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[sonicawareness]

The Best Albums of 2019

After listening to more than 2000 new albums in 2019, I’ve narrowed my picks down to The 20 Best Records of 2019.

I’ve included 3 essential songs from each pick, as well as a choice lyrical clip and a brief description of the album.

Noting beats actually LISTENING TO MUSIC! So don’t just read my thoughts: follow and listen to the Spotify playlist containing 60 songs from the top 20 albums:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5TWlfWoo54MQ5cYTMmB0RI?si=M_23L6DDRieVuA845A90Pg

01: Yung Gravy - Sensational

Aptly titled Sensational, this debut full-length is a thirty minute party that dances between the hottest trap beats, well-placed samples, and the young Minnesota rapper’s braggadocious persona and ridiculous raps

Hey Alexa, how many bitches can we fit in the Tesla?...Pull up in that Model X with your model ex!

“Whip a Tesla” • “1 Thot 2 Thot Red Thot Blue Thot” • “The Boys Are Back in Town”

02: TWICE - &TWICE • Feel Special EP • FANCY YOU EP

Nine young South Korean women radiate endless energy, bountiful bliss, and some of the catchiest songs to come out not only in 2019 but recent memory 

Even when things go wrong, feelings out of control: lessons, to be sure. Be okay, all right! Even a crying face is glittering, filter and laugh! You can return to invincibility, right? Blow off, and we havin’ fun! [Translated from original Japanese]

“Fake and True” • “Breakthrough” • “Stronger”

03: Sublime with Rome - Blessings

Frontman, bandleader, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Rome Ramirez delivers his finest record to date: eleven heartfelt reggae-driven songs that are as well-written as they are masterfully recorded and produced

Watching you feel good tonight: it's your song up on the station, and we don't even know no words. I wanna hear you roll your R’s, singing Spanish in the car, “Dime algo hermosa tonight”.

“Wicked Heart” • “Light On” • “For the Night”

04: Bring Me the Horizon - amo 

Cohesive yet genre-spanning (metalcore, hip-hop, electronic, and pop, to name just a few), the sixth album from the English quintet is an emotional yet insightful rollercoaster masterpiece

Before the truth will set you free, it'll piss you off. Before you find a place to be, you're gonna lose the plot. Too late to tell you now, one ear and right out the other one ‘cause all you ever do is chant the same old mantra.

“MANTRA” • “wonderful life” • “i apologise if you feel something”

05: Weezer - Weezer (Black Album)

Expertly produced and instantly memorable, the long-running Rivers Cuomo-driven California quartet is once again in top form, adding yet another fresh and unique — but distinctly Weezer — record to their extensive discography 

Don't get mad at me, I'm just being honest. I should have lied, now you're mad at me? I'm just being honest. How 'bout from now on you'll write the script, I'll read the lines?

“Can’t Knock the Hustle” • “Zombie Bastards” • “Living in L.A.”

06: Big Data - 3.0

Like this sophomore album’s lyrical content — exploration of the impact artificial intelligence will have on humans and on the Earth — the latest project from producer, multi-instrumentalist, and mastermind Alan Wilkis is paradoxically dark yet bright; like AI, this album’s execution is equally flawless and Dangerous

I created a monster, it's out of control, it's going to take me...I didn't know what I was making...But now it's coming, coming for all of us!

“Monster” • “See Through” • “Evolution Once Again”

07: blackbear - ANONYMOUS

Vibrant yet dark, personal yet accessible, the fifth album from Mat Musto is a collection of 18 vulnerable, confessional songs told over slick electronic and hip-hop sounds

You drop the bag and ask me how my weekend was. I love that, though. You laugh when I make stupid jokes, and when I went to rehab, you didn't judge me that bad. I struggle with addiction probs, you always got my back. What am I gonna do the day that my drug dealer moves away? Whatever am I gonna say to my new plug? It just ain't the same.

“DOWN” • “HATE MY GUTS” • “DRUG DEALER”

08: Denzel Curry - ZUU

Hit-after-hit of hip-hop bangers pack this album’s half-hour runtime, with a plethora of guests joining the fray but never quite knocking it out like the young Miami native, Denzel Curry 

First they mockin', now they hoppin', all on the wave, 'cause they see me poppin'. Big-big-big large pockets, they start flockin'. Here's what I say when they ass keep knockin'...

“RICKY” • “BIRDZ” • “ZUU”

09: DaBaby - KIRK / Baby on Baby

On his two 2019 albums, his first proper efforts after countless mixtapes and singles, DaBaby unleashes his signature, incessant vocals over relentless trap and modern hip-hop beats

Prolly heard I was broke from a broke nigga, prolly heard I'm a ho from a ho! I don't know what you know, I ain't runnin' from no nigga, let’s go!

“BOP” • “OFF THE RIP” • “Suge”

10: Bayside - Interrobang

On their eighth album, the Anthony Raneri-fronted New York natives sound refreshed, focused, and tighter than ever telling their trademark tales of heartbreak and healing

I love that music saved you, and Lord knows it’s saved me too, but songs never love you back, and you never know the person preaching to you...

“Interrobang” • “Prayers” • “Bury Me”

11: The Hold Steady - Thrashing Thru The Passion

Few frontmen can weave an album’s worth of compelling narratives, yet the Brooklyn band’s Craig Finn finds himself on the seventh The Hold Steady album once again delivering ten more engaging, interlocked tales over his band’s fierce guitar riffs and all-too-catchy choruses

Thanks for listening, thanks for understanding: tequila takeoff, Tecate landing.

“Entitlement Crew” • “Denver Haircut” • “You Did Good Kid”

12: Electric Guest - KIN

Sugary sweet, the third record from the California duo promptly polishes any rough few rough edges they once had to deliver a perfectly slick yet quirkily heartwarming collection of eleven easy-listening songs

I'm like, “this mothafucka might sue me, and that mothafucka might boo me”. I'ma keep on goin' to a better day, all this other bitterness can fade away.

“Dollar” • “I Got the Money” • “More”

13: Billie Eilish - WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?

Part punk energy without sounding even slightly punk, part emo diary without being a dashboard confessional, the debut record from American teenager Billie Eilish craftily bounces between genres, haunting sounds, and strange stories

If you think I’m pretty, you should see me in a crown. I'm gonna run this nothing town. Watch me make 'em bow one by one by one.

“bad guy” • “my strange addiction” • “you should see me in a crown”

14: The Cat Empire - Stolen Diamonds

The eighth album from Australia’s The Cat Empire is a full-blown dance party packed with catchy, clever songwriting and a room full of drums, horns, strings, keyboards, turntables, and bass

Operator, please, I can’t get out my head. Tell me where I’m going or where I’m being led. Tell me like an order, and order I’ll obey. Maybe I just thought you said, or did I did I hear you say, “We’re going to ([kill a man]) Kilaman-jaro, jaro…”

“KIla” • “Stolen Diamonds” • “Ready Now”

15: Dirty Heads - Super Moon

Co-frontmen Dirty J and Duddy B return to the beach for the seventh Dirty Heads album, borrowing sounds from across their entire discography of acoustic guitars and witty hip-hop to craft a surprisingly delicate record

I'm a flame, I'm a beacon that won't go out. In the dark, in the rain, I'm your lighthouse. When you can't stand the pain, hope you know now, I'll keep you safe, I'm your lighthouse.

“Super Moon” • “Lift Me Up” • “Tender Boy”

16: TENDER - Fear of Falling Asleep

Dark and uninviting, the second album from this London duo is an intimidating but rewarding listen delicately spiced with just enough hooks to keep you trapped in its atmospheric dreams 

I’ll be looking for the scent when it goes cold. I’ve been trying to beat the maze with a blindfold on. I’ve been foraging through mud and sticks searching for that power that don’t exist.

“Closer Still” • “Bottled Up” • “Handmade Ego”

17: Logic - Confessions of a Dangerous Mind / Supermarket Soundtrack

Logic returns once again with countless rhymes delivered over his trademark breathless bars, frequently painting an all-too-vivid picture of a famous rapper struggling to comprehend the world around him

All these comments got me lost in my mind; all these thoughts that I'm having are not mine. I always post that I'm having a good time so my life looks perfect online...

“Homicide” • “Don’t Be Afraid to Be Different” • “Lemon Drop”

18: Tyga - Legendary

More than just a collection of hits, the seventh album from the Compton rapper is well-sequenced and effortlessly laced with hook-after-hook for Tyga to deliver his signature obscene lines about things he self-admittedly has too many [sic] of: money, cash, hoes, cars, clothes, flows

Hey, shut the fuck up, bitch, you know who I are. Point blank range, and I'm shootin' for the stars. You niggas subpar and I just raised the bar. You got Rollies on your wrist, this is Chopard. Slide on your block like a fuckin' go-kart, my nigga A&R, still got an AR.

“Haute” • “Lightskin Little Wayne” • “On Me”

19: The Chainsmokers - World War Joy

The third album in three years from Alex Pall and Drew Taggart (and no shortage of guests) is an easy, light collection of ten slick relationship-focused pop songs that find the duo largely eschewing their dance-centric history 

You said, "Hey, whatcha doing for the rest of your life?" and I said, "I don't even know what I'm doing tonight". Went from one conversation to your lips on mine.

“The Reaper” • “Family” • “P.S. I Hope You’re Happy”

20: Bear Hands - Fake Tunes

Brooklyn’s Bear Hands returns with another collection of bright, bouncy songs that ever-so-slightly conceal the trio’s underlying sadness and struggles  

I don't see how you think you can come to me, and bitch to me, lay out your problems, like ancient history, like I ain't got no other shit to do. I love you, baby, but my lips are turnin' blue.

“Blue Lips” • “Back Seat Driver (Spirit Guide)” • “Mr. Radioactive”

THE BEST ALBUMS OF 2019

Yung Gravy - Sensational

TWICE - &TWICE • Feel Special EP • FANCY YOU EP

Sublime with Rome - Blessings

Bring Me the Horizon - amo 

Weezer - Weezer (Black Album)

Big Data - 3.0

blackbear - ANONYMOUS

Denzel Curry - ZUU

DaBaby - KIRK / Baby on Baby

Bayside - Interrobang

The Hold Steady - Thrashing Thru The Passion

Electric Guest - KIN

Billie Eilish - WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?

The Cat Empire - Stolen Diamonds

Dirty Heads - Super Moon

TENDER - Fear of Falling Asleep

Logic - Confessions of a Dangerous Mind / Supermarket Soundtrack

Tyga - Legendary

The Chainsmokers - World War Joy

Bear Hands - Fake Tunes

[sonicawareness]

The Best Albums of 2018

This is a list of the 20 best records to come out in 2018, with “essential songs” from each album. This Best Of list was created after listening to more than 2000 new records, spanning quite a few genres and styles.

Nothing beats actually listening, though, so don’t just read! Follow and listen to a curated Spotify playlist containing all of these songs!

https://open.spotify.com/user/acax1985/playlist/7jmZc5avWiCd7y9MiXPeTh?si=wtsj8sKDTvas9lKy8cdXwA

And now the list!

20 – 11) Ten Honorable Mentions – Listed Alphabetically with an “Essential Song”

Alison Wonderland – Awake (“Happy Place”)

BROCKHAMPTON – iridescence (“NEW ORLEANS”)

Bun B – Return of the Trill (“Myself”)

Dashboard Confessional – Crooked Shadows (“Just What to Say”)

Eminem – Kamikaze (“The Ringer”)

Panic! at the Disco – Pray for the Wicked (“(Fuck A) Silver Lining”)

Punchline – LION (“Friend from the Future”)

Saves the Day – 9 (“Side by Side”)

Thrice – Palms (“Only Us”)

Vince Staples – FM! (“FUN!”)

10) The Knocks – New York Narcotic

New York Narcotic is a fantastic collection of hip-hop infused indie pop songs featuring performances from the likes of Foster the People, Big Boi, and Sofi Tukker, among others. The album’s highlights often come from bringing in outside talent, but the funky duo known as The Knocks stand tall on their own, too.

Essential songs: “Ride or Die”, “Brazilian Soul”, “Shades”

9) CHVRCHES – Love is Dead / Out of My Head

The third full-length CHVRCHES record is unquestionably driven by the unique vocal prowess of frontwoman Lauren Mayberry whose enormous choruses soar over the trio’s signature electronic compositions. While Loves is Dead is instrumentally sound, its Mayberry’s hooks and cadences that transform these songs from “good” to “great” at every turn.

Essential songs: “Out of My Head”, “Graffiti”, “Get Out”

8) Elohim – Elohim

Elohim is a delicate, entrancing world of electronic sounds and haunting vocals. Unexpected, quirky earworms frequently emerge throughout its 43-minute runtime, revealing themselves at surprising moments that are otherwise surrounded by walls of atmospheric noise and rhythm.

Essential songs: “Half Love”, “Hallucinating”, “Fuck Your Money”

7) Ballyhoo! – Detonate

For a good time, look no further than the energetic Detonate. Fusing the most pleasing blend of punk and reggae in recent memory, the Maryland natives successfully follow-up one of the best albums of 2017 (girls.) with a slight stylistic shift to get heavier than ever while retaining their playful charm. Detonate is an essential summer soundtrack.

Essential songs: “I Don’t Wanna Go”, “Maryland Summer”, “Riddled with Bullets”

6) Turnstile – Time & Space

Like temporal time and secular space, the second full-length album from Turnstile both is and is not. Overwrought with contradiction, the 25-minute album is both pure chaos and elegant beauty, perhaps exemplified by the airy “Bomb” interlude that quickly makes way for the foreboding “I Don’t Wanna Be Blind”. Stylistically grounded in hardcore punk, Time & Space is both simple and complex, an album that will either alienate or appease.

Essential songs: “Generator”, “I Don’t Wanna Be Blind”, “Big Smile”

5) Underoath – Erase Me

Erase Me is the best heavy record of 2018, a menacing, cohesive assault that wastes no time kicking things into gear with the appropriately titled lead-off, “It Has to Start Somewhere”. Imbued with the signature synthesizer-laced sound that Underoath helped pioneer more than a decade ago, the Florida sextet delivers wave after wave of a punishing metalcore / post-hardcore hybrid songs that live and breathe through dark, atmospheric tension.

Essential songs: “It Has to Start Somewhere”, “On My Teeth”, “ihateit”

4) Kero Kero Bonito – Time ‘n’ Place / TOTEP

The third full-length record from England’s Kero Kero Bonito refashions an idiosyncratic sound that the trio invented in 2014 (Intro Bonito) and perfected in 2016 (Bonito Generation), introducing fuzzy rock instrumentation into their quirky pop blend. Album highlight “Only Acting” epitomizes this reinvention, perfectly balancing the KKB’s uncanny ability to craft, re-craft, and deconstruct genres at will.

Essential songs: “Only Acting”, “If I’d Known”, “The One True Path”

3) Sofi Tukker – Treehouse

“I don’t give a fuck about they!” exclaims Sophie Hawley-Weld on the aptly titled lead-off, “Fuck They”, before Tucker Halpern’s pounding, jungle-driven rhythms take over and introduce the insatiable energy fueling Treehouse. Frequently channeling their worldly experiences and backgrounds, several songs feature extended Portuguese verses and choruses (often adapted from Brazilian literature), and the energetic “Energia” is entirely in Portuguese. Regardless of its lingual delivery, most of Treehouse consists of immediately danceable, instantly enjoyable songs that make for the perfect soundtrack to a bright, summer day.

Essential songs: “Fuck They”, “Energia”, “Batshit”

2) Poppy – Am I a Girl?

The sophomore effort from Poppy continues to expand the horizons of her indescribably bizarre and eccentric musical landscape. Genres – and perhaps genders (“Am I a Girl”?) and likely lifeforms (“Time Is Up”, “Hard Feelings”) – bend to their limits and frequently break, snapping to unveil the next inexplicable moment on Am I a Girl?. Throughout its 39-minute runtime, the only constants are truly masterful production and Poppy’s sugar-coated voice. Despite being exceptionally catchy, Am I a Girl? is not an immediately digestible album, and it may take more than a few listens to fall under its inevitable spell. When it finally clicks, however, there’s an entire world of introspective lyrics and all-too-important criticisms of humanity to explore.

Essential songs: “Play Destroy”, “X”, “Girls in Bikinis”

1) Logic – Bobby Tarantino II / YSIV

The best album of 2018 comes from Sir Robert Bryson Hall II, professionally known and credited as Logic, but performed as a mixtape by his alter-ego “Bobby Tarantino”. This follow-up to 2017’s Everybody (and more directly, 2016’s Bobby Tarantino) is masterfully crafted and packed with more than 40 minutes of the best hip-hop beats to drop in 2018. Logic annihilates each song with braggadocious bar after braggadocious bar, creating a hype-filled world of positive energy. As expressed by Rick Sanchez during the album’s introductory track, “Grandpa’s Spaceship”, this is a mixtape of “ATL style club rap” for when you are “in the mood to turn shit up”.

Essential songs: “Everyday”, “Overnight”, “Contra”

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SonicAwareness.net Best Albums of 2018

Top 10 Albums

Logic – Bobby Tarantino II / YSIV

Poppy – Am I a Girl?

Sofi Tukker – Treehouse

Kero Kero Bonito – Time ‘n’ Place / TOTEP

Underoath – Erase Me

Turnstile – Time & Space

Ballyhoo! – Detonate

Elohim – Elohim

CHVRCHES – Love is Dead / Out of My Head

The Knocks – New York Narcotic

10 Honorable Mentions

Alison Wonderland – Awake

BROCKHAMPTON – iridescence

Bun B – Return of the Trill

Dashboard Confessional – Crooked Shadows

Eminem – Kamikaze

Panic! at the Disco – Pray for the Wicked

Punchline – LION

Saves the Day – 9

Thrice – Palms

Vince Staples – FM!

.

[sonicawareness]

The Best Albums of 2017

This is a list of the 30 best records to come out in 2017, with “essential songs” from each album. This list was created after listening to more than 2500 new records this year, so it spans quite a few genres and styles, representing a lot of effort narrowing down this list to only include the best of the best!

Noting beats actually listening, so don’t just read my thoughts: follow and listen to the Spotify playlist containing all of these songs!

https://open.spotify.com/user/acax1985/playlist/2Z7eAlTOWAas0ByDDRP12z?si=FE1bdBeHT8GpdenkwTd1Xg

  30 - 16) Fifteen Honorable Mentions - Listed Alphabetically with an “Essential Song”

AFI – AFI (The Blood Album) (“Aurelia”)

Anti-Flag – American Fall (“Racists”)

BROCKHAMPTON – SATURATION I / SATURATION II / SATURATION III (“SWAMP”)

Early Riser – Currents (“The Nevers”)

Ed Sheeran – ÷ (“Shape of You”)

Electric Guest – Plural (“Oh Devil”)

For the Win – Heavy Thoughts (“The Weight of the World”)

Foster the People – Sacred Hearts Club (“Pay the Man”)

Foxygen – Avalon (“Follow the Leader”)

Iron Reagan – Crossover Ministry (“Fuck the Neighbors”)

Kingdom of Giants – All the Hell You’ve Got to Spare (“Damaged Goods”)

MisterWives – Connect the Dots (“Machine”)

Poppy – Poppy.Computer (“Moshi Moshi”)

Rise Against – Wolves (“Welcome to the Breakdown”)

Stray from the Path – Only Death is Real (“Goodnight Alt-Right”)

15) Big Boi – BOOMIVERSE

Again surrounded by generations of friends and talent, Big Boi delivers another high-powered hip-hop record for his third “solo” outing since wrapping up his time in Outkast a decade ago. Killer Mike, Snoop Dogg, and Jeezy are among Big Boi’s collaborators throughout the record’s twelve songs, each adding their own flair and style over some of the most unique and vibrant samples and sounds of 2017.

Essential songs: “Kill Jill”, “In the South”, “All Night”

14) Dirty Heads – SWIM TEAM

SWIM TEAM is another strange entry in the varied Dirty Heads discography, recalling bits and pieces of the diverse five albums that precede it to create a record that is distinctly Dirty Heads but also entirely unique. The six-piece have never sounded so comfortable or relaxed, invoking a listening experience that sounds like you’re at home in the studio (or back porch, or perhaps the beach) with the California natives.

This fun, lighthearted record is told through line-after-line of witty lyrics rapped or sung by Dirty J and Duddy B, two self-aware vocalists that aren’t afraid to laugh at any of the stranger things that effortlessly roll off their tongue like a stream of (high) consciousness. Indeed, the band’s third release in just two years feels honest and unrehearsed – naturally smooth but not over-thought or over-produced.

Essential songs: “Mad at It”, “Staloney”, “Vacation”

13) Vinyl Theatre – Origami

Origami is a modern record, with airtight production and hook-filled synths at every turn. There’s no question that this album is product of 2017, but it’s also refreshingly unique on its take on the genres it straddles, drawing thematic comparisons to Coheed and Cambria but opting for luscious keys instead of raging guitars. On album highlight “New Machines”, vocalist Keegan Calmes ponders technology and the unknown:

“Don't you wanna know where the end of science begins? / But there's these infinite possibilities, lost stars, black holes / All a symphony unexplored / But you're just so sure you got it figured out?”

Later, he continues in the soaring chorus, “I wanna know where we go twenty years from now / Will we see a future built by new machines?”.

At just over a half hour playtime, Origami feels like a space-opera trimmed of the genre’s grandiose stereotypes and fully focused into nine wonder-filled songs.

Essential songs: “New Machines”, “My Fault”, “The Island”

12) Portugal. The Man – Woodstock

Depending on what flavor of Portugal. The Man you prefer, 2013’s Evil Friends could be seen as the band’s best effort in their large, diverse discography. Following up that record would prove an immense challenge for the Pacific Northwest natives, with the band taking four years (and more than a handful of rewrites) to issue Woodstock – an eternity for a band that began their career by releasing six albums (and even more songs through other efforts) during their first six years together.

Woodstock doesn’t top Evil Friends, but it certainly comes packed with some of the band’s best songs to date including “Feel It Still”, a concise, bouncy romp that sounds as effortless as it is infectious. The eighth Portugal. The Man album puts an emphasis on rhythm and cadence, finally bringing to light the hip-hop influences they’ve teased over the years. Ultimately, Woodstock is an interesting and engaging listen, a document of a band exploring old ideals through a modern lens.

Essential songs: “Feel It Still”, “Noise Pollution”, “Live in the Moment”

11) Fenech-Soler – ZILLA

ZILLA is a youthful, exuberant record that begs for a bright day and room to dance. English brothers Ben and Ross Duffy excel at crafting up-tempo songs filled with exploding singalongs, and on songs like album-opener “Kaleidoscope”, the results are infectious. The third Fenech-Soler album is an excellent display of indie-pop in line with (and often exceeding) the likes of more well-known acts such as Phoenix or Passion Pit, with no shortage of lockstep grooves and catchy choruses.

Essential songs: “Kaleidoscope”, “On Top”, “Night Time TV”

10) Weezer – Pacific Daydream

With a few exceptions in their discography – which now sits at eleven full-length records since 1994 – Weezer isn’t a band known for releasing great albums. For much of their career, the Rivers Cuomo-fronted act consistently released excellent singles surrounded by average album offerings. With Pacific Daydream, the quartet finally managed to wrap an album’s worth of songs around their mega-hits.

Interestingly, at thirty-three minutes, the latest album from the Los Angeles quartet isn’t leaner than most Weezer albums, it’s just objectively better. “Feels Like Summer” is the undeniable album high, with classic Cuomo lyrics mixed with a fresh, modern sound and undeniably massive chorus, but these qualities are in no shortage throughout the ten unique and varied tracks collected on Pacific Daydream.

Essential songs: “Feels Like Summer”, “Happy Hour”, “Mexican Fender”

09) Paramore – After Laughter

Hayley Williams drives the Paramobile (®), picking up and discharging bandmembers throughout the Paramore ride that is approaching nearly fifteen years of touring. Along the way, Paramore constantly raised the bar on their efforts, releasing the very best Paramore album year after year, through 2013’s hour-plus self-titled effort. Very few bands can put out the best album of their career-to-date more than once, yet Paramore did it multiple times, topping their previous efforts three times in a row with Riot!, brand new eyes, and Paramore.

In 2017, however, Williams and company find themselves with their very first release that doesn’t immediately outshine everything they’ve done before. Nonetheless, After Laugher is a great record with some of the band’s best songs to date (frontloaded in tracks 1, 2, and 3), and an interesting record with a plethora of peculiar sounds and nuances to discover.

After Laughter presents Williams in a painfully vulnerable state, with perhaps the opening moments of “Fake Happy” providing one of the most crucial pieces of insight into the fifth Paramore album:

“I love making you believe what you get is what you see / But I'm so fake happy, I feel so fake happy / And I bet everybody here is just as insincere / We're all so fake happy, and I know fake happy”

It’s painfully obvious that After Laughter isn’t another danceable, anthemic record in the Paramore discography, but it’s still another excellent addition to the Williams catalog. This record also ventures out further from the Paramore comfort zone than any other with the inclusion of the hazy “No Friend”, sung entirely by mewithoutYou frontman Aaron Weiss.

With the strength of the album’s best songs coupled with Paramore’s willingness to push their own boundaries, it will be exciting to see where Paramore goes next.

Essential songs: “Hard Times”, “Rose-Colored Boy”, “Told You So”

08) Knox Hamilton – The Heights

The Heights is a collection of pop-punk-energized rock and roll songs wrapped in bright indie-pop production. Perfectly complementing each other, these elements come alive on Knox Hamilton’s debut record with stop-and-start cadences and rhythmic guitars energizing most of the thirteen tracks. With frontman Boots Copeland delivering a seemingly endless supply of harmonious and hook-filled vocals, The Heights is an immediately accessible listen that also offers a surprising amount of depth upon subsequent visits.

Essential songs: “We Get Back”, “Work It Out”, “Washed Up Together”

07) The Chainsmokers – Memories…Do Not Open

There are two lenses through which to view the debut full-length by Alex Pall and Drew Taggart, the duo responsible for some of the biggest and most exciting singles of the last few years. Both optics are valid and worth exploring.

Through one lens, The Chainsmokers don’t come close to the genius of “Closer” and “Don’t Let Me Down” on Memories…Do Not Open. Nothing on this 2017 debut is as good as those singles, and there’s nothing here that invokes the party-ready attitude of so many of their previous songs.

Through a second lens, Memories…Do Not Open is a heartbreaking record that stands apart from group’s earlier, more aggressive singles, filled with perfectly sequenced, interesting songs that touch on a number of styles and tempos throughout its forty-five-minute runtime. Aptly-titled, Memories…Do Not Open is emotionally gut-wrenching and an autobiographical, therapeutic release. On the first song, Taggart bluntly delivers line-after-line of soul-baring Memories, including the all-too-honest 2017 lyrics: “Let's go, let's end this / I delete before I send it / And we can play pretend / Like we haven't reached the end yet”.

Perfect production and pleasant sounds mask the pair’s despair, and even the album’s bounciest songs, such as the excellent “Break Up Every Night”, are inherently dark at their core. Memories…Do Not Open is the new sound of a group finally releasing their debut full-length record; where things go from here will be exciting and interesting to follow.

Essential songs: “The One”, “Break Up Every Night”, “Paris”

06) Ballyhoo – girls.

Straight to the point, the latest record from Ballyhoo is the perfect soundtrack for a day at the beach. This high-praise comes with no strings attached or hidden asterisks; indeed, letting all twelve songs play through, in order, would be an excellent choice for any day spent watching the waves crash with a drink in hand – may I recommend a “Jameson & Ginger”?

Playing like a Sublime greatest hits compilation, girls. is packed with song-after-song of feel-good vibes. Laidback but not boring or slow, old-school but incredibly modern, Ballyhoo have crafted an album with no filler. The Maryland natives confine themselves to one overarching genre but continuously keep things fresh and interesting throughout the album’s forty-two-minute playtime, making each song unique and memorable in the process.

Essential songs: “Mixtape”, “Jameson & Ginger”, “Blaze This Weed”

05) Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness – Zombies on Broadway

Singer-songwriter pianist Andrew McMahon has been releasing music for nearly two decades through a number of vessels, jumping through various styles and genres on that journey. As his projects changed names, from Something Corporate to Jack’s Mannequin to the current “in the Wilderness” moniker, band members and producers have come and gone, leaving the listener with just one constant: McMahon behind the piano.

On his eighth full-length album, McMahon is precise, compelling, and sharp. The record’s first song, “Brooklyn, You’re Killing Me” is perhaps his most aggressive opener to date, with an infectious chorus that sets the tone for most of the New York City-based Zombies on Broadway. In fact, most of the album is overflowing with big hooks and even bigger singalongs. Lyrically, McMahon is familiar in his autobiographical approach to songwriting and unabashed affinities for space, flight, and travel. These new cross-country tales stack up alongside his previous masterpieces, this time told over the most urgent sounds he has found to date.

Essential songs: “Brooklyn, You’re Killing Me”, “So Close”, “Fire Escape”

04) Minus the Bear – VOIDS

VOIDS isn’t a perfect Minus the Bear album, but it’s bests songs fit comfortably next to anything the band has ever done, a remarkable accomplishment for the long-running act that has delivered a number of true masterpieces throughout their near two-decade career. At their best moments on their sixth full-length record, Minus the Bear is lean and mean, with intricate riffs (“Invisible”) and biting lyrics (“Tame Beasts”) at every twist and turn.

The energetic, mathy framework and smooth, sexy atmosphere that defines Minus the Bear is fully intact here, and with years of perfecting this formula under their belt, the Seattle five-piece uses VOIDS to tweak and refine these elements. The end result is another excellent installment to the Minus the Bear catalog and one of the best records of 2017.

Essential songs: “Tame Beasts”, “Invisible”, “Give & Take”

03) Silverstein – Dead Reflection

Casting off the theme and concept-driven ideas that have defined the band through the latter half of their career, Silverstein return as cool and poised as ever with another highlight in their already-incredible discography. Dead Reflection is distinctly Silverstein, with energetic riffs laying the foundation for the delivery of Shane Told’s unmistakable aggressive vocals. Everything here is expertly produced, every sound and nuance perfectly constructed; “Ghost”, for example, plays like the band’s Greatest Hits seamlessly constructed into one powerful song.

Despite retaining their signature sound, Dead Reflection is distinctly modern and tightens up the quintet’s sound across the board, including the most confident vocals Told has ever delivered. “Whiplash” showcases the Canadians’ commitment to remaining modern, with subtle hints of where the band might expand their sound to in the future. With their ninth full-length record, Silverstein’s unique take blend of punk, post-hardcore, and metalcore remains unparalleled, making Dead Reflection an essential record for anyone interested in aggressive music.

Essential songs: “Ghost”, “Retrograde”, “Whiplash”

02) Magic & Bird – Andy Mineo and Wordsplayed Present Magic & Bird

Playfully assuming the rivalry-driven personas of basketball hall of famers Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, Miner League rappers Wordsplayed and Andy Mineo collaborate for ten high-energy songs on this 2017 record. The pair relentlessly assault some of the best beats of the year, unleashing a constant stream of clever rhymes and metaphors that often root themselves in sports, notably (and obviously) basketball. The aptly titled “DUNK CONTEST” showcases the pair trading line-after-line of rhymes like:

“I'm runnin' on the fast-break, behind the back / Yeah, this that Penny with the Shaq / Yeah, if he's passin' me the rock, then he might not get it back”

Like an adrenaline-filled fast-break, this collaboration is explosive and entertaining. The second-best album of the year plays like a highlight reel of fantastic flows and bombastic beats, an immediately engaging record built for Genius annotations and lit nights alike.

Essential songs: “KIDZ”, “DUNK CONTEST (MAGIC BIRD”), “R.U.T.S.”

01) Run the Jewels – Run the Jewels 3

“I told y'all suckers,” begins Killer Mike, just minutes into the third Run the Jewels record. “I told y'all on RTJ1, then I told ya again on RTJ2, and you still ain't believe me. So here we go: RTJ3!”

And with that proclamation, the best album of 2017 hits its stride, delivering wave-after-wave of punishing songs laced with the cool lyrical musings of rap’s best duo, Killer Mike and El-P. “Legend Has It” is arguably the most focused, refined Run the Jewels song to date, a showcase for El-P’s masterful production as well as his raw ability to murder a beat. Like many Run the Jewels songs, the track is a platform for the rightfully braggadocious duo to assert their dominance.

A recurring theme throughout RTJ3 is addressing the world’s biggest problems. Some are en passant, like a jab at the constant destruction of the Earth (“I'm stuck in the future / Shit ain't all it's cracked up to be / The hovercraft's cool but the air's so putrid”), while others are full-blown haymakers.

The final knockout punch comes from album closer “A Report to Shareholders / Kill Your Masters”. On the group’s longest track to date, Killer Mike acknowledges that real change is impossible when politics (here, explicitly the 2016 United States presidential election) is about “choos[ing] the lesser of the evil people”, asserting that the solution is to “Kill Your Masters”. On that same track, El-P offers an explanation as to why he’s not hesitant to speak bluntly about any topic: “Can't contain the disdain for y'all demons / You talk clean and bomb hospitals / So I speak with the foulest mouth possible”.

RTJ3 offers new special guests (and the welcomed return of old friends like Rage Against the Machine’s Zach De La Rocha) and new twists on the Run the Jewels formula, making this an essential album in the group’s rapidly-expanding discography that started in 2013 when Killer Mike and El-P put a formal name to their collaboration. Run the Jewels 3 is also the top record of 2017 and a necessary addition to any “Best Of” list.

Essential songs: “Legend Has It”, “Call Ticketron”, “Talk to Me”

[sonicawareness]

Show Recap: Balance and Composure @ NYC 1/6/2018

Balance and Composure performed at Bowery Ballroom in New York City on January 6, 2018. Check out the setlist, photograph, and video from the concert!

Balance and Composure

Void

Fade

Burden

Quake

Postcard

I Can’t Do This Alone

When I Come Undone

More to Me

Midnight Zone

Enemy

Back of Your Head

Patience

Reflection

I Tore You Apart in My Head

Stonehands

Notice Me

[sonicawareness]

Show Recap: Penguin Prison @ NYC 12/20/2017

Penguin Prison performed at the Mailroom in New York City on December 20, 2107. Check out the setlist, photograph, and video from the concer!

Penguin Prison

Turn It Up

Calling Out

Do Me Like That

Golden Train

Try to Lose

Caught in a Daze

Hollywood

Keep Coming Alive

Show Me the Way

Don’t Fuck with My Money

[sonicawareness]

Show Recap: Kevin Devine @ NYC 12/16/2017

Kevin Devine celebrated Instigator and Put Your Ghost to Rest at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York, on December 16, 2017. Check out the setlist, photograph, and video from the concert!

Kevin Devine

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No Why

Instigator

Magic Magnet

Freddie Gray Blues

No History

Daydrunk

Both Ways

No One Says You Have To

Guard Your Gates

Before You’re Here

I Was Alive Back Then

Brooklyn Boy

You’re Trailing Yourself

Just Stay

You’ll Only End Up Joining Them

Billion Bees

Less Yesterday, More Today

Like Cursing Kids

Go Haunt Someone Else

The Burning City Smoking

Me and My Friends

Trouble

Heaven Bound and Glory Be

Keep Ringing Your Bell

No Time Flat

Buried By the Buzz

The Shift Change Splits the Streets

Cotton Crush

[sonicawareness]

Show Recap: Kevin Devine @ NYC 12/14/2017

Kevin Devine celebrated We Are Who We've Always Been and Make the Clocks Move at the Bell House in Brooklyn, New York, on December 14, 2017. Check out the setlist, photograph, and video from the concert!

Kevin Devine 

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No Why

Instigator

Magic Magnet

Freddie Gray Blues

No History

Daydrunk

Both Ways

No One Says You Have To

Guard Your Gates

Before You're Here

I Was Alive Back Then

Ballgame

Wolf's Mouth

Noose Dressed Like a Necklace

Not Over You Yet

A Flatline Blur

Whistling Dixie

People Are So Fickle

Marie

Country Sky Glow

Longer That I'm Out Here

Tapdance

You're My Incentive

Splitting Up Christmas

Thanks

No Time Flat

Buried by the Buzz

The Shift Change Splits the Streets

Cotton Crush

[sonicawareness]

Show Recap: The Hold Steady @ NYC 11/29/2017

The Hold Steady celebrated the first of four Massive Nights at Brooklyn Bowl in New York City on November 29, 2017. Check out the setlist, photograph, and video from the concert!

The Hold Steady 

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Positive Jam

Stuck Between Stations

The Swish

Rock Problems

Magazines

Stevie Nix

Multitude of Casualties

Same Kooks

Entitlement Crew 

Chips Ahoy!

First Night

Hornets! Hornets!

Constructive Summer

Hot Soft Light

A Snake in the Shower 

Party Pit

I Hope This Whole Thing Didn't Frighten You

The Weekenders

Massive Nights

Your Little Hoodrat Friend

How a Resurrection Really Feels

Ride On (AC/DC cover)

Sequestered in Memphis

Southtown Girls

Killer Parties

[sonicawareness]

Show Recap: mewithoutYou @ NYC 11/24/2017

mewithoutYou performed [A→B] Life to celebrate its fifteenth anniversary at Warsaw in Brooklyn, New York, on November 24, 2017. Check out the setlist, video, and photograph from the concert!

mewithoutYou 

Bullet to Binary

The Ghost

Nice and Blue

Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt

(A)

Gentlemen

Be Still, Child

We Know Who Our Enemies Are

I Never Said That I Was Brave

(B)

Silencer

The Cure for Pain

I Never Said That I Was Brave (acoustic)

The Fox, the Crow, and the Cookie 

Red Cow

Nice and Blue (Pt. Two)

In a Sweater Poorly Knit

Torches Together

Son of a Widow

[sonicawareness]

Show Recap: Thrice / Circa Survive / CHON / Balance and Composure @ Sayreville 11/19/2017

Circa Survive, Thrice, CHON, and Balance and Composure performed at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey, on November 19, 2017. Check out full setlists, photographs, and videos from the concert!

Balance and Composure 

Midnight Zone

Fade

For a Walk

Tiny Raindrop

Spinning

Reflection

CHON

Circa Survive

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Rites of Investiture

Glass Arrows

Child of the Desert

Lustration

Strange Terrain

Sharp Practice

Tunnel Vision

At Night It Gets Worse

The Only Difference Between Medicine and Poison is the Dose

Flesh and Bone

In Fear and Faith

Stop the Fuckin’ Car

Get Out

Thrice

The Earth Will Shake

The Window

The Artist in the Ambulance

Hurricane

Blood on the Sand

Firebreather

Open Water

Broken Lungs

Come All You Weary

Deadbolt

Silhouette

Red Telephone

Black Honey

Of Dust and Nations

The Long Defeat

[sonicawareness]

Show Recap: Circa Survive / Thrice / CHON / Balance and Composure @ Sayreville 11/18/2017

Circa Survive, Thrice, CHON, and Balance and Composure performed at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey, on November 17, 2017. Check out full setlists, photographs, and videos from the concert!

Balance and Composure

Void

For a Walk

Fade

When I Come Undone

Midnight Zone

Tiny Raindrop

Postcard

CHON 

Thrice

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The Earth Will Shake

The Window

The Artist in the Ambulance

Hurricane

Blood on the Sand

Firebreather

Open Water

Broken Lungs

Come All You Weary

Deadbolt

Silhouette

Red Telephone

Black Honey

Of Dust and Nations

The Long Defeat

Circa Survive 

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Child of the Desert

Glass Arrows

Lustration

Strange Terrain

Sharp Practice

Rites of Investiture

In Fear and Faith

Stop the Fuckin’ Car

Flesh and Bone

Frozen Creek

The Amulet

The Difference Between Medicine and Poison Is in the Dose

Get Out

[sonicawareness]

Show Recap: Circa Survive / Thrice / CHON / Balance and Composure @ Miami Beach 11/12/2017

Circa Survive, Thrice, CHON, and Balance and Composure performed at the Fillmore Miami Beach in Florida on November 12, 2017. Check out full setlists, photographs, and videos from the concert!

Balance and Composure

Void

For a Walk

Fade

Afterparty

Spinning

Tiny Raindrop

Midnight Zone

CHON 

Checkpoint

Story

Fall

Book

No Signal

Waterslide

Bubble Dream

Perfect Pillow

Thrice

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The Earth Will Shake

The Window

The Artist in the Ambulance

Hurricane

Blood on the Sand

Firebreather

Open Water

Broken Lungs

Come All You Weary

Deadbolt

Silhouette

Red Telephone

Black Honey

Of Dust and Nations

The Long Defeat

Circa Survive 

Child of the Desert

Glass Arrows

Lustration

Strange Terrain

Sharp Practice

Rites of Investiture

Tunnel Vision

In Fear and Faith

Stop the Fuckin' Car

Premonition of the Hex

Frozen Creek

The Difference Between Medicine and Poison Is in the Dose

Get Out

[sonicawareness]

Show Recap: Portugal. the Man @ Sayreville 10/25/2017

Portugal. the Man performed at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey, on October 25, 2017. Check out the setlist, photograph, and video from the concert!

Portugal. the Man 

For Whom the Bell Tolls (partial Metallica cover)

Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2 (partial Pink Floyd cover)

Purple Yellow Red and Blue

Number One

Feel It Still

Noise Pollution

Head Is a Flame (Cool With It)

Got It All (This Can’t Be Living Now)

Once Was One

Waves

So Young

All Your Light (Times Like These)

So American

Rich Friends

Modern Jesus

Live in the Moment

Feel It Still

Don’t Look Back in Anger

Hip Hop Kids

Holy Roller (Hallelujah)

[sonicawareness]

Show Recap: MisterWives / Smallpools / Vinyl Theatre @ Jersey City 10/24/2017

MisterWives brought the Connect the Dots Tour to White Eagle Hall in Jersey City, New Jersey, on October 24, 2017, with support from Smallpools and Vinyl Theate. Check out full setlists, photographs, and videos from the concert!

Vinyl Theatre

My Fault 

New Machines

Breaking Up My Bones

Day In Day Out

Lose Yourself (partial Eminem cover)

The Island

Me, Myself, and I

Smallpools

Killer Whale

American Love

Passenger Side

Street Fight

Mother

Creep (partial Radiohead cover)

Over and Over

DJs and Porsches

Slide (partial Calvin Harris cover)

Million Bucks

Dreaming

MisterWives

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Machine

Chasing This

Drummer Boy

Only Human

Out of Tune Piano

Vagabond (partial)

Revolution (partial)

Ride (Twenty One Pilots cover)

Heavydirtysoul (partial Twenty One Pilots cover)

Coloring Outside the Lines

Not Your Way (partial)

Best I Can Do (partial)

Oceans (partial)

Never Give Up On Me

Reflections

Oh Love

Let the Light In

Imagination Infatuation

Shout (partial Isley Brother cover)

No Need For Dreaming (unconfirmed)

Our Own House

[sonicawareness]

Show Recap: Andy Mineo @ NYC 10/19/2017

Andy Mineo was joined by Wordsplayed and Social Club Misfits at Irving Plaza in New York City on October 19, 2017. Check out the setlist and photograph from the concert!

Andy Mineo  

Uncomfortable

Desperados

(possibly a song here)

Never Land

(unidentified song)

The Saints

(unidentified song)

Candy Rain

Honest 2 God

I Ain't Done 

HI-FIVE (LOADING)

KIDZ

DUNK CONTENT (MAGIC BIRD)

SAY LESS)

RUTS

JUDO

BREAK BREAD

DANCE (YOU SEE IT)

LEGEND

(unknown number of songs here)

You Can't Stop Me

(unknown number of songs here)

This setlist is mostly accurate but is not completely confirmed. If you can help modify this setlist in any way, please contact us!

[sonicawareness]

Show Recap: Paramore / Best Coast @ Bethlehem 10/10/2017

Paramore brought Tour Two to the Sands Event Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on October 10, 2017, with support from Best Coast. Check out the setlists, photographs, and videos from the concert!

Best Coast 

The Only Place

Heaven Sent

When I'm With You

Crazy for You

California Nights

In My Eyes

Jealousy

Feeling OK

Our Deal

I Want To

Boyfriend

Paramore 

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Hard Times

Ignorance

Still Into You

Daydreaming

Forgiveness

Brick by Boring Brick

Playing God

That's What You Get

I Caught Myself

Hate to See Your Heart Break

26 

Told You So

Everywhere (Fleetwood Mac cover)

Fake Happy

Misery Business

Ain't It Fun

Caught in the Middle

Scooby's in the Back (HalfNoise song)

Rose-Colored Boy

[sonicawareness]

Show Recap: Glass Animals @ Philadelphia 10/6/2017

Glass Animals performed at the Fillmore Philadelphia on October 6, 2017. Check out the setlist and photo from the concert!

Glass Animals 

Life Itself

Black Mambo

Hazey

Poplar St.

The Other Side of Paradise

Season 2 Episode 3

Toes

Take a Slice

Mama's Gun

Cane Shuga

Youth

Gooey

Agnes

Pools

Pork Soda