Starting with 2020 and going up through 2023, what were your albums of the year each year? And if you’re willing to expand, what albums you been listening to so far in 2024 that have stood out to you?
I’ll leave my own response in a comment so as to not clog the screen and detract from the question
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Alvvays Blue Rev is the best album of 2023
Super excited for the rerelease vinyl of Tacocat NVM. Such a great debut album. If you haven’t ever heard them, think of the Go Go’s and Ramones style punk from Seattle.
Got a copy of the reissue of Fugazi’s *End Hits * and it sounds so good on vinyl. Can’t wait for the Steady Diet of Nothing release. I believe it’s the last to get the special vinyl reissue treatment. Best for last! So excited!
I liked Alvvay’s 2014 self-titled but I haven’t heard Blue Rev yet, so I’ll add to it to my listening list!
And as a native of the DC-metro with local pride, I always appreciate seeing other Fugazi fans ✌
2024: album that has my attention is Prelude to Ecstasy by The Last Dinner Party. Glorious, dramatic chamber pop with many lyrical nods for the History majors in your life.
2023: Javelin by Sufjan Stevens + Expert In A Dying Field by The Beths. Suf is the easy choice but man is it good and, in typical fashion, heart-breaking. I don’t know how The Beths continue to make their style sound fresh, but they do. The songwriting, harmonies, guitar work, all so excellent.
2022: The Festival by Tim Baker + Revealer by Madison Cunningham. Tim Baker just doesn’t miss. Leaning heavily into the horns and soul influence, but still grounded in composed, mature folk-pop. Madison Cunningham on the other hand varies style a good deal but it works every time. Great guitar, interesting compositions, lyrically strong.
2021: Peace Or Love by Kings of Convenience + Stunning & Atrocious by Fleece. Kings of Convenience, your modern-day Norwegian Simon & Garfunkel, return in perfect form. Feist returns for a few tracks, every song is strong. Fleece level up from complex guitar-heavy indie-rock to delicious funky indie-pop. The most fun I’ve ever seen a band have together on stage was seeing them play this album.
2020: Half-Empty by The Little Hands of Asphalt + Every Bad by Porridge Radio. Missed Half-Empty until a year ago but wow, it’s such a stellar singer-songwriter album - string arrangements are mouthwateringly good. Begs to be listened to as an album. Every Bad is, to me, pure catharsis in musical form. Vocal performances on tracks like Circling and Sweet are gut wrenching.
Favorite songs not in any of these: Oh How We Drift Away by Tim Heidecker & Weyes Blood (this is what I’d put as my Song of the Decade so far), Feelings Meeting by Living Hour ft. Jay Som, Jackie Down The Line by Fontaines D.C., Your Light by The Big Moon, Hounds of Hell by The Phoenix Foundation ft. Nadia Reid.
Thanks for sharing!
I’ve also been enjoying the hell out of Prelude to Ecstasy; the chorus of “Nothing Matters” has been stuck in my head since the moment I first heard it a few months ago or so. Great song, and the the rest of the album doesn’t disappoint either.
That’s really the only album on your list I have significant exposure to. I’m familiar with Sufjan, the Beths, and Kings of Convenience, but I haven’t been keeping up with any of them so I haven’t heard the releases you mentioned here yet. So I added basically all of these (with @Sunforged’s recommendations as well) to a playlist to check out over the coming few days; thanks for giving me new stuff to explore!
It’s very not the same thing at all, but I’ve also been listening to Blame My Ex by the Beaches. They sound absolutely nothing like The Last Dinner Party, not even in the same genres, but I kinda feel like they have similar or compatible energy/vibes? Have you listened to that the Beaches album, and if so, any thoughts on it?
edit: turns out I know Madison Cunningham, but really only the single “Hospital,” so I’m still excited to hear the rest of the album
Oh and if we’re doing non-album SONGS of the year, I’m gonna have to give that some more thought for the rest of the years, but 2020 is an easy answer for me: Gas City by Cliffdiver
29 by Yaeji would be on my list of singles.
This is a good thread
My answers:
2020: Open Mike Eagle - Anime, Trauma and Divorce
Bought this one on vinyl after only a couple listens on Spotify. Fun, funny, profound, depressing, and hopeful. If you’re an alt hip-hop fan, especially one approaching their 40s or above, especially especially if you’re also as much a comic and anime nerd as a hip-hop nerd, then I cannot recommend this album enough.
Honorable mentions: Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher / Thundercat - It Is What It Is
2021: (tie) Genesis Owusu - Smiling With No Teeth / Horse Bitch - RIP Pistachio
Already cheating with two entries, both of albums kick ass in very different ways. Australian Genesis Owusu’s album SWNT is a multi-genre delight with equal parts ferocity and polish, defying classification but hitting-hard start start to finish. The red & gold limited edition vinyl of SWNT is the most expensive vinyl I own.
Horse Bitch (I dare you to tell me you’ve heard of them), on the other hand, is a small indie band from Colorado with an earlier album that doesn’t do it for me, but whose 2021 album RIP Pistachio is pure, but not blissful, fun. RIP Pistachio sounds like the day after drinking yourself numb but now your friends are over and the beer tastes good again and you start to remember that yes things are awfully stupid in the world, but maybe stupid ain’t that bad.
Honorable mentions: Remi Wolf - Juno / Silk Sonic - An Evening With Silk Sonic / Tyler, the Creator - Call Me If You Get Lost
2022: (tie) Orville Peck - Bronco / Bartees Strange - Farm to Table
I’m not a country or Western guy, but Orville Peck is a phenom of a singer and Bronco is his best effort to date. Riveting, emotional, and strong, even if it’s not something inside your normal boundaries.
A lot of what I wrote about Genesis Owusu’s Smiling With No Teeth can be applied to Bartees Strange’s Farm to Table, as it’s also a genre-defying masterpiece of dynamic and diverse musical inspirations. Tremendous guitar riffs and solos, deep lyrics, and interesting production choices round out the appeal here, adding to the sum of an excellent album.
Honorable mentions: Wet Leg - Wet Leg / The Mars Volta - The Mars Volta
2023: Codefendants - This is Crime Wave
I don’t know what to say about this one other than that it’s fucking sick. The songs are fun and rebellious but without feeling childish. It makes me remember the hopeful days of my youth while feeling very grounded in today and like we’re all adults in the room. And at a mere 33 minutes, it’s just long enough to kick the door in, blow your mind a bit, but then get out before it overstays its welcome. Easy recommendation.
Honorable mentions: Genesis Owusu - Struggler / The National - Laugh Track
I’m not gonna expand more, but as for what’s caught my attention so far this year, I’d say Black Pumas - Chronicles of a Diamond and Future Islands - People Who Aren’t There Anymore are probably top contenders so far for me.
edit: typos
2020: The Pilgrim - Walking Into The Forest
Acoustic Psychedelia that is infectiously uplifting. I can’t listen to this album and not have feelings of gratitude just being alive and able to experience the world (including listening to this band).
Honorable Mentions: Thundercat - It Is What It Is, The Budos Band - Long In The Tooth
2021: Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
The beats, the samples, the fucking raw lyrics. Not really digging the sound on her latest release, but Sometimes I Might Be Introvert and 2022’s NO THANK YOU are amazing accomplishments in artistry.
Honorable Mentions: Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee, Adia Victoria - A Southern Gothic
2022: Elder - Innate Passages
One of my favorite bands that is the pinnacle of Stoner/Doom Metal. Innate Passages felt like a return to form for Elder after a couple of albums that were good but felt middling compared to their earlier albums.
Honorable Mentions: Little Simz - NO THANK YOU, Daníel Hjálmtýsson - LABYRINTHIA, Weyes Blood - And In Darkness, Hearts Aglow, Ezra Collective - Where I’m Meant to Be, Cassandra Lewis - Always, All Ways, Mt. Fog - Spells of Silence
2023: Whatitdo Archive Group - Palace Of A Thousand Sounds
Soul/Funk that sounds like it’s cut from a bygone era of cinema, only better. It’s easy to visualize some grainy B movie filled with action and intrigue while listening to this album. The grooves just keep rolling it’s hard not to move to.
Honorable Mentions: Lamassu - Made of Dust, Altın Gün - Aşk
Thanks for adding your list!
Glad to see Thundercat made the honorable mention list for you too (I always preferred Drunk personally, which may have been a AOTY contender for 2017 for me, but It Is What It Is is still dynamite)!
Japanese Breakfast’s Jubilee would have been my fourth honorable mention for 2021, but I felt indulgent already and capped myself at three. Excellent album though; my fiancée and I and my ex-girlfriend saw them live together with Belle & Sebastian and it was a great show. Picked up some shirts and the Jubilee vinyl there.
I know of Little Simz, and I like what I’ve heard so far a lot, but I have to admit she’s one of those artists I’ve only encountered in single/individual song contexts, so I haven’t actually sat with one of her albums yet.
Aside from those, the rest are all pretty much brand new to me, so I’ve added them all (along with @metaphortune’s suggestions) to a playlist to check out over the next few days; thanks for giving me some new tunes to explore!
For sharing lists I definitely try to prioritize albums that don’t get as much love. Little Simz got alot of critical praise and is probably the exception, but 2021 was a little slow (wonder why…). 2022 however was so amazing, I am still discovering banger albums that I missed on release.
I feel like in the current streaming landscape it can be really difficult to catch new stuff on release. KEXP helps a ton but so much still slips by from my favorite genres. I’ve checked out a few genre specific podcasts and found some great stuff, but if I am in a music mood I don’t want to listen to talking about music and if I am in a podcast mood I usually just want to laugh.
