Summertime in 2018 seemed to go by in a blur for me somehow…I know I was ridiculously busy with the writing of both In My Blue World and the Apartment Complex story, not to mention dealing with consistent Day Job drama. What kept me sane, as always, was the music. It was around this time that I’d decided to change my listening habits (I’d been listening to Indie617 and occasionally SiriusXM up to that point) but found myself drawn to KEXP out of Seattle. That station provided me with a hell of a lot of new bands I’d never heard otherwise, and I’m happier for it.

Erasure, World Be Live, released 6 July. I can only describe this live record as ‘fabulous’, partly because the tunes are fantastic, and Andy Bell’s between-song commentary is absolutely hilarious.

Cowboy Junkies, All That Reckoning, released 13 July. A powerful record about facing that which you fear.

Tanukichan, Sundays, released 13 July. Not quite indie rock, not quite dreampop, but contains the best parts of both. A lovely relaxing album.

Gaika, Basic Volume, released 27 July. Trippy dancehall rap from Brixton with a mood that channels the murkiness of Tricky.

ShadowParty, ShadowParty, released 27 July. A fun, poppy alt-rock album from a sort-of supergroup containing members of New Order’s touring band.

El Ten Eleven, Banker’s Hill, released 10 August. I seem to be drawn to these indietronic-duo-with-a-sampler-footpedal bands, but I’m not complaining. Thanks to KEXP for pointing me in their direction!

Prince, Anthology: 1995-2010, released 17 August. I’d stopped listening to him sometime around Diamonds and Pearls, so I missed out on quite a lot. This collection surprised the hell out of me and made me appreciate his later work.

Mitski, Be the Cowboy, released 17 August. I’m a late follower of her work but this was a great starting off point for me.

Death Cab for Cutie, Thank You for Today, released 17 August. “Gold Rush” is quite the earworm for me.

Nothing, Dance On the Blacktop, released 24 August. Loud and crunchy, but quiet and tender as well. An interesting detour from their last album, but I love it.

Interpol, Marauder, released 24 August. They seem to have returned to the darker, louder post-punk that made Turn On the Bright Lights such a great album.

tunng, Songs You Make at Night, released 24 August. Late follower to this band as well, but I’m glad I found them. Quiet, delicate, and very quirky.

Paul McCartney, Egypt Station, released 7 September. How does this man keep writing such amazing records??

Eric Bachmann, No Recover, released 7 September. A lovely and tender album. This got heavy rotation during my writing sessions.

Chai, Pink, released 7 September. J-Punk with the energy of Shonen Knife and the goofiness of Puffy AmiYumi.

Bob Moses, Battle Lines, released 14 September. “Heaven Only Knows” is definitely in my Top 5 favorite tunes of the year. The whole album is simply amazing.

Failure, The Furthest Thing EP, released 14 September. Third of three EPs released, with the full album dropping a few months later.

Metric, Art of Doubt, released 21 September. A return to their rockier sound, though their synth layers are still front and center.

The Joy Formidable, Aaarth, released 28 September. Noisy, wild, and sultry. Listen to this loud.

Dave Grohl, Play EP, released 28 September. Sure, you could write this off as a twenty-minute long prog rock experiment, but Dave really is an amazing multi-instrumentalist.

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Coming Up: Part IV, Q4!

Get comfy, y’all, because this is a huge entry. We had a ton of great releases this past summer that are worth checking out. Enjoy!

Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Sex & Food, released 6 April. My first reaction to this was that they sound remarkably like Steely Dan here, and I kinda love it.

Eels, The Deconstruction, released 6 April. Mark Oliver Everett can write deceptively touching songs, even when the subject matter is pain and sadness. An album that’s both about endings and beginnings.

Wye Oak, The Louder I Call, the Faster It Runs, released 6 April. An album as quirky as its title, it’s a hell of a fun listen. This one got a lot of listens during writing sessions this year.

The Damned, Evil Spirits, released 13 April. This album really reminded me of their early 80s post-punk era, especially The Black Album (which is incidentally my favorite of their back catalog). Great stuff.

Jesus Jones, Passages, released 20 April. So glad to see these guys returning. One of my favorite 90s bands, and one of the few that can combine hard rock and electronics and make it sound amazing.

Pinkshinyultrablast, Miserable Miracles, released 4 May. Russian shoegaze that hits all my buttons: soaring melodies, heavy reverb, light and echoey vocals. A lovely album.

Local H, “Innocents (Edited for Television)” single, released 7 May. A great and powerful single-only release from the duo that I love cranking up on my headphones.

Beach House, 7, released 11 May. They’ve perfected that dreamy shoegazey sound and truly made it their own.

Arctic Monkeys, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, released 11 May. It’s a weird album and I’m still not entirely sure what it’s about (my theory is that it’s about a bellboy/desk jockey at said hotel working solo on the night shift and having a long dark night of the soul), but it’s still amazing.

Failure, Your Body Will Be EP, released 24 May. Second of the band’s four releases. This is going somewhere interesting, but we still don’t have the full story yet…

Snow Patrol, Wildness, released 25 May. A VERY welcome return for the band. “Life on Earth” is another contender for favorite song of the year for me…one of the most powerful tracks they’ve ever released.

Dave Matthews Band, Come Tomorrow, released 8 June. This record felt like a return to their Crash-era sound; it’s quite enjoyable.

Johnny Marr, Call the Comet, released 15 June. His recent solo albums over the past few years have always been great, but he’s surpassed himself here, reinserting his signature ‘guitarchestra’ sound into his work, and it’s simply gorgeous.

Florence + the Machine, High As Hope, released 29 June. One of her most personal albums, this one really reminded me of Patti Smith’s work, and that’s definitely a high compliment.

Gorillaz, The Now Now, released 29 June. After the glorious and crowded Humanz from last year, the ridiculously productive Damon Albarn followed up with a light and poppy record with a lot of sunny radio-friendly tunes.

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Next Up: Q3, July to September!

…and here we are at the end of a long year of great music!  As always, labels usually focus more on holiday sales of already-released albums than on dropping new ones, so this month was indeed a bit light.  A few singles here and there, and that’s it.  Personally I was letting myself relax a bit after an incredibly fruitful and creative year by listening to a lot of the records I’d purchased (or gotten as free promos!) from my store.  I started working a little on the revision of The Phoenix Effect and starting in on its sequel, and would continue to do so until about late 1999 when I decided a complete rewrite was in order.  (That, of course, would become A Division of Souls, the first book in the Bridgetown Trilogy.)  I spent New Year’s Eve up at my sister’s place and taping WFNX’s countdown, and driving home early the next morning.

Porcupine Tree, Metanoia EP, released December.  I didn’t get into this band until early 1999 when they dropped their fantastic Stupid Dream album, but I’d seen this cd floating around in the back room of the record store.  It’s full of instrumental outtakes from their 1996 album Signify but it does go to show how tight they were as a band.

Belle & Sebastian, This Is Just a Modern Rock Song EP, released 7 December.  A lovely follow-up EP to their fantastic The Boy with the Arab Strap record from earlier in the year.  The title track is a simple three chord tune but it’s got a wonderful slow build.

Beck, “Tropicalia” single, released 7 December.  A bit of light-hearted bossa nova fun from his otherwise moody Mutations album, this one got the most airplay from the record on the local alt-rock stations. 

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All in all, 1998 was a very good year for me.  I’d finished up my first novel in years, and I was in a good place financially and emotionally for the first time in ages.  I still had a long way to go before I could save enough money to move out on my own, but I was no longer flailing.  Things would change soon enough when the store manager moved on to bigger and better things (a regional manager of Newbury Comics — during the post-HMV years I’d run into him every now and again).  He was replaced by a much less enjoyable manager, and by 2000 I’d be out of there myself.  Despite that, I found myself in a much better frame of mind.  And a lot of the tunes from 1998 had a lot to do with it.

Hope you enjoyed my year-long series!  I may follow it up with more overviews but I don’t have anything planned as yet.  We shall see!

Coming Soon: 2018 Year End Best-of Lists!