End of 2018 Music List!

So much music to go through, 229 releases.  I didn't feel like doing descriptions, but there my most listened was probably Spanish Love Songs or Camp Cope.  Mindforce is probably my favorite hardcore record in a few years.  I can't wait to see Spiritualized live, after listening to that album.  More music!

Here is the top 20 (in alphabetical order):

boygenius - boygenius
Camp Cope - How to Socialise and Make Friends
Candy - Good to Feel
Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer
Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour
Lucy Dacus - Historian
mewithoutyou - [Untitled]
Mindforce - Excalibur
Pusha T - Daytona
Sleep - The Sciences
Snail Mail - Lush
Spanish Love Songs - Schmaltz
Spiritualized - And Nothing Hurt
The Beths - Future Me Hates Me
The Dirty Nil - Master Volume
Tiny Moving Parts - Swell
Ty Segall - Freedom's Goblin
Wake - Misery Rites
Watain - Trident Wolf Eclipse
Yob - Our Raw Heart

Here is the rest of the stuff, broken down by Genre and then alphabetized:

1975 - A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
A Perfect Circle - Eat The Elephant
All Them Witches - ATW
American Pleasure Club - A Whole Fucking Lifetime Of This
Antarctigo Vespucci - Love in the Time of Email
Baked Beans - Babble
Beach House - 7
Belly - Dove
Brian Fallon - Sleepwalkers
Car Seat Headrest - Twin Fantasy
Cat Power - Wanderer
Clutch - Book of Bad Decisions
Coheed & Cambria - Vaxis - Act I:  The Unheavenly Creatures
Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel
Crippled Black Phoenix - Great Escape
Damien Jurado - The Horizon Just Laughed
Daughters - You Won't Get What You Want
David Byrne - American Utopia
Elvis Costello & The Imposters - Look Now
Eric Bachmann - No Recover
Failure - In the Future Your Body Will Be the Furthest Thing From Your Mind
Father John Misty - God's Favourite Customer
Forth Wanderers - Forth Wanderers
Foxing - Nearer My God
Frankie Cosmos - Vessel
Fu Manchu - Clone of the Universe
Guided By Voices - Space Gun
Hinds - I Don't Run
Hop Along - Bark Your Head Off, Dog
Iceage - Beyondless
Jack White - Boarding House Reach
Jeff Tweedy - Warm
Jim James - Uniform Distortion
King Dude - Music To Make War To
Kurt Vile - Bottle It In
Lily Allen - No Shame
Low - Double Negative
Mark Lanegan & Duke Garwood - With Animals
Mazzy Star - Still
Melvins - Pinkus Abortion Technician
Metric - Art of Doubt
mewithoutyou - [Untitled] ep
Minus the Bear - Fair Enough
Mitski - Be the Cowboy
Mogwai - Kin:  Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Neko Case - Hell-On
Nicole Dollanganger - Heart Shaped Bed
Nine Inch Nails - Bad Witch
Nothing - Dance On the Blacktop
Oh Sees - Smote Reverser
Prince - Piano & a Microphone
Reign of Kindo - Happy However After
Restorations - LP5000
Snow Patrol - Wildness
Stephen Malmus and the Jicks - Sparkle Hard
Suede - The Blue Hour
Superchunk - What A Time To be Alive
Superorganism - Superorganism
Swearin' - Fall Into the Sun
Tash Sultana - Flow State
Tenacious D - Post Apocalypto
The Babe Rainbow - Double Rainbow
The Breeders - All Nerve
The Front Bottoms - Ann
The Get Up Kids - Kicker
The Good, The Bad, & The Queen - Merrie Land
The Sea and Cake - Any Day
The Voidz - Virtue
Thrice - Palms
Ty Segall - Fudge Sandwich
Ty Segall - Orange Rainbow
Ty Segall & White Fence - Joy
U.S. Girls - In a Poem Unlimited
Wand - Perfume
Wooden Shjips - V

A.F.I. - The Missing Man
Alkaline Trio - Is This Thing Cursed?
Battle Ruins - Glorious Dead
Beach Slang - Everything Matters But No One Is Listening
Culture Abuse - Bay Dream
Direct Hit! - Crown of Nothing
Dream Wife - Dream Wife
Fiddlehead - Springtime and Blind
Hot Snakes - Jericho Sirens
Iron Chic / Toys That Kill - Split EP
Jeff Rosenstock - Post-
Joyce Manor - Million Dollars to Kill Me
Laura Jane Grace & The Devouring Mothers - Bought To Rot
Mudhoney - Digital Garbage
Shook Ones - Body Feel
Spiritual Cramp - Police State
The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound Sessions

American Nightmare - American Nightmare

Antagonize - Demo

Birds In Row - We Already Lost the World

Blind Justice - No Matter the Cost

Cancer Bats - The Spark That Moves

Converge - Beautiful Ruin

Criminal Instinct - Sweet Dreams

Cult Leader - A Patient Man

Dare - Dare

Drug Church - Cheer

Ecostrike - Voice of Strength

Ekulu - Ekulu

Fucked Up - Dose Your Dreams

Gouge Away - Burnt Sugar

Harm's Way - Posthuman

Line of Sight - Dissent

Madball - For the Cause

Mil-Spec - Changes

Night Birds - Roll Credits

Primal Rite - Dirge of Escapism

Red Hare - Little Acts of Destruction

Rod of Correction - Lies

Spine - Faith

Stimulant / Water Torture - Split

Terror - Total Retaliation

The HIRS Collective - Friends Lovers Favorites

Tragedy - Fury

Trail of Lies - W.A.R.

True Love - The Pact

Turnstile - Time and Space

Twitching Tongues - Gaining Purpose Through Passionate Hatred

Vein - Errorzone

1968 - Ballads of the Godless

A Storm of Light - Anthroscene

Abhorrence - Megalohydrothalassophobic

Aborted - TerrorVision

Amorphis - Queen of Time

ASG - Survive Sunrise

At The Gates - To Drink From The Night Itself

Behemoth - I Loved You at Your Darkest

Benighted - Dogs Always Bite Harder Than Their Masters

Between the Buried and Me - Automata I

Between the Buried and Me - Automata II

Bongripper - Terminal

Burn The Priest - Legion XX

Cattle Decapitation - Medium Rarities

Chapel of Disease - …and as We Have Seen the Storm, We Have Embraced the Eye

Corrosion of Conformity - No Cross No Crown

Cripple Bastards - La fine crrsce da dentro

Cryptopsy - The Book of Suffering - Tome II

Dead Now - Dead Now

Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love

Devouring Star - The Arteries of Heresy

Evoken - Hypnagogia

Funeral Mist - Hekatomb

Gruesome - Twisted Prayers

High on Fire - Electric Messiah

Homewrecker - Hell is Here Now

Horrendous - Idol

Immortal - Northern Chaos Gods

Iron Reagan/Gatecreeper - Split

Judas Priest - Firepower

Judicator - The Last Emperor

Khemmis - Desolation

Lucifer - II

Mortuous - Through Wilderness

Mournful Congregation - The Incubus of Karma

Nachtmystium - Resilient

Napalm Death - Coded Smears and More Uncommon Slurs

Outer Heaven - Realms of Eternal Decay

Pig Destroyer - Head Cage

Satan - Cruel Magic

Sepulcher - Panoptic Horror

Skeletal Remains - Devouring Mortality

Skeletonwitch - Devouring Radiant Light

Striker - Play to Win

Sumac - Love in Shadow

The Atlas Moth - Coma Noir

The Crown - Cobra Speed Venom

The Ocean - Phanerozoic I:  Palaeozoic

The Vintage Caravan - Gateways

Thou - Magus

Tomb Mold - Manor of Infinite Forms

Tribulation - Down Below

Uada - Cult of a Dying Sun

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Wasteland

Varathron - Patriarchs of Evil

Will Haven - Muerte

Windhand - Eternal Return

Wrong - Feel Great

Zeal & Ardor - Stranger Fruit

2 Chainz - Hot Wings Are a Girl's Best Friend

Anderson .Paak - Oxnard

Black Thought - Streams of Thought Vol 1

Black Thought - Streams of Thought Vol 2

Blood Orange - Negro Swan

Brockhampton - Iridescence

Charles Bradley - Black Velvet

Earl Sweatshirt - Some Rap Songs

Freddie Gibbs - Freddie

Freddie Gibbs and Curren$y - Fetti

Ghostface Killah - The Lost Tapes

J.I.D. - DiCaprio 2

Jay Rock - Redemption

Kali Uchis - Isolation

Kendrick Lamar - Bad Kid Chill City

Lil Wayne - Tha Carter V

Lupe Fiasco - Drogas Wave

Mac Miller - Swimming

Noname - Room 25

PRhyme - Prhyme 2

Royce Da 5'9" - Book of Ryan

Various Artists - The Black Panther Album

Vince Staples - FM!

Ariana Grande - Sweetener

Chvrches - Love is Dead

End of 2017 album list!

One of my biggest pet peeves right now is when someone says that music isn't as good as it was back in the day or that there isn't anything good coming out for them to care about modern music.  This past year had no shortage of quality music, which is why I ended the year with somewhere around 190 releases that is making my list.  This year saw me increasing my Metal intake and was huge on the Psychedelic Rock side of things.

Here is the top 20 (in alphabetical order):

Converge - The Dusk in Us:  This band just gets me.  Every record they put out is pretty stellar and I love that they are still heavy, but with enough variety to make each album sound fresh and new.  I just hope they don't wait another 5 years to put out the next record.

Cradle of Filth - Cryptoriana - The Seductiveness of Decay:  Such a return to form for CoF!  I didn't hate the last couple records, but I didn't listen to them nearly as much as I did this one.  They didn't break any new ground on this, but I wasn't looking for them to.

Exhumed - Death Revenge:  This was one of the records that elevated my interest in heavy music this year to a whole new level.  When I put this one on it just crushed my ears.  I had been a fan of Exhumed for a while, including an awesome, drunken (although, somewhat bittersweet) show at the Bug Jar a long time ago.  But, this pushed them to a higher point in my Metal fandom.

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - The Nashville Sound:  There is one song on this that I don't really like.  However, the rest of the album is awesome.  This album deserved all of the Country music awards.

Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas - Telephone:  I wish this album had gotten more attention.  It's sort of hard to describe, it's got elements of Pop music, with some Soul, and some Rock.  It's catchy as hell and apparently recorded both in English and Spanish, although I've only ever listened to the English version.

Kendrick Lamar - DAMN.:  My Rap album of the year.  It's just K-Dot bein K-Dot.  Dude is at the top of his game and I'm going to be severely disappointed the year he decides to not put out some sort of an album.  Luckily, he doesn't look to be slowing down right now.  I don't really need to say much more about this, this is number 1 or 2 on like 90% of the lists I've seen.

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - Flying Microtonal Banana/Gumboot Soup/Murder of the Universe/Polygondwanaland/Sketches of Brunswick East:  I wasn't going to take up 5 spots for the Gizz, so their FIVE albums get a spot together.  This was my discovery year for this band, so I'm sort of a poser, but between hearing FMB for the first time, right up until the last minute release of GS, I devoured this band all year long.  If I had to choose one, I'd say Flying Microtonal Banana was the best album, but Crumbling Castle, off Polygondwanaland, is their best song.  Each album is different than the other and there is probably something for everyone in there.  Band of the year for me.

Monolord - Rust:  It's doomy and fuzzy.  It's heavy and melodic.  It's just awesome!  Listen to this record.

Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked At Me:  This record is ultra, mega depressing.  But, it's also beautiful.  This is one of the best set of songs that are in your face about death, grief, and healing you are bound to hear.  You will definitely be reaching for your loved ones and hugging them a little bit tighter after listening to this record.

Power Trip - Nightmare Logic:  Modern Thrash done right.  This might be even better than Manifest Decimation.  One thing is for sure, Executioner's Tax (Swing of the Axe) was probably my favorite song of the year.  Also, live these songs sound awesome.

Propagandhi - Victory Lap:  Seriously, this band has found a sweet spot.  Each album they've put out from Today's Empires, Tomorrow's Ashes has been top of the line metal infused punk.  Political without being annoying.  I'd have a hard time rating anything they've done over Supporting Caste, but this record was probably about as close as they could come to that.

Rainer Maria - Rainer Maria:  Rainer Maria was one of my favorite bands from the late 90's until the mid 00's.  When they got back together, I thought it was going to be just for some shows, but then they announced a new record and I wasn't sure what to expect.  Luckily, I didn't have anything to worry about as this came out and put all doubts to rest.  I hope they hit a date around here on an upcoming tour.

Rapsody - Laila's Wisdom:  Rapsody's features have always been top notch.  But, I had never heard her take control of a whole song, let alone a whole album.  Everything turned out just fine.  As this was pretty close to being on the same level as Kendrick.

Red Death - Formidable Darkness:  Thrash and Hardcore mixed together is pretty much a guarantee that I'll enjoy it somewhat.  This band is so good.  If you can get down with the crossover sound, check this out!  This may have been my favorite Hardcore album this year.

Ryan Adams - Prisoner/Prisoner B-Sides:  I just threw the B-Sides in with the album, even though they were two different releases.  Probably my favorite Ryan Adams album since Love is Hell.  Although, that self titled one a few years back was super good too.  The song had a broken heart theme to it and it pushes the songs through to some excellent songwriting.  Ryan is always at his best, musically, when he is sad.

Steven Wilson - To the Bone:  This record was a much poppier record than previous albums.  Less Genesis, more solo members of Genesis.  He just keeps churning out awesome prog record after another.  Here is another artist that if he doesn't put something out this year, I'm going to be pretty disappointed.

Sza - CTRL:  This was one of my favorite releases of the year.  I don't rank these numerically, because I don't ultimately want to have to choose between one and another for the number one position.  But, this would be up there in one of the top 2 spots, if I had.  I feel like we had to wait forever for this album, but when it came it definitely didn't disappoint.  Songs that I was singing days later and sometimes would just show up in my head even when I hadn't listened to the album in a while.  She deserves every award she gets.

The Menzingers - After the Party:  This has been my most listened to album of the year.  This is the other one that would be with Sza in those top two spots.  I guess this is pop punk, but I wouldn't even bother classifying this, since it's could easily hit fans of just about any genre of Rock.  Excellent, nostalgic, from the heart, sing along at the top of your lungs music that also sticks in your heard for eternity.

The National - Sleep Well Beast:  I've liked this band for a long time, but this is the first album that I really took the time to get to know as it was released.  The band is at the top of their game with this and deserve all the attention they are getting.  Just straight up excellent Indie Rock.

The Smith Street Band - More Scared of You Than You Are of Me:  This would have been the most listened to album of the year, had it not been for the Menzingers.  This band came out of nowhere for me.  It's got a very similar vibe to it that After the Party has going for it.  The only difference is lyrically this might be a little more of a downer.  Wish I had gone to check them out on that tour that rolled through.

Here is the rest of the stuff, broken down by Genre and then alphabetized:

Afghan Whigs - In Spades
Angel Olsen - Phases
Beck - Colors
Bjork - Utopia
Blackfield - V
Bonzie - Zone on Nine
Boss Hog - Brood X
Brand New - Science Fiction
Cayetana - New Kind of Normal
Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun
Chris Stapleton - From A Room:  Volume 1
Chris Stapleton - From A Room:  Volume 2
Cigarettes After Sex - Cigarettes After Sex
Cloud Nothings - Without a Sound
Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile - Lotta Sea Lice
Craig Finn - We All Want the Same Things
Cranberries - Something New
Dave Hause - Bury Me in Philly
Death of Lovers - The Acrobat
Ecstatic Vision - Raw Rock Fury
Father John Misty - Pure Comedy
Feist - Pleasure
Foxygen - Hang
Glassjaw - Material Control
Gorillaz - Humanz
Guided By Voices - August By Cake
Guided By Voices - How Do You Spell Heaven
Japandroids - Near to the Wild Heart of Life
John Garcia - The Coyote Who Spoke in Tongues
Julie Byrne - Not Even Happiness
Julien Baker - Turn Out The Lights
Lee Ranaldo - Electric Trim
Mac DeMarco - This Old Dog
Mark Eitzel - Hey Mr Ferryman
Mark Lanegan - Gargoyle
Minus the Bear - Voids
Mogwai - Every Country's Sun
Morrissey - Low In High School
The Mountain Goats - Goths
Oh Sees - Orc
Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Echo of Pleasure
Paramore - After Laughter
Phoebe Bridgers - Stranger in the Alps
Pond - The Weather
Prince - Deliverance
Quicksand - Interiors
Ride - Weather Diaries
Roger Waters - Is This the Life We Really Want?
Sheer Mag - Need to Feel Your Love
Sleater-Kinney - Live in Paris
Slowdive - Slowdive
St Vincent - Masseduction
Ted Leo - The Hanged Man
The Big Moon - Love in the 4th Dimension
The Clientele - Music For the Age of Miracles
The Flaming Lips - Oczy Mlody
The Jesus and Mary Chain - Damage and Pain
The Killers - Wonderful Wonderful
The Murlocs - Old Locomotive
The New Pornographers - Whiteout Conditions
The War On Drugs - A Deeper Understanding
Thurston Moore - Rock n Roll Consciousness
Ty Segall - Ty Segall
Wand - Plum
Waxahatchee - Out in the Storm
White Reaper - The World's Best American Band
Wild Pink - Wild Pink

88 Fingers Louie - Thank You For Being a Friend
Direct Hit!/Pears - Human Movement
Downtown Boys - Cost of Living
Dropkick Murphy's - 11 Short Stories of Pain and Glory
Grave Pleasures - Motherblood
Hot Water Music - Light It Up
Iron Chic - You Can't Stay Here
Mutoid Man - War Moans
Open City - Open City
Priests - Nothing Feels Natural
The Bronx - V
The Dirty Nil - Minimum R&B
The Flatliners - Inviting Light
Western Addiction - Tremulous
Worriers - Survival Pop

Abuse of Power - When Then Becomes Now
All Pigs Must Die - Hostage Animal
Candy - Candy Says
Career Suicide - Machine Response
Code Orange - Forever
Ecostrike - Time is Now
Forced Order - One Last Prayer
Free - Ex Tenebris
Freedom - Never Had a Choice
Full of Hell - Trumpeting Ecstasy
Give - Electric Flower Cult
Incendiary - Thousand Mile Stare
Integrity - Howling, For The Nightmare Shall Consume
Iron Reagan - Crossover Ministry
Mobina Galore - Feeling Disconnected
No Omega - Culture
Phobia - Lifeless God
Pissed Jeans - Why Love Now
Protester - Hide From Reality
Sect - No Cure For Death
Terror - The Walls Will Fall
Thoughts of Ionesco - Skar Cymbals

Aosoth - V:  The Inside Scriptures
Atoll - Fallout Frenzy
Ayreon - The Source
Benighted - Necrobreed
Bison - You Are Not the Ocean You Are the Patient
Boris - Dear
Cannibal Corpse - Red Before Black
Cellador - Off the Grid
Crystal Fairy - Crystal Fairy
Cytotoxin - Gammageddon
Dream Troll - The Knight of Rebellion
Elder - Reflections of a Floating World
Foreseen - Grave Danger
Gatecreeper - Sweltering Madness
Goatwhore - Vengeful Ascension
Godlfesh - Post Self
Haemorrhage - We Are the Gore
Incantation - Profane Nexus
Kreator - Gods of Violence
Lock Up - Demonization
Mastodon - Emperor of Sand
Memoriam - For the Fallen
Midnight - Sweet Death and Ecstasy
Morbid Angel - Kingdoms Disdained
Municipal Waste - Slime and Punishment
Necrot - Blood Offerings
Obituary - Obituary
Pallbearer - Heartless
Sanctuary - Inception
Satyricon - Deep Calleth Upon Deep
Septicflesh - Codex Omega
Striker - Striker
The Obsessed - Sacred
Undergang - Misanthropologi
Unearthly Trance - Stalking the Ghost
Unsane - Sterilize
Vhaldemar - Against All Kings
Vhaldenar - Old King's Visions
Weregoat - Pestilential Rites of Infernal Fornication

Big Boi - Boomiverse
Big Sean - I Decided
Brockhampton - Saturation
Brockhampton - Saturation II
Brockhampton - Saturation III
Freddie Gibbs - You Only Live 2wice
Jidenna - The Chief
Joey Bada$$ - All-Amerikkkan Bada$$
Mary J Blige - Strength of a Woman
Miguel - War & Leisure
N.E.R.D. - No One Ever Really Dies
Raekwon - The Wild
Sampha - Process
Talib Kweli - Radio Silence
Talib Kweli and Styles P - The Seven
Thundercat - Drunk
Vince Staples - Big Fish Theory
Wu Tang - The Saga Continues

Charlie XCX - Number 1 Angel
Charlie XCX - Pop 2
Halsey - Hopeless Fountain Kingdom
Lorde - Melodrama
Taylor Swift - Reputation
Tove Lo - Blue Lips

End of 2016 album list!

I listened to a ton of new music this year, I came up with 135 new releases that I enjoyed in some degree or another this year.  Here we go:

Top 20 (in alphabetical order):

Against Me! - Shape Shift With Me - I would certainly argue that over the last three years Against Me! has become my favorite band.  It took me some time to get into the band over their almost 15 years of putting out records.  This album was no different, but after a few listens it wasn't long before I was getting these songs stuck in my head and finding myself singing along at top volume.

Beach Slang - A Loud Bash of Teenage Feelings - Another year, another Beach Slang full length.  I sure hope this becomes a theme.  Catchy, Replacements worship, punk with songs about girls and getting fucked up.  Let's hope 2017 brings us more Slang.

Car Seat Headrest - Teens of Denial - I didn't discover this record until real late in the year, so I didn't get to spend as much time with this as a lot of the other albums on this list.  Excellent lo-fi, indie rock.  I can't wait to dig more into this and hope that he puts out more records like this.

Culture Abuse - Peach - This one sort of denies categorization.  It's sorta punk, sorta grunge, sorta something else entirely.  It's entirely amazing and incredibly catchy and energetic, which I am told carries over to their live performance.  I, sadly, missed them both times they played Buffalo this year.  I won't make that mistake the next time.

David Bowie - Blackstar - Bowie was amazing, he constantly was changing up his sounds, never getting stale, never settling into a mold and staying there.  This was another amazing record in the catalog of amazing records, by one of the best.

Direct Hit! - Wasted Mind - This record is so, so good.  A pop punk concept record, about drugs, with songs that get stuck in your head for days.  There is one of those records that I find myself wanting to start back at the beginning right after the last song finishes.

Frank Ocean - Blond - So worth the wait.  This is a little bit of a more mellow and slow burner of an album than Channel Orange.  But, it is a shining example of the how good and complex R&B, Soul, and Pop music can be.

Fury - Paramount - This was not the best year for hardcore, no Blacklisted release and all, but this record smokes.  This is fairly straight forward youth crewish hardcore, but it also has the rage that makes the better records in this style.  Can't wait to see these songs live.

Gatecreeper - Sonoran Depravation - This came out of nowhere for me, I had never heard of this band before.  This is heavy and rages.  Americans doing Swedish metal very well.  It's rare that I wish a metal record was longer, but this is one I wish had about 4 more songs on it.

Jeff Rosenstock - Worry - This was the album I listened to most this year.  I can't express enough how much I love this record.  If I were ranking these, this would probably come up as number one on the year.  This is the catchiest album I've heard in a very long time.  I tend to equate quality with how frequently I find songs working their way into my brain and I catch myself singing along sometimes days after the last time I heard them.  This album has a lot of those songs.

Nails - You Will Never Be One Of Us - This might just edge out the Fury record as my hardcore record of the year.  This is just straight brutality.  They keep putting out these intense, smash you in the face, pissed off albums and I hope they never stop.  Another example of too short, though.

Neurosis - Fires Withing Fires - My favorite metal band puts out my favorite metal record of the year.  They may not be as heavy as they once were, but that doesn't mean the heavy is gone.  They are still masters of crafting songs that stay interesting even when the songs are long.  They are now thirty years into making music, and I hope they keep going for thirty more.

Nothing - Tired Of Tomorrow - I don't love the term shoegaze, but I guess these guys would fit into that classification.  I feel like these guys would fit in just fine with mid 90's alt-rock bands, like Dinosaur Jr or Sonic Youth.  Great songs that are both mellow and intense at the same time.  Would love to see these guys come back to Buffalo again where maybe the vocals might be heard.

Opeth - Sorceress - I sometimes feel like a poser with Opeth.  I didn't get into the band until they got rid of the metal and went straight prog-rock.  I love the three albums, so far, since they went this route.  I have found love for the earlier albums too, but if I'm being honest, the prog-rock is where it's at.  I = poser.

Pup - The Dream Is Over - Love, love, love this band!  Somewhere between punk and some sort of intense indie rock band.  The songs are intense and catchy, making it seem so much fun to sing along to songs about self loathing.  I can't wait to see these songs live, which is where Pup songs really take flight. 

Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool - Along with Against Me!, Radiohead fits into the whole "favorite band" mold.  I loved The King of Limbs, but this album blows that one out of the water.  This is classic Radiohead, which is to say that while it sounds just like them, it's different than all the other albums in their catalog.  I am so happy that they finally recorded a studio version of True Love Waits.

Schoolboy Q - Blank Face - I know at least one person who will dispute this, but this was my hip hop album of the year.  Q keeps it gangsta throughout, but lyrically he explores all kinds of topics.  Love the inclusion of Vince Staples, E-40, and Anderson Paak.  I don't even hate the Kanye feature. 

Solange - A Seat At The Table - How great of a year was it for R&B.  What I have always considered to be the more talented of the Knowles sisters.  This is a much more soulful, less poppy, album than I was expecting from Solange.  But, it hits perfectly and keeps the attention of the listener throughout the 21 tracks.  Hopefully it isn't as long between releases.

White Lung - Paradise - Canadian punk was definitely on point this year.  This one was another one that hit me out of nowhere.  I had never paid any attention to this band before and now I wish I had. Female fronted punk, with both intensity and melody.  Would love to see them live.

Whores - Gold - 2016 Noise Rock!  I have been listening to these guys for a couple years, as their previous EP's were awesome.  The debut LP did not disappoint.  It's got a very heavy influence from the AmRep roster, but a little more sludgier. 

The Rest (sorted loosely by genre and in alphabetical order):

Alcest - Kodama
Angel Olsen - My Woman
Bat For Lashes - The Bride
BJ Barnham - Rockingham
Bloc Party - Hymns
Bob Mould - Patch The Sky
Crippled Black Phoenix - Bronze
Elise Davis - The Token
Hinds - Leave Me Alone
Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions - Until the Hunter
Ian Sweet - Shapeshifter
Into It, Over It - Standards
Jack White - Acoustic Recordings 1988-2016
Jeff Buckley - You and I
Jim James - Eternally Even
Jimmy Eat World - Integrity Blues
John Samson - Winter Wheat
King Dude - Sex
Kino Kimino - Bait Is For Sissies
Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker
Lush - Blindspot
Margaret Glaspy - Emotions and Math
Mogwai - Atomic
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Skeleton Tree
Pete Yorn - Arrangingtime
Pity Sex - White Hot Moon
Public Access TV - Never Enough
Robert Pollard - Of Course You Are
Sheer Mag - III
Steven Wilson - 4 1/2
Sturgill Simpson - A Sailor's Guide to Earth
Tegan and Sara - Love You to Death
The Album Leaf - Between Waves
The Claypool Lennon Delirium - Monolith of Phobos
The DMA's - Hills End
The Hotelier - Goodness
The Joy Formidable - Hitch
The Joy Formidable - Sleep is Day
The Julie Ruin - Hit Reset
The Posies - Solid States
The Strokes - Future Present Past EP
Thee Oh Sees - A Weird Exits
Thee Oh Sees - An Odd Entrances
Thrice - To Be Everywhere is to Be Nowhere
Tortoise - The Catastrophist
Tyrannamen - Tyrannamen
 
Agoraphobic Nosebleed - Arc
Brujeria - Pocho Aztlan
Cobalt - Slow Forever
Conan - Revengeance
Deftones - Gore
Dream Theater - The Astonishing
Gorguts - Pleiades' Dust
Grand Magus - Sword Songs
Graves at Sea - The Curse That Is
Hammerfall - Built To Last
Iron Savior - Titancraft
Meshuggah - The Violent Sleep of Reason
Oathbreaker - Rheia
Pallbearer - Fear and Fury
Sumac - What One Becomes
The Dillinger Escape Plan - Dissociation
UXO - UXO
Wrong - Wrong
 
Absolute Power - Absolute Power
BAT - Wings of Chains
Cruel Hand - Your World Won't Listen
Eternal Sleep - The Emptiness Of
Every Time I Die - Low Teens
Expire - With Regret
G.L.O.S.S. - Trans Day of Revenge
Gag - America's Greatest Hits
Head Wound City - A New Wave of Violence
Manipulate - Becoming Madness
Nails/Full of Hell - Split
Omegas - Power to Exist
Pure Disgust - Pure Disgust
Red Death - Deterrence
Ringworm - Snake Church
Sick of it All - When the Smoke Clears
Trap Them - Crown Feral
 
A Tribe Called Quest - We Got it From Here....Thank You 4 Your Service
Ab-Soul - Do What Thou Wilt
Banks & Steelz - Anything But Words
Chance the Rapper - Coloring Book
Common - Black America Again
Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition
De La Soul - and the Anonymous Nobody
Kendrick Lamar - Untitled Unmastered
Kevin Abstract - American Boyfriend
NxWorries - Yes Lawd!
Royce Da 5'9" - Layers
Run the Jewels - RTJ3
Vince Staples - Prima Donna
 
Anderson Paak - Malibu
Ariana Grande - Dangerous Woman
Beyonce - Lemonade
Blood Orange - Freetown Sound
Charles Bradley - Changes
Charli XCX - Vroom Vroom
Daya - Sit Still, Look Pretty
Maxwell - blackSUMMERS'night
Rihanna - Anti
Tove Lo - Lady Wood
 
AJJ - The Bible 2
Camp Cope - Camp Cope
Cloak of Organs - Demo
Descendents - Hypercaffium Spazzinate
Mike & The Melvins - Three Men and a Baby
Modern Baseball - Holy Ghost
Pkew Pkew Pkew - Pkew Pkew Pkew
Planes Mistaken For Stars - Prey
The Cowboys - The Cowboys
The Dirty Nil - Higher Power
The Falcon - Gather Up the Chaps
Vanishing Life - Surveillance

End of 2015 album list!

End of 2015 album list!

My Top 10, in no particular order:

Blacklisted - When People Grow, People Go - Because BLACKLISTED and because it was great!

Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear - I listened to this record more than any other record all year.  I also sing along with it at the top of my lungs, all the time, even when I'm not listening to it.

Beach Slang - The Things We Do to Find People Who Feel Like Us - I don't like to feel feelings all the time, but this record makes me do that.

Kendrick Lamar- To Pimp a Butterfly - I believe the hype.

Steven Wilson - Hand.Cannot.Erase - Proggy goodness, but also more accessible than the last record.

Night Birds - Mutiny at Muscle Beach - Surfpunkcore.....full of catchy punk tunes.

Napalm Death - Apex Predator - Easy Meat - This record was utterly crushing. 

Earl Sweatshirt - I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside - Two rap albums in the top 10!

Sleater Kinney - No Cities to Love - Such a return.....catchy and singalongy, also fantastic live!

Blur - The Magic Whip - Speaking of returns....one of my favorites adding to their already large collection of music I love.

FKA Twigs M3LL155X - I hestiated putting an EP in the top 10, but whatever....this record was outstanding!


The other LP's I enjoyed (grouped together by genre, sorta):

Failure - The Heart is a Monster
Belle and Sebastian - Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance
Bjork - Vulnicura
Modest Mouse - Strangers to Ourselves
Swervedriver - I Wasn't Born to Lose You
Built to Spill - Untethered Moon
mewithoutyou - Pale Horses
Ceremony - The L-Shaped Man
Frank Turner - Positive Songs for Negative People
Chelsea Wolfe - Abyss
Maritime - Magnetic Bodies/Maps of Bones

Blind Guardian - Beyond the Red Mirror
Sylosis - Dormant Heart
Floor - Restarter
Elder - Lore
Between the Buried and Me - Coma Ecliptic
High on Fire - Luminiferous
Cattle Decapitation - The Anthropocene Extinction
Nile - What Should Not Be Unearthed
Iron Maiden - The Book of Souls
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - The Night Creeper
Twitching Tongues - Disharmony
Magic Circle - Journey Blind

Joey Bada$$ - B4.DA.$$
Ghostface Killah and BADBADNOTGOOD - Sour Soul
Vince Staples - '06 Summertime
Dr. Dre - Compton
Pusha T - King Push - Darkest Before Dawn:  The Prelude

Madonna - Rebel Heart
Nicole Dollanganger - Natural Born Losers
Grimes - Art Angels
Vanessa Carlton - Liberman

Retox - Beneath California
Forced Order - Vanished Crusade
Terror - The 25th Hour
Malfunction - Fear of Failure
Against Me! - 23 Live Sex Acts


The EP's, sides of splits, and demos I enjoyed this year:

G.L.O.S.S. - Demo
Rotting Out - Reckoning
Into Another - Omens
Every Time I Die - Salem
Iron Chic - Ys
The Ocean - Transcendental (Split with Mono)
Foundation - Turncoat

Best of List for 2014

I had a huge year for enjoyable new music releases.  I think I ended up with over 80 items on here.

Here are the 10 albums I liked the most in 2014, in no particular order:  

  

Against Me! - Transgender Dysphoria Blues - This record sparked my love affair with this band and me listening to them on a daily basis for almost 8 straight months.  I still listen to this record at least once every couple weeks and I even got to see them play most of this record live a few months back.  This is a great melodic punk, bordering at times on alt-rock, album with subject matter that will hopefully open some eyes.  

  

Beck - Morning Phase - Sad, melancholy Beck is the best Beck.  This record got a lot of play earlier this year while I was doing some file organizing and recently as I have been looking to listen to more mellow stuff at work during busy season. 

  

Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots - I love/d (who knows if they'll ever record another record) Blur, but a Damon Albarn was the next best thing to a new Blur record.  Not too far off from what you'd expect, maybe a little more mellow and electronic based, but the voice is unmistakeable and it rules!  

  

Pup - Pup - The first time I listened to this, based on the suggestion of a friend, by the time the second song hit I was already in love with this.  If I were ranking these in order, this would be one of ths top three, for sure.  I listened to this religiously for the whole second half of the year and one of the best live performances I saw all year was by Pup.  It's a punk record, but it's the type of punk record that I feel like would appeal to anyone who likes good music.  

  

Jenny Lewis - The Voyager - Ten songs of awesome, female fronted indie rock.  I think this is the best record, so far, of her solo career.  There is a nice mix to the songs on this album.  Some are upbeat and catchy, there is some humor, and the past love and experiences (she makes her usual drug references) and the outstanding closing title track that is beautiful.  Seeing her play twice and play a lot of material off this album was also some serious highlights of this year (and hopefully again next year....come on updated tour dates!)  

  

Opeth - Pale Communion - I missed the boat entirely on this band's metal years.  While I have since gone back and began checking those years out, to me it doesn't compare to the progressive rock they've had going on for the last decade.  This is another album that sparked repeated listens and a look back into the earlier material of a band that I have been sleeping on for far too long.  This has a Porcupine Tree/Steven Wilson vibe to it, which makes sense since Steven Wilson worked on it. 

  

Run the Jewels - RTJ2 - This wasn't as good as the first Run the Jewels, but honestly the chances they were going to match that were pretty minimal.  This is still pretty awesome in it's own rights.  Both Mike and El-P are on point with their rhymes and the production work is awesome too.  Turn the bass up and crank Oh My Darling Don't Cry and just let that blow your mind.  The guest work is pretty cool too, especially since I never thought Zack de la Rocha would even be able to hold his own and I was completely surprised.  Would love to see these dudes live in 2015.  

  

Godflesh - A World Lit Only by Fire - This was my favorite metal album of the year, without a doubt.  It is punishingly heavy and reminds me of what I loved about this band in the past.  The record makes me feel like what I imagine a post apocalyptic Earth would be like.  This would be the only music that played.  

  

Expire - Pretty Low - This was my hardcore record of the year.  Minus a couple of questionable lyrics, this record mixes in all the things I like.  It has it's intensity, heavy breakdowns, sing along lyrics, and it just sounds pissed off, at all times.  I missed the chance to see them all year, but won't do that again in 2015.  

  

The Lawrence Arms - Metropole - And finally, another melodic punk record and another record that sparked me visiting previous work by a band.  Great use of multiple vocalists, great songwriting, and cool lyrics that don't seem to always take themselves too seriously.  Another band I hope to see live in 2015.  

  

Here are the other things I listened to this year and liked:

 

...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead - IX
Ab-Soul - These Days...
Alcest - Shelter
At the Gates - At War with Reality
Bane - Don't Wait Up
Behemoth - The Satanist
Black Anvil - Hail Death
Boston Strangler - Fire
Code Orange Kids - I am King
Cold World - How the Gods Chill
Converge - Live at the BBC
Cripple Bastards - Nero in Metastasi
Earth Crisis - Salvation of Innocents
Electric Wizard - Time to Die
Every Time I Die - From Parts Unknown
Eyehategod - Eyehategod
FKA Twigs - LP1
Floor - Oblation
Fucked Up - Glass Boys
Gaslight Anthem - Get Hurt
Ghostface Killah - 36 Seasons
Give - Electric Flower Circus
Godflesh - Decline and Fall
Got a Girl - I Love You But I Must Drive Off This Cliff Now
Grand Magus - Triumph and Power
Incantation - Dirges of Elysium
Indian - From All Purity
Iron Reagan - Spoiled Identity
Iron Reagan - The Tyranny of Will
Iron Reagan/Exhumed - split EP
Jack White - Lazaretto
Johnny Cash - Out Among the Stars
Kelis - Food
Lagwagon - Hang
Lily Allen - Sheezus
Madball - Hardcore Lives
Mastodon - Once More 'Round the Sun
Mogwai - Rave Tapes
Morrissey - World Peace is None of Your Business
New Lows - Abhorrent Endings
Nina Persson - Animal Heart
Nothing - Guilty of Everything
Off! - Wasted Years
Old Man Gloom - Ape of God (I)
Old Man Gloom - Ape of God (II)
Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden
Pharrell Williams - GIRL
Pharoahe Monch - PTSD
Praise - Lights Went Out
Prince - Art Official Age
Ringworm - Hammer of the Witch
Royce Da 5'9/DJ Premier - PRhyme
Rust Belt Lights - Religion & My Ex
Ryan Adams - Ryan Adams
Schoolboy Q - Oxymoron
Sheer Terror - Standing Up for Falling Down
Sia - 1000 Forms of Fear
Spring Offensive - Young Animal Hearts
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Wig Out at Jagbags
Swans - To Be Kind
Taking Back Sunday - Happiness Is
Taylor Swift - 1989
The Afghan Whigs - Do the Beast
The Hold Steady - Teeth Dreams
Today is the Day - Animal Mother
Trap Them - Blissfucker
TV on the Radio - Seeds
Tycho - Awake
YOB - Clearing the Path to Ascend
Young Widows - Easy Pain

Women rule!

I am still kind of playing around with the types of posts I am going to make here, so forgive me if I am kind of all over the place with the topics I am writing about.  It occurred to me today, as I was listening to the new Jenny Lewis record, that I have a tendency to gravitate to female vocalists.  I think this can be traced all the way back to when I first started developing my musical identity.  Whether it was listening to Madonna, with my sister, or hanging a picture of Susanna Hoffs in my locker, I've always been fond of the female vocalist.  I was going through my iPod and noticed that I have a pretty large amount of female artists on there so I thought I'd make some suggestions of some of my favorites.

Here is a list of female fronted albums that I think any fan of music should be listening to (in no particular order):

1.  Cat Power - What Would the Community Think:  While most people would tell you that Moon Pix is her best album, I will stand by this as her most perfect album.  This record spans a bunch of different styles.  Musically, there is some rock, some folk, some blues, and a little country.  Vocally, there is pain, there is anger, there is beauty and the whole thing just flows brilliantly.  I could easily have put about five of her records on here and would suggest pretty much anything in her catalog, but this is my favorite.

2.  Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville:  This one is a no brainer.  Prior to her going all teeny pop and trying to appeal to the mall crowd, Liz Phair was once awesome and wrote arguably the greatest lo-fi indie rock record of all time.  Super catchy, sing-a-long type songs with great, honest lyrics and a pretty fair amount of cursing.  This is one of those albums that even at 18 songs and almost an hour long, at the end of the album, I want to put it on for another listen.  Then I catch myself humming, or singing, one of the songs hours, sometimes days later.  I don't think I could ever say enough positive things about this album.  Every song on this is great.  

3.  The Cardigans - Super Extra Gravity:  This was a tougher one to choose.  I like all of Nina Persson's output, including all six Cardigans albums, both A Camp albums, and her great solo album she put out this year.  But, to me the final album The Cardigans put out (here's hoping, they surprise everyone with a seventh) is her finest moment.  This is great, Swedish alt-rock from a group that seem to have a fondness for classic rock.  Sweden could also be represented on this list by the first Sounds record, but that one hasn't endeared to me as much over the years as this one.    

4.  Madonna - True Blue:  Yes, seriously.  There is a reason this album has sold 25 million copies.  It's a hit machine.  More than half the songs on the album were successful singles.  I dare you to put this album on and not know all the words to those songs and then I dare you not to love the songs that weren't released as singles.  I don't think I have to describe what you'd be getting into with this album.  It's pop at it's mid 1980's finest.  There are dance songs, there are ballads, there is La Isla Bonita, which is such an amazing song.

5.  Blondie - Parallel Lines:  I was going to cheat and use the Platinum Collection, double disc collection of all the singles.  But, that is not a proper album, and they did release a full album that is outstanding.  This one.  The other albums are good to explore for the really good songs on each of them, but overall aren't what I would would call great full albums.  Which is why I tend to go for the Platinum Collection so often, because I can get almost every song I want right there.  But, this album is a perfect blend of everything Blondie was about.  Punk, new wave, post-punk, pop rock, whatever you call it.  A couple covers, a couple massive singles, and the amazing 11:59 which is neither of those.  This was also Debbie Harry at her most hypnotizing.  

6.  Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood:  And then there is Canada.  From Blacklisted to Middle Cyclone, Neko wrote three great albums.  All three of these albums are great, but this is the one I find myself putting on the most.  Another indie rock artist, she blends rock with some alt-country or folk.  She is another singer that really puts her emotions out really well in her voice, much like Cat Power.  

7.  Portishead - Dummy:  A few years ago, I probably would have chose the self titled album, but over those years I have come back to putting Dummy ahead of it as their best material.  This album is like sex on record.  I have a feeling in the mid 1990's, a whole lot of people were getting down to this album.  It's always referred to as Trip-hop, as the genre, which I have always hated that phrase.  This is just a damn good record, that was refreshing and unique at the time it came out.

8.  Fiona Apple - Tidal:  She takes forever to release new albums, but each and every one has been worth it, if she needs the time to write the albums she does.  This was her debut and I could make an argument for really any of her albums being her best (except for maybe Extraordinary Machine), this is the one that hooked me on her.  This is another mid 90's album that really has stayed with me for so many years.  This is another one of those albums that probably was the soundtrack to some babies being made.  She is another artist that mixes genres really well (there is a theme here), and the opening track, Sleep to Dream, is one of my favorite opening tracks ever.

9.  The Go-Go's - Beauty and the Beat:  The Go-Go's were similar to Blondie, in the sense that they blended punk, post-punk, and new wave together.  This is another album that has no filler, every song is great on this.  Everything is super catchy and this is a great album to listen to while doing chores.  I love listening to this while doing dishes or cleaning the bathroom.  Also, Belinda Carlisle was another one of those early crushes that I had in life.

10.  Janelle Monae - The Electric Lady:  This was my favorite album of 2013.  Janelle is newer to the game than all the other artists I mentioned here, but if she keeps writing records like this, I have a feeling she is going to be around for a long time.  This record combines soul, funk, r&b, rock, a tiny bit of hip hop, and a guest appearance from Prince.  When this first came out, I think I probably listened to this daily for a good three month stretch.  I enjoyed her first album a lot, but she really upped the game with the catchiness on this album.  I love everything about this album, including the whole science fiction side of things and the theme of being, and loving, yourself that runs through the album.

There are so many more that I would suggest, but I thought cutting it off at 10 was good. 

The day I admit I am wrong.

I'm not always comfortable admitting when I'm wrong, in any situation really.  But, sometimes I find myself just unable to escape pointing out my errors in judgement when it comes to music.  In this case, I have discovered over the last couple months that I was wrong, about three different bands, with my first (and in one case, first through like fifth) impressions.  One of these, I have not only realized my mistake, but I also have been listening to them daily for the last three months, or so.

The first band is one that I completely misjudged.  Against Me!  I remember sometime in the early 2000's, during my whole "I'll listen to just about anything on No Idea Records" phase, getting one of those samplers they used to put out (maybe it was Bread, the Edible Napkin or Back To Donut or The Shape of Flakes to Come) and it had Pints of Guinness Make You Strong on it.  I thought it was okay, but didn't have much interest because at the time it was probably overshadowed by the Hot Water Music song, or Floor, or maybe Combatwoundedveteran.  Then I saw the name of the album it was on, which I still think to this day is stupid, I immediately passed them off as a joke band.  The next two albums that came out, I think I was only really acquainted with the lead single songs that came out.  I think I skipped New Wave in it's entirety when it first came out.  I listened to a few songs on White Crosses, based on the suggestion of someone who I used to listen to when they suggested new music.  But, still nothing clicked.  Then earlier this year, when I was doing my daily reviews, I decided to listen to Transgender Dysphoria Blues and pretty much loved it from the start.  After this point, I decided to go back and determine if I had missed something previously.  I started at the beginning and worked my way back to the newest album and noticed that I had, in fact, been missing out for a long time.  Since this point, I have listened to on average one Against Me! album a day for probably the last three months and they have become one of my current favorite bands.  They are also pretty high up on the "bands I want to see live" list.

The second band that I was wrong about is Opeth, although this may be to a lesser degree, at least so far.  I went to a festival in Cleveland in the summer of 2005, I was incredibly hung over and was having a hard time focusing most of the day.  These guys played some time in the middle of they day and it was in a large amphitheater setting, which I almost never have good luck with when it comes to new bands.   I remember sitting down during their set, and while I recognized how talented they were, I was not feeling it at all.  Since then I have sworn up and down that this band was just boring and I didn't have any interest in listening to them.  I remember times where friends would have played them while we are all hanging out and maybe I might have even done some head nodding or finger tap drumming along with them.  But, overall I was still pretty middle of the road on them.  Then yesterday, I decided to listen to the newest album and found myself enjoying it immensely.  They have made a significant progression from a death metal band to a fairly progressive rock sound.  There was no metal vocals on the record, but they do still have a small amount of heaviness to them still.  It has a similar feel to me as Porcupine Tree, which makes sense as they have been working with Steven Wilson on Production/Mixing for a little bit now.  I haven't gone back in to the catalog deeper, yet.  But, I've been told the album previous to this is a very similar sound, so I'll be checking that out next.

Finally, the third band that I misjudged, which I also discovered my error yesterday, is The National.  I have for a couple years now just assumed they were a generic, indie rock band.  Like with Opeth, I am only one album in to listening to them.  But, based on that first full listen, I think there is a little more depth to this band then I gave them credit for.  There is a post-punk vibe that I really enjoyed.  The singer has a pretty unique voice and a few lyrics grabbed me here and there.  I don't have a real good story for this one about why I didn't give them more of a chance later.  I think my only real interaction with their music before was random songs that I heard driving around Tampa in my friend's car.  

So yeah, the first step to recovery was admitting I was wrong and the next step is to investigate the catalogs of Opeth and The National, a little deeper, to see what else I like there.  But, now I'm starting to wonder how many more bands I am missing out on, because I have misjudged them.  So, with a vacation coming up next week, I think Spotify and I are going to be doing some digging.