Year in Review: Albums, EPs and Singles Released by Cincinnati Musical Acts in 2018

Cincinnati Synth Pop duo Moonbeau — led by Claire Muenchen and Christian Gough — is making some of the best music of the new wave of New Wave. On the twosome’s 2018 self-titled debut full-length, Muenchen and Gough offer 10 tracks of powerful Pop potency that transcends the instrumentation. If the album were simply their vocals and an out-of-tune piano, it would still be a melodic tour de force. Opener “In Love,” for example, might recall, say, A Flock of Seagulls, but it isn’t hard to reimagine it as a Bruce Springsteen song (and hard not to hear it that way once you do), down to the Patti Scialfa-like harmonies. All of the songs are instantly memorable — by just the second listen, it feels like you’ve known them for years. The resplendent Synth Pop presentation is highly enchanting in its own way; wrapping it around an impeccable Pop core makes for an exhilarating combination. With its appropriately vaporwave album cover aesthetic, 'Moonbeau' won the 2018 Cincinnati Entertainment Award for Album of the Year. (Mike Breen)

Metal trio Siegelord introduced itself with 2016’s debut album, 'Ascent of the Fallen,' a deep, dark concept album full of characters and storylines derived from the members’ personal lives. But this year’s 'Covered in Blood' EP told a different story — of the group’s influences. Alongside covers of songs by bands like Mastodon, Immortal and Amon Amarth, Covered In Blood included Siegelord’s reworking of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” “We deconstruct ourselves in that song,” the band’s guitarist Therod told CityBeat of the cover. (Nick Grever)

Veteran Cincinnati MC Napoleon Maddox’s latest creative endeavors have included his duo project with French producer/DJ Sorg. Sorg is a dazzling beat-artiste, crafting a rich, layered backdrop on 'Checkin Us' that masterfully blends Soul, Funk, Electro and other elements and vibes into something colorful and imaginatively unique. Maddox has long been a world-class MC and this collaboration shows him at the top of his game, as much a showcase for his untouchable vocal and lyrical skills as anything he’s done up to this point. Drawing discriminately from seemingly every major era of Hip Hop, his rhyming schematics and flow on 'Checkin Us' are like a clinic in creative but foundationally flawless MCing. (Mike Breen)

Aimed at children ages 3-7, each of the seven silly tracks on the Hip-Hop-for-kids project The Corner (with music from area Hip Hop artists Vernard Fields and Adam Hayden and illustrations by Charlie Padgett) is a different vignette, often dealing with fundamental early life lessons, such as on “Pick Up Your Towel” and “We Like to Share.” There is “grown” Hip Hop that has kid-appeal, but for Hip Hop designed for children, The Corner should be your first choice. For educators, it can help connect kids to things like storytelling, poetry and rhythm. For parents, it’s all of that and an opportunity to knock The Wiggles and Barney out of the playtime playlist. (Mike Breen)

Folk/Americana band The Tillers’ self-titled follow-up to 2013’s acclaimed 'Hand on the Plow' was also its debut for well-distributed area label SofaBurn Records. The album was informed by numerous factors: the group’s extensive touring; band members’ adventures in fatherhood; the addition of fiddler Joe Macheret; personal tragedies (including the loss of former Tillers bassist Jason Soudrette, who died in 2014 after a battle with leukemia); and America’s flirtation with fascism. “It’s been a lot of slogging through negative and hard, sad things that have happened, but also really joyous, life-changing, life-affirming things as well,” singer/songwriter/banjoist Mike Oberst told CityBeat. “This record feels to me like some sort of statement of ‘We’re back,’ but also ‘We never left.’ ” (Brian Baker)

Tooth Lures a Fang falls in the “lo-fi” category, but on 'Sharon is Karen,' the raw recording element is mostly only evident when the duo’s loud/quiet dynamic leans loud via over-driven guitar distortion. Album opener “Last Year” kicks in with a blast of Garage Rock fuzz surrounding TLAF’s greatest attribute — high-impact Power Pop melodies and harmonies. The duo’s melody magic is sometimes akin to the ’90s work of bands steeped in the archetypal Beatles/Beach Boys/Big Star Pop stylings, like Superdrag and Teenage Fanclub, as well as more recent hook-centric rockers like Rozwell Kid. But just as the sounds shift to softer, more spacious atmospherics, the hooks are sometimes structured in a breezier, less compact manner that brings to mind artists like Grandaddy, Pedro The Lion and acts associated with the Indie Pop collective Elephant 6. (Mike Breen)

Cincinnati-based quartet Vacation — which currently includes guitarist John Hoffman, drummer Dylan McCartney, vocalist/guitarist Jerri Queen and bassist Evan Wolff — has dropped a torrent of releases via various indie labels since surfacing in 2009, nearly all of them anchored by Queen’s first-person-laden lyrics and a brand of Rock & Roll they call “Grit Pop.” 'Mouth Sounds #2699' is a whirlwind ride, spitting forth a dozen songs in 27 minutes. Album opener “Action Road” seethes with urgency as corrosive guitars and a driving rhythm section frame Queen’s vocals, which have grown more nuanced and expressive over the years. 'Mouth Sounds #2699' is not just honest; it’s one of the best Rock & Roll records emanating from the Queen City this year. (Jason Gargano)

Before “Americana” became a buzzword for the broad spectrum of American Roots music, Wild Carrot’s music exemplified it. Singers/multi-instrumentalists Pam Temple and Spencer Funk have been making music that lovingly and gracefully combines elements of vintage and contemporary Folk, Jazz, Blues, Bluegrass and other Roots stylings since the late ’90s. The duo’s latest, 'Between the Darkness & the Light,' is a wonderful display of Funk’s deft musical abilities and Temple’s songwriting prowess, which is at peak strength on tracks like the silky, flowing “Talking with Ghosts,” “Now I Fly,” the billowy “Cold December Day” and “(The Power of a) Pancake Breakfast,” a homey ode to things like community and interrelatedness that is particularly resonating in our digital age. (Mike Breen)

The influence of synth-infused (and other) bands of the ’80s are noticeable on Oids’ debut full-length, 'Zonked!,' but with three-fourths of the creative minds behind former Cincy Progressive Pop act Injecting Strangers running the show, the end product is ingeniously constructed with an evident sense of experimentalism. The musicians take those New Wave and Post Punk elements and artfully twist them into their own distinct, slightly warped image. 'Zonked!' is inspired by ’80’s “Alternative” music, but Oids don’t merely mimic the sounds of old XTC, DEVO or Cars records. They chase the spirit of how those classic songs make people feel and maybe borrow a few tricks and tools from the era, but the glaring originality of what they build out of those (and other) parts makes it an almost anti-nostalgic, wildly stimulating carnival ride. (Mike Breen)

After using a bevy of Nashville session hotshots on his 2014 EP, Cincy Country singer/songwriter Noah Smith opted to use his touring band (Michael Moeller, John McGuire, Drew Phillips and Joe “Rico” Klein) to record his debut full-length album, 'Long Cut,' resulting in a spark and an immediacy that may have been muted on the EP, a testament to the chemistry between the players. “I’ve always loved being part of a band,” he told CityBeat of the process. “We went back to the garage and made this record, that’s what was cool about it. The concept of the record is there are a lot of road references. We spent a lot of time traveling, getting to know each other and building relationships.” (Brian Baker)

For a group that hadn’t released an album, Triiibe had established a prolific presence in Cincinnati’s Hip Hop scene. Over the course of about a year, they maintained a busy schedule of DIY shows and single releases, finding time to contribute three guest appearances to Bootsy Collins’ 15th studio album, last year’s 'World Wide Funk,' a collaboration that bridged two generations of Cincinnati natives. The album drought ended in 2018 with the phenomenal full-length debut 'III AM WHAT III AM,' which showed Triiibe from a whole new perspective, buoyed by the strong, anthemic songwriting and lyrical abilities evident during the trio’s uplifting live performances, but pushed to new heights by creative and nuanced production. The trio scored multiple Cincinnati Entertainment Awards in 2018, including Artist of the Year honors. (Jude Noel)

Cincinnati Synth Pop duo Moonbeau — led by Claire Muenchen and Christian Gough — is making some of the best music of the new wave of New Wave. On the twosome’s 2018 self-titled debut full-length, Muenchen and Gough offer 10 tracks of powerful Pop potency that transcends the instrumentation. If the album were simply their vocals and an out-of-tune piano, it would still be a melodic tour de force. Opener “In Love,” for example, might recall, say, A Flock of Seagulls, but it isn’t hard to reimagine it as a Bruce Springsteen song (and hard not to hear it that way once you do), down to the Patti Scialfa-like harmonies. All of the songs are instantly memorable — by just the second listen, it feels like you’ve known them for years. The resplendent Synth Pop presentation is highly enchanting in its own way; wrapping it around an impeccable Pop core makes for an exhilarating combination. 'Moonbeau' won the 2018 Cincinnati Entertainment Award for Album of the Year. (Mike Breen)

Talented local singer Kelsey Mira — who performs as simply “Mira” — is a regular presence in the venues of Greater Cincinnati, playing a selection of original songs and covers that pull from Jazz, Pop, Soul, the Great American Songbook and beyond. Mira showcased her songwriting and arrangement skills on her first full-length album, a 2018 self-titled affair, which also draws from those wide-ranging influences, resulting in a unique collection of songs. The album is reminiscent of Norah Jones’ output, but primarily in the way Mira’s technically proficient, Jazz-based vocals are expertly transferred to a distinct sound that transcends that genre or any other simple categorization. (Mike Breen)

With Mark Messerly’s album project 'Inert,' the singer/songwriter from Roots rockin’ duo Messerly & Ewing and bassist/multi-instrumentalist in Wussy brings the many facets of his musical persona together in a very unique way. 'Inert' can conceivably be called a “solo album,” but Messerly shies away from that term, instead dubbing it “a collaborative music project.” To record the album, Messerly set up camp in the recording studio and invited his “exceedingly talented friends” (including members of Wussy, Vacation, Lung, Swim Team and The Afghan Whigs) to join him over the course of just two and a half days. With minimal direction, overdubs or rehearsal, the songs were recorded quickly but not hurriedly in order to capture the essence of the collaborative spirit, enabling the guests and Messerly’s chemistry with them to shape each track. (Mike Breen)

In February, veteran Cincinnati musician Mark Brasington released his latest solo work, 'X,' a meditative, ethereal collection that showcases a different, piano-based and uniquely emotive side of his highly melodic songcraft. In March, Brasington — who has worked in local bands like Clabbergirl and Odd Man Out and crafted five solo albums over the past decade and a half — released the playfully minimalistic video for the album track, “The Next Song.” Actually, it’s one of “The Next Songs” on 'X' — the 10-track collection kicks off with “The First Song” and ends with “The Last Song,” with all cuts in between titled “The Next Song.” That matter-of-factness is part of the album’s emotional/sonic aesthetic, which seems to float between muted melancholy and a kind of resigned serenity. (Mike Breen)

Based around Marjorie Lee’s songwriting and superb voice, 'Ohio' is an endearing listen, brimming with Folk-tinged Pop Rock that has an alluring warmth and depth, sometimes bringing to mind a mix of ’90s AltRock bands like Belly with the more Pop-minded work of songwriters like Shawn Colvin or Suzanne Vega. As with those artists, the full-band approach lifts Lee’s songs out of “coffeehouse singer/songwriter” territory. Bassist Jon Lattier and drummer Kristin Agee are virtuosic on their instruments and give Lee’s already strong songs an extra dynamic. According to the bio accompanying 'Ohio,' a thematic thread of the album is the internal struggle that comes from living somewhere you love but don’t always feel welcome. That’s exemplified most clearly on the title track, which opens softly and plaintively before bursting into a rockier, more defiant march. (Mike Breen)

Flocks is three top-notch Cincinnati musicians exploring and experimenting with sound at the crossroads of Electronic music, Jazz and other styles. The fusionary results on display in their self-titled debut album make for an exhilarating and provocative listen. Flocks is a piece of digital art crafted with an analog mindset, with not only jazzy elements within the tracks’ structures but also a Jazz-like mentality driving the proceedings, showcasing both fluid, improv-like movement and a sturdy compositional base. While Electronic music is often stigmatized as cold and rigid, in Flocks’ world, the musicians give it a vibrant sense of humanity — the music sounds “played” and not merely “initiated” with a button. (Mike Breen)

'Foolish Frank' is a crisp four-song EP issued through Cincinnati-based Old Flame Records that shows the foursome at the height of their Rock & Roll powers. The EP includes FFN’s cover of Superchunk’s “Driveway to Driveway,” from the indie rockers 1994 album 'Foolish' (hey, that’s half of the EP’s name!), and “Fill Up My Cup,” a classic FFN song that exemplifies everything great about the band — sublime, unpretentious songwriting, soaring, sky-tickling vocals and hooks and a grounded, timeless Rock & Roll candy center. (Mike Breen)

Singer/songwriter/guitarist/harmonica-ist and Greater Cincinnati Roots music hero Dave Gilligan’s latest album under the Grey Dogs banner is partly a response to the weirdness of society in the Trump era, tempering seething outrage with sly witticisms. He sets the tone bluntly with opening track “I Don’t Like the President,” delivering the titular declaration in the chorus with an amusingly dry matter-of-factness, while his conversational critiques are made all the more biting by Gilligan’s sing/speak “talking Blues” vocal style. (Mike Breen)

Together as Heavy Hinges since 2012, the band’s Roots- and Soul-inflected Rock sound has only gotten more sublime with time. A newcomer when the group started, Maya Banatwala has emerged as one of Cincinnati’s finest powerhouse vocalists, and 'Lonely' again serves as a perfect showcase for her elastic, soul-drenched voice. While the incorporation of ingredients borrowed from other styles has always been a key part of Heavy Hinges’ appeal, as the foundational songwriting and arrangements get stronger, so does the band’s own distinct identity. 'Lonely' presents Heavy Hinges’ charm and personality exquisitely. (Mike Breen)