Beach House Archive

18 x 2018

Here’s a playlist with songs from our 18 favorite records of 2018, filled with strong women, sensitive punks, beautiful noise in a troubled world, but also sweetness, nostalgia, sadness, fears, desires, hopes, and maybe a hint of joy.

Apart from our #1, the order doesn’t reflect any particular ranking, other than the inner playlist logic.

Listen via Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, or YouTube directly via the below player.

18x2018 Playlist and collage by GooMorninCaptn

18x2018 Playlist and collage by GooMorninCaptn

1 – Low (US) — “Rome (Always in the Dark)”, from ‘Double Negative’ (Sub Pop Records)
2 – Amen Dunes (US) — “Time”, from ‘Freedom’ (Sacred Bones Records)
3 – Haley Heynderickx (US) — “Oom Sha La La”, from ‘I Need to Start a Garden’ (Mama Bird Recording Co.)
4 – Melody’s Echo Chamber (FR) — “Breathe In, Breathe Out”, from ‘Bon Voyage’ (Domino)
5 – Tangents (AUS) — “Swells Under Trio”, from ‘New Bodies’ (Temporary Residence Ltd.)
6 – Frigs (CA) — “Talking Pictures”, from ‘Basic Behavior’ (Arts & Crafts)
7 – Hilary Woods (IE) — “Sever”, from ‘Colt’ (Sacred Bones)
8 – Loma (US) — “Dark Oscillations”, from ‘Loma’ (Sub Pop)
9 – serpentwithfeet (US) — “mourning song”, from ‘soil’ (Secretly Canadian)
10 – Anenon (US) — “Two For C”, from ‘Tongue’ (Friends of Friends Music)
11 – Beach House (US) — “Black Car”, from ‘7’ (Sub Pop)
12 – Halo Maud (FR) — “Du pouvoir/power”, from ‘Je suis une île’ (Heavenly Recordings)
13 – Idles (UK) — “Samaritans”, from ‘Joy as an Act of Resistance’ (Partisan Records)
14 – Adrianne Lenker (US) — “terminal paradise”, from ‘abysskiss’ (Saddle Creek Records)
15 – Dirty Projectors (US) — “Zombie Conqueror”, from ‘Lamp Lit Prose’ (Domino)
16 – The Breeders (US) — “Nervous Mary”, from ‘All Nerve’ (4AD)
17 – Kathryn Joseph (SCO) — “From When I Wake the Want Is”, from ‘From When I Wake the Want Is’ (Rock Action Records)
18 – Mitski (US) – “Two Slow Dancers”, from ‘Be The Cowboy’ (Dead Oceans)

#indierock #indiepop #folkrock #psychrock #postpunk #shoegaze #postrock #nusoul #ambient

Follow us for fresh seasonal music selections:

Turn Around, Little Heart. Wait Slowly, Halfway Home. This Is The Dark Glow.

Here comes some of the best new music from Spring 2018 in indie rock, dream pop, psych fok, singer-songwriter, ambient… Listen to our carefully curated playlist on Spotify, Deezer, or YouTube via the below player.

Turn Around, Little Heart. Wait Slowly, Halfway Home. This Is The Dark Glow. April 2018 digital collage by GoodMornincaptn

Turn Around, Little Heart. Wait Slowly, Halfway Home. This Is The Dark Glow.
April 2018 digital collage by GoodMornincaptn

  1. The Breeders (US) — “Wait in the Car”, from ‘All Nerve’ (4AD, 2018).
  2. Preoccupations (CA) — “Espionage”, from ‘New Material’ (Flemish Eye Records / Jagjaguwar, 2018).
  3. MGMT (US) — “Little Dark Age”, from ‘Little Dark Age’ (Columbia Records, 2018).
  4. tune-yards (US) — “Heart Attack”, from ‘I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life’ (4AD, 2018).
  5. Dominique A (FR) — “Toute latitude”, from ‘Toute latitude’ (Cinq7 / Wagram, 2018).
  6. Anenon (US) — “Two For C”, from ‘Tongue’ (FoF Music 2018).
  7. Adrian Crowley (IE) — “Halfway To Andalucia”, from ‘Dark Eyed Messenger’ (Chemikal Underground, 2017).
  8. Son Lux (US) — “Slowly”, from ‘Brighter Wounds’ (City Slang, 2018).
  9. Sylvan Esso (US) — “PARAD(w/m)E” (Loma Vista Recordings, 2018).
  10. Dungen & Woods (SE/US) — “Turn Around”, from ‘Myths 003′ (Mexican Summer, 2018).
  11. Peter Kernel (CH/CA) — “Men Of The Women”, from ‘The Size Of The Night’ (On The Camper Records, 2018).
  12. Amen Dunes (US) — “Miki Dora”, from ‘Freedom’ (Sacred Bones Records, 2018).
  13. Ought (CA) — “Disgraced in America”, from ‘Room Inside the World’ (Merge Records, 2018).
  14. Beach House (US) — “Lemon Glow”, from ‘7′, the duo’s new album coming up May 11th, 2018 on Sub Pop Records / Bella Union.
  15. Lucy Dacus (US) — “Addictions”, from ‘Historian’ (Matador Records, 2018).
  16. Olivia Kaplan (US) — “This Is What I Do”, from ‘At the Seams’ EP (2018).
  17. Nils Frahm (DE) — “Human Range”, from ‘All Melody’ (Erased Tapes, 2018).
  18. Laurence Pike (AUS) — “Life Hacks”, from ‘Distance Early Warning’, 2018 debut solo album of the PVT drummer, on Leaf Label.
  19. Superorganism (UK/JP/AUS/NZ) — “Reflections On The Screen”, from the self-titled 2018 debut album of the young international collective on Domino Recording Company.
  20. Haley Heynderickx (US) — “Untitled God Song”, from ‘I Need to Start a Garden’, her 2018 debut solo LP on Mama Bird Recording Co.
  21. Shannon Lay (US) — “Home”, from ‘Living Water’ (Woodsist Records, 2017).
  22. The Third Eye Foundation (UK) — “I’ve Lost That Loving Feline”, from ‘Little Lost Soul’ (Domino Recording Company, 2000).

Follow us for fresh seasonal music selections:

2010 – Top 18

GoodMorninCaptn - Top 2010 Part 2 - feat. Heartland, Innundir Skinni, Cardiac Malformation, Des Larmes..., Rivers, Creatures..., Teen Dream, Learning, My Father...AFTER THE TOP #30 TO #19 RECORDS, LET’S KEEP ASCENDING THE STAIRS OF 2010 WITH THE SECOND PART OF OUR FAVORITE RECORDS, MOSTLY POP AND FOLK, WITH SPARSE JAZZY OR NOISY TOUCHES.

SWANS - My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky (artwork: Beatrice Pediconi)Perfume Genius - LearningBeach House - Teen Dream (Sub Pop/Bella Union, Jan. 2010)
18) SWANS – “My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky” (Young God Records)

12 years after “Swans Are Dead”, Michael Gira’s noble bird turns into a Phoenix and resuscitates with a strikingly powerful album.
Eden Prison by Swans

> Listen to My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky on Spotify.

17) PERFUME GENIUS – “Learning” (Matador / Turnstile)

The sensitive Seattle singer-songwriter delivers a sincere and troubling debut, directly from his bedroom to yours.

Listen to title track “Learning“:

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Perfume Genius – “Look Out, Look Out” directed by Patrick Sher
(Alternative link to watch the video on YouTube)

> Listen to Learning on Deezer or Spotify.

16) BEACH HOUSE – “Teen Dream” (Sub Pop / Bella Union)

Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally have perfected their suave melodies on their 3rd album, enchanting fans and critics alike.

Listen to “Norway“, from “Teen Dream“:

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> Listen to Teen Dream on Deezer or Spotify.

Clogs - The Creatures in the Garden of Lady WaltonWildbirds & Peacedrums - RiversThomas Mery - Des larmes mélangées de poussière
15) CLOGS – “The Creatures in the Garden of Lady Walton” (Brassland)

For the first time, the instrumental quartet has invited some distinguished friends over to sing along: Sufjan Stevens, Matt Berninger (from The National, with whom Clogs share one of their founders and masterminds, Bryce Dessner), and most notably Shara Worden (aka My Brightest Diamond) all take turns and grace the lush and brilliant compositions with their unique vocal presence. Not the least of its qualities, Clogs‘ fifth album is nicely packaged in a beautiful hommage to Douanier Rousseau by Hvass&Hannibal, also known for designing record covers and directing a video for Efterklang.

Listen to “On The Edge“, featuring Shara Worden, from “The Creatures in the Garden of Lady Walton“:

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> Listen to The Creatures in the Garden of Lady Walton on Deezer.

14) WILDBIRDS & PEACEDRUMS – “Rivers” (Leaf Label)

Wildbirds & Peacedrums‘ third album is the reunion of 2 EPs, Iris and Retina, where the Swedish duo mixes its warm, soulful voice and tribal rythms with the Icelandic avant-garde. Rivers indeed was recorded by Ben Frost and mixed by Valgeir Sigurðsson, with an Icelandic chamber choir arranged by Hildur Guðnadóttir.


Wildbirds & Peacedrums – “Bleed Like There Was No Other Flood” directed by Patrik Instedt

13) THOMAS MERY – “Des larmes mélangées de poussière” (Ohayo Records /BS Records)

Thomas is back with a beautiful EP, the poetry of which we love to get immersed and lost into. A nice preamble to his new full-length album to be released in 2011.

Ça by Thomas Mery

> Listen to (and/or buy) the EP on Bandcamp, Soundcloud, Deezer, or Spotify.

> Read our review and listen to 2 songs from Thomas Mery’s live session au salon.

Thus:Owls - Cardiac MalformationsÓlöf Arnalds - Innundir SkinniOwen Palett - Heartland
12) THUS:OWLS – “Cardiac Malformations” (Hoob Records / Almost Musique)
A few more Swedes (and a Canadian) in our top, with Thus:Owls, the dark cabaret pop of which has rocked us the whole year.

Listen to “Climbing The Fjelds Of Norway” from “Cardiac Maformations“:

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> Listen to Cardiac Malformations on Deezer or Spotify.

> Read our Review of Cardiac Malformations.

11) ÓLÖF ARNALDS – “Innundir Skinni” (One Little Indian)

Björk’s protégée and Múm collaborator Ólöf Arnalds releases a lovely new album produced by Kjartan Sveinsson (Sigur Rós), at times heavily orchestrated with uplifting choirs, and at times stripped down to only Ólöf’s high-pitched voice and simple strings.


Ólöf Arnalds – “Surrender” directed by Arni & Kinski

> Listen to Innundir Skinni on Deezer or Spotify.

10) OWEN PALLETT – “Heartland” (Domino)

Owen drops his Final Fantasy stage name but keeps delivering what he does best: light and grandiloquent pop songs for viola and violin loops.

Owen Pallett

> Listen to Heartland directly in the embedded player above, or on Spotify or Deezer.

Read and listen to the first part of our favorite records (top #30 to top #19), and finally (attention, drum roll…) discover our favorite 9 records of 2010

New Year’s Label Interview: Bella Union

New Year's Eve Label Interview: Bella Union
Andrew Bird - Noble Beast (Bella Union) MORE THAN A DECADE AFTER IT WAS CREATED BY THEN COCTEAU TWINS MEMBERS SIMON RAYMONDE AND ROBIN GUTHRIE, ENGLISH LABEL BELLA UNION HAS KEPT PRETTY BUSY LATELY ON THE FOREFRONT OF INDIE ROCK, POP AND FOLK ADVENTURES, WITH 2009 RELEASES INCLUDING ANDREW BIRD, WAVVES, VETIVER, ABE VIGODA, AND J. TILLMAN OF FLEET FOXES‘ FAME, WHILE PETER BRODERICK‘S 2008 “HOME” REMAINED ONE OF OUR MOST PLAYED RECORDS THIS YEAR. AS THE NEW YEAR HAS ALREADY STARTED, MANY OF US ARE EAGERLY EXPECTING THE FORTHCOMING ALBUMS OF BEACH HOUSE, LAURA VEIRS AND MIDLAKE. SIMON TELLS US WHERE HIS OWN EARS HAVE BEEN WANDERING IN 2009 AND WHERE THEY ARE HEADING TO NEXT.

A) Which records released in 2009 do you wish you had released on Bella Union?

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino) Fever Ray - s/t The Antlers - Hospice

Simon: I loved Fever Ray’s album and Animal Collective’s “Merriweather Post Pavilion” but I wasn’t so bothered about them not being on my label.
I tried to sign The Antlers“Hospice” but couldn’t work it out in time.

B) Which artist(s) you wish you had signed will you keep an ear on in 2010?

Simon: I don’t have regrets really but I won’t be signing Beth Jeans Houghton and I will be keeping an ear on what she does.
I will be listening for Mai’s new album, Kira Kira, and anything new from Loney Dear.

C) What are you the most proud of for Bella Union in 2009?

Beach House - Teen Dream (Sub Pop/Bella Union, Jan. 2010) Laura Veirs - July Flame (Raven Marching Band Records/Bella Union, Jan. 2010)Simon: Having such great people working for me, Mark and Luke, continuing my working relationship with Duncan who looks after all our press (he has since 2000) and still working with our bands like Dirty Three, and re-signing Beach House after our deal expired, deciding to work again with Laura Veirs, and starting to record again myself with my band snowbird.

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Beach House – Norway (from “Teen Dream”, Sub Pop / Bella Union, Jan. 2010)

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Laura Veirs – “July Flame” teaser (Raven Marching Band Records / Bella Union, Jan. 2010)

D) What are the label’s challenges for 2010?
Simon: Just getting better at what we do, promoting more events, making more special one-off packages, box sets, improving the quality of the packaging and vinyl, offering better online services, and staying in business another year!

Visit Bella Union’s blog to read the full list of the label’s staff picks of 2009.

Read our New Year’s Eve interview with Erased Tapes Records.