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shanethvarosa · 5 years

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2018: In Review

At this point in time, I feel like my blog is 100% reblogs of memes and ridiculous videos of animals and maybe some gratuitous selfies. Originally, Shaneth Varosa was supposed to be a place for me to publish some of my articles about music and try to facilitate discussion about these releases. Unfortunately, life gets in the way, and I can’t write like I used to. While here on Christmas break from work, and with the next hour or so of free time I have, I wanted to go over some of the artists that did The Most this year and recommend their work in case you’re in need of something new and exciting. See more after the cut!

I’d like to start with about five honorable mentions and then move in to the ten artists who did the best job at promoting their craft and developing something sincere and meaningful. These honorable mentions all had really great releases, but overall didn't feel very impactful to pop culture overall.

1. Florence And The Machine - High As Hope was absolutely one of my most anticipated albums this year, especially after the amazing lead single was released out of the clear blue sky. The follow up single, Hunger, is one of the most relatable tracks in her discography. However, the lack of overall energy was somewhat disappointing despite the lyrics being 100% on point.

2. Miyavi - I’m not sure I’m as big a fan of the Samurai Guitarist as I used to be, however he really is expanding upon his talents and schmoozing with the right people. A feature from Samuel L. Jackson was no small feet and he really did some neat guitar work on his third collaborative album this year.

3. Crystal Kay - A Japanese/American pop star with a voice like Janet Jackson, but does not always make the strongest choices when it comes to album tunes. Her singles for this era were almost entirely ballads, so when she released an album with actual bangers for the summer, I was very impressed.

4. Cher - Usually, when Cher releases an album it is a shoe-in victory for album of the year. However, she really only did a cover album of songs, even if they were completely amazing songs. Here’s hoping she has a collection of original material to release soon.

5. DADAROMA - A newer VK mainstay, but they haven’t actually released a full collection in over two years. Instead, they’re focusing on singles and EPs. This year, they began with “This is Live” which really blew me away following their lackluster third installment of the Dadaism series. They rounded out the year with the fourth installment which was also a significant improvement. However, in 2019, they should consider an album.

Without any further ado, the top ten artists who really Did That this year:

10. Troye Sivan: I am a sucker for a good Gay Tune and “Bloom” had 12 of them. It’s rare when you find an album that has no tracks you want to skip, and maybe I’m biased, but there isn't one track that isn’t relatable to me and most of my pals. Highlights: Plum, Dance to This, Animal.

9. CHVRCHES: Every couple of years, I’m guaranteed an over-the-top synth album from this group. Their debut found me at just the right time and their follow up found me at just the right time as well. These two albums really struck a chord with me personally and so naturally I was through the roof the Love is Dead was announced. While the production and vocal performance was totally still there, the lyrical content didn’t quite get me the way the previous albums did. Highlights: Graffiti, Graves, Deliverance.

8. Kamijo: Interesting how my favorite male singer and my favorite female singer both released albums this year and how neither of them made top five. Well, of course they were both excellent, but something stopped them from being everything they could be. Kamijo’s newest solo effort came in four parts and they were all a little confusing. Sang’s main storyline seemed to insinuate Napoleon Bonaparte was a vampire and the third installment of the album was a duet with vocaloid Hatsune Miku. Not to say the vocal performance and composition weren’t top of the line, but I just don’t know what he was trying to do with this era. Highlights: Sang II, Emigre, Nosferatu.

7. Dir en grey: The world’s most iconic shock-rock band finally returned to us after a four year hiatus. This year’s Insulated World really did give us something to behold: A concept album that wasn’t completely based on mindless violence and fake-deepery. Sure, Kyo does his standard noise-making throughout a lot of the album, but I firmly believe this is their best work in about ten or more years. Highlight: Ranunculus, Keigaku no Yoku (Ravenous Greed), Ningen wo Kaburu (Suffering Human Beings).

6. The 1975: A recent favorite of mine. Their singles for this era really enraptured what it is to be in your late 20′s in today’s day and age. Their whole album ended up being somewhat bizarre and ballad-heavy, but everything they put out before the main LP was fire and deeply, personally relatable. Highlights: Give Yourself a Try, Love it If We Made It, I Like America and America Likes Me.

5. David: Most who will read this post will probably not know that “David” is a pseudonym for VK heavy-hitter Sui. This man started out in Metis Gretel many years ago, moved to a band called Megaromania, worked briefly with Lin before ultimately achieving his solo project which is easily the best thing he’s ever done. Probably because it is produced by Kamijo, but I digress. This year, he gave us his first solo album released in too-many parts, but the overall product was outstanding. His visuals even made him look like a true-blue cartoon character. Highlights: Confession (Awakening and Genesis), Genesis (In Bible), Metempsychosis.

4. Panic! At the Disco: This band, whom we all know is just Brendan Urie, blew me away several years ago with Death of a Bachelor and the only way he could go at the time was down. DOAB was one of my top 25 albums of all time and I didn’t think he could outdo himself, but the energy given to us on Pray For the Wicked was genuinely dumbfounding. His lyrics were and are always at the forefront of what makes him special and for that reason I’m ecstatic that I have “Filthy as Charged” on a t-shirt. Also, he managed to make the title track of “The Greatest Showman” into the banger hit I knew it could be. Highlights: Dancing’s Not a Crime, Dying in LA, Old Fashioned.

3. Asagi: For those of you who don’t know, Asagi is another heavy-hitter in the VK world. He did attempt a solo project back in the day, but it didn’t take off. This year, thankfully, it really did in the biggest way and he didn't let his main project, D, suffer at all. Fans were getting bored of D’s constant Vampire and/or Alice in Wonderland themes and so he basically said “I hear your pleas, here is what we give you” and released a traditional Japanese album with a modern twist in January as the true beginning of his solo presence. The man then followed up with several incredible singles with D including Revive and Deadly Sin, both of whom had insane B-Sides. Highlights: Madara (Chestnut Tiger Butterfly), Gekkai no Miko (Children of the Moon World), Homuzakura (Hidden Cherry Blossoms).

2. the GazettE: An absolutely legendary band, one of the fewest VK success stories to be told. They’ve released so many concept albums over the years with stacks and stacks of successful singles, but 2015 really was their comeback year. They revamped everything about themselves and gave fans the darkest album in recent history. How do they follow it up? With their 9th LP of varying intensity, which was actually quite refreshing. My personal favorite aspect is how absolutely self-gratifying it was. Highlights: Ninth Odd Smell, The Mortal, Sono Koe wa Moroku (This Voice is Weak).

1. BoA: My favorite multi-national pop-star had a... Kind of ridiculous last few years. In 2014 she released a Japanese comeback album that was literally a collection of singles that came out since her last album. In 2015, though, she brought us back with a Korean album really showcasing her talents as a singer/songwriter and then in 2018 she did THE MOST!!!! She starts the year with a Korean EP called “One Shot, Two Shot” which was all bangers, and then followed up with a Japanese LP called “Watashi Kono Mama de ii no Kana (I Wonder if I Can Remain this Good).” This album was a little less perfect than the EP, however it will be forgiven as it had a perfect selection of ballads with one of the hottest tracks of the year: Mannish Chocolat. Don’t ask me what that means. Almost immediately after, she released an EP called “Unchained” which was an acoustic set of some of her recent ballads. Most notably, “Close to Me” was released as a completely acoustic piano ballad. Several months go by, and she comes back with a Korean LP called “Woman” which was almost completely perfect as well. “Encounter” and “No Limit” are probably the hottest tracks, but the title-track really showcases her feminist nature. She rounded out the year with yet another Japanese single called “Amor” which is, truly, the hottest dance track of 2018. I hope she keeps this momentum up next year!

#BoA #the GazettE #Asagi #panic! at the disco #The 1975 #Sui #Dir en grey #Kamijo #chvrches #troye sivan

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