Year-Ends

Albums of the Year

2021: Don't Know What I Am - Alien Boy

2020: Dark Comedy Performance Piece of My Life - Walter Etc.

2019: The Best of Luck Club - Alex Lahey

2018: Sex & Food - Unknown Mortal Orchestra

2017: Won - Lina Tullgren

2016: Blackstar - David Bowie

2015: To Pimp A Butterfly - Kendrick Lamar

2014: There Is Only Now - Souls of Mischief & Adrian Younge

2013: We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic - Foxygen

Singles of the Year

2021: "That Life" - Unknown Mortal Orchestra

2020: "Gaslighter" - The Chicks

2019: "Disco" - Surf Curse

2018: "somethinG about your love." - Phony PPL

2017: "Blood Under My Belt" - The Drums

2016: "1985" - Kvelertak

2015: "I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)" - jamie xx ft. Young Thug

2014: "4AM" - Antemasque

2013: "Get Lucky" - Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams

EPs of the Year 

2021: Blame Game - Beach Bunny

2020: Summer Sleeping - Thunder Dreamer

2019: Out of Touch - Beauty Queen

More From Osmosis Tones

Review: Making a Door Less Open - Car Seat Headrest

Image
By Greg Wiacek If you listen to indie rock, you’ve likely heard of Car Seat Headrest. They make catchy rock music with attitude, displaying a good ear for pop melodies influenced by the best of the Strokes, Guided By Voices and Daniel Johnston. The lyrics are painstakingly earnest, detailing anxiety, depression and self-doubt with self-deprecating humor that puts you directly in Will Toledo’s shockingly relatable point of view. They employ imaginative and daring songwriting arrangements with a penchant for exploring epic lengths as driven by shifting tempos, dynamics and layers of harmonies - despite the extremely limited resources and recording equipment at hand. They even mastered the art of crafting those meaningless-yet-cathartic mantras you can shamelessly yell at the top of your lungs as anthems – “THE OCEAN WASHED OPEN YOUR GRAVE”; “IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE LIKE THIS”; “DRUGS ARE BETTER, DRUGS ARE BETTER WITH FRIENDS ARE BETTER WITH FRIENDS ARE BETTER WITH” – you get it.  Their 201
Read more

DOUBLE FEATURE: SubWolf & Gray Heron

Image
By Luke Robinson With this feature, I thought I would take the opportunity to shine a light on some awesome artists bubbling up in the electronica sphere. These projects provide the perfect soundtrack to these dystopian times we are experiencing.  SubWolf is a Knoxville-based electronic project that utilizes live instrumentation, featuring kinetic drum and bass playing set to icy synth grooves and ambient textures.  Gray Heron is a one man electronic project based in Asheville, NC (a little over 100 miles from SubWolf, you all should link up or something). The project takes influence from hip hop grooves and bubbly 90’s ambient and trance with some psychedelic elements.  But enough chit chat, lemme get to some mini-reviewing... Floor 7 EP - SubWolf SubWolf dropped their debut EP, Floor 7 , this past March. It immediately zooms out the gate with an insanely manipulated Tom Nook sample, which segues into the spacious and funky “Red Flag.” The song is a trip, with its angular, bouncy syn
Read more

The Top 100 Albums of the 2010s

Image
By Zach Zollo I’ll keep the intro for the first Osmosis Tones post brief: I love music. This decade I became who I am through it. Here are my ONE HUNDRED favorite albums from the past decade and a little blurb as to why. And away we go… 100. Purple - Baroness (2015) Lyric of Choice : “Shock me, I needed a surprise” Baroness’s most accessible, anthemic, and beautiful record, Purple is a celebration of life and survival through the throttle of sludgy riffs, gleaming synths, and prog-accented drumming. The fact that this album exceeded all expectations after a near-fatal bus crash and subsequent lineup change makes Baroness’s story a defining one from the decade in metal. Need more convincing? The guitar solo on “Shock Me.”   99. No Regerts - Chastity Belt (2013) Lyric of Choice : “I think they’re having fun” Chastity Belt’s humorous, relatable, and self-aware lyrics were a definitive part of millennial pop punk this decade, but I find that no o
Read more