The Board Dot's Top 100 Releases of 2018

[Deleted]

Get ready to be amazed. I checked the math, and while I've been off and on today with things, I'm pretty sure this is a milestone. No ties. Never happened. Anyway, lets kick things off with 100-51. 


100. Khruangbin - Con Todo El Mundo (80)
99. Interpol – Maurauder (81)
98. Clearance - At Your Leisure (82)
97. A Perfect Circle – Eat the Elephant (83)
96. Cult Leader – A Patient Man (84)
95. JPEGMAFIA - Veteran (89)
94. Dream Wife - Dream Wife (90)
93. Metric - Art of Doubt (91)
92. The Atlas Moth – Coma Noir (92)
91. Cindy Lee - Model Express (93)

90. CHVRCHES - Love is Dead (95)
89. Flasher - Constant Image (96)
88. Mac Miller - Swimming (98)
87. Middle Kids - Lost Friends (100)
86. Screaming Females - All At Once (102)
85. Kanye West - ye (103)
84. Oh Sees - Smote Reverser (104)
83. Travis Scott - Astroworld (106)
82. Tirzah - Devotion (107)
81. Hinds - I Don't Run (108)

80. The Internet - Hive Mind (110)
79. Jon Hopkins - Singularity (112)
78. Ought - Room Inside the World (113)
77. DJ Koze – Knock Knock (114)
76. The Soft Moon - Criminal (115)
75. Adrienne Lenker - abysskiss (116)
74. Miya Folick - Premonitions (117)
73. Kurt Vile - Bottle It In (118)
72. Wooden Shjips – V. (119)
71. Franz Ferdinand - Always Ascending (121)

70. Kamasi Washington - Heaven and Hell (123)
69. Superorganism - Superorganism (126)
68. Empress Of - Us (132)
67. Neko Case - Hell-On (136)
66. Wye Oak - The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs (137)
65. Saba - Care For Me (145)
64. Jean Grae & Quelle Chris - Everything's Fine (148)
63. serpentwithfeet - soil (150)
62. Ariana Grande - Sweetener (155)
61. Jeff Tweedy - Warm (161)

60. Preoccupations - New Material (163)
59. Illuminati Hotties – Kiss Yr Frenemies (164)
58. Daughters – You Won’t Get What You Want (165)
57. Shopping - The Official Body (166)
56. Deafheaven – Ordinary Corrupt Human Love (171)
55. John Prine - The Tree of Forgiveness (173)
54. Shame - Songs of Praise (174)
53. Ghost – Prequelle (176)
52. No Age - Snares Like a Haircut (176)
51. SOPHIE - Oil of Every Pearls Un-insides (179)

[Deleted]

The top 50, with wonderful commentary from the freaks at Sputnik




50. Natalie Prass - The Future and the Past (184)

"if she wanted me to check she should've called it The Future and the Prasst"



49. Sons of Kemet - Your Queen is a Reptile (185)

"Important lesson learned: never underestimate tuba as a bad-ass bass replacement in a jazz quartet; the remaining three players in this case being saxophonist and a pair of percussionists. Together they'll take ya on a trip on every tune but shun getting too airy or long-winded, collectively let 'er rip at times but stop short of mad squawkin' and tumult. Their forte is fiery directness; power and rhythm. Dips into the slower+softer aren't quite as successful but make for some fruitful breathers, and having a knack for swampy reggae cert don't hurt. And whereas we get lizardry, all their Queens are powerful black women -- see bookended voxers for some scarily relatable thoughts on the issue -- "Fuck the fascists, end of story / Fuck em all, fuck em truly", "Don't wanna hear that racist claptrap / Anybody chat that crap get clapped back / Don't wanna take my country back mate / I wanna take my country forward.""



48. Dirty Projectors - Lamp Lit Prose (187)

"at least there's nothing as irritating as "work together"



47. Let’s Eat Grandma - I’m All Ears (188)

"Let’s Eat Out Grandma"



46. MGMT - Little Dark Age (193)

"If someone thought Oracular Spectacular was a 1.5 then what would they likely make of this? I'm asking for a friend."

[Deleted]

45. Teenage Wrist – Chrome Neon Jesus (194)

"The problem with Chrome Neon Jesus is that it’s an album that feels derivative of bands that were already derivative to begin with. No, Balance and Composure didn’t invent the fuzz pedal, but they at least sounded like they were into the bands they were stealing from."



44. The Beths - Future Me Hates Me (195)

"The moment these lines are written, cyclone Xenophon (with cyclone Zorbas being underway) has already disrupted the traditional Greek Indian Summer, but somehow, I have a hunch that the heavy showers and winds will recede for a while, and this wonderful album will become momentarily relevant anew during the last warm October days. Favorite tracks: Not Running."



43. Nine Inch Nails - Bad Witch (196)

"Downward spiral takes a MASSIVE shit on this"



42. The 1975 - A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships (204)

"The album combines the most obnoxious sneering aloofness with the dullest earnestness with the most insidiously boring toxic masculinity imaginable; it is genuinely impressive on how many tonal axes it utterly fails."



41. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Sparkle Hard (206)

"this band name is like what I would name a fictional band if I was writing a comedy set in New Zealand"

[Deleted]

40. Caroline Rose - Loner (210)

"Tame Impala meets Lana Del rey."



39. Sleep - The Sciences (213)

"This is so average. the guitar work saves it and the vocals are so monotone and tepid. the dude literally sings one note for half his lines. The first couple songs are cool but by the end it just all starts to sound the same. The closing track saves the album from being a 2 out of 5"



38. Kali Uchis - Isolation (215)

"POSolation"



37. Rosalia - El Mal Querer (224)

"this sucks lol OOOOOH SPANISH MUCHO DISTINTO MY ENGLISH NO COMPRENDE fuck offfffff"



36. Noname - Room 25 (228)

Two parter

"This is amazing. Less funky female Kendrick, she has great flow and doesnt rap about her genetalia like other female rappers "

response

"^ "My p*ssy teaching ninth-grade English / My p*ssy wrote a thesis on colonialism"

[Deleted]

35. Julia Holter - Aviary (232)

"The audio equivalent of the flower halo Snapchat filter. Also ?Les Jeux to You? may be just the worst song I?ve ever heard. My ears are crying blood"



34. Brockhampton - Iridescence (242)

"on iridescence, brockhampton take a bold step forward by removing the interesting production,
excellent chemistry, entertaining lyricism, catchy hooks, and just about anything else that made
them even remotely enjoyable in the first place."



33. Jeff Rosenstock - POST- (248)

"Rosenstock n crew pullin' the surprise New Years drop, one that with its nine sturdy tunes and meek five-second salutation forgoes the sporadic sprawl that was 'Worry'. A pair of puissant protractions, anthemic anxieties abound, rich and noisy and perpetually proficient at amplifying the 'pop' in pop-punk -- but what the diehards die for just kinda glides on by yours truly. Maybe cuz there's no peak, no lowlight but no real highlight either. Maybe cuz what might stick with me most is "Beating My Head Against a Wall" eliciting "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"."



32. Blood Orange - Negro Swan (253)

"it's like watching a Lynch film on TV with a fucktonne of ads"



31. Arctic Monkeys - Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino (255)

"Best Neutered Music"

[mookie]

How the fuck did MGMT outrank any of the albums from 100-51???

[Deleted]

30. IDLES - Joy As an Act of Resistance (259)

"I thought "why not give a chance at a trendy album on sputnik maybe it won't be some pretentious crap for posers." As usual I regretted my initiative."



29. Vince Staples - FM! (261)

"Vince does some vaguely annoying nonsense to fill in the time before and after Earl is rapping"



28. Cardi B - Invasion of Privacy (263)

"If I'll have to keep hearing about this, I'll have a cardi-b-arrest."



27. Haley Heynderickx - I Need to Start a Garden (264)

this comment is defending the album....

"not surprised a fan of julien baker’s snivelling, mawkish art can’t handle the sophistication here "



26. Kids See Ghosts - Kids See Ghosts (265)

"these idiots' therapists could cut a better album by this point.."

[wanny]

I will take 31

[Deleted]

25. Phosphorescent - C'est La Vie (288)

barely anyone has ranked this album on sputnik, and the only comment is overly gushing.



24. Yves Tumor - Safe In The Hands of Love (290)

"Can't wait to never listen to this album again after all the emotional and interpersonal associations it has created this year"



23. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Hope Downs (308)

"this is nice but i’d rather jam real estate"



22. Young Fathers - Cocoa Sugar (339)

"Like TV on the Radio's 'Dear Science' without the conviction"



21. boygenius - boygenius EP (359)

"I'm kind of amazed they were even in the studio together to record any of this, sounds like a true email album"

[iasm]

Dec 30, 2018 23:25:13 GMT -6 mookie said:

How the fuck did MGMT outrank any of the albums from 100-51???

There are 4 legit jams on that record

[Deleted]

20. Amen Dunes - Freedom (374)

"The overall album is quite nice for a few listens but after that it feels like it needs some variation and there's not a ton to come back to for repeat listens."



19. U.S. Girls - In A Poem Unlimited (378)

"Her singing and songwriting aren't very interesting to me."



18. Hop Along - Bark Your Head Off, Dog (396)

"Chances are, this is my virtual complete inexperience with female-fronted indie speaking but... I kinda get the feeling the vocals don't fit with the rest of the music? I can't explain it, when they're layered like in the first couple tracks it's a bit better, huh"



17. Spiritualized - And Nothing Hurt (409)

"hmm musically quite enjoyable but its a bit ginger beer. Overly soppy at least"



16. Snail Mail - Lush (414)

"snail mail - POSh"

[Deleted]

15. Kacey Musgraves - The Golden Hour (430)

"Amongst the bewildering abundance of praise for this Beige-ish Hour is GQ somehow calling it 'gutsy' (I hear "High Horse" in Stop&Shop), which makes me assume they considered her previous works outright terrifying. Tame as they may be, there's something to appreciate in the feather-in-a-breeze production and tidy arrangements; but where's the spunk? The country? The wit? At least her trite used to have bite -- now it's "You've set my world on fire", "You look out the window while I look at you", "looking at my phone, putting it back down", "everything that goes up must come down", marveling at how time zones work and that plants are real. And barring a moving moment for Mom, I struggle to see the much-touted 'most personal' artistic statement shine through much. I'll take Dime Store Cowgirl over Dime Store LSD-lite Pop-Rock in this case."



14. Earl Sweatshirt - Some Rap Songs (451)

"What is it with hip hop albums always having headache inducing cover art these days"



13. Father John Misty - God's Favorite Customer (463)

"this Father John is getting Musty.. "



12. Low - Double Negative (469)

"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfVdDU3sMz4"



11. Iceage - Beyondless (474)

"Trades in some of the ragged despondence and punky pummeling for arrangements that dip into bluesy, symphonic, shaker-filled -- nicely dense and rough around the edges, for the most part diggable, but these half-awake-rolling-in-a-gutter vox certainly ain't lendin' it propulsion; something that seems achingly absent here. Part of me likes the near-cheese "Take It All" best cuz it just goes for it emotively."

[Deleted]

10. Car Seat Headrest - Twin Fantasy (Face to Face) (481)

"As someone who basically grew up finding music on the internet, and also someone who was a college radio DJ in Maryland where a lot of people knew will and like, bragged about seeing him at house shows with 2 people when they were 16 (wow, cool!)- it's a weird full circle seeing a rerecording of twin fantasy getting best new music on pitchfork and stuff. I've always hated this record and the cult around it. Oh well"



9. Lucy Dacus - Historian (490)

"Dacus+crew's superficial downfall is imparting the sound of customary-n-cautious indie singer/songwriter -- seldom not slow too, which can make it wane."



8. Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel (492)

"the musical equivalent of a club sandwich.."



7. Soccer Mommy - Clean (497)

"Best Coast II: This Time It's Personal"



6. Mitski - Be the Cowboy (518)

"there's some kind of originality here but sometimes it feels like Nobody is the only actual "song"."

[Deleted]

5. Parquet Courts - Wide Awake! (520)

"the lyrics are never as clever as pitchfork wants them to be.. they've been writing the same album of artsy cock rock for years now.. solid 3 for years now.."



4. Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer (564)

"we've gone from OK Computer to Dirty Computers in twenty years and personally? i think porn is to blame"



3. Robyn - Honey (584)

"Is this the 80's again? What the fuck? Never heard this but I'm generally not a big fan of musicians who exploit their bodies for attention. Is she at least a good singer?"

[Deleted]

2. Pusha-T - DAYTONA (598)

"With 21mins in length, this is definately not an album. Yes, it flows well, Push is as good as always, but I don't hear any standout track. Then Kanye raps about himself, which was definitely not needed. After 3 years of waiting and teasing, I expected more."

[Deleted]

1. Beach House - 7 (650)

"Starting to think I don't like dream pop since this group represents the 'quintessential' sound and every album by them is lame."

[mookie]

Well, that was certainly unexpected...

Thanks for doing this once again Timbo

[Deleted]

And now some facts for you

- Highest ranking album without a no. 1 spot: Pusha-T - Daytona
- Most no. 1 spots: Parquet Courts - Wide Awake (3)
- On the most lists: Pusha-T - Daytona (19)
- Highest ranking for Beach House. Appeared on 18 lists, with 1 person (Wyoming) putting it at no. 1.
- Highest ranking for Pusha-T, and total score is almost both previous scores combined.
- First appearances for established and/or critically acclaimed acts: Low, Stephen Malkmus, MGMT, The 1975, John Prine, Metric, Jon Hopkins, Kid Cudi, Jeff Rosenstock, and No Age (just to name a few)
- Highest ranking of a Parquet Courts album, though they’ve always been in the top 30.
- Lucy Dacus, Mitski, Kacey Musgraves, Hop Along, Amen Dunes, and Young Fathers all out-performed their previous albums.
- First Vince Staples album not in the top 10.
- Lowest ranking for Kanye West, Dirty Projectors, Arctic Monkeys, Kurt Vile, Interpol, CHVRCHES, and Preoccupations.
- Worst showing for the Oh Sees since 2012.
- Second time the board has voted a shoegaze/dream pop band the AOTY, the last one was M83 in 2011.
- First female vocalist to take AOTY.
- Earl Sweatshirt has moved up the list with each release.
- 23 albums that P4K gave a BNM to in our top 50.
- 7 female vocalists in our top 10, up from 5 last year.
- Best debut album: Soccer Mommy’s “Clean”
- First year without a single tie.
- Earliest released album: Jeff Rosenstock “POST”
- Biggest gain: Janelle Monae: 67 spots (Electric Lady @ 71 in 2013) 
- Worst loss: Kanye West: 82 spots (Life of Pablo @ 3 in 2016) 
- Smallest gap between 1st and 2nd place at 52 pts. 
- Fewest lists, which means the lowest winning pts for a no. 1 album. 

[totally]

Dec 31, 2018 0:20:31 GMT -6 @tima said:

And now some facts for you

- Biggest gain: Janelle Monae: 67 spots (Electric Lady @ 71 in 2013) 

this is nuts!

[Xamnam]

Thank you once again for putting the work you do into these, and I apologize for not submitting a list, Oh Sees and Sidney Gish would have done much better.

[sthubbins]

such a weird list

thanks timbo, you're a champ

[irvred]

This is great Timbo, thanks again for slaving away at this.

I second Totally; the Janelle fact is bananas and I feel like we’ve all been Black Mirrored.

[irvred]

Also i don’t know what Sputnik is but they seem insufferable.

[Deleted]

thanks tim! this was a neat list. lots of surprises i didnt think had a chance of being top 50.

i dont think i even noticed you guys mentioning beach house at all this year but i might've just tuned it out.


also does that m83 album really count as shoegaze/dreampop?

[ten15]

Thanks, timbo! Love the stats recap.

Ugh, Beach House. I’ve tried to listen to them, but blergh. Was hoping Pusha would pull it off.

Thought for next year - each list’s #1 gets some sort of bonus score (as opposed to 1 more point than their number 2). Not sure how that would work, but seems like your favorite release should score relatively higher than the second best.

(This is not just me grousing about Beach House. At least I don’t think it is? ).

[Xamnam]

Dec 31, 2018 9:20:22 GMT -6 @wretched said:

also does that m83 album really count as shoegaze/dreampop?

Oh nice this will be a fun no holds barred argument to end out the year on theboarddot

[wanny]

Thank you Tim!

[Deleted]

Dec 31, 2018 9:13:32 GMT -6 irvred said:

Also i don’t know what Sputnik is but they seem insufferable.

It's similar to albumoftheyear.org or rateyourmusic. But it's mostly metalheads.

[thebosma]

Loved that Beach House record, especially live. DId not expect to see it at #1 but here we are.  The drum fill that opens the whole album is totally sick, btw

[Tweet]

I’ll send out some more takes not on my phone but congratulations to us for naming the worst beach house album AOTY