Best of 2018: Matt Quinn of Mt. Joy loves Khruangbin’s Con Todo El Mundo

A few words on the value of a sense of space.

In place of a more traditional year-end best-of list, Talkhouse has asked some of our favorite artists to choose their favorite album of 2018 and tell us all about it.
—The Talkhouse Team

There were a lot of great albums made in 2018, but if I had to pick one that stuck with me the most it’d be Khruangbin’s Con Todo El Mundo. Our year was mostly spent in a van winding what felt like every inch of the North American interstate system. This record was a soothing constant in the van. Terrific groove throughout, strikingly beautiful melodies, and overall I love the sense of space in this record. There’s so many bands making music right now that sometimes, in order to rise above the noise, I hear bands (self included) opt for “more” at the expense of a more vulnerable sense of space. This record to me always feels a little vulnerable, and seems to float in a beautiful way as a result. Also, it’s a largely instrumental record that never misses vocal melody, which speaks to the really special melodic interplay between guitar and bass throughout.  It’s impossible for me to pick a favorite track, so I’ll just say the run from “August 10” through “Shades of Man” is an incredible ride. Listening to this record will always make me think of what has been a pretty amazing year of touring for us, but there’s a lot of anxiety in this business, and Con Todo El Mundo is the antidote.

(Photo Credit: Left, Matt Everitt)

Matt Quinn is the lead singer of Mt. Joy, whose self-titled debut was released in 2018, and whose “Silver Lining” you probably heard this year.

(Photo Credit: Matt Everitt)