The Best of November 2018 & Monthly Staff Playlist

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Graphic by Julia Carbone

The music industry finally started to slow down in November. 2018 has been an avalanche of good releases, and as someone you covers this sort of stuff, it’s been nice to be able to take a breath and get thinking about our picks for year end lists, and our BIG plans for 2019: SXSW, more shows, video content, and radio shows!

Yes, friends and enemies, The Alternative Radio is back in business. We’re still working out the details, but we’re partnering up with LP Records in Scotland who are launching a new worldwide online radio station which will host nonstop shows by cool DJs promoting great underrated music! The shows will be listenable live, or recorded for later. It should be sweet. If that station sounds like something worth supporting check out their kickstarter! It already hit the goal but every little bit helps it hit the ground running.

But back to the thing at hand, there were still a bunch of incredible new tracks that came out in November! Check out a few of my favorites below and then check out our staff monthly playlist which included even more gems you might’ve missed.


THE BEST TRACKS OF NOVEMBER 2018

Earl Sweatshirt and Drug Church both dropped lyric heavy album of the year contenders. You should probably just read our reviews of both (linked on their band names), but these 2 records are evidence of the power of cutting lyrics even in this streaming age. For a bonus, Earl also dropped a track with Alchemist that’s a jam, the more Earl I can get the better, let’s be honest.

It was a great month for rap overall, the new Meek album mixed in a few legit bangers among some misses, and Vince Staples brought radio rap back with FM!, which was like a taste of your favorite home cooking. Then there was also the record from producer Metroboomin. For my money, his tracks with 21 Savage are a step above most other trap rap.

On the indie/punk side, Same released a cool EP. They kind of remind me of Oso Oso, and that’s always a good thing. The It Looks Sad record on Tiny Engines was  a cool change for them into a more experimental Spirit of the Beehive – esque adventure.

There was also some incredible live performances this month including a Tiny Desk from supergroup Boygenius (whose EP officially came out this month), the legendary Wu Tang Clan, and also from Jersey indie-pop stars Half Waif. If heavier music is also your vibe, Vein absolutely crushed it on their Audiotree.

Teasing an exciting 2019, Angel Dust and La Dispute dropped tracks from their upcoming albums. Especially liked this La Dispute animated video, beautiful. There was also a single from Mike Caridi of the recently hiatused LVL UP, this track will have their fans happy.

Also releasing some cool records: Saltlick, Cant Swim, The 1975, Oliver Houston, Frog, Hodera, All Get Out, Hutch Harris, Itoldyouiwouldeatyou, Blue Ranger, Charles Bradley and Typesetter. Like I said, there were still a lot of good releases this month.

Check out all these records and more on our staff montly Spotify playlist below, and be on the lookout for our end of the year awards and lists in the next few weeks!


SPOTIFY PLAYLIST

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Writing by Henderson // @HendoSlice

Playlist curated by Steven Lalonde // @StevenLalonde


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