2018 Albums ----------- I think the best summary of this year is that all of these albums except two were by artists that were among my favorites going into the year. Those two new artists were both discovered on NPRs All Things Considered. I may have been a bit out of touch with popular music. .. image:: images/2018.jpg :width: 900 :alt: My favorite albums from 2018 .. raw:: html - *Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino* by **Arctic Monkeys** - Of all the bands to come out of the early 2000s post punk revival, these guys have stayed the most interesting for me. All the genre hopping on this one put a lot of people off, but it is why I still care about them. [*Memory*: There was a good month or two where this was all I was listening to] - *7* by **Beach House** - The name is a reference to this being the seventh record, all of which are among my favorites of all time. It feels a little weird to me that my favorite modern band is a two person dream pop act. There are a lot of familiar sounds on those seven records, but it never gets old. [*Memory*: Hearing the first track the first time and thinking: "they've done it again"] - *Prequelle* by **Ghost** - After the last record, I was really hoping for more power ballads along the lines of "He Is" and we got them, and it was great. "Life Eternal" does such an amazing job straddling the line of comic theatrics and beautiful sincerity. Some killer rocking tunes too (e.g. "Rats"). [*Memory*: Hearing the saxophone part on "Miasma" and wishing that they do some ridiculous presentation of it on tour, they did] - *Merrie Land* by **The Good, the Bad, and the Queen** - Somehow I missed the release of this album, and didn't find out about it until two years later. Their self titled record was one of my favorites from the last decade, and I thought it was a one off project. Like the first one, this album is a big time grower that takes a bit to get into. Given the passing of Tony Allen I assume this is the last one, but it already feels like a bonus that we have this. [*Memory*: Finding out that this existed when cataloging my valuable vinyl copy of their first record, and panic buying a vinyl copy of this one] - *Book of Travelers* by **Gabriel Kahane** - I saw Kahane perform this album twice, the first of those as a multimedia performance at BAM. The story of his cross country train trip looses something without the little stories he told between songs, but it is still a beautiful set of melancholy little folk tunes that reminds me of those great performances. [*Memory*: Seeing a performance of this concept album about an Amtrak journey, that I traveled to via Amtrak] - *I've Tortured You Long Enough* by **Mass Gothic** - Now sounding like a direct merger of their former bands **Hooray for Earth** and **Zambri** I am very much sold on this project. I'm really pleased that Jessica Zambri is now singing most of the songs as it suits the style better somehow. [*Memory*: Feeling happy that this existed, but sad that it was a sign that two of my favorites were never coming back] - *Little Dark Age* by **MGMT** - [**2018 FAVORITE**] After their highly disappointing, self titled third album, I had given up on these guys. I can usually sense when a band has lost the sound that made me enjoy them in the first place. When they came back with this strong release out of nowhere it was the surprise of the decade for me. They did it by finding their way back to their old sound. Sometimes regression is a good thing. [*Memory*: Feeling blown away by how good this was when Spotify radio played it for me] - *Dirty Computer* by **Janelle Monae** - This album has been influenced by the sounds of highly manufactured, modern pop music. At first it was shocking and disappointing from an artist who seems to transcend that kind of thing. Eventually I was able to find the things that make Monae one of my favorites, and I can appreciate this for what it is: a way above average implementation of 21st century pop idioms. [*Memory*: Initially feeling colossally disappointed by the inclusion of modern pop into the work of an artist that had until now, done a great job sounding timeless] - *Soil* by **serpentwithfeet** - NPR discovery 1 of 2. I love when the sounds of church music are adapted to a more honorable purpose. A former choirboy turned Satanist makes a gorgeous record of queer love songs. [*Memory*: It was becoming troubling how much of my new music was coming from the NPR morning show] - *Brighter Wounds* by **Son Lux** - A fitting place between two new NPR discoveries, for an artist who owes their career to NPR. That early public radio fame has led to one of the strangest bands to have a fairly large following. Their second record as a legit three piece band, they are really testing the limits of their audience with this challenging record. "Forty Screams" is such a complex, stunning opener for an album that never quite matches that opening intensity. [*Memory*: I listed to "Forty Screams" so many times after this came out, and I still crank it on the headphones often] - *Heaven and Earth* by **Kamasi Washington** - I love jazz fusion (as is clearly evident by my 1970s favorites). There isn't much good fusion being made today, but Washington gave us three whole disks worth here. His band is killer and I particularly enjoy the vocal contributions of Patrice Quinn (and I normally hate vocal jazz). NPR discovery 2 of 2. [*Memory*: Due to the pandemic, this was the last artist I would see in concert for a very long time] - *Dirt* by **Yamantaka//Sonic Titan** - I bought my vinyl copy of this record from Alaska B, the leader and only consistent member of this art metal band. She was surrounded with an almost all new assortment of Montreal musicians who had taken the band in a new, much heavier direction. The show was at BugJar, the tiny indie club down the street from my house. It was incredible to see such loud music in such a small space, what a night. [*Memory*: Wondering if this would be the last time I would see a band I loved at the BugJar]