Top 50 Tracks of 2018

Cool Music Central waves goodbye to 2018 with the traditional year-end selection of our favorite tracks of the year: 50 great songs selected from albums, singles and EPs released in the last 12 months.

As usual, our singles list includes only one track from each artist or band in order to help us with the difficult task of narrowing down the selection to just 50 songs and also to represent as many of our favorite releases of the year as possible.

Check back next week for the list of our favorite albums of the year. In the meantime, hit play in the playlist below to listen to our Top 50 Tracks of 2018 led by U.S. Girls' "Pearly Gates", a soulful slice of retrofuturistic art pop describing a woman's efforts to gain entry to the heavenly realm by seducing a predatory St. Peter, a song which according to Meg Remy was inspired by a story recounted to her about a man attempting to convince a woman to engage in unprotected sex by saying “Don’t worry, I’m really good at pulling out!”.

Top 50 Tracks of 2018

 1. Pearly Gates - U.S. GIRLS

 2. Talking Straight - ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER

3. How Did This Happen!? - BODEGA

4. Don't Beat the Girl Out of My Boy - ANNA CALVI

5. Woman - CAT POWER

6. Lemon Glow - BEACH HOUSE

7. Comeback Kid - SHARON VAN ETTEN

8. Need a Little Time - COURTNEY BARNETT

9. Make Time 4 Love - THE GOON SAX

10. Nobody - MITSKI

11. I Shall Love 2 - JULIA HOLTER
12. Nervous Mary - THE BREEDERS
13. The Man - GOAT GIRL
14. Danny Nedelko - IDLES
15. Total Football - PARQUET COURTS
16. MX Liberty - THURSTON MOORE
17. Wheel of Fortune - PROTOMARTYR
18. CIA Man (NSA Man Violation) - SNAPPED ANKLES
19. Over And Over And Over - JACK WHITE
20. Complex - THE CHILLS
21. Loading Zones - KURT VILE
22. Four Out of Five - ARCTIC MONKEYS
23. The Rover - INTERPOL
24. Shiny One - BELLY
25. Heat Wave - SNAIL MAIL
26. Your Dog - SOCCER MOMMY
27. Apathy - FRANKIE COSMOS
28. For You Too - YO LA TENGO
29. Refute - STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS
30. Crisis Fest - SUNFLOWER BEAN
31. Fanny - TY SEGALL
32. Catch It - ICEAGE
33. Static Resistance - HOOKWORMS
34. Brean Down - BEAK>
35. You Can - GABE GURNSEY
36. IDK About You - FEVER RAY
37. Heart Attack - TUNE-YARDS
38. Lotus - GANG GANG DANCE
39. Surface To Air - DJANGO DJANGO
40. Curse of the Contemporary - LUMP
41. Little Dark Age - MGMT
42. Put Your Money on Me - ARCADE FIRE
43. Last Lion of Albion - NEKO CASE
44. Severed - THE DECEMBERISTS
45. Nervous Young Inhumans - CAR SEAT HEADREST
46. What a Time to Be Alive - SUPERCHUNK
47. Never Coming Back - A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS
48. Lucky 88 - SPEEDY ORTIZ
49. I'm Your Man - SPIRITUALIZED
50. Disarray - LOW

Live: Peter Murphy @ Tae Kwon Do (Athens, December 14th, 2018)

It's been 40 years since the formation of Bauhaus in Northampton, England, the band that defined goth rock more than any other, and 35 since they played in Athens in one of the first ever indie rock gigs that took place here. Back in those days I was just starting to get into this type of music and "The Sky's Gone Out" was one of the first records I bought with my pocket money.

Unfortunately in '83 I was still too young to be allowed to go to a rock concert while the band split up soon afterwards so I never had the chance to see them in their glory days.

Although I'm not too keen on going to concerts for nostalgia's sake, when I learned that Peter Murphy along with David J would be returning to Athens to play "In The Flat Field", the first Bauhaus album, in its entirety plus several of the band's classics in celebration of their ruby anniversary, I could not resist the temptation to book my seat at the Tae Kwon Do stadium.

 

 

After a set by local act The Steams who presented their debut album "Wild Ferment", combining psychedelia with eastern melodies and prog-rock influences, it was time to turn the clock back and revisit the dark side of 1980 as Murphy and his band, featuring David J on bass, came on stage and the first notes of "Double Dare" filled the stadium.

The Steams, live @ Tae Kwon Do (Athens, December 14th, 2018)

It's unavoidable that time takes its toll on all but thankfully great music is timeless and Bauhaus songs retain their formidable power to thrill and move us. Perhaps Murphy's voice was not at its best on this particular evening but it was still more than capable to provide chills and thrills, while his presence on stage remains imposing. The band did a great job in faithfully recreating the Bauhaus sound in all its gothic glory despite the fact that the large venue, which is not built for rock concerts, does not offer the best possible sound.

After the presentation of all nine songs from "In The Flat Field" in the first part of the show, the band returned to perform a selection of highlights from the rest of their catalogue, with "Bela Lugosi's Dead" being, of course, the center piece and tracks like "Kick in the Eye" and "She's in Parties" reminding us of some of our favorite moments of the '80s.

For the final encore, we didn't get "Ziggy Stardust" as we would have liked, but it was time for a few more melodic selections, with "King Volcano" and a cover of "Severance" by old Bauhaus label mates Dead Can Dance closing the show.

Peter Murphy's return to Athens after many moons brought back vivid memories and the undead sound of the early '80s with a legacy that still resonates and influences to this date. Bela Lugosi may be dead but the legend leaves on! Here's the set list and three tracks from the show:

Peter Murphy, live @ Tae Kwon Do (Athens, December 14th, 2018)

Edit this setlist | More Peter Murphy setlists

Peter Murphy (ft. David J) - In the Flat Field (live in Athens)

Peter Murphy (ft. David J) - Bela Lugosi's Dead (live in Athens)

Peter Murphy (ft. David J) - Kick in the Eye (live in Athens)

Live: Fontaines D.C. @ Death Disco (Athens, December 13th, 2018)

It’s rather unusual to have an overseas young band to play a gig in Athens when it doesn’t even have an album out yet. Nonetheless, last Thursday Fontaines D.C. from Dublin, Ireland, made their live debut in Athens and managed to sell out the Death Disco club, proving that sometimes word of mouth and a handful of strong singles are enough to get people interested in all corners of the world, even though supposedly rock is not in anymore. Just look what kind of records are getting the critics’ vote in many established year-end lists.

However all is not lost yet; indie rock might be down but it’s definitely not out and with passionate new bands like Fontaines D.C., it’s still fighting back! If 2018’s rock sound belonged to bands like Idles and Shame, Fontaines D.C. seem eager and able to continue the guitar counter-attack in 2019.

The five young Irishmen have already switched gears with the two excellent singles they released this year (the double A-Side "Chequeless Reckless / Boys in the Better Land" and the recent "Too Real") and based on what we witnessed during their storming set here, they are on course to be one of the bands of 2019 with their upcoming debut album. If the studio recording can capture their raw live energy, I have no doubt we’ll have a lot more to say about them very soon.

Fontaines D.C., live @ Death Disco

The show opened by two local acts, The Man & His Failures, the side project of Manos K. from Mani Deum who presented his debut EP "Persona Non Grata" and s̶i̶s̶t̶e̶r̶ , a power trio who play an interesting instrumental mix of post-rock and post-punk and recently released their debut album “untrue”.

The Man And His Failures, live @ Death Disco

s̶i̶s̶t̶e̶r̶ , live @ Death Disco

Check out below two tracks from Fontaines D.C.'s powerful performance at Death Disco, "Hurricane Laughter" and "Peddlers":

 Fontaines D.C. - Hurricane Laughter, live @ Death Disco (Athens, Dec. 13th, 2018)

 Peddlers, live @ Death Disco (Athens, Dec. 13th, 2018)

New Releases: November 2018

As we approach the end of the year and start preparing the lists of our favorite albums and singles of 2018, here are a few more new releases to take into consideration that came out during November:

Albums

JON SPENCER - Spencer Sings The Hits!
LIARS - Titles With The Word Fountain
J MASCIS - Elastic Days
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE QUEEN - Merrie Land
AUDIOBOOKS - Now! (in a minute)
ART BRUT - Wham! Bang! Pow! Let’s Rock Out!
JEFF TWEEDY - WARM
HOLLY GOLIGHTLY - Do The Get Along
LIELA MOSS - My Name Is Safe In Your Mouth
BILL RYDER-JONES - Yawn
DEAD CAN DANCE - Dionysus
MOONFACE - This One's For The Dancer and This One's For The Dancer's Bouquet
JACCO GARDNER - Somnium
THE WAVE PICTURES - Look Inside Your Heart
KAGOULE - Strange Entertainment
GRAPETOOTH - Grapetooth
EARL SWEATSHIRT - Some Rap Songs
VINCE STAPLES - FM!
DEMDIKE STARE - Passion
PETER, BJORN AND JOHN - Darker Days
THE 1975 - A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
THE PRODIGY - No Tourists
THE SMASHING PUMPKINS - Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun.
SUN KIL MOON - This Is My Dinner
DEAN WAREHAM VS CHEVAL SOMBRE - Dean Wareham Vs Cheval Sombre 
MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND - A Million and One
LYDIA LUNCH - Marchesa
DOG POWER - DOG Power
BRIX AND THE EXTRICATED - Breaking State
RICHARD LLOYD - The Countdown
THE GLANDS - Double Coda
THE MEN - Hated: 2008-2011
THE LIMINANAS - I’ve Got Trouble In Mind Vol 2 (7” And Rare Stuff 2015 / 2018)

Singles & EPs

FLAT WORMS - The Apparition / Melt The Arms
PREOCCUPATIONS / PROTOMARTYR - Telemetry at Howe Bridge
SHAME - All The Hits EP
GOAT GIRL - Udder Sounds EP
ARCTIC MONKEYS - Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
AUDIOBOOKS - Dance Your Life Away (Andrew Weatherall Remix / David Wrench Extended Mix)
180db featuring MEREDITH GRAVES AND NICK ZINNER - Road Trip 
IDLES / HEAVY LUNGS - Danny Nedelko / Blood Brother 
PIP BLOM - Paycheck EP 
GIRLS IN SYNTHESIS - Fan the Flames EP
WOOING - The Clouds
ECHO LADIES - Overrated (Robin Guthrie version) / Rebel Rebel
KHRUANGBIN - Christmas Time Is Here
TY SEGALL - Fanny
THE CHATHAM FORTS - Not Fade Away / I Wanna Be Your Man
STARCRAWLER - Hollywood Ending
THE ORIELLES - Bobbi's Second World
PROJECTOR - How Does It Feel?
CAVERN OF ANTI MATTER - Play in Fabric
JOHNNY MARR - Spiral Cities
CHROMATICS - Camera EP
CIGARETTES AFTER SEX - Crush
EVERYTHING IS RECORDED - 8AM EP
HOOKWORMS - Microshift Remixes
COURTNEY BARNETT - Singles
MORRISSEY - Back on the Chain Gang
WEEZER - Africa / Rosanna
LITTLE DRAGON - Lover Chanting EP
ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER - Love in the Time of Lexapro EP
ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER - Live @ KEXP
KURT WAGNER AND GREGOR SCHWELLENBACH - Flotus Movements
DIFFORD AND TILBROOK WITH ?UESTLOVE AND ROBERT GLASPER - Take Me I'm Yours
GARY NUMAN - The Fallen EP
NADINE KHOURI - A New Dawn EP
THE WOMBATS - Bee-Sting
DAVID CRONENBERG'S WIFE - The Octoberman Sequence EP
GREEN RIVER / U-MEN - Away in a Manger / Blue Christmas
THE WEDDING PRESENT - Huw Stephens Sessions

Jon Spencer - I Got The Hits

Flat Worms - The Apparition

Live: Eleanor Friedberger @ S.N.F.C.C. (Athens, November 26th, 2018)

The initial spark of inspiration for Eleanor Friedberger's latest solo album titled "Rebound" came from a visit to an Athens nightclub of the same name. Upon her return to our city, she had the opportunity to present us this album in a special event at the National Opera which was organized with the collaboration of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center.

In the first part of this event (a far cry from the last time we saw her performing in Athens at the humble Death Disco), Eleanor presented "Rebound" in its entirety accompanied by a string quartet which added a more luscious sound to her songs, opening up more possibilities in comparison to the simple, synth-based orchestrations of their recorded versions.

In the second part, it was time for Eleanor to pick up her guitar and revisit songs from the past, both from her solo career and from her time with The Fiery Furnaces. She reminded us with an acoustic version of "My Egyptian Grammar" of her first performance in Athens with the band she co-founded with her brother, while a jazzy version of "Tropical Iceland" and a rocking "Single Again" were also present in the set and among the highlights of the evening, which also included "My Mistakes", "Stare at the Sun" and "Sweetest Girl".

Eleanor's visit to the Opera was undoubtedly a unique experience and although a large portion of the audience was not familiar with her music, the event succeeded in highlighting her songwriting talent and presenting her latest record in a different, brighter light.

Eleanor Friedberger, live @ S.N.F.C.C. (Athens, November 26th, 2018)