HALF-TERM REPORT!!!
The 25 Best Albums Of The Year...So Far.

Here we are again then - halfway through the year already and time once more to have a little look at the movers and shakers, album-wise, that are filling my ears with joy and raising the roof down here at No Static Towers. Once again it's been an incredibly healthy start to 2018 - in fact, if I was to put forth a Top 50 now I would be more than happy with the final list and we haven't even bid June a friendly farewell. I'm fairly certain that a hefty swathe of the following 25 records will most likely miss the cut come year's end - especially as there will be big releases from personal faves like Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains and The Jayhawks released in the forthcoming months - but for now, this is my rundown of the best albums of the year. And I make no apologies for the record that's bagged top spot. Regular readers of this here blog will no doubt have guessed what it is already....

25: A Perfect Circle: 'Eat The Elephant'
24: Eels: 'The Deconstruction'
23: Moby: 'Everything Was Beautiful, And Nothing Hurt'
22: Unknown Mortal Orchestra: 'Sex & Food'
21: Tracy Thorn: 'Record'
20: The Breeders: 'All Nerve'
19: Shame: 'Songs Of Praise'
18: Courtney Barnett: 'Tell Me How You Really Feel'
17: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: 'Wrong Creatures'
16: Ty Segall: 'Freedom's Goblin'
15: Jon Hopkins: 'Singularity'
14: Belly: 'Dove'
13: Khruangbin: 'Con Todo El Mundo'
12: David Kitt: 'Yous'
11: Jack White: 'Boarding House Reach'
10: Howlin Rain: 'The Alligator Bride'
9:  Johnny Marr: 'Call The Comet'
8:  Beach House: '7'
7:  Wooden Shjips: 'V'
6:  The Liminanas: 'Shadow People'
5:  Hookworms: 'Microshift'
4:  Mark Kozelek: 'Mark Kozelek'
3:  Buffalo Tom: 'Quiet And Peace'
2:  Stephen Malkmus And The Jicks: 'Sparkle Hard'
1:  Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever: 'Hope Downs'