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Figured I'd make this thread:

Sharon Van Etten - Remind Me Tomorrow

I went to a one-off Sharon Van Etten concert last spring in Los Angeles where she previewed the new album's songs, solo, while only playing a scant few older tracks. The majority of the songs were based on extended drum machine / synth loops which is (with a few exceptions) a major stylistic change from her earlier works. While many of her past releases focused on very organic soundscapes - guitar, piano, the occasional harmonium - this record finds her concocting synthetic soundscapes like Suicide or Portishead. And on a songwriting level, her often-confessional heartbreak ballads have been not replaced but somewhat outmoded into something resembling Bruce Springsteen's epic anthems of ordinary lives. She's long been one of my favorite artists and I'm excited to see her put a new turn on a familiar sound.

Rating: Excellent

I think James Blake just released an album I like more than anything from last year...

After one listen same here!

I'll second acroamar's endorsement of the new Sharon Van Etten release. Prior to this I was only really stoked by her stripped down acoustic album Are We There, which apparently puts me in a minority (as usual). This album is very different but I've given it three listens today, and it's a great kickoff for 2019.

DocBrown wrote: Prior to this I was only really stoked by her stripped down acoustic album Are We There, which apparently puts me in a minority (as usual).

It is the critical favorite by quite some measure, based on it's AM rank. And I would agree with that, though I should give all her albums more of a spin. This is a good a time as any to delve deeper. After the end of the month, when the endless stream of end-of-year polls are over I'll probably take a deep dive there.

For me, three great albums already this year - Sharon van Etten and James Blake as mentioned above, and also Deerhunter. Hopefully a good sign for the rest of the year!

I like the new Deerhunter and Twilight Sad.

Sharon Van Etten - Remind Me Tomorrow 7.8
Deerhunter - Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared? 7.5
YNW Melly - We All Shine 6.9
James Blake - Assume Form 6.8
Future - The WIZRD 6.1

Within a span of about three days, Weezer dropped a surprise album of covers called The Teal Album, Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst dropped a surprise collab album under the title Better Oblivion Community Center, Vampire Weekend unveiled the first tracks from their first album in six years, and Lady Lamb announced a new album. If these few days are any indicator, 2019 will be a very quality and very unexpected year for music.

Underwhelmed by Deerhunter, but impressed with Twilight Sad. Not top drawer, but there are some amazing songs in there.

acroamor wrote:Within a span of about three days, Weezer dropped a surprise album of covers called The Teal Album, Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst dropped a surprise collab album under the title Better Oblivion Community Center, Vampire Weekend unveiled the first tracks from their first album in six years, and Lady Lamb announced a new album. If these few days are any indicator, 2019 will be a very quality and very unexpected year for music.

Yes, I'm very much looking forward to the Lady Lamb album, as well as giving the Phoebe Bridgers/ Conor Oberst album a spin. Sadly, the endless polls here keep me from trying anything new till at least mid-February.

You Tell Me self titled is my fave so far.

I've heard four albums so far. Here's how I'd rank them...

Good:

1. Sharon Van Etten- Remind Me Tomorrow
2. James Blake- Assume Form
3. Deerhunter- Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared?

Decent:

4. Toro y Moi- Outer Peace

My tiers go something like...

Excellent
Great
Very Good
Good
Decent
Poor
Very Poor
Awful

All five albums I've heard this year ranked on (primarily) first impressions, although I would say I've enjoyed all of them. The Mono album is a good one for any post-rock fans.

1. Sharon Van Etten - Remind Me Tomorrow
2. Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center
3. FIDLAR - Almost Free
4. Maggie Rogers - Heard It in a Past Life
5. Mono - Nowhere Now Here

Should we make a thread for Songs of 2019 as well? The new Mountain Goats song "Younger" is so good.

I am on the fence regarding the new James Blake. There are some outstanding production for sure but I always find Blake a terribly mediocre vocalist.

I know this is an EP not an album, but we don't have a separate thread for them (hardly seems worth it); I am really enjoying Encores 2 by Nils Frahm.

An early top 10, because why not.

1. Sharon van Etten - Remind we Tomorrow
2. Deerhunter - Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared?
3. Dave Harrington Group - Pure Imagination, No Country
4. Black to Comm - Seven Horses for Seven Kings
5. Beirut - Gallipoli
6. Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba - Miri
7. James Blake - Assume Form
8. MONO - Nowhere Now Here
9. Jesica Pratt - Quiet Signs
10. Rustin Man - Drift Code

I know i'm gonna get a lot of eye-rolls for this comment, but Ariana Grande's latest album is better than anything i've heard this year so far.

Cold Butterfly wrote:I know i'm gonna get a lot of eye-rolls for this comment, but Ariana Grande's latest album is better than anything i've heard this year so far.

"imagine", "thank u, next" and "NASA" are all pretty great. Once she embraces the fact that she is a young Mariah Carey and R&B is where her voice shines the brightest, she can churn out some stunning jams. However, the rest of the album don't really hold up much; the 2 follow-up official singles "7 rings" and "break up with your girlfriend, i'm bored" are both cringe-worthy and musically bland. Also, Grande needs a serious vocal coach who can fix her enunciation problem. I can barely understand when the song is an inch over mid-tempo.

Pauler wrote:

Cold Butterfly wrote:I know i'm gonna get a lot of eye-rolls for this comment, but Ariana Grande's latest album is better than anything i've heard this year so far.

"imagine", "thank u, next" and "NASA" are all pretty great. Once she embraces the fact that she is a young Mariah Carey and R&B is where her voice shines the brightest, she can churn out some stunning jams. However, the rest of the album don't really hold up much; the 2 follow-up official singles "7 rings" and "break up with your girlfriend, i'm bored" are both cringe-worthy and musically bland. Also, Grande needs a serious vocal coach who can fix her enunciation problem. I can barely understand when the song is an inch over mid-tempo.

We'll agree to disagree there. Both "7 rings" and "break up with your girlfriend, i'm bored" show a darker and rawer side of Grande, which bring out the shade to some of the album's lighter material, making this collection more compelling and diverse, in my opinion. I think both songs are musically substantial and simply great, vocally and production-wise. Some of the album's deep cuts, such as "bad idea" and "ghostin" show pop music at it's best and most truthful, also balancing this album well. And to be honest, enunciation doesn't really matter much in music. I highly doubt that generations of great musicians, from Patti Smith to Kurt Cobain to Travis Scott, ever needed vocal coaches because some people couldn't understand what they were saying. They were still able to get their point across. As long as the music comes out good, it's simply good. I don't hear a single bad song on Thank U, Next. But that's just my opinion, and you're entitled to yours also.

Nick wrote:I've heard four albums so far. Here's how I'd rank them...

Good:

1. Sharon Van Etten- Remind Me Tomorrow
2. James Blake- Assume Form
3. Deerhunter- Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared?

Decent:

4. Toro y Moi- Outer Peace

My tiers go something like...

Excellent
Great
Very Good
Good
Decent
Poor
Very Poor
Awful

Update:

Very Good:

1. Sharon Van Etten- Remind Me Tomorrow
2. Malibu Ken- Malibu Ken

Good:

3. Ariana Grande- Thank U, Next
4. Deerhunter- Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared?
5. Better Oblivion Community Center- Better Oblivion Community Center

Decent:

6. James Blake- Assume Form
7. Panda Bear- Buoys
8. Toro y Moi- Outer Peace

Listening to Ariana Grande now. Hoping I like it as it gives me more credibility in claims not to be biased for the obscure.

Early list:
1. You Tell Me - You Tell Me
2. Lorelle Meets the Obsolete - De Facto
3. Jessica Pratt - Quiet Signs
4. Sharon Van Etten - Remind Me Tomorrow
5. The Twilight Sad - It Won/T Be Like This All The Time
6. Deerhunter - Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared?
7. Ariana Grande - thank u, next
8. James Blake - Assume Form

Essential
Xiu Xiu | Girl with Basket of Fruit

Excellent
James Blake | Assume Form
Black Taffy | Elder Mantis
Deerhunter | Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared?

Great
Ariana Grande | Thank U, Next
Sharon Van Etten | Remind Me Tomorrow
D∆WN | New Breed

Good
Future | Future Hndrxx Presents: The WZRD

Solid
Maggie Rodgers | Heard It in a Past Life
Panda Bear | Buoys

Poor
Weezer | Weezer (The Teal Album)

Wow, Malibu Ken submits entry for consideration for ‘Worst album covers ever’. It’s viscerally uncomfortable to look at. If I decide I like the album might make playlist just to avoid having to see it when I select the album.

I decided Malibu Ken is a good album. So now need to see if Spotify lets you block album cover display for just one specific album.

Jirin wrote:I decided Malibu Ken is a good album. So now need to see if Spotify lets you block album cover display for just one specific album.

Why don't you do as you said and make a playlist? You can change the art of your playlist. To the Mona Lisa or something.

I’m loving Elena Setein - Another Kind Of Revolution.

It’s got folky harmonies reminiscent of First Aid Kit with beautiful atmospheric piano.

The new Solange album is, by far, the best album I've heard from this year. It's so damn silky smooth. Like hot butter.

The Xiu Xiu album, on the other hand, is one of the worst releases I've heard from this decade. The "singing" (if you can even call it that) is just straight up atrocious and the music is abrasive without any of the positive qualities that made other abrasive releases (like from Daughters and Swans) so attractive.

(sorry notbrianeno)

Nick wrote:The new Solange album is, by far, the best album I've heard from this year. It's so damn silky smooth. Like hot butter.

The Xiu Xiu album, on the other hand, is one of the worst releases I've heard from this decade. The "singing" (if you can even call it that) is just straight up atrocious and the music is abrasive without any of the positive qualities that made other abrasive releases (like from Daughters and Swans) so attractive.

(sorry notbrianeno)

Hahaha, to each their own!

If I were to explain my love for this album best, I'd refer to the Franz Kafka quote I used as my review on RYM:

I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound and stab us. If the book we’re reading doesn’t wake us up with a blow on the head, what are we reading it for? So that it will make us happy, as you write? Good Lord, we would be happy precisely if we had no books, and the kind of books that make us happy are the kind we could write ourselves if we had to. But we need the books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us. That is my belief.

notbrianeno wrote:
If I were to explain my love for this album best, I'd refer to the Franz Kafka quote I used as my review on RYM:

I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound and stab us. If the book we’re reading doesn’t wake us up with a blow on the head, what are we reading it for? So that it will make us happy, as you write? Good Lord, we would be happy precisely if we had no books, and the kind of books that make us happy are the kind we could write ourselves if we had to. But we need the books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us. That is my belief.

That's a great quote, and one I'd never heard before. Definitely puts into words a lot of what I like about art in general.

I’m liking Ariana Grande’s album more and more. But, I find I have to zone out the lyrics to enjoy it so I can pretend she’s not just singing about being a spoiled hedonistic materialistic brat.

The National announced a new album, being released in May, and released the first single from it. The song is much more of an electronic track than the tinges they've had on their previous albums. I'm not sure how much I'd like the whole album if it's that heavy on the electronic, though. The album is also sixteen tracks, AP I'm very concerned this thing will be like 80 minutes long.

Right now my top 4 and 5 of my top 6 of the year have female vocalists.

1. You Tell Me - You Tell Me
2. Sneaks - Highway Hypnosis
3. Lorelle Meets The Obsolete - De Facto
4. Sharon Van Etten - Remind Me Tomorrow
6. Ariana Grande - thank u, next

Isn't the new National album meant to function more as a soundtrack to a film than a traditional album?

Jap123 wrote:Isn't the new National album meant to function more as a soundtrack to a film than a traditional album?

It seems to just be a short film inspired by (and featuring) music from the album:
https://pitchfork.com/news/the-national ... ng-listen/

Or: “playfully hostile siblings that love to steal from each other.” - Mike Mills, Director

Top 5 :
Sharon Van Etten - Remind Me Tomorrow The Twilight Sad - It Won/T Be Like This All The Time Desperate Journalist - In Search of the Miraculous Le SuperHomard - Meadow Lane Park Mercury Rev - Bobbie Gentry's the Delta Sweete Revisited

Although it definitely took me a while, i am now convinced that When I Get Home is the best album Solange has ever made. Album of the year contender fo sure

In my opinion the Solange album is repetitive and boring.

I've liked pretty much every album thats appeared on the MegaCritic chart thus far this year (especially some of the lower rankers like the Boy Harsher or William Tyler ones) but i was really disappointed by the Solange one - it just feels really substanceless and unfinished, and lacks a killer single like Cranes in the Sky or Losing You that would warrant giving it another listen. I feel in this case the acclaim is partly due to her being a well known name. If a newcomer released When I Get Home, would it really be so well regarded?

Alright then, time to count my chickens for 2019.
Here are my votes :

Oustanding, top drawer (9/10)
Steve Mason - About the Light : excellent surprise, an album full of tunes from the Beta Band frontman. The only contender so far in the year

Excellent (8/10)
The Twilight Sad - It Won/t Be Like This All the Time - best indie rock release of the year.

Very Good (7/10)
Deerhunter - Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared? A bit underwhelmed, but still powerful stuff
Helado Negro - This Is How You Smile - very pleasant indie/art folk
Spielbergs - This Is Not the End

Rather Good (6/10)
Michael Chapman - True North
Mercury Rev - Bobbie Gentry's The Delta Sweete Revisited

Berk (3/10)
The Japanese House - Good at Falling

spiritualized wrote: Oustanding, top drawer (9/10)
Steve Mason - About the Light : excellent surprise, an album full of tunes from the Beta Band frontman. The only contender so far in the year

You may like his 2013 solo album Monkey Minds in the Devil's Time; that album was pretty good too and "Seen It All Before" is up there with some of the Beta Band's better songs.

Jackson wrote: You may like his 2013 solo album Monkey Minds in the Devil's Time; that album was pretty good too and "Seen It All Before" is up there with some of the Beta Band's better songs.

thanks ! will check it out

The year is roughly 1/4 of the way over. How does Q1 stack up?

Great:

1. Solange- When I Get Home

Very Good:

2. Sharon Van Etten- Remind Me Tomorrow
3. Little Simz- Grey Area
4. Malibu Ken- Malibu Ken

Good:

5. Helado Negro- This Is How You Smile
6. Ariana Grande- Thank U, Next
7. CHAI- PUNK
8. Deerhunter- Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared?
9. Better Oblivion Community Center- Better Oblivion Community Center

Decent:

10. James Blake- Assume Form
11. Panda Bear- Buoys
12. Toro y Moi- Outer Peace

Poor:

13. Xiu Xiu- Girl with Basket of Fruit

Glad to see someone give Malibu Ken some respect on this thread. It's already one of 2019's most underrated releases already, and probably one of the best experimental hip hop albums of the decade.

Cold Butterfly wrote:Glad to see someone give Malibu Ken some respect on this thread. It's already one of 2019's most underrated releases already, and probably one of the best experimental hip hop albums of the decade.

I had never heard any of Aesop Rock’s stuff before this album, other than the stray song here or there, and I was very pleasantly surprised when I gave it a listen. Malibu Ken definitely deserves more recognition.

Maybe it’s the horrifying cover art that’s turning people away?

Nick wrote: I had never heard any of Aesop Rock’s stuff before this album, other than the stray song here or there, and I was very pleasantly surprised when I gave it a listen. Malibu Ken definitely deserves more recognition.

Maybe it’s the horrifying cover art that’s turning people away?

I feel like the lack of recognition for Malibu Ken follows a trend that keeps popping up with experimental hip hop this decade, in that it gets a lukewarm, if not muted response on initial release, but eventually makes great strides in end of year lists. The group may not be relatively known in the music press or record-buying public as of now, which explains it's lack of reviews, but it's going to be more widely known by the year's end (which happened to highly acclaimed albums of the genre such as XXX, The Money Store, and Veteran).

I feel like Malibu Ken is the best album Aesop Rock has ever made, and that by the year's end others will see it as that too.

1. Little Simz - GREY Area
2. Lorelle Meets The Obsolete - De Facto
3. Elena Setien - Another Kind Of Revolution
4. You Tell Me - You Tell Me
5. Mercury Rev - Bobbie Gentry's The Delta Sweete Revisited
6. Sharon Van Etten - Remind Me Tomorrow
7. Malibu Ken - Malibu Ken
8. Ariana Grande - thank u, next
9. Deerhunter - Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared?
10. Sunflower Bean - King of the Dudes

Malibu Ken is awesome, but I've already expressed my utter disgust about the album artwork.

I'm sure many here have already heard it but just in case; anyone that loves lushly-orchestrated folk-pop may want to check out the new Weyes Blood album, Titanic Rising. It's already fully availble to stream on NPR this week.