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Album of 2018


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River Whyless gave me one of my greatest ever live music experiences - played in front of eight people at 1am in a bar giving out free whisky - and I've followed them since their debut.   Their last album did absolutely nothing for me, but their new one, Kindness, A Rebel is a great return to form.  Sounds a bit like the Be Good Tanyas if Paul Simon was on vocals.

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That ex:re album is really good, will need another few listens before deciding if it’s top 10 material though....

dont really have an order but these are my favourites from the year...

Gary War - Gaz Forth

Khruangbin - Con Todo El Mundo

Tal National - Tantabara

Mamuthones - Fear on the Corner

Low - Double Negative

Gwenno - Le Cov

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/Atropis 

Chris Carter - Chemistry Lessons vol.1

Ceephax - Camelot Arcade 

 

 

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I'm not overly convinced that this year is as strong as last year for album releases. Still some really good stuff around but a couple of bigger acts disappointed me a little.

My favourite this year was Cusp by Alela Diane. Her voice has never sounded better and her songwriting on the album has a really intense emotional power.

Other strong albums this year:

Anna Burch - Quit The Curse, The Beths - Future Me Hates Me, Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel, Goat Girl - Goat Girl, Mattiel - Mattiel, The Orielles - Silver Dollar Moment, Snail Mail - Lush and Soccer Mommy - Clean

From an americana and alt folk perspective I'd also add:

Carter Sampson - Lucky, Colter Wall - Songs of the Plains, Courtney Marie Andrews - May Your Kindness Remain, Dawn Landes - Meet Me At The River, Dean Owens - Southern Wind, Erin Rae - Puttin' On Airs, I'm With Her - See You Around, Jess Williamson - Cosmic Wink, Laura Veirs - The Lookout, Lera Lynn - Plays Well With Others, Lindsay Lou and the Flat Bellys - Southland, Nathan Bell - Loves Bones and Stars, Sam Morrow - Concrete and Mud and Sarah Shook and the Disarmers - Years.

I thought that The Beeders album 'All Nerve' was decent enough but it isnt up there with their strongest. Same for 'Dove' by Belly - there's nothing on that album that stands up to the best tracks on either Star or King. The Decemberists' latest is a good album but it isnt a Decemberists album for me. Stand alone it's a good listen but it doesnt stand up to their back catalogue because it's a bit of a change from those albums. Cat Power's album 'Wanderer' is also decent.

A couple of real disappointments this year. Lindi Ortega's album 'Liberty' just doesnt do it for me. I saw her live earlier in the year and it was just horrible hearing her struggling to hit strong top notes in her singing. Maybe an off night but the album doesnt really gave me hope that she's still got enough about her. I'm also a bit underwhelmed by the Neko Case album. I'm pissed off with Neko in general given her lack of Scottish gigs for a good number of years now. I just don't think the new album stands up compared to how good she can be. I know I'm in the minority in that opinion as she's done really well in the music press end of year lists. First couple of listens didnt really grab me.

I'm sure Milk Carton Kids would be on the best of list but I won't get the album until Christmas.

Re-issue of the year has to be Liz Phair. I'm getting the Girlysound to Guyville box set for Christmas. The box set itself isnt the best of packages. The album covers aren't particularly well printed or finished and the book is really poorly printed. It's basically the print quality of Private Eye or the old non-glossy issues of Viz. I expected something with a glossy cover and better printing/proper binding. That said, the album is outstanding and the demos are worth having. Whip Smart is also excellent and deserves as much praise as her debut. 

Breeders re-issues are also great. I'd like to pick up the Bobbi Gentry box set at some point but that'll be a 2019 purchase.

Live shows? Best I've seen this year - and also one of the best I've ever seen - was Molly Tuttle playing the Mitchell Theatre for Celtic Connections. It was a late announcement so all my mates went to Shelby Lynne and Alison Moorer. They missed a genuinely prodigious talent. Tuttle's guitar playing is exceptional and she matches that with a very good voice and solid song writing. I also thought that the Belly gig was really excellent. 24 hours after the O2 fire and after frantically searching for another venue, the band treated us to an absolutely storming show at The Garage. Gail Greenwood is a force of nature on bass. Breeders in Edinburgh didnt disappoint, even if I hate the venue, and Pip Blom in support was a great find.  Add in fantastic gigs by Mandolin Orange, Kathryn Williams, Lindsay Lou, Caroline Spence, Handsome Family, Damien Jurado, Courtney Marie Andrews, Anna Burch, Carter Sampson, Erin Rae,  Joan Shelley and Ian Felice . It's been a good year for live music.  I had tickets for a couple of gigs I didnt make in the end - JD McPherson would have been good and I regret missing Laura Veirs to try to recover from a cold enough to attend Lindi Ortega (who was terrible). I also wish I'd got tickets for The Orielles and for Jess Williamson. I was seriously disappointed with Jessica Lea Mayfield live. I actually worried about her mental health given how erratic she was on stage. Given that she's coming out of a physically abusive relationship she's understandably messed up a bit but that live performance wasn't great and she looked pretty manic on stage.

Roll on 2019, although I'm already pissed off with how unambitious and unimaginative the Celtic Connections line up is.

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On ‎07‎/‎12‎/‎2018 at 01:35, pantene proV said:

Brutalism was last year 

My bad, I meant Joy as an Act of Resistance! No idea why I said Brutalism considering I've been listening to their new album non stop, haha boody eeegit!

 

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I think my favourite album of the year was probably Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino. It has been on near repeat since it was released.

Others I've enjoyed:

Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel

Kamasi Washington - Heaven & Earth

Coyle Girelli - Love Kills

Mitski - Be The Cowboy

Father John Misty - God's Favourite Customer

Marlon Williams - Make Way For Love

Caroline Rose - LONER

St Vincent - MassEducation

 

Struggled to really get into releases from Julia Holter, Leon Bridges, Jon Hopkins, Parquet Courts, and Janelle Monae. But I'll try and give them another listen soon.

Downloaded the 2018 releases from Khruangbin, Jack White, Christine & The Queens, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Nils Frahm, and Young Fathers. Got a train journey to Inverness on Tuesday to work through some of them.

As usual, this edition of this particular thread has proved very useful in finding new music!

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Pretty underwhelming year, but my top ten that I compiled for another site I use is as follows:

1. The Beths - Future Me Hates Me

2. Lonnie Holley - MITH

3. Goat Girl - Goat Girl

4. Traveller - Western Movies

5. Kyle Craft - Full Circle Nightmare

6. Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel (the fact that this one is so high up is indicative of how I really feel about the year)

7. The Blind Suns - Offshore

8. Bat Fangs - Bat Fangs

9. River Whyless - Kindness, A Rebel

10. Cut Worms - Hollow Ground

Honestly, everything between 6 and 10 falls could be interchanged.  Most of this year's music falls into the like-but-not-love category, and I listen to far more of my 2017 top 10 than I do any of these.  The top three are genuinely excellent, though.

Mentions in dispatches to: Remember Sports, Hinds, Wussy and Caleb Caudle

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Agreed with others about this year not being a great year for new releases. Made a playlist of my top 50, and there isn't a lot of properly great records there, unlike last year.

My top 10 is:

1. The Fratellis - In Your Own Sweet Time

2. Kathryn Joseph - From When I Wake The Want Is

3. White Denim - Performance

4. Death Cab For Cutie - Thank You For Today

5. The Dead Tongues - Unsung Passage

6. The Milk Carton Kids - All The Things That I Did and All The Things That I Didn't Do

7. The Beths - Future Me Hates Me

8. Hookworms - Microshift

9. Sons Of Bill - Oh God Ma'am

10. Harrison Whitford - Afraid Of Everything

Ruston Kelly, The 1975 and Ex:Re could probably have been included in that as well.

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Slightly off topic, but related....I guess. Was reading the P4K top 100 tracks of the year list that just dropped. Thought of doing a short review of each track after a listen...would it be overly annoying to stick in here? Should I start a new thread? 

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Confidence Man - Confident Music For Confident People.

A whacky, funky number which is so, so different to all the stale, modern **** that gets peddled around on the charts.  Would recommend seeing these guys live - they are really weird, but you can't stop watching.  For you FIFA 19 connoisseurs, Out the Window is one of their songs on this album! 

Brilliant music on a night out/after party. Gets people dancing! 

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On 12/10/2018 at 21:57, yoda said:

Downloaded the 2018 releases from Khruangbin, Jack White, Christine & The Queens, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Nils Frahm, and Young Fathers. Got a train journey to Inverness on Tuesday to work through some of them.

Khruangbin's effort was quite chilled out. Think I'll stick it on again soon.

Enjoyed Christine & The Queens' Chris more than I anticipated. A decent album without being terrific.

Jack White :lol: What a fucking mess. Just awful. I see what he's trying to do but he's disappeared up his own arse and this is just awful. 

 

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An EP rather than an album but the boygenius record has ended up being a big part of my listening this year and by association Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus.

It's been ages since I've really got into a 'new' band so to speak but I've really enjoyed the Pale Waves record. Big fan of the Soccer Mommy and Snail Mail albums too.

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My list in no particular order...

Uada - Cult of a Dying Sun
Zeal & Ardor - Stranger Fruit
Khemmis - Desolation
Architects - Holy Hell
Turnstile - Space & Time
Ihsahn - Àmr
Bury Tomorrow - Black Flame
Behemoth - I Loved You At Your Darkest
Nervus - Everything Dies
Amorphis - Queen of Time
Rivers of Nihil - Where Owls Know My Name
Anaal Nathrakh - A New Kind of Horror
Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
Primordial - Exile Among the Ruins
At The Gates - To Drink From the Night Itself
A Perfect Circle - Eat the Elephant
Lik - Carnage
Vola - Applause of a Distant Crowd
Skeletal Remains - Devouring Mortality
Harakiri for the Sky – Arson

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