Top 5 Overlooked Albums of 2018
- Jan 1, 2019
- 5 min read
© Micah Veldkamp, 2018
Hello all! Welcome back to my yearly installment of “Best Overlooked Albums”. Before I start anything, I just want to sincerely thank each and every one of you who took time to read last year’s edition. Thanks to you, I was able to take the coveted prize of “Most-Read Article” and got to rub it in the face of my co-contributors (@Sierra). Let’s make it a back-to-back, shall we?
A couple things to note this year. First, because of the trend towards releasing multiple loose singles and EPs instead of one full LP a year, I’ll be looking more at releases over the course of 2018, rather than albums. I guess it’s more of a “Best Overlooked Releases” than “Albums”... but you get the idea. Second, I’m gonna try to provide a unique mainstream-artist-comparison for each artist without being basic or boring. We’ll see how that goes.
As I always preface this annual listicle, I write this because I feel like there are manymanymanymany incredibly talented artists that just don’t get the coverage they deserve. They could either be young unsigned artists that just don’t have the reach to get their music out there yet, or they could be a star on the verge of breaking out (S/O my bae Alessia Cara, who was featured on my 2016 article and won Best New Artist at the Grammys last year. Ya welcome <3). Regardless, the caveat remains the same: there’s way too much music out there for me to listen to. So, I apologize if your favorite indie artist isn’t given their due. My bad. But let me know so I can listen to them!
Let’s start with honorable mentions, shall we?
The Renaissance // Luke Christopher (Is releasing a single every week for an entire year. He’s on Week 21)
I: The Arrow & II: The Sword // Andy Mineo (Written about already here)
CARE FOR ME // Saba
WWW. // Towkio
The Story of Us // Quinn XCII
Yesterday’s Tomorrow Night // Harry Hudson
Blood Type // Cautious Clay
800DASH // Drew Famous
Light of Mine // KYLE
5. ruiner // nothing,nowhere (If Blink-182 and the late Lil Peep spent a night sampling guitars and watching sad movies together)
Confession: I fell down a rabbit-hole of emo rap this fall and it’s amazing (IT’S NOT A PHASE, MOM). And while the new wave of #sadrap is has been dominated by the likes of JuiceWRLD, Lil Uzi, and the late Lil Peep & XXXtentacion, the rock’n’roll-leaning stalwart of the genre is nothing,nowhere. Even though this latest LP doesn’t quite measure up to the previous, Reaper, it still deserves recognition as an important, worthwhile addition to a genre that, in 2018, was troubled by addiction, abuse, and death.
ruiner brings a level of sincerity that wasn’t found in the punk bands of the 2000s and compositional ambition that is very much lacking in cloud rap today. There’s something so satisfyingly sweet about unique guitar riffs coupled with aching lyrics. That nothing,nowhere is at the top of that craft was solidified with ruiner.
Highlights: “ruiner,” “better,” “waster”
4. 4. vertigo // EDEN (If Lauv was actually Irish and spent a month alone in a cabin in the PNW making music.)
Quick story; bear with me. I walk about 15 minutes into work every morning. In Michigan, you see the sun for approximately 27 minutes every winter. vertigo released on January 19th. I was listening to this album on the way to work the morning of its release, and theRE WAS THE MOST FREAKIN’ BEAUTIFUL SUNRISE EVER. I literally stood there in awe listening to this album and watching the sunrise for 10 minutes and showed up late to work #worthit.
People who like EDEN tend to reeeaally like EDEN. And for good reason! This newest release is a showcase of EDEN’s vocal & production talent. The entire album feels as if it’s stripped-down and stuffed-full at the same time. The number of times I’ve found myself staring at a wall in a trance with vertigo in my headphones is scarily-high. It’s an ethereal and consequential listen that’s as good the 12th time through as it was the first. His understanding of anticipation, fluidity, and artistry is among the best, especially in this time of pumping out radio hits for the sake of radio hits.
Highlights: “falling in reverse,” “take care,” “love; not wrong (brave),” “wrong”
3. Room 25 // Noname (Who I imagine Chance the Rapper’s daughter is going to grow up to be).
If you know, you know. Noname is probably *ducks* the best lyricist to come out of Chicago. That’s saying something, considering it has produced the likes of Kanye, Common, and the aforementioned Chance.
What Noname started with Telefone (also a vvv good listen), she expanded with Room 25. With her unique blend of neo-soul and jazz funk, you’ll be hard pressed to find another hip-hop artist creating a similar sound. Her herky-jerk, syrupy delivery forces you to listen through about seven times before you begin to grasp everything she’s putting out there. She’s one of those people where you’re just vibin’ and then all of a sudden you’re like "WHAT?!" and have to rewind to make sure you really heard what you just heard. And, “Ace” through “No name” is one of the greatest strings of songs in recent memory.
Highlights: “Part of Me”, “No name”, “Ace”, “Blaxploitation”
2. 2. MITCHELL & NINESEVENTHREE // Kaleb Mitchell (If Drake was actually a good rapper and also every song was either an absolute banger or R&B song).
Kaleb Mitchell is a 20 year old rapper/singer who has FIVE actually good full-length releases (and that’s not even including the music he made as a duo with his brother). His two releases this year, MITCHELL and NINESEVENTHREE are the results of a prodigy deciding that he’s just gonna str8 up murder the world with the greatest hip-hop of his generation. And if that isn’t enough, he also has the voice of a glowingly-pure angel and is about to kill the R&B game.
MITCHELL dropped in July and collectively melted the eardrums of anyone who was paying attention. We were in awe; we were happy. And then he released a mixtape on Halloween. I don’t know what to tell you guys about this dude… just click on the vid below and you’ll get what I’m saying. Even if he never gets any bigger than he is now, Kaleb Mitchell will still be one of my favorite rappers ever.
Highlights: "WAIT A MINUTE,” “ALRIGHT,” “FREE THROW PT. IV,” “KING KONG,” “FORREAL”
1. glisten, summer,, stripped. // Jeremy Zucker (If James Taylor was actually born in 1997 instead of 1948).
Have you ever been listening to a song for the first time and your jaw literally drops at a certain crescendo or beat drop or key change? I have that with just about every song Jeremy Zucker puts out. As “wildfire” pulsed through my earbuds, it happened FOUR TIMES. I don’t know if Jeremy writes his own songs or produces his own music, but I really don’t care. His voice is that good.
In 2018, Jeremy put out three different EPs: glisten, summer, and stripped. The latter is just acoustic versions of previous songs, while the other two are both new releases. All three could have deserved this top spot on the list. But why pick just one when I could include all three? I know this is subjective, but I think it’s true: he is the king of the indie electronica genre wave. Quinn XCII, Chelsea Cutler, mansionz, and Wrabel can’t hold a candle to him. Pick any one of his songs off any of those EPs and you’ll get lost in a haze of vocals & vibes (but pick “wildfire”. “wildfire” is incredible).
Highlights: “wildfire,” “thinking 2 much,” “all the kids are depressed,” “end (stripped.)”
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