Listening Habits 01-02.2019

In the first post of this blog in March 2008, we presented the list of the Top 20 albums we have been listening to during the start of that year. Fast forward eleven years and what better way to start C.M.C.'s twelfth year on Blogger than with our current list of favorites:

As usual at this time of the year, the mix of albums we are listening to combine new releases with quite a few important "leftovers" from the previous year, records we either started listening close to the end of 2018 and we still can't get enough of (Julia Holter, Kurt Vile, Low, Spiritualized, Mudhoney), a few late releases that took us a while to get a hold of (Jon Spencer, Phosphorescent, Cloud Nothings), but also some new discoveries that came to our attention thanks to the various year-end lists (Tropical Fuck Storm, The Beths, Audiobooks, Gabe Gurnsey), which should definitely find a place in the final version of our own "Best of 2018" as well.

As for the first new releases of 2019 that earned our appreciation and the most spins during January and February, those include "Ex:Re", the debut solo project by Elena Tonra of Daughter, "Stuffed & Ready", the third LP by Cherry Glazerr (see also here), the return of Deerhunter with "Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared?" and, of course, "Remind Me Tomorrow", the fifth and best album so far by Sharon Van Etten, who tries and succeeds to open up her sound to new influences, creating a joyous and richly rewarding listening experience from start to finish.

Here are our 20 favorite albums and tracks for January - February 2019:

Top 20 Albums

1.   Remind Me Tomorrow - SHARON VAN ETTEN
2.   Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared? - DEERHUNTER
3.   Stuffed & Ready - CHERRY GLAZERR
4.   Ex:Re - EX:RE
5.   Aviary - JULIA HOLTER
6.   Bottle It In - KURT VILE
7.   Spencer Sings The Hits - JON SPENCER
8.   A Laughing Death In Meatspace - TROPICAL FUCK STORM
9.   Digital Garbage - MUDHONEY
10. Double Negative - LOW
11. And Nothing Hurt - SPIRITUALIZED
12. C'est La Vie - PHOSPHORESCENT
13. Physical - GABE GURNSEY
14. Now! (in a minute) - AUDIOBOOKS
15. Future Me Hates Me - THE BETHS
16. Last Building Burning - CLOUD NOTHINGS
17. Merrie Land - THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE QUEEN
18. Big Attraction & Giddy Up - AMYL AND THE SNIFFERS
19. Rough Trade Shops Counter Culture 18 - VARIOUS ARTISTS
20. Life & Death On The New York Dance Floor 1980 - 1983 - VARIOUS ARTISTS

Top 20 Tracks

1.  Seventeen - SHARON VAN ETTEN
2.  Element - DEERHUNTER
3.  Wasted Nun - CHERRY GLAZERR
4.  Romance - EX:RE
5.  I Shall Love 2 - JULIA HOLTER
6.   Loading Zones - KURT VILE
7.   Do The Trash Can - JON SPENCER
8.   The Future Of History - TROPICAL FUCK STORM
9.   Friends In The Bubble Bath - AUDIOBOOKS
10. You Can - GABE GURNSEY
11. Boys in the Better Land - FONTAINES D.C.
12. Future Me Hates Me - THE BETHS
13. Westgate - AMYL AND THE SNIFFERS
14. Kill Yourself Live - MUDHONEY
15. The Morning After - SPIRITUALIZED
16. New Birth In New England - PHOSPHORESCENT
17. Fly - LOW
18. Merrie Land - THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE QUEEN
19. Half Life - SMERZ
20. Leave Him Now - CLOUD NOTHINGS

New Releases: February 2019

February might be the shortest month of the year but there was certainly no shortage of interesting new releases as you can see in our selection below:

Albums

BOB MOULD - Sunshine Rock
CHERRY GLAZERR - Stuffed and Ready
EX:RE - Ex:Re
LADYTRON - Ladytron
TEETH OF THE SEA - Wraith
SLEAFORD MODS - Eton Alive
UNLOVED - Heartbreak
DESPERATE JOURNALIST - In Search of the Miraculous
PIROSHKA - Brickbat
THE LONG RYDERS - Psychedelic Country Soul
LEMONHEADS - Varshons 2
JULIANA HATFIELD - Weird
GUIDED BY VOICES - Zeppelin Over China
BEIRUT - Gallipoli
PANDA BEAR - Buoys
HEALTH - Vol 4 - Slaves of Fear
GIRLPOOL - What Chaos Is Imaginary
HOLIDAY GHOSTS - West Bay Playroom
DRENGE - Strange Creatures
DU BLONDE - Lung Bread For Daddy
SPELLLING - Mazy Fly
JULIA JACKLIN - Crushing
JESSICA PRATT - Quiet Signs
TINY RUINS - Olympic Girls
FEELS - Post Earth
MERCURY REV - Bobbie Gentry’s The Delta Sweete Revisited
THE BANGLES / THE THREE O’ CLOCK / THE DREAM SYNDICATE AND RAIN PARADE - 3 × 4
THE SPECIALS - Encore
IAN BROWN - Ripples
CASS McCOMBS - Tip of the Sphere
XIU XIU - Girl with Basket Of Fruit
THE YOUNG GODS - Data Mirage Tangram
MXMJOY - P.E.A.C.E.
KING MIDAS SOUND - Solitude
INTERNATIONAL TEACHERS OF POP - International Teachers of Pop
MURRAY A LIGHTBURN - Hear Me Out
MARTIN FRAWLEY - Undone at 31
JAMES YORKSTON - The Route to the Harmonium
THE UNTHANKS - Lines - Parts One, Two and Three
HALF JAPANESE - Invincible
THE TELESCOPES - Exploding Head Syndrome
SUNWATCHERS - Illegal Moves
ANDY BURROWS AND MATT HAIG - Reasons To Stay Alive
RUSTIN MAN - Drift Code
METHYL ETHEL - Triage
YAK - Pursuit of Momentary Happiness
MOTORPSYCHO - The Crucible
SIX BY SEVEN - The World Hates Me And The Feeling Is Mutual
BIS - Slight Disconnects
HONEY LUNG - Memory
SPIELBERGS - This Is Not The End
LE BUTCHERETTES - bi/MENTAL
MICHAEL CHAPMAN - True North
GEMMA RAY - Psychogeology
NIVHEK - After its own death / Walking in a spiral towards the house
COSEY FANNI TUTTI - Tutti
JIM JARMUSCH AND JOZEF VAN WISSEM - An Attempt to Draw Aside the Veil
DEER TICK - Mayonnaise
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM - Electric Lady Sessions
THE WEDDING PRESENT - Marc Riley Sessions Volume 3

Singles & EPs

FLAT WORMS - Into the Iris EP
THESE NEW PURITANS - Into the Fire
ALDOUS HARDING - The Barrel
CHROMATICS - Time Rider
STRAWBERRY PILLS - Verbal Suicide
BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE - Let’s Try the After Vol. 1 EP
NOV3L - Novel EP
SOCCER MOMMY - Blossom (demo) / Be Seeing You
PENELOPE ISLES - Chlorine
MAN AND THE ECHO - A Capable Man
COLLATE - Communicate / Selective Memory
THE EMPTY PAGE - When The Cloud Explodes
THE SAXOPHONES - Singing Desperately Suite
REV MAGNETIC - Gloaming
TOMMY GUERRERO - Dub Tunes EP
CHERUSHII & MARIA MINERVA - Cherushii & Maria Minerva EP
ZERO 7 - Aurora / Mono
MAJOR MURPHY - Lafayette EP

One of the best new tracks we've heard in February was Aldous Harding's "The Barrel", the first single off her forthcoming third album "The Designer". The video is also great and you can check it out below:

Aldous Harding - The Barrel