Top 30 Albums of 2018

30. Noname - Room 25

29. Iron & Wine - Weed Garden EP

28. The Breeders - All Nerve

27. Kids See Ghosts - Kids See Ghosts

26. Constant Mongrel - Living in Excellence

25. Slothrust - The Pact

24. Kendrick Lamar & Various Artists - Black Panther The Album: Music From and Inspired By

23. Wye Oak - The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs

22. Aphex Twin - Collapse EP

21. Guided By Voices - Space Gun

20. Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer

19. The Body - I Have Fought Against It, But I Can't Any Longer

18. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Sparkle Hard

17. Pusha T - Daytona

16. The Messthetics - The Messthetics

15. Christine and the Queens - Chris

14. Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love

13. Sheck Wes - Mudboy

12. Thom Yorke - Suspiria (Music for the Luca Guadagnino Film)

11. Fucked Up - Dose Your Dreams

10. Julia Holter - Aviary

9. Parquet Courts - Wide Awake!

8. Los Kowalski - Dejarte Ir

7. MGMT - Little Dark Age

6. Tropical Fuck Storm - A Laughing Death in Meatspace

5. Beak - >>>

4. Richard Thompson - 13 Rivers

3. Iceage - Beyondless

2. Petal - Magic Gone

1. Screaming Females - All At Once

Related:

Petal - Magic Gone

Los Kowalski - Dejarte Ir

Parquet Courts - Wide Awake!

Los Kowalski - Dejarte Ir

Mexico's Los Kowalski has had the labels Krautrock, shoegaze and psychedelia attached to it, among other genres. It's accurate yet reductive. Many inventive bands are described as familar-yet-original, but Los Kowalski really does have a knack for evoking the past to its advantage while seamlessly blending its influences in a way that defies comparison. Take two of the best songs on Dejarte Ir ("Let You Go"), for example: "Puente a la luna" ("Bridge to the Moon") is Krautrock on downers, coasting by on a slowed down motorik beat and a two note bass line and eventually subsumed by a wall of enveloping guitars; "Albatros" employs a faster, more elastic beat, and seems to be another one chord affair until a change that hits like Mjölnir. Dejarte Ir is a rare album that can somehow lull listeners into a reverie and keep them on their toes at the same time.