Really enjoying Jonathan Bree's Sleepwalking. Excellent indie pop, with beautiful dreamy arrangements and vocals a la Stephen Merritt.
These are in no order.....though if I have to pick one for my 2018 First Half award winner....it would be Hannah Wicklund & The Steppin' Stones. KILLER record! John Corabi - Live '94 (One Night in Nashville) The Dead Daisies - Burn It Down Ghost - Ceremony and Devotion Ghost - Prequelle Godsmack - When Legends Rise The High Divers - Chicora Judas Priest - Firepower The Motels - The Last Few Beautiful Days Joe Perry - Sweetzerland Manifesto Joe Satriani - What Happens Next Sevendust - All I See Is War Rick Springfield - The Snake King Stone Temple Pilots - Stone Temple Pilots Hannah Wicklund & The Steppin Stones - Hannah Wicklund & The Steppin Stones
Brymo - oso is still leading my album and 'find' of the year. Shame it is streaming only. Wonderful album and back catalogue. The only other album making a deeper impression is Father John Misty. I am a late comer to this guy/act but love the album. Just got tickets for his gig in October.
Whoa, this is intense! Never heard of these dudes but they're now very much on my radar, thanks for sharing.
FWIW Consequence of Sound is out with their Top 25 Albums from the first half of 2018. If it was my list, most of the bottom half would be at the top and most of the top half would be replaced with better records, but here it is anyway.
That Cavern of Anti-Matter release is relaxing and invigorating. Another recommendation for it. Also, check out Volume 8 by Bardo Pond.
RateYourMusic.com is the best place to find new music bar none, that I’ve seen. Anyone else laughing at all the people living in the past exclusively musically. It must be very sad to just look forward to new reissues of previously reissued albums - in the hopes that the new version will become the go-to version with superior audio qualities.
YOB - Our Raw Heart LP is great! Emotional and light-strewn metal. Just what the doctor ordered. The new Death Cab song Gold Rush is very nice if ya catch its drift.
They nailed it with this. One of those bands that already sounded fully formed from the first e.p., with this album they sound like a classic guitar band. Every song has a different feel, different approach, and all are deceptively simple, there's really a lot going on and the songwriting is airtight. But it's the guitars that make this band, and they chime, soar, intertwine and jangle, without ever coming off as trying too hard. Laid back without sacrificing tension. Classic rhythm section, tight and smooth, laying the bedrock those guitars need. A ridiculously solid band, this reminds me of debuts by The Smiths, The Strokes and REM in that you wonder " how the hell did they get this good this fast"?
This album could overtake the Hookworms- Microshift for my favorite 'young band' album of the year. I also like they aren't repeating any tracks from the EPs on their full length.
My Rolling Blackouts CF record just came in the mail, but my record player's in storage, and the download code doesn't work until Friday. Oh, well. The Loser Edition is beautiful! New Protomartyr this Friday, too.
I've never heard of this band, but you mentioning the debuts of The Smiths, The Strokes, and REM have me really excited to hear this on this Friday! Thanks! As of right now, my favorite of the year is Neko Case's "Hell-On"
Thank you for this – I'd never heard them, so I listened to some of their stuff on Apple Music and I really dig it.
I am so thrilled to hear your thoughts. Not that I've doubted them, but I get the pressure for a band that gets this much buzz to have to live up to it with a killer debut full-length, I'm happy to hear they nailed it. Can't wait to get my copy!
After living with it pretty much exclusively for the past week, listening over and over, I'd have to say the new Virginia Wing Ecstatic Arrow is by far my favorite of the year. They've really found their voice on this one, intelligent, unique and lots of fun. Nice 4.5/5 review by Heather Phares at allmusic echoes what most critics are saying, very positive reviews, nice to see, certainly evoking all the right emotions for me as we head into the summer months ... Ecstatic Arrow - Virginia Wing | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic The record comes with some cool goodies too
