Hello Summer! It's time for our mid-year inventory again, and today I recommend my favorite albums in the first half of the year as usual, and the following are ten of my favorite albums released in the first half of 2018.
For friends who are too lazy to read so many words, the scroll subtitle group has prepared a video program (you can also see the wonderful MV of each album); for friends who want to listen to the full song quietly, you can drag to the bottom of the page and jump from "read the original text" to the radio program.
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TOP10
Skating Polly
《The Make It All Show》
The band name is impressive, if you also have a parrot in your English textbook, so the band name can be translated as "ice skating parrot".
Of course, the band's own story is even more legendary. When it was formed, the two members were only 15 years old and 9 years old, the parents of the two people were remarried, they were half-sisters, and the sister Kelli Mayo was still a post-00s. They named the band purely because it was "too much of a middle two."
As a member of the new generation of feminist punk riot Grrrl, Skating Polly is not too skilled (Kelli uses a two-string bass), but the energy they burst out is not achieved by anyone.
Recommended tracks
《Classless Act》《They're Cheap (I'm Free)》
TOP9
Graham Coxon
《The End Of The Fucking World》
At the end of last year, the mourning British drama "Go fucking world" suddenly swept the social network and became the spiritual food of countless mourning.
For me, in addition to the series itself, I was amazed at how much the soundtrack and soundtrack chosen for the show were so whettiful, and later learned that it was Blur guitarist Graham Coxon who originally played the soundtrack for the series.
When Coxon came up with this rather juvenile "Angry Me" out of a bunch of toy instruments, I literally loved the soundtrack and listened to the lyrics: "When people stare at me, I stare at them." It really doesn't make any sense. ”
Well, go fucking world!
《Angry Me》《Saturday Night》
TOP8
AWOLNATION
《Here Come The Runts》
Are you still playing Dota 2? Then you must have an impression of AWOLNATION, as many of their songs were used in dota 2 music bags. And the album's eponymous title song, "Here Come The Runts", also feels like a wave of monsters coming. And one of the most popular songs on this album must, of course, be "Seven Sticks of Dynamite" on the main interface of Dota2.
The name of the band in the deserter country is also a terrier, AWOL is an abbreviation for "unauthorized departure" in the army, and the lead singer Aaron Bruno is famous for often saying goodbye in middle school, so he got this nickname. Anyway, I hope that when you play the game, don't be a deserter.
《Here Come The Runts》《Handyman》
TOP7
MGMT
《Little Dark Age》
MGMT is a band that I have loved the most in recent years, and it can be said that they have helped me open the door to a new psychedelic synth, and this new album that has been delayed five years later will naturally become my favorite.
Although "Little Dark Age" mixed some very popular slobbering songs in order to take care of the pop market, such as the main "Me and Michael", most of the tracks still maintain the natural flight of MGMT, and the lyrics are written as never before.
In my favorite "When You Die", there are particularly blunt lyrics such as "Get out of the way" and "You're dead", which is really funny.
《When You Die》《TSLAMP》
TOP6
Black Foxxes
《Anger》
The sixth-place album comes from a relatively new band, Black Foxxes in Exeter, southwest England, one more x than the foxes, as for how the name came from, unfortunately I can't really find out.
But I can tell you where this weird album title came about, which means "anger" in Icelandic. Yes, after the band released their debut album of 2016 and achieved some success, they decided to go to Iceland for inspiration and had this second album.
So if you can hear that kind of gray breath in the fog on this album, that's what they want to convey to you. I love the heavy noise they make with their guitars after a depressing bass, and it's an album that's perfect for listening to alone.
《Breathe》《Float On》
TOP5
The Wombats
《Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life》
I have to honestly admit that I was attracted to this album at the beginning because its cover was so magical, and the title of the album ,Pretty People Will Ruin Your Life also has a lot of suspense for me as a veteran good-looking dog.
Founded in 2003 in Liverpool, England, Tree Bears first debuted with the British Post-Friend Revival movement in the late 2000s, and you can listen to one of their early masterpieces, Let's Dance To Joy Division.
But say it's a post-friend, their former bass is really too brilliant, which is why many people only think of them as a crappy new wave band, where are the synthesizers better than the bass of the post-friend ah? Back on this new album, the biggest feature of the album "Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life" is that the bass has become much better.
《Lemon to a Knife Fight》《White Eyes》
TOP4
Turnstile
《Time & Space》
Hardcore punk is on the rise, especially in the United States in recent years, hardcore punk has blossomed everywhere, last year I chose Code Orange to enter the top ten in the second half of the year, which is a real line with Grammy endorsements; and underground hardcore groups represented by bands such as Turnstile, Knocked Loose and Angel Du$t have blown this trend to a wider range of fans.
Founded in 2010, Turnstile is from Baltimore, Maryland, and Time & Space made them top the top heatseekers for the first time, perhaps a stepping stone to the mainstream.
Turnstile retains its traditional hardcore punk side, but his music isn't rough, and there are even some sampling elements that make people exclaim, "You can play like this." While most hardcore punks, after listening to an entire album, can be a bit of a buzzing and a bit greasy, it's clear that's not the case with Turnstile's Time & Space.
《Generator》《High Pressure》
TOP3
Wilderness cooperatives
Typhoon
The only album in the first half of the year that allowed me to rightfully choose the top ten national rock albums, the Nanjing Band Wild Cooperative used a reborn avant-garde rock concept album "Typhoon" to become the strongest voice of Chinese rock in the first half of 2018.
Throughout the album, wild cooperatives create everything from the coming of the typhoon, to the last tranquility before the typhoon rages, to the magnificent "Typhoon" trilogy at the time of the wind, and finally to the hopeful ending song "Resurrection".
When a band starts making a concept album, they must have reached a certain level, and whether it's a melodious melody or a poetic lyric, this album by Wild Co-op really deserves their ambition.
For a detailed album review, please click:
Wild Cooperative Typhoon: When the poet played rock 'n' roll
"Honest Holiday Hotel", "Lover"
TOP2
Courtney Barnett
《Tell Me How You Really Feel》
Australian independent musician Courtney Barnett is the hottest name in the independent circle in recent years, and her debut album "Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit" in 2015 gave her a bunch of fans. A very significant phenomenon in the independent music industry in recent years has been a serious yin and yang decline, and Courtney Barnett is undoubtedly one of the outstanding female musicians in the independent music scene.
She then collaborated on an album with Kurt Vile, guitarist for The War on Drugs, and while the quality was good, it didn't live up to my expectations.
So this year's "Tell Me How You Really Feel" shows people that she is deeply influenced by guitar rock, and when you hear such a short and pithy piece as "I'm Not Your Mother, I'm Not Your Bitch", you will even find that her musical genes also have Grunge in it.
《City Looks Pretty》《Nameless, Faceless》
TOP1
Shame
《Songs of Praise》
If you like guitar rock, then The Shape's debut album shouldn't just be the best of the first half of the year, it's almost certainly the best of the year.
The post-band from South London has received praise from countless music veterans (goatskin lead singer Brett Anderson said it was the only album in a long time that wanted to go to a record store to buy it right away), and Songs of Praise has managed to hit countless charts in the first half of the year (Metacritic 84, which is the first album!!! ）。
If you have to find a stubble, it is probably this cover... This album cover really made me mistake it for an American country album at first...
《Concrete》《Friction》
Time Tunnel:
Top 10 album recommendations in the first half of 2016
Top 10 album inventory in the second half of 2016
Inventory of the top ten albums in the first half of 2017
Top 10 albums in the second half of 2017