Some great records so far but not sure if there’s been any worldies, absolute game changers that’ll last with me for years. Which is ok time do be like that sometimes, by definition those kind of records can’t roll around all the time. Anyway Top 10 so far looking like:
Charli
Olivia Rodrigo
Widowspeak
Remember Sports
Zzzahara
Holly Humberstone
Lande Hekt
Mitski
Muna
Reds, Pinks and Purples
Looking forward to Blondshell, Slow Pulp, PB the most out of the next few months.
My fav 5, ordered to spell the word shock as an acrostic:
Suzanne Ciani & Actress
hemlocke springs
Octo Octa
Craven Faults
KMRU
After those, the Boards Of Canada, Aldous Harding, Slayyyter & Sunn O))) records are contenders.
There’ve also been some excellent EPs from KAVARI and Slikback.
Need to log onto my work laptop because I have everything listed there. BEAR WITH ME, PEOPLE.
I can see the argument elsewhere in the thread that it’s not necessarily been a vintage year for albums so far, but it’s been a spectacular year for EPs. These, Cancer House, Los Thuthanaka, Caterina Barbieri and Bendik Giske…
Would also add, PPP, Placid Angles, Boo Williams and Priori to the excellent EP list.
Dug into my notes and came up with these
La Petite Morte/Little Death - Disco II - Monomyth
New Age Doom - Angels Against Angels
Nothing - A Short History Of Decay
James Blake - Trying Times
Grimm Grimm - Eternalise
Sunn O))) - Sunn O)))
Neurosis - An Undying Love for a Burning World
Winged Wheel - Desert So Real
Chalk Hands - The Line That Shapes the Coast of Us
Altın Gün - Garip
Converge - Love Is Not Enough
Boards of Canada - Inferno
American Football - American Footbal (IV)
Roman Candle - Unadulterated
Feeble Little Horse - Bitknot
Crash of Rhinos - Logbook
Truck Violence - The Weathervane is my Body
I don’t know what’s an album and what’s an EP anymore. But I think this has been an amazing year so far.
20 I really love.
Yu Su: Foundry
Tara Clerkin Trio: Somewhere Good
Father Dionysios Tabakis: Paradise Metal
Picture: Eeeeee
Sideshow: Tigray Funk
Cancer House: The Moth
Ibrahim Alfa Jnr: Infinite Black Inside
Xavisphone: Balanca e Piaxao
Lavurn: Baby It Cold Outside
Chanel Beads: Your Day Will Come
No You: No You
K Wata: Give U Space
DJ Plead: Please
Underscores: U
Boards of Canada: Inferno
Xaviersobased: Xavier
The Field: Now You Exist
Starker: Living Type Dangerous Vol. 1
Wendy Eisenberg: Wendy Eisenberg
Paperclip Minimiser: II
These have stuck with me. No order.
Maria bc - Marathon
Mabe Fratti & Bill Orcott - Almost Waking
Ana Roxanne- Poem 1
American Football - LP4
Gia Margaret - Singing
Deary - Birding
Searows - Death In The Business Of Whaling
Cancer House - The Moth
Twilight Sad - It’s The Long Goodnight
deathcrash - Somersaults
New German Cinema - Pain Will Polish Me
Grivo - Impose
The Early Years - Modern Moonlight
Dry Cleaning - Secret Love.
Nothing - A Short History Of Decay
Boards Of Canada - Inferno
This is how it’s shaking out, with lots that still need more time (they all do tbf).
Top Tier
Station Model Violence - s/t
Mandy, Indiana - URGH
Boards of Canada - Inferno
Osees - Off Course
Pretty Baby - Layaway Plot
Fly Anakin - (The) Forever Dream: Night Shift
upsammy & Valentina Magaletti - Seismo
Anadol & Marie Klock - Manivelles
Church Andrews & Matt Davies - Tilt
YHWH Nailgun - Magazine
Second Tier
Stuck - Optimizer
PVA - No More Like This
Lasus - Conjure
Lolina - Monopoly of Mistakes
Robber Robber - Two Wheels Move the Soul
By Storm - My Ghosts Go Ghost
ELUCID & Seb Bash - I Guess U Had to Be There
DMX Krew - No Way to Control It
Feels Like Heaven - Within Dreams
Landowner - Assumption
Damaged Bug - Zuzax
Iceage - For Love of Grace & the Hereafter
TVAM - Ruins
Need More Time
J. Zunz - Obsidiana
Polypores - Wrigglers
White Fence - Orange
Lone - Hyperphantasia
Powerplant - Bridge of Sacrifice
Tierra Whack - Whack’s Museum
Plug - Variety Magic
Hammok - When Does This Place Become Our Scene
Chalk Hands - The Line That Shapes the Coast of Us
Squarepusher - Kammerkonzert
Modest Mouse - An Eraser and a Maze
Nine Inch Nails - Nine Inch Noize
Heathen Axe - s/t
Olof Dreijer - Loud Bloom
Okta Okta - Sigils for Survival
Ulrika Spacek - Expo
Vince Staples - Cry Baby
ear - Rumspringa
Kim Gordon - Play Me
Kind of a frustrating year for me so far. Too many albums that feel like “I guess we’ll make an album because we’re a band, and it sounds like this because we’re this type of band.” But there’s still some good stuff.
Going to link the default bandcamp pages for easy listening and scrolling (and so I don’t have to pick my favorites)
Obvious AOTY Contenders
Pretty Baby - Layaway Plot
An unpredictable and explosive post-hardcore journey. Feels like a band making a statement while getting something out of them that they felt compelled to get out. FFO: At the Drive-In, City of Caterpillar, Protomartyr
SLIFT - Fantasia
I love it when bands build a world and take you on a journey by stacking riffs and exploding at all of the right times. Their last album felt like an out of control roller coaster, this one’s more of a steady tsunami. Great stuff.
Gems
XCOMM - Time to Burn
Raging, dynamic punk from a bunch of teenagers. Unlike a lot of punk albums where it’s like “ok, it’s just more of the same” after awhile, this has the songs and stays exciting to the end.
Death Lens - What’s Left Now
Catchy pop-punk-influenced post-hardcore with massive hooks. For fans of bands like Militarie Gun and people who always feel kind of let down by bands like Militarie Gun.
Nothing - A Short History of Decay
Melancholic shoegaze / alt-rock. It feels a bit more casual than their prior ones, which is probably why it’s getting overlooked. Great melodies.
Twisted Teens - blame the clown
Lo-fi rock in the style of Parquet Courts, but there’s a desperation and knack for melodic twists in this that really elevate it over similar bands.
SUPERCOLLIDER - S/T
Maybe the best way to put it is “what if King of the Beach era Wavves had made a surreal, fuzzed out, sprawling bedroom indie album instead.”
Weird Nightmare - Hoopla
2nd album of catchy, punchy, melodic rock from the frontman of METZ. Huge hooks on this.
Blackwater Holylight - Not Here Not Gone
Pretty, gloomy rock that crosses into shoegaze territory through the sheer heaviness of the riffs. This sort of thing typically washes over me, but there’s a focus on melody and riffs here that makes it stand out. They’ve got songs, not just atmosphere.
Twilight Sad - IT’S THE LONG GOODBYE
It took awhile to click, and while the middle of the album is still kind of a dirge, it’s all worth it for that four song ending sequence.
Hammok - When Does This Place Become Our Scene
Unpredictable post-hardcore. One of those albums that really rewards multiple listens since it’s so noisy and constantly jumping around. It took more effort than I thought it would but I’m glad I stuck with it.
Just listened to Ibrahim Alfa Jnr’s Infinite Black Inside and will likely have to make room for him in my top tier list.
In answer to your question: pretty empty, I guess.
Well, I’m having a nice year so far:
Maria BC – Marathon
Tanya Tagaq – Saputjiji
Ellie O’Neill – Time Of Fallow
Tori Amos – In Times Of Dragons
Ana Roxanne – Poem 1
Gia Margaret – Singing
Emerson Woolf & The Wishbones – The World Is Your Oyster
Fågelle – Bränn min jord
Ailbhe Reddy – Kiss Big
Camille Camille – Enchanted Sea
And on the ambient / drone / modern classical front:
Wil Bolton – Concrete Botany
Far Away Nebraska – La pauro del voite
Félicia Atkinson & Christina Vantzou – Water Poems
Yann Novak – Meadowsweet (redux)
Rafael Anton Irisarri & Abul Mogard – Where Light Pauses In The Silence Of The Sun
Dobrawa Czocher–State Of Matter
Deaf Center – Through Time
Aliya Ultan–Looks Far Woman
Domiziano Maselli – Garden of Kira
zakè & marine eyes – Still Beauty
If you’re gonna have just one, that’s a very fine choice.
I’m open to suggestions. The only other albums I’ve listened to more than once or twice are Charli XCX’s Wuthering Heights, Suitor’s Saw You out with the Weeds, and Ill Peach’s Eavesdropping.
My top 20, roughly in order but will no doubt change before the end of the year…
Grems - TRAPJAZZ
GENA - The Pleasure Is Yours
Roc Marciano - 656
Kim Gordon - PLAY ME
Shabaka - Of The Earth
Mandy, Indiana - URGH
Converge - Love Is Not Enough/Hum of Hurt
Tony Bontana - My Name
Action Bronson - Planet Frog
Wiki - Ancient History
Navy Blue - Sir Render
Błoto - Atmosfera
Irreversible Entanglements - Future Present Past
Boards of Canada - Inferno
Earl Sweatshirt/MIKE - POMPEII // UTILITY
DJ Harrison - Electrosoul
Laughing Hyenas - THAT GIRL: LIVE RECORDINGS 1986 - 1994
Yaya Bey - Fidelity
Olivia Rodrigo - you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love
Charli xcx - Wuthering Heights
E L U C I D - I Guess U Had to Be There
Flea - Honora
Flying Lotus - BIG MAMA EP
Thundercat - Distracted
Matt Berry - Everything’s Peachy
Rezzett - Into the Boiling Darks
LICE - Miami Lice: Season Four
PVA - No More Like This
Momoko Gill - Momoko
Modest Mouse - An Eraser And A Maze
kJADE - On Everything I Love
Puma Blue - Croak Dream
Nite Bjuti - minwi
James Blake - Trying Times
Actress & Suzanne Ciani - Concrète Waves
Starker - LTD Vol. 1: North Face Nace
Tony Bontana - Tumpit 2
Sideshow - TIGRAY FUNK
Fatboi Sharif & Child Actor - Crayola Circles
Squarepusher - Kammerkonzert
Knats - A Great Day In Newcastle
Chiminyo - NRG 5
Friday Night Plans - blue hour
LE SSERAFIM - ‘PUREFLOW’, Pt. 1
Robohands - Oranj
Angel Du$t - COLD 2 THE TOUCH
Larry June, Curren$y & The Alchemist - Spiral Staircases
Isaiah Rashad - It’s Been Awful
Joel Ross - Gospel Music
Altin Gun - Garip
Slayyyter - WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA
Fcukers - O
Murkage Dave - Brut Thoughts
Jose Gonzalez - Against The Dying of the Light
Harry Styles - Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.
xavisphone - balança e paixão
BLACKPINK - DEADLINE EP
Lone - Hyperphantasia
Nubiyan Twist - Chasing Shadows
Bel Cobain - Kizzy
The Strokes - Reality Awaits
Chanpan - autogratis
Nia Archives - Emotional Junglist
Monday Night - Football
Ecca Vandal - LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO UNFOLLOW
Charlie Hunter - Space Bomb
Fly Anakin - (The) Forever Dream: Night Shift
Ezra Collective - Here Because of Hope
Space Africa - Quiet Storm
Interpol - The Mirror Weighs a Ton
Jadasea - Holly Grove
Charli xcx - Music, Fashion, Film
Nick Hakim - I Can See
Open Mike Eagle - DOOMED!
Hakushi Hasegawa - Honest Feeling Album
CZARFACE - Czarface Meets Frankie Pulitzer
Future - The Real Me
Beabadoobee - Pylon
Phoebe Bridgers - Lost Weekend
Rapsody - God Gotta Afro & Gold Hoops
DOMi & JD BECK - WHO ASKED?
Saul Williams - Leap Life
Twisted Teens record is the only new one that i’ve listened to this year - it’s really good though!
Guilt trip probably my aoty for now too.
also on my list
Red Sun - - at their very best
Angel du$t - - cold 2 the touch
Feels like heaven - - within dreams
Roman candle - unadulterated
Nine inch noize
Prince daddy and the hyena
Death cab
the field
First time I’ve seen Prince Daddy mentioned , never really gave them much time before, listened to that new album, loved it, then saw them live and they absolutely ripped. I’m a fan now.
It’s a really fun album