Albums, Wrapped
I should be studying before an exam at the moment, but I've sort of run out of things to do, so I figured - why not do another one of these, but for albums I've listened to this year?
I recently started using Musicboard at a friend's recommendation. If you're at all familiar with Letterboxd, it's basically that for albums; you review whatever you've been listening to. It's been good for me, I think - I don't often listen to albums in their entirety, unless they've only just been released, so it's been good to listen to tracks in context.
However, this list isn't really reflective of my top rated albums of the year on my Musicboard profile. I started out by reviewing a bunch of albums that I do listen to regularly, mostly without relistening to them, just because I wanted to log them on there. So, this list excludes those; I'm focusing on albums I listened to either for the first time in their entirety this year, or albums that I specifically set time aside to relisten to. Here we go!
BEST NEW RELEASE
I don't listen to much newly-released music (I don't want to sound like an asshole, saying 'I don't pay attention to the charts', but it's basically true). I do try to keep my eye on active artists that I like, though; this year, I think my favourite new release was Salesforce by Lauren Bousfield.
Lauren has been one of my favourite musicians for a long time. She just has something really special. Salesforce is experimental, breakcore, anti-capitalist, epic, and haunting. Rhythmic but still electric and disjointed, understandable but also incomprehensible... I highly recommend the rest of her discography as well! You can buy Salesforce on Bandcamp here.
Honorable mention: The Mountain Goats also released Jenny From Thebes this year, which was good, but not quite as interesting as I had hoped. Still a great album!
BEST RELISTEN
I did relisten to a lot of albums this year, but I'm pretty busy, so my relistens were often interrupted, or scheduled around several other things I was doing. With that in mind, the most memorable and enjoyable relisten experience for me this year was Lustful Sacraments by Perturbator, who I was fortunate enough to see live (brilliant gig). This album is so tactile to me; it feels liquid smooth, gothic but also warm at points. Definitely some of my favourite music - plus, the album art is great.
Honorable mention: I also relistened to Gerard Way's Hesitant Alien for the first time in a while. I love how it blends a summery sound with action violence. Aesthetically and musically, a solid record.
MOST... INTERESTING?
I had to put this album in somewhere. I relistened to Clown Core's Toilet this year, and it's just as weird and awful and incredible as I remember. If you imagine experimental jazz fused to grindcore, and sprinkled with clown noises, you would have a list of terms as inadequate as they are confusing. If I've piqued your curiosity enough for you to listen... I apologise in advance.
BEST 'HIDDEN GEM'
As I said, I don't really have any gauge on what music is popular, or what is considered 'alternative' or even 'underground', aside from a few indicators here and there. My pick for this category relies entirely on an interaction with a coworker a few years ago who was a metal fan, and who had never heard of this band. That's good enough for me! Let There Be Nothing by Judicator is a great album, with a catchy and epic sound, historical themes, and tracks that bookend very well. If you like power metal, and you haven't heard this record, give it a go!
BEST CONCEPT
My favourite album concept this year comes from my favourite band, The Mountain Goats. It's a record that I do actually listen to in its entirety fairly regularly, but I couldn't leave it out.
Beat the Champ is an album about pro-wrestling - sort of. It's about wrestling as an art form, about how legends are made (and eventually die), about how seemingly inane or innocuous things can give people the strength they need to keep going, and about becoming the bad guy in order to survive. Sometimes I wonder if it's really my favourite TMG album, but I should learn to stop ranking them against each other. How do you evaluate complex emotional experiences such as these?
I guess that applies to all albums, which makes this list a moot point, but I'm going to continue anyway. Just promise you'll listen to this album, or at least read the lyrics. If you don't like TMG's music, just treat John Darnielle as a poet, and read the words. It's worth it.
BEST COHERENT ALBUM
Although I'd heard a lot of individual tracks of various albums, this year I tried to listen to those albums in their entirety, and hear those records as coherent wholes. It was difficult for me to narrow this down, but I think my favourite album for this year was Get To Heaven by Everything Everything.
Firstly, it's kind of massive. 17 tracks, and all of them are good. Everything Everything's sound is pretty unique, particularly the frontman's vocals, but they really shine in their evocative and weird lyrics. The album discusses the political environment of the early 2010s, feeling both absurdly humorous and critical. Definitely my favourite Everything Everything album, but all of their work is interesting.
Honorable mention: Batushka's Litourgiya is an incredible album - symphonic black metal, taking inspiration from Eastern Orthodox religion. I highly recommend it, but don't buy merchandise from the "official" store. The band has been marred by some unfortunate legal battles. You can read about it by looking into "Faketushka", but I might write about it on here soon, if I have the time.
Well, that's it: my top picks for the year. If I do this again, maybe I'll include this December in next year's round-up.
P.S.: You can follow me on Musicboard here, if you'd like.
That's all I have to say, I think.