![[Parquet Courts - Wide Awake!]](http://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/ParquetCourtsWideAwake191304_f-300x268.jpg)
Last year, new releases made up 7 percent of my music purchases. This year, that number ticks up to … 8 percent. For a while there, I didn’t know if I would find enough titles to make a Favorite 10, but I did.
- Parquet Courts, Wide Awake!: When you visit multiple record stores and ask what is playing, you probably ought to buy that album if the answer is the same at each store.
- Janelle Monáe, Dirty Computer: I also liked the Emotion Picture that accompanied the release of this album.
- Christine and the Queens, Chris: Those dance moves!
- Various Artists, Adam to Eve no Ringo: I didn’t realize the cover of “Sid to Hakuchuumu” was by MIKA, the singer “discovered” by Perez Hilton. MIKA’s circumspection about his sexuality drew a lot of attention and some controversy. I checked out his music as a result of the brouhaha and found little that was remarkable. That said, he nails the French interpretation of this very Ringo track.
- Steve Grand, Not the End of Me: I don’t know if it’s intentional, but I hear a bit of Matt Alber’s swoon on some of the quieter moments on this album.
- Kronos Quartet and Laurie Anderson, Landfall: Take all the swagger and posturing out of hip-hop, and it would probably sound a lot like Laurie Anderson.
- Seattle Symphony with Roomful of Teeth, Berio: Sinfonia: This piece was awesome to hear live.
- Nico Muhly & Thomas Bartlett, Peter Pears: Ceremonial Balinese Music: Oddly enough, I found a recording of Colin McPhee performing his gamelan transcriptions with Benjamin Britten, and I kind of wish Muhly and Bartlett had also done the unpublished scores.
- Yore, EP1: Recent press seems to obscure the fact Yore released music under his own name, so we’ll stick with that preference and just mention this EP finds him moving in a direction more akin to Cocteau Twins or even Utada Hikaru.
- Utada Hikaru, Hatsukoi:Her sound has gotten darker since her comeback.
Other favorites from the year:
- John Coltrane, Both Directions at Once
- Leo Imai, VLP
- Mikami Chisako, I AM Ready!
- Craig Armstrong, Sun on You
- Tracey Thorn, Record
- Renee Fleming, Broadway
- Igor Stravisnky, Chant Funebre / Le Sacre du Printemps
- Eponymous 4, Travis
OK, I’m being a bit cheeky including my own album, Travis, on this list. I finished recording it in 2016, so I’d been sitting on it for more than a year. In all that time, I’ve not gotten sick of hearing it day in and day out, and when I compare it with other albums I’ve recorded, it sounds like a proper, professional work.
So yeah, I think my album is one of the best to be released in 2018. You can check it out at the Eponymous 4 Bandcamp store.
Tags: christine and the queens, craig armstrong, eponymous 4, favorite edition, igor stravinsky, janelle monae, john coltrane, kronos quartet, laurie anderson, leo imai, mikami chisako, nico muhly, parquet courts, renee fleming, roomful of teeth, seattle symphony, shiina ringo, steve grand, thomas bartlett, tracey thorn, utada hikaru, various artists, yore
![[Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea]](http://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/NeutralMilkHotelIntheAe48874_f-293x300.jpg)
A decade ago, I wrote a series of entries ranking my favorite albums from 1985 to 2004. My collection has expanded greatly since then, particularly in the last five years. So I wanted to see what has changed in 10 years.
As much as I loved the ’80s, I can’t say the ’90s holds as much sentiment. I feel more affinity for the Aughts than I do the ’90s. That said, 1998 has proven to be rich with favorites, and I would consider it the pinnacle year in the decade. This list has gone through extensive revision from the original.
- Neutral Milk Hotel, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
- Madonna, Ray of Light
- Lauryn Hill, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
- Lucinda Williams, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
- Fastball, All the Pain Money Can Buy
- Patty Griffin, Flaming Red
- SUPERCAR, Three Out Change
- Various Artists, For the Masses: A Tribute to Depeche Mode
- Bruce Robison, Wrapped
- Cocco, Kumuiuta
Other favorites from the year:
- Shakira, ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones?
- Wendy and Lisa, Girl Bros.
- Midnight Oil, Redneck Wonderland
- 8 1/2 Souvenirs, Happy Feet
- UA, Ametora
- Kronos Quartet, Alfred Schnittke: The Complete String Quartets
- the brilliant green, the brilliant green
- Bang on a Can All-Stars, Music for Airports
- Craig Armstrong, The Space Between Us
- Julieta Venegas, Aquí
- Aterciopelados, Caribe Atómico
- Macha, Macha
- Idlewild, Hope Is Important
- Pansy Division, Absurd Pop Song Romance
- Orgy, Candyass
A number of titles that held positions in the Favorite 10 switched places with ones in the extended list.
I didn’t give Fastball much credit 10 years ago because the album had been all over Austin at the time of its release. I got caught up in that hype, then dismissed it as such later. I was wrong. All the Pain Money Can Buy needs to be in the Favorite 10.
For the Masses actually turned me into a Depeche Mode fan. Some of the covers on the tribute album rival the originals. In the case of “Shake the Disease” and “Everything Counts”, they straight up improve them.
Madonna dominated the top position of this list for 10 years before Neutral Milk Hotel nudged her down a notch. SUPERCAR makes another revisionist ranking, pushing 8 1/2 Souvenirs off.
Idlewild makes an appearance with a debut album that’s at times bratty and tuneful. It’s a mess compared to its follow-up, 1000 Broken Windows. But it’s a riveting mess.
Tags: 8 1/2 souvenirs, aterciopelados, bang on a can, bruce robison, cocco, craig armstrong, depeche mode, fastball, favorite edition, idlewild, julieta venegas, kronos quartet, lauryn hill, lucinda williams, macha, madonna, midnight oil, neutral milk hotel, orgy, pansy division, patty griffin, rewind, shakira, supercar, the brilliant green, ua, various artists, wendy and lisa
![[Janelle Monáe - Dirty Computer]](http://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/janelle-monae-dirty-computer-300x300.jpg)
I catalog my music purchases on Collectorz and Discogs, but they don’t give me a sense of change over time. So I’m noting them here weekly as well.
New releases
CD
- Craig Armstrong, Sun On You
Vinyl
- Janelle Monáe, Dirty Computer
Catalog
CD
- Amuro Namie, SWEET 19 BLUES
- Backstreet Boys, Millennium
- Bill Frisell, In Line
- Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP (Explicit)
- Freedy Johnston, Can You Fly
- Huun-Huur-Tu, 60 Horses in My Herd
- John Adams, Doctor Atomic Symphony / Guide to Strange Places
- John Adams, El Dorado
- k.d. lang, Absolute Torch and Twang
- Lisa Gerrard, The Mirror Pool
- Lou Harrison, Scenes from Cavafy
- Love and Rockets, Earth, Sun, Moon
- Semisonic, Feeling Strangely Fine
- Shakira, MTV Unplugged
- Shudder to Think, 50,000 B.C.
Tags: amuro namie, backstreet boys, bill frisell, craig armstrong, eminem, freedy johnston, huun-huur-tu, janelle monae, john adams, kd lang, lisa gerrard, lou harrison, love and rockets, purchase log, semisonic, shakira, shudder to think
![[Steve Grand - Not the End of Me]](http://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/steve-grand-not-the-end-of-me-300x263.jpg)
So many gay male artists are releasing new music this summer, it makes me wonder why they all didn’t put everything out in June. But muses can’t be rushed. Nor marketing plans.
Steve Grand, Not the End of Me, July 6
I listen to a lot of really serious music. I need Steve Grand to stop me from being too melancholy.
Luciano Berio, Sinfonia (Roomful of Teeth, Seattle Symphony, Ludovic Morlot), July 20
I went to the Saturday performance of this piece on the recommendation of my music theory professor.
Jake Shears, Jake Shears, Aug. 10
I’ve never really cottoned to Scissor Sisters, even though they seem to be in my wheelhouse.
Death Cab for Cutie, Thank You for Today, Aug. 17
The first two albums of Death Cab’s major label of phase made me wonder if they would follow R.E.M.’s downward creative trajectory in a similar fashion, but Codes and Keys and Kintsugi actually stemmed that tide. I’m not encouraged by the band’s comparison of this new album to Narrow Stairs, however.
Julee Cruise, Three Demos, Aug. 17
I loved Floating Into the Night, so I’m curious to hear these early drafts. A reissue of The Voice of Love also arrives the same day.
Troye Sivan, Bloom, Aug. 31
I was nowhere near the target market for Blue Neighborhood, but I liked it anyway.
Craig Armstrong, Sun on You, Sept. 7
Craig Armstrong is known more for his film scores, mostly because few of his studio albums get US releases. Here’s hoping a streaming release makes up for that drought.
Renée Fleming, Broadway, Sept. 7
A Broadway album? With Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Tell Me on a Sunday”? And a song from Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music that isn’t “Send in the Clowns”? OK, Renée Fleming, I’ll bite.
Prince, Piano and a Microphone 1983, Sept. 14
Sure, I’m curious enough to check out this set of demos, but what I’d like to know is when the vinyl reissue campaign will get to the Love Symbol album.
Vinyl
U2, Achtung Baby, July 27
U2, Zooropa, July 27
Zooropa is an odd album in the U2 canon, recorded in a spontaneous rush with experiments that work (“Numb”) and some that fail (“Lemon”). Despite a lavish repackaging, Achtung Baby had not yet been reissued in stand-alone black vinyl.
Tags: craig armstrong, death cab for cutie, jake shears, julee cruise, looking ahead, prince, steve grand, troye sivan