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Staff
Reviews 80
Soundoffs 81
News Articles 2
Band Edits + Tags 31
Album Edits 126
Album Ratings 812
Objectivity 62%
Last Active 03-02-23 8:58 pm
Joined 05-29-14
Review Comments 1,271
| 2k18
great year for music. made an effort to make this list more exclusive to things I will see myself continuously listening to in the future. hope you find something new here you can enjoy. | | 49 |  | The Weeknd
My Dear Melancholy,
It's hard to remember why Abel Tesfaye was so credited for the explosion of alternative r&b, and this serves as a reminder. Probably responsible for at least half of all uses of the word "moody" in 2011, he's gone his own way since then, always dark at his core, and this strips back all the layers of funk and radio friendliness to reveal his poisoned heart. | | 48 |  | RP Boo
I'll Tell You What!
Where many try out as many different styles as they can once they master one, Kavain Space invented a genre and continues to push it forward. Instead of expanding its reach or looping back, he keeps blazing the same trail farther and farther. Keeping up with what he created will keep artists busy for decades. | | 47 |  | Future
BEASTMODE 2
This is a Future mixtape, and a relatively good one at that. You know what that means. Self-loathing, hedonism, the usual subjects, all layered over solid Zaytoven beats. If you're into it, you're into it. If you're not, you're missing out. | | 46 |  | Charlie Puth
Voicenotes
I tried to write about this without talking about the glow-up, but I don't know how to, because it just keeps running through my head. Voicenotes, an album with "Attention," "Change," and "Slow It Down", is filled with the same ridiculously cheesy Hall & Oates and Wham! style that "Marvin Gaye" completely butchered. I have no idea what led to the massive improvement, but it reminds me to never give up on anyone. | | 45 |  | Lil Peep
Come Over When You're Sober Pt. 2
It's not really possible to listen to anything under the Lil Peep alias without feeling the tragedy. I don't know what would have happened to him if he was still here, but it's hard not to imagine he would have found more success than he had when he left. Emo rap has been actually recognized as legitimate after he basically invented the wave, and everyone (including me) is doing their best to recognize him after he doesn't hear us anymore. "Isn't life beautiful?...Isn't life horrible?" | | 44 |  | Tommy Genesis
Tommy Genesis
Harder, wilder, and more polished than anyone else in her field, Tommy stood out in a year full of filler. Injustice isn't a concept or a video game, it's her best work being ignored. Despite this, she keeps her cool until the last minute of the self-titled track, where panicked horror-movie screams leak out. Even then, it's all controlled and calculated, and back to tropical relaxation seconds later. | | 43 |  | Perfume
Future Pop
Innovations from tragically overlooked producers have made their way to the surface many, many times, often in sterile, generic ways. Thankfully, for every time that someone tries to suck all the money out of a genre, there's someone out there like Yasutaka Nakata to keep trying to explore. Iridescent, fun, and genuine, Future Pop probably won't live up to its name, but it's something to help you remember that it might. | | 42 |  | serpentwithfeet
soil
Despite the usual classifications, serpentwithfeet really has more to do with Tracy Chapman than Lotic. Avant-garde doesn't necessarily mean weird electronic sound effects, even if that’s where most of the artists head. It can also mean rewriting the songwriting book at its core, working to create a folk album for a generation raised on Lemonade, not Blood On The Tracks. | | 41 |  | Oneohtrix Point Never
Age Of
"Ultimately, we're stuck repeating the same thing over and over. People move in patterns, constantly, without fail. We can snap out of the loops if we try, but most never really achieve more than simply creating a more complex system of habits…The only way we win is by doing something new, truly getting out of our comfort zone and exploring new territory. We will eventually fall into habit again, but we have to keep trying if we want to triumph over ourselves."
https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/77206/Oneohtrix-Point-Never-Age-Of/ | | 40 |  | Janelle Monae
Dirty Computer
2018 in the music world felt more overwhelming than ever - the race to have the hottest take, the accusations, the hyperbolic reviews. Dirty Computer is fun as protest, so it makes sense that it was a target of all three of these more so than anything else from the year, and it's all the stronger for it. If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen, but if you want to know how your food is made you better take a peek. Better yet, participate and listen. | | 39 |  | Jeremih and Ty Dolla Sign
MihTy
This was probably the most predictable success of the year. Both artists are clearly in the peak of their career (Ty was probably featured at least a hundred times in 2018 alone, and Jeremih still struggles to make anything bad), and with Hitmaka involved on multiple tracks, anyone with a passing interest in contemporary rhythm and blues could have seen this coming. Here's to another series of wins next time. | | 38 |  | Lil Wayne
Tha Carter V
I don’t know what I expected from Tha Carter V, but it definitely wasn't Weezy goes Drake Vol. 1. I'm glad I don't decide what artists will make. In hindsight, it makes sense - he has been more open about his feelings on features in the past few years, and his old-fashioned bangers lately have been disappointing. Wayne was always good for flowing forward while staying dark, real and raw, and in that regard, this is the most traditional project he's made in years. | | 37 |  | Troye Sivan
Bloom
I wish I had it in me to love Blue Neighborhood, but I couldn't take the Flume-lite style, even with the great melodies hidden underneath. Now that Troye's working with people who have his forward-thinking vision for pop (Jam City, Ariel Rechtsaid, Ariana Grande), the music shines as brightly as he does. | | 36 |  | Scallops Hotel
sovereign nose of (y)our arrogant face
Grim and misty, this is a callback to an older Milo, when he wished his older brother Rob was there. That was a time when he was young and uncertain, and the anxiety layered well into his cautious, deeply lyrical flow. He's gained confidence as a rapper, but hearing him sound scared again feels supportive. | | 35 |  | Felicita
Hej!
Felicita's spritely squeaks, trembling bass melodies and glistening noise might seem like they don't fit into PC Music's timbre of hyperactive pop music, but this is more than a high art experiment. It's just another step further into the extremities. Wait till you hear the drop. | | 34 |  | Daphne and Celeste
Daphne & Celeste Save the World
Here's the thing. This album is fully produced by Max Tundra, a fascinating perfectionist who has created some of the most influential and magical pop maximalism the world has ever seen. It's a successful comeback eighteen years (!) later from the women who made "U.G.L.Y." But the best thing about this album, by far, is that it devotes an entire song to making fun of Ed Sheeran. | | 33 |  | Lily Allen
No Shame
One of the most difficult things to do as an artist is to open up about the most embarrassing, private parts of ones' life. So to hear Lily Allen, attacked mercilessly by tabloids for years, expressing regret, sexuality, depression, and all the ways her life as a mother interplays with these subjects is inspiring. Shame is not something that comes from the self, but from others attempting to push guilt on you for not behaving the way they want you to, and this is a spell casting it off. | | 32 |  | Freddie Gibbs
Freddie
Mood and atmosphere are everything to good hip-hop, and Gibbs obviously gets this. From the smooth loops and relaxed confidence of the modern classic Pinata to the Lil B-esque Lazarus story of You Only Live 2wice, Freddie's dark r&b-influenced cloud trap is just the latest in a series of intricately framed portraits. | | 31 |  | Kelly Moran
Ultraviolet
There are artists making music with literally every instrument in existence, every sound you can imagine, and some you can't. So Kelly Moran, an extremely skilled artist who is experienced enough in the avant-garde to tour with Oneohtrix Point Never, made an album with just a synthesizer and a piano. And it's beautiful, bare but by no means empty. | | 30 |  | Objekt
Cocoon Crush
TJ Hertz's music is unique not for its architecture, which is mostly just tried-and-true IDM formulas, or for its mood, however consistent it may be. It's unique for how immersive it is. Nobody else sounds as alien or as complete as Objekt, and Lost and Found is another room in this other world. | | 29 |  | MIKE
War In My Pen
When a genre becomes mainstream to the point of universal popularity, the most unique movements are often ignored in favor of the most apparent. This has happened to hip-hop multiple times (gangsta, ringtone) and is happening now with trap. Meanwhile, MIKE and crew have been pushing forward further and further, with Earl's project luckily bringing a much-needed light to a scene that deserves more than just a few bubbles in the soup. | | 28 |  | Christine and the Queens
Chris
French pop has a long history of brilliance, with artists like Air, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Phoenix releasing beautiful projects over the past few decades, all dripping in hooks and underappreciated by the critical masses. Thankfully, people get this one, because this has the confidence that all of the others were often missing under their gorgeous production and vocals. | | 27 |  | CHVRCHES
Love Is Dead
It's not the perfect CHVRCHES album many of us have been dreaming about for years. In fact, it's been widely dismissed as their worst yet. But its energy persisted beyond the week or so it stayed alive in the inattentive internet hype cycle, using continuously improved sharp synths and anthemic, emotional songwriting to push back and stay alive even when their fanbase's love died. | | 26 |  | Mariah Carey
Caution
"Her last hit single was "Obsessed," almost ten years ago, popular because it sounded like the radio, but iconic because it was so extra it hurt - an Eminem diss track at a time when the rapper still made most top 5s, with the line 'will the real MC please stand up,' frosting the passive-aggressive cake with whistle notes in the fadeout just to show off. This part of Mariah is not marketable anymore, so it's vanishing, and that's a tragic loss in a time that needs passion above all else."
https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/78467/Mariah-Carey-Caution/ | | 25 |  | Rae Sremmurd
SR3MM
It's not world-defining, it's rarely innovative, and it's certainly not Speakerboxx/The Love Below. It's something different, ambitious, consistent, and energetic. All three sections are enjoyable, from the crossover successes of SR3MM to the UGK-lite of Jxmtro. That's all that really matters here - it's not "important," but they never really were. Instead, it's the ideal Rae Sremmurd album, 27 hits long. | | 24 |  | Ariana Grande
Sweetener
It's testament to just how skilled of a writer and performer Ariana is that she can release a fractured, messy, probably rushed album fighting between two producers that never really mixed, and it's still easily a contender for best pop album of the year. "thank u, next" is supposed to come just months later in early 2019, and if it was by anyone else I'd be worried. | | 23 |  | Fauness
Toxic Femininity
Fauness is one of the only artists on here I didn't already know, and I only heard about her because she signed to Jam City's label. This of course has nothing to do with quality of new artists and everything to do with me losing my touch. The internet is full of things as awesome as this precisely timed, uplifting EP of fairy rock. Learn from my example, find them and don't let artists as promising as Fauness be lost to time. | | 22 |  | DJ Healer
Nothing 2 Loose
Like Traumprinz’s best works, Nothing 2 Loose feels massive and intimate, populist and personal. Christianity themes the project, a reminder that house is, or at least was, spiritual. Everything seems so complicated, but from this cloudiness emerges an angel. | | 21 |  | Sigur Ros
Route One
"Using auto-generative software shows an attitude of submission and acceptance of help into a genre built off of ideas of auteurs, dominance and control. This is rare and ought to be celebrated. Art is obviously political, and Sigur Ros are pushing back against both the role of the artist as creator and of the creator as the ruler of the art."
https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/77108/Sigur-Ros-Route-One/ | | 20 |  | Robyn
Honey
Despite reports to the contrary, Robyn isn't rare for being an ambitious popstar, and Body Talk wasn't the best pop project of the decade. However, what she is rare for her is her consistency. Nobody else I can think of has been working since 1995, with moments on all her projects feeling like they lift the listener out of anything they are in and into the heavens above. This time, it's the transition between "Baby Forgive Me" and "Send To Robyn Immediately," the first time the chorus on "Missing U" hits, the endlessly hopeful promises of "Ever Again." Goosebumps, every time. | | 19 |  | Iglooghost
Steel Mogu
"Iglooghost is known for his freneticism, and watching his evolution from imitating Low End Theory to someone not only signed to Brainfeeder but also producing its most successful and influential music has been awe-inspiring. And now, somehow, he's only getting faster."
https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/77728/Iglooghost-Steel-Mogu/ | | 18 |  | Tierra Whack
Whack World
Brevity is the easiest talking point for this album, whether you love it or hate it. But we haven't talked enough about just how good it all sounds. It's just a gorgeous album, the talents of a genuine creative force who should be joining the conversation with other recognized geniuses like Tyler or Pharrell. One-minute cut-offs are less a gimmick and more of a carefully crafted transition point. | | 17 |  | Four Tet
Live at Funkhaus Berlin, 10th May 2018
It's tragic that Kieran Hebden seems to be most fondly remembered for his early folktronica projects, because his recent output has been the kind of work that would be career-defining for anyone else. Beautiful Rewind created some of the best textures of the decade, Morning/Evening was deeply serene, and New Energy nailed the balance between movement and rest. Combine all three of these and you get a gorgeous live album spanning some of the best electronic music of the decade. | | 16 |  | Budgie (US)
Holy Ghost Zone
If you were, like many, left with a hole in your heart since chipmunk soul faded out in the 2000s, this is the album for you. High-pitched gospel samples and traditional drums and loops form pretty much this whole project. If that doesn't sound good to you, that's too bad, but if you're like me, it's life-affirming. | | 15 |  | DJ Taye
Still Trippin
"Some would argue that footwork should keep its feet planted firmly to keep from dissolving into other styles and losing its sense of coherence. But footwork is a dance, not just a genre, a movement, not just a drum pattern. It requires pushing forward to not fade into nothing. Taye says so himself - when asked his goal for the album, he said 'to make footwork universal.'"
https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/76325/DJ-Taye-Still-Trippin/ | | 14 |  | Tirzah
Devotion
The more time passes, the more blurred genre lines become. Other entries on this list (DJ Koze, Janelle Monae) explicitly combined styles, but Tirzah stands out for creating a new breed out of the deepest roots of others. Folk timbres, indie gloss, dance form and hip-hop loops combine to create something all her own. The future of music sounds something like this. | | 13 |  | Beach House
7
I never really got Beach House until I heard "Sparks." It was perfect - starting off simply and from nothing, it grew and grew, adding elements until it was all-consuming, and then cut it all off at just the right moment in a gorgeous and completely satisfying ending. In all of these respects, 7 is the closest thing I think I'll ever hear to a 47-minute "Sparks," and that's the highest praise I can give. | | 12 |  | Teyana Taylor
K.T.S.E.
While the world was focused on hip-hop, r&b had an absolutely fantastic year. The prime example is Keep That Same Energy, easily the best Montana project, but not just for Kanye's best production post-TLOP - for Teyana's fantastic performance. She glides through these tracks, not just brightening the tracks but defining them, proving once again that we consistently focus on the wrong things. | | 11 |  | Elysia Crampton
Elysia Crampton
A self-titled album multiple years into a career is typically a reinvention, but this is more of a refinement. Elysia goes from once-shocking plunderphonics (Lil Jon samples aren't surprises anymore on experimental projects) with a pulsating core to a blatant heartbeat made more exciting by samples. Hopefully she likes the change, because it suits her. | | 10 |  | Geotic
Traversa
The relationship between sadness and beauty is complex and, for me, the two seem too intrinsically related to possibly separate. Will Wiesenfeld has always done a good job at growing his own little musical trees, twisted with both. That's not to say his music is always downhearted and pretty, but the projects that focus the most on that have always been my highlights in his already impressive discography. This piece, dazzling, distressed, and elegant, is one of the best. | | 9 |  | Kacey Musgraves
Golden Hour
Every morning, it's a little bit harder to get out of bed. Kacey doesn't tell me that it's going to get better, or that I'm wasting my time, she just sings about life. This is easier said than done - millions of artists try and only a few accurately capture an honest reflection of their experience. Paired with some of the best pop production in years, it's enough to get me going when I need it most. | | 8 |  | The 1975
A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships
Trust me, I get it. If it makes you feel any better, I've liked them since "Chocolate." They haven't gotten any less pretentious, but what made me love this so much more than anything else of theirs is just how genuine it is. It's the sound of someone actually realizing their mistakes and attempting to become a better person. The narrative that this is good because it has flaws is oversimplifying - it's good because its narrator finally recognizes his own. | | 7 |  | Yves Tumor
Safe in the Hands of Love
Everyone had a different strategy for dealing with this year, and Sean Bowie's is to take a bit of everything. Fury, anxiety and misery are channeled through noise, dissonance and rhythm. It's not inaccessible, just powerful and wide-ranging enough to take in the abrasive as well, pointed and heavy in the most open way. | | 6 |  | Grouper
Grid of Points
If the years get faster as we get older, Liz Harris's music reflects this in the same way a mirror reflects you out of the corner of your eye. I can feel time getting shorter without ever really seeing it happen. Grid Of Points is more immediate than anything before, but like everything she's released, has an eternal impact. It will leaving you questioning not why you're here, but what you are. | | 5 |  | DJ Koze
knock knock
The difference between a sandwich and a smoothie is the difference between most albums claiming a variety of genres and knock knock. Sandwiches are just stacks of things, all separated for all purposes but proximity, where smoothies blend it all together and let you taste all the ingredients at once. This analogy is goofy and simplistic because that's exactly Koze. He stole your Blendtec and surprised you with his signature blend of psychedelic house-hip-hop-r&b-pop-indie rock-ambient. | | 4 |  | Earl Sweatshirt
Some Rap Songs
Some say artists create their best works while grieving, and others say that's not a fair assumption to put on artists with their own complex lives. I say both are right. There's something to be said for artists doing their best works when they're pouring out emotion, and Sweatshirt is clearly feeling life here. But only two tracks here were inspired directly by death - he created most of the best hip-hop project of the year within the simple ups and downs of regular life. Left to his own devices or given terrible trauma, Thebe Kgositsile deserves a spot in your top 5 either way. | | 3 |  | Ana Caprix
Long Dark Summer
"There is something to be said for faith in darkness, and Ana Caprix says it, without ever implying a false cognition of something to be done to produce light. This will not work for everyone, but for me, it is the ultimate comfort. Comfort - and further, happiness - may be impossible to truly and objectively isolate, but there is a clear goal here to help the listener confront their discomfort and continue on."
https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/78648/Ana-Caprix-Long-Dark-Summer/ | | 2 |  | Sophie
Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides
"This album is Sophie's journey, and taking it with her is extremely rewarding. The only way we will be able to do so if is if we let go of our traditions, our notions of what makes something work and what makes it not, and take a leap of faith."
https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/77344/Sophie-Oil-of-Every-Pearls-Un-Insides/ | | 1 |  | Blood Orange
Negro Swan
"Within all of this hurt and sorrow is a clear sense of balance and acceptance - he has let go of individual grudges, others' relatively easy lives create surprise rather than jealousy, and unrealistic narratives are avoided even when it would be far easier to give in to false expectations. These are not lessons earned easily, and Hynes' hard-earned wisdom is reflected in the mirrored pool that is Negro Swan."
https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/78590/Blood-Orange-Negro-Swan/ | |
granitenotebook
01.01.19 | thanks for reading, have a great 2019. | granitenotebook
01.01.19 | also here's a rough playlist of my fav songs of the year https://open.spotify.com/user/kj979/playlist/3eX3sTPJzQdGLX7Bp3qraT?si=o5D8x3oNQ4-wRS5YNRidCg | dbizzles
01.01.19 | Very comprehensive. Will read more later.
Got Boood Orange, Yves, and Geotic on my radar. Will let you know how it goes. | Gyromania
01.01.19 | fucking great list. a lot of overlap between mine and yours. | luci
01.01.19 | great list and write-ups. super glad to see 28 and 17, barely saw those on anyone's list | TwigTW
01.01.19 | I forgot all about that Sigur Ros album, and I liked it... Nice to see Negro Swan at the top of your list. For most people it didn't stand out, which is ironic as that was one of the themes of the album... very nice list. | Rowan5215
01.02.19 | love the descriptions on this list, great read | Zeneren
01.03.19 | this is a great list, love your taste and good mix of mainstream and more underground releases. nice to see 48, it is underrated! | Chortles
01.03.19 | love the writeups |
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