Albums
of the year
2018
This was a strange year, in the sense that without even planning it I ended up listening to more new releases than any past year. I think it was a subconscious thing, being in the middle of a "oh yeah I'll just build my own house and it will go perfectly with no hiccups whatsoever" type of situation. I was looking for something new and perfect to replace the new home which has yet to arrive. Luckily all this listening paid off as there were some really excellent albums this year. It started off slowly, only for some of the best output to come out towards the end. Killer climax, man.
This year I have not put together a playlist, but instead included a song or video for each review as a taste for the rest. And even though these are numbered as you can see, they are not in any order whatsoever. Except for #1 - that one truly rises above all else this year.
13
Soft Science
Maps
I've covered shoegaze pretty extensively so before we close out this year's list, we need to cover dream pop as well. And yes the terms do go interchangeably quite a lot, but there is a difference between the two, albeit subtle. To listen to Soft Science's debut 'Maps' is to fully understand and comprehend what dream pop is, instead of some moron on his couch with no plans on Thanksgiving "telling you" what dream pop is. This is it, and it's about as close to perfect as you can get. There are shades of everything here: Curve, Lush, My Bloody Valentine, Cocteau Twins, M83, even some Pale Saints. And the best/worst part is its a short, concise album that leaves you begging for more. OK - less time reading this, more time listening to it. Get going!
Label
Test Pattern Records
Released
01 June 2018
Running time
33:00
Tracklist
Undone
Breaking
Diverging
There
Apart
Sooner
Know
Still
Enough
Slip