January 3, 2019

Larson's Top 11 Albums from 2018


1. Blood Orange - Negro Swan  

I learned about both Janet Mock and A$AP Rocky via this album. It's simply incredible.

2. Hinds - I Don’t Walk I Run      

They’re from Spain and they’re awesome.

3. Wye Oak - The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs      
     
When I wanted the feels I reached for this album.

4. Dream Wife - Dream Wife     

When I needed aggressive guitar based music this was my go to album this year.

5. Lyyke Li - So Sad So Sexy        

I made a slow motion video of my kids frolicking outside to the song “Hard Rain”. Hit me up and I’ll send it to you.

6. Cardi B - Invasion Of Privacy 

When I needed something over the top this spring. This was the answer.

7. Leon Bridges - Good Thing     

Describing music as “timeless” can be a slippery slope. Sometimes I feel like people just mean it sounds like a certain era but that era is not right now so it’s now deemed “timeless”... Or maybe that’s what I’m afraid I’m saying when I say music is “timeless” and I don’t like that about myself. It’s not like I’m saying it’s a bad thing it’s just that perhaps I worry that an artist can become pigeonholed by being “timeless”. Pretty cool how many times I’ve put quotations around “timeless” in this ramble. The song “Good Thing” is one of the most beautiful songs ever.

8. Laura Gibson - Goners             

Like an old friend coming to visit.

9. Black Panther Soundtrack     

Feels weird to put a soundtrack to a Marvel movie on my top album list but maybe that’s a weird hangup that I need to get over. I built a set of dresser drawers for my wife and I this year. I clocked a lot of hours with sandpaper a nail gun and this album on rotation.

10. Raye - Side Tape      

This is on here mainly because I listened to the song Cigarette like a million times. I’d been doing some research on what songs Stefflon Don was on and found this banger. There is also a song that is essentially a revamp of Always On Time by Ja Rule and Ashanti which never hurts to listen to.

11. Spiritualized - And Nothing Hurt       

3 Comments:

Ben said...

Black panther was good. Hard to go wrong with that line up. Was nice to see sac rapper mozzy and Bay Area group srbxrbe in there.

awmercy said...

I didn't see/hear Black Panther (yet!); my hip hop soundtrack was Sorry to Bother You by Oakland's own The Coup. Political party jams.

Ben said...

Boots Riley is an interesting guy.

For the record, that SOB song, "Paramedic!", is sort of like listening to them underwater. Usually they're going 90 in a 25.