If you missed yesterday’s post, you’ll probably want to give it a look before diving into the next five entries on my list of favorite albums of the year. Reading back over these, I feel like my write-ups don’t sound incredibly enthusiastic, but, rest assured, I do love these albums. It’s just that three of them fall into the category of beloved artists with good but very slightly underwhelming follow-ups and the other two I’ve definitely overplayed at this point. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give them a listen if you haven’t, though!
This year, I honestly thought I wasn’t going to be able to get this done. It was difficult for all the usual reasons - the impossibility of ranking art, the even greater impossibility of trying to be objective about it, the question of whether it’s even valuable to do at all, etc. - but also because I haven’t written anything about music beyond an informal sentence or two for almost an entire year. The thought of trying to say something meaningful about thirty different albums initially filled me with dread.
As promised, here are the remaining songs from this year (and one from last year, because I’m an idiot) that were particularly special or meaningful to me in their own way. Again, these are presented in alphabetical order. I also present to you, for the first time ever, a playlist of all 25 songs in both Apple Music and Spotify! No embeds because this post is already media-heavy enough, but click the name of your preferred streaming service to start listening. Tomorrow, I start counting down my 30 favorite albums of the year, so get excited! (And play these songs to amp yourself up!)
Here we are again. I’m not going to over-explain my latest disappearance. I just didn’t feel like writing for most of the year. But I feel like writing now, and I enjoyed a lot of music over the course of 2019. So I’m back to make up for lost time with an all-out blitz of year-end content. Starting now, I’m making it my mission to post every day for the rest of December as I work my way through my favorite releases of the year. There’s a lot of ground to cover, so forgive me if it all gets to be a little overwhelming.
I always spend the first few weeks of any new year in an intensely nostalgic musical headspace. This particular mix is proof of that. It started with a sudden desire to revisit my favorite Los Campesinos! songs. Then I had a conversation with a friend about some of the other bands that cropped up around the same time as them and seem to carry a lot of similar ethos and influences, the result being an earnest, enthusiastic cross between punk, twee pop, and indie rock that's heavy on alternating male/female vocals and sardonic, tongue-in-cheek lyrics. In their heyday, these bands were never particularly respected (or even acknowledged) by establishment indie outlets, but many of them are still around today, having built small but devoted fanbases off the backs of their remarkably consistent discographies.
That being said, I'm mainly interested in their origins here, those raw, exuberant early albums before they grew up and became jaded by the music industry machine, leading them to either their inevitable demise or down a more mature, meditative path. If I'd had time, I would've filled in the gaps with other bands from the same period who I never got into back then, but that might've turned into a bottomless rabbit hole, so, instead, I've added a few more recent bands that seem to carry a similar spirit. Overall, rediscovering this music has been a nice change of pace for my pop-saturated brain, and now I look forward to digging further into the release histories of these bands, many of whom I stopped regularly following after their first or second albums.
1. The Joy Formidable - The Magnifying Glass
The Joy Formidable's music is layered and atmospheric, an epic combination of shoegaze, dream pop, and post-punk. As effective as they are at stretching a song to galactic lengths, though, their more straightforward cracks at blistering two-minute rock songs are just as thrilling. There's no room for expansive guitar solos or slowly unfolding melodies. Instead, the song blazes from beginning to end, a fiery tangle of noise perfect for those moments when it's better to thrash around to loud, fast music than destroy everything around you. My recommendation: turn it up as loud as you can handle.
2. Land of Talk - Speak to Me Bones
Land of Talk deserve to be better-known, but, in a way, it's also nice to feel like there's a secret band in your pocket making incredible music just for you. I'll never forget the first time I heard Applause Cheer Boo Hiss; in a genre as oversaturated as indie rock, it was fresh and bold and exhilarating. To this day, nothing else pumps me up like this track, a grungy middle finger to all the shitty men in the world. The final build-up, Elizabeth Powell insisting brashly, "Not every girl is a nail/You're not a hammer," obliterates my mind every time - which explains why I only just remembered I put it on a mix last year, too. It's that good, folks.
3. Be Your Own Pet - The Kelly Affair
I remember Be Your Own Pet were lambasted when they came out for being a bunch of bratty, privileged, industry-connected teenagers trying to make punk music without the ethos to back it up. And, okay, sure, their music is shallow and derivative, but it's also a shitload of fun. Jemina Pearl wrangles her immaturity into a commanding vocal delivery that punches a hole through the rest of the band's charmingly ear-splitting and imprecise musical backdrops over and over again with hilariously vulgar one-liners. I've rarely had as much fun screaming along at the top of my lungs with anyone else.
4. Johnny Foreigner - Cranes and Cranes and Cranes and Cranes
You know what might actually be an unsung masterpiece? Johnny Foreigner's 2008 debut, Waited Up 'Til It Was Light. Honestly, I'm kicking myself for spending so long without revisiting it because the more I hear it, the more I'm convinced there's not a single mediocre track. To me, this album encapsulates more than any other a distinctly British, late '00s, DIY indie punk movement in a way that's simultaneously of its time and absolutely timeless. Not only do Alexei Berrow and Kelly Parker have voices perfectly suited to abrasive punk wailing, but they also share a vocal chemistry most duet partners only dream of.
5. Los Campesinos! - We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
If I had to name one band that's been the most consistently and undeservedly underrated, Los Campesinos! would certainly be in contention. More than a decade after forming, they're still making damn good music, which is more than can be said for a lot of other indie rock veterans. In terms of their early work, We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed is often overshadowed by their debut, but it contains at least a couple of classics, including the title track, which is especially notable for its lyrics, such as the so-relatable-it-hurts millennial lament, "We kid ourselves there's future in the fucking, but there is no fucking future."
6. Martha - Christine
I really liked Martha's most recent album when I first heard it; unfortunately, most of it hasn't stuck with me, but I still feel the urge to put on this song, its opener, every now and again. For not even being two minutes long, it leaves a lasting impression that's difficult for every song after to live up to with its ramshackle, lo-fi clash of instrumentation and charmingly accented vocals shouting in full sincerity, "I never heard a more romantic story/Christine, everybody else just bores me." It's a formula the band masters so well here that anything after seems almost redundant in comparison.
7. Joanna Gruesome - Honestly Do Yr Worst
I could hardly get away with using "yr" in the title of this mix if I didn't include a song that illustrated that convention in action, now, could I? Joanna Gruesome already score major points for turning a pun on Joanna Newsom into one of the greatest band names ever. It only sweetens the deal that their two-minute nuggets of noise pop are also incredibly addictive. This band excels at alternating between extremes, juxtaposing sickly sweet twee harmonies against aggressive bursts of throat-scouring screams. The ultimate effect is as disorienting as it is enticing.
8. Pity Sex - Gigantic
This is a Pixies cover from an obscure split 7" release, which may seem like a random choice, but something about it just fit the vibe I'm going for here more perfectly than any of Pity Sex's other music. Britty Drake's voice seamlessly bridges the gap between impassioned and lackadaisical, never quite tumbling completely into one or the other. The instrumentation, too, seems to teeter on the edge of carelessness, giving the entire thing a charmingly impromptu atmosphere. It's pretty clear that a lot of effort went into it, considering how much it sounds like it took no effort at all.
9. Blood Red Shoes - You Bring Me Down
Why did I ever stop listening to Blood Red Shoes? I used to love them, and despite not hearing their 2008 debut, Box of Secrets, since probably the year it was released, I felt every word, melody, and riff deep in my bones upon revisiting it in 2019. They'd already mastered the art of establishing a consistent, immediately recognizable sound without just playing variations on the same song. Here, minimalist verses quickly make way for a pummeling, urgent, never-ending chorus, Laura-Mary Carter and Steven Ansell chanting in militaristic harmony, "Bury your head, bear your heart, but I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't."
10. The Long Blondes - Separated by Motorways
Although the Long Blondes lean in a more new wave direction, Kate Jackson's massive, gutsy wail lends their songs a thrilling punk edge, particularly on this track, which finds her at her most urgent and unhinged. In it, "two lonely girls go on the run," escaping from old men in pubs and solicitous boys on sidewalks into the arms of one another. Their friendship is depicted in almost romantic terms, Jackson crooning tenderly, "Wipe your eyes, darling, it's okay," atop an appropriately noisy wall of angular, '80s-indebted guitars.
11. The Grates - Rock Boys
Are the Grates a great (oops, unintentional pun) band? Probably not. Like Be Your Own Pet, though, they have an undeniable charm, like an adorable but badly behaved puppy panting and wagging its tail at you innocently, and you can't help but love them, even as you recognize their immaturity. "Rock Boys" is as close as they come to a ballad, and for all its blunt roughness, it's strangely moving. Chalk this up to Patience Hodgson's raw, impassioned delivery of the nearly wordless refrain, which rises and falls with the steady crescendo of guitar and drums. It's simple but very, very effective.
12. Pretty Girls Make Graves - This Is Our Emergency
I never got much into this band, but this song fully transplants the consciousness of my younger self into my current self's body for reasons I can't quite explain. Somehow, it just perfectly encapsulates a very specific feeling, one that's decidedly emo but in the best way possible. There's really nothing more cathartic than singing along to its effervescent chorus: "Stand up so I can see you/Shout out so I can hear you/Reach out so I can touch you/This is our emergency." The message may be vague, but it's clear whoever is being summoned is the most vital person in the world - it's up to you to decide who that person is for you.
As is my yearly tradition, here are my immaculately, obsessively tracked listening statistics for 2018. For the first time ever, I exceeded 25,000 plays (largely owing to me switching from CDs to my phone in the car, meaning I can track literally everything) and listened to music all 365 days of the year. I'm not sure if I should consider this impressive or concerning. I'll go with impressive. I don't have much else to say about this because none of it is very surprising if you've been even passively following this blog, which I guess means I've done my job here well.
I will reflect on what I said last year, which was that I wanted to spend more time getting to know new discoveries and returning to old favorites I'd neglected. I definitely achieved the former but sort of fell off in terms of the latter after a couple months. However, I'm starting 2019 off feeling very nostalgic, so maybe I'll do more of that this year. Otherwise, I don't really have any particular goals other than to keep on keeping on. Full charts are below the infographics, if you're somehow into that.
Last Scrobbled: Quay Dash - Queen of NY
Top 50 Artists:
1. Charli XCX (1,231 scrobbles)
2. SOPHIE (895 scrobbles)
3. Hop Along (599 scrobbles)
4. Kelela (547 scrobbles)
5. Blood Orange (442 scrobbles)
6. Portishead (400 scrobbles)
7. Kero Kero Bonito (393 scrobbles)
8. Half Waif (386 scrobbles)
9. Beach House (384 scrobbles)
10. Terror Jr (367 scrobbles)
11. Carly Rae Jepsen (358 scrobbles)
12. Ariana Grande (354 scrobbles)
13. Let's Eat Grandma (347 scrobbles)
14. LIZ (345 scrobbles)
15. Sevdaliza (336 scrobbles)
16. Ought (326 scrobbles)
17. Metric (316 scrobbles)
18. Neko Case (291 scrobbles)
19. Purity Ring (290 scrobbles)
20. Kate Tempest (285 scrobbles)
21. Mitski (282 scrobbles)
22. RosalÃa (267 scrobbles)
23. ionnalee (260 scrobbles)
24. Ezra Furman (245 scrobbles)
25. Wye Oak (238 scrobbles)
26. Rilo Kiley (236 scrobbles)
27. Natalie Prass (234 scrobbles)
28. Kim Petras (230 scrobbles)
29. Hannah Diamond (222 scrobbles)
30. Allie X (217 scrobbles)
31. Esperanza Spalding (213 scrobbles)
32. Janelle Monáe (213 scrobbles)
33. Young Fathers (205 scrobbles)
34. Noname (204 scrobbles)
35. A. G. Cook (203 scrobbles)
36. Danny L Harle (196 scrobbles)
37. Cashmere Cat (190 scrobbles)
38. Fielded (188 scrobbles)
39. Sky Ferreira (187 scrobbles)
40. Abra (182 scrobbles)
41. Sinjin Hawke & Zora Jones (177 scrobbles)
42. Kilo Kish (176 scrobbles)
43. First Aid Kit (172 scrobbles)
44. EASYFUN (171 scrobbles)
45. The Go! Team (171 scrobbles)
46. Whitney Ballen (166 scrobbles)
47. Lotic (163 scrobbles)
48. U.S. Girls (163 scrobbles)
49. Empress Of (152 scrobbles)
50. Princess Nokia (151 scrobbles)
Top 50 Albums:
1. Charli XCX — XCX Unreleased (379 scrobbles)
2. SOPHIE — Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides (325 scrobbles)
3. Half Waif — Lavender (318 scrobbles)
4. Hop Along — Bark Your Head Off, Dog (318 scrobbles)
5. Beach House — 7 (277 scrobbles)
6. RosalÃa — El Mal Querer (264 scrobbles)
7. Let's Eat Grandma — I'm All Ears (231 scrobbles)
8. ionnalee — Everyone Afraid to Be Forgotten (229 scrobbles)
9. Neko Case — Hell-On (221 scrobbles)
10. Charli XCX — Pop 2 (208 scrobbles)
11. Natalie Prass — The Future and the Past (203 scrobbles)
12. Ought — Room Inside the World (203 scrobbles)
13. Sevdaliza — ISON (200 scrobbles)
14. Purity Ring — Another Eternity (194 scrobbles)
15. Carly Rae Jepsen — Emotion (192 scrobbles)
16. Charli XCX — Number 1 Angel (192 scrobbles)
17. Ezra Furman — Transangelic Exodus (190 scrobbles)
18. SOPHIE — Product (190 scrobbles)
19. Kero Kero Bonito — Bonito Generation (184 scrobbles)
20. Noname — Room 25 (181 scrobbles)
21. Portishead — Dummy (178 scrobbles)
22. Sinjin Hawke & Zora Jones — Vicious Circles (177 scrobbles)
23. Mitski — Be the Cowboy (172 scrobbles)
24. Fielded — Drip Drip (171 scrobbles)
25. Janelle Monáe — Dirty Computer (168 scrobbles)
26. Kelela — Cut 4 Me (168 scrobbles)
27. Whitney Ballen — You're a Shooting Star, I'm a Sinking Ship (166 scrobbles)
28. Young Fathers — Cocoa Sugar (162 scrobbles)
29. Ariana Grande — Sweetener (161 scrobbles)
30. Wye Oak — The Louder I Call, the Faster It Runs (154 scrobbles)
31. Esperanza Spalding — 12 Little Spells (151 scrobbles)
32. Kate Tempest — Let Them Eat Chaos (150 scrobbles)
33. Blood Orange — Cupid Deluxe (148 scrobbles)
34. Cashmere Cat — 9 (148 scrobbles)
35. Lotic — Power (147 scrobbles)
36. The Go! Team — Semicircle (146 scrobbles)
37. Hop Along — Painted Shut (142 scrobbles)
38. Sky Ferreira — Night Time, My Time (138 scrobbles)
39. Now, Now — Saved (134 scrobbles)
40. Hop Along — Get Disowned (133 scrobbles)
41. Terror Jr — Bop City (128 scrobbles)
42. First Aid Kit — Ruins (127 scrobbles)
43. Terror Jr — Bop City 2: TerroRising (127 scrobbles)
44. Kate Tempest — Everybody Down (124 scrobbles)
45. Allie X — Super Sunset (123 scrobbles)
46. Blood Orange — Negro Swan (123 scrobbles)
47. Portishead — Portishead (122 scrobbles)
48. LIZ — Cross Your Heart (121 scrobbles)
49. U.S. Girls — In a Poem Unlimited (121 scrobbles)
50. Kelela — TAKE ME A_PART, The Remixes (119 scrobbles)
Top 50 Tracks:
1. SOPHIE — Immaterial (70 scrobbles)
2. Ought — Desire (67 scrobbles)
3. SOPHIE — Infatuation (66 scrobbles)
4. Let's Eat Grandma — Hot Pink (58 scrobbles)
5. SOPHIE — Faceshopping (58 scrobbles)
6. SOPHIE — Is It Cold in the Water? (55 scrobbles)
7. Hop Along — Not Abel (54 scrobbles)
8. Let's Eat Grandma — It's Not Just Me (53 scrobbles)
9. Sevdaliza — Human Nature (49 scrobbles)
10. Let's Eat Grandma — Falling Into Me (48 scrobbles)
11. Sinjin Hawke & Zora Jones — And You Were One (47 scrobbles)
12. SOPHIE — Whole New World/Pretend World (46 scrobbles)
13. Hop Along — Prior Things (44 scrobbles)
14. Let's Eat Grandma — Cool & Collected (41 scrobbles)
15. Beach House — Drunk in LA (40 scrobbles)
16. Charli XCX — Secret (Shh) (40 scrobbles)
17. Half Waif — In the Evening (40 scrobbles)
18. Half Waif — Leveler (39 scrobbles)
19. LIZ — Queen of Me (39 scrobbles)
20. Beach House — Black Car (38 scrobbles)
21. Hop Along — Somewhere a Judge (38 scrobbles)
22. Hop Along — What the Writer Meant (38 scrobbles)
23. Wye Oak — It Was Not Natural (38 scrobbles)
24. EASYFUN — Be Your USA (37 scrobbles)
25. Ought — Disgraced in America (37 scrobbles)
26. Charli XCX — Delicious (feat. Tommy Cash) (36 scrobbles)
27. Charli XCX — Roll with Me (36 scrobbles)
28. EASYFUN — Monopoly (36 scrobbles)
29. Natalie Prass — Lost (36 scrobbles)
30. RosalÃa — De aquà no sales (Cap.4: Disputa) (36 scrobbles)
31. SOPHIE — Hard (36 scrobbles)
32. Beach House — Woo (35 scrobbles)
33. Fresh Hex — I'm Gone (34 scrobbles)
34. RosalÃa — Bagdad (Cap.7: Liturgia) (34 scrobbles)
35. Charli XCX — Focus (33 scrobbles)
36. Hop Along — The Fox in Motion (33 scrobbles)
37. ionnalee — Joy (33 scrobbles)
38. Mitski — Nobody (33 scrobbles)
39. Ariana Grande — Be My Baby (feat. Cashmere Cat) (32 scrobbles)
40. Charli XCX — No Angel (32 scrobbles)
41. Charli XCX — Unlock It (feat. Kim Petras and Jay Park) (32 scrobbles)
42. Half Waif — Salt Candy (32 scrobbles)
43. Hannah Diamond — True (32 scrobbles)
44. Hop Along — One That Suits Me (32 scrobbles)
45 - RosalÃa — Di mi nombre (Cap.8: Éxtasis) (32 scrobbles)
46. Blood Orange — Always Let U Down (31 scrobbles)
47. Hop Along — How Simple (31 scrobbles)
48. Kim Petras — Heart to Break (31 scrobbles)
49. SOPHIE — Not Okay (31 scrobbles)
50. Carly Rae Jepsen — Your Type (30 scrobbles)
Top 50 Tracks, One Per Artist:
1. SOPHIE — Immaterial (70 scrobbles)
2. Ought — Desire (67 scrobbles)
3. Let's Eat Grandma — Hot Pink (58 scrobbles)
4. Hop Along — Not Abel (54 scrobbles)
5. Sevdaliza — Human Nature (49 scrobbles)
6. Sinjin Hawke & Zora Jones — And You Were One (47 scrobbles)
7. Beach House — Drunk in LA (40 scrobbles)
8. Charli XCX — Secret (Shh) (40 scrobbles)
9. Half Waif — In the Evening (40 scrobbles)
10. LIZ — Queen of Me (39 scrobbles)
11. Wye Oak — It Was Not Natural (38 scrobbles)
12. EASYFUN — Be Your USA (37 scrobbles)
13. Natalie Prass — Lost (36 scrobbles)
14. RosalÃa — De aquà no sales (Cap.4: Disputa) (36 scrobbles)
15. Fresh Hex — I'm Gone (34 scrobbles)
16. ionnalee — Joy (33 scrobbles)
17. Mitski — Nobody (33 scrobbles)
18. Ariana Grande — Be My Baby (feat. Cashmere Cat) (32 scrobbles)
19 - RosalÃa — Di mi nombre (Cap.8: Éxtasis) (32 scrobbles)
20. Blood Orange — Always Let U Down (31 scrobbles)
21. Kim Petras — Heart to Break (31 scrobbles)
22. Carly Rae Jepsen — Your Type (30 scrobbles)
23. Kero Kero Bonito — Only Acting (30 scrobbles)
24. Neko Case — Halls of Sarah (30 scrobbles)
25. Ezra Furman — No Place (29 scrobbles)
26. QT — Hey QT (29 scrobbles)
27. U.S. Girls — Pearly Gates (29 scrobbles)
28. Julia Holter — I Shall Love 2 (28 scrobbles)
29. Portishead — Glory Box (28 scrobbles)
30. Purity Ring — Stillness in Woe (28 scrobbles)
31. Cashmere Cat — Love Incredible (feat. Camila Cabello) (27 scrobbles)
32. Iceage — Pain Killer (27 scrobbles)
33. A. G. Cook — Beautiful (26 scrobbles)
34. Allie X — Girl of the Year (26 scrobbles)
35. Janelle Monáe — Screwed (feat. Zoë Kravitz) (25 scrobbles)
36. Kelela — All the Way Down (25 scrobbles)
37. Sega Bodega — Maryland (25 scrobbles)
38. Danny L Harle — 1UL (24 scrobbles)
39. Doss — Extended Mix (24 scrobbles)
40. Lotic — Hunted (24 scrobbles)
41. Wolf Alice — Don't Delete the Kisses (Charli XCX x Post Precious Remix) (24 scrobbles)
42. Esperanza Spalding — Thang (23 scrobbles)
43. Princess Nokia — Tomboy (23 scrobbles)
44. Quay Dash — Queen of This Shit (23 scrobbles)
45. Hatchie — Sure (22 scrobbles)
46. Kate Tempest — Grubby (22 scrobbles)
47. Metric — Dressed to Suppress (22 scrobbles)
48. Noname — Don't Forget About Me (22 scrobbles)
49. Paris Suit Yourself — Won't K (SOPHIE Remix) (22 scrobbles)
50. Terror Jr — Smoke (22 scrobbles)
You may have noticed that I gave up on my monthly wrap-up posts about halfway through the year. So, on one hand, here's a high-octane dance mini-mix for all your New Year's Eve partying needs. But, on the other hand, here's a shameless opportunity for me to present a handful of those songs that time (and procrastination) forgot. Hopefully, they'll serve you well in ushering in a sweaty, slightly seedy, and generously glittered new year!
1. Fresh Hex - I'm Gone
In just over a month, this has become one of the defining songs of 2018 for me, and I'm glad I was able to manufacture a reason to share it. I went in completely blind to what to expect and came out with the melody irreversibly stuck in my brain, where it still resides, rearing its enticing head multiple times a day. I don't know how else to describe it other than that it simply sounds good and feels right. There's not a dull moment; every second is immaculately-crafted electropop perfection, and they all add up to one of the most giddy and immediate three-minute sugar highs I've heard all year.
2. Namasenda - Here
Speaking of sugar highs... Meet Namasenda, the Swedish bubblegum bass pop star here to hold us all over until Hannah Diamond releases her triumphant debut. (BTW, stream True for a more melancholy New Year's Eve experience). Her EP, hot_babe_93, was actually released in 2017, but I just discovered it, and it perfectly fits the Diamond-shaped hole in my heart, even if Namasenda's persona is more coquettish than lovesick. "Here" is particularly addictive and even a little bit vulnerable, as Namasenda dials back her cutesy, pitch-shifted vocal shtick for a more natural tone during the chorus.
Speaking of sugar highs... Meet Namasenda, the Swedish bubblegum bass pop star here to hold us all over until Hannah Diamond releases her triumphant debut. (BTW, stream True for a more melancholy New Year's Eve experience). Her EP, hot_babe_93, was actually released in 2017, but I just discovered it, and it perfectly fits the Diamond-shaped hole in my heart, even if Namasenda's persona is more coquettish than lovesick. "Here" is particularly addictive and even a little bit vulnerable, as Namasenda dials back her cutesy, pitch-shifted vocal shtick for a more natural tone during the chorus.
3. Slayyyter - BFF (feat. Ayesha Erotica)
This year, Slayyyter and collaborators like Ayesha Erotica and Boy Sim showed that access to a professional recording studio is decidedly not a requirement when it comes to making simultaneously nostalgic and fresh pop music, and they quickly accrued a cult online following as a result. With Britney-esque vocals, PC Music-indebted production, and crack-like melodies, all eight of Slayyyter's singles so far have been winners. She sounds not like a potential superstar in the making but like a proven superstar who's just waiting for the rest of the world to get up to her futuristic speed.
4. MC BOING - Dance Floor
If you're not ready to dance by now, this song has no qualms leaving you in the dust: it's for serious partiers only. Danny L Harle is here to inject a two-and-a-half-minute adrenaline rush straight into your veins, courtesy of his happy hardcore alter ego MC BOING, who is depicted as a grinning blue blob of an alien that's stunningly accurate to the song's sound. Breathless, helium-pitched, and firmly tongue-in-cheek, it conjures flashing strobe lights, sweaty flailing limbs, and sheets of acid dissolving in hot mouths whether you're in the club or having a solo dance party at home.
5. Tommy Cash - X-Ray
Me in 2017, listening to Pop 2 for the first time: "Man, 'Delicious' is kind of a bop, but Tommy Cash's verse is a bit cringe-worthy, isn't it?" Me in 2018, listening to Pop 2 for the hundredth time: "Okay, 'Delicious' is literally the best pop song ever, and Tommy Cash's verse is the cherry on top." I still think a little Tommy goes a long way, but if you'd told me last year I'd be actively enjoying even one of his songs, I wouldn't have believed you. "X-Ray" somehow slots Tommy's lazy, thickly-accented flow perfectly into a trashy, cyclonic cacophony of Eurodance synths and pitch-shifted vocals, courtesy of MC BOING... I mean, Danny L Harle.
6. GFOTY - Friday Night
A drunken shambles of a track, this thing goes stupid hard. In the first verse, GFOTY dubs herself "Medusa on a party throne" after her ability to turn men stiff with a single glance, and if you're not convinced mythological allusion in a trashy song about club hook-ups is poetry, how about the insanely quotable second verse? "Get to the club at 2 am, I'm gonna bang loads of men/Know the bouncer, skip the queue, fuck the list, it's me and you/The club is banging, so am I, banging, banging, banging, banging, banging, banging loads of guys/Unzip their trousers, what a surprise." This is art, people.
7. Charli XCX - After the Afterparty (feat. Lil Yachty)
I feel like this song gets an undeservingly bad rap. Sure, SOPHIE's signature production quirks are largely neutered by the addition of Swedish production duo, Stargate, but if you aren't coming at it with the expectation that it'll sound like the future of pop, it's a fun and undeniably addictive party tune. The worst thing I can say about it is that Lil Yachty's verse is a nonevent, but soon enough we're right back to partying with Charli, spinning "RiRi on replay," downing a "bucket of liquor," and generally going hard "Monday to Sunday." In case you didn't catch it, that's every damn day because Charli's party never stops.
8. Uffie - Sideways
Even a nonstop party requires a breather or two. Before 2018, it had been a hot minute since anyone heard the name Uffie. She's most often been dismissed as a flash-in-the-pan novelty artist, but her surprise return this year is somehow both a nod to her kitschy roots and a remarkably mature rebirth. "Sideways" is a chilled-out, slow-burning electronic love song, which is given character by Uffie's quirky, offbeat vocal delivery where a more generic singer might render it bland. Her rasp, equal parts plaintive and cute, turns a simple sexual come-on - "I want to love you sideways" - into a poignant declaration.
9. Ravenna Golden - Open My Eyes (feat. Dorian Electra)
The comedown continues with "Open My Eyes," a gorgeous song that arrived out of nowhere to check all of my musical boxes at once. It's co-produced by umru, which isn't surprising considering it sounds like it could fit almost seamlessly into his recently-released EP, Search Result. Ravenna Golden and Dorian Electra take turns caterwauling in autotune, like holograms of pop superstars beamed into outer space and transmitted back to Earth in distorted, glitchy fragments. It's the sort of song that will leave you drunk-wailing at the end of the night because you're convinced it's the saddest thing you've ever heard.
10. Carly Rae Jepsen - Party for One
Although perhaps not the strongest choice for a much-anticipated comeback single, this song carries a message we can all appreciate going into the New Year, that having a significant other is not a requirement for one's happiness and that solitude can be liberating, even sexy. As Jepsen asserts with confidence during the chorus, "If you don't care about me/I'll just dance by myself . . . I'll be the one . . . Making love to myself/Back on my beat," you can't help but want to sing along in solidarity. It's an easy, simple pop song made for bedroom pajama dance parties, which are usually the best kind.
Although perhaps not the strongest choice for a much-anticipated comeback single, this song carries a message we can all appreciate going into the New Year, that having a significant other is not a requirement for one's happiness and that solitude can be liberating, even sexy. As Jepsen asserts with confidence during the chorus, "If you don't care about me/I'll just dance by myself . . . I'll be the one . . . Making love to myself/Back on my beat," you can't help but want to sing along in solidarity. It's an easy, simple pop song made for bedroom pajama dance parties, which are usually the best kind.
As always, it was inordinately difficult to even think about determining my favorite releases of the year in any quantifiable way. As always, I considered doing it alphabetically or not doing it at all. As always, I ultimately couldn't resist the lure of ranking anyway. As always, I attempted to do so using decidedly unquantifiable criteria: emotional impact, pure enjoyment factor, and perceived longevity, among other even less tangible factors. As always, the end result is very personal and by no means an attempt to be exhaustive or objective (particularly this year, since I consciously scaled back my quest to keep up with everything). I don't claim to be the arbiter of good taste, just my own taste.
You'll notice I'm using the term "releases" rather than "albums" here, and that's because, this year more than ever, the line between what makes an album and what does not has become increasingly blurry. I've found that I've started appreciating shorter releases with less opportunity for filler as a general rule, and it doesn't make sense to me anymore to disqualify works on the basis of length or number of songs or what the artist decides to call them. If it impresses me, it impresses me, and if it impresses me just as much as something twice as long, it clearly warrants an equal chance at making this list.
I think that's all I have to say. I've already made my argument for these releases in my quarterly review posts - one, two, three, four - and my feelings about them have remained mostly consistent. This is just an opportunity for me to reflect on what stood out most, not to mention make one last appeal through the playlist below for everyone who hasn't already to give them a shot.
Oh, and Merry Christmas!
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| 20. Ariana Grande - Sweetener |
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| 19. Kilo Kish - Mothe |
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| 18. Neko Case - Hell-On |
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| 17. Sega Bodega - self*care |
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| 16. Low - Double Negative |
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| 15. Janelle Monáe - Dirty Computer |
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| 14. Allie X - Super Sunset |
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| 13. Natalie Prass - The Future and the Past |
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| 12. Young Fathers - Cocoa Sugar |
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| 11. Ezra Furman - Transangelic Exodus |
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| 10. Noname - Room 25 |
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| 9. ionnalee - Everyone Afraid to Be Forgotten |
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| 8. Sinjin Hawke & Zora Jones - Vicious Circles |
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| 7. Ought - Room Inside the World |
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| 6. Beach House - 7 |
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| 5. Let's Eat Grandma - I'm All Ears |
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| 4. Half Waif - Lavender |
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| 3. RosalÃa - El Mal Querer |
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| 2. Hop Along - Bark Your Head Off, Dog |
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| 1. SOPHIE - Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides |
First off, I want to say thank you to those of you who indulged my last post and possibly even enjoyed it. I know it's not necessarily the type of content a lot of people are looking for on a music blog, but creative writing has always been my first love, and those juices haven't really been flowing for me lately, so it felt good to not only complete a project but tie it to my music-obsessed side in the process. In the future, I'd like to keep doing more unique stuff like that and the couple of more intensive and analytical essays I wrote earlier in the year. Unfortunately, things like that always take a lot of time and energy for me to finish, and I only come up with good ideas once in a blue moon, but I'm hoping I strike upon a few more next year.
Anyway, here's my last quarterly wrap-up post for 2018. I wanted to get this one out fast on the heels of quarter three's, since that one was already way overdue and since I don't want anything hanging over me as I try to finalize my year-end list before January. Enjoy!
Allie X is the sort of pop star who pulls off high-concept visuals and high-energy bops with equal effortlessness. In the artwork accompanying Super Sunset, she tries on many disguises, from goth nun to debauched beauty queen to neon sci-fi seductress, which could lead one to assume that its music is equally mercurial, never quite settling on a true identity. But the "real" Allie X comes through loud and clear, often at the most unexpected moments. "Little Things" and "Girl of the Year," outwardly upbeat tracks, find her battling feelings of anxiety and worthlessness. Once realized, these themes turn their unrelenting giddiness eerily desperate. On the other hand, "Science" and "Focus" are musically moodier, glacial '80s synths evaporated by Allie's steamy, sensual vocals, but contain messages of contentment and peace.
If you're a fan of contemporary indie rock/folk, boygenius is the super group of your dreams, comprising three of the scene's heaviest hitters. Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus, and Phoebe Bridgers have been heaped with well-deserved praise as solo artists, so it only makes sense they would work magic together, too. On boygenius' eponymous EP, the three women's musical visions coalesce most successfully when they're given equal opportunity to shine, as on "Salt in the Wound" and "Ketchum, ID." The latter's stately harmonies are goosebump-inducing, especially following each singer's turn at a devastatingly understated solo verse. Other songs more clearly emphasize their individual singer/songwriter talents; Dacus in particular leaves a strong impression with her self-assured delivery on gently rollicking opener, "Bite the Hand."
Empress Of broke out in 2015 with Me, a self-produced debut bubbling over with charismatic, high-octane electropop that felt impressively fresh in a genre that so often chases trends. It's almost inevitable that disappointment would follow a three-year wait, but even putting any impossibly high expectations aside, it's hard to deny that Us feels slight and even bland in comparison. Appropriately, Us finds Lorely Rodriguez enlisting the help of others, which sometimes results in gold, like "Everything to Me," the effortlessly cool Dev Hynes-assisted opener, or "Love for Me," an insanely catchy collaboration with production duo DJDS. Other times, though, her singular vision feels diluted in favor of more generic choices that are, yes, quite pleasant to hum along to but also sound a bit too close to something you've heard before. 
In 2016, jazz bassist/singer Esperanza Spalding reinvented herself on Emily's D+Evolution, a thrilling experiment in conceptual prog-pop. She's since returned to her more traditional roots with last year's Exposure, made during a 77-hour live stream, and this year's 12 Little Spells, released track by track over twelve days. Gimmicks aside, 12 Little Spells is a quietly captivating album that rewards patient listeners, covering as much musical ground as Emily's D+Evolution but with more subtlety. It moves easily from the stripped-down soulfulness of "Thang" to the hypnotic dreaminess of "Touch in Mine" to the retro funk of "You Have to Dance," in large part due to Spalding's immense charisma, on full display in closer "With Others" when she mutters bashfully, "So you're really just going to say it straight out like that, that we all need love?"
I've followed Lindsay Powell's music for years, first as Cake Bake Betty and now as Fielded, and it's been thrilling to witness her growth from a young singer-songwriter to a confident performer/producer at the height of her craft. Although it sacrifices some of the charming quirkiness of its predecessor, Ninety Thirty Thirty, for a sleek, sophisticated sound, Drip Drip is another stunning entry in Powell's oeuvre. She experiments with beat-heavy minimalism on "Light It Up" and "Drip Drip," while "Fix Ya" is ultra-catchy pop at its finest. But the most effective vessel for Powell's voice is expressive balladry that bravely bears it all. "Persephone," "Am I All," and "Heart of Darkness" mine painful subject matter - sexual violation, gender expectations, mental health - with grace, uncovering the power in vulnerability. 
It's been a long wait for the follow-up to Gabrielle Smith's last album, O.K., a diverse, emotionally-charged collection of songs that established her as more than your typical bedroom pop artist. Three years and a band name change later, she returns as Gabby's World with Beast on Beast. Its singles are probably the best representation of Smith's talents: "Rear View," and "I Get You" are light, boppy pop songs with instant replay value. "Winter, Withdraw" falls into the same category but is more capable of competing with O.K.'s emotional vulnerability, a quality also apparent in subdued tracks like "Ode" and "Beast on Beast." These highlights all come in the album's first half, but it back half begins to falter slightly. The tracks, though enjoyable, start to sound too much like variations on the same theme, a step back from O.K.'s depth.
Remix albums can be a tricky business because they're often seen as blatant cash grabs rather than meaningful reinterpretations of their source material. Luckily, Kelela avoids falling into this trap on TAKE ME A_PART, The Remixes, a monstrous 80-minute, 20-track reworking of her debut. Of course, not everything lands, but it's a worthy companion that affords Kelela the opportunity to spotlight a well-curated selection of international collaborators, particularly those whose marginalized identities have kept them on the outskirts. Unsurprisingly, the album's most memorable moments are its most transformative ones, like the all-star sequel to "LMK" featuring Princess Nokia, Junglepussy, CupcakKe, and Ms. Boogie; Divoli S'vere's ballroom spin on "Truth or Dare;" and Badsista and Linn Da Quebrada's Brazilian-flavored "Better."
Time 'n' Place finds Kero Kero Bonito aiming for longevity by tempering their ultra-cute bubblegum electro origins with a darker and grungier sound. Earlier this year, "Only Acting" was the first indicator of the shift; after a brief adjustment period, it's proven to be a brilliant amalgamation of the band's catchy melodies and Sarah Midori Perry's bubbly vocals with rock instrumentation and a dash of experimental glitchiness. The album itself, apart from closer "Rest Stop," doesn't quite push itself to the same extremes - for better and for worse. On one hand, "Make Believe" and "Dear Future Self" are as infectious as anything they've ever done, while "Swimming" is refreshingly mature. On the other, the uniform lo-fi production creates a homogeneous whole, suggesting the band still has a few growing pains to work out. 
Kilo Kish's Mothe was released in September, so it technically doesn't belong in this post, but I didn't realize just how good it is until recently. It's the sort of music that gradually sneaks up on you rather than knocks you off your feet with a single listen. Kilo Kish's feather-light vocals drifting weightlessly across chilled-out electronic soundscapes are undeniably pleasant, but it's at first hard to pin down specific songs as particularly memorable. Still, there's something oddly addicting about the cool, casual atmosphere that keeps you coming back for more - until all of it suddenly clicks into place. Wrapped within their leisurely, ethereal layers of spacey synths and beats, songs like "San Pedro," "Like Honey," and "Elegance" have gorgeously subdued melodies that stick to the insides of your brain far longer than they have any right to.
It's a pretty bold move to make your first major release a novelty holiday project, but, after a string of perfect pop singles, Kim Petras did just that with her Halloween-themed EP, Turn Off the Light, Vol. 1. Not only is it a welcome addition to the lacking Halloween music canon, it's a feast for the ears regardless of the time of year. Its most obvious reference point is Lady Gaga's The Fame Monster, as both capitalize on the same brand of dark, vampy electropop, gleefully reveling in cheesy synths, melodramatic vocals, hamfisted lyrics, and, most importantly, insanely infectious melodies. The EP's most successful encapsulation of glamour/horror camp is probably "In the Next Life," in which Petras embodies the role of a robo-zombie going in for the kill, first in English and then in German, between intense diva-worthy choruses.
Double Negative is Low's twelfth studio album, which is generally long past the point you'd expect to see a band begin declining. Instead, it's proven to be a resurgence of sorts. For me, Low is one of those bands that's never quite clicked, but Double Negative was a captivating listen from beginning to end. Even before I was sure I actually liked it, I knew I needed to hear it again. It's a difficult album to describe, a gloomy, foreboding, emotionally heavy journey that deftly melds traditional rock instrumentation with electronic glitches, splices, and loops. Sound experiments like the stuttering, staticky "Quorum" and the muffled, otherworldly "Dancing and Blood" add an interesting wrinkle to Low's distinct brand of ruminative slowcore, but even more expected cuts, like "Fly" and "Disarray," have a refreshing sense of urgency attached.
What RosalÃa achieves on El Mal Querer is remarkable: a seamless, seemingly natural fusion of tradition-steeped flamenco, current pop trends, and forward-thinking experimentation that results in one of the most innovative and enjoyable albums of the year. Singles "Malamente," Pienso en tu mirá," and "Di mi nombre" are immaculate examples of what RosalÃa and co-producer El Guincho can do with big, glossy melodies, but they represent only a small segment of the dizzying future-pop labyrinth that is El Mal Querer. The album's true impact lies in its less easily definable moments, like "De aquà no sales," with its looping, engine-revving minimalism, and "Bagdad," which ingeniously interpolates Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me a River" into an angelic autotuned hymn beamed straight from a 22nd-century church.
Electronic producer Sega Bodega's EP, self*care, is another one of those releases I went into having no idea what to expect and came out of unequivocally loving. My first taste of it was "Daddy," a relentless whirlwind of unintelligible samples, sawing synths, and crushing, blown-out beats. But the rest of the EP leans more in the direction of unexpected beauty than mass chaos. After a full-on rhythmic assault, opener "Cowgirl" settles down into a dreamy swirl of hypnotically looped and processed vocals. Similar territory is charted by the surprisingly tender "Kisses 2 My Phone" and my personal highlight, "Maryland," which is one of the more genuinely moving tracks I've heard all year. Despite having no discernible lyrics, it squeezes emotion out of celestial chimes, distorted bass, and a ghostly choir of synthetic voices.
Putting aside any complaints about PC Music prioritizing newer signings over, say, Hannah Diamond's much-delayed album, I must admit that umru's debut EP, Search Result, is a worthy addition to the label's small catalog. It's hard to believe that the teenage producer first made a name for himself less than a year ago with a co-production credit on "I Got It," one of the most bonkers tracks on Charli XCX's Pop 2. For being so young, umru has already crafted a singular sound, clearly indebted to the likes of SOPHIE and A. G. Cook but unique enough to stand on its own. "Popular," with its chaotic mash-up of hard beats and squeaky vocals, is an immediate standout, but repeat listens expose a dark undercurrent of desperation. This unexpected emotional heaviness reaches its apex in the devastating warp and warble of "Heat Death."