Hi everyone 😃 Hope you've all had a fantastic holiday season and didn't get too drunk celebrating the start of 2019! 😝 Some really great albums came out in 2018 and I'd like to share my 10 favourites of the year with you. Yes... I know I'm late to this, but nevermind! 💁 Tell me what your favourite albums of the year were and maybe this list will encourage you to listen to some albums you may have missed.
10. KOD by J. Cole
Cole doing what he does best, conscious hip hop.
Cole tackles themes of addiction and his production style takes on a trap influence.
Favourite Tracks: KOD, Kevin's Heart, 1985 (Intro to The Fall Off)
9. Hunter by Anna Calvi
Anna's best album to date in my opinion. A powerful record exploring themes of gender that proves rock music is still very much alive
Favourite Tracks: Alpha, As A Man, Away.
8. Tranquillity Base Hotel + Casino by Arctic Monkeys
An album that's truly divided fans and is like no other album in the band's discography
A Bowie/Gainsbourg inspired concept record about a hotel on the moon that features the band's most experimental and imaginative songs.
Favourite Tracks: One Point Perspective, Star Treatment, The Ultracheese
I thought it would be cool just to share with you some music that I'm really enjoying right now, maybe I'll make this a regular thing? Who knows? Anyway... here's what I've been listening to and loving lately...
Chance The Rapper - Coloring Book (aka. Chance3)
Coloring Book is fire! (need I say more?)
For those who aren't familiar with Chance, his latest mixtape (titled Coloring Book), has been getting talked about a lot among people in the music industry and music fans because it is the first record to make the Billboard 200 charts solely based off of streaming. Not to mention the release of this tape was highly anticipated and hyped up by rap music fans. This mixtape, like all of Chance's previous records, is officially available to stream free of charge.
Coloring Book is an incredibly creative and uplifting fusion of hip-hop, gospel and soul, with an array of features from artists such as Kanye West, Lil' Wayne and Justin Bieber.
Check out the lead single, Angels...
Favourite tracks:
No Problem
Angels
All Night
All We Got
Anohni - Hopelessness
Hopelessness is the debut release of the new project started by Anohni (previously known from Antony & The Johnsons). Hopelessness musically is very much a departure from her work with Antony & The Johnsons, as this record features heavy amounts of electronic instrumentation. The album was produced with Hudson Mohawke and Oneothrix Point Never.
Hopelessness is a very intense and powerful record, with politically charged lyrical themes mostly covering issues such as climate change and terrorism. This record can be very dark at times but it certainly doesn't fail to make a bold statement. I personally applaud Anohni for not being afraid to tackle such important issues in her music. In a time where a lot of popular music (especially lyrically) can be quite bland, homogeneous and uninspired, artists like Anohni and records like Hopelessness are very much needed.
Here's the lead single, Drone Bomb Me...
If you can find it, I highly recommend checking out the music video for this song starring Naomi Cambell. It also features art direction from Ricardo Tisci.
Favourite tracks
Drone Bomb Me
4 Degrees
Violent Men
Why Did You Separate Me From The Earth?
Kamasi Washington - The Epic
Kamasi Washington is a an incredible jazz saxophonist, who notably played sax on Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly (my favourite album of 2015). Washington's own album, The Epic, received a substantial amount of critical acclaim too and topped the "Best Of 2015" lists curated by numerous music publications.
The Epic is a three hour long album of very beautiful jazz compositions (mostly instrumental, but some pieces do feature vocals) that never seems to stop losing momentum. It's a very rewarding listen, which entirely down to Washington's impeccable skills as a musician and composer the talent of the musicians that accompany him. I must admit, I was a little intimated and turned off at first when I found out the length of this project but, once I heard it, I find myself continuously going back to play it again and again.
Please note, the physical release of this album is separated across three discs. Don't feel compelled to listen to all three discs in one sitting, if you do not wish to.
Aside from his work on To Pimp A Butterfly, this was my introduction to Kamasi Washing and I'm very excited to hear else he has to offer.
Check out Re Run Home...
Favourite Tracks
Changing Of The Guard
Clair De Lune (originally composed by Claude Debussy)
Re Run Home
Miss Understanding
Thank you so much for reading this blog! I hope you enjoy my music recommendations and hopefully I will write more posts like this in the future!
I love Christmas, but I just don't really like holiday music (Bah, Humbug!) Call me "scrooge" all you want!
Now don't get me wrong, I can enjoy festive music when it's playing in the background of the store when I'm out doing my Christmas shopping, or if it's on at a party, but I just cannot bring myself to actually choose to listen to a record filled with those cheesy Christmas pop songs.
There are only two Christmas/Holiday themed albums in my collection, Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas and Midwinter Graces, and they're all I need!
Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas by Ella Fitzgerald
Midwinter Graces by Tori Amos
However, winter is my favourite season, there's no doubt about it! There's lots of music that I particularly love listening to when the air is crisp and I'm waiting for the snow to fall. So here are some of my favourite albums to listen to in the Winter...
