It’s that time of year where there is no shortage of “best of” lists. The Seattle Times recently published one with the best Seattle music albums of 2018. But unlike most lists featuring the opinion of one person, this one polled music experts from all over the city. KNKX producer Kevin Kniestedt sat down with Michael Rietmulder, who covers music for The Times and curated this list, to talk about the results.
Twenty area music journalists, DJs and other people who keep their finger on the pulse of Seattle music weighed in. In the end, the top 20 albums were tallied.
Coming in at No. 3, an album called "Twin Fantasy" by Car Seat Headrest.
“It’s kind of the brainchild of Will Toledo," Rietmulder says. "This album was kind of interesting for him because…for this, he ended up going back and essentially re-recording an album that he had done when he was 19 on his laptop, and just wanted to more fully realize what he had envisioned for it.”
No. 2 on the list: "Single Rider" by Jenn Champion.
“She had been more known as an indie-rock songwriter with hints of emo to it, but this album was more of a synth-pop reinvention for her.”
Coming in at No. 1 on the list were two EPs by Parisalexa.
“What I think we saw here with the two EPs is an artist really coming into her own style and still developing," Rietmulder says. The artist just turned 20 years old, he added.
Another album that made the list was "By The Way, I Forgive You" by Brandi Carlile.
“What an incredible year. What an incredible record. Six Grammy nominations, trailing only Drake and Kendrick Lamar. And that tells you what kind of company this album is in.”
