tess-roby
Tess Roby's 'Beacon' cover art

Gorilla Vs Bear lists Best Albums of 2018 so far (catch Tess Roby live this week)

It’s June which means some people are doing mid-year lists. One of those is fellow music blog Gorilla Vs. Bear who just published their “Favorite Albums + Songs of the Year So Far.” Their album list was topped by Amen DunesFreedom and their songs list is topped by Ariana Grande‘s “No Tears Left to Cry.” Elsewhere on their list are records and songs by Beach House, Grouper, Playboi Carti, DJ Koze, Oneotrix POint Never, Panda Bear, Leon Bridges, Chromatics, Amber Mark, Men I Trust and more. Check out the full 2018-so-far lists from GvB (and their accompanying playlist) below.

Coming in at #9 on GvB’s albums list is Beacon by Montreal artist Tess Roby. The album came out in April via Italians Do it Better and I wrote about it in Indie Basement:

Given her label, the obvious comparison might be Chromatics, but Tess’ music is more tangible, more human. There’s also more drama in her voice and a bit of baroque in the arrangements that is is somewhere between Austra and Molly Nilsson by way of Steve Reich’s percolating repetition.

You can stream Beacon below.

Tess is in NYC as we speak, having just wrapped up her tour with likeminded Australian artist Carla Dal Forno — they played Elsewhere Zone One on Thursday night. Anyone go? Tess plays Elsewhere again on Saturday (6/9), as part of the BrooklynVegan Northside show with Protomartyr, Deerhoof, Frigs, Eaters, Corridor, and more. Tickets are moving fast but we are also letting in limited Northside Badges.

Tess will also be on tour with another Quebec artist, Men I Trust (who are also in town for Northside), this fall in the UK and Europe. All dates are listed below.

TESS ROBY – 2018 TOUR DATES
06/09 – Elsewhere Zone 1, Brooklyn, NY $
06/11 – La Vitrola, Montreal, QC *
06/24 – (DJ set) Never Apart, Montreal, QC
08/3-5 – Electric Eclectics Festival, Meaford, ON
08/17 – Nasher Sculpture Centre, Dallas, TX
09/22 – Acephale, Köln, DE *
09/24 – Milla, Munich, DE *
09/28 – Badehaus, Berlin, DE *
09/30 – Melkweg (Upstairs), Amsterdam, NL *
10/01 – Shackwell Arms, London, UK ^
10/02 – The Louisiana, Bristol, UK *
10/03 – The Soup Kitchen, Manchester, UK *
10/04 – Oslo, London, UK *
10/05 – Bodega, Nottingham, UK *
10/07 – The Hope and Ruin, Brighton, UK *
10/09 – New Morning, Paris, FR *
10/10 – Le Groom, Lyon, FR *
10/11 – Pont Rouge, Monthey, CH *
$ Brooklyn Vegan Showcase
* Supporting Men I Trust
^ Headlining show promoted by Odyxxey

GORILLA VS BEAR – Favorite LPs of 2018 So Far
1. AMEN DUNES | Freedom
2. TIRZAH | Devotion
3. GROUPER | Grid of Points
4. BELLA BOO | Fire
5. BEACH HOUSE | 7
6. PLAYBOI CARTI | Die Lit
7. DJ HEALER | Nothing 2 Loose / Planet Lonely
8. ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER | Age Of
9. TESS ROBY | Beacon
10. MUNYA | North Hatley
11. A.A.L. | 2012-2017
12. CAROLINE SAYS | No Fool Like an Old Fool
13. DJ KOZE | Knock Knock
14. JOHNNY JEWEL | Digital Rain / Themes for Television
15. LAURA JEAN | Devotion
16. LENA RAINE | Celeste OST
17. LEON BRIDGES | Good Thing
18. LOMA | Loma
19. NADINE | oh my
20. NEGATIVE GEMINI | Bad Baby
21. OKLOU | The Rite of May
22. PANDA BEAR | A Day With the Homies
23. PENDANT | Make Me Know You Sweet
24. PRIMO | Amici
25. PYNKIE | Neoteny
26. SMERZ | Have Fun
27. SUN JUNE | Years
28. TONY PRICE | celica absolu
29. U.S. GIRLS | In a Poem Unlimited
30. WISHED BONE | cellar belly

GORILLA VS BEAR – Favorite Songs of 2018 So Far
01 ARIANA GRANDE :: No Tears Left To Cry
02 AMEN DUNES :: Believe
03 TIRZAH :: Gladly
04 MGMT :: Me and Michael
05 JAY ROCK :: King’s Dead
06 CHROMATICS :: Black Walls
07 MOODYMAN :: Got Me Coming Back Right Now
08 BELLA BOO :: Fire Fire
09 OTHA :: One of the Girls
10 WESTERMAN :: Confirmation
11 ANDRE 3000 :: Me&My (To Bury Your Parents)
12 MORABEZA TOBACCO :: TTYL
13 PLAYBOI CARTI :: Shoota
14 PYNKIE :: Dew
15 KATE TEAGUE :: Low Life
16 BARRIE :: Canyons
17 SUN JUNE :: Young
18 MORMOR :: Heaven’s Only Wishful
19 JAMES BLAKE :: Don’t Miss It
20 AVALON :: Deadbeat Boy
21 OKLOU :: Friendless
22 AMBER MARK :: Love Me Right
23 RAE MORRIS :: Dancing with Character
24 EASYFUN :: Be Your USA
25 PEGGY GOU :: It Makes You Forget (itgehane)
26 MEN I TRUST :: Show Me How
27 TRUE BLUE :: Tell Me Texas
28 DENA :: Things That Mean a Lot (feat. Eyedress)
29 THE GREEN CHILD :: Her Majesty II
30 NILÜFER YANYA :: Thanks 4 Nothing