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
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)
2011 HAS BARELY STARTED, AND… OH, SURPRISE! GOODMORNINCAPTN ISN’T QUITE DEAD YET. LET’S CELEBRATE AND HAVE A QUICK LOOK BACK AT WHAT EXCITED OUR EARS IN THE LAST YEAR, COMPLETE WITH LINKS, MP3s AND VIDEOS. SET YOUR EARPHONES AND FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS, AS THE FIRST PART OF OUR TOP 30 RECORDS OF 2010 HAS US TRAVELLING BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN NORTH AMERICA AND NORTHERN EUROPE.
Let’s now head down to sunny California and witness Dawn McCarthy’s possessed folk invocations.
Listen to a clip from “Housekeeper“ from “Light of a Vaster Dark“:
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With a slightly reduced line-up (now only one guitar, 2 violins, contrabass and drums), Silver Mt. Zion seem more focused and inspired on this racy imprint, their 6th full-length in 10 years.
I Built Myself A Metal Bird by Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra
A pick whose presence in this selection has been highly debated. All tasteful considerations apart, the psychedelic back-to-the-eighties aesthetics of the album may be quite enjoyable and somehow much representative of 2010.
25) WILL STRATTON – “New Vanguard Blues” (self-released)
The young American singer-songwriter recorded and mixed his 3rd album over 48 hours before making it available through the Internet 2 weeks later, with a simple yet charming result.
> Listen to (and/or buy) New Vanguard Blues on Bandcamp or Spotify.
After 2 much praised solo records, Berlin piano-wunderkind Nils Frahm joined forces with cellist Anne Müller for a post-classical record which in its best moments has us dream of Rachel’s classy compositions discretely but insidiously deconstructed by Oval’s digital experiments.
Listen to “Let My Key Be C (Thriller Edit)” from “7fingers“:
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Thomas Meluch, better known as Benoit Pioulard, released his 3rd album for Kranky, filled as usual with ethereal, cloud-like layers of evanescent guitar, DIY rythms and lost voices.
Bradford Cox delighted us in the Fall of 2009 with his second solo record released under his Atlas Sound moniker, and once again did not disappoint us with the latest Deerhunter album.
While their fellow Danes Efterklang got poppier and brighter on Magic Chairs, Under Byen persist in exploring dark and twistedly beautiful territories.
Listen to title track “Alt Er Tabt“:
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Co-produced by Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor, Big Echo, which has turned out a deserved break-through for its creators, is an uplifted and nicely orchestrated pop record, graced with the spontaneity of youth and a pleasantly retro sound.
Halfway between their label mates Bodies of Water and 70’s disco icon ABBA, Music Go Music is starting to gain more and more attention, as they have announced their debut full-length release on Secretely Canadian, “Expressions“, due October 6. Don’t get too excited if you’re an early fan though, as it will merely be a collection of their 3 previous EPs, “Light of Love“, “Reach Out“, and “Warm In The Shadows“. If you’re not yet a fan of the promising L.A. band, here’s your opportunity to enjoy their psyched disco-pop, with the time-traveling video of Warm In The Shadows. You can also catch the catchy song for free from Secretely Canadian’s site.
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