Best of 2018
Lets spend some sunny Saturday morning rummaging thru the bins together and discover some dusty gem that we can call our very own shall we. Lets carry it home tucked under our arms and place it amongst the pile of other relics that may never get their chance to shine. Lets rise one Sunday morning before the dawn and play something soft so as to not awake the kid and fall into a song that sounds just as warm as the coffee we’re now drinking.
Wild Pink — Yolk in the Fur
The early morning smell of pine and crackling fire from the night before and the sounds of rain cascading on the tent. That stillness in nature, the ache of restlessness, and the joyous journey back with the 1985 FM radio playing songs that sound quite like this.
Kevin Krauter — Toss Up
A brilliant LP of driving pop gems that never raise the pulse. The perfect series of songs to space out to as you walk alone on your morning commute to work.
Jenn Champion — Single Rider
I’m not so sure you can get a second chance at the same kind of love once its lost, so best pick yourself up and dance away your depression and start over anew. The Smiths seemed to master the craft of a song that can be both at once devastatingly sad and yet make you dance with joy and jenn has now also mastered this art. My favorite records of the year.
Dead Can Dance — Dionysus
This is time travel to ancient times. As always, the produce music that is cinematic sonic scenes that are so vivid you can almost see the pictures in your mind.
Hatchie — Sugar and Spice EP
Everything about this EP is pure pop perfection. Sun-drenched reverb songs that speak to the longing of lost love. Within seconds of ‘Sure’, you’re sure you want to do it over. A very close second for top spot.
Snail Mail — Lush
If I was brave enough to share my diary this might be it. I will never tire of the sound of songs like ‘Pristine’, the way the guitar kicks in and the aching vocals crying out “I will never love anyone else”.
Jay Som — Everybody Works
True this came out the year before but its too good to let it slip behind. I listened to this endlessly over spring, reminding me that there is hope for hopeless romantics like me that the light of indie pop isn’t quite out yet.
Novo Amor — Birthplace
Yes, it may sound all so familiar but it nevertheless doesn’t take away from the fact that its stunningly beautiful. An aching feeling when you find a lost postcard found in a book from long ago.
Kommonde — Analog Dance Music
Yes, another album from the year prior but was on constant repeat throughout the sunny spring. Glamorous European indiepop dance club hits abound.
Whiskeytown — Strangers Almanac
Yes, I’d never heard of Ryan Adams before. Really. And frankly everything he did after Whiskeytown isn’t quite as charming as this. Turn Around, Avenues, and 16 days are all dusty gems that glow anew when found for the first time.
Cocteau Twins — Heaven or Las Vegas
Yes, I’d also never really understood Cocteau Twins at all. Too goth I thought. Little did I know just how incredibly perfect this record is from start to finish, the pearl of dream pop.
