EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Harold
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EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by Harold »

Henrik, please make this a sticky topic when you have the chance.

Not enough lists yet to post the full spreadsheet (I will probably wait until there are at least five eligible "Rest of the World" lists to include - the US and UK categories have both passed that mark already), but I thought I'd post the top 20 albums so far:

1. Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer
2. Low - Double Negative
3. IDLES - Joy as an Act of Resistance
4. Robyn - Honey
5. Arctic Monkeys - Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino
6. Mitski - Be the Cowboy
7. Kamasi Washington - Heaven & Earth
8. Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel
9. Young Fathers - Cocoa Sugar
10. Christine and The Queens - Chris
11. Parquet Courts - Wide Awake!
12. Pusha T - Daytona
13. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour
14. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Hope Downs
15. Spiritualized - And Nothing Hurt
16. Father John Misty - God's Favorite Customer
17. Cardi B - Invasion of Privacy
18. Tirzah - Devotion
19. Beach House - 7
20. Lucy Dacus - HIstorian
Future Critic
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by Future Critic »

This is like an early Christmas present to me. Thanks for all the work on it, Harold!
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EGrignon
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by EGrignon »

Devotion in the top 20 is a pleasant surprise. Maybe it's because it came out in the summer and I didn't pay too much attention then but I didn't feel it received the same kind of attention than, say, Beach House or Father John Misty. I'm also a bit surprised by Courtney Barnett: I was a bit disappointed by that record to be fair, especially compared to her first outing, so seeing it as high as number 8 is quite unexpected.

Thanks a lot Harold for that work, as always!
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by Rob »

SpankyRevolution wrote:Devotion in the top 20 is a pleasant surprise. Maybe it's because it came out in the summer and I didn't pay too much attention then but I didn't feel it received the same kind of attention than, say, Beach House or Father John Misty. I'm also a bit surprised by Courtney Barnett: I was a bit disappointed by that record to be fair, especially compared to her first outing, so seeing it as high as number 8 is quite unexpected.
!
Yes, I'm surprised by Tirzah too. I listened to it when it came out, but pretty much forgot about it immediately afterwards. Courtney Barnett, though, was a real grower. I thought it was a step backwards initially, but I find myself returning to it a lot.
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by Illiniq »

SpankyRevolution wrote:I'm also a bit surprised by Courtney Barnett: I was a bit disappointed by that record to be fair, especially compared to her first outing, so seeing it as high as number 8 is quite unexpected.
It was a weak year for exceptional albums, there's no splitting hairs on that. No matter how the top ten shakes out, it will be an underdog going against any other aggregate top ten of this century. Given that, I think a lot of critics are falling back on who has been great recently rather than taking stock of the 2018 works on their standalone face value... Not saying Heaven and Earth, Dirty Computer, or Courtney's, Robyn's, or Father John Misty's aren't worthy of being in this year's top 20... but none of their 2018 releases are their best efforts to date, in the case of Kamasi and Courtney, it's not even close.

I like you, am not a big fan of Courtney's latest, too much emphasis on 90s alt-rock edge in a Speedy Ortiz way versus the more playful, elegant, far wittier vibe of Sometimes, and I have just not been able to get into Heaven and Earth the way I was The Epic and Harmony of Difference. Might just be Kamasi overkill because I've been listening to his stuff so much the last few years, but Heaven and Earth felt very repetitive to me, though I do like a few of its songs quite a bit, especially that vocoder tune near the front of disk two. That's one of my favorite tracks of the year.
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by EGrignon »

I think Stereogum said it best concerning 2018. Like sure, Courtney and FJM are part of your usual critical darlings, but aside from side projects, gigantic acts like Radiohead, Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar didn't release anything so the door was really opened for debuts. Ironically as I say that I realize only three albums in the list are debuts so far, but as far as I'm concerned, Tirzah, Kali Uchis, Soccer Mommy and Snail Mail are all acts I had never heard of a year ago yet they are all in my top 10 this year, and I feel like all of these albums will appear in quite a few lists.
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Pierre
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by Pierre »

SpankyRevolution wrote:gigantic acts [...] didn't release anything
Glad to know Kanye isn't a gigantic act anymore. One album too late, but oh well.
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by Matski »

Unsurpringly, his recent political statements seem to have been the last straw with the media. If it's irreparable, I wonder how badly it will affect his 2010s releases in the AOTD polls. Fans of albums like MDTF could end up frustrated by the fallout.
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by JohnnyBGoode »

Rather than 'a lot of critics are falling back on who has been [in their opinion] great recently' the fact that the likes of the artists formerly known as Beyoncé/Jay Z & Kanye did release albums, maybe it was a case of critics stopping giving everything they released high marks/rankings. Though I'm old & closer to a hip op than most hip hop.
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by charliepanayi »

Matski wrote:Unsurpringly, his recent political statements seem to have been the last straw with the media. If it's irreparable, I wonder how badly it will affect his 2010s releases in the AOTD polls. Fans of albums like MDTF could end up frustrated by the fallout.
Ye wasn't a very good album anyway, Kids See Ghosts was very good though. If My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy suffers in Best of the 2010s polls, then that's just another example of the music press being hypocritical idiots.
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by Harold »

charliepanayi wrote:If My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy suffers in Best of the 2010s polls, then that's just another example of the music press being hypocritical idiots.
I doubt MBDTF (or even Yeezus) will suffer much in the end-of-decade polls - if anything, they might even be helped, carried along on a wave of - to quote the man himself - "I miss the old Kanye" nostalgia.
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by Harold »

Is anyone else surprised by how spectacularly well Double Negative is performing so far? Right now it's a very close #2 behind Dirty Computer. Low has been a huge critical favorite for two decades now (they have four albums in the current AM top 3000, and most of their others are Bubbling Under), but they have never had an album perform like this on EOY lists ... and I have to admit it's puzzling me.

I'm a big fan of the band, but I don't quite get this album or the massive acclaim it's receiving. I understand that they wanted to move far out of their comfort zone, but for me (so far) it just sounds like they didn't have enough finished songs and decided to cover everything with waves of distortion and static. It's a frustrating listen, because the best songs (and it really clicks into gear toward the end, with the last four tracks) are as great as anything they've ever done.

If you love Double Negative, please feel free to make the case here.
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by Jackson »

I like Double Negative, but it is shocking to me it's such a critics' favorite. It is a lot less accessible than albums that usually end up that high, and I don't see any of its songs doing that well with the critics.

But it's not as shocking at Tranquility Base's performance. That album is mediocre and received very mixed reviews. I have literally no idea why it's been so successful on YE lists. AM is only the #10 album for 2013! Would be shocking if Tranquility Base ends up higher than it (though I see AM as a big riser once EOD lists come in).
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by charliepanayi »

People who like Tranquillity Base really like it (so when it is in lists, it tends to do well), and I think the change in direction has found favour.

Low is an interesting one as often veteran acts who aren't the really really big ones (e.g. Radiohead, David Bowie, Bob Dylan) get overlooked somewhat in end of year lists. I notice that Yo La Tengo haven't been mentioned much so far in lists for instance. I love Low and Double Negative anyway so I'm all for it.
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by Henrik »

Low is this year’s Slowdive, that get additional love for not being praised enough in the past.
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by BleuPanda »

I decided to check out Arctic Monkeys on Metacritic, and I'm surprised at how low their albums are in general there. 82 is obviously a good score, but wouldn't suggest Whatever People Say I Am ending up in the top 200 of all time here. Humbug has an even lower average than Tranquility Base and still ended up #16 for its year, so they are a band that seems to have historically done better in End of Year lists than in initial reception.
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by JohnnyBGoode »

Henrik wrote:Low is this year’s Slowdive, that get additional love for not being praised enough in the past.
Think there's more to it than that. It is different to what they did before, while retaining a lot of their sound, if not in itself particular unique (Jon Hopkins etc. but then even Kid A, heck even the Beatles did draw on other influences). Also IMO the distortion actually on some of the stronger tracks, and quite a lot doesn't have any effects. Not sure about critically acclaimed albums being accessible either. I for one find a lot of recent critical darlings inaccessible. It probably takes a couple of listens and even then won't be to everyone's taste, but no surprise to me doing well, though will probably fall as more US/ROW lists come in, as I'm sure IDLES will.
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by DaveC »

Double Negative will feature on my YE list, but, at present, I imagine it ranking somewhere between #5 & #8 amongst Low's albums for me in the longer term. So, yes the high ranking on critic YE lists is surprising. Ditto Arctic Monkeys, I just can't imagine how TBH&C could be thought better than Favourite Worst Nightmare, so maybe 2018 has been a very bad year - but I'm not ready reach that conclusion just yet.

Meanwhile for anyone who enjoys slowcore with female vocals and MPB (thinking of you Henrik) try out Clau Aniz - Filha de Mil Mulheres (key track Romana).
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Jackson
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by Jackson »

Henrik wrote:Low is this year’s Slowdive, that get additional love for not being praised enough in the past.
That's an interesting point -- I think Sleater-Kinney's 2015 comeback album is the best recent example of this.
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Post by Nick »

The appeal of that Low album is more or less lost on me. If you enjoy it, all the more power to you, but to me it just sounded decent, it felt overly long and all that distortion made the songs sound overly samey.
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by Rob »

I put off listening to Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino until this week and was actually surprised how good it was. I understand its re-evaluation here. Then again, I think this was a better year than it gets credited for. It's doesn't have the scope of last year (which actually received a lot of the same criticism as I find here), but there is a lot to enjoy. Then again, I'm not really looking for big-statement-albums that dominate year-end-lists because apparently they perfectly capture a time and all the people in it (The Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasies and Channels Orange of this world). I never believed these albums existed for real.
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Post by Moonbeam »

Go, Dirty Computer! Totally worthy of the #1 spot and her best album, IMO. I also quite like the Mitski and Christine and the Queens albums. I'm a little surprised Kali Uchis isn't among the top 20 so far, but we'll see.

I actually think 2018 has been a great year for music so far. Of course, I wasn't listening to a whole lot of music from 2013-2017, but I am surprised by how much I have liked this year.
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Post by Moonbeam »

Also, once the spreadsheet comes in, I can try to do some recommendation stats based on rank-based correlations. Something like, if you like Album A, you might also like Albums B, C, D, E, and F.
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by howdoesitfeel »

Harold wrote:Is anyone else surprised by how spectacularly well Double Negative is performing so far? Right now it's a very close #2 behind Dirty Computer. Low has been a huge critical favorite for two decades now (they have four albums in the current AM top 3000, and most of their others are Bubbling Under), but they have never had an album perform like this on EOY lists ... and I have to admit it's puzzling me.

I'm a big fan of the band, but I don't quite get this album or the massive acclaim it's receiving. I understand that they wanted to move far out of their comfort zone, but for me (so far) it just sounds like they didn't have enough finished songs and decided to cover everything with waves of distortion and static. It's a frustrating listen, because the best songs (and it really clicks into gear toward the end, with the last four tracks) are as great as anything they've ever done.

If you love Double Negative, please feel free to make the case here.
A lot of what you're saying about it reminds me of what people said about Kid A at first. Maybe it's too easy of a comparison, but Double Negative reminds me an awful lot of Kid A- heavy on electronics, a radical departure from the band's previous sound. Not that the albums sound particularly alike, just that the experimentation is similar. Double Negative is far and away my album of the year, and it's quickly found a place among some of my favorite albums. I could see it's influence ripple through music to come, because I don't think I've ever heard anything that sounds quite like it
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by Harold »

I'm going to go ahead and post the first full spreadsheet update.

USA/Canada: Decibel; Glide; Revolver; Paste; Gorilla vs Bear; Consequence of Sound; Uproxx; NPR; Stereogum; Exclaim! (Top 20 Pop/Rock, Top 10 Folk/Country) [Canada]; Noisey; Complex; Treble
UK: Uncut; Mojo; BBC6 Music; The Skinny; The Line of Best Fit; The Quietus; The Wire; The Guardian (#21-50); The MusicOMH; The Dazed :mrgreen:
Rest of the World: Gaffa [Sweden]; Gaffa [Denmark]; Mondosonoro-Intl [Spain]; OOR [Netherlands]

Current top 25:
1. Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer
2. Low - Double Negative
3. Robyn - Honey
4. Mitski - Be the Cowboy
5. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour
6. Pusha T - Daytona
7. IDLES - Joy as an Act of Resistance
8. Christine and The Queens - Chris
9. Cardi B - Invasion of Privacy
10. Kamasi Washington - Heaven & Earth
11. Arctic Monkeys - Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino
12. Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel
13. Ariana Grande - Sweetener
14. Noname - Room 25
15. Beach House - 7
16. Tirzah - Devotion
17. SOPHIE - Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides
18. Kali Uchis - Isolation
19. Sons of Kemet - Your Queen is a Reptile
20. Snail Mail - Lush
21. Parquet Courts - Wide Awake!
22. Blood Orange - Negro Swan
23. U.S. Girls - In a Poem Unlimited
24. Jon Hopkins - Singularity
25. Julia Holter - Aviary
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by Huangal70 »

biggest shock for me is Jericho sirens and POST sat at around 350 at the moment given the reviews they both got earlier this year
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by Gillingham »

Fantastic that Low is doing so well. Quite unexpected. They have released so much good music over the years. And Double Negative is definitely a great and surprising effort, very consistent too.
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by Jackson »

Harold wrote: 10. Kamasi Washington - Heaven & Earth
19. Sons of Kemet - Your Queen is a Reptile
Unless I missed something, I think this year will have more jazz albums in the top 20 than 2000-2017 combined (The Epic in 2015 is the only other one, I think). Right on!
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by FreshOutTheDeli »

howdoesitfeel wrote:
Harold wrote:Is anyone else surprised by how spectacularly well Double Negative is performing so far? Right now it's a very close #2 behind Dirty Computer. Low has been a huge critical favorite for two decades now (they have four albums in the current AM top 3000, and most of their others are Bubbling Under), but they have never had an album perform like this on EOY lists ... and I have to admit it's puzzling me.

I'm a big fan of the band, but I don't quite get this album or the massive acclaim it's receiving. I understand that they wanted to move far out of their comfort zone, but for me (so far) it just sounds like they didn't have enough finished songs and decided to cover everything with waves of distortion and static. It's a frustrating listen, because the best songs (and it really clicks into gear toward the end, with the last four tracks) are as great as anything they've ever done.

If you love Double Negative, please feel free to make the case here.
A lot of what you're saying about it reminds me of what people said about Kid A at first. Maybe it's too easy of a comparison, but Double Negative reminds me an awful lot of Kid A- heavy on electronics, a radical departure from the band's previous sound. Not that the albums sound particularly alike, just that the experimentation is similar. Double Negative is far and away my album of the year, and it's quickly found a place among some of my favorite albums. I could see it's influence ripple through music to come, because I don't think I've ever heard anything that sounds quite like it
As someone who actually dislikes Low, I waited to listen as long as I could until the reviews were just too good for me to ignore any more. After two or three listens I was pretty blown away by it, and I think Kid A is a great comparison. The album is so even start to finish, and so much more atmospheric than almost any other rock albums to come out this decade. Every time I listen I discover something new in the layers of sound, and I can't imagine ever getting board of that. Totally not an album that will be for everyone, but it made a very quick jump into my top 3 of 2018 once I gave it a real try. Now I'm going to have to go back and try to listen to Low's other albums again to see if my younger self was just crazy or if this album's one of those that for whatever reason just feels like it was made to cater to everything you like about music.
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by discord »

13. Ariana Grande - Sweetener

Don't understand this at all.
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by Illiniq »

discord wrote:13. Ariana Grande - Sweetener

Don't understand this at all.
Mainstream American critics/sites/publications (People magazine, US Weekly, even Pitchfork and Rolling Stone to a degree) will always rally around at least one huge mainstream female pop star of the moment, usually the one that puts out the most better than expected effort - in past years it's been Bey, Taylor Swift, Rhianna, Adele. Sometimes the praise is justified, sometimes it's just that artist was the best option to plug for that year, and with the thematic tie ins to the bombing at her concert, this was Ariana's turn.

To be honest, even as an American, I feel the huge number of American sites/publications included in these aggregates is really starting to warp the results of how things play out in these annual rankings - British rags mostly get their lists out a week or two earlier than the American rags and it's been fascinating to watch how completely the titles in the aggregator sites start flipping around the second week in December as all the Hip Hop and Mainstream pop starts muscling the rock and indie and arty stuff out of the top spots. Maybe it's always been this way, and I just didn't notice ten years ago because my indie/art-rock/classic funk & soul tastes were so much more aligned with what American critics of that decade were responding to. Use to base most of my listening on these year-end aggregate lists, but now I trust the opening round of reviews for a work way more. No way is Cardi B top 6 and Parquet Courts barely top 25 in my take on 2018.
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by charliepanayi »

At least Parquet Courts are in the top 25, Fucked Up will be lucky to make the top 100 at this rate!
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by Rob »

Hope Downs luck has also come to an end it seems.
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by Harold »

Rob wrote:Hope Downs luck has also come to an end it seems.
Unlikely, considering that no Australian lists have come out yet. Surely it'll do well on those.
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Post by noas7501@gmail.com »

Odd that Daughters just completely disappeared after getting really good reviews when it first came out - I think it was initally 3rd or 4th on the MegaCritic listing
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by Harold »

noas7501@gmail.com wrote:Odd that Daughters just completely disappeared after getting really good reviews when it first came out - I think it was initally 3rd or 4th on the MegaCritic listing
I wouldn't say it's "completely disappeared" - it's at #58 right now, which isn't bad at all considering how many albums come out every year. And there are a LOT of lists yet to come.
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by EGrignon »

Illiniq wrote:
discord wrote:13. Ariana Grande - Sweetener

Don't understand this at all.
Mainstream American critics/sites/publications (People magazine, US Weekly, even Pitchfork and Rolling Stone to a degree) will always rally around at least one huge mainstream female pop star of the moment, usually the one that puts out the most better than expected effort - in past years it's been Bey, Taylor Swift, Rhianna, Adele.

[...]

To be honest, even as an American, I feel the huge number of American sites/publications included in these aggregates is really starting to warp the results of how things play out in these annual rankings...
So what you're saying is that Canada needs to step their music media game up and start producing eligible year-end lists? I'll try to change that from the inside, though I can't guarantee anything.
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by Harold »

Updated with:

USA/Canada: Exclaim! (Top 10 Metal/Hardcore, Top 10 Hip-Hop) [Canada]; AllMusic; American Songwriter; Grammy Awards; Latin Grammy Awards; Entertainment Weekly; PopMatters
UK: The Guardian (#10-20); God is in the TV; Drowned in Sound
Rest of the World: NBHAP [Germany]; Rolling Stone-Argentina [Argentina]; Sonic [Sweden]; Revista Shock (Colombian) [Colombia]; MeHaceRuido (Spanish Language) [Mexico]
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by Harold »

Current top 40 albums:

1 / Janelle Monae / Dirty Computer
2 / Low / Double Negative
3 / Robyn / Honey
4 / Kacey Musgraves / Golden Hour
5 / Mitski / Be the Cowboy
6 / IDLES / Joy as an Act of Resistance
7 / Pusha T / Daytona
8 / Cardi B / Invasion of Privacy
9 / Arctic Monkeys / Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino
10 / Noname / Room 25
11 / Christine and The Queens / Chris
12 / Kamasi Washington / Heaven & Earth
13 / SOPHIE / Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides
14 / Ariana Grande / Sweetener
15 / Young Fathers / Cocoa Sugar
16 / Jon Hopkins / Singularity
17 / Kali Uchis / Isolation
18 / Blood Orange / Negro Swan
19 / Courtney Barnett / Tell Me How You Really Feel
20 / Julia Holter / Aviary
21 / Beach House / 7
22 / Sons of Kemet / Your Queen is a Reptile
23 / Snail Mail / Lush
24 / Parquet Courts / Wide Awake!
25 / Tirzah / Devotion
26 / Rosalia / El mal querer
27 / U.S. Girls / In a Poem Unlimited
28 / Travis Scott / Astroworld
29 / Shame / Songs of Praise
30 / Father John Misty / God's Favorite Customer
31 / Let's Eat Grandma / I'm All Ears
32 / Spiritualized / And Nothing Hurt
33 / Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever / Hope Downs
34 / Lucy Dacus / Historian
35 / Tierra Whack / Whack World
36 / Amen Dunes / Freedom
37 / The Internet / Hive Mind
38 / Neko Case / Hell-On
39 / Yves Tumor / Safe in the Hands of Love
40 / Kurt Vile / Bottle It In
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by BleuPanda »

So, the big thing to me this year -

As I pointed out while doing the women in music polls, only a single year on Acclaimed Music has women make up at least half of the albums in the top 10 (2015), and that was an exact 50/50. This is looking to be the first year ever where women outnumber men at the highest level. We're solidly at 6 right now (and that's excluding Low, which has both men and women, so I guess we're at 6.33), with 3 of the next 4 albums also by women.
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by Jackson »

BleuPanda wrote:So, the big thing to me this year -

As I pointed out while doing the women in music polls, only a single year on Acclaimed Music has women make up at least half of the albums in the top 10 (2015), and that was an exact 50/50. This is looking to be the first year ever where women outnumber men at the highest level. We're solidly at 6 right now (and that's excluding Low, which has both men and women, so I guess we're at 6.33), with 3 of the next 4 albums also by women.

12.5 out of the top 20 (and many of the next 20) is an awesome achievement. I think last year should have been similarly skewed but some of the female albums I liked ended up underrated by critics (like my AOTY Kelly Lee Owens, which is bubbling under).
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by discord »

I'm looking at the list and actually the ones in the top 10 that I don't like are by female artists rather than male. Mitski which I liked on first listen but quickly found irritating, Cardi B and Christine and the Queens I don't like much.
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by luvulongTIM »

Well with Mitski you know EVERY YEAR the critics end up picking the Björkist or Kate Bushiest female they can find to rank insanely high. It’s the Bjush effect. I already saw it coming so no surprise here.
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by Henrik »

DaveC wrote:Meanwhile for anyone who enjoys slowcore with female vocals and MPB (thinking of you Henrik) try out Clau Aniz - Filha de Mil Mulheres (key track Romana).
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by charliepanayi »

luvulongTIM wrote:Well with Mitski you know EVERY YEAR the critics end up picking the Björkist or Kate Bushiest female they can find to rank insanely high. It’s the Bjush effect. I already saw it coming so no surprise here.
But Mitski is nothing like Bjork or Kate Bush, either as a person or in her music.
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by Rob »

charliepanayi wrote:
luvulongTIM wrote:Well with Mitski you know EVERY YEAR the critics end up picking the Björkist or Kate Bushiest female they can find to rank insanely high. It’s the Bjush effect. I already saw it coming so no surprise here.
But Mitski is nothing like Bjork or Kate Bush, either as a person or in her music.
Indeed, I think gender is the only comparison you can make and that is just silly, like saying Pusha T is the new David Bowie, because they are both male. The most Bjush artist here is probably Julia Holter, who is far more divisive and more avant-gardist than both.
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by Harold »

Updated with:

USA/Canada: Exclaim! (Top 10 Soul/R&B, Top 10 Dance/Electronic) [Canada]; Billboard; Pitchfork; Slant; Flood
UK: The Guardian (#8-9); Crack
Rest of the World: MeHaceRuido-Intl [Mexico]; Noisey en Espanol [Mexico]

Current top 45:

1 / Janelle Monae / Dirty Computer
2 / Mitski / Be the Cowboy
3 / Low / Double Negative
4 / Robyn / Honey
5 / Kacey Musgraves / Golden Hour
6 / Pusha T / Daytona
7 / Cardi B / Invasion of Privacy
8 / IDLES / Joy as an Act of Resistance
9 / Arctic Monkeys / Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino
10 / Christine and The Queens / Chris
11 / SOPHIE / Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides
12 / Ariana Grande / Sweetener
13 / Noname / Room 25
14 / Kali Uchis / Isolation
15 / Kamasi Washington / Heaven & Earth
16 / Jon Hopkins / Singularity
17 / Young Fathers / Cocoa Sugar
18 / Beach House / 7
19 / Blood Orange / Negro Swan
20 / Rosalia / El mal querer
21 / Snail Mail / Lush
22 / Courtney Barnett / Tell Me How You Really Feel
23 / Tirzah / Devotion
24 / Sons of Kemet / Your Queen is a Reptile
25 / U.S. Girls / In a Poem Unlimited
26 / Julia Holter / Aviary
27 / The Internet / Hive Mind
28 / Parquet Courts / Wide Awake!
29 / Travis Scott / Astroworld
30 / Let's Eat Grandma / I'm All Ears
31 / Tierra Whack / Whack World
32 / Shame / Songs of Praise
33 / Spiritualized / And Nothing Hurt
34 / Father John Misty / God's Favorite Customer
35 / Yves Tumor / Safe in the Hands of Love
36 / Amen Dunes / Freedom
37 / J Balvin / Vibras
38 / DJ Koze / Knock Knock
39 / Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever / Hope Downs
40 / The 1975 / A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships
41 / Vince Staples / FM!
42 / boygenius / boygenius EP
43 / Deafheaven / Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
44 / Lucy Dacus / Historian
45 / Kids See Ghosts / Kids See Ghosts
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by BleuPanda »

I feel like I didn't hear anything at all about this Sons of Kemet album, and it's really blowing me away. I could see it being a forum favorite (if people get around to listening to it, that is).
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by trevorandersen »

It looks like this could be the most disagreement between critics of different regions for the decade. Perhaps a good indicator that there were no really great albums this year.
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Re: EOY 2018 Albums Spreadsheet Updates

Post by Jackson »

If Oil of Every Pearl... moves up one more spot will it be the weirdest album ever to make the top ten for its year? The biggest competition it has this decade are Shaking the Habitual and Syro.

@Bleu The Sons of Kemet album has been a great end of year find for me as well.
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