequelle

TOP 20
Head Technician - Profane Architecture
Roland Sebastian Faber - RSF
Hookworms - Microshift
Nosound - Allow Yourself
Thousand Foot Whale Claw - Black Hole Party
Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - Wasteland
Steve Hauschildt - Dissolvi
Steven Wilson - Home Invasion: In Concert At The Royal Albert Hall
Phosphorescent - C'est La Vie
Klaus Schulze - Silhouettes

TOP 30
John Grant - Love Is Magic
GoGo Penguin - A Humdrum Star
Ceephax - Camelot Arcade
Phil France - Circle
Maribou State - Kingdoms In Colour
Jean Michel Jarre - Equinoxe Infinity
Chris Liebing & Ralf Hildenbeutel - Burn Slow
Gigi Masin - KITE
Nils Frahm - All Melody
Airsculpture - Travelling Light 

TOP 40
Dead Can Dance - Dionysus
Ross From Friends - Family Portrait
Menace Beach - Black Rainbow Sound
The Advisory Circle - Ways Of Seeing
Szun Waves - New Hymn To Freedom
Cremation Lily - In England Now, Underwater
Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids - An Angel Fell
Helios - Veriditas
The Field - Infinite Moment
Beautify Junkyards - The Invisible World Of Beautify Junkyards

easytarget


Quote from: the ouch cube on December 16, 2018, 06:19:00 PM
Clutch have never been rubbish
Not by an ordinary band's standards but for Clutch - Robot Hive, Beal Street and Strange Cousins are rubbish.

Quote from: BeardFaceMan on December 16, 2018, 07:53:13 PM
Did I get into Clutch at the right time then? Only discovered them around Earth Rcoker and thought that and the 2 after it were quality stuff. Whqts tye next album of theirs I should try.

They've done loads of good records but Elephant Riders is where they make the jump from great to amazing.

mrpupkin

My favourite this year was Deportation Blues by BC Camplight, a really unique pop album that's distinctly woozy and of the night, with some wonderfully written songs and moments of utter beauty. Also a great story behind it about channelling despair over a shit situation (i.e. being deported) into art. I really love it, it's been my companion through a rough time this year and I'm eternally grateful to the guy for making it. I would love for this post to inspire someone to give it a go and end up loving it too.

SteveDave

Quote from: mrpupkin on December 17, 2018, 04:25:21 PM
My favourite this year was Deportation Blues by BC Camplight, a really unique pop album that's distinctly woozy and of the night, with some wonderfully written songs and moments of utter beauty. Also a great story behind it about channelling despair over a shit situation (i.e. being deported) into art. I really love it, it's been my companion through a rough time this year and I'm eternally grateful to the guy for making it. I would love for this post to inspire someone to give it a go and end up loving it too.

I've been bought this for Cmas and am looking forward to hearing the songs I've not heard Marc fucking Riley play.

alan nagsworth

Quote from: Z on December 15, 2018, 09:29:07 AM
Plenty of good music, fuck all good albums.

Do albums even make sense anymore? I've no clue how a 20 year old who has never bought an album in their life approaches new music beyond automatically generated playlists.

Just because you think everyone's bumping mumblerap weekly hits playlists doesn't mean there aren't tons of kids discovering new or old music in album form and absorbing it in its entirety. I saw Mac Demarco and Death Grips play within the last 12 months and both crowds were chock full of kids around the 18-25 mark going apeshit/singing along to every song. Those kids are listening to albums. In fact, even trap - arguably the most popular type of music listened to by the yutes on the street today - is getting heavy album rotation. This year alone, Playboy Carti, Travis Scott and Cardi B have all released extremely well received full-lengths. So shove it grandpa.

Z

Quote from: alan nagsworth on December 17, 2018, 05:25:33 PM
Just because you think everyone's bumping mumblerap weekly hits playlists doesn't mean there aren't tons of kids discovering new or old music in album form and absorbing it in its entirety. I saw Mac Demarco and Death Grips play within the last 12 months and both crowds were chock full of kids around the 18-25 mark going apeshit/singing along to every song. Those kids are listening to albums. In fact, even trap - arguably the most popular type of music listened to by the yutes on the street today - is getting heavy album rotation. This year alone, Playboy Carti, Travis Scott and Cardi B have all released extremely well received full-lengths. So shove it grandpa.
What makes you think they're discovering those acts in album form? I didn't say they weren't listening to any albums, it'd be a bit weird to not bother listening to Mac DeMarco's three albums when you're paying 35 pound to see him, just that the role of albums is quite muddled and uncertain at the moment.

Hasn't trap got a bit of a running issue in the form of deliberately long albums to manipulate streaming services? Rodeo is the only trap album I can think of that comes close to working; Young Thug and Future probably could have made good albums, but they didn't seem to show much interest in trying and it worked out pretty well for them.

purlieu

I think there's definitely an age range for whom the album is less important, certainly if we're talking about mainstream music (pop artists these days seem to rack up a significant number of singles before releasing anything, and plenty of singles from each album); for what you might call 'legacy' pop artists, albums still seem to play a big part - from Madonna to Britney, singles barely chart these days, but albums still do very well.

Although I don't bother with it anymore, the vaporwave scene introduced me to a lot of teenagers with broad taste, and they all listened to albums. And although individual sales may be down, according to Discogs listings, the number of albums released continues to rise: there are already 100,000 more albums released this decade than the previous, and we've still got a year to go. So, much like the CD, the album as a format is holding on far more than some might think.

Pauline Walnuts

#69
Quote from: purlieu on December 18, 2018, 04:20:37 PM

Although I don't bother with it anymore, the vaporwave scene introduced me to a lot of teenagers with broad taste,

Hanging around the school gates with copies of Floral Shoppe again?

-I'm making a cheap joke about a deliberate misunderstanding purlieu for humouous reasons, and I am in no leagal way saying that I think purlieu is kiddy-fiddler

Howj Begg

Julia Holter- Aviary. It's ace.

sevendaughters

Scorpion by Drake broke streaming records
it was also the lowest-selling US #1 LP of all time
invariably some of those streamers will be picking and choosing the top tracks
some won't
the album feels part of the pre-poptimist era in some respects
but some artists feel, like cricketers with test matches, it is the real place where one's validity and mettle is tested
albums are also an efficient way to produce material for busy artists
so i think they're here to stay
especially as videos
remain online and in the tv margins
don't know why i formatted it like this
my other posts seem to get skimmed though

buttgammon

My two standouts of the year are Constant Image by Flasher and Powerhouse by Planningtorock, two opposite ends of the scale in a lot of ways but two really fun albums that are strangely topical.

alan nagsworth

Quote from: sevendaughters on December 18, 2018, 05:00:40 PM
Scorpion by Drake broke streaming records
it was also the lowest-selling US #1 LP of all time
invariably some of those streamers will be picking and choosing the top tracks
some won't
the album feels part of the pre-poptimist era in some respects
but some artists feel, like cricketers with test matches, it is the real place where one's validity and mettle is tested
albums are also an efficient way to produce material for busy artists
so i think they're here to stay
especially as videos
remain online and in the tv margins
don't know why i formatted it like this
my other posts seem to get skimmed though

I always read your posts, I think you have good taste.

Quote from: purlieu on December 18, 2018, 04:20:37 PM
I think there's definitely an age range for whom the album is less important, certainly if we're talking about mainstream music (pop artists these days seem to rack up a significant number of singles before releasing anything, and plenty of singles from each album); for what you might call 'legacy' pop artists, albums still seem to play a big part - from Madonna to Britney, singles barely chart these days, but albums still do very well.

Is it just me, or are pop albums these days far more consistent, even if there are a large number of singles/teaser tracks that precede them? Kesha, Ariana Grande and Christina Aguilera all spring to mind as artists whose most recent albums were pretty much solid throughout.

Personally speaking, aside from the 8-hour playlist of handpicked pop bangers I created on Spotify, I find any notion of playlist culture bewildering, as I almost never want to listen to one individual song of any particular artist and then move on to something else. I'm pleased that my attention span has stretched out again in the past year or so, but broadly speaking I'm an album listener through and through. An album's a fuckin' journey, man.

Crabwalk

#74
MY FAVOURITE ALBUMS OF 2018


Mildlife - Phase
Space jazz, krautrock and funk intertwine beautifully
Track: The Magnificent Moon


Olden Yolk - Olden Yolk
Somewhere between Pentangle, The Soundcarriers and Neu!, but not really like any. Amazing songs.
Track: Vital Sign


Arp Frique - Welcome to the Colourful World of Arp Frique
Named in tribute to the Arp synth and 'Le Freak', an album of funky Afrobeat bangers. Orlando Julius plays on it so you know it's for real.
Track: Living in the Box (feat. Ed Motta)


Tropical Fuck Storm - A Laughing Death in Meatspace
Lives up to the cover and title. Messy, scary, funny, fucking ace.
Track: You Let My Tyres Down


DJ Khalab - Black Noise 2084
I am in no way equipped to describe this album, but it's an incredible mix of beats, electronics and field recordings that bends notions of past and present music, heritage and the future. See, I've made it sound wank. Some great guests on it though, such as Moses Boyd and Shabaka Hutchings
Track: Yaka Muziek


Gruff Rhys - Babelsberg
I think it's his second best solo outing after 'Hotel Shampoo', mixing sharp and accurately misanthropic observations on our plight today with his trademark charm and melodious gifts.
Track: Limited Edition Heart


The Orielles - Silver Dollar Moment
I've got no problem with young bands sounding like a host of older bands (The Pastels, Orange Juice, Kenickie etc) if they play with such joy and their songs are this good.
Track: Let Your Dog Tooth Grow


Melody's Echo Chamber - Bon Voyage
Look up what she went through to produce this schizoid, unshackled, psych-pop gem.
Track: Breathe In, Breathe Out


Nu Guinea - Nuova Napoli
After Fitness Forever's masterpiece from last year, here's another incredible album of Neopolitan space disco to spoil us.
Track: Parav' Ajere


Paul White - Rejuvenate
This is an endlessly enjoyable album, blending hazy beats, soul, R&B and ambient sounds. He's a brilliant producer.
Track: Spare Gold (feat. Shungudzo)


A FEW FAVOURITE TRACKS FROM EPs, Reissues, Album Tracks etc...

Basa Basa - Homowo (reissue)
Connan Mockasin - Charlotte's Thong
Cotonete - Layla
Domenico Lancellotti - Shanti Luz
Mark Renner - Half a Heart (reissue)
Gönül Yazar - Sen Bir Yana (from 'Turkish Ladies' comp)
Mildlife - Phase II
Lost Gringos - Tambo Machay (from 'Uneven Paths' comp)
Peter Zummo - Song II: Right;Off the Beat (reissue)
Petite Noir - Blame Fire
Virginia Wing - Eight Hours Don't Make a Day

iamcoop

That Tropical fuck storm album is amazing! Thanks for the heads up, I'd never heard of them!

Crabwalk

You're welcome. It really is superb. Hoping to see them live next year at some point.

non capisco

Quote from: iamcoop on December 21, 2018, 01:36:02 AM
That Tropical fuck storm album is amazing! Thanks for the heads up, I'd never heard of them!

Gareth Liddiard and Fiona Kitschin from Tropical Fuck Storm used to be in another band The Drones (oooh, topical etc.) who you should definitely check out as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OkgaCRII7I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvFKQrlaIfg

I could bore professionally (and probably have on here already) about my towering, undimming love for 'Shark Fin Blues' by The Drones.

Liddiard recently produced a record by Batpiss called 'Rest In Piss' which is also pretty banging.

Crabwalk

^Listen to this man. He schooled me on TFS.

Kane Jones

That Mildlife album is fucking superb, Crabbers. Thanks for introducing it to me.

purlieu

The Future Sound of London - From the Archives Vol. 9
Given that some tracks in here are very recent sessions, the 'archives' seem to have caught up with the modern day, with older tracks given drastic overhauls. FSOL are possibly more prolific than Aphex, so there are countless gems that didn't make 'proper' albums for time or style purposes. Opener 'Ocea' is a career highlight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZXsk-PIB1g

Chvrches - Love is Dead
This one took a while to grow on me, after initial disappointment. It's still not quite as strong as their first two (there's no need for trap beats in a Chvrches song, nor dull instrumental interludes on a Chvrches album), but a couple of months back I ended up playing it on repeat and most of the songs became lodged in my head.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHUKKrcXfJs

Simple Minds - Walk Between Worlds
Their best album since Sparkle in the Rain. Not a band song on here, and a lot of very good ones. Robotic drums and wistful melodies recall their early highlights.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xD4jZQqTa4A

Orbital - Monsters Exist
It's hard for me to judge this, as I can't separate the 'main' album from the 3CD deluxe edition, which has a few of the set's highlights. Nevertheless, a couple of clunkers aside, the standard album is bloody excellent, with the Hartnolls expanding their horizons after a few poppy albums, and a couple of classic Orbital bangers in there. Some of the tracks are too bloody short (Paul's conviction that nobody listens to long tracks these days proved wrong by 'too short' being the biggest criticism of this and the last album), but almost all are strong.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H1-kD2Q05c

Abul Mogard - Above All Dreams
Gorgeous, immersive synth ambience. 'Upon the Smallish Circulation' is awe-inspiringly vast.
https://abulmogard.bandcamp.com/album/above-all-dreams

Dead Can Dance - Dionysus
Snappy, energetic, hugely atmospheric, soul-enrichingly beautiful. Although I do prefer their more medieval leaning stuff from the '80s, this immediately resonated with me - maybe my favourite DCD since 1990's Aion. The use of field recordings is always a plus for me, and although largely instrumental, this new direction suits them well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YsC32xLnkY

The Future Sound of London - My Kingdom Re-Imagined
The new versions of 'My Kingdom' are surprisingly strong - I'm not a huge fan of 'revisited' projects - and the new tracks are uniformly beautiful. The blend of newer and older sounds jars a little, though, keeping this that step short of greatness that I was hoping for.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bce-ZPQ_lxA

Neotropic - The Absolute Everywhere
Riz Maslen's first album in almost a decade, and well worth the wait. An epic, dramatically orchestrated work of far-reaching anti-war hymns punctuated by occasional near-industrial beats.
https://slowcraft.bandcamp.com/album/the-absolute-elsewhere

Shinya Fukumori Trio - For 2 Akis
As bandleader, Fukumori takes a strangely back-seated role in this set of gorgeous miniatures for piano / sax / drums. The hugely melodic compositions are driven by Walter Lang, with Matthieu Bordenave providing excellent improvised leads over the top. Fukumori, however, rarely provides a pulse, instead using his kit to provide texture and atmosphere as much as rhythm (think the 'setting up kit' playing on Talk Talk's 'Myrrhman'.) Striking and memorable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRA0xM9szIw

Cleaners From Venus - Star Cafe
This is probably my favourite set of songs since Martin Newell went DIY and reverted to his Cleaners name eight years ago. Promoted as a musical and re-setting of Cinderella, the album sets plenty of stories to song in Newell's witty and hugely melodic style, ranging from the hilarious music hall of 'Dressed Like That' to the classic Cleaners pop of 'Juliet on a Bicycle'.
https://thecleanersfromvenus.bandcamp.com/album/star-cafe

Tord Gustavsen Trio - The Other Side
Originals and arrangements of folk pieces and Bach compositions by this piano-led trio.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myEZbQGqo9A

Ambidextrous - Echoes of Science
Epic sweeping IDM with some Tangerine Dream-style soloing. Stunning.
https://fantasyenhancing1.bandcamp.com/album/echoes-of-science

Domiziano Maselli - Ashes
Jagged shards of aching melody and thundering sound design.
https://opaltapes.com/album/ashes

Therapy? - Cleave
T? bring a surprisingly brutal affair after a disappointingly poppy single.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO5LhMSm73Y

Closing with a few I've yet to give enough time to...
Current 93 - The Light is Leaving Us All
Only given this a few spins so far, but the quiet, intimate nature is refreshingly after some intense and bleak works over the past ten years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjs0TRG9p68

Cleaners From Venus - Life in a Time Machine
Star Cafe was 18 tracks, so Martin dropping another 12 tracker in the same year as I also picked up a few of his '90s albums missing from my collection means this got very much overlooked here, although the few plays I gave it suggested great things.
https://thecleanersfromvenus.bandcamp.com/album/life-in-a-time-machine

Autechre - NTS Sessions
I haven't given elseq enough time yet, so fuck knows when I'll properly listen to this. It sounds bloody brilliant though.

The Future Sound of London - 2018 Calendar
Another wonderful track-a-month selection, including exclusives and previews of forthcoming records. The last track's yet to come in, but it's all been solid so far.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugQqR0Zdi4M

Nurse With Wound - Changez Les Blockeurs And
Steven Stapleton takes the classic New Blockaders album and feeds it through a blender, resulting in possibly the most challenging NWW album yet (which is definitely saying something). I honestly don't know what I make of this album, other than just how intimidating it is.

Off Land - Quiet Earth
Ambient versions of the dubby downtempo tracks on two recent albums (On Earth and Mineral Echoes). I've somewhat neglected my tape collection this year and thus this has been somewhat ignored. I plan on changing that in the future though. The compositions are all familiar from their original albums, however, and that's enough to recommend them as beautiful works.
https://offland.bandcamp.com/album/quiet-earth

Custard

#81
I didn't listen to nearly enough new albums this year to justify making a list, but here's some tunes that I very much did like

Kimbra - Like They Do On The TV
https://youtu.be/P7R-gn-b-8Y

Beak> - Brean Down
https://youtu.be/XCO84IFZ2zo

Janelle Monae - Make Me Feel
https://youtu.be/tGRzz0oqgUE

Superorganism - Everybody Wants To Be Famous
https://youtu.be/mJQYRzAoErc

LSD - Genius
https://youtu.be/HhoATZ1Imtw

Charlotte Gainsbourg - Lying With You
https://youtu.be/g7b6J63QHXM

Kids See Ghosts - Feel The Love
https://youtu.be/XtkW3cuMNfM

Anna Calvi - Don't Beat The Girl Out Of My Boy
https://youtu.be/rJ-CtToFsWM

Ash - Did Your Love Burn Out?
https://youtu.be/BVy_TQFZYlM

Robyn - Because It's In The Music
https://youtu.be/v6l7wDNDQI8

alan nagsworth



There it is, then, my favourite 100 albums/EPs of 2018. Even using the Topsters chart making thing and forgoing the arduous task of making a proper 1-100, this took a fair bloody while to sort out, but I figured if you're going to do something of this scale then you should make it as best you can.

As I've mentioned previously, this year has been incredible for new music, and it's been such a joy for me every day over the last few months to discover something new. This has breathed new life into my listening habits which over the last few years have become quite stale, and I've rediscovered the merits of a lot of different types of music, especially the more extreme/experimental end of things like The Body, Daughters, Eartheater, Deena Abdelwahed and KEN Mode. I'm very happy with this list.

I wish I could have discerned a little more on the top three to have crowned a proper number one spot, but all three were lacking just a little something that kept them from being faultless. Everything from 8.5 upwards is fantastic, though, without a doubt.

Dirty Boy

But... but... you said Let's Eat Grandma were rubbish!! (a couple of years ago admittedly). It's one from this year that i need to return to, i wasn't sure about their new electro-pop direction at first.

The Residents album is decent, not brilliant.

Best archival release from this year: Hermeto Pascoal - E sua visão original do forró

garbed_attic

Quote from: Dirty Boy on December 30, 2018, 06:16:59 PM
The Residents album is decent, not brilliant.

Yeh - listening to it again today. It has moments of excitement among stretches that seem to lack inspiration. I felt it inevitably missed Hardy. You need his indirect, obscure harmonies to counterbalance Homer's more direct approach to melody, I think. That said, I thought I am a Resident! was blooming brilliant. They're perverse in that way.

Very intrigued by Homer's claims of an upcoming God in Three Persons opera/ musical. Also really loved the Fingerprice Reissue.

garbed_attic

Also, thank you everyone for all your posts. I reckon we've probably got the best Best New Albums of 2018 thread going!

WestHill

My #1 = Armand Hammer - Paraffin

Another apocalyptic space-rap banger from the peerless NY MCs

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=z9qV_h0Q3YM

alan nagsworth

Quote from: Dirty Boy on December 30, 2018, 06:16:59 PM
But... but... you said Let's Eat Grandma were rubbish!! (a couple of years ago admittedly). It's one from this year that i need to return to, i wasn't sure about their new electro-pop direction at first.

Heheh, yeah, I've still got little time for their first album and would still spit at it from a distance as "CocoRosie for cunts", though I may be overly scathing there and will revisit it at some point, especially since I was so bowled over by how much I love "I'm All Ears". It really is a gorgeous thing. The CocoRosie nods are still here but it feels like they've found their own ground amongst their other peers - namely, I'd say, Grimes and Kero Kero Bonito - whilst branching out into more mature territory on the longer tracks in the album's second half. The way the album blossoms across its duration is something I'd definitely recommend going back for, if anything. Honestly, it's bloody great!

sardines

Quote from: Kane Jones on December 17, 2018, 01:53:23 PM

Cavern Of Anti-Matter - Hormone Lemonade


I've been surprised not to see this on a few more lists to the point where I was wondering if one of the band members had been involved in a Hookworms-esque controversy which passed me by.

alan nagsworth

Quote from: sardines on January 04, 2019, 09:10:06 AM
I've been surprised not to see this on a few more lists to the point where I was wondering if one of the band members had been involved in a Hookworms-esque controversy which passed me by.

I just find them very dull on record. Nowt they've done really engages me to the point where I want to ever give it a second listen. I'd go and see them perform at the drop of a hat, though, as they were incredible when I saw them play Liverpool Psych Fest a couple of years back. Absolutely danced my arse off.