best of HONESTLY, 2018. - Albums Top 4 + Singles Top 10

[MP2K]

Pearly Gates
Sugar & Spice - nice!
and Seeing some love for Short Court Style brings me joy

[Pink Matter]

U.S. Girls, Natalie, and Hatchie  

[volition]

your album lists are always so exciting and this one is starting off no different! ultraviolet was a lush listen around a cool concept, rico nasty's album was so exciting for her future, and playboi carti delivered one of the most entertaining trap albums of the year. delicate is awful though x

[Lazuli]

Delicate, Pearly Gates, Short Court Style and Sugar & Spice are SONGS  

[Wicked]

That Aseul song is good lol didn't think it'd be on a countdown. Haven't got around to the EP. Hatchie, J. Balvin, nice set!

[Uncatena]

Pearly Gates, Short Court Style, Sugar & Spice 

 

 

girl of the year..... beach house outsold and outtalented

 

delicate is a cute gworl for sure

[World Eater]

Great set  I know a thing of two about ambient music so I obviously enjoyed Ambiente. Also surprised to see Delicate here, but I can't be mad  AS Too Wrong, Pearly Gates, Short Court Style, Sugar & Spice 

[TRF.]

well the singles 90-81 thing is in the previous page. hope y'all understand xoxo

 

 

#45.

Florence + the Machine – High As Hope

Genre: Art Pop

Pop Soul, Chamber Pop

Country: UK || Label: Republic

 

I can see how people might say this is Florence's worst album, and I can't help but to agree to a certain extent. A trilogy of albums like 'Lungs', 'Ceremonials' and 'How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful' isn't easily beaten, especially considering 'High As Hope' is mostly lowkey and less diverse than its predecessors. But it also relies on quite a few other strengths. Like, sure, there is Florence Welch's voice which will always be one of the better things in any of their songs, and also the production handled by Emile Haynie and Florence herself, but also is especially noteworthy her songwriting. I personally feel like I never heard her pour out her heart in such a blatant way... pretty much ever. Even if it weren't personal and relatable, it doesn't seem like it tries to be at all, it just feels like that. And it works well enough for me.

 

LISTEN

Highlights: "June”, "Hunger", "Big God", "Grace", "Patricia", "No Choir"

You’ll like it if you like: Kate Bush, Adele, Lykke Li, London Grammar, early Kimbra

 

 

#44.

Anna von Hausswolff – Dead Magic

Genre: Neoclassical Darkwave, Experimental Rock

Ethereal Wave, Drone, Ambient, Dungeon Synth

Country: Sweden || Label: City Slang

 

Gothenburg's Anna von Hausswolff has been known for her take on singer/songwriter music, adding her talents as an organist on her experimental pop music, with an excellent album like 'Ceremony' being an extremely impressive effort. A shift happened in 2015, however, with the release of 'The Miraculous', a record that was firmly rooted in dark, heavy rock music, taking influence from doom metal and dark ambient. It was a promising record, and that promise was fullfilled with her most recent album, 'Dead Magic'. This is the kind of record that has everything that made her so great to begin with, but also isn't afraid to enter new territories or take some risks. Her voice in this album is probably the most entrancing element, like in tracks like "The Mysterious Vanishing of Electra" where she barely sounds human at all, but so is the production handled by Randall Dunn, highlighting the obscure and unsettling atmosphere of her compositions, and this is as great as a team can be.

 

LISTEN

Highlights: “The Mysterious Vanishing of Electra”, "Ugly and Vengeful", "The Marble Eye"

You’ll like it if you like: Dead Can Dance, Swans, Chelsea Wolfe, Julia Holter, Zola Jesus, Sunn O)))

 

 

#43.

Aylu – Walden

Genre: IDM

Sound Collage, Glitch, Footwork

Country: Argentina || Label: Orange Milk

 

Aylu is a producer who is one of the most important producers in the Argentine juke scene, and a member of the Abyss Juke crew, a group of people/a label which has pushed the limits for what footwork can be. And this is exactly what 'Walden', her debut record for the American label Orange Milk does. This is technically footwork, but at the same time, it has little of what we think of as such. Instead, it plays between the lines of 90's IDM, ambient or glitch, but also keeping a very organic element to it, using "real" instruments like guitars or drums to built beats and rhythms with, along with field recordings or other samples and sources. This album can be Japanese producer's Foodman's approach to the genre, and you can definitely see why. However, I feel like Aylu's music can be as playful and experimental as it is actually engaging and creative. 'Walden' is of the most brilliant and innovative albums to come out of Argentina this year.

 

LISTEN

Highlights: “Corda I", "Cristal I", "Industrial", "Lignum", "Metal", "Papel"

You’ll like it if you like: Foodman, Oneohtrix Point Never, Jlin, Seth Graham, Giant Claw, Matmos

 

 

#42.

Tove Styrke – Sway

Genre: Electropop, Synthpop

Dance-Pop, Alternative R&B

Country: Sweden || Label: RCA

 

Tove Styrke's international debut 'Kiddo' was a really diverse collection of pop songs, that touched themes like feminism, rockism, being an introvert or growing up, over music influenced by R&B, reggae or new wave. Her follow-up 'Sway', on the other hand, feels much more different. First of all, it's more based on a particular sound instead of being all over the place − midtempo, synth-heavy electropop with potent-yet-subtle hooks, with production mostly courtesy of Elof Loelv. Also there is a consistent theme on this album, that of love − not only what Tove herself experienced but she also took inspiration from her friends' relationships. Also worth noting is how this album is 8 tracks and 26 minutes long − or 9 tracks and 29 minutes in the recently re-released version. And in this short amount of time, Tove brings her best to this album. A record like 'Sway' is dangerously close to being generic or unremarkable, but when you have songwriters as talented as Styrke is, that is thankfully avoided.

 

LISTEN

Highlights: “Say My Name", "On the Low", "Changed My Mind", "I Lied", "On a Level", "Liability"

You’ll like it if you like: Lorde, Empress Of, Charli XCX, Taylor Swift, Robyn

 

 

#41.

Kacey Musgraves – Golden Hour

Genre: Country Pop

Contemporary Country, Soft Rock, Dream Pop

Country: USA || Label: MCA Nashville

 

One of the criticisms that is often aimed at Kacey Musgraves' 'Golden Hour' is that it is "country music for people who don't actually like country music". Personally, I might not be the best person to speak against this notion considering I am not the biggest connoisseur of country music, but I don't feel like this is the case at all. What made so many people connect with this album was its emotional songwriting, that makes it very easy for everyone to relate. Also, what makes this different from at least a lot of country music released this year, or most of the country music in the radio right now is its production, taking lots of cues from genres like dream pop, using elements like vocoder or synths to make this a little more leftfield than most country-pop − or Kacey's previous releases. All of the acclaim Kacey Musgraves has received with this record is more than deserved, and makes her one of the most interesting figures in country music right now.

 

LISTEN

Highlights: “Slow Burn", "Oh, What a World", "Mother", "Love Is a Wild Thing", "Space Cowboy", "Happy & Sad", "High Horse", "Golden Hour", "Rainbow"

You’ll like it if you like: Dolly Parton, Carrie Underwood, Carly Rae Jepsen, Haim, Emmylou Harris

 

[TRF.]

17 hours ago, volition said:

your album lists are always so exciting and this one is starting off no different! ultraviolet was a lush listen around a cool concept, rico nasty's albumwas so exciting for her future, and playboi carti delivered one of the most entertaining trap albums of the year. delicate is awful though x

Aww thanks  Also re: Delicate... you are completely entitled to your 100% valid opinion  but let's just say: I take that over an "End Game" or a "Look What You Made Me Do" any day of the week!

 

7 hours ago, ChapelHooker said:

Pearly Gates, Short Court Style, Sugar & Spice 

 

 

girl of the year..... beach house outsold and outtalented

 

delicate is a cute gworl for sure

Of course they did!  But Allie X also made several points!

 

10 hours ago, Wicked said:

That Aseul song is good lol didn't think it'd be on a countdown. Haven't got around to the EP. Hatchie, J. Balvin, nice set!

Yes it is!!! I hope more people jump on the Aseul bandwagon whenever she drops something new

[TRF.]

On 12/22/2018 at 8:16 PM, Remmy said:

Girl of the Year  I thought it was just simply good at first (which, for Allie's standards, means it's a bit disappointing) but I love it now.

Delicate  Can't agree with those rep views but I can't @ you for anything else in this writeup!

Still need to check out Hatchie at some point - shoegaze... what an interesting genre name

Check "Sleep" and "Sure"! If you like those two songs then go ahead and listen to the rest of the EP!  You're in for a ride

[Pink Matter]

These albums, great gowns beautiful gowns 

[Remmy]

Sway I actually tried out her other 2 albums and I couldn't finish either  So glad she's apparently improved. Liability is deeeeefinitely not a highlight  || Golden Hour I'm late af and just listened last week, it's really great. Your writeup is super accurate as well. 9/13 tracks being highlights whew! Mother is the only one that doesn't do much for me, but it's just an interlude so oh well.

 

1 hour ago, TRF. said:

Check "Sleep" and "Sure"! If you like those two songs then go ahead and listen to the rest of the EP!  You're in for a ride

Noted

[collin]

Golden Hour so low  Sometimes I forget you... aren't me.

 

Loved the Tove album.

[Wicked]

I honestly expected Dead Magic high, this shock, the horror.

 

Tove is another one I only use like 2 people in that "if you like" section... I'll check it out though.

[Lazuli]

High As Hope  

Sway  

Golden Hour  

[theblackestday]

Unfortunately didn't connect much with High as Hope aside from Big God and June, and she used to be my fave 

Dead Magic is pretty criminally low and the album closer of the year was snubbed from the highlights 

Oop, tea; that argument against Golden Hour is so ridiculous, like... okay, and what about it? It's still gorgeous and we stan

 

[TRF.]

 

 

 

#80. ionnalee - "JOY"

(electropop/art pop)

from 'Everyone Afraid to Be Forgotten'

 

One of my faves on the ionna album! At least one of my fave singles lol. Love the kinda slow-R&B vibe that this has, combined with the kind of usual iamamiwhoami style of production, it's a really good song tbh!

 

 

 

 

 

#79. Christine and the Queens - "5 Dollars"

(synthpop/art pop)

from 'Chris'

 

Ok miss Xtine! Really dig the 80's sophisti-pop influence of the track, that and the hook are immediately captivating to me.

 

 

 

 

#78. Rina Sawayama - "Cherry"

(alt R&B/synthpop)

from ?

 

Love how open she is in this song about her coming to terms with her queerness in such a beautiful, lowkey poetic way, in what is essentially her poppiest song thus far. Also does anyone else notice how city pop influenced this is? Like... her mind!

 

 

 

 

#77. Elza Soares - "Deus há de ser"

(art rock/vanguarda paulista)

from 'Deus é mulher'

 

I know one or two things about Brazilian rock music! This is what every new post-punk band wished they sounded like, to be honest.

 

 

 

#76. Tirzah - "Gladly"

(alt r&b/hypnagogic pop)

from 'Devotion'

 

I've always enjoyed Tirzah's music, like I would listen to songs like "Make It Up" or "I'm Not Dancing" regularly. But I wasn't truly a fan until I heard this song. The raspy singing combined with the slo-mo, psychedelic R&B beat is a great sound, and my heart drops a little bit everytime I hear the "feels like it's raining, super slow" hook in the last minute.

 

 

 

 

#75. EASYFUN feat. Iiris - "Be Your USA"

(electropop/bubblegum bass)

from ?

 

Honestly? I wasn't too convinced of this the first couple times I heard it, but as with everything EASYFUN (and tbh, the rest of the PC Music crew) does, it slowly found a way to get stuck in my head forever.

 

 

 

#74. Ariana Grande - "thank u, next"

(cont. r&b/electropop)

from 'thank u, next'

 

What hasn't been about this song at this point? Almost definitely the best song to hit #1. this year. Legend!

 

 

 

 

#73. Rico Nasty - "Rage"

(hardcore hip hop/nu metal)

from 'Nasty'

 

I need to mosh to this.

 

 

 

 

#72. Tinashe feat. Offset - "No Drama"

(alt r&b/pop rap)

from 'Joyride'

 

Okay... I still love this song. I feel like there's a lot of things I would've changed about the Joyride roll-out, and Joyride itself, but this song on its own is fantastic. Also I kinda like to pretend that this song is sort of dedicated to her (now ex) label... and it still mostly makes sense lol.

 

 

 

 

#71. DJ Koze - "Pick Up"

(deep house/nu-disco)

from 'knock knock'

 

I didn't like 'knock knock' as much as I would've wished I did. Having said that, this song is EXTREMELY

 

 

 

 



[Tom Vercetti]

cherry, pick up, be your usa  

 

no drama didn't age well for me.

[Blue Rose]

High As Hope and Golden Hour  

Tirzah’s Gladly  

love these ladies 

[potent]

Kacey, Florence, Christine, Tove Styrke, Rina

I understand why people like Ariana even though I don’t, but in terms of #1s this year I definitely don’t think TUN is better than Nice for What  

[TRF.]

18 hours ago, Wicked said:

I honestly expected Dead Magic high, this shock, the horror.

 

Tove is another one I only use like 2 people in that "if you like" section... I'll check it out though.

Oh my god  I would've put Dead Magic higher had I listened to it more  idk but it's kind of the album that even though it's great it's not something you'd play a lot you feel me?

 

7 hours ago, theblackestday said:

Oop, tea; that argument against Golden Hour is so ridiculous, like... okay, and what about it? It's still gorgeous and we stan

 

Yeah it's exactly what F*****o said... as if he even cared about country in the first place! We hate rats.

 

4 hours ago, potent said:

Kacey, Florence, Christine, Tove Styrke, Rina

I understand why people like Ariana even though I don’t, but in terms of #1s this year I definitely don’t think TUN is better than Nice for What  

oops... maybe you're right but I still prefer Talent U, Next

[TRF.]

 

#40.

Marie Davidson – Working Class Woman

Genre: Minimal Synth, Tech House

EBM, Spoken Word, Industrial Techno, Synthpop

Country: Canada || Label: NInja Tune

 

Canadian producer and vocalist Marie Davidson's Working Class Woman is a personal and self-reflective album, yes. But that doesn't make for an extremely personal instrospection on her life and experiences and all that stuff. Or maybe it does, but takes a different path from usual. Instead, Davidson tries to explain her situation as a figure in dance music, her mental state and, the theme that is most important, working. How does she do it? In a very humorous tone for the most part, not avoiding moments of anxiety, angst or vulnerability, but it is done in a very sarcastic, ironic way, alternating between French and English as she is known for doing. Her music follows suit, alternating between glorious, hard-hitting techno, abrasive industrial-noise or soothing ambience, with some poppy, accessible moments sprinkled here and there. Working Class Woman is one of the most exciting dance music releases of 2018, and Davidson's strongest release to date.

 

LISTEN

Highlights: "Your Biggest Fan", "Work It", "The Psychologist", "Lara", "Day Dreaming", "The Tunnel", "So Right"

You’ll like it if you like: Factory Floor, Front 242, Actress, Kelly Lee Owens, Pharmakon

 

 

#39.

Aisha Devi – DNA Feelings

Genre: Post-Industrial, Deconstructed Club

Grime, Spoken Word, Throat Singing, Ritual Ambient

Country: Switzerland || Label: Houndstooth

 

Swiss/Nepalese experimentalist Aisha Devi came to prominence with her debut album, Of Matter and Spirit, which was a combination of harsh club music, dark ambient and strange vocal techniques. Her follow-up, DNA Feelings, continues the same path its predecessor started, but that doesn't mean there is nothing new about it. The beats on this record are sparser and sometimes downright non-existant, the riffs lifted from trance or techno music are slowed down and drowned in reverb to result in a meditative effect. There's throat singing, poetry, text-to-speech software giving a short speech on philosophy and humanity. It is something else. The term "deconstructed club" is often used to describe music like this, and it usually feels lazy or just... inaccurate, but this is one of the rare cases where one might see where an attempt to subvert those tropes, and do genuinely new stuff with it.

 

LISTEN

Highlights: "Dislocation of the Alpha", "Intentional Dreams", "Hyperlands", "Inner State of Alchemy", "Light Luxury", "Genesis of Ohm", "Time Is the Illusion of Solidity"

You’ll like it if you like: Coil, Lotic, Fatima Al Qadiri, SOPHIE, Ben Frost

 

 

#38.

Mount Eerie – Now Only

Genre: Indie Folk

Avant-Folk, Indie Rock

Country: USA || Label: P.W. and Elverum Sun

 

In some way, Phil Elverum a.k.a. Mount Eerie's Now Only works in the same way that his previous album, A Crow Looked at Me did. It takes on the theme of the aftermarth of Elverum's wife, Geneviève Castrée, in a diary-like way. Except that Now Only feels much more musical, the music feels a lot more dense, longer, and less minimal than his previous record, and also explores themes like his previous encounters with death or what happened after the release of Crow. That doesn't make it any less devastating, though. Because it is. A lot.

 

LISTEN

Highlights: "Tintin in Tibet", "Distortion", "Earth", "Two Paintings by Nikolai Astrup"

You’ll like it if you like: Mount Eerie's A Crow Looked at Me, Sufjan Stevens, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Microphones

 

 

#37.

Caroline Rose – Loner

Genre: Indie Rock, Indie Pop

Synthpop, New Wave, Art Pop

Country: USA || Label: RCA

 

Caroline Rose's first two records were country-driven indie-folk records, that showed promise, but weren't exactly the most inventive releases out there. So Rose putting an album like Loner out feels... not exactly out of character, but not exactly what is expected either. Which is probably why it works as well as it does! Loner is an album about her own experiences, about others' experiences and her reaction to that, with a lot of satire, irony and just plain old jokes thrown in, but also are present moments of vulnerability. There's a lot of synths, new wave, psychedelia, disco and R&B influences that make it quite different from your average indie rock album, and make it one of the highlights of the genre this year for that very same reason.

 

LISTEN

Highlights: "More of the Same", "Money", "Jeannie Becomes a Mom", "Getting to Me", "Bikini", "Talk", "Animal"

You’ll like it if you like: Mitski, MGMT, Japanese Breakfast, Charli XCX, Priests

 

 

#36.

Mariah Carey – Caution

Genre: Contemporary R&B, Electropop

Alternative R&B, Synthpop

Country: USA || Label: Epic

 

It's crazy how even though Mariah is without question one of the most successful acts of all time, yet she is underrated. Not talking about her singing talents, which are out of question, but rather her talents as a songwriter and lyricist. Caution, her first album in 4 years, is a testament to their greatness. This is an album that proves Carey's relevance in the modern world, working with producers like Skrillex, Blood Orange or Lido and having features from people like Gunna or Ty Dolla $ign, which prove that she is still willing to innovate and stand out from her contemporaries. However, it still has the classic vibe, in terms of songwriting and singing, that sounds so uniquely Mariah Carey. Caution is one of her best albums ever, and everything that a "late-career" album should be like.

 

LISTEN

Highlights: "GTFO", "Caution", "A No No", "The Distance" (feat. Ty Dolla $ign), "Giving Me Life" (feat. Blood Orange & Slick Rick), "One Mo' Gen", "Stay Long Love You" (feat. Gunna), "Portrait"

You’ll like it if you like: the best of R&B and pop music, alternative and commercial, then and now.

 

 

[TRF.]

Merry XCXmas and happy holidays to you all! ❤️

[Remmy]

Christine and the Queens is another one I'm eventually planning on listening to  thank u, next + No Drama are both cute  Merry Christmas!

[Bubble Tea]

Oooh I absolutely LOVE "No Drama"! Tinashe snapped there.

 

Also Tove Styrke did a cover of the Lorde's "Liability" which I ADORE - even in its demo form. Cute that it's on spotify.