Not really AOTY, but the first of at least 3 or 4 mixes of stuff I've enjoyed the last year.

I won't know what my AOTY is before the year is over, but I'm seeing some front runners. That Beth Rowley album I've got is great, and so are the albums from Alela Diane, Dir En Grey, Stam1na and Arkona. Halo Maud, Mitra Sumara, Hop Along, Ana Burch and Barbara Morgenstern probably belong up there as well, but I need to give them more time to get more of a feel for them.

Tried to get onto it one or two times and was bored. Sounded like polished Swans for teenagers. I'll have to give it a proper listen though, before I can really judge.

Lol I'm surprised there haven't been any fights about that statement yet. I feel like there would have been if Elph or Zhanthemi had said it.

I'm not more in love with the album that I haven't bought it on CD and probably wont either. I enjoy it but feel fine with knowing it's waiting for me on spotify if I wanna dive in. I get enough after just a couple songs too, but I feel like the album has some really attractive vibes.

I guess the album has plenty of that dark angst that probably spoke to most of us as teenagers. I've got Dir En Grey for that now, so it's not like it's lost all of it's appeal, but I'm mostly looking for other vibes in my music now. The cliché about mellowing out with age, basically.

EDIT: Listening to the album again, btw. The first track is pretty lame. But I like where the album goes after that.

I just want to listen to music until I go to bed, so I'm taking some time to revisit various 2018 albums. Maybe I can move closer to having any idea what I think is the best album of the year if I give all of the ones I've liked so far another listen.

Daughters - You Won't Get What You Want
https://media.pitchfork.com/photos/5.../daughters.jpg

I think I'm over the initial "wow effect" with this album. The songs feel mostly underdeveloped and the vocalist is mostly not very interesting to listen to. I like him most in the songs where he puts in some more energy, like The Reason They Hate Me. When he's sticking more to his flat, moany style like in Daughter, he's just dragging the song down.

Some tracks feel very underdeveloped. The Reason They Hate Me is a pretty fleshed out progression compared to most tracks here. I guess I'm kinda over this album already. It's not bad, but I don't care that much either.


Halo Maud - Je Suis Une Ile
https://ecsmedia.pl/c/je-suis-une-il...xt52868972.jpg

Definitely being reminded how good this album is. It's modern French electronic indie pop with a vocalist that has a bit of that Francoise Hardy vibe. The whole album is rich with fully fleshed out compositions, full of memorable melodies and progressions, catchy beats and plenty of interesting feels and sounds. Plenty of surprises throughout the album. Pretty much does a whole bunch of things that I like an album to do.

Very likely a top 10 album of the year for me.

Proof that it's got some very good songs:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-fgAmQ3niA


Alela Diane - Cusp
https://i0.wp.com/www.musicomh.com/w...diane-cusp.jpg

Definitely has the songs and the delivery down. Sounds great too in terms of sound/recording quality. So that leaves... Not a lot to complain about. One of the top hitters of the year for me. Simply gorgeous. Top 10 material for sure!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEX6xp8yREo


Barbara Morgenstern - Unschuld und Verwüstung
https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2856896586_2.jpg

Barbara always brings a good album to the table, so this one is not surprisingly in the top 10 running for me as well. Might even end up number 1. I really love what she's doing with chord progressions on this album. Some of them are kind of unusual. Her voice sounds like it always did and her approach is pretty no frills, but it hits something in me somehow. I just love to listen to her voice. Lots of interesting electronic sounds and a fair bit of piano on this album. Her songs are very memorable, but relatively low key, so give them a moment to breathe.

I think it's weird that there aren't more fans of Morgenstern on MB, but oh well.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUr2Rq3moKI


Beth Rowley - Gota Fría
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....mL._SY355_.jpg

Simply. Gorgeous. I'm dying.

Top 10 album for sure.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6TrffGM-uo

Just wanted to throw my hat in the ring to say that I think that Daughters record is insanely, overwhelmingly overrated. It rides on hype. It will not be on my list.

Coming back to it, it kinda bothers me how forced the vocals sound. Like he's trying super hard to sound as depressed/detached as possible. I'm somehow not buying into him having any emotional connection with what he's singing. Not saying that he doesn't have, just that it doesn't register for me as I'm listening.

Mostly I just think the songs are often simplistic to a fault. The album lacks meat.

Stam1na, Arkona and Dir En Grey brings their A game this year as well. The 3 best metal albums of the year for me. I've posted several times about all three before and nobody in here cares about any of them. All of them have been well received elsewhere on the interwebz at least.

Listening to Stam1na right now. Last album before bedtime.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxCU7EzQ5Nw


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdTprUIOz8w

Soooooooooo ****ing good!

Finally!

Eh it is overrated but I still think that it's a great album with a damning atmosphere.