Albums of the Year | alternapop

Favorite Albums of 2020

alternapop — Sun, 21 Feb 2021 06:37:36 +0000

Favorite Albums of 2020 first shown on alternapop

There were a lot of great songs and albums released in 2020. Here is the list of albums that got the most play. Visit the Spotify playlist here.

Indie, psychedelic, shoegaze, post-punk, and even some with a bit of R&B or jazz thrown in.

You can stream/sample the albums directly below… listed in alphabetical order:

Car Seat Headrest – Making A Door Less Open

Deeper – ‘Auto-Pain’

(post-punk from Chicago)

Do Nothing – ‘Zero Dollar Bill’ (EP)

(post-punk band from Nottingham)

Doves – ‘The Universal Want’

(5th LP from the brilliant Manchester 3-piece)

Fleet Foxes – ‘Shore’

Frankie and the Witch Fingers – ‘Monsters Eating People Eating Monsters…’

(newer LA psychedelic band)

Hum – ‘Inlet’

Khruangbin – ‘Mordechai’

Mumrunner – ‘Valeriana’

(recommended if you like DIIV, from Finland)

Nation Of Language – ‘Introduction, Presence’

(recommended if you like New Order, The KVB, Lust For Youth)

Silverbacks – ‘Fad’

(Dublin post-punk band)

SWEAM – ‘Lounge Music For Cat People’

(Don’t let the album title mislead you… it’s not lounge music but is an excellent indie/shoegaze/dream pop album from Norway)

Young Jesus – ‘Welcome to Conceptual Beach’

(merge some Radiohead influence with Talk Talk [Mark Hollis/Tim Friese-Greene] and a little touch of jazz)

Yves Tumor – ‘Heaven To A Tortured Mind’

The post Favorite Albums of 2020 first appeared on alternapop.

Favorite Albums from 2018

alternapop — Mon, 17 Dec 2018 03:34:26 +0000

Favorite Albums from 2018 first shown on alternapop

These are the albums that were released in 2018 that got the most play, listed in alphabetical order:

Deeper – Deeper

Deeper is a post-punk band based in Chicago, Illinois.

Film School – Bright To Death

Film School is a San Francisco/Los Angeles shoegaze revivalist band who released their 5th album.

Holy – All These Worlds Are Yours

Holy is the Stockholm based project of Hannes Ferm from Umeå, Sweden.

Jaguwar – Ringthing

Jaguwar formed in summer 2012 under the starsigns of shoegaze and noisepop music.

The KVB – Only Now Forever

The KVB, from London, blends reverb soaked shoegaze with minimalist electronic production. This was their 5th release.

Moaning – Moaning

Moaning is a Los Angeles-based post-punk outfit that combines melody with raucous noise.

Ought – Room Inside The World

Ought, from Montreal, began in 2011, taking heavy cues from their city’s thriving scene of underground politics, loft parties, and D.I.Y. culture.

Preoccupations – New Material

Preoccupations, from Calgary, play a fusion of art rock and lo-fi pop that maintains a very human pulse despite the extensive use of electronics and noise.

Salad Boys – This Is Glue

Salad Boys are a New Zealand indie pop band. This is their second release.

Shame – Songs Of Praise

Shame, from South London, released their debut this year.

Soft Science – Maps

Soft Science is a dream pop / shoegaze band from Sacramento, California.

Teenage Wrist – Chrome Neon Jesus

Teenage Wrist, from Los Angeles, released their debut full length showing influences from 90s British bands like Catherine Wheel and Swervedriver.

Please give them a listen if you’re not familiar with them and, as always, support the artists.

Want to be considered for 2019?

Please submit releases to the address here.

The post Favorite Albums from 2018 first appeared on alternapop.

Favorite Albums of 2016

alternapop — Sat, 28 Jan 2017 06:08:17 +0000

Favorite Albums of 2016 first shown on alternapop

These are the albums that were released in 2016 that got the most play, listed in alphabetical order:

   Casper Skulls – Lips & Skull
   Daughter – Not to Disappear
   DIIV – Is the is Are
   exmagician – Scan the Blue
   Flyying Colours – Mindfullness
   Living Hour – Living Hour
   Operators – Blue Wave
Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool
   Sunflower Bean – Human Ceremony
   Syd Arthur – Apricity
   Wild Nothing – Life of Pause
   Woods – City Sun Eater in the River of Light

Favorite songs released in 2016

Spotify playlist below:

The post Favorite Albums of 2016 first appeared on alternapop.

Favorite Albums of 2015

alternapop — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 15:32:51 +0000

Favorite Albums of 2015 first shown on alternapop

These were my most listened to albums that were released in 2015.

Listed in alphabetical order:

Autobahn – Dissemble (post-punk)
Beach House – Thank Your Lucky Stars (dream pop)
Beach Slang – The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us (indie rock)
Crocodiles – Boys (shoegaze)
Deerhunter – Fading Frontier (indie rock, shoegaze)
Father John Misty – I Love You, Honeybear (indie rock)
Flyying Colours – ROYGBIV (shoegaze)
Foals – What Went Down (indie rock)
Jack Ladder – Playmates (indie rock)
Ought – Sun Coming Down (post-punk)
Swervedriver – I Wasn’t Born To Lose You (shoegaze, alternative rock)
Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Multi-Love (indie rock)
Viet Cong – Viet Cong (indie rock, noise pop)
Wolf Alice – My Love is Cool (indie rock)

Spotify playlist: favorite indie rock albums of 2015

Autobahn – Dissemble
| Amazon

Beach House – Thank Your Lucky Stars
| Amazon

Beach Slang – The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us
| Amazon

Crocodiles – Boys
| Amazon

Deerhunter – Fading Frontier
| Amazon

Father John Misty – I Love You, Honeybear
| Amazon

Flyying Colours – ROYGBIV
| Amazon

Foals – What Went Down
| Amazon

Jack Ladder – Playmates
| Amazon

Ought – Sun Coming Down
| Amazon

Swervedriver – I Wasn’t Born To Lose You
| Amazon

Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Multi-Love
| Amazon

Viet Cong – Viet Cong
| Amazon

Wolf Alice – My Love is Cool
| Amazon

The post Favorite Albums of 2015 first appeared on alternapop.

Favorite Albums of 2014

alternapop — Mon, 22 Dec 2014 22:14:08 +0000

Favorite Albums of 2014 first shown on alternapop

I think there were a lot of great tracks released in 2014, and albums with a few really good tracks, but not much stands out for me personally for being solid all the way through. It’s easier to pick a Best of 2014 for individual songs than for total albums.

Having said that, I think these albums are worthy of being heard and received the most play this year, listed in alphabetical order:

The Apache Relay – ‘Apache Relay’
Amazon

Bored Nothing – ‘Some Songs’
Amazon

Eagulls – ‘Eagulls’
Amazon

Future Islands – ‘Singles’
Amazon

Generationals – ‘Alix’
Amazon

Mac DeMarco – ‘Salad Days’
Amazon

Skaters – ‘Manhattan’
Amazon

Syd Arthur – ‘Sound Mirror’
Amazon

Temples – ‘Sun Structures’
Amazon

The Twilight Sad – ‘Nobody Wants To Be Here And Nobody Wants To Leave’
Amazon

War On Drugs – ‘Lost In The Dream’
Amazon

Woods – ‘With Light And With Love’
Amazon

XO – ‘Heart’
Amazon

The post Favorite Albums of 2014 first appeared on alternapop.

2012 listening stats – favorite albums and songs of the year

alternapop — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 16:36:46 +0000

2012 listening stats – favorite albums and songs of the year first shown on alternapop

These are my music listening statistics for albums and songs released in 2012. Pulling from various sources and rating most played, highly rated, starred, loved, etc, depending on the source.

2012 music stats:
145 songs rated 4 or 5 stars from 107 different bands

most played song: Beach House – Myth

Albums with 3 or more highly rated songs (alphabetical order):
Alt-J – An Awesome Wave
Beach House – Bloom
Bear In Heaven – I Love You, It’s Cool
DIIV – Oshin
Divine Fits – A Thing Called Divine Fits
Lotus Plaza – Spooky Action at a Distance
Lower Dens – Nootropics
Poolside – Pacific Standard Time
Purity Ring – Shrines
Tame Impala – Lonerism

Listen to them all here on Spotify.

The post 2012 listening stats – favorite albums and songs of the year first appeared on alternapop.

Alternapop.com’s favorite albums of 2006

alternapop — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 18:02:54 +0000

Alternapop.com’s favorite albums of 2006 first shown on alternapop

	Silversun Pickups Carnavas released July 26, 2006
	free mp3 of ‘Lazy Eye’ I think the first time I saw these guys was back in November 11, 2005. They opened for Brendon Benson at Slim’s and we went to specifically to see them. Since then I’ve probably seen them another 4 times, at the Rickshaw Stop, Popscene, at the Fillmore opening for Wolfmother and at Cafe Du Nord with Amusement Parks On Fire (which I love) and Nine Black Alps. Fortunately they are out of LA so they make frequent trips to San Francisco. We spoke to them a little bit at Cafe Du Nord and the singer is a trip. “If the idea of basement tapes made by Billy Corgan and Doug Martsch appeals to you, say hello to your new favorite band. Silversun Pickups are fairly early adopters of the 1990s revival, but they’re not grunge dorks or anything, and they’re from L.A. so they dress nice. Their music updates the anthemic but gauzy heavy rock sound that Veruca Salt and the Smashing Pumpkins had down pat. Thankfully, they strip it down and add plenty of finely distorted guitar leads to the whole thing. It’s nice. With a spacey, laid-back sound due in no small part to knob-twiddlers Tony Hoffer and Dave Cooley, repeated listens are mandatory. Just don’t pass out on the couch. –Mike McGonigal”

	French Kicks Two Thousand released July 18, 2006
	free mp3 of ‘Keep It Amazed’ These guys are coming to Slim’s in San Francisco at the end of the month (February) for Noisepop…. can’t wait! “Some might say the title of French Kicks’ third album, Two Thousand, is an unintentional reference to all the other New York bands that sound exactly like them. And, yes, while the group did at one point have a predisposition for scrappy punk guitars, off-kilter disco rhythms and strained vocals, this release actually sees it distinguishing itself from its neighbors with a more restrained sound and ambitious vision. There is a distinct ’80s influence in songs like “Also Ran,” “Cloche,” and “No Mean Time,” all shimmering guitars and motorized beats. On “Knee High,” the band even manages to successfully evoke the sound of early U2 jamming with New Order–a claim few others in their area code can make. –Aidin Vaziri”

	Black Angels Passover released April 11, 2006
	free mp3 of ‘The First Vietnamese War Every now and again a band capable of not just capturing the spirit of a bygone era but portraying it with uncanny authenticity and accuracy arrives, and in an era where music lovers seem increasingly ravenous for psychedelic-inflected rock, Austin’s the Black Angels are precisely that act. Following on the heels of their recent Turn On, Tune In, Drone Out EP, the quintet transports listeners to a land of napalm-bright LSD flashbacks with an elegantly unholy sound that proves both eerie and ethereal. "Young Men Dead" and "The Sniper at the Gates of Heaven" walk the line between celebratory dance and grief-filled dirge. These tracks unnerve the conscious mind with unsettling drones and vocals that seem to have emerged from some parallel universe where the struggle, strife, promise, and even the seedy underbelly of the Love Generation lives on in each primal drum beat and louder-than-loud bent note from a guitar that could not have been built anywhere on Earth, but has been drenched with the sweat and blood of a generation on the verge of either victory or collapse. If there is an act in American popular music with a future brighter and vaster than the cosmos, the Black Angels are it. –Jedd Beaudoin

	Band of Horses Everything All The Time released March 21, 2006
	free mp3 of ‘The Funeral’ free mp3 of ‘Wicked Gil’ This Seattle-based band was formed from the ashes of the incredibly talented Carissa’s Wierd [sic], whose mopey and self-deprecating songs were like some magical and baroque combination of the Magnetic Fields, Cat Power, and Leonard Cohen. Longtime friends of Iron and Wine, few fans in their native Pacific Northwest could understand why Carissa’s weren’t huge. But they weren’t, and after three albums and few folks really caring, they naturally broke up. Band of Horses, led by ultra-charming CW bassist Ben Bridwell, is a remarkably different, though just as radically excellent, brand of indie-pop sulk. These songs are anthems to ambivalence, and Bridwell’s lovely high-pitched trill will please any fan of Built to Spill, the Shins, and Modest Mouse. It takes a few listens to sink in, but Everything is transcendent, shimmering, layered, and smartass emo-pop fully ready for stadium saturation. –James Conde

	Asobi Seksu Citrus released May 30, 2006
	free mp3 of ‘Thursday’ It’s hard to not like a good-looking, female-fronted, Brooklyn-based band whose name translates loosely as "playful sex." The obvious vocal comparisons are to shoegazers and goths of twelve to thirty years ago—Siouxsie, Spirea X, Lush, Kate Bush, and the Cocteauu Twins. Singing in Japanese and English, vocalist Yuki’s heavily reverbed voice is sensual and strong at the same time. But there’s more of a manic, vaguely garage band energy evident on Citrus, the group’s sophomore release (a vast improvement over their scattered debut). It’s clear now that they’re far closer to Blondie than My Bloody Valentine or Loop. The band has a woozy sound, but it’s also tightly controlled and highly melodic, propelled by Interpol-ish bass lines. It’s not "original" music, but it is very pleasant stuff, the ideal soundtrack to a hot affair in some futuristic hotel tucked away downtown, or out near the airport. –Mike McGonigal

	Cities Cities released April 18, 2006
	listen at myspace

	Fleeting Joys Despondent Transponder released 2006

	I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness Fear Is On Our Side released March 7, 2006
	free mp3 of ‘Last Ride Together’ The full-length debut of this Texas band follows their 2003 self-titled five-song EP; a much poppier affair produced by Spoon’s Britt Daniel, with a dose of thunder and lightning, pain and pleasure. Produced this time by Paul Barker (Ministry, Revolting Cocks), the record is more sadness than joy with lonely lyrics and hauntingly echoed guitar persuaded by chorused basslines. The sound is coaxing and familiar, then howling and anguished. Reminiscent of latter-era Talk Talk; with the introspection also comes passion. "Fear Is On Our Side" isn’t trivial or banal, trendy or futile. It’s a testament to our times, our revolutions, and our meaning. It’s timeless, maniacal, and resounding. Darkness and truth.

	Film School Film School released January 23, 2006

The post Alternapop.com’s favorite albums of 2006 first appeared on alternapop.

My favorite albums of 2005

alternapop — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 19:15:00 +0000

My favorite albums of 2005 first shown on alternapop

	The Doves Some Cities released March 1, 2005
	How can bands like Coldplay release something as boring as X&Y (after two pretty good albums) while the Doves have released 3 brilliant albums without nearly the same fanfare? If 3/4ths of the Coldplay bandwagoneers listened to the Doves, then they’d surely be playing to large venues with soccer moms too. Maybe Jimi Goodwin needs to date an American actress.

	Broken Social Scene Broken Social Scene released October 4, 2005

	The Editors The Back Room released July 28, 2005
	Not the most original but who cares? These kids write some catchy tunes! Recommended if you like Interpol or Echo and the Bunnymen.

	The National Alligator released April 12, 2005
	An absolute fantastic album that manages to be quite calming yet quite energetic at the same time. Matt Berninger’s calming baritone combined with Bryan Devendorf’s fluid and creative drumming makes for an interesting combination. Fellow Ohioans, Aaron and Bryce Dessner, along with bassist Scott Devendorf, crafted some wonderful tracks. Favorites are “Secret Meeting”, “Looking for Astronauts”, “Daughter’s of the Soho Riots”, “All the Wine”, “Geese of Beverly Road” and “Mr. November”.

	Silversun Pickups Pikul released July 26, 2005
	Probably the most unknown band on my list. I saw these guys open for someone at Slim’s… oh yeah, Brendan Benson. I first heard this on KEXP.org. I’m looking forward to seeing these guys along with Amusement Parks On Fire open for Nine Black Alps at Cafe Du Nord in San Francisco next month. Can’t beat the price. $10.

	Rogue Wave Descended Like Vultures released October 25, 2005

	Foreign Born In the Remote Woods [EP] released June 21, 2005
	I saw them open for Rogue Wave at the Great American Music Hall. Something about the sound seemed different live, not bad, just different. I like the album much better. The singer does have some fancy footwork though. Perhaps the guitars are louder, or the singer’s voice is deeper… who knows?

	New Pornographers Twin Cinema released August 23, 2005

	Calla Collisions released September 27, 2005
	A late addition. I’m adding this mostly based on expectations after a couple listens.

The post My favorite albums of 2005 first appeared on alternapop.

Favorite albums of 2004

alternapop — Sun, 09 Jan 2005 17:59:44 +0000

Favorite albums of 2004 first shown on alternapop

My favorite albums of 2004. (No particular order)

	Interpol Antics released Sep 28, 2004
	Ambulance LTD self titled released Mar 23, 2004
	Autolux Future Perfect released Sept 21, 2004
	A.C. Newman Slow Wonder released Jun 8, 2004
	Arcade Fire Funeral released Sep 14, 2004
	The Walkmen Bows & Arrows released Feb 3, 2004
	The Uncut Those Who Were Hung Hang Here released Oct 5, 2004
	Seachange Lay of the Land released Apr 6, 2004
	Snow Patrol Final Straw released Mar 30, 2004

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