I listened to and reviewed exactly 268 albums this year.
That is a lot of music to digest and take in; however, there is something cool about listening to the newest records and analyzing them for what went right and what went wrong.
50. Pusha T – Daytona: A great comeback record for the N.Y.C. native.
49. Brockhampton – Iridescence: Their first record after the Saturation series and still pushing the boundaries.
48. Denzel Curry – TA1300: Stacked record from the Florida based trap rapper.
47. Tom Misch – Geography: Soothing, expansive, and fun singer-songwriter record.
46. Endless Summers – Every Day It Fells Like I’m Dying…: Dreamy and fast indie pop record, with more emotions than you would think.
45. Between the Buried and Me – Automata II: Energetic and intricate avante-guard metal record.
44. Haken – Vector: One of the better and energetic progressive rock records of the year.
43. Hail the Sun – Mental Knife: Not their best record, but still one of the top performing post-hardcore record.
42. Delta Sleep – Ghost City: By far the best math rock and indie rock albums of the year.
41. Snail Mail – Lush: Indie rock seems to be getting some new ground with this intricate and introspective record from the Maryland native.
40. SiR – November: Jazz rap with a bit of an experimental twist.
39. Novo Amor & Ed Tullet – Heiress: Soft spoken, yet emotional and powerful indie pop/singer-songwriter records.
38. Julia Holter – Aviary: Art pop has never sounded so lush and powerful.
37. Hail the Sun – Secret Wars-EP: Short, heavy, and powerful EP from the Sacramento group.
36. Glassjaw – Material Control: Creating an intricate, yet true 1990’s post-hardcore sound in 2018.
35. Drowse – Cold Air: Probably the most experimental record on the list, but the Oregon native manages a diverse and expansive soundscape.
34. Kids See Ghosts – Kids See Ghosts: Kanye and Kid Cudi at peak performance on this summer banger.
33. Novo Amor – Birthplace: A beautiful singer-songwriter record that will keep you coming back for more.
32. JPEGMAFIA – Veteran: Creating a new genre, post-trap, is nothing easy, but Peggy sure does know how to keep your ears peaked.
31. Father John Misty – God’s Favorite Customer: A shorter, and more introspective record then his last, but a more versatile and well thought out record.
30. Blood Orange – Negro Swan: Probably the best RnB record of the year.
29. The Garden – Mirror Might Steal Your Charm: Something about the heavy, post-punky, yet silly style this duo brings keeps me coming back for more listens.
28. Noname – Room 25: The Chicago MC, continues to dazzle listeners with poetic, and forward-thinking lyrics over her jagged and jazzy instrumentation.
27. Daughters – You Won’t Get What You Want: A nightmarish and noise, yet novelist look at inner fear; best noise rock and post-punk records in the last few years.
26. Jean-Michel Blais – Dans ma main: Classical music that honestly moves me more personally than most music can.
25. Gogo Penguine – A Humdrum Star: A spectacular and straight forward jazz record with great melodies and harmonies.
24. Devotchka – This Night Falls Forever: Something about this baroque style sound coming from this group, makes me want to sing and dance a long every time I hear it come on.
23. Brockhampton – Saturation 3: An excellent, powerful, fun, and energetic pop rap record and a great way to conclude the saturation series from the Texas based, eleven-man band.
22. Emery – Eve: Emo music isn’t a very progressive genre now, but Emery want you to keep them on your radar still.
21. S. Carey – Hundred Acres: Beautiful sounds, dazzling instrumentation, and memorable vocals to keep this seemly basic singer-songwriter record in your mind.
20. A.A.L. – 2011-2017: House music isn’t much of a genre anymore because of its very repetitious nature, but Against All Logic has more to prove then you would think.
19. A Grave With No Name – Passover: Indie folk has never sounded more inclusive and progressive then what A Grave With No Name have done on their sophomore record.
18. Silent Planet – When the End Began: Memorable, heavy, melodic, and deeply sophisticated metalcore music that is still pushing the already over saturated genre into new heights.
17. Typhoon – Offerings: Man this record might be long, but it keeps your mind at ease and will continually keep me looking in-ward on my life and what it means to be a human.
16. Kamasi Washington – Heaven and Earth: More of the same from the California saxophonist, but that is okay but he creates some of the most fun, intricate, and fast passed jazz music of the decade.
15. Mimicking Birds – Layors of Us: This album is getting a lot of hate and I don’t understand why. The record breaks new ground in the indie folk genre by introducing very melodic and intricate electronic instrumentation.
14. Ulfur – Arborescence: Short, brief, yet satisfactory exterminate electronic music with lots of great samples.
13. Hippo Campus – Bambi: Hippo Campus don’t make your average indie rock music. They produce a diverse and genre pushing sound that will continue to motivate me to listen to them and sing along to their hypnotic tunes.
12. Zeal & Ardor – Stranger Fruit: Not sure where this band will go from here, but the greatest avante-guard metal albums of the year. Encompassing slave music from the 1700s and 1800s.
11. Vein – Errorzone: Short, abrasive, in your face mathcore and grindcore records. But, it keeps you coming back for more with how powerful and energetic the instrumentation is.
10. Ben Howard – Noonday Dream: By far the best folk record of the year and for good reason. Written while isolated in the desserts of Nevada, this English song writer encompasses what it is really like to be alone.
9. Leon Vynehall – Nothing Is Still: Sadly, not my best electronic record of the year. But somehow this N.Y.C. producer makes sound drip and continues to soak my ears with it’s very unique and classical inspired record.
8. Deafheaven – Ordinary Corrupt Human Love: Post-rock and black metal coming together to create a flawlessly complementary record that keeps you coming back for more.
7. Harunemuri – Harutosyura: Japanese rock music as always been of fascination to me and this band honestly pushes punk and rock to a new level. The band incorporates elements of noise rock, hip-hop, spoken word, and post-hardcore.
6. Choker – Honeybloom: Another album that is getting a lot of hate from the community. This record is a soothing, experimental, and advanced listen for any trap rap fan out there.
5. Vola – Applause of a Distant Crowd: VOLA are pushing into new territory with their pop-metal sound. The sounds and melodies they can produce keep me coming back for more and more.
4. Endless Heights – Vicious Pleasure: Honestly this record isn’t bringing a lot to the table of post-hardcore and grunge. However, the way they pull together these sounds and the mesmerizing sounds they create, there is no doubt in my mind this is a top tear record.
3. Sophie – Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides: This album hits you right in the face with intense electronic base. However, this is by far the most detailed and fun electronic record in the last five years and shouldn’t be taken lightly.
2. Kasra – Ski Mask-EP: Drum and base for the last 20 years hasn’t sounded worse. However, this producer resurrects an almost dying field of electronic music and it deserves my number two spot.
1. Rolo Tomassi – Time Will Die and Love Will Bury It: What this band accomplishes on a 50-minute album isn’t even fair. This band bring so much to the table of underground metal. Energetic, angry, melodic, intricate, powerful, sticky, and abrasive sounds help me to come back for more.
ALLAN COLLINS
[email protected]
