Best Indie Songs of 2018 - Songs 1-10

    As we note each year, the “best of” music lists provide a great vehicle for discovering music that we missed. During the year, the volume of interesting songs is so great that the expression “drinking from the fire hose” is appropriate. We try to read as many December lists possible.

     Indie Obsessive uses the same ranking algorithm each year:

     It’s an adaptation of an arbitrage pricing approach developed in 1973 by Fisher Black and Myron Scholes. The good news is that the complex portion is multiplied “0, so the complex portion is completely irrelevant to the outcome and should be ignored.

     Consequently, the ranking of a particular song is based on its value of P, where P is personal “preference.” Pretty simple – if we like a song slightly more than another song, it ranks higher. The flaw in the process is that the P value for a song is dependent upon our mood at the time, so the order of songs is likely to change from one day to the next. But while the order may change, the songs remain on the list, so you probably don’t care.

      It should be noted that the ranking reflects the blog's focus - Indie artists on the rise. The bias is toward bands that deserve more attention than they are currently receiving. Oh, and the 2018 qualification is based on when we discovered the song. With only a few exceptions, the songs were released in 2018. Those few bands welcome the additional exposure. So, we don't feel badly.

     1. "Black Cloud" by POSTDATA (from the post of May 31)

     2. "Allyssa" by Jumanji (from the post of April 12)

     3. "The Heart Is A Muscle" by Gang of Youths (from the post of July 26) This song would be higher on the list, but it was from late 2017.

     4. "Feel The Energy" by Sean Koch (from the post of April 9)

      5. "Unconditional Love" by Unknown Neighbour (from the post of June 10)

      6. "Take It From Me" by Healthy Bones (from the post of February 22)

      7. "Get Found" by The Heart Of (from the post of April 24)

     8. "All I Need" by Bahama Bleach (from the post of August 9) (still a free download)

9. "Drifting" by Nathan Ball (from the post of January 28)

10. "Eternal Ride of a Heartful Mind" by Piqued Jacks (from the post of November 29)

Songs 11 through 20 – CLICK HERE

Songs 21 through 30 – CLICK HERE

Songs 31 through 40 – CLICK HERE
Songs 41 through 50 – CLICK HERE

All 50 (53) are available on Spotify