Sharing the sharing.
Slow Pulp’s recently self-released sophomore EP, Big Day, is a solid 10 minutes of dream-pop meets shoegaze goodness that ends way sooner then it should. Give the standout “High” a spin below, for a taste. Big Day is available now via their Bandcamp page. Be sure to catch them on tour as well. Enjoy.
Cincinnati 3-piece Leggy have been cranking out the solid gold, garage-pop/rock goods since 2014 and their brand new full length, Let Me Know Your Moon is no exception. The shredded guitar licks, chugging bass lines, pounding drums and powerful vocals that we’ve come to expect from a Leggy release are all there and better than ever. Give “Not What You Need” and “Taffy” spins below to hear for yourself.
You can pick yourself up a copy of Let Me Know Your Moon on your preferred format from Leggy’s Bandcamp page. Enjoy.
Arizona’s The
Corey Cunningham has been making music for quite sometime now, most notably in Magic Bullets and Terry Malts. He started Business of Dreams as a way to cope with loss and a life he had left in the past. His second album and first (as BoD) with Slumberland Records, Ripe For Anarchy, Cunningham has focused his songs on moving on and letting go. What he’s created with Ripe For Anarchy is a pure indie-pop gem. A sure fit in the Slumberland catalog. Give the incredible “My Old Town” and “Ripe For Anarchy” a spin below for a taste. I can say with certainty that this will be on my favorites of 2019 list come December. Enjoy.
Eerie Wanda is the musical project of the Netherlands’ Marina Tadic. Her new album is called Pet Town – it’s a poppy affair, full of toe-tappers that don’t disappoint. Take album opener and title-track “Pet Town” (below) for example. Tadic’s fuzzy, yet chilly vocals work nicely with the added snaps,
Pet Town is out now via Joyful Noise and available on most formats via Eerie Wanda’s Bandcamp page.
David Bazan is back as Pedro The Lion with a new album titled Phoenix – his first PTL release in nearly 15 years. Bazan’s writing is as personal and introspective as ever as he conjures up memories both old and new thanks to a tour stop in his hometown and a detour past his childhood home.
I’ve been a big fan of Field Music since Sean’s post about them back in 2006, so I was stoked to find out that Peter Brewis had started up another project with Sarah Hayes (Admiral Hallow) called You Tell Me. Their just released (via Memphis Industries) self-titled LP is hard not to compare to Field Music or to say that it doesn’t sound like Field Music, but the addition of Hayes’ vocals and the way they harmonize with each other along with the orchestral-pop music they’ve created around their vocals make this one heck of a collaboration that definitely stands on its own.
Part Time’s new album Spell #6 (out now via Burger Records) is one of the best releases of 2018. It is a pop-rock/new-wave gem soaked in so much 80’s goodness, it’s 11 tracks could soundtrack a John Hughes film. Take “Shattered Love” and “So Far Away” for a spin below for a taste.
It’s time for my annual blog post…
Without further ado, my favorite albums of 2018:
Khruangbin Con Todo El Mundo (Dead Oceans)
Durand Jones & the Indications self-titled (Dead Oceans)
Bodega Endless Scroll (What’s Your Rupture?)
Jean Grae & Quelle Chris Everything’s Fine (Mello Music Group)
Janelle Monae Dirty Computer (Bad Boy)
Altin Gun On (Bongo Joe)
Smokescreens Used to Yesterday (Slumberland)
Idles Joy As an Act of Resistance (Partisan)
Low Double Negative (Sub Pop)
Cut Chemist Die Cut (A Stable Sound)
I encourage you to enjoy these on vinyl (link will go here as soon as I get off my butt and update the online store).
And because 2018 offered so much more music than can fit neatly in a Top 10 list, here are my 23 favorite songs of the past year…
Olden Yolk, I have done you wrong. Your debut, self-titled, album has been my favorite album of 2018 since it landed on my front porch back in February. I started this post (back in February) to tell the world all about your psychedelic, sometimes shoegazey, all the time rock ‘n’ roll goodness, but I could not find the words to describe the greatness of your 10 song masterpiece. I apologize.
Hello World, if you have not acquainted yourself with New York-based Olden Yolk, now is the time to do it. Their debut album is a solid slab of psych-rock/psych-folk/psych-pop, mingled with just enough fuzz and gaze to make it stand out above all the rest. Give “Vital Sign” and “Takes One To Know One” for a spin below to see what I mean. Olden Yolk is available now via Trouble In Mind Records. I highly, highly recommend it.