Unranked and surely incomplete, here’s an alphabetical list of what Charlottesville-area artists released this year. It’s longer than last year’s, and based on interviews and conversations with many of these artists, I suspect it’s because the past year hangs heavy in our hearts. And so, we have music to sustain us, whether we make it or listen to it.
Click on the “Charlottesville” tag on BandCamp.com—there’s something new to hear from a local artist almost weekly, whether it’s a single, an EP or an album. Check out what’s going on over on SoundCloud, where psych-rockers Free Idea regularly post lengthy non-album jams to their page. The site is also a treasure trove of local hip-hop, with rappers uploading tracks to their pages almost as fast as they can spit their rhymes (see EquallyOpposite, Quin Bookz, Waasi and many others). Want more still? Go to shows.
Albums and EPs
A.D. Carson, Owning My Masters: The Rhetorics of Rhymes and Revolutions; Sleepwalking, Vol. 1: A Mixtape (hip-hop, rap)
Adar, The Rapids (soul, funk, jazz, rock)
Andrew Neil, Code Purple (brooding acoustic rock)
Animal Sun, Animal Sun (alternative rock)
Astrochimp, State of the Art; Syncrotuning (indie synth pop)
Awkward Bros, Right On! (pop punk)
Backtraveller, 80 (electronic synthesizer and guitar pop)
Big Lean, Convos With Self; XL Lean (hip-hop, R&B, soul, rap)
Bella Morte, Year of the Ghost; One Bright Soul In This Emptiness (goth, darkwave, post-punk)
Bonnie Cash, Collection Day (hip-hop, rap)
Borrowed Beams of Light, Naked Gods, New Boss, Group MMS, Sweeter Than Honey: Live at The Southern (indie psych pop, electronic, etc.)
Breakers, In Search of An Exit (alt-rock, proto punk)
Butterfly Vendetta, Loud & Clear (pop punk, rock)
Carry/Dais Queue, Split (ambient noise)
Cass, 23 (hip-hop, rap)
Charles Owens Quartet, As One (jazz)
Clay Bones, Clay Bones (blues)
corinne, Naomi and The Dagger; Wonderful; Junipearl; Juniper (alternative, lo-fi)
Cream Dream, Bright Idea (post-twee, rock)
Crimson Youth, Improvisations for a Listless Mind; 6 Blue Eyes (experimental, electronic)
Croan, Soul Resurrection (jazz rock, neo-soul)
Cryptids After Dark, Some Distant Light (indie pop, rock)
Dais Queue, My Guitars Vote and various live recordings (experimental)
Davis Davis, Live 11-15-2017 (experimental guitar and cello)
Dave Petty, As You Are (acoustic)
David Dillehunt, Surrender (soundtrack)
Debra Guy, Lucky Numbers (acoustic singer-songwriter)
Devon Sproule, The Gold String (indie folk)
DMV Hef, No Love Lost, No Trust Given (rap, hip-hop)
dogfuck, The Alphabet; Surprise, You Dick! (hip-hop, rap, electronic, experimental)
Eli Cook, High-Dollar Gospel (blues, rock, country)
Eliza Juno, Turing Test (piano indie pop)
Erin & The Wildfire, Thirst (rock, blues)
Ethan Lipscomb, Just Sex (electronic, dance pop)
Fanciful Animals, Digital Pangea (jazz-ish math-ish prog rock)
First of Three, Call The Navigator (ukulele folk)
Floom, Multi-Voice of the Immensity (avant-metal, flute doom)
Fried Egg, Back and Forth (punk, hardcore)
Frohawk, Analyzing My Life EP (midtempo electronic, future bass)
Fulton Ave., Fulton Ave. (death metal)
fwawn, Recent Encounters with the Void (downtempo, post-rock, hip-hop)
Gold Connections, Gold Connections (indie rock)
Graeme Rosner, Close Harmonies (And Other Drugs) (R&B, soul pop)
Grand Banks, various live sets (ambient, electronic)
Greg Brown, Another Dose; Just Tell Me Why (instrumental rock)
Greg Duncan, Unification (jazz)
Greg Howard and Angela Kelly, The Holly and the Ivy (Chapman Stick and flute Christmas)
Guion Pratt, Drone for the Holidays Vol. 1 (ambient, hopeful drones)
Haircut, June 2017 Promo Tape; Shutting Down (punk, hardcore)
Harli & The House of Juniper, Basement Tapes (alternative jam rock)
Inning, Après-Ski (indie rock)
Jan Coleman, Red and Blue; Young People (pop rock)
Jaewar, True! Raw Honey (funk, hip-hop, neo-soul, reggae)
Jean Glas, Music for Blue Light and Baby’s Breath; Temporal Rift; Eat So Well (ambient, experimental electronic)
Jeff Roberts, Lavender Soul (soul rock, pop)
Jon Spear Band, Hot Sauce (blues rock)
Jordan Peeples, Heavy Low (alternative indie folk)
Josh Zimmerman, Simon (electronic, downtempo synthesizer)
Kate Bollinger, Key West (alternative, indie folk pop)
Kathryn Caine, The Gospel According to Kathryn Caine (bluegrass, country, Americana)
Katie Wood, Old Matoaka Amphitheater-live (lo-fi alternative acoustic)
Kendall Street Company, Space for Days (groove rock, jam)
Ken’s Last Ever Radio Extravaganza, various sound collages (noise, electronic)
Kevin Davis, 14 Stations (experimental, free improvisation noise composition)
Kilo Pascal, From Nothing (meditative acoustic, electronic)
Krayon, Krayon (EDM, electronic, future bass)
LaQuinn, 615; 217 (rap, hip-hop)
Lauren Hoffman & The Secret Storm, Family Ghost (alternative dark rock/melancholy pop)
Lowland Hum, Thin; Thin B-Sides; Songs For Christmas Time (minimalist folk)
Mill, MILL (rock, baroque indie)
Molasses, Molasses (electronic, experimental, noise, percussion)
Nate Braeuer, Broken Skylight (baritonic piano folk)
Ned Oldham, Dark Mountain (folk, electric country)
New Boss, Third Sister (indie rock, guitar pop)
Noah Zeidman, I’m Not Feeling It (bedroom rock, folk)
Post Sixty Five, Strange Company (ambient, alternative indie rock)
precious bane, canticle of the serpent (lo-fi doom folk dirge)
Raintree, Blush Pool (ambient post-rock)
Rivanna, A Clear Run (acoustic, alternative folk)
Roads, VA, The GEmCD Project; Uncovers; Covers (ambient, avant-garde folk)
Robert Shelton, Virginia Boy (Americana, folk)
Sauce is Matisse, This Prison, This Reality; Mattspergers (electronic-y rap)
Second Draw, The Last Draw (bluejam)
Ships In The Night, Myriologues (dark wave, synth pop, electronic)
Scottie, Scottie (acoustic-y electropop)
Shimmer, 000 (lo-fi ambient, experimental)
Smoke Signals, Odyssey (post-hardcore, metal, scream)
Sondai, Wallflower (hip-hop, rap)
Sorority Boy, Two Demos; Friends/Enemies (dream pop, shoegaze)
Sow, 2017 (punk, hardcore)
Space-Saver, Pizza Party and other live recordings (experimental thrash-sax)
Spectrum, World on a String (funk, neo-soul)
susan, my room (alternative, avant-garde, lo-fi, shoegaze)
Susan Munson, Halfway to Anywhere (acoustic rock, singer-songwriter)
Sweet Tooth, Ache (synth-psych dream pop)
Synthetic Division, The Love of Your Life (electropop, synth pop, goth)
TaliWok, Winter to Spring 2017 (ukulele, melodica, piano, drum machine)
Terry Stokes, Polarity; Invitees; Liminality (singer-songwriter, soul pop)
Tha Lynks, Sorry for your Loss (hip-hop, rap)
The Anatomy of Frank, South America (chamber pop, indie folk)
The Attachments, The Attachments (punk, garage, rock ‘n’ roll)
The Can-Do Attitude, The Can-Do Attitude (cosmic cowpunk)
The Chuggernauts, Oi Oi AHOY pt. 1 (punk)
The Graphic World, The Graphic World (freeform experimental space rock)
The Hill and Wood, When You Go (indie folk)
The Moonbees/Accidental Seabirds, Ladybug House Volume 3 (alt-country, alt-folk, alt-rock)
The Multi-Os, Multi-Os; Triple-Entendre (weirdo folk pop)
The Ragnarockers, Live @ Rapture IV.XII.MMXVII (funk, bar blues)
The Trust Circle, Better Than Nothing (indie, emo, pop punk)
The Unholy Four, Do Not Kill or Be Sober (rock, punk)
The Vailix, Architect (conceptual hard rock)
The Willies, Full Ride (pop, soul pop)
This Hollow Machine, Aleph Null (Part 1) (acid industrial, ambient noise)
Time Nothing, Rythmn In Chaos (beatdown, hardcore)
Travis Elliott, Get In Love (acoustic rock, singer-songwriter)
Turtone, Family, Friends, and Even Aliens (8-bit, experimental)
U.S., Manifesto (alternative, goth, industrial, post punk)
Voice of Saturn, Shapeshifter (electronic, acid, synthwave)
Waterloo, Give ‘Em Hell, Kid (hip-hop, rap)
Wes Swing, And The Heart (dream folk)
Wild Rose, Wild Rose/Demo 2017 (punk, rock ‘n’ roll, hard rock)
Will Overman, Crossroads (Americana)
Whaler, Collections, vol. II (hardcore)
Wülf Boi, Foolish Warrior (rap)
Zeb Vance Henderson, you were beautifully and wonderfully made (experimental, chill post-rock)
Zeek, The Overlooked EP (hip-hop, rap)
Zombietron, The Adventures of Zombietron (loop-y electronic, ambient, experimental)
Keep an eye out for music videos, too. Brandon Dudley, aka Lee Bangah, wrote a song and filmed a video about Charlottesville’s Vinegar Hill neighborhood. Check it out below.
Forrest and Zaynah Pando of Pando Creative Co. made a video for Wes Swing’s “Mirrors,” starring Swing’s fellow Charlottesville musicians Diane Cluck and Devon Sproule. They’ve made videos for other local bands as well, including Nettles and Post Sixty Five.