The 2018 David Music Poll Results

THE 2018 David Music Poll Results

1)  Janelle Monae, Dirty Computer (17 votes)

2)  Kacey Musgraves, Golden Hour (11)

3)  boygenius (Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus), boygenius (9)

     Cardi B, Invasion of Privacy (9)

5)  Brandi Carlile, By the Way I Forgive You (8)

     Robyn, Honey (8)

7)  Years & Years, Palo Santo (7)

8)  Courtney Barnett, Tell Me How You Really Feel (6)

     Beach House, 7  (6)

     Troye Sivan, Bloom (6)

Honorable mention:  Neko Case, Hell-On; Drake, Scorpion; Snail Mail, Lush; The Decemberists, I’Il Be Your Girl

NOTES:  This is Janelle Monae’s third appearance on the music poll, and her first on top.  Beach House has also been a regular fixture here, and amazingly this is Brandi Carlile’s first trip into the top ten. (Robyn, Courtney Barnett, and Years & Years are making their second appearances.)   Interestingly, there isn’t a single debut in the top ten – you have to go to the honorable mentions to find Snail Mail, who had the top debut.  Also interesting:  the majority of artists on the list are out queer artists, which is definitely a first. 

Now, to the individual lists....

My List Makes Me Feel

For 2018: 

Most essential albums:

1)  Janelle Monae, Dirty Computer

So brilliant in its audacity, and so audacious in its brilliance.  So personal in its politics, and so political as it explores the personal.  And the music is spectacular.  It floored me from the first time I heard it, and is a fantastic argument in our single-fragmented world for the power of a bold, cohesive album.

2)  boygenius, boygenius EP

Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus combine forces and create a harmonious pendulum on which to swing between bravado and despair.  And, in truth, Lucy Dacus’s Historian came close to making this list, Julien Baker’s Turn Off the Lights was my favorite album last year and was probably still the album I listened to the most this year, and Phoebe Bridgers didn’t make an impact on my playlists before boygenius, but then I went back and re-listened and am now a big fan.  Also, their Election Night concert at Brooklyn Steel was one of my favorites of the year.

3)  Brandi Carlile, By the Way I Forgive You

Brandi Carlile keeps getting better with each album, and this is the high point, album-wise, so far.

4)  Frank Turner, Be More Kind

I’m not entirely sure how a British folkpunk singer managed to articulate the agitas of the Trump era better than most, but Frank Turner nails it on this album, including the masterful “!933” and “Make America Great Again” (lyric:  “Make America great again / by making racists ashamed again.” 

5)  Courtney Barnett, Tell Me How You Really Feel

Because sometimes you want a really clever rock-out.

6)  George Ezra, Staying at Tamara’s

Because sometimes you want a tuneful pick-me-up.

Most essential songs:

“Night Shift” by Lucy Dacus

“Light On” by Maggie Rogers

“1933” by Frank Turner

“Schedules” by Sigrid

“Rainbow” by Kacey Musgraves

“Make Me Feel” by Janelle Monae

For 1999-2018

My five favorite albums:

Robyn, Body Talk

Death Cab for Cutie, Transatlanticism

The Postal Service, Give Up

Lorde, Pure Heroine

Florence and the Machine, Lungs

The next seven:

Sufjan Stevens, Carrie and Lowell

Soundtrack, Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist

The National, Boxer

Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago

The Killers, Hot Fuss

Patty Griffin, 1000 Kisses

The Decemberists, The Crane Wife

Some bad calls over the past twenty years:

Among the albums that didn’t make my annual lists that should have:

Carly Rae Jepsen, Emotion

Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago

Sufjan Stevens, Illinois(e)

The most dubious calls for top album of the year:

Bloc Party edged out The National in 2008.  Both albums hold up, but Boxer is better. Also, there’s no excuse for 2009.  I put Snow Patrol over The Decemberists’ The Crane Wife and Regina Spektor’s Begin to Hope?!?  Still like Snow Patrol. But really.

Jaclyn D has the Vide of her Life

This was the year I hooked up my record player, and I’ve mostly been listening to old vinyl, but I do have two albums to throw into the 2018 vote:

1. Lord Huron--Vide Noir

2. MGMT--Little Dark Age

My Top Five Albums of the last 20 years (only 5…ugh, that is hard), not super in order:

Lord Huron—Strange Trails

The Black Keys—El Camino

Lost in Translation Soundtrack

Arcade Fire—Reflektor

MGMT—Oracular Spectacular

Andrew E’s New High

Part One: 

Essential Albums of 2018:

1. Florence + the Machine, High as Hope
2. Mitski, Be the Cowboy
3. Years and Years, Palo Santo

Bonus Notable Singles:

1. Carly Rae Jepsen, "Party for One,"
2. Troye Sivan, "Strawberries and Cigarettes"

Part Two:

1. Florence + the Machine, Ceremonials AND Florence + the Machine, Lungs (Cheating, sorry, can't help it)
2. Lorde, Pure Heroine
3. Regina Spektor, Begin to Hope
4. Robyn, Body Talk
5. Mika, Life in Cartoon Motion

Lucy C Hails the Queens

OK, my fav album of 2018 was - 

Christine and the Queens, Chris  (the French version preferably!)

Top Five of Past Twenty Years (TOO HARD!)

1). Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever ago 

2). Ryan Adams, Heartbreaker

3). Sufjan Stevens, Carrie and Lowell

4). La Amazones d'Afrique, Republic Amazone 

5). The Chemical Brothers, Surrender

I also wanted "Neutral Milk Hotel, In the aeroplane over the sea" but I think it might be just a touch too old? 

Andrea R Comes Clean About Dirty

Janelle Monae for everything. I don't know if I can pick a single from Dirty Computer because the whole album is perfect.

Cora R Likes Coco

I only have 2 to submit this year. I started listening to the first one at the beginning of the year, I loved it so much I listened to little else HA!:

Young Fathers, Coco Sugar

Rolling Blackouts, Costal Fever

20 years is interesting, some of my old favourites have dated badly but others sound fresh, the freshest 5 are:

Radiohead, In Rainbows

Daft Punk, Discovery 

Cut Copy, Bright Like Neon Love

LCD Soundsystem, LCD Soundsystem

The Avalancehes, Since I Left You

Lucas K Stays Golden

Hi there! And the 20-est of 19's to you! I've been absent from these lists the past couple of years (I blame Otto), but I'm back for the big one. With every year I seem to get a little more country, Lord help me.

1. Kacey Musgraves, Golden Hour

2. Lori McKenna, The Tree

3. Ralph, A Good Girl

4. The Midnight, Kids

5. Pistol Annies, Interstate Gospel

6. LANY, Malibu Nights

7. Troye Sivan, Bloom

8. The 1975, A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships

9. KYLE, Light of Mine

10. St. Lucia, Hyperion

The favorite 5 of the past 20 years is a hell of a request, but here is my best shot after thorough consideration. Very heavily weighted toward early aughts (college-era) albums. In no particular order:

Daft Punk, Discovery

Ben Folds, Rockin’ the Suburbs

Saves the Day, Stay What You Are

Kanye West, The College Dropout

Carly Rae Jepsen, Emotion

I don't have a great answer to your first question. But I did note that, way back in 2011, I predicted my selection of Yeasayer's Odd Blood would turn out to have least staying power of any choice on that list, and I turned out to be very correct!

Aaron W’s Sweet Tooth

Ariana’s Sweetener should top the list for sure!

Anna Q Forgives it All

Brandi Carlisle, By the Way I forgive you.  

That’s all I’ve got this year because it’s so dominant in my life.  

Zach F Waxes Brazilian

I always look forward to this poll, David!

Most essential albums: 

Brazilian Girls, Let's Make Love (Very glad to have them back. Can't stop listening to this. So much good feeling.)

Christine and the Queens, Chris 

Rosalía, El Mal Querer 

The 1975, A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships (Full disclosure: I have not listened to this whole album, but the five or so tracks I have heard are proving very difficult to shake!)

Favorite 5 of the last 20:

LCD Soundsystem, American Dream

Radiohead, Hail to the Thief

TV on the Radio, Return to Cookie Mountain

Santigold, Master of My Make Believe

The Shins, Chutes Too Narrow 

Collin R’s Got Mail

MOST ESSENTIAL ALBUM OF 2018

Snail Mail, Lush

TOP ALBUMS OF 2018 (in no particular order)

Kacey Musgraves, Golden Hour

Lucy Dacus, Historian

Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, boygenius

Soccer Mommy, Clean

Frankie Cosmos, Vessel

Anna Meredith, Eighth Grade (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Christine and the Queens, Chris

Mitski, Be the Cowboy

Courtney Barnett, Tell Me How You Really Feel

BROCKHAMPTON, Iridescence 

cupcakKe, Eden

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Geotic, Traversa 

SOPHIE, OIL OF EVERY PEARL'S UN-INSIDES

Robyn, Honey

The Decemberists, I'll Be Your Girl

Kim Petras, TURN OFF THE LIGHT, VOL. 1

Brent G’s Lush Life

1. Snail Mail - Lush

2. The Internet - Hive Mind

3. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour

4. Post Malone - Beerbongs and Bently's

5. Lithics - Mating Surfaces

6. Momma - Interloper

7. Mac Miller - Swimming

8. Kids See Ghosts - Kids See Ghosts

9. DRMCTHR - Hold Your Love

10. Ex:Re - Ex:Re

Bill K’s Computer Won’t Crash

This may be the first year that my top album is also THE top album of the list! I'm so excited by that possibility. Alas, Haley Reinhart didn't have an album this year, so that helps.

Album of the Year: Janelle Monae, Dirty Computer.

Other Essential Albums: 

Brandi Carlisle, By the Way, I Forgive You

Family of the Year, Goodbye Sunshine, Hello Nighttime

Other Essential Tracks:

St. Vincent, Los Ageless

Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, Shallow

Julien Baker, Turn Out the Lights

Haley Reinhart, I Don't Know How to Love You

Favorite Five Albums of the Last 20 Years:

I can't possibly narrow it down to under 6...

6. Mika, Life in Cartoon Motion

5. Haley Reinhart, Better

4. Aimee Mann, Lost in Space

3. Scissor Sisters, Night Work 

2. Ben Folds, Rockin' the Suburbs

1. Rufus Wainwright, Want One

Kate H Chimes In

part one: 2018

*Dessa, Chime

boygenius, boygenius

Camp Cope, How to Socialise & Make Friends

Wye Oak, The Louder I Call The Faster It Runs

Prince, Piano and a Microphone 1983

honorable mention:
Janelle Monae, Dirty Computer  

Big Red Machine, Big Red Machine  

part two: past 20

top 5 1999-2019:

Radiohead, Kid A (2000)

Beck, Guero (2005)
The National, Boxer (2007)

Bon Iver, Bon Iver (2011)

Beyonce, Lemonade (2016)

honorable mentions:

PJ Harvey Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea (2000)

Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest (2009)

Wye Oak, Civilian (2011)  

The Staves, If I Was (2015)  

should have listed in the past:

Sylvan Esso, Hey Mami (2014)

Polica, Shulamith (2013)

Wye Oak, Civilian (2011)

The Staves, If I Was (2015)

Sylvan Esso, What Now (2017)

shouldn't have picked:
I stand by my musical decisions. Even the bad ones.

Jim D’s Untwisted Logic

- Logic, YSIV

- Young Fathers, Cocoa Sugar

- DeVotchka, This Night Falls Forever

- Post Malone, Beerbongs & Bentleys 

- White Denim, Performance 

- Dirty Projectors, Lamp Lit Prose

- Blood Orange, Negro Swan

Shelly R Comes Full Circle

Part 1:

A Perfect Circle, Eat The Elephant

After a thirteen year hiatus, this supergroup returned with a kickass album commenting on the state of politics, society, technology’s overuse, and more.

Part 2:

In no order at all…

AFI, Sing the Sorrow
Beyoncé, Lemonade

Arctic Monkeys, AM

My Chemical Romance, The Black Parade

Stromae, Racine Carrée

Roberto R’s Like a Bee To…

ROBYN, HONEY!!!!!!

Michael T Likes His Privacy

Part 1.

Essential album of 2018:

Cardi B, Invasion of Privacy.  Really aren’t any contenders that come close, but I’d put 

2. Drake, Scorpion (mainly for God’s Plan)

3. The Carters, Everything is Love (mainly for Friends).

Singles I liked a lot in no particular order:

Charli XCX and Troye Sivan, “1999”

Beach House, “Dive”

Ariana Grande, “Thank U Next”

Childish Gambino, “This Is America”

Panic! At the Disco, “High Hopes” (a stupid sugar rush of a banger / shite anthem that always lifted me up with its goofy positivity)  

Part 2.

Essential albums of the last 20 years:

1. Belle and Sebastian, Dear Catastrophe Waitress 

2. The National, Boxer

3. Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires of the City

4. Missy Elliott, Under Construction

5. Andrew Bird, Armchair Apocrypha

Jessica S Votes Pink

#1: Janelle Monae, Dirty Computer 

Notable mentions:

Dessa, Chime

Florence + The Machine, High as Hope

Brian M’s Nonteenage Wasteland

Twenty years! Crazy:

Here's my 2018 List.

Most Essential:

Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats, Wasteland

Essential:

Mystic Braves, The Great Unknown

The Decemberists, I'll Be Your Girl

The Good, The Bad & The Queen, Merrie Land

L.A. Witch, Octubre

Green Seagull, Scarlet Fever

Sleep, The Sciences

Ryley Walker, Deafman Glance

Amrand Hammer, Paraffin

Holly Mirance, Mutual Horse

Bill Ryder-Jones, Yawn

Jordaan Mason, Earth to Ursa Major

Ty Segall, Freedom's Goblin

Black Thought, Streams of Thought Vol. 1 & Vol. 2

Brian Jonestown Massacre, Something Else

Gorillaz, The Now Now

Richard Swift, The Hex

T. Hardy Morris, Dude The Obscure

The Growlers, Casual Acquanitences

Emma Ruth Rundle, On Dark Horses

Cat Power, Wanderer

I could literally spend days trying to come up with ten favorite albums of the last 20 years, but I'm going to go with a gut feeling and instinct. Here's 15 of the best from the last decade:

Manic Street Preachers, Journal for Plague Lovers

Portugal the Man, The Majestic Majesty

Guns N Roses, Chinese Democracy

The Mars Volta, Amputecture

Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats, The Night Creeper

The Decemberists, The Crane Wife

Sunset Rubdown, Shut Up I Am Dreaming

Elvis Perkins, Ash Wednesday

Queenadreena, The Butcher and the Butterfly

Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra, Horses in the Sky

John Frusciante, Inside of Emptiness

The Icarus Line, Penance Soiree

Kings of Leon, Youth & Young Manhood

White Stripes, White Blood Cells

Madrugada, The Nightly Disease

Samantha P’s Computer Runs Well

1)  Janelle Monáe, Dirty Computer

2)  Cat Power, Wanderer 

3)  Mitski, Be the Cowboy

4)  Young Fathers, Cocoa Sugar

5)  Neko Case, Hell-On

6)  Courtney Barnett, Tell Me How You Really Feel

7)  Drake, Scorpion

Scott T Hasn’t Forgotten

Part, The First

2018 Most Essential

ionnalee, everyone afraid to be forgotten

Other Essential

Mage, Facets

Dead Can Dance, Dionysus

Essential Discoveries in 2018

Night Drive, Night Drive (2017)

Neurotech, Stigma (2015)

Favorite Songs of 2018

Alice Merton, No Roots

The Orb, Rush Hill Road

Night Music, Where I End and You Begin

ionnalee, Not Human

Panic! At the Disco, Say Amen (Saturday Night)

Santigold, Run the Road

Solarstone, Motif

Lily Allen, What You Waiting For

Franz Ferdinand, Feel the Love Go

Part, The Second

Gosh, very difficult ask.  Five albums for 20 years?  I'm going to need to cheat.  But I will limit each artist to only one appearance.

My Top 5 Albums (1999 - 2018)

Austra, Feel It Break (2011)

Avalanches, Since I Left You (2000)

Cut Copy, In Ghost Colors (2008)

Freezepop, Fancy Ultra Fresh (2004)

Royksopp, Junior (2009)

My Top 5 That I think Other Folks in Your Poll Could Vote For

The Drums, Portamento (2011)

Franz Ferdinand, Franz Ferdinand (2005)

M83, Before the Dawn Heals Us (2004)

Moby, Play (1999)

The Shins, Oh Inverted World (2001)

My Top 10 Dance Albums

Above & Beyond, Tri-State (2006)

Breakshift, All the Dreams You Never Had (2011)

Gareth Emery, Northern Lights (2010)

LTJ Bukem, Producer 01 (2001)

Michael Cassette, Temporarity (2010)

Orkidea, Harmonia (2015)

Super8 & Tab, Empire (2010)

Tiesto, Just Be (2004)

Paul Van Dyk, Out There and Back (2000)

Way Out West, Don't Look Back (2004)

Honourable Mentions

Bag Raiders, Bag Raiders (2010)

Bent, Programmed to Love (2001)

Disclosure, Settle (2013)

Editors, The Back Room (2005)

Easy Access Orchestra, Easy Access Orchestra (2001)

Everything But the Girl, Temperamental (1999)

Faithless, Sunday 8pm (1999)

Gold Fields, Black Sun (2013)

Ladytron, Light & Magic (2002)

Night Music, Night Music (2017)

Real Estate, Days (2011)

Santigold, Master of My Make-Believe (2012)

Stereolab, Margarine Eclipse (2004)

Underworld, A Hundred Days Off (2002)

UNKLE, Never Never Land (2004)

White Lies, Big TV (2013)

Graver’s Expression of Genius

HERE WE GO:

PART ONE

Most Essential Albums 2018:

boygenius, boygenius
Troye Sivan, Bloom
Janelle Monae, Dirty Computer
St. Vincent, MassEducation
serpentwithfeet, soil

Best Singles of 2018

This is America by Childish Gambino
Mariners Apartment Complex by Lana Del Rey
Ghost Town by Kanye West
thank u, next by Ariana Grande
Birdsong by Regina Spektor
Time by Angelo De Augustine
Hell by Slow Hollows (video version only)
Save Me by Liz Vice
Honey by Robyn
Woman by Cat Power

PART TWO

Favorite Five Albums of the Past 20 Years:

The Strokes, Is This It (2001)

Fiona Apple, When the Pawn... (1999)

Arcade Fire, Funeral (2004)
Franz Ferdinand, Franz Ferdinand (2004)
Au Revoir Simone, Still Night, Still Light (2009)

This was so hard why did you make us do this?

I reviewed my selections back to 2012 and I stand by them!

Bryant P Isn’t Holding Back the Years

Most Essential Album:

Years & Years, Palo Santo

Other Essential Albums:

The Decemberists, I’ll Be Your Girl

CHVRCHES, Love Is Dead

Okkervil River, In the Rainbow Rain

Andrew F’s Happy Hour

I seem to have a type:

Most Essential:

Kacey Musgraves, Golden Hour

Other Essential;

Pistol Annies, Interstate Gospel

Ashley McBryde, Girl Going Nowhere

Brandi Carlile, By the Way, I Forgive You

Robyn, Honey

Teri Y’s Bloomsday

Troye Sivan, Bloom
Betty Who, Betty, Pt. 1
Years & Years, Palo Santo
Morgxn, Vital
The Struts, Young & Dangerous

Robyn, Honey

Jukebox the Ghost, Off to the Races

Favorites from the last twenty years... that's a tough one. So many amazing artists, songs and albums. I'm going to go with the one complete album that I have never stopped listening to since it came out...

Robyn, Body Talk

Sarah M Gives Thanks

Part One:

The Most Essential: Death Cab for Cutie, Thank You for Today

Other Essential Albums:

Lauren Daigle, Look Up Child

The Kooks, Let’s Go Sunshine

Hobo Johnson, NPR Tiny Desk Concert

Kacey Musgraves, Golden Hour

Anderson Paak, Oxnard

Part Two, the past 20 years:

Kings of Leon, Only By The Night

The Postal Service, Give Up

Britney Spears, …Baby One More Time

OutKast, Stankonia

Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago

Kristin E Says La Vie

Phosphorescent, C’est la vie

Matthue R Wants to Hear About Everyone Who Wants to be Famous

Most Essential:

Superorganism, Superorganism

I love this album! No, actually. When I really want to listen to SORGM, I look up their Tiny Desk Concert, their little 15-minute Youtube concerts, but I listen to this album partly because I feel the need to support them financially in my limited way, and partly because there's a magic to the songs live, and to the banter of all 8 of these placid zygotelike adults, but apparently they were originally written and recorded in separate parts, in a studio in their shared apartment that was too small to hold them all, and some part of the creative collaborative magic that helped them is located here, inside this LP. 

And featuring:

Noname, Room 25

The Decemberists, I'll Be Your Girl

Mitski, Be the Cowboy

The Carters, Everything Is Love

Nine Inch Nails, Bad Witch

Beach House, 7

Twin Peaks season 3 soundtrack

PART 2:

The Decemberists, The Crane Wife

Sleater-Kinney, All Hands on the Bad One

Janelle Monae, The Archandroid

Bruce Springsteen, The Rising

Regina Spektor, Begin to Hope

Jonas R Reaches for the Unlimited

Essential 2018

U.S. Girls, In a Poem Unlimited

The Decemberists, I’ll Be Your Girl

Eternal Summers, Every Day It Feel Like I’m Dying…

Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johansson, Apart

Courtney Barnett, Tell Me How You Really Feel

Dirty Projectors, Lamp Lit Prose

The Watson Twins, Duo

Charles Lloyd & The Marvels, Vanished Gardens

Matt and Kim, ALMOST EVERYDAY

Neko Case, Hell On

The Past 20 Years List

Father John Misty, Fear Fun

Courtney Barnett, The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas

Rilo Kiley, rkives

Whispertown 2000, Swim

Steve Martin & Edie Brickell, Love Has Come For You

Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires of the City

Original Cast Album, Hamilton

Fun, Some Nights

Best Coast, The Only Place

Amy Lavere, Stranger Me

Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins, Rabbit Fur Coat

Spoon, Hot Thoughts

Anica R, Simply the Best

With zero bias, my top albums of 2018:

1. Owen Lake and the Tragic Loves, The Best of Your Lies

2. Jeff Snyder, Sunspots

3. Jeff Snyder, Concerning the Nature of Things

4. Jeff Snyder and Federico Ughi, Duo

5. Wet Ink Ensemble, Wet Ink: 20

6. Listening Group, Listening Group

Giles G Parties Like It’s 1975

2018 LIST

1. The 1975 - A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships

2. Brandi Carlile, By The Way, I Forgive You

3. Janelle Monae, Dirty Computer

4. Kids See Ghosts, Kids See Ghosts

5. Noname, Room 25

6. Courtney Barnett, Tell Me How You Really Feel

7. Soccer Mommy, Clean

8. Octavian, Spaceman

9. Kurt Vile, Bottle It In

10. Father John Misty, God's Favorite Customer

20 YEAR LIST

This can't be done in 5 picks, though frankly I'm not sure if 10 picks make it easier of harder, but here goes:

1. Radiohead, Kid A

2. Arctic Monkeys, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

3. Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

4. LCD Soundsystem, Sound of Silver

5. Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly

6. Amy Winehouse, Back to Black

7. Jay-Z, The Black Album

8. Frank Ocean, Channel Orange

9. Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP

10. Norah Jones, Come Away With Me

I'm looking at the albums on my short list that didn't make the top ten, and it is actually causing me pain.  

So I’m just going to press send.  

Jonathan V Keeps Love Alive

The big five from the past 20 years:

Radiohead, KID A

Songs Ohia, MAGNOLIA ELECTRIC COMPANY

The National, BOXER

Arcade Fire, FUNERAL

The Knife, SILENT SHOUT

This year:

CHVRCHES, LOVE IS DEAD

Arctic Monkeys, TRANQUILITY BASE HOTEL & CASINO

Kids See Ghosts, KIDS SEE GHOSTS EP

New Optimism, AMAZON TO LEFRAK EP

Andrew Bayer, IN MY LAST LIFE

Wild Nothing, INDIGO

Oneohtrix Point Never, AGE OF

Now, Now, SAVED

Superorganism, SUPERORGANISM

Shallou, SOULS

Billy M’s a Big Mø (Fan)

My 2018 List:

* Mø, Forever Neverland

Anne-Marie, Speak Your Mind

Black Panther Soundtrack

Standout singles:

*Emotional Oranges, “Motion”

LSD, “Thunderclouds” & “Audio” 

Seinabo Say, “I Owe You Nothing”

Top 5 of past 20 years:

* Ani DiFranco, Revelling/Reckoning (2001)

* Radiohead, Kid A (1999)

* Fiona Apple, When the Pawn (1999)

* Tori Amos, To Venus and Back (1999)

* Sufjan Stevens, Age of Adz (2010)

(painful not to list these, so I must...)

Beyonce, Lemonade (2016)

Patty Griffin, 1000 Kisses (2002)

Lauryn Hill, MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 (2002)

Anais Mitchell, Hadestown (2010)

Rufus Wainwright, Want One (2003)

The Internet, Ego Death (2015)

Surprising that I didn't catch onto the following albums in realtime, considering how obsessed I am with them currently:

Amy Winehouse, Back to Black (2007)

Erykah Badu, Mama's Gun (2000)

Radiohead, In Rainbows (2007)

Mø, No Mythologies to Follow (2014)

Miley Cyrus, Bangerz (2013)

Jaci M’s Violet Flashback

Here's my top five from the last 20 years.  (I looked over my music and chose names that had immediate, powerful emotional resonance, even if I don't listen to them so much any more...)

5. Florence & the Machine, Ceremonials
4. Lorde, Melodrama
3. Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi, Rome
2. Lana Del Rey, Lust for Life

1. The National, High Violet

(I'd have included a Gang of Youths album here if I could have taken a selection from their albums and put them together; and I should be including Arcade Fire
but I seem to have turned against them lately.  I'll send this now before I remember more and start changing my mind...)

Jon S Knows What He Querer

Here I am, once again joyfully not contributing in any way to the larger poll. I will be delighted if any of them make it anywhere near the top ten :) 

Here are my votes for favorite album of 2018:

• Rosalía, El Mal Querer
• Yowler, Black Dog in My Path
• Kikagaku Moyo, Masana Temples 
• Krimewatch, Krimewatch
• Unreqvited, Mosaic I: L’amour Et L’ardeur
• Zoe Keating, Snowmelt 
• Lana Del Rabies, Shadow World 
• Amnesia Scanner, Another Life 
• Superorganism, Superorganism
• Primal Rite, Dirge of Escapism
• Snailmail, Lush

Albums I wish I’d discovered sooner so I could have put them on previous years:

• upcdowncleftcrightcabc+start, And the Battle Is Won
• Myrkur, Mareridft
• Julien Baker, Sprained Ankle
• Nicole Dollanganger, Natural Born Losers
• Saintseneca, Dark Arc
• Hildur Gudnadottir, Without Sinking

Albums I regret listing in previous years:

• I regret none of them.

Karen A’s Fleet Foxes

2018

Greta Van Fleet, Anthem of the Peaceful Army

Best single of 2018

Greta Van Fleet, Lover, Leaver

Last 20 years

Moby, Play
Queens of the Stone Age, Songs for the Deaf
Green Day, American Idiot
Rodrigo y Gabriela, 11:11
The Black Keys, Brothers

Jacqueline Q’s Beach Read

I haven't participated in a few years but I'm back on it. 

Part 1: My favorite album this year was Beach House, 7

            My favorite new artist is Snail Mail, Lush

Part 2: Top 5 albums of the past 20 years - are you serious? Let's see...

            1. The Magnetic Fields, 69 Love Songs

            2. Radiohead, Kid A

            3. Le Tigre, Le Tigre  

            4. Madonna, Confessions on a Dance Floor 

            5. Amy Winehouse, Back to Black 

Part 3: Top 6-10 albums of the past 20 years (I had to...) 

            6. Beck, Midnite Vultures

            7. School of Seven Bells, Disconnect from Desire 

            8. LCD Soundsystem, Sounds of Silver

            9. Yeah Yeah Yeah's, It's Blitz! 

           10. Hot Chip, In Our Heads 

Looking at the past winners, a few things come to mind: I'm still listening to Kid A like it was just released, Vampire Weekend too. The Postal Service was probably the most influential album on the entire list for me, however it's one of those albums that is so wrapped up in painful young adulthood, ex-boyfriends, and general dysfunctional lifestyles that it has not lasted as an album I still gravitate to today. Maybe one day I'll be able to stomach it again. Happy Polliversary! 

            

            

Lawrence U Goes Beyond the Palo

My list for 2018, plus some highlights from the past 20 years. SO MUCH great new music this year, but the following choices definitely earned their spots according to my play count/history. Every year I forget something that definitely deserves a mention but.... c'est la vie.

Albums - 2018

1. Years & Years, Palo Santo
2. Janelle Monáe, Dirty Computer
3. Vance Joy, Nation of Two
4. Christine and the Queens, Chris
5. Shawn Mendes, Shawn Mendes
6. Troye Sivan, Bloom

Singles - 2018

1. Cruel Intentions Original Cast, Breakfast at Tiffany’s (Might actually be 2019, but show ended in 2018 so it counts... plus I'm obsessed and can't wait for the full album 3/8). 
2. Felicity, Pilot with a Fear of Heights
3. Maggie Rogers, Fallingwater
4. Nightly, Phantom
5. Sigrid, High Five
6. Amy Shark, All Loved Up

Some of the best from the past two decades!

1. Adele, 25
2. Beach House, Depression Cherry
3. Amy Winehouse, Back to Black
4. The Killlers, Hot Fuss
5. Frank Ocean, Channel Orange
6. Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires of the City
7. Bon Iver, Bon Iver
8. Vance Joy, Dream Your Life Away
9. M83, Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
10. Arctic Monkeys, AM

            

Chris K Donates His Choices to Sciences

Chris Krovatin's 13 of '18

1. Sleep - The Sciences
2. Scumpulse - Rotten
3. Khemmis - Desolation
4. Slasher Dave - Frights
5. Rebel Wizard - Voluptuous Worship Of Rapture And Response
6. Clutch - Book Of Bad Decisions
7. Uada - Cult Of A Dying Sun
8. Nekrofilth - Worm Ritual
9. Carnation - Chapel Of Abhorrence
10. High On Fire - Electric Messiah
11. Gama Bomb - Speed Between The Lines
12. VHS - The New Batch
13. Baneful Storm - Invocations

Charlie O Says Long Live the Prince

PART ONE:  The 2018 List

Prince – Piano & A Microphone 1983

Low Roar – One In A Long, Long While

Little Dragon – Season High

Janelle Monae – Dirty Computer

The National – Sleep Well Beast

Zebra Katz – Drklng

PART TWO:  The Past 20 Years List

The National – High Violet

LCD Soundsystem – LCD Soundsystem

Jeff the Brotherhood – We Are The Champions

Sufjan Stevens - Illinois

Radiohead – Kid A

And the on-repeat soundtrack of my mind palace: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSpNJlYIhMA 😉

Keirsten G’s House of the Scorpion

I have not been listening to a lot of new music this year but my son, Clyde did. You might note his influence on my list this year.

Best,

keirsten

1. Drake, Scorpion
2. Travis Scott, Astroworld
3. Earl Sweatshirt, Some Rap Songs

Last 20 years!!! This is a bit stressful but here goes nothing. 

In no particular order:

1. Fiona Apple, Extrodinary Machine
2. Radiohead, Kid A
3. Kanye West, The College Dropout
4. Lauryn Hill, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
5. Wu-Tang Clan, Wu-Tang Meets The Indie Culture Instrumentals

Mike R Talks Dirty to Us

MY (PERSONAL, SUBJECTIVE) TOP 10 ALBUMS:

1.      Janelle Monáe, Dirty Computer

2.      Brandi Carlile, By The Way, I Forgive You

3.      Original Cast Recording, The Band’s Visit

4.      Tove Styrke, Sway

5.      LAKES, Just To Feel The Feeling

6.      Titus Andronicus, A Productive Cough

7.      Frank Turner, Be More Kind

8.      Jake Shears, Jake Shears

9.      Lucy Dacus, Historian

10.   Carrie Underwood, Cry Pretty

NOTES: Everyone buy or stream the EP by New York’s coolest new band, LAKES! I don’t even know anyone involved or anything, I just saw them open at a show and now I think they are the coolest thing around. Melody driven guitar-rock with pop hooks, a surf punk edge, and an incredible frontwoman. Everything else, y’all already know.

MY (PERSONAL, SUBJECTIVE) TOP 10 SINGLES:

1.      Carly Rae Jepsen, “Party For One”

2.      Metric, “Now Or Never Now”

3.      Lucy Dacus, “Night Shift”

4.      Robyn, “Honey”

5.      John Mayer, “New Light”

6.      Phosphorescent, “New Birth In New England”

7.      Sigrid, “Schedules”

8.      Betty Who, “Just Thought You Should Know”

9.      George Ezra, “Shotgun”

10.   Gerard Way, “Baby You’re A Haunted House”

NOTES: i am a homosexual

MY (EXTREMELY PERSONAL, EXTREMELY SUBJECTIVE) TOP 5 ALBUMS OF THE PAST 20 YEARS:

1.      Lady Gaga, Born This Way

2.      Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly

3.      Robyn, Body Talk

4.      Frightened Rabbit, The Midnight Organ Fight

5.      Bombadil, Metrics of Affection

NOTES: to help me narrow down candidates, I had qualification rules: to qualify, an album had to have fully reoriented my brain chemistry and ushered me into a new era of my life (sadly cutting out lots of incredible game-changing albums that I just haven’t gotten around to, eg, any and all Radiohead), had to actually reveal something personal/intimate about the artist (cutting out - and it pains me to say this - EMOTION by Carly Rae Jepsen) without turning into a total snoozey acoustic cry-yourself-to-sleep-fest (with apologies to Sufjan & Suf-fans), and apparently had to be some kind of maximalist sprawling beautiful mess, which was not a rule I had setting out but which turned out to be something all the albums had in common (with further apologies to the 37-minute Pure Heroine). Also, Chance the Rapper was robbed. I know I made the list, but he was still robbed. That will be all thank you for your time

Kevin W’s Nashville Sound

My lists:

2018:

Shannon Shaw, Shannon in Nashville

Shannon and the Clams, Onion

Motel Mirrors, In the Meantime

Last 20 Years:

The Barbaras, 2006-2008

Reigning Sound, Too Much Guitar

King Tuff, Was Dead

The Star Room Boys, Why Do Lonely Men & Women Want to Break Each Others' Heart?

Jerry Lee Lewis, Live a the Star-Club, Hamburg (Obviously not a 2004 recording, but that's when this was released, and look I am of the opinion that all the old dead or half-dead greats usually weren't that great, but they called Jerry Lee The Killer for a reason. This is the reason.)

Daniel H’s Dream Weaver

Best of the year:

Jane Weaver, Modern Kosmology

Britta Phillips, Luck or Magic

Prince, Piano and a Microphone’83

Metric, Art of Doubt

and the best song is Rosalia, “Malamente,” obviously

Of the last 20 years:

The Magnetic Fields, 69 Love Songs

Metric, Live It Out

Stars, The Five Ghosts

Grace Jones, Hurricane

Yo La Tengo, Popular Songs

and I’m sure I’m ashamed of most of my previous choices.

Hey could I add US Girls “Velvet4Sale” to my list of this year’s best songs

John A’s Got Some Nerve

Part 1:

1. The Breeders, All Nerve
2. First Aid Kit, Ruins
3. Darlingside, Extralife
4. The Decemberists, I’ll Be Your Girl
5. Preoccupations, New Material
6. Wye Oak, The Louder I Call, the Faster It Runs
7. Parquet Courts, Wide Awake!
8. Beach House, 7
9. Dirty Projectors, Lamp Lit Prose
10. Death Cab For Cutie, Thank You For Today
11. Julien Baker/Phoebe Bridgers/Lucy Dacus, boygenius 

Part 2:
Took a slightly different approach here. These are my “Now Essential” albums I came late to over the last 20 years (in no particular order):

Band of Horses, Cease to Begin (2007)
Beach Boys Party (1965)
Elliot Smith, XO (1998)
Foals, Antidotes (2008)
Genesis, Seconds Out (1977)
Metz, Metz (2012)
Ride, Going Blank Again (1992)
Rogue Wave, Asleep at Heaven’s Gate (2008)
Sleigh Bells, Treats (2010)

Kari L’s Tells Us How She Really Feels

PART ONE

ESSENTIAL: It’s a 5 way tie!

Beach House, 7 

Neko Case, Hell On

Laura Gibson, Goners

Courtney Barnett, Tell Me How You Really Feel

Brownout, Fear of a Brown Planet

OTHER:

Elvis Costello & The Imposters, Unwanted Number (Single)

Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Tearing at the Seams

Minuit, Paris Tropical (single)

Broken Bells, Shelter (single)

Death Cab for Cutie, Thank You For Today

The Breeders, All Nerve

Orquesta Akokán, Orquesta Akokán

The Beths, Future Hates Me

Hozier, Nina Cried Power (with Mavis Staples) – single

Kamasi Washington — Heaven and Earth

PART TWO

Wow, I can’t even. 5 Albums for 20 years? Well, the best album from 1998 was Elliot Smith, XO. :)

Elana M Takes a Drive

Twenty years??!!!  I don't often listen to whole albums, but I do have favorite songs . . . 

Best singles of 2018:

Lake Street Dive, Good Kisser 

Lake Street Dive, Shame Shame Shame

Jayhawks, Everybody Knows

Brandi Carlile, The Joke

Brandi Carlile, The Mother

Janelle Monae, Make Me Feel

Elle King, Another Good Thing Gone 

And the TTMT (taller than me teen) votes for

Brandi Carlile, The Joke 

Essential albums from past years:

The Jayhawks, Rainy Day Music (2003)

Florence + the Machine, Ceremonials (2011)

Lumineers, The Lumineers (2012)

Fun, Some Nights (2012)

Beck, Morning Phase (2014) 

New discoveries:

Josh Ritter

LP

Thank U, Aimee F

Hi David!

Continuing my tradition of top singles (since my life is all about Spotify playlists right now…).

1)     Ariana Grande, Thank U Next

2)     Kacey Musgraves, Butterflies

3)     Cardi B, Money

4)     Shallow, Lady Gaga

5)     Weezer, Africa

Brant R’s Golden Choices

My Essential Albums of 2018:
Kacey Musgraves, Golden Hour
Phosphorescent, C’est La Vie
Tracyanne & Danny, Tracyanne & Danny

Some of My Essential Tracks of 2018:
Kacey Musgraves, “Slow Burn”
Phosphorescent, “C’est La Vie No. 2”
Mitski, “Why Didn’t You Stop Me”
The Breeders, “Dawn: Making an Effort”
Juliana Hatfield, “A Little More Love”

Elder Albums I Found Essential in 2018:
The Impressions, Keep On Pushing [1964]
Grant Green, Idle Moments [1965]
Paul McCartney, Red Rose Speedway [1973]
Vangelis, Opera Sauvage [1979]
This Mortal Coil, It’ll End in Tears [1984]

Josh L’s Stroke of Genius

PART ONE:

The only English-language album released this year that I obsessively listened to is by a good old fashioned American rock 'n roll Supergroup.

1. boygenius, boygenius,

2. Gwyneth Glyn, Tro

3. Bob Delyn a’r Ebillion, Dal i ‘Redig Dipyn Bach

The runners-up are so delightfully obscure! The only other two albums I listened to over and over again were more the product more of a new-ish cultural/linguistic crush than the organic development of my general musical tastes... although, come to think of it, they're also not that far off: a somewhat Merchant-ile Welsh poet-singer-songwriter having herself a World Music phase, and a roots-rock band with a punning name fronted by a hyper-literate, gravel-voiced bard. (He's literally a bard: he won the chair at the National Eisteddfod some years back). And just as they are edged here by boygenius, both lost out for Gwobr Albwm Cymraeg y Flwyddyn (Welsh Language Album of the Year) to a younger band. For shame. Cymru am byth!

PART TWO:

I got my top five down to seven!

1. The Decemberists, The Crane Wife

2. The National, Boxer

3. Sigur Ros, Takk

4. The Mountain Goats, The Sunset Tree

5. Fiona Apple, When the Pawn...

6. The Hold Steady, Boys and Girls in America

7. The Killers, Hot Fuss

That's a lot of definite articles.

While I remain embarrassed by the whiteness and dad-ness of this list (my my, hey hey!), I'm glad that I realized at the last minute that Fiona Apple's awesome second album snuck into the last twenty years. That stayed in the CD player for months, long ago, and I think I still know every note.

Still, I'm surprised by how little I listen to some of the above, even though, after some memory-jogging, it's a pretty fair list for favorites of the last two decades. Have I outgrown Craig Finn failing to outgrow his adolescence? Is the reason I've gotten so paunchy that I no longer listen to the Killers while exercising? The Mountain Goats, although I do dip into that huge discography a fair amount, you don't really need to listen to a lot to keep those songs at the center of your consciousness... like poetry!

But The Crane Wife is still a big fave, and lots of Decemberists songs are highly suitable for family sing-alongs. Sigur Ros, most of all, will always elbow its way back into my ears--that album stands in for stretches of three different albums that all still have the power to keep despair at bay. And, let's see... The National. Eli just learned the drums to "Apartment Story," so we play that in the basement a lot... Rock 'n roll!

Ronnie A Doesn’t Fight the Cold War

Here are my favorite soundtracks of 2018:

Dwa Serduszka (or "Two Hearts"), Cold War

Justin Hurwitz, First Man

Nicholas Britell, If Beale Street Could Talk

Keegan DeWitt, Hearts Beat Loud

Daniel Hart, The Old Man and the Gun

Nathan Halpern, The Rider

Mowg, Burning

Scott Walker/Sia, Vox Lux

Jóhann Jóhannsson, Mandy

As for my favorite, or "essential" soundtrack of the past twenty years, it's impossible to narrow it down. But if I had to pick one soundtrack that fills me with such joy, yet makes me lament for where we are now, it would be Moulin Rouge! Released three months before 9/11, I miss that world of "truth, beauty, freedom, and above all things: love."

Joel P’s Massive Invasion

If you had told me in 2017 that Cardi B and a country singer would be in my top 3 for 2018 I would not have believed you but here we are!!!!!

Cardi B - Invasion of Privacy

Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour

Troye Sivan - Bloom

Years & Years - Palo Santo

Seinabo Sey - I'm a Dream

Kim Petras - Turn Off the Light, Vol 1

Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer

MGMT - Little Dark Age

Lily Allen - No Shame

The Carters - Everything Is Love

My favorite 5 albums of the last 20 years are going to cheat towards the more recent years because my homeschooled ass didn't listen to good music until 2004 but by sheer number of times I've played them alone, it'd have to be: 

Death Cab for Cutie - Plans

Beyonce - Beyonce

Tokyo Police Club - Champ

Taylor Swift - 1989

Disclosure - Settle

Steven M Knows the Meanings of Life

I.  2018:

1) Paul Weller, True Meanings

2) Car Seat Headrest, Twin Fantasy

3) Spiritualized, And Nothing Hurt

4) Shannon Shaw, In Nashville

5) Neko Case, Hell-On

6) Kacey Musgraves, Golden Hour

7) Brandi Carlile, By the Way, I Forgive You

8) Parker Millsap, Other Arrangements

9) Gaz Coombes, World's Strongest Man

10) Hookworms, Microshift

II.  1999-2018

Jason Isbell, Southeastern

Doves, The Last Broadcast

Amy Winehouse, Back to Black 

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - Hammersmith Odeon, London, '75

Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Bonus - Missed hearing The Book of Mormon Soundtrack too late, would have put that on my list.

Bonus II - Dawes has not aged well

Phil B’s Privacy Concerns

Essential albums of the year:

Invasion of Privacy, Cardi B. 

Not necessarily because I loved it or love her but because she defined so much of 2018 in pop.

Ariana Grande, Sweetener

This was her growing up album.  2017 had Kesha's Rainbow, 2018 had Ariana's Sweetener

Into The Spider-Verse Soundtrack

The best movie of the year had the best soundtrack of the year. Made me almost -- almost -- want to listen to more Post Malone.

Raina T Paints it Noir

2018 Most essential:

Lord Huron, Vide Noir

Other essentials:

Bad Bad Hats, Lightning Round

St. Lucia, Hyperion

The Night Game, The Night Game

Biggest discovery from previous years:

Lord Huron, Strange Trails / Lonesome Dreams

Favorite five albums of the past twenty years?

The Divine Comedy, Fin de Siècle (1998)

Ben Folds, Rockin’ the Suburbs (2001)

The Frames, For the Birds (2001)

Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes (2008)

Bleachers, Strange Desire (2014)

Will W’s Bit O’ Honey

PART ONE:

My top 2018 albums, probably no surprises here:

1. Robyn, Honey 
2. Ariana Grande, Sweetener
3. Neko Case, Hell-On (I didn't see this on many end-of-year lists, and I was surprised! For me, it gets better with every listen. And such storytelling!)
4. boygenius, boygenius EP 
5. Cardi B, Invasion of Privacy
6. Kacey Musgraves, Golden Hour
7. Empress Of, Us
8. Mitski, Be the Cowboy

My top 2018 songs (not in any particular order):

Neko Case, "Halls of Sarah," "Last Lion of Albion," "My Uncle's Navy"   

Charli XCX, "Five in the Morning"

Ariana Grande, "everytime," "breathin," and "sweetener" 

boygenius, "Me & My Dog" 

Cardi B, "Be Careful" 

Nicki Minaj, "Come See About Me" 

Empress Of, "When I'm with Him," "I Don't Even Smoke Weed"

Mitski, "Geyser," "Nobody," "Two Slow Dancers"

Robyn, "Honey," "Send to Robyn Immediately," "beach 2k20"

Kacey Musgraves, "High Horse," "Rainbow" 

Uffie, "Drugs," "Your Hood"

Cupcakke, "2 Minutes," "Duck Duck Goose"

Shawn Mendes, "In My Blood" 

Carly Rae Jepsen, "Party for One" 

Sia, "I'm Still Here" 

Ella Mai, "Boo'd Up" 

Troye SIvan, "Seventeen," "Bloom" 

Bebe Rexha, "Knees"  

Lady Gaga, "Is That Alright?," "I'll Never Love Again" 

PART TWO

1. Britney Spears, . . . Baby One More Time (first CD I ever bought, picked it up after leaving the Atlanta zoo; I was seven)
2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Fever to Tell
3. LCD Soundsystem, Sound of Silver
4. M.I.A, Kala
5. Sia, 1000 Forms of Fear

Jinny W Brings it On Bach

Favorites of the year 2018: 

1. Shirley Hunt, J.S. Bach Suites and Sonatas, Volume 2 for viola da gamba. Letterbox Arts 2018. 

2. Hilary Hahn, Hilary Hahn Plays Bach: Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2, Partita No. 1 for Violin. Sony Classical 2018.

3. Leif Ove Andsnes, Chopin Ballades and Nocturnes (piano). Sony Classical 2018.

4. Teodor Currentzis Conducts Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 with MusicAeterna. Sony 2018.

=============

Five Favorites from the past 20 years:

Joshua Bell, Steven Isserlis, Jeremy Denk, For the Love of Brahms. Sony Classical 2016.

Jerusalem Quartet, Debussy and Ravel String Quartets. Harmonia Mundi 2017.

Palance/Wolff Project, Part 1, Reflecting Forward. CD Baby 2015.

Shirley Hunt, J.S. Bach Suites and Sonatas, Volume 1. Baroque Cello and Viola da Gamba. Letterbox Arts 2018.

Annelle K. Gregory and Alexander Sinchuk, Rachmaninoff Complete Works and Transcriptions for Violin and Piano. Bridge Records, Inc. 2017.

Dan P’s Robyn the Cradle

It wasn’t a big new music year for me in 2018. I mostly fell in love with Carly Rae Jepsen’s Emotion. But for new stuff:

1. Robyn, Honey

2. First Aid Kit, Ruins

3. Maggie Rogers, ALL OF THE SINGLES

4. Years and Years, Palo Alto

Fav Five of Past 20 years:

1: Sufjan Stevens, Age of Adz 

2. The National, Boxer

3. Robyn, Body Talk

4. Tori Amos, Scarlet’s Walk

5. Beyoncé, Lemonade

Nick E Tends His Acres

PART ONE

Best of 2018:

S. Carey, Hundred Acres
Beach House, 7
Florence + The Machine, High As Hope
Iron & Wine, Weed Garden (EP)
Belle and Sebastian, How to Solve Our Human Problems, Pt. 2
Belle and Sebastian, How to Solve Our Human Problems, Pt. 3

PART TWO

Top 5 of the last 20 years:

The Magnetic Fields, 69 Love Songs
Iron & Wine, The Creek Drank the Cradle
Sufjan Stevens, Carrie & Lowell
Dolorean, Not Exotic
Jeremy Soule, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Album missing from my lists:
Bon Iver, 22, A Million

Album that doesn’t really belong on my lists:
my bloody valentine, mbv

Maggie S’s Killer Tunes

BEST ALBUMS OF 2018

1) Matt Maeson, Who Killed Matt Maeson

I wore out "Grave Digger," man. One of the side effects of my insane health crisis in '17-18 was that I stopped having the right neurotransmitters to like music, which wasn't a hell I thought could happen, and this was one of the first albums I realized I could love. Learning you can have music back again . . . it was like a religious experience.

2) Mother Mother, Dance and Cry

3) Hozier, Nina Cried Power

BEST SINGLES

"I Know How to Speak," by Manchester Orchestra, because for most of the year, I didn't.

"Words," LANNDS, because I didn't have any.

"Let You Down (feat Findlay) (Yeuz Remix)," by Joris Delacroix and Montmartre, because that was what I basically did to everyone for a year. 

"No More," by Dirtwire.

THE PAST TWENTY YEARS

Dude, I think it's time to admit that the album I think I've probably listened to the most over twenty years that I still love is Enya's Watermark. I listened to it when I was younger and had a recurring dream of a place called the Barns, a really lovely farm hidden away in the mountains I love, and the album became synonymous with it. They say when you write a recurring nightmare down, you never have it again, and it works for dreams too, because years later I wrote the Barns down and never returned again in my sleep — but I still do every time I listen to this album.

I can't believe I used to like Lifehouse.

And you know who I have newfound appreciation for? 12 year old me would be pleased to know that I recently picked up those old Billy Joels. Hey, that guy could write a tune.

The 2017 David Music Poll Results

The 2017 David Music Poll Results

1)  Lorde, Melodrama (25 votes)
2)  Kendrick Lamar, DAMN (19)
3)  Kesha, Rainbow (18)
4)  Julien Baker, Turn Out the Lights (16)
      St. Vincent, MASSEDUCATION (16)
6)  SZA, CTRL (15)
7)  The National, Sleep Well Beast (11)
8)  Perfume Genius, No Shape (8)
9)  Lana Del Rey, Lust for Life (7)

Runners up:  (each with six votes)  LCD Soundsystem, American Dream; Zola Jesus, Okovi; Spoon, Hot Thoughts; Slowdive, Slowdive

Notes:  As opposed to last year’s Beyonce blowout, this year’s was a very tight race, with Lorde pulling by Kendrick Lamar, Kesha, Julien Baker, St. Vincent, and SZA for the title.  Lorde’s the only artist to go two for two in topping the David Music Poll in its nineteen years. Meanwhile, this is The National’s fourth appearance in the top ten, and Kendrick Lamar, St. Vincent, and Lana Del Rey all log in their second. Taylor Swift, who won for her last album, could only muster five votes this year; previous winner got four votes for their latest, while long-ago winner Phoenix didn’t get a single nod for their new album.  If Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Cut to the Feeling” had been an album, not a single, it would have made the Top Ten – more than half the respondents who named favorite singles put it on their lists (many, like me, at the top).  This year there were 76 respondents to the poll, a little down from last year – but what we lost in numbers, we made up for in taste.  On to our 20th anniversary year!


In My List, I’ve Seen the Lights

1)  Julien Baker, Turn Out the Lights

Brutally, beautifully honest.  If this album had come out when I was in high school, Julien Baker would have been my Joni Mitchell.  Now I appreciate it from a slightly older angle, and listen to it obsessively while I write.

2)  Lorde, Melodrama

Maybe because of the delay, I was wary that Lorde would succumb to the sophomore slump after one of the best debuts ever.  Untrue!  Just as compelling, and even more accomplished in the details.

3)  Kesha, Rainbow

It’s always inspiring to see an artist cut loose and do exactly what she wants.

4)  Beck, Colors

I like him when he mopes and reflects, but I must confess I like him even more when he kicks out the jams and reflects.

5)  Original Cast Recording, Hadestown

I’m not sure how I’d feel about this as a stand-alone, but since I saw it four times and have the production very much in memory, the cast album brings it all back and then some.  Stunning.

6)  The xx, I See You

I feel this has gotten a little lost on this list, since it came out in January.  The xx were always good in shadows; here they prove they can do brightness too.

7)  Aimee Mann, Mental Illness

Nobody’s better at being Aimee Mann than Aimee Mann, and this is her at top form.  Depressing as hell in parts, and clever as hell in others.  Sometimes at the same time.


Singles of the Year:
Carly Rae Jepsen, “Cut to the Feeling”
Lorde, “Supercut” and “Green Light”
Charli XCX, “Boys”
Pink “What About Us”  (I mean, I’m biased – but I loved it even before the Every Day trailer)
Julien Baker, “Appointments”


Returns to form:  Here’s to good new albums from Jens Lekman, Arcade Fire, U2, The National, and Spoon

I slipped off the bandwagon:   Yes, Reputation is better the more I listen to it.  No, it’s still not great.


Anna Q, Melodrama Queen

Lorde, Melodrama  
Taylor swift, Reputation  
Bleachers, Gone now  


Andrew E (formerly Andrew H), Patron of Saints

Most Essential Albums
1 St. Vincent, MASSEDUCTION
2 Lorde, Melodrama
3 Kesha, Rainbow

BUT

Most Essential Single
Carly Rae Jepsen, “Cut to the Feeling”


Steven M Runs off with the Spoon

1. Spoon, Hot Thoughts
2. Ryan Adams, Prisoner
3. Slowdive, Slowdive
4. Alvvays, Antisocialites
5. Wolf Alice, Visions of a Life
6. Jeb Loy Nichols, Country Hustle
7. Pond, Weather
8. Charly Bliss, Guppy
9. Shelby Lynne & Allison Moorer, Not Dark Yet
10. King Gizzard & The Lizzard Wizard, Sketches of Brunswick East


Phil B is Waving through the Window

My Top Four... but not in any order:

Damn -- Kendrick Lamar -- transformative album

Rainbow -- Kesha -- wow!

The Thrill Of it All -- Sam Smith -- because it's Sam Smith

Dear Evan Hansen -- Original cast recording was released in February so it qualifies. Best original cast recording since Hamilton.


Kate W Gives a Damn

My most essential album of 2017:
Kendrick Lamar, DAMN

My most essential singles of 2017:
N.E.R.D. & Rihanna, Lemon
Harry Styles, Sign of the Times
LCD Soundsystem, How Do You Sleep
Sam Smith, Too Good at Goodbyes
Donn T ft Chill Moody, Clear


Sam P Finds Alice, in Wonderland

My top five are below:
1 Wolf Alice, Visions of a Life
2 The National, Sleep Well Beast
3 Thundercat, Drunk
4 Kendrick Lamar, Damn
5 LCD Soundsystem, American Dream
…With props to Lorde, T Swift, Courtney Barnett, The XX, and Beck


Evan W Seizes CTRL

SZA, CTRL is my #1
Close second is Sleep Well Beast, The National


Will W’s ‘Lights’ Shines Bright

1. Julien Baker, Turn Out the Lights
2. Taylor Swift, reputation
3. SZA, CTRL
4. Lorde, Melodrama
5. Kendrick Lamar, DAMN.
6. Perfume Genius, No Shape
7. Kesha, Rainbow
8. Mount Eerie, A Crow Looked at Me
9. Lana Del Rey, Lust for Life
10. The National, Sleep Well Beast
11. Phoebe Bridgers, Stranger in the Alps
12. Zola Jesus, Okovi


O Brother, Thou Art with Mike R

TOP 10 ALBUMS

1) Alex Lahey, I Love You Like A Brother
2) Lorde, Melodrama
3) Kesha, Rainbow
4) Original Broadway Cast, Groundhog Day
5) St. Vincent, MASSEDUCTION
6) Taylor Swift, reputation [sic]
7) Jens Lekman, Life Will See You Now
8) Bombadil, Fences
9) P!nk, Beautiful Trauma
10) Khalid, American Teen

NOTES: Jack Antonoff worked on or spearheaded 4 of these albums, and released his own album to boot, which I enjoyed, but didn't top 10 enjoy. Feel free to crucify me for putting St. Vincent in the middle - if I'd bought it and listened to it over and over like I did the top 4, it would probably be in the top 4, but I didn't, because I forgot to, so it's not my "soundtrack to 2017" like the others are. It may be my soundtrack to 2018. It just slipped by me! If anyone is reading this and wondering who Alex Lahey is, I can't recommend that album enough. This concludes the notes.

SINGLES

1) Carly Rae Jepsen, "Cut To The Feeling"
2) Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Cast, "Let's Generalize About Men"
3) Tove Styrke, "Mistakes"
4) LCD Soundsystem, "oh baby" [sic]
5) The Wailin' Jennys, "Wildflowers"
6) Allie X, "Paper Love"
7) Lindsey Buckingham & Christine McVie, "Sleeping Around The Corner"
8) Charli XCX, "Boys"
9) Scissor Sisters, "SWERLK"
10) AJR, "Bud Like You"

NOTES: i am a homosexual

MUSIC FROM PREVIOUS YEARS

1) Paul Simon, Rhythm of the Saints
2) 2016 Broadway Cast Recording, She Loves Me
3) Josh Ritter, Sermon On The Rocks
4) Miles Fisher, "This Must Be The Place"
5) Peggy Lee, "Pass Me By"
6) Simon and Garfunkel, "Keep The Customer Satisfied"
7) James McMurtry, Childish Things
8) Sinead O'Connor, "Mandinka"
9) Albert Hammond, "It Never Rains In Southern California"
10) Glass Animals, How To Be A Human Being

NOTE: special thanks to the Veronica Mars finale, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel finale, the Dakota County Public Library system, and several top-tier mix CDs for this line-up.


Leila S Gets Haim With a Little Help From Her Friends

I thought the new Haim album, "Something to Tell You," was terrific. The first single off that, "Want You Back," is probably my favorite new song of the year.


Caitlin F Finds More Life in Drake

I absolutely adore Drake’s MORE LIFE. It’s lush, relaxed and packed with more genres, guest singers, producers and global sounds then any of his other albums. Drake’s achieved a truly unique playlist that’s fun, introspective and never boring. Passionfruit, Portland, Blem and Fake Love are my favs.


Jordan H’s Rainbow Connection

Album:
Rainbow- Kesha
CTRL- SZA
Dua Lipa- Dua Lipa
Ten Years- Aly and Aj
Tell Me You Love Me- Demi Lovato

Fav songs from each album:
Boots-Kesha
New Rules- Dua Lipa
Take Me- Aly and Aj
Daddy Issues - Demi Lovato

Songs I was obsessed w/:
Mermaid- Skott
Love so Soft- Kelly Clarkson
Fake Happy-Paramore
Get Free- Lana Del Rey
Disco Tits-Tove Lo
Location- Khaled
Edibles- Jojo

But always still obsessed w/ Lemonade, Joanne, dangerous woman, etc.


Paul G’s Songs of Experience

With thanks to NPR, who owned me for the last 2 weeks of December:

Best:
Songs of Experience, U2
Triplicate, Bob Dylan
Celebrate Ornette, Ornette Coleman
Laila’s Wisdom, Rhapsody
For Bunita Marcus, Morton Feldman, piano by Marc André Hamelin
Rainbow, Kesha
Lust For Life, Lana Del Rey
Mogoya, Oumou Sangaré
Palabras Manuales, Danay Suarez
Bladerunner 2049 soundtrack

Almost:
Típico, Miquel Zenón
The Thrill of it All, Sam Smith
Dunkirk soundtrack
The Kid, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith
Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie
4:44, Jay Z
Ladilikan, Trio Da Kali and Kronos Quartet
Joan Shelley, Joan Shelley
Moorland Elegies, Tõnu Kõrvits
A Ghost Story soundtrack
Wind River soundtrack


For Bryant P, This Beast is No Burden

Here are my lists.

Albums @bbp3
1. The National, Sleep Well Beast
2. Manchester Orchestra, A Black Mile to the Surface
3. Rostam, Half-Light
4. Arcade Fire, Everything Now
5. Cold War Kids, LA DIVINE

Singles @bbp3
1. Pinegrove, "Old Friends"
2. Manchester Orchestra, "The Gold"
3. Drake, "Teenage Fever"
4. Middle Kids, "Edge of Town"
5. St. Vincent, "Los Angeles"
6. Phoenix, "Ti Amo"
7. Cold War Kids, "No Reason to Run"
8. alt-J, "In Cold Blood"
9. Sir Sly, "High"
10. Tune-Yards, "Look at Your Hands"


David A’s Got a Rocket in his Pocket

Julien Baker, Turn Out the Lights
(Sandy) Alex G, Rocket


Zach F, Living the Dream

Most essential album:

LCD Soundsystem, American Dream

Runners up:

Spoon, Hot Thoughts
Bjork, Utopia

Singles:

Wolf Alice, Don't Delete the Kisses
Morrissey, Spent the Day in Bed
This is the Kit, Moonshine Freeze
Portugal. The Man, Feel it Still
Arcade Fire, Creature Comfort
The Orwells, They Put a Body in the Bayou
Sir Sly, High
Father John Misty, Total Entertainment Forever


Aimee F Cuts to the Feeling

Thanks to Spotify, this seems to be the year I barely listened to any full new albums! The shame, the shame! But here are my top 2017 shamelessly pop-y singles:

Ed Sheeran, Shape of You
Cardi B, Bodak Yellow
Selena Gomez & Kygo, It Ain’t Me
Luis Fonsi, Despacito
Carly Rae Jepsen, Cut to the Feeling
Harry Styles, Sign of the Times


Gabriel B Lusts for Lust

This always makes me feel terrible for not listening to new music. But:

1) Lana del Rey, Lust for Life, duh

others:

Kesha, Rainbow
Josh Ritter, Gathering
Call Me By Your Name soundtrack (does this count? whatever)

Singles:

Sufjan Stevens, Tonya Harding
Portugal. The Man, Feel it Still
Josh Ritter, feat. Bob Weir, When Will I Be Changed (was this a single? idk. best song of the year tho)

That is literally all I can remember listening to.


How About U, Stewart L?

SZA, Ctrl
MUNA, about u
Lorde, Melodrama
Jeffery Martin, On Go Round
Kevin Garret, false hope EP


No DAMN Shame for Samantha M

1) Kendrick Lamar, DAMN
2) St. Vincent, Masseduction
3) The Afghan Whigs, In Spades


Jess S, Rainbow Warrior

I vote:

Kesha, Rainbow


Michael T’s Lorde-Damn List

Best record of the year for me is a genuine, exact, unbreakable tie:

 Lorde, Melodrama
 Kendrick Lamar, Damn

Best singles:

1. Vince Staples, “Big Fish"
2. Charli XCX, “Boys”
3. SZA and Travis Scott, “Love Galore”
4. Frank Ocean, “Chanel”
5. Lil Uzi Vert, “XO Tour Llif3"


Cora R Sees the Green Light; Goes

OMG David, what an amazing year in music 2017 was. I reckon the best for AGES.

My top was: LORDE: Melodrama
Other faves: THE NATIONAL: Sleep Well Beast, LCD SOUNDSYSTEM: American Dream, King Krule, the OOZ

Best concert: Underworld

Best single(s): Curtis Harding, I need you AND Blue Train Lines, Mount Kimble


Collin R’s Works of Genius

Here's what I got:

Essential Album of 2017:
Perfume Genius, No Shape

Honorable Mentions (Albums in no particular order):
Baths, Romaplasm
Charli XCX, Pop2
Lorde, Melodrama
Sylvan Esso, What Now
Sampha, Process
TWINKIDS, Boys Love
Fever Ray, Plunge
St. Vincent, MASSEDUCTION
Dirty Projectors, Dirty Projectors
Paramore, After Laughter
Feist, Pleasure
Sevdaliza, Ison
The xx, I See You
SZA, Ctrl
Moses Sumney, Aromanticism
Ellen Andrea Wang, Blank Out

Best Songs of 2017
Carly Rae Jepsen, Cut to the Feeling
Perfume Genius, Slip Away
Sylvan Esso, Kick Jump Twist (Machinedrum Remix)
Jessie Ware, Midnight
SOPHIE, Ponyboy
Gabriel Kahane, Little Love
Lizzo, Truth Hurts
Kimbra, Everybody Knows
TWINKIDS, Overdressed,
Sofie Tukker, Fuck They
Betty Who, Mama Sa y
Big Dipper, LaCroix Boi
Hercules & Love Affair, Omnion (feat. Sharon Van Etten)
Mura Masa, Second 2 None (feat. Christine & the Queens)


David G, Shape Shifter

1. Perfume Genius, No Shape
2. Lorde, Melodrama
3. Kamasi Washington, Harmony of Difference

The rest of the year was dedicated to the Big Little Lies soundtrack, some Lana and Kesha and Beth Ditto.


Goldy M’s Life of Leisure

Best Album:
1. Miguel, War & Leisure
2. Paramore, After Laughter
3. Aimee Mann, Mental Illness

Biggest Disappointments:
1. Ed Sheeran, Divide
2. Lorde, Melodrama

Best Single:
1. Dua Lipa, New Rules
2. Miguel, Sky Walker
3. The Bob's Burger's Music Album, Bad Stuff Happens in The Bathroom,

Best Song On An Otherwise Mediocre Album:
Taylor Swift, I Did Something Bad

Throw Her a Bone Because This Might Be the Only List She's On:
Katy Perry, Witness


Daniel H’s Tropical Thunder

Frankie Rose - Cage Tropical
Scott Gilmore - Subtle Vertigo
Destroyer - Ken
and modesty prevents me from mentioning The Magnetic Fields, 50 Song Memoir

My not-new records are Duke Ellington, New Orleans Sweet, and Hubert Laws, Rites of Spring


Lucy C’s Prime Amazones

I'm not sure about the category of "most essential" but here are a couple of albums I have listened to and enjoyed / appreciated this year:

Les Amazones d'Afrique - Republique Amazone
Cigarettes After Sex - Cigarettes After Sex
Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked at Me


Tyler G Likes to Visit the Baker

1. Julien Baker, Turn Out the Lights
2. Dirty Projectors, Dirty Projectors
3.Taylor Swift, Reputation
4.Kesha, Rainbow


Amy M Sleeps Well

1. The National, Sleep Well Beast
2. Grizzly Bear, Painted Ruins
3. Sylvan Esso, What Now
4. Arcade Fire, Everything Now (my daughter sang backup on their Spotify Session)
5. Aldous Harding, Party
6. Stella Donnelly, Thrush Metal
7. Lorde, Melodrama
8. Johnny Flynn, Sillion
9. St Vincent, Masseduction
10. Fleet Foxes, Crack-up
11. Perfume Genius, No Shape
12. Feist, Pleasure
13. Julien Baker, Turn Out the Lights
14. Rainer Maria, S/T

And the 2 songs I've had on repeat by Sylvan Esso...

Sylvan Esso, "There Are Many Ways To Say I Love You"
Sylvan Esso, "Sound"


Jeff Z’s Spun Gold

1. Chelsea Wolfe, Hiss Spun
2. Julien Baker, Turn Out The Lights
3. Phoebe Bridgers, Stranger In The Alps
4. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, The Nashville Sound
5. Zola Jesus, Okovi


Chris K Embraces the Mutoid

1  Mutoid Man, War Moans
2  Death Of Kings, Kneel Before None
3  Wolves In The Throne Room, Thrice Woven
4  Warbringer, Woe To The Vanquished
5  The Ominous Circle, Appalling Ascension
6 Power Trip, Nightmare Logic
7 Crypt Rot, Embryonic Devils
8 Acid Witch, Evil Sound Screamers
9 Darkest Hour, Godless Prophets And The Migrant Flora
10 Barrows, Obsidion
11 The Black Dahlia Murder, Nightbringers
12 Cannibal Corpse, Red Before Black
13 Cadaveric Incubator, Sermons Of The Devouring Dead


Brett W, Sizzling with SZA

Top 10 Albums of 2017

1. SZA - Ctrl
My most played and beloved album in a year where not that many albums captivated me. If you're not a fan by the time you get through the back-to-back "Drew Barrymore" and "Prom," then I don't know what to tell you.

2. Perfume Genius -- No Shape
Oof, yes. "Slip Away," "Wreath," and "Die 4 You" are my standouts in a nearly perfect album.

3. Julien Baker -- Turn Out the Lights
A hauntingly beautiful and somber album from a talented young queer. It ended up being the album I most related to in late 2017. "Appointments" captivated me the most and sets the tone for the rest of what's to come. It may be a little one-note at times, but she is my favorite discovery of the year.

4. Oscar and the Wolf -- Breathing EP
This Belgian queer musician was another one of my favorite discoveries. Love especially "Fever" and "Breathing."

5. Stars -- There Is No Love In Fluorescent Light
This feels like a return to the Stars I fell in love with so many years ago. "Alone" is my favorite single.

6. Lana Del Rey -- Lust for Life
Although not my favorite album of hers, it's a marked improvement over Honeymoon. I felt a personal connection to "13 Beaches."

7. MUNA - About U
Phew . . . the amount of times I listened to "Winterbreak," "Crying on the Bathroom Floor," and "I Know a Place" alone . . .

8. Lorde -- Melodrama
This is a great album, but I didn't return to it as much as I thought I might. Maybe because it was a summer release. But "Supercut" is magic.

9. Dua Lipa -- Dua Lipa
Such solid pop. "IDGAF" is a bop.

10. Kesha -- Rainbow
Sure, its tone is a little all over the place, but goddammit, she deserves a spot! "Learn to Let Go" is my favorite song/mantra from this album.

Favorite Singles of 2017

"Pink Cadillac" -- Alice Grey
"Flame" -- Tinashe
"Tonya Harding (in D major)" -- Sufjan Stevens
"Sorry Not Sorry" -- Demi Lovato


Nick E Dives in (Slowly)

What a great year for music! But I need to start with a correction to my list from LAST year, where I went out of my way to voice my disappointment in Bon Iver’s 22, A Million. It finally clicked for me and became among my most played of 2017. I can admit I was wrong!

This year saw, I think, a return to form for both Iron & Wine and The Magnetic Fields. And the flat-out triumphant return of Slowdive (I bought the limited edition silver vinyl, i.e., I was ALL IN.) And there were THREE Sufjan albums, including the Planetarium recording I’ve coveted for yeeears.

Say what you will about 2017, but the music killed!

1. Slowdive, Slowdive
2. The Magnetic Fields, 50 Song Memoir
3. Sufjan Stevens, Carrie & Lowell Live
4. Jens Lekman, Life Will See You Now
5. Iron & Wine, Beast Epic
6. Sufjan Stevens et al., Planetarium
7. Sufjan Stevens, The Greatest Gift
8. The xx, I See You
9. Perfume Genius, No Shape

Single of the year:
Carly Rae Jepsen, Cut to the Feeling


Brian M’s Velvet is No Longer Underground

Strange year in that there was no single album that I loved more than others...just a lot of love all around:

Devil's Witches, Velvet Magic
Ruby Throat, Baby Darling Taporo
Dead Heavens, Whatever Witch You Are
Mount Eerie, A Crow Looked at Me
Big Blood, The Daughters Union
Electric Wizard, Wizard Bloody Wizard
Ty Segall, Ty Segall
Ryan Adams, Prisoner
Amanda Palmer and Edward Ka-Spel, I Can Spin a Rainbow
Smino, blkswn
Brand New, Science Fiction
Death From Above, Outrage! Is Now
Halasan Bazar, Burns
at the drive in, in*ter a*li*a
Liam Gallagher, As You Were

Best Live Releases:
Marc Bolan, Skycloaked Lord (...of Precious Light)
Dead Moon, What a way to See the Old Girl Go
Sivert Hoyem, Live at Acropolis

And since we once again live in an age of songs, here's my favorite singles of the year:

Portugal the Man - "Feel It Still"
Beck - "Dear Life"
Killers - "I'm the Man"
Liam Gallagher - "For What It's Worth"
Ian Felice - "In the Kingdom of Dreams"
Morrissey - "Spent the Day in Bed"


Phil T’s Maine Event

Absolute Essential Album Of 2017 for me is The Maine - Lovely, Little, Lonely (if you want to sample it, listen to I Only Wanna Talk To You And you’ll see why!)

Other notable entries for me would be:
Kesha - Rainbow
Paramore - After Laughter
Björk - Utopia
Sampha - Process
Gabrielle Aplin - Avalon (an EP but still)
Night Riots - Love Gloom


Scott T Takes it Slow 

Most Essential
Slowdive - Slowdive

Other Essential
Way Out West - Tuesday Maybe
UNKLE - The Road, Part 1
Scandroid - Monochrome

Older Albums Discovered

Ghost Data - Girl's Love
Pastel Ghost - Abyss


Dean B’s Damning Praise

1. Kendrick Lamar, Damn
2. Arcade Fire, Everything Now
3. Aimee Mann, Mental Illness
4. Grizzly Bear, Painted Ruins
5. Liars, TFCF
6. Nine Inch Nails, Add Violence
7. The National, Sleep Well Beast
8. The Magnetic Fields, 50 Song Memoir

My 2017 Mix Tape:
https://open.spotify.com/user/deanbabin/playlist/7CK5U3quNzefRCFeS0eRbB


Glenn B Gives a DAMN

I’m including some honorable mentions with my top 10- It was hard to choose just 10!

It was a good year…well, for music at any rate…

1) Kendrick Lamar, DAMN.
2) Father John Misty, Pure Comedy
3) St. Vincent, MASSEDUCTION
4) Spoon, Hot Thoughts
5) Beck, Colors
6) Queens Of The Stone Age, Villains
7) Cloud Nothings, Life Without Sound
8) Thundercat, Drunk
9) Foo Fighters, Concrete & Gold
10) Grizzly Bear, Painted Ruins

Honorable Mentions:

SZA, Ctrl
The Life And Times, The Life and Times
Elbow, Little Fictions
Beach Fossils, Somersault
N.E.R.D., NO ONE EVER REALLY DIES
The New Pornographers, Whiteout Conditions
Paramore, After Laughter


For Ben A, The Showman Must Go On

Most Essential Album:
The Greatest Showman (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), Various Artists


Important Singles:
"Beautiful," by Bazzi
"Say It To My Face," by Madison Beer
"Echame La Culpa," by Luis Fonsi & Demi Lovato
"Never Be The Same," by Camila Cabello
"She Loves Control," by Camila Cabello
"Miss You," by Louis Tomlinson


Jon S Takes the Plunge

In my life, I generally break down music into two categories. Music that I listen to, and music that I write to. The main difference between them is primarily that the first category has lyrics, and the second generally does not.

This year, my “music to listen to” list was heavily dominated by female vocalists:

- Plunge by Fever Ray
- MASSEDUCTION by Saint Vincent
- Hiss Spun by Chelsea Wolfe
- Okovi by Zola Jesus
- Exile in the Outer Ring by EMA
- Melodrama by Lorde
- What Now by Sylvan Esso
- Guppy by Charly Bliss
- Swear I’m Good at This by Diet Cig
- Tourist In this Town by Alison Crutchfield
- Cigarettes After Sex by Cigarettes After Sex

Only that last band, Cigarettes After Sex, features a male vocalist. I’m not sure why my list turned out this way. Perhaps it was my mood, or perhaps the ladies just really owned this year.

Some writers don’t listen to music when they write. Some don’t have a problem with lyrics while they’re writing. But if you’re like me, or if you simply are curious to check out new, non-mainstream instrumental music, the below are all either 2017 or late 2016 instrumental albums that are worth a listen on your streaming service of choice:

- Luciferian Towers by Godspeed You! Black Emperor (rock)
- Aytcheby Joseph Shabason (jazz)
- Diaspora by Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah (jazz)
- Narcopop by Gas (electronic)
- Wood / Metal / Plastic / Pattern / Rhythm / Rock by 75 Dollar Bill (umm…rock? I guess?)
- An Act of Love by Earthen Sea (electronic)
- World Eater by Blanck Mass (electronic)
- Concrete Desert by The Bug & Earth (electronic)
- KWIATY by Jacaszek (electronic)
- Une Meeles by Maarja Nuut (iTunes categorizes it as klezmer?? I would probably say modern classical)
- The Olympians by the Olympians (motown jazz)


Jordan S Praises the Lorde

Lorde, Melodrama

Pretty much the only new album I really loved this year.  Now, get off my lawn.


Nina L, Turns Up ‘Turn Out’

Julien Baker, Turn Out the Lights


Derek M Brings the Melodrama

Here it is:

1.  Lorde, Melodrama

Unranked 2. – 10.:

-Arca, Arca
-Creeper, Eternity, In Your Arms
-Julien Baker, Turn Out the Lights
-Kendrick Lamar, DAMN.
-LCD Soundsystem, american dream
-Mount Eerie, A Crow Looked at Me
-Sampha, Process
-St. Vincent, Masseduction
-The War on Drugs, A Deeper Understanding


Nico M, Educated

St. Vincent MASSEDUCTION !!! I'm ob-surrrssed.


Dan P Builds a Bridgers

Most essential:
Phoebe Bridgers, Stranger in the Alps

Very essential:
Sylvan Esso, What Now

Other essentials:
Rostam, Half-Light
Arcade Fire, Everything Now
Charly Bliss, Guppy
Lorde, Melodrama
St. Vincent, Masseduction


Matthue R’s Crooked Saints

Most Essential: St. Vincent, Masseduction

Can I be brutal? It's not the #1 album of the year, but "New York" is the #1 song of the year, and the other 12 tracks could all be metal machine music, literally or metaphorically, and it would still be bouyed up to #1. She wrings it for every emotion in the book, from utter desperation to utter unfulfilled and pining and all-or-nothing limerence. (And yes, there are other amazing moments, and yes, the chorus of the title song is snarky and brilliant, and even the song that is a sequel to a song on her last album that sounds virtually exactly the same is a really good song, both times.)

Anyway.

Offa Rex, Queen of Hearts
Darshan, Raza
Angel Olsen, Phases
Zusha, A Colorful World
Sufjan Stevens & co., Planetarium
Kitty, Miami Garden Club
Ani Difranco, Binary
SZA, Control

Best Fake Band: Offa Rex. You know how, of late, Colin Meloy of the Decemberists has been writing novels and ditties (and even this weird ethnomusicological tweet about shofars) and creating his own brand of Jorge Luis Borges-style semifictions? This band, basically the Decemberists with another vocalist, feels like one of them.

Best Horrible Moment: Jay-Z, The Story of O.J.: "You ever wonder why Jewish people own all the property in America? This how they did it." F to the U to the sea to the cay. I completely get what he was trying to do. I see how it fits into the cadence of the song and his message and his delivery, and I actually think it's pretty narratively incredible. But, Jay, you just can't do this. We love that your mom's gay and we love that you're happy and that you're doing therapy. But this is not true. It is not nice.

Best Recovery: Reputation. Her last album rocked me with all the calorieless indulgence of Liz Phair's most unapologetic pop riff, but I have yet to discover the nuances at the heart of T-Swift's new album. I listen to it, I like it, 5 seconds later, I've shed it for whatever my (gMusic? Goosic?) has served up next and I can't remember a single note. But while I'm there, I like it. Maybe I'll dive in deeper. Or maybe that's just how you follow up an album that slices you in half: with one that's perfectly good-natured and serviceable, but doesn't change your life. That's okay. It doesn't have to.


Eugene K’s in De Zona

Gente de Zona - Visualizate
Charli XCX - Pop 2
Young Thug - Beautiful Thugger Girls
Kendrick Lamar - Damn
21 Savage/Offset/Metro Boomin' - Without Warning
21 Savage - Issa Album
Four Tet - New Energy
Trio Da Kali and Kronos Quartet - Ladilikan
Migos - Culture
Lil Uzi Vert - Luv is Rage 2


Anna C’s Doing Fine

Some music picks for you:

1. SUSTO, & I'm Fine Today
2. Zola Jesus, Okovi
3. Craig Finn, We All Want The Same Things
4. Alex Lahey, Love You Like A Brother
5. Downtown Boys, Cost of Living
6. Lilly Hiatt, Trinity Lane
7. Nikki Lane, Highway Queen
8. Lorde, Melodrama
9. Palehound, A Place I'll Always Go
10. Rozwell Kid, Precious Art


Andy P’s Sheeran Madness

Oh man… I’m always the worst at this… I mean, I listened mostly to Ed Sheeran, P!nk, Troye Sivan, and the Hamilton Soundtrack. Did I mention I’m actually a 13-year-old girl? Oh! And Superfruit! That’s current! And hip! Right?


Jasper D’s SZA PDA

2017 was a pretty interesting year music-wise for me. It was the year I started admitting that I actually love musicals! So I've been doing a lot of listening to things from the past and really enjoying it. There was also a lot of great new music put out in 2017 so my list is a pretty mixed bag.

My most essential album of 2017 is CTRL by SZA, and I have a feeling a lot of people will feel similarly. Some of my other essential 2017 albums are:

Wild Alee, Talos
After Laughter, Paramore
Burn It Down, Daughter
Okovi, Zola Jesus
Pop 2, Charli XCX

And some important albums from past years I spent time with are:

Hamilton, Original Broadway Cast Recording
Next to Normal, Original Broadway Cast Recording
Phantom of the Opera, Andrew Lloyd Webber
Carrie and Lowell, Sufjan Stevens
Silent Shout, The Knife


Teri Y Walks the Moon

Walk the Moon, What If Nothing
Sigrid, Don't Kill My Vibe
Ed Sheeran, Divide

Streaming services have really killed my album listening. A lot of artists seem to be pushing out singles regularly instead of putting together a full album. Really dug Sigrid's Strangers, Eli Lieb's Hollywood, Pink's What About Us, Leon Else's What I Won't Do, State of Sound's cover of Heaven and Dua Lipa's New Rules.


Kaleb N’s Click Bait

Most Essential Album
AJR, The Click
(Very underrated album — if you play it from start to finish, it feels like you’re experiencing the complete story of a group of brothers working hard to start a music career)

Best Singles
Imagine Dragons, Thunder
Miley Cyrus, Malibu
Sturgill Simpson, Breakers Roar
Lo-Fang, You’re The One That I Want
Lana Del Rey, Lust For Life


Maggie S’s Orchestral Maneuvers

Another year of not really buying albums, a year of buying snake people synth heavy remixes, a variety of stomp-clap singles that probably should play during the credits of TV shows set in rural Virginia, and hopeful tunes completely at odds with the burning hive-fire that was 2017.

Top Ten Most Played Songs From 2017
(whether or not they're from 2017)
(* indicates snake people music
** indicates stomp-clap singles
***hopeful tunes in times of fire)

1. Sivu - "Lonesome (Toothless Remix)"*
2. Cold War Kids - "Can We Hang On?"**
3. Bad Wave/ Miracle Cat - "Time To Get Lost (Miracle Cat Remix)"*
4. Dirtwire - "No More (feat. Moontricks)**
5. Lupa - "Keep Back"*
6. SAINT WKND & MAX - "Survive"*
7. Gordi - "000000 Million"***
8. Lost Lander - "Give It Time"***
9. Rationale - "Phenomenal"*
10. Saint Mesa - "Lion"
11. Charlie Cunningham - "You Sigh"**
12. Wild - "Haunted Heart"*

(I know I said 10 but that Charlie Cunningham song was too good for you guys not to hear it and "Haunted Heart" really needs to be heard before it gets used in a dramatic tv show and we all have bad associations with it.)

Best Albums

Manchester Orchestra - A Black Mile to the Surface
Their best album to date, in my opinion, the songs working together both as an album and as singles. Bonus is the acoustic version of "The Gold."

Weezer - Pacific Daydream
I KNOW OK? But another album that works really well as an album, and that poignant closer of "Any Friend of Diane" feels like a gasping, grasping shot at making good out of a bad situation, which is a good closer for '17.


Roberto R’s Courtneys Love

THE COURTNEYS II by The Courtneys is by-far the album I loved the most in 2017


Chris R’s a Freak for Ctrl

Here are my top albums:

1. SZA, Ctrl
2. Sylvan Esso, What Now
3. Dirty Projectors, Up in Hudson
4. Big Thief, Capacity
5. Sampha, Process


Bill K Sounds it Out

Essential Album: Haley Reinhart-What's That Sound
(Because I enjoy being predictable in some ways)

This was the first year since I was 8 when I didn't do a personal Top 10 songs list, so these are songs I enjoyed this year in no particular order:
Want You Back/Haim
Look What You Made Me Do/Taylor Swift
Two Fux/Adam Lambert
You Can't Fire Me, I Quit/Tacocat
Dis Generation/A Tribe Called Quest
Get a Yes/Sad13
Let's Start/Haley Reinhart


Tara A Declares War

1) The War on Drugs, A Deeper Understanding
2) Antisocialits, Alvvays
3) Elbow, Little Fictions
4) Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile, Lotta Sea Lice
5) Spoon, Hot Thoughts
6) Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings: Soul of a Woman
7) Taylor Swift, Reputation

BEST EP OF THE YEAR: Middle Kids


Daniel L Waves a Flag for Rainbow

1. Kesha, Rainbow
2. Khalid, American Teen

And... everything else was pretty much older. :)


Giles G, a DAMN Good Sport

My fave albums of '17 are as follows:

1.  Kendrick Lamar - DAMN.
2.  SZA - CTRL
3.  St. Vincent - Masseducation
4.  Sampha - Process
5.  Father John Misty - Pure Comedy

Fave songs:

1. Kendrick - The Heart Part 4
2. Courtney Barnett, Kurt Vile - Over Everything
3. Billie Eilish - Bellyache
4. Miley Cyrus - Malibu
5. Portugal. The Man - Feel it Still
6. SZA - Drew Barrymore
7. N.E.R.D. - Lemon
8. Harry Styles - Sign of the Times
9. Alt J - Deadcrush
10. Big Thief - Shark Smile


Jaci M Lordes it Over All Other Albums

My essential albums for this year were:

1) Lorde, Melodrama

2) Eminem, Revival [Charlie chooses the music we play in the car, so this album is the music that we have been played in the car a LOT recently. But I've been liking it!  Especially 'Remind Me' and 'In your Head' for the nostalgic sampling. I was playing the Cranberries for Charlie (inspired by the Eminem track) just the day before Dolores died. I've actually never stopped listening to the Cranberries since I first heard them, but they still take me back to summer 1996 sharing Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia with a German guy named Franz in a sub-let apartment in New Haven, Connecticut.  Franz gave me his fan for my room because it was so hot and he 'didn't feel the heat', but then the summer got even hotter and he began to feel the heat and asked for his fan back please.  This cured me of a mild crush on him.

3) Gang of Youths, Go Farther in Lightness (actually, that's a lie - I've only just downloaded it.  But I really like the bits I've heard.  I just automatically found myself typing it in here.)


Jinny W, Bach in the Hunt 

Here are my votes for 2017.
=============

Most Essential Albums. It’s a tie this year.

*SHIRLEY HUNT, Baroque cello and viola da gamba; IAN PRITCHARD, harpsichord: J.S. BACH SUITES & SONATAS, VOLUME TWO. Letterbox Arts. (Volume One came out last year.) Bold, athletic, and meticulous music-making, with graceful leaps and soulful secrets from the brain and heart of Bach. Especially therapeutic for our confused zeitgeist.


*ANNELLE K. GREGORY, violin; ALEXANDER SINCHUK, piano: RACHMANINOFF, COMPLETE WORKS & TRANSCRIPTIONS FOR VIOLIN AND PIANO. Bridge Recordings, Inc. They’re almost still kids. One American, one Russian, each a prodigy, who met through conservatory mentors. Only one Sergei Rachmaninoff in history, and these stunningly articulate musicians bring 20 of his delicious gifts to intoxicating fruition.

Other Essential Albums:

*ARCADI VOLODOS: VOLODOS PLAYS BRAHMS. Sony.  Brahms is, of course, oxygen.  This Russian pianist breathes it for all of us.


*DANISH STRING QUARTET, LAST LEAF. ECM.  These delightful blonds can and do play Beethoven, Brahms, and Haydn, but this time they embrace Nordic folk songs, fiddling for joy and sorrow. They’ve got the warmth, skip, jump, gusto and linger of polka and reel and waltz; and they can convince you for a while that the world is a lovely place.


Shelly R’s Package of Songs 

Top Album:

Original Broadway Cast, Hamilton: An American Musical
-This was THE album that got me through my last semester at Stephens, through six intense weeks of NYU SPI, and just gets me through life every day. I was able to watch the show for my 22nd birthday here in the city and it was magical. So you can say that I worked my way out and graduate college. I didn’t throw away my shot and I followed my dreams of moving to NYC. And now, I’m in the room where it happens working in my dream job.

Top 10 Songs (in no particular order and yes, my musical taste is all over the place, haha):

1.       The Package – A Perfect Circle
2.       Don’t Hurt Yourself – Beyoncé
3.       m.A.A.d City – Kendrick Lamar
4.       Sweatpants – Childish Gambino
5.       Immigrants (We Get The Job Done) – K’NAAN, Snow Tha Product, Riz MC, Residente
6.       Don’t Play – Halsey
7.       Bartholomew – The Silent Comedy
8.       Waving Through a Window – Dear Evan Hansen Original Broadway Cast
9.       Ugly Boy – Die Antwoord
10.   World In My Eyes – Depeche Mode (original version and the Cicada Mix)


Keirsten G’s Link, No Longer Missing

Two old and three new:

OLD:
Songs of Light by Shirley Ann Lee
Lee Fields & The Expressions (no particular album but newly discovered old artist)

NEW:
“Awaken, My Love” by Childish Gambino
Keria by Susso
At What Cost by Goldlink


Maya M’s Somewhere, But Not Over the Rainbow

I have thought about it all week and there is no music from 2017 that I find worth mentioning besides Kesha’s Rainbow. Did other albums even come out? Were any other artists even slightly relevant? Was anything else on the radio a true triumph of human resilience? I couldn’t tell you. Kesha forever.


By the Time Sarah M Got to Woodstock…

I was invited to join your 2017 music poll from my boss, John Adamo, and I am very excited to share what (in my humble opinion) are the best albums of 2017!

1.       Portugal. The Man, Woodstock
2.       The War On Drugs, A Deeper Understanding
3.       Grizzly Bear, Painted Ruins
4.       Lorde, Melodrama
5.       The National, Sleep Well Beast


Josh L’s Baker, No Faker

I have some confidence that I will be more in tune with the other participants than of late. No way this hip-hop fad is going to last--the singer songwriters will return!

Julien Baker, Turn out the Lights

(Runner-up:)
Mountain Goats, Goths.


Brant R, Alvvays and Forever

My Essential Albums of 2017:
Alvvays, Antisocialites
Slowdive, Slowdive
Destroyer, ken
Japanese Breakfast, Soft Sounds from Another Planet
Luna, A Place of Greater Safety [EP]
Delicate Steve, This Is Steve
Rostam, Half-Light
Sia, Everyday Is Christmas

Some of My Essential Tracks of 2017:
Slowdive, “No Longer Making Time”
Destroyer, “Sky’s Grey”
Alvvays, “In Undertow”
Open Mike Eagle, “95 Radios”
LCD Soundsystem, “Oh Baby”
The War on Drugs, “Up All Night”
Phoenix, “J-Boy”

Elder Albums I Found Essential in 2017:
Incredible Bongo Band, Bongo Rock [1973]
David Axelrod, Songs of Innocence [1968]
The Impressions, The Impressions [1963]
Milton Nascimento, Clube Da Esquina [1972]
Roland Kirk, The Inflated Tear [1968]
Julie London, Julie Is Her Name [1955]
Christopher Cross, Another Page [1983]
The Kinks, Face to Face [1966]
B.B. King, Indianola Mississippi Seeds [1970]
Michael Martin Murphey, Blue Sky • Night Thunder [1975]
Prince, For You [1978]


Jonathan V’s Migration Patterns

Albums of 2017 (for me, ranked by personal health benefit)

1.     Bonobo, MIGRATION
2.     Theo Katzman, HEARTBREAK HITS
3.     Lusine, SENSORIMOTOR
4.     The National, SLEEP WELL BEAST
5.     Destroyer, KEN
6.     Jay-Z, 4:44
7.     Odesza, A MOMENT APART
8.     Kendrick Lamar, DAMN
9.     Wolf Parade, CRY CRY CRY
10.  Hundred Waters, COMMUNICATING

Honorable mention from this year: Chris Stapleton, FROM A ROOM, VOL. 1 (but I stand by our base ten numeric system’s tyranny over “top” lists, and there will be no 11)

Honorable mention from previous years: Popcaan, WHERE WE COME FROM (wall-to-wall amazing, likely would have been my #1 if it had come out in 2017)

Can’t believe I still haven’t heard: The Killers, WONDERFUL WONDERFUL (but I’m saving it for a trip)

My Ultimate Mix from 2017

1.     Austra, WE WERE ALIVE
2.     Bleachers, EVERYBODY LOST SOMEBODY
3.     Barbelle, NEVER TOO MUCH
4.     The Districts, THE POINT
5.     Jay-Z, 4:44
6.     Goldfrapp, MOON IN YOUR MOUTH
7.     Gorillaz w/ Grace Jones, CHARGER
8.     Ki: Theory, TERRAFORM
9.     Night Drive, YOUNG RIVALS
10.  Baynk, COME HOME
11.  Loma, BLACK WILLOW
12.  Lusine, WITNESS
13.  Kendrick Lamar, ELEMENT
14.  Groundislava w/ Jake Weary, UNTIL TOMORROW
15.  Hundred Waters, FIRELIGHT
16.  Washed Out, INSTANT CALM
17.  Destroyer, IVORY COAST
18.  TR/ST, BICEP
19.  Fever Ray, TO THE MOON AND BACK
20.  Theo Katzman, PLAIN JANE HEROIN
21.  Slowdive, FALLING ASHES


Lauren and Randy’s List (This is Them)

For 2017:
SONGS:
"Despacito," Luis Fonzi and Daddy Yankee
"Things It Would Be Helpful to Know Before the Revolution," Father John Misty
"Sign of the Times," Harry Styles
"Waiting on a Song," Dan Auerbach
"Dear Life," Beck
"Homemade Dynamite," Lorde
"Everybody Knows," Sigrid
"Dark Side of the Gym," The National
"Now & Later," Sage the Gemini

ALBUM:
"This Is Us Soundtrack"

For the random category of non-2017 tunes that we discovered and/or continue to love:
Eric Bib -- Shine On
Freedom Fry -- 1979
Daniela Andrade -- Creep
Alison Krauss & Robert Plant -- Raising Sand
Agnes Obel -- September Song
Daddy Yankee -- Gasolina
David Gray -- Babylon
My Chemical Romance - Welcome to the Black Parade
Darius Rucker -- Wagon Wheel

And as always: Traveling Willburys, Tom Petty, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Alison Krauss, and Credence Clearwater Revival YO!!!!


John A’s Grandaddy Clause

What an amazing year it was!

In no particular order:

1. Grandaddy, Last Place
2. Spoon, Hot Thoughts
3. Fleet Foxes, Crack-Up
4. Lana Del Rey, Lust for Life
5. Father John Misty, Pure Comedy
6. Spotlights, Seismic
7. Metz, Strange Peace
8. St Vincent, Masseduction
9. Grizzly Bear, Painted Ruins
10. Death From Above, Outrage! Is Now
11. LCD Soundsystem, American Dream
12. The xx, I See You


Jonas R Plays Misty for Us

Here goes:

1. Father John Misty, Pure Comedy
2. Thievery Corporation, The Temple of I & I
3. Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile, Lotta Sea Lice\
4. Iron & Wine, Beast Epic
5. The Shins, Heartworms
6. The New Pornographers, Whiteout Conditions
7. Spoon, Hot Thoughts
8. Whispertown, I'm a Man
9. The Dollyrots, Whiplash Splash
10. Jolie Holland & Samantha Parton, Wildflower Blue


Christopher P Manns Up

1) Aimee Mann, Mental Illness
2) Thea Gilmore, The Counterweight
3) a-ha, MTV Unplugged Summer Solstice
4) Beck, Colors
5) Goldfrapp, Silver Eye
6) Paloma Faith, The Architecht
7) Sia, Everyday Is Christmas
8) Flaming Lips, Oczy Mlody
9) Tori Amos, Native Invader
10) Zola Jesus, Okovi


Alicia G’s Nervous Energy

1) Julia Michaels, Nervous System
2) Kendrick Lamar, Damn
3) Ed Sheeran, Shape of You
4) The XX, I See You
5) Pink, Beautiful Trauma


Ronnie A’s Peak Performances

Best Soundtracks of the Year:
Twin Peaks: The Return
Daniel Hart, Ghost Story
Clint Mansell, Loving Vincent
Ramin Djawadi, The Mountain Between Us
Mica Levi, Marjorie Prime
Jonny Greenwood, Phantom Thread
Sufjan Stevens, Call Me By Your Name

Tamar-kali, Mudbound