2018 Albums • Page 18

2018

 

Late addition, but everything new I listened to in December...

1.) “Virtue” by William Ryan Key
2.) “Tetsuo and Youth” by Lupe Fiasco
3.) “A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships” by The 1975
4.) “Coloring Book” by Chance the Rapper
5.) “Georgia” by Brian Fallon
6.) “¡Hey, Hey Prisoners!” by Farewell Continental
7.) “A Very Spidey Christmas” Compilation
8.) “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” Soundtrack

Fell out of my habit of listening to albums incrementally at the gym and started watching YouTube videos instead, haha!

Still, bring on 2019!

 

Listened to 404 albums that I hadnt heard before in 2018, 291 of which came out in 2018

 

December in Review:
Well, we did it! The year is over, and I've semi-successfully listed (just about) every album I've listened to for the first time in 2018. It's a lot: 321 albums, 247 of which came out this year. Being on streaming services definitely helped... that has to be some kind of personal record. Honestly, I'm mainly happy that I was able to keep up with tracking and writing about it every month.

All that said, I didn't actually listen to a lot of new albums this month, because (1) the 1975's fantastic new album has been occupying a lot of my headspace and (2) I've been trying to work out my final EOTY list. (Check out my top 50 below, which is set up in tiers.) The David Crosby album was quite a shock --- I went in not expecting much, but the first song "Glory" moved me so much off the bat that the whole project became a fantastic ride from there. I also really enjoyed how Bad Bunny is able to mold his sound to different genres, even though I think the language barrier is going to stop it from resonating with me long term. There's something about his voice that's warm and malleable; it sounds like the future of pop music.

I think one of my main takeaways from this year is that I want to spend more time appreciating the music that I know I like. Looking back at my full 2018 albums list, there's so many albums that might have risen in my estimation if I'd just given them more time (such as the Spiritualized album, which I need to take a long car ride with to appreciate). Would it be better if I'd listened to 160 new albums instead of 320? Who knows... some of my favorite albums from the end of the year (like Petal's Magic Gone or Let's Eat Grandma's I'm All Ears) hit me on the 4th or 5th listen, but I probably also wouldn't have even given it the time of day if I was focusing on trying to listen to less music. Ultimately it's been a wonderful year for music, and I am as thankful for it as anything else in my life.

Top 2018 albums of the month:
Bad Bunny, David Crosby, Spiritualized

Recommended Songs I discovered this month:
Parcels - "Tieduprightnow"
River Tiber - "Deep End"
Majid Jordan - "OG Heartthrob"
The Midnight - "Comeback Kid"
David Crosby - "Glory"

BONUS TUNES: Here's a link to my "Songs from 2018" Spotify playlist, which has one song I discovered each day of the past year. It's not my all-time favorites from the year, as much as a fun shuffle that gives you the contours of music I've enjoyed!

Matt Chylak's 50 Albums of the Year:
1. The 1975 - A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
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2. Lucy Dacus - Historian
3. Soccer Mommy - Clean
4. Rayland Baxter - Wide Awake
5. Ruston Kelly - Dying Star
6. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour
7. Father John Misty - God's Favorite Customer
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8. Petal - Magic Gone
9. Field Report - Summertime Songs
10. boygenius - boygenius
11. 6LACK - East Atlanta Love Letter
12. Teyana Taylor - K.T.S.E.
13. Pusha T - DAYTONA
14. Brothers Osborne - Port Saint Joe
15. Lori McKenna - The Tree
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16. Caroline Rose - LONER
17. Let's Eat Grandma - I'm All Ears
18. Brian Fallon - Sleepwalkers
19. The Beths - Future Me Hates Me
20. Wooden Shjips - V.
21. Now, Now - Saved
22. Big Red Machine - Big Red Machine
23. Nao - Saturn
24. Christine and the Queens - Chris
25. Cardi B - Invasion of Privacy
26. Drake - Scorpion
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27. Tierra Whack - Whack World
28. Leon Bridges - Good Thing
29. Charlie Puth - Voicenotes
30. Mt. Joy - Mt. Joy
31. Robyn - Honey
32. Lupe Fiasco - DROGAS WAVE
33. Restorations - LP5000
34. Steve Moakler - Born Ready
35. The Aces - When My Heart Felt Volcanic
36. Fickle Friends - You Are Someone Else
37. Bahamas - Earthtones
38. The Night Game - The Night Game
39. Natalie Prass - The Future and The Past
40. ROSALÍA - El Mal Querer
41. MGMT - Little Dark Age
42. Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer
43. Superorganism - Superorganism
44. Westerman - Ark EP
45. Liz Cooper & the Stampede - Window Flowers
46. Hop Along - Bark Your Head Off, Dog
47. JID - DiCaprio 2
48. Camp Cope - How To Socialise & Make Friends
49. Haley Heynderickx - I Need to Start a Garden
50. American Pleasure Club - a whole fucking lifetime of this