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Best albums released so far this year?
What do you guys think are the best albums released so far this year? Obviously this is subjective, I'd just like to hear some of your opinions :-)
My favourites out of the ones I can remember are:
- Kids See Ghosts by Kids See Ghosts
- Egg on face. Foot in mouth. Wriggling Wriggling Wriggling. by Crywank
- Moe Moe by Moe Shop
- Little Dark Age by MGMT
- Veteran by JPEGMAFIA
I'm probably missing something but that's off the top of my head
Nice, I'll check those out sometime.
If you do (and if anyone else here listened to one of those because of my post) pleaaase tell me what you think, and if you've got recommendations that kind of fit with these albums :)
The Wonder Years — Sister Cities
State Champs — Living Proof (hated them before, they did an awesome turnaround)
Speak Low If You Speak Love — Nearsighted
EDIT:
OH MY GOD AND I CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT WORLDS GREATEST DAD^^(sic). They're so fun, and for a debut Get Well Soon is a masterpiece.
And don't forget about Waterparks' Entertainment, which was great.
And Queen of Jeans' Dig Yourself was fantastic, too.
Will update as I think them through more.
(I'm forgetting some, so will update in the morning with them because it's 5am here.)
Where do you stand on the older Wonder Years albums?
They were honestly one of my favorite bands for a good number of years, but I'm really conflicted on the change of direction with No Closer to Heaven and Sister Cities. Not that they're bad records by any stretch, but they lack what made the original 'trilogy' so unique, I think.
I absolutely LOVED NCTH, but Sister Cities has some way weaker parts, in my opinion.
I loved Get Stoked On It! and just relistened to The Upsides yesterday when I was feeling a bit down; absolutely the AOTY when it came out and hasn't aged poorly at all. Suburbia is wonderful, too, albeit I end up listening to it less just because it takes a really particular sort of mood for me to like the opening of it. The Greatest Generation I still love, but I'd say the least out of all of them? Or tied with Sister Cities.
The highs were wonderful, but the lows were way lower than anything on GSOI-Suburbia; and fairly lower than NCTH.
Overall, I'd say they're getting more bipolar quality-wise as time goes on. I'd really recommend relistening to NCTH and Sister Cities when you get the chance, though. Some of the songs are boring but others are some of the best that TWY's ever done.
Well said. I think what it is for me is that on the first three (not counting GSOI as the band seems to have disowned that one, lol) their biggest strength was Soupy's writing and how he brought it to this weirdly personal level that nobody else can capture the same way. For the most part they're slammin' albums to throw on in the car in the middle of the night and just scream the words to.
100% get that the band wants to mature into more than just pop-punk, but I dunno. The Greatest Generation was a perfect way to do that (their peak imo), sort of bridges their old and new sounds. And the thing is at a technical level they keep getting better and better, some of the stuff on Sister Cities is more complex than they've ever taken on, Soupy's voice still sounds amazing, etc. Still, there's just something thematic or tone-wise or something that doesn't click, you know?
Mhm, they've definitely changed a fair bit; they aren't quite the Suburban band they were before. Have you given Sister Cities a listen in full yet? There's closure to Dismantling Summer in it.
Lyrically I'm in love with NCTH and SS, but it's different in the most odd way. It's less to the audience and more to themselves or against someone.
I listened to it a couple times, hoping it will grow on me. I hear the first three records as very solidly "me" albums- meaning Soupy wrote about his own direct emotions/problems. Especially in pop punk, listeners LOVE to be able to self-insert into the lyrics, and it worked really well for TWY.
Most of the last two albums are "you" songs, not about himself but a dead friend, his wife, etc. Sister Cities has a bunch of vignettes about people they encountered while traveling. It's conceptually really really neat, but it's a different effect. It's divisive though, a lot of people think it's either their best or worst album.
Love to see the pop punk love!
As for Wonder Years both I like the old and the new. For different reasons over all the older is more my style but you can't make a career out of it. Looks at the bands that kept the same thing going, nfg and blink. A bunch of 40 somthings playing pop punk is kinda odd.
My recent album has been hot mulligan, pilot recommend checking it out!
Thanks, I'll check those out :-)
I updated with a few sleeper albums that I didn't hype into instant recall in my brain, too! Hope you enjoy! And thanks for making this thread; it's been great!
Easy. The new Interpol album that isn't even out yet.
SOPHIE's "OIL OF EVERY PEARL'S UN-INSIDES"
Oneohtrix Point Never's "Age Of"
Good month to be a fan of aural textural experimentation royalty. I haven't heard it yet, but I'm also interested in checking out Jon Hopkins' "Singularity" at some point.
Ahaha, both of those are on my best of list this year too. I can't get enough of OIL.
Vyva Melinkolya - Vyva Melinkolya
Kids See Ghosts - Kids See Ghosts
US Girls - In a Poem Unlimited
Anna von Hausswolff - Dead Magic
Saba - Care For Me
Though in all honesty, I've only been really excited by the first two...and even then, KSG seems a bit like something to enjoy in the moment then it'll fade a bit. Vyva, on the other hand, is the best shoegaze album in years and years with the possible exceptions of the Slowdive and mbv comeback records.
This year has been extremely weak imo, especially as a hip hop fan.
Pusha T - Daytona
Something of a basic choice, but for an EP masquerading as an album, this is fantastic. Every instrumental is curious and dark, while Push brings some of his strongest bars ever and delivering a seemingly endless supply of subliminal disses.
Jean Grae & Quelle Chris - Everything's Fine
What a good concept for an album. That's really all I can say. Every verse is at least very funny, and most are insightful, clever, and impressive. Chris did a great job on the production side, balancing the distortion and clarity well.
as an old music head i'm so out of touch with up and coming music these days.
any tips on how to find new good music on the rise?
fan of punk, thrash, indie, electronic, rock, folk
Oh, thank god, I just read this whole list and did not know one band or song mentioned! I like everything on your list except for Folk. Never heard any that I could get into. I also love what we called Alternative.
Spotify is actually a damn good resource for finding new tunes. Make an account and listen to your tunes for a while and it'll recommend existing music similar to your tastes, as well as a playlist for discovering new artists.
Every Noise At Once is a real neat site where you can input a band you like, it'll show all of its genres on screen, and you can click a genre to see more bands under that genre, with a song preview upon clicking a band name. As far as recommendations go, if you can stand Pop Punk, The Story So Far's Self Titled album is killer. How You Are, Heavy Gloom, and Solo are great tracks off that album
Superorganism - Superorganism
Not my album of the year, but very fun and decent. Excited for more.
Played best with the windows down while driving:
iceage - Beyondless
Amen Dunes - Freedom
Best while working:
The Cyclist - Beat at the Heart of the City
Best pick me up, and surprising brilliance:
Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour
I think God's Favorite Customer by Father John Misty is amazing. Especially the track Mr. Tillman.
The overall feel of this album has kept me away. I know it's great, but I just can't find the right mood to give it a listen.
I hear ya. I think this is the first album post divorce so the mood is in a different place than it has been on his earlier works.
Ha. I have no idea about my best albums of 2018 yet. I'm still waiting for something to surpass my favourite album from last year.
Qualia by Andrew Weatherall hasn't been topped yet for me.
Bon Voyage by Melody's Echo Chamber, at least so far. It has only been out for a few days, and I'd even admit that it's a bit uneven(the first half is a fair bit stronger than the second) but I absolutely love the songwriting and performances.
I just finished listening to Zeal & Ardor's new release Stranger Fruit. He mixes black metal and traditional gospel, its fantastic if you like that sort of stuff.
These are my big 4 for this tear so far, off the top of my head. This year is kind of lacking for me so far, but I haven't been listening to a ridiculous amount from this year in general.
I've really enjoyed Unknown Mortal Orchestra's 'Sex and Food' - it doesn't have a strong standout single like 'Multi-Love', or 'So Good At Being In Trouble', but the album flows really cohesively. Pop-wise, I enjoyed Charlie Puth's 'Voicenotes' a fair bit. Sure, there are some filler tracks in between the bops, but it holds its own and really showcases what Puth can do when it comes to writing what he wants.
Damien Jurado - The Horizon Just Laughed is my overall favorite. I've followed his career from the time before he went solo, and I've loved almost everything he's put out.
Jon Hopkins - Singularity
Not as great as his previous album, Immunity, but still incredible sound design