Best of 2018

((echoplex))

Favorite Albums of 2018

• A Place To Bury Strangers - Pinned (Dead Oceans)
• Actress x London Contemporary Orchestra - Lageos (Ninja Tune)
• Bart & The Bedazzled - Blue Motel (Lovemonk)
• Beak> - >>> (Invada)
• Cut Worms - Hollow Ground (Jagjaguwar)
• Earth Girl Helen Brown - Four Satellites Vol. 1 (In The Red)
• Exit Group - Adverse Habitat (Castle Face)
• Exploded View - Obey (Sacred Bones)
• Gabe Gurnsey - Physical (Phantasy)
• Holy Wave - Adult Fear (The Reverberation Appreciation Society)
• IE - Pome (Moon Glyph)
• Instant Music - S/T (Dark Entries)
• Julien Boulier - A Film Not Yet Made (Time Released Sound)
• Kikagaku Moyo - Masana Temples (Guruguru Brain)
• Klaus Johann Grobe - Du Bist So Symmetrisch (Trouble In Mind)
• Leon Vynehall - Nothing Still (Ninja Tune)
• Les Halles - Zephyr (Not Not Fun)
• Lithics - Mating Surfaces (Kill Rock Stars)
• Lotic - Power (Tri Angle)
• Maarja Nuut & Ruum - Muunduja (Fat Cat)
• Martial Canterel - Lost At Sea (Dais)
• Motoko & Myers - Basis Keys (Open Hand Real Flames)
• Nonpareils - Scented Pictures (Mute)
• Paint - S/T (Mexican Summer)
• Papercuts - Parallel Universe Blues (Slumberland)
• Peel Dream Magazine - Modern Meta Physic (Slumberland)
• Skee Mask - Compro (Ilian Tape)
• Smerz - Have Fun (XL)
• Suuns - Felt (Secretly Canadian)
• Various Artists - The Bedroom Tapes (Minimal Wave)
• Yo La Tengo - There’s A Riot Going On (Matador)

Beast Monster Thing

Beast Monster Thing - Best Albums of 2018 (Ascending)

• Mountain Man - Magic Ship (Nonesuch)
• Madeline Kenney - Perfect Shapes (Carpark)
• Shame - Songs of Praise (Dead Oceans)
• Snail Mail - Lush (Matador)
• Molly Burch - First Flower (Captured Tracks)
• Human People - Butterflies Drink Turtle Tears (Exploding in Sound)
• Father John Misty - God’s Favorite Customer (Sub Pop)
• Brockhampton - Iridescence (RCA)
• Casual Hex - Zig Zag Lady Illusion (Water Wing)
• Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Sex & Food (Jagjaguwar)
• Soccer Mommy - Clean (Fat Possum)
• Mitski - Be the Cowboy (Dead Oceans)
• Naked Giants - Sluff (New West)
• Parquet Courts - Wide Awake (Rough Trade)
• Kero Kero Bonito - Time ‘n’ Place (Polyvinyl)
• Jeff Rosenstock - Post (Polyvinyl)
• Foxing - Nearer My God (Triple Crown)
• Sidney Gish - No Dogs Allowed (S/R)
• Car Seat Headrest - Twin Fantasy (Matador)

Berkestir

Berkestir 2018

New Stuff

• A Place To Bury Strangers-Pinned Brainwashing Edition (Dead Oceans)
• The Beths-Future Me Hates Me (Carpark)
• The Breeders-All Nerve (4AD)
• Bombino-Deran (Partisan)
• Chromium Hawk Machine Nik Turner Helios Creed Jay Tavsig-Annvnaki (Black Widow)
• Anna Calvi-Hunter (Domino)
• Chris Carter-CCCL Volume One (Mute)
• Cloud Nothing-Last Building Burning (Carpark)
• Death Valley Girls-Darkness Rains ( Suidcide Squeeze)
• Deaf Wish-Lithium Zion (Sub Pop)
• Earthless-Black Heaven (Nuclear Blast)
• Escape-Ism-The Lost Record (Merge)
• Exploded Head-Obey (Sacred Bones)
• Hawkwind-Road To Utopia (Cherry Red)
• Jerusalem In My Heart-Daqaliq Tudaiq (Constellation)
• Charles Lloyd & The Marvels + Lucinda Williams-Vanished Gardens (Blue Note)
• J.Mascis-Elastic Days (Sub Pop)
• Marissa Nadler-My Crimes (Sacred Bones)
• Nonpareils-Scented Picture (Mute)
• Oh Sees-Smote Reverser (Castle Face)
• Emma Ruth Rundle-On Dark Horses (Sargent House)
• Richard Thompson-13 Rivers (New West)
• Thought Gang-S/T (Sacred Bones)
• Lavra Veirs-The Lookout (Raven Marching Band)
• Warm Drag-S/T (In The Red)
• Tony Joe White-Bad Mouthin' (Yep Roc)
• Wooden Shjps-V (Thrill Jockey)
• Neil Young + Promise Of The Real-The Visitor (Reprise)

Old Stuff

• Curved Air-Airconditioning (Esoteric)
• Curved Air-Second Album (Esoteric)
• Curved Air-Phantasmagoria (Esteric)
• Holger Czukay-Cinema (Groenland)
• Hawkwind-Best Of Live (Secret)
• Hawkwind-Victim Of Sonic Attach! (Cleopatra)
• Various African Artists-African Scream Contest 2 Benin 1963-1980 (Analog Africa)
• Various Jazz Artist-The Savory Collection 1935-1940 (Mosaic)
• Various Exotic Artist-Technicolor Paradise Rhum Rhapsodies & Other Exotic Delights (The Numero Gruop)
• Wire-Pink Flag Special Edition (Pink Flag)
• Wire-Chairs Missing Special Edition (Pink Flag)
• Wire-154 Special Edition (Pink Flag)
• Neil Young-Songs For Judy (Reprise)
• Neil Young-Roxy Tonight's The Night Live (Reprise)

Brickbats

Favorite releases of 2018 and favorite live show

Favorite releases

• Jessica Moss - Entanglement (Constellation)
• Leila Abdul Rauf - Diminution (Malignant)
• Sarah Davachi - Gave In Rest (Ba Da Bing)
• Andrew Bernstein - An Exploded View of Time (Hausu Mountain)
• Jenny Olivia Johnson - Sylvia Songs (Innova)
• Mary Lattimore - Hundreds of Days (Ghostly International)
• Meg Baird & Mary Lattimore - Ghost Forest (Three Lobed)
• Dire Wolves - Paradisiacal Minds (Feeding Tube)
• Grouper - Grid of Points (Kranky)
• Hawthonn - Red Goddess (of this men shall know nothing) (Ba Da Bing)

Best live music experience 

• Drew McDowall of Coil - Time Machines (reissued in 2017 on Dais) - at Gray Area Foundation for the Arts

Brother Grimm

Brother Grimm’s Favorite Records of 2018: ascending

 

• TV Girl - Death of a Party Girl (S/R)
• The Shacks – Haze (Big Crown)
• Virginia Wing – Ecstatic Arrow (Fire)
• Khruangbin – Con Todo el Mundo (Dead Oceans)
• Nicolas Godin - Au Service de la France (Because)
• The Goon Sax – We're Not Talking (Wichita)
• Bahamas – Earthtones (Brushfire)
• Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever – Hope Downs (Sub Pop)
• Rubblebucket – Sun Machine (Grand Jury)
• Waldeck – Atlantic Ballroom (Dope Noir)
• Shy Boys – Bell House (Polyvinyl)
• Cut Worms – Hollow Ground (Jagjaguwar)
• Advance Base – Animal Companionship (Run for Cover)
• Shannon Shaw – Shannon in Nashville (Nonesuch)
• Tony Molina – Kill the Lights (Slumberland)

Carnacki

Some Favourite Releases from 2018, in alphabetical order

• Poppy Ackroyd - Resolve (One Little Indian)
• The Body - I Have Fought Against It But I Can’t Any Lonfer (Thrill Jockey)
• Zoe Boekbinder - Shadows (s/r)
• Julien Boulier - A Film Not Yet Made (Time Released Sound)
• Carla Bozulich - Quieter (Constellation)
• Jane Antonia Cornish - Constellations (Innova)
• Current 93 - The Light Is Leaving Us All (The Spheres)
• Dire Wolves - Paradisiacal Mind (Feeding Tube)
• DJ Female Convict Scorpion - Ishmagrad (Calar Music)
• Hawthonn - Red Goddess (Of This Men Shall Know Nothing) (Ba Da Bing)
• Zoe Keating - Snowmelt (s/r)
• Low - Double Negative (Sub Pop)
• Drew McDowall - The Third Helix (Dais)
• Roy Montgomery - Suffuse (Grapefruit)
• Jessica Moss - Entanglement (Constellation)
• Marissa Nadler - For My Crimes (Sacred Bones)
• Nordic Affect - H e (a) r (Sono Luminus)
• People Like Us - The Mirror (Cutting Hedge)
• Sangre De Muerdago - Noite (Musica Maxica)
• Matthew Swiezynski - The One Who Modifies Time And Light (Invisible Birds)
• Emily Jane White / House of Wolves - split ep (Discolexique)
• Zu93 - Mirror Emperor (House Of Mythology)

Carolyn

Carolyn's Best Of 2018

My favorite albums of 2018

• Fatty Cakes And The Puff Pastries - S/T (Emotional Response)
• Rik and the Pigs - A Child's Gator (Total Punk)
• Ricky Hell & The Voidboys - S/T (Quality Time Records)
• Shark Toys - Labyrinths (In The Red)
• Mark Sultan - Let Me Out (Modern Sky USA)
• Liquids – Hot Liqs Revenge (Neck Chop Records)
• Little Ugly Girls - S/T (Chapter Music)
• France Has The Bomb - ...But We Must Cultivate Our Garden (Diminished Arc)
• Kitten Forever -  Semi-Permanent (Rat Queen)
• BB Eye - Headcheese Heartthrob (Fish)
• Alice Bag - Blueprint (Don Giovanni)
• The Cavemen - Nuke Earth (Slovenly)
• Gino And The Goons - Rip It Up (Sunwray)
• Archie and the Bunkers - Songs From The Lodge (Dirty Water)
• David Nance – Doug Sahm and Band (Tall Texan)

My favorite EPs of 2018

• Teeange Cavegirl – "They’re Gonna Get You" (S/R)
• Alien Nosejob - Death Of The Vinyl Boom (S/R)
• Wonder Bread - Complete Solid Gold Hits (Digital Regress)
• The Proletariat - "Death Of Alton Sterling" (Bridge Nine)
• Amyl and The Sniffers - "Some Mutts (Can't Be Muzzled)" (Flightless)
• Ruler - "Tiger" (Secret Mission)
• Kid Chrome – “I’ve Had It” (Neck Chop)
• PMS - "Cocaine Cunt" (Danger Records)
• Heavy Metal - Too OZ 4 I.T. (Total Punk)
• Erik Nervous/ Neo Neos - split (Goodbye Boozy)
• Gallery Night - "Watching Black And White" (Dusty Medical)
• Dark Blue - “Fight To Love” (12XU)
• ISS - "I Wanna Be Dated" (Sorry State)
• Counter Intuits - “Vietnamese Lighter” (Total Punk)
• Puppy and The Hand Jobs - "I Eat Abortions" (Slovenly)
• Smokers - Falling Backwards (Mouth Magazine)

My favorite reissues of 2018

• Plastic EP and The Records - "Well You Want To Make A Record" and Best Of (Xerox Music)
• F.U.K. - "Road Kill" (Hozac Archival)
• Vendetta – “Modern Rockers” (Supreme Echo)
• Friction - "Death Cult 911" (Blank Recording Co)
• V/A - The Sore Losers - Original Soundtrack (Goner Records)
• Trash Monkeys – "Trash Monkey Universe" (Almost Ready)
• Vector Command - S/T (Hozac)
• Chandra - Transportation EPs (Telephone Explosion)
• Real Kids - The Kids 1974 Demos/ 1977-78 Demos/Live (Crypt)
• Bad Times - Streets Of Iron (Goner)
• Firestarter - First Album and Livin On The Heat (Secret Mission)
• Teenage Depression - Skank Or Die (ReRun)
• Great Plains - The Mark, Don & Mel EP + Four (ReRun)
• V/A – I’ve Got the Bible Belt Around My Throat: A One-Sided History of Punk Rock and Hardcore From Alabama 1981–2003 (Foreign Legion)

My favorite films of 2018

• Here To Be Heard: The Story of The Slits
• Dead On Arrival: The Punk Documentary That Almost Never Was
• Sorry To Bother You
• The Outhouse The Film 1985-1997
• Descent Into The Maelstrom
• The Public Image Is Rotten
• They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead
• Juliette, Naked
• Ex-Libris: The New York Public Library
• Icepick To The Moon

Curt Reply

Curt Reply’s Faves -> 18 Albums for 2018 Fuzzy, Fast or Jes’ Plain Fun!

• Bed Wettin' Bad Boys - Rot (What's Your Rupture)
• Beths - Future Me Hates Me (Carpark)
• Burnt Palms - 2/18/17 (We Were Never Being Boring)
• CHAI - Pink (Burger Records)
• Cut Chemist - Die Cut (A Stable Sound)
• Death By Unga Bunga - So Far So Good So Cool (Jansen)
• Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio - Close But No Cigar (Colemine)
• Durand Jones and The Indications - Durand Jones and The Indications (Dead Oceans)
• Flasher - Constant Image (Domino)
• Lithics - Mating Surfaces (Kill Rock Stars)
• Pantones - For the Ones Who Love You, The Living Room Demos (S/R)
• Primo! - Amici (Upset the Rhythm)
• Remember Sports - Slow Buzz (Father/Daughter)
• Tommy and the Commies - Here Comes Tommy and the Commies (Slovenly)
• Tony Molina - Kill the Lights (Slumberland)
• Typical Girls, Vol 3 - Compilation (Emotional Response)
• Turqouiz Noiz - Sweat Lodge (Related)
• Wimps - Garbage People (Kill Rock Stars)

DangerVenture

Best Of 2018 - DangerVenture

Top 10 Debut Albums

• Shame - Songs of Praise (Dead Oceans)
• Soccer Mommy - Clean (Fat Possum)
• Snail Mail - Lush (Matador)
• Lapel - Periphery (S/R)
• Tash Sultana - Flow State (Mom + Pop)
• Miya Folick - Premonitions (Interscope)
• serpentwithfeet - Soil (Secretly Canadian)
• Superorganism - Superorganism (Domino)
• Tom Misch - Geography (Beyond the Groove)
• Post Animal - When I Think of You in a Castle (Polyvinyl)

Top 10 Local Releases

• Shannon and the Clams - Onion (Nonesuch)
• Elder Brother - Stay Inside (Pure Noise)
• DonCat - Preservation of the Spirit (Marble Eye)
• Pllush - Stranger to the Pain (Father/Daughter)
• Tanukichan - Sundays (Company)
• Lapel - Periphery (S/R)
• Madeline Kenney - Perfect Shapes (Carpark)
• Rose Droll - Your Dog (Father/Daughter)
• Jay Stone - Calibration of an Altered Mind (West Grand)
• Fine Points - Take Shape (Dine Alone)

Top 10 Local Shows (Non-festival)

• Jeff Rosenstock - Great American Music Hall, 2/22
• Noah Gunderson - Sweetwater Music Hall, 2/24
• Fleet Foxes - The Greek Theatre, 4/20
• Courtney Barnett - August Hall, 5/6
• We Are Scientists - The Chapel, 7/10
• Geographer - The Fillmore, 7/28
• Foxing - Bottom of the Hill, 9/19
• Lapel - Cafe du Nord, 10/11
• Boy Genius - Fox Theater, 11/27
• Nine Inch Nails - Bill Graham Civic, 12/4

Deep Mission

Deep Mission's Best Of 2018

Best New Blues

• Aki Kumar - Hindi Man Blues (Little Village Foundation)
• Elvin Bishop's Big Fun Trio - Something Smells Funky 'Round Here (Alligator)

Best New World

• Bombino - Deran (Partisan)

Best New Pop

• SLV - Piece of Mind (s/r)
• Couer de Pirate - En Cas de la Tempete Ce Jardin Sera Ferme (Dare to Care)
• Illumaniti Hotties - Kiss Yr Frenemies (Tiny Engines)

Best New Jazz

• Eliana Cuevas - Golpes y Flores (Alma)
• Melbreeze - Animazonia (Blue Canoe)

Best New Folk/Americana

• Marty O'Reilly & The Old Soul Orchestra - Stereoscope (s/r)
• Les Poules A Colin - Morose (FamGroup)
• FiONN - FiONN (604 Records)

Best New Rock

• Gaye Su Akyol - Hologram Imparatorlugu (Glitterbeat)
• French Boutik/Popincourt - Popincourt et French Boutik Chantent The Jam (Copase Disques)
• Robbie Fulks & Linda Gail Lewis - Wild! Wild! Wild! (Bloodshot)
• Last Chance Riders - Jet Lag Super Drag (s/r)

DJ Aahh

DJ Aahh’s Top 2018 Shortwave Albums by Artist Z to A

• Rhye - Blood Remixed (Loma Vista)
• Marcus Marr - Familiar Five EP (DFA)
• Funkadelic - Funkadelic Reworked by Detroiters (Westbound)
• Fit of Body - Black Box No Cops (2MR)
• Elovaters - Defy Gravity (Rootfire Cooperative)
• DJ Taye - Still Trippin’ (Hyperdub)
• Dabrye - Three / Three (Ghostly International)
• CMD - Haptic Controls (Jacktone)
• boerd - Static (Anjunadeep)
• Blockhead - Funeral Balloons (Backwoodz Studioz)

DJ Twinkle

25 favorites from 2018 (alphabetical)

• The Beths - Future Me Hates Me (Car Park)
• Zoe Boekbinder - Shadow (S/R)
• Camp Cope - How to Socialise and Make Friends (Run for Cover)
• Henry Canyons - Cool Side of the Pillow (Backwoodz Studioz)
• Des Demonas - Des Demonas (In the Red)
• Easystreet - International Supernatural (The Tip)
• Andrea Gibson - Hey Galaxy (Tender Loving Empire)
• Goat Girl - Goat Girl (Rough Trade)
• Gurrumul - Djarimirri [Child of the Rainbow] (Skinnyfish)
• Hop Along - Back Your Head Off, Dog (Saddle Creek)
• Hot Trash - Hope in Grace (Escape Productions)
• Imarham - Tumast (City Slang)
• Kitten Forever - Semi-Permanent (Rat Queen)
• Laura Love - She Loved Red (S/R)
• Mirah - Understanding (Absolute Magnitude)
• The Pandoras - Hey! It's the Pandoras (Burger)
• Primo! - Amici (Upset the Rhythm)
• Scary Women - Scary Women (Goldenrod)
• Shilpa Rose - Door Girl (Northern Spy)
• Maggie Roche - Where Do I Come From (StorySound Records)
• SLV - Piece of Mind (S/R)
• The Spook School - Could It Be Different (Slumberland)
• tune-yards - I can feel you creep into my private life (4AD)
• Valley Queen - Supergiant (Rock Call)
• Young Fathers - Cocoa Sugar (Ninja Tune)

E. Lit

E. Lit's Favorite Albums of 2018:

• Four Fists - 6666 (Doomtree)
• Dorian Concept - The Nature of Imitation (Brainfeeder)
• Cut Chemist - Die Cut (A Stable Sound)
• Kristoff Krane - Kairos Pt. 2 (F I X)
• Curly Castro - TOSH (Backwoodz Studioz)
• Gone Beyond & Mumbles - Notes From the Underground (Content (L)abel)
• Henry Canyons - Cool Side of the Pillow (Backwoodz Studioz)
• Astralblak - Seeds (Sound Verite)
• Busdriver - Electricity Is On Our Side (Temporary Whatever)
• Onry Ozzborn - Nervous Hvnd (TED)

Also dug:

• Showbiz - A-Room Therapy (D.I.T.C Studios)
• Dillon & Batsauce - On Their Way (Full Plate)
• Penthouse Penthouse - Cruise Control (Alpha Pup)
• Longshot & Lazerbeak - Parades (Doomtree)
• Kev Brown - Homework (Redefinition)
• Epic Beard Men - Season 1 (Strange Famous)
• PremRock & Fresh Kils - Poet's Payday (s/r)
• Von Pea & the Other Guys - I'm Good Luv, Enjoy (HiPNOTT)
• Masta Ace & Marco Polo - A Breukelen Story (Fat Beats)
• Czarface & MF DOOM - Czarface Meets Metal Face (Silver Age)

Emo King

.

pinnacles of human achievement:

• Lala Lala - "Copycat" - The Lamb (Hardly Art)
• Ovlov - "The Best of You" - Tru (Exploding in Sound)
• Stove - "Animortal" - 's Favorite Friend (Exploding in Sound)

like fistfuls of medicine shoved down your throat:

• awakebutstillinbed - "Life" - What People Call Low Self​-Esteem Is Really Just Seeing Yourself The Way That Other People See You (Tiny Engines)
• Wimps - "Giant Brain" - Garbage People (Kill Rock Stars)
• Idles - "Colossus" - Joy as an Act of Resistance (Partisan)
• Frankie Cosmos - "Apathy" - Vessel (Sub Pop)
• Anmlplnet - "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" - Fall Asleep (Ba Da Bing)
• Bernice - "Passenger Plane" - Puff: In the Air Without a Shape (Arts & Crafts)
• Moaning - "Close" - Moaning (Sub Pop)
• Deeper - "Pavement" - Deeper (Fire Talk)
• Ross From Friends - "Thank God I'm A Lizard" (Brainfeeder)
• Fit of Body - "Eighty One" - Black Box No Cops (2MR)
• Peggy Gou - "It Makes You Forget" - Once (Ninja Tune)
• Underworld & Iggy Pop - "Bells & Circles" - Teatime Dub Encounters (Caroline)

Fernando

Fernando’s Favorite Songs of 2018

1. La Luz - “Loose Teeth” Floating Features (Hardly Art)
2. Tanukichan - “Lazy Love” Sundays (Company)
3. The Pantones - “Shades of Blue” Shades of Blue (S/R)
4. The Jeanines - “Hits The Bone” Hits The Bone (S/R)
5. Say Sue Me - “But I Like You” Where We Were Together (Damnably)
6. Automatic - “Strange Conversations” Automatic (S/R)
7. Virginia Wing - “The Second Shift” Ecstatic Arrow (Fire)
8. Lithics - “Edible Door” Mating Surfaces (Kill Rock Stars)
9. Shannon Shaw - “Cryin’ My Eyes Out” Shannon In Nashville (Easy Eye)
10. Habibi - “Gypsy Love” Cardamom Garden (Modern Sky)
11. Cariño - “Canción De Pop De Amor” Movidas (Elefant)
12. Niños del Cerro - “El Sueño Pesa” Lance (Quemasucabeza)
13. The Goon Sax - “Sleep EZ” We’re Not Talking (Wichita)
14. Lower Self - “In The Glow” In The Glow (S/R)
15. Shannon and the Clams - “I Leave Again” (Easy Eye)
16. Shy Boys - “Something Sweet” Bell House (Polyvinyl)
17. Small Crush - “Signal Dreams” Blush (S/R)
18. Lala Lala - “I Get Cut” The Lamb (Hardly Art)
19. Suzie True - “Don’t Grow Up” Nothing To You (Buzz)
20. Las Odio - “Lo Quiero Todo” Lo Quiero Todo (S/R)
21. Anna Hillburg - “Cherries and Wine” Really Real (California Clap)
22. Fenne Lily - “Car Park” On Hold (S/R)
23. Shopping - “Suddenly Gone” The Official Body (FatCat)
24. Goat Girl - “Cracker Drool” Goat Girl (Rough Trade)
25. Our Girl - “Boring” Stranger Today (Cannibal Hymns)

Film Close-Ups

FILM CLOSE-UPS’ FAVORITE FILMS OF 2018 (alphabetical)

Esme's picks:

• At Eternity's Gate
• Annihilation
• Avengers: Infinity War
• BlacKKKlansman
• Black Panther
• Blindspotting
• Burning
• Destroyer
• Eighth Grade
• The Favourite
• Hereditary
• If Beale Street Could Talk
• Madeline's Madeline
• Mandy
• Mission: Impossible - Fallout
• Paddington 2
• The Rider
• Roma
• Shirkers
• Shoplifters
• Sorry to Bother You
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
• A Star is Born
• Support the Girls
• Suspiria
• Three Identical Strangers
• To All the Boys I've Loved Before
• Widows
• Won't You Be My Neighbor
• You Were Never Really Here

Geralyn’s picks:

• American Animals, USA, Bart Layton
• The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, USA, Joel Coen
• Bohemian Rhapsody, USA, Bryan Singer
• A Fantastic Woman (Una Mujer Fantastica), USA, Sebastian Lelio
• Green Book, USA, Peter Farrelly
• Hostiles, USA, Scott Cooper
• The Insult, Lebanon, Ziad Doveiri
• Rodents of Unusual Size, (Documentary), USA, Quinn Costello, Chris Metzler, Jeff Springer
• Shoplifters, Japan, Hirokazu Kore-eda
• You Were Never Really Here, USA, Lynne Ramsay

Greg’s picks:

• American Animals
• Annihilation
• Beast
• Blindspotting
• Death Of Stalin
• The Favourite
• First Reformed
• Ghost Stories
• Hereditary
• Sorry To Bother You
• Three Identical Strangers

Sonia’s picks:

• Ben is Back
• Blindspotting
• Eighth Grade
• A Fantastic Woman
• The Favourite
• If Beale Street Could Talk
• Isle of Dogs
• McQueen
• Roma
• Shoplifters
• Sorry to Bother You
• Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Hella Bent

Hella Bent’s List of Songs That Made 2018 Slightly More Bearable

• A Place To Bury Strangers - “Never Coming Back” - Pinned (Dead Oceans)
• Blood Orange - “Charcoal Baby” - Negro Swan (Domino)
• Boy Harsher - “Motion” - Country Girl (Nude Club)
• Cardi B, Bad Bunny, J Balvin - “I Like It” - Invasion of Privacy (Atlantic)
• Choir Boy - “Dark Room” - Passive With Desire (Dais)
• Empress Of - “When I’m With Him” - Us (Terrible)
• Exploded View - “Gone Tomorrow” - Obey (Sacred Bones)
• Frankie Cosmos - “Apathy” - Vessel (Sub Pop)
• The Goon Sax - “Make Time 4 Love” - We’re Not Talking (Wichita)
• Kontravoid - “The Last Thing” - Undone (Fleisch)
• La Luz - “The Creature” - Floating Features (Hardly Art)
• Lala Lala - “Dove” - The Lamb (Hardly Art)
• Marie Davidson - “Work It” - Working Class Woman (Ninja Tune)
• Mary Lattimore - “On the Day You Saw the Dead Whale” - Hundreds of Days (Ghostly)
• Mitski - “Two Slow Dancers” - Be the Cowboy (Dead Oceans)
• Moaning - “Don’t Go” - (S/T) (Sub Pop)
• Patrick Cowley - “One Hot Afternoon” - Afternooners (Dark Entries)
• Robyn - “Missing U” - Honey (Konichiwa)
• SRSQ - “Procession” - Unreality (Dais)
• U.S. Girls - “M.A.H.” - In A Poem Unlimited (4AD)

Leftfield Lance

...

Leftfield Lance's 2018 Favorites:

12"

• Blues Lawyer - Guess Work (Emotional Response)
• Lithics - Mating Surfaces (Kill Rock Stars)
• Primo! - Amici (Upset the Rhythm)
• The Shifters - Have a Cunning Plan (Trouble in Mind)
• Sons of Kemet - Your Queen is a Lizard (Impulse!)
• Table Sugar - Collected Acknowledgement (Stucco)
• Yuzo Iwata - Daylight Moon (Siltbreeze)

7"

• Cool Greenhouse - London (Market Square)
• Child's Pose - S/T (Nervous Energy)
• Lithics - Photograph, You Of (Thrilling Living)
• Pineapple RnR - S/T (Lumpy)
• Private Sector - Survival is Killing Me (Byllepest)
• The Shifters - Just Sat Down (Digital Regress)
• Skiftande Enheter - Mördande Rutin (Market Square)
• Suburban Homes - EP3 (Neck Chop)
• Tough Customer - Darlene (Sweet Rot)

Tapes, Demos, etc.

• BOFA - What Is... (Discontinuous Innovation)
• Dry Cleaning - Sweet Princess (S/R)
• Naked Roommate - S/T (S/R)
• Nylex - S/T (Tenth Court)
• The Plastic Shoelaces - S/T (S/R)

Madame X

Madame X’s 10 Favorite Albums of 2018:

• Couer De Pirate - En Cas de Tempete, Ce Jardin Sera Ferme (Dare to Care)
• Neko Case - Hell-On (Anti-)
• Jenn Champion - Single Rider (Hardly Art)
• Melissa Laveaux - Radyo Siwel (No Format)
• Arian Saleh - Swan Bird (Googoosh Remixed) (S/R)
• Rosalia - El Mal Querer (Sony)
• Essex Green - Hardly Electronic (Merge)
• Neneh Cherry - Broken Politics (Smalltown Supersound)
• Alba Griot Ensemble - The Darkness Between the Leaves (Riverboat)
• Anna Calvi - Hunter (Domino)

Majority Whip

Majority Whip’s Favorite Albums from 2018, in alphabetical order:

• Laurie Anderson & Kronos Quartet - Landfall (Nonesuch)
• Michael Beharie & Teddy Rankin-Parker -  A Heart From Your Shadow (Mondoj)
• Bets - Future Color (S/R)
• Black Milk -  Fever (Mass Appeal)
• V/A - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Season 3 Soundtrack (WaterTower)
• Don the Tiger -  Matanzas (Crammed Discs)
• Liran Donin's 1000 Boats - 8 Songs (Cavalo)
• Dos Santos – Logos (International Anthem)
• Escape-ism -  The Lost Record  (Merge)
• Exploded View -  Obey (Sacred Bones)
• Gajah & Mute Speaker -  Vent (The Order Label)
• Yonatan Gat -  Universalists (Joyful Noise)
• Grupo Mono Blanco - ¡Fandango! (Smithsonian Folkways)
• Hookworms – Microshift (Domino)
• Insólito Universo – La Candela del Río (Olinda)
• Jupiter & Okwess – Kin Sonic (Zamora)
• Les Poules À Colin – Morose (FamGroup)
• Loma -  Loma (Sub Pop)
• Lonesome Leash – Delicate Art (Cruisin’)
• Lumerians -  Call of the Void (Fuzz Club)
• Miolina – Miolina (Composers Concordance)
• Motoko and Myers -  Basis Key (Open Hand Real Flames)
• Motrik – Safety Copy (Jealous Butcher)
• New Music Detroit -  Smoke: Music of Marc Mellits  (Innova)
• Noname - Room 25 (S/R)
• Oracle Hysterical – Hecuba (National Sawdust Tracks)
• Onry Ozzborn -  Nervous Hvnd (Ted)
• Nirmala Rajasekar – Maithree (Innova)
• Rio Mira -  Marimba Del Pacifico  (Aya)
• Roller Trio- New Devices (Edition)
• Ruby Karinto -  Ruby Karinto (Hozac)
• Alejandro Rutty – Exhaling Space (Navona)
• Saba - Care for Me (Saba Pivot, LLC)
• Sextile - 3 (Felte)
• Sons Of Kemet – Your Queen Is A Reptile (Impulse!)
• Paolo Spaccamonti and Jochen Arbeit – CLN (Boring Machines)
• Staves and YMusic – The Way is Read (Nonesuch)
• Tangent – Approaching Complexity (n5MD)
• Tune-Yards -  I Can Feel You Creep into My Private Life (4AD)
• Third Coast Percussion – Paddle to the Sea (Cedille)

Meaty Paws

Songs That Made Radio Great Again in 2018

1. Beach Day - "Runaway With You" - Run Away With You - (Chocolate Covered)
2. Jesse Daniel - "Soft Spot For The Hard Stuff" - Jesse Daniel - (Die True)
3. Josh T Pearson - "A Love Song (Set Me Straight)" - The Straight Hits! - (Mute)
4. Whateverglades - "I Do I Did I Don't" - Knock Knock - (No Egrets Records)
5. Kacey Musgraves - "Kansas City Star" - King of the Road: A Tribute to Roger Miller - (BMG)
6. The Muddy Roses - "Long Black Veil" - KALX Live! - (KALX)
7. Illuminati Hotties - "Paying Off The Happiness" - Kiss Yr Frenemies - (Tiny Engines)
8. Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas - "Sorry I Stole Your Man" - Secret Evil - (Instant)
9. Bon Bon Vivant - "Gone Gone Gone" - Live At The New Orleans Jazz Museum - (Gallatin Street)
10. Belly - "Human Child" - Dove - (Belly Inc)
11. Lindi Ortega - "You Ain’t Fooling Me" - Liberty - (Shadowbox)
12. Mike Beck and The Bohemian Saints - "I Wanna Find Out" - Alta California - (Reata)
13. Secret Emchy Society - "Bears" - Mark's Yard (The Campfire Covers) - (S/R)
14. Underworld and Iggy Pop - "Bells and Circles" - Teatime Dub Encounters - (Caroline)
15. I See Hawks In L.A. - "Poour Me" - Live and Never Learn  - (S/R)
16. Amy Rigby - "One Off" - The Old Guys - (S/R)
17. Eleanor Friedberger - "Make Me A Song" - Rebound - (Frenchkiss)
18. Bettye Lavette - "Things Have Changed" - Things Have Changed - (Verve)
19. Lump - "Curse of the Contemporary" - Lump - (Dead Oceans)
20. Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore - "Downey to Lubbock" - Downey to Lubbock - (Yep Rock)
21. Robbie Fulks and Linda Gail Lewis - "I Just Lived a Country Song" -  Wild! Wild! Wild! - (Bloodshot)
22. Fast Heart Mart - "So Many Problems" -  KALX Live! - (KALX)
23. Hollie Cook - "Stay Alive" - Vessel of Love - (Merge)
24. Neil Young and the Promise of the Real - "Carnival" - The Visitor - (Reprise)
25. Reverend Beat-Man - "I'll Do It For You" - Blues Trash - (Voodoo Rhythm)
26. Gayle Lynn and the Hired Hands - "Twirl" - KALX Live! - (KALX)
27. Moonshine Maybeline - "Champaign and Cocaine" - End Of The Road  - (Spitfire)
28. Hillstomp - "I'll Be Around" -  Monster Receiver - (Fluff & Gravy)
29. Trouble In The Wind - "Orion" - Hammer On - (S/R)
30. We Banjo 3 - "Good Time Old Time" - String Theory - (Sonas)
31. Bay Station - "Baja Blues" - Other Desert Cities - (S/R)
32. Laura Benitez and Heartache - "The Fool I Am Right Now " - With All Its Thorns - (Copperhead)
33. Crying Time - "You're Still Gone" - Last Saturday Night - (S/R)
34. Crooked Jades - "Ryland and Spencer" -  Empathy Moves the Water  - (Jade Note)
35. Guts Club - "Bad Aim" - Trench Foot - (S/R)
36. Lucero - "For The Lonely Ones" - Among The Ghosts - (Liberty and Lament Records)
37. John Prine - "Knockin' On Your Screen Door" - The Tree of Forgiveness - (Oh Boy)
38. Zoe Speaks - "There's A Hole Where Your Soul's Supposed To Be" - Wings - (Redbird)
39. Tina and Her Pony - "Good Man" - Champion - (S/R)
40. Victoria Vox - "Out On The Rails" - Colorful Heart - (Obus)
41. Calexico - "Music Box" - The Thread That Keeps Us - (Anti-)
42. H.C. McEntire - "Baby's Got The Blues" - Lionheart - (Merge)
43. Charlie Parr - "HoBo" - Dog - (Red House)
44. Caroline Rose - "More Of The Same" - Loner - (New West)
45. Jenn Champion - "O.M.G. (I'm All Over It)" - Single Rider - (Hardly Art)
46. Grimskunk - "Sick Bastards" - Unreason In The Age of Madness - (Indica)
47. Killer Kaya - "Gypsy" - KALX Live! - (KALX)
48. Elvin Bishop's Big Fun Trio - "Something Smells Funky Round Here" - Big Fun Trio - (Alligator)
49. Todd Novak And The Benny Hillbillez - "Sons Of Beaches" - Goats Head Surf - (S/R)
50. Country Joe McDonald - "Era Of Guns" - 50 - (Rag Baby)
51. Alanis Obomsawin - "Bush Lady" - Bush Lady - (Constellation)

Compilations that made the GREAT state of Berkeley proud!

• Dr. Demento Covered In Punk - (Demented Punk)
• Gunsmoke Volume 1 & 2 - (Stag-O-Lee)
• King of the Road: A Tribute to Roger Miller - (BMG)
• Something Weird: Greatest Hits!  - (Modern Harmonic)

Special Thanks to all the artists who appeared LIVE on the air with me, here on the Left Coast

• Brian Belknap and Erma
• Patsy Cline Tribute Show (with Margaret Belton)
• Collisionville
• Crying Time
• Fast Heart Mart
• Nate Jones and the Sloe Sippers
• Lavender Country
• Gayle Lynn and the Hired Hands (and Maurice Tani)
• Loretta Lynn Tribute Show (with Margaret Belton, Laura Benitez, Lisa Marie Johnson and Michelle Kappel)
• Moonshine Jelly
• The Muddy Roses
• Penny Opry
• Secret Emchy Society
• Trouble In The Wind
• Whateverglades
• Wormfarmer

Megasoup

Megasoup's Favorite Albums of 2018

• Adzuki - Undeveloped Land (Shimmering Moods)
• ARP – Zebra (Mexican Summer)
• Art of Flying - Escort Mission (Discobolus)
• Ashan - Far Drift Afield (Inner Islands)
• Aukai - Branches of Sun (Aukai Music)
• Meg Baird and Mary Lattimore - Ghost Forests (Three Lobed)
• Jakob Battick - To Be Born Again & Again (Self-Released)
• Bitchin Bajas / DSR Lines - The Encyclopedia of Civilizations Vol. 2: Atlantis (Abstrakce)
• Chris Carter - CCCL Volume One (Mute)
• N. Chambers - Idea Region (Muzan Editions)
• Chancha Via Circuito - Bienaventuranza (Wonderwheel)
• Jane Antonia Cornish - Constellations (Innova)
• Sarah Davachi - Gave In Rest (Ba Da Bing)
• John Davis - Visiting The Sky (Bimodal Press)
• De Leon - De Leon (Mana)
• Jatinder Singh Durhailay & David Edren - Tea Notes (Bonjour Supermarket)
• Embassador Dulgoon ‎– Hydrorion Remnants (Nonlocal Research)
• M Geddes Gengras - Light Pipe (Room40)
• Les Halles - Zephyr (Not Not Fun)
• Jon Hassell - Listening to Pictures (Ndeya)
• Shuta Hasunuma & U-zhaan - 2 Tone (Commmons)
• Steve Hauschildt - Dissolvi (Ghostly International)
• Kaoru Inoue - Em Paz (Groovement Organic)
• Kali Uchis - Isolation (Virgin)
• Khalab - Black Noise 2084 (On The Corner)
• Kenji Kihara - Scenes of Scapes (Inner Islands)
• Kilchhofer - The Book Room (Marionette)
• Mary Lattimore - Hundreds of Days (Ghostly International)
• Laüst - Edelis (Dream Catalogue)
• Steven Legget - Bathhouse (Firecracker)
• Lunaria - Water Mind (Pantheon)
• Magnétophonique - Une Cartographie Idéale (Not Not Fun)
• Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer (Wondaland Arts Society)
• Mountain Man - Magic Ship (Nonesuch)
• Jonny Nash & Lindsay Todd - Fauna Mapping (Island of the Gods)
• Omni Gardens - West Coast Escapism (Holodeck)
• poemme - Moments in Golden Light (Constellation Tatsu)
• Poppy Ackroyd - Resolve (One Little Indian)
• Pram - Across The Meridian (Domino)
• Pulse Emitter - Xenharmonic Passages (Self Released)
• Saariselka - Ceres (Longform Editions)
• Gunter Schlienz - Liederbuch (Muzan Editions)
• Emily A. Sprague - Mount Vision (Self Released)
• H. Takahashi - Elegy (Muzan Editions)
• Terekke - Improvisational Loops (Music From Memory)
• Tristan Magnetique - Tristan Magnetique (Otomatik Muziek)
• Tuluum Shimmering - Dancing in the Seven Skies (Self Released)
• Valotihkuu - Paths (Self Released)
• Wanderwelle ‎– Gathering Of The Ancient Spirits (Silent Season)
• Zazz - Soft Harbinger (Inner Islands)

Megasoup's 18 Favorite Reissues & Archival Releases from 2018:

• The Beta Band - The Three EPs - 20th Anniversary Remaster (Because Music)
• Cuasares - Afro-Progresivo (Pharaway Sounds)
• Docteur Nico - Dieux De La Guitare (Planet Ilunga)
• Brian Eno - Music For Installations (Opal)
• Entourage Music & Theatre Ensemble - Ceremony Of Dreams: Studio Sessions and Outtakes, 1972-1977 (Tompkins Square)
• The Fall - The Rough Trade Singles (Superior Viaduct)
• The Future Sound Of London ‎– Lifeforms (Universal)
• Chuck Johnson - Blood Moon Boulder (Scissor Tail Editions)
• Mkwaju Ensemble - Ki-Motion & Mkwaju (WRWTFWW)
• Münchner Studioorchester - Twilights of Bali (Free Soul)
• Spectrum - Highs, Lows, and Heavenly Blows (Medical Records)
• David Sylvian & Holger Czukay - Plight & Premonition / Flux & Mutability (Grönland)
• Various ‎Artists – The Complete Cuban Jam Sessions (Concord Craft Recordings)
• Various Artists - Looking Back (Cairo Records)
• Various Artists - Secao Ritmica - Instrumental Funk From ’70’s Brazil (Atemoya)
• Various Artists - Saigon Supersound Volume 2 (Saigon Supersound)
• Various Artists - Unusual Sounds (Anthology Recordings)
• Various Artists - Zamaan Ya Sukkar (Radio Martiko)

Microtone

Microtone's 22 Favorite Songs from 22 Select Albums of 2018

• BEAK> - " Allé Sauvage" - >>> (Temporary Residence)
• Michael Beharie and Teddy Rankin-Parker - "So Much Trash" - A Heart From Your Shadow (Mondoj)
• Chancha Via Circuito - " Ilaló ft. Mateo Kingman" - Bienaeventuranza (Wonderwheel)
• Jane Antonia Cornish - "Constellations I" - Constellations (Innova)
• Sarah Davachi - "Evensong" - Gave in Rest (Ba Da Bing!)
• Dead Can Dance - "Psychopomp" - Dionysus (PIAS)
• Peggy Gou - "Han Jan" - Once (Ninja Tune)
• Matt Hightower - "When All Else Fails (Take Your Time)" - Society of Composers, vol. 32 (Navona)
• Julia Holter - "I Shall Love 2" - Aviary (Domino)
• Jon Hopkins - "Feel First Life" - Singularity (Domino)
• Mary Lattimore - "It Feels Like Floating" - Hundreds of Days (Ghostly International)
• Steven Legget - "Low" - Bathhouse (Firecracker)Loma - "Dark Oscillations" - Loma (Sub Pop)
• Low - "Fly" - Double Negative (Sub Pop)
• Luluc - "Needn't Be" - Sculptor (Sub Pop)
• Jessica Moss - "Fractals (Truth 4)" - Entanglement (Constellation)
• Motoko & Myers - "Super Potato" - Basis Key (Open Hand Real Flames)
• My Brightest Diamond - "It's Me on the Dance Floor" - A Million and One (Rhyme & Reason)
• Park Jiha - "Accumulation of Time" - Communion (Glitterbeat)
• Sis - "My Machine" - Euphorbia (Native Cat)
• Sound Voyage - "Schattenspiel" - En Route to Thailand (Free Soul)
• Wye Oak - "You of All People" - The Louder I Call, the Faster It Runs (Merge)

Mixtress 9

Mixtress 9’s Short but Kawaii Best of Lists for 2018:

Albums:

• Perfume - Future Pop (Universal J)
• Nine Inch Nails - Bad Witch (The Null Corporation)
• Kyary Pamyu Pamyu - Japamyu (Unborde/Warner Music Japan)
• Adult - This Behavior (Dais)
• Paul McCartney - Egypt Station (Capitol Records)
• Melody’s Echo Chamber - Bon Voyage (Domino/Fat Possum)
• Them Are Us Too - Amends (Dais)
• Chai - Pink (Burger Records)
• Cherushii/Nackt/Roche/David Last -  Run the Length of Your Wildness 12" (Hobo Camp)

Epic Live Shows:

• David Byrne - Bill Graham Civic Auditorium - August 22.2018
• Nine Inch Nails - Bill Graham Civic Auditorium - December 3&4, 2018

Fave Anime:

• Rascal Does Not Dream Of Bunny Girl Senpai
• Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzushii
• Zombie Land Saga

Nickel Hardaway

Nickel’s Double-Double: 10 Noteworthy Releases and Shows of 2018

10 Noteworthy Releases

• Anderson .Paak - Oxnard (Aftermath)
• Robert Glasper x KAYTRANADA - ArtScience Remixes (Blue Note)
• The Internet - Hive Mind (Columbia)
• Khruangbin - Con Todo El Mundo (Dead Oceans)
• Kiefer - Happysad (Stones Throw)
• Yazmin Lacey - When the Sun Dips 90 Degrees (S/R)
• Tom Misch - Geography (Beyond the Groove)
• Nas - Nasir (Mass Appeal)
• Noname - Room 25 (S/R)
• Kamasi Washington - Heaven and Earth (Shoto Mas)

10 Noteworthy Shows

• BADBADNOTGOOD - Prospect Park Bandshell, 8/2
• Digable Planets - Yoshi’s, 11/18
• Greta Van Fleet - The Masonic, 9/19
• Khruangbin - Fox Theater, 11/9
• Pete Rock - Rumsey Playfield/Central Park, 7/28
• R+R=NOW - Prospect Park Bandshell, 6/22
• Saba - Slim’s, 5/3
• Tyler, the Creator - The Armory, 1/31
• The War on Drugs - Fox Theater, 9/11
• Kamasi Washington - The Warfield, 10/19

Poindexter

12 Favorite Albums from 2018

1. Goon Sax - We’re Not Talking (Wichita)
2. Blues Lawyer - Guess Work (Emotional Response)
3. Frankie Cosmos - Vessel (Sub Pop)
4. Ruby Karinto - Ruby Karinto (Hozac)
5. Primo! - Amici (Upset The Rhythm)
6. Shannon & The Clams - Onion (Easy Eye)
7. Wimps - Garbage People (Kill Rock Stars)
8. La Luz - Floating Features (Hardly Art)
9. Yo La Tengo - There’s a Riot Going on (Matador)
10. Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel (Mom + Pop)
11. Table Sugar - Introductory Material (Water Wing)
12. Lithics - Mating Surfaces (Kill Rock Stars)

25 Favorite Songs from 2018

1. Goon Sax - “Make Time 4 Love” - We’re Not Talking (Wichita)
2. Blues Lawyer - “27th Street” - Guess Work (Emotional Response)
3. Primo! - “Ticking Off a List” - Amici (Upset The Rhythm)
4. Frankie Cosmos - “Cafeteria” - Vessel (Sub Pop)
5. Horrible/Adorable - “Surf, Rock, Beach, Party, UFO” - Surf Rock, Beach Party, UFO / Gutter Pussy (Yr First Crush)
6. Ruby Karinto - “Jugemu” - S/T (Hozac)
7. Spook School - “While You Were Sleeping” - Could It Be Different? (Slumberland)
8. Shannon & The Clams - “The Boy” - Onion (Easy Eye Sound)
9. Yo La Tengo -  “For You Too” - There’s a Riot Going on (Matador)
10. La Luz - “Cicada” - Floating Features (Hardly Art)
11. Swearin’ - “Margaret” - Fall Into the Sun (Merge)
12. Wimps - “Garbage People” - Garbage People (Kill Rock Stars)
13. Essex Green - “Sloane Ranger” - Hardly Electronic (Merge)
14. Lithics - “Excuse Generator” - Mating Surfaces (Kill Rock Stars)
15. Table Sugar - “Carried Away” - Introductory Material (Water Wing)
16. Cut Worms - “Coward’s Confidence” - Hollow Ground (Jagjaguwar)
17. Eureka California - “Mkultra” - Roadrunners (HHBTM)
18. Tony Molina - “Give He Take You” - Kill The Lights (Slumberland)
19. Tracyanne & Danny - “It Can’t Be Love Unless It Hurts” - S/T (Merge)
20. Smokescreens - “Someone New” - Used To Yesterday (Slumberland)
21. Karen Meat - “You’re an Ugly Person” - You’re an Ugly Person (Emotional Response)
22. Courtney Barnett - “Charity” - Tell Me How You Really Feel (Mom + Pop)
23. Papercuts - “How To Quit Smoking” - Parallel Universe Blues (Slumberland)
24. RAYS - “Yesterday’s Faces” - You Can Get There From Here (Trouble in Mind)
25. Parquet Courts - “Tenderness” - Wide Awake! (Rouge Trade)

Pop Goes The Weasel

Pop Goes the Weasel - Favorite Songs

• Billy & Dolly - “Bobby” - Five Suns (Shit Krystal)
• Dirty Projectors - “Break-Thru” - Lamp Lit Prose (Domino)
• Eternal Summers - “Oblivious” - Every Day It Feels Like I’m Dying… (Nevada Music)
• Kyle Gann - “Reverse Gravity” - Hyperchromatica (Other Minds)
• Jim James - “I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times” - Tribute to 2 (ATO)
• Matoko and Myers - “Seed Cycling” - Basis Key (Open Hand)
• Momma - “Interloper” - Interloper (Danger)
• Olden Yolk - “Cut to the Quick” - S/T (Trouble in Mind)
• Razz - “Outside In” - Time Frames (Emotional Response)
• Strypes - “Behind Closed Doors” - Spitting Image (Virgin Girl)
• Tune-Yards - “Home” - I Can Feel You Creeping Into My Private Life (4AD)
• Wimps - “Cave Life” - Garbage People (Kill Rock Stars)

Pupshaw

Pupshaw’s Favorite New Releases of 2018 (In The Order That They Came To Mind):

Favorite New Releases:

• Angelique Kidjo - Remain In Light (Kravenworks)
• Sleep - The Sciences (Third Man)
• Playboi Carti - Die Lit (AWGE/Interscope)
• Open Mike Eagle - What Happens When I Try To Relax EP (P + C Auto Reverse)
• SOPHIE - Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides (MSMSMSM/Future Classic)
• JPEGMAFIA - Veteran (Deathbomb Arc)
• Lithics - Mating Surfaces (Kill Rock Stars)
• Dead Can Dance - Dionysus (PIAS)
• Yves Tumor - Safe In The Hands of Love (Warp)
• Merzbow & Genesis P-Orridge - A Perfect Pain (Cold Spring)
• Mitski - Be The Cowboy (Dead Oceans)
• MF Doom/Czarface - Czarface Meets Metal Face (Silver Age)
• A Place To Bury Strangers - Pinned (Dead Oceans)
• Kali Uchis - Isolation (Virgin)
• Melody’s Echo Chamber - Bon Voyage (Fat Possum)
• Aphex Twin - Collapse EP (Warp)
• The Acharis - Lost In The Void (EXBTN)
• Beak> - >>> (Invada)
• Casual Hex - Zig Zag Lady Illusion (Water Wing)
• Tim Hecker - Konoyo (Kranky)
• Julia Holter - Aviary (Domino)
• Moira Scar - Wound World Part 1 (Near Dark)
• Roy Montgomery - Suffuse (Grapefruit)
• Vive La Void - Vive La Void (Sacred Bones)

Favorite Reissues/Compilations:

• Stereolab - Switched On Vol. 1-3 (Duophonic)
• Throbbing Gristle - Mission of Dead Souls (Mute)
• V/A - Deutsche Elektronische Musik Vol. 1 (Soul Jazz)
• Wire - Pink Flag (Pink Flag)
• Robert Rental & Glen Wallis - Untitled LP (Dark Entries)
• Rubella Ballet - Ballet Bag (Dark Entries)
• Brian Eno - Music For Installations (Opal)
• The Fall - The Rough Trade Singles (Superior Viaduct)
• V/A - Typical Girls Vol. 3 + 4 (Emotional Response)

qb(X)

qb(X) best of 2018 (unordered)

Smash Albums

• Idris Ackamoor and the Pyramids - An Angel Fell (Strut)
• A Hawk and A Hacksaw - Forest Bathing (Living Music Duplication)
• The Body - I Have Fought Against It, But I Can't Any Longer (Thrill Jockey)
• Ben Lamar Gay - Downtown Castles Can Never Block The Sun (International Anthem)
• Hawthonn - Red Goddess (Of This Men Shall Know Nothing) (Ba Da Bing!)
• IDLES - Joy As An Act Of Resistance (Partisan)
• Calvin Johnson - A Wonderful Beast (K)
• Mary Lattimore - Hundreds of Days (Ghostly International)
• MMMD - Hagazussa (Antifrost)
• Naked Eye Ensemble - Storylines Crossing (Starkland)
• Oracle Hysterical - Hecuba (National Sawdust Tracks)
• Wrekmeister Harmonies -  The Alone Rush (Thrill Jockey)

Hit Singles

• ANMLPLNET - "I Was Fucked by a Cloud" - Fall Asleep (Ba Da Bing!)
• Blackwater Holylight - "Sunrise" - Blackwater Holylight (Riding Easy)
• The Ex - "Soon All Cities" - 27 Passports (Ex)
• Hot Pepper - "Cancion Ritual" - Spanglish Movement (Guerssen)
• Joan of Arc - "Vertigo" - 1984 (Joyful Noise)
• LUMP - "Curse of the Contemporary" - S/T (Dead Oceans)
• William Parker - "Falling Shadows" - Voices Fall from the Sky (Centering)
• Rebekha del Rio - "No Stars" - Twin Peaks (Music from the Limited Event Series) (Rhino)
• Saintseneca - "Pillar of Na" - Pillar of Na (Anti-)
• Serpentwithfeet - "Cherubim" - Soil (Secretly Canadian)
• Solo Organ - "Words" Frequency Illusion (Golden Slipper)
• Tune-Yards - "Coast to Coast" - I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life (4AD)

Rubberband Girl

Rubberband Girl’s 2018 Soundtrack

• Lakecia Benjamin - Rise Up (Ropeadope)
• Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Wrong Creatures (Vagrant)
• Doja Cat - Amala (MAU)
• Kali Uchis - Isolation (Virgin EMI)
• Lykke Li - So Sad So Sexy (RCA)
• Maribou State - Kingdoms in Colour (Counter)
• Amber Mark - Conexao EP (Virgin EMI)
• Onra - Nobody Has to Know (All City)
• Portico Quartet - Art in the Age of Automation (Gondwana)
• Rejoicer - Energy Dreams (Stones Throw)
• Rhye - Blood (Loma Vista)
• St. Beauty - Running to the Sun (Wondaland Arts Society)
• Santigold - I Don’t Want: The Gold Fire Sessions (Downtown)
• Jorja Smith - Lost & Found (FAMM)
• Various Artists - We Out Here (Brownswood)

Shrey

Shrey's Best Music of 2018

Best Albums 2018

• Haley Heynderickx - "I Need To Start a Garden" (Mama Bird Recording Co.)
• Beach Slang [Quiet Slang] - "Everything Matters But No One Is Listening" (Polyvinyl)
• Instant Music - "Instant Music (Reissue)" (Dark Entries)
• Mitski - "Be The Cowboy" (Dead Oceans)
• The Dodos - "Certainty Waves" (Polyvinyl)
• Free Cake For Every Creature - "The Bluest Star" (Double Double Whammy)
• Blondie - "Heart Of Glass EP (Reissue)" (Numero Group)
• Tanukichan - Sundays (Company)

Fave Songs 2018 not counting stuff that was in the above albums

• Travis Scott ft. Drake - "Sicko Mode" - Astroworld (Epic / Cactus Jack)
• Migos - "Walk It Talk It"  - Culture II (Quality Control / Motown / Capitol)
• Parquet Courts - "Total Football" - Wide Awake (Rough Trade)
• Death and the Maiden - "Wisteria" - Wisteria (Fishrider)
• Marisa Nadler - "Blue Vapor" - For My Crimes (Sacred Bones)
• Iron & Wine - "What Hurts Worse" - Weed Garden (Sub Pop)
• The Finks - "Charlie’s Manifesto" - Rolly Nice (Milk!)

Sparkle Motion

Notable albums that made me smile in alphabetical order, plus a few songs I couldn’t get out of my head:

1. Alexandre Desplat-The Sisters Brothers(OST)(Lakeshore)
2. All Them Witches-ATW(New West)
3. Amen Dunes–Freedom(Sacred Bones)
4. Angelique Kidjo–Remain in Light(Kravenworks)
5. Anton Batagov–An Evening Hymn(Melodiya)
6. ARP–Zebra(Mexican Summer)
7. Beak>->>>(Temporary Residence)
8. Belly-Dove(S/R)
9. Benjamin Cartel–Flickering Light(Mother West)
10. Bettye Lavette–Things Have Changed(Verve)
11. Bugge Wesseltoft & Prins Thomas–S/T(Smalltown Supersound)
12. Charles Lloyd & The Marvels feat. Lucinda Williams–Vanished Gardens(Blue Note)
13. Chris Carter–Chemistry Lessons, Vol. 1(Mute)
14. Chris Liebing & Ralf Hildenbeutel–Burn Slow(Mute)
15. Daniel Binelli & Pedro H. da Silva-Tango Fado Duo(Sorel Classics)
16. Eiko Ishibashi–The Dream My Bones Dream(Drag City)
17. Gabriele Kahane–Book of Travelers(Nonesuch)
18. Goat Girl–S-T(Rough Trade)
19. Gurrumul–Djarimirri[Child of the Rainbow](Skinnyfish)
20. Hailu Mergia-Lala Belu(Awesome Tapes from Africa)
21. Hookworms–Microshift(Domino)
22. Iggy Pop & Underworld–Teatime Dub Encounters EP(Caroline Intl.)
23. Jennifer Castle–Angels of Death(Paradise of Bachelors)
24. Lonnie Holley–MITH(Jagjaguwar)
25. Low–Double Negative(Sub Pop)
26. Makaya McCraven–Universal Beings(International Anthem)
27. Marc Ribot & Fay Victor-Songs of Resistance 1942(Anti-)
28. Marty O’Reilly & the Old Soul Orchestra–Stereoscope(S/R)
29. Mary Lattimore–Hundreds of Days(Ghostly Intl.) + Ghost Forests(Three Lobed Recordings)
30. Mc'n'Mac-Beautie on the Waters(Long Song)
31. Melody’s Echo Chamber–Bon Voyage(Fat Possum)
32. Myra Melford's Snowy Egret-The Other Side Of Air(Firehouse 12) 
33. Nathan Bowles–Plainly Mistaken(Paradise of Bachelors)
34. Neko Case–Hell-On(Anti-)
35. New Music Detroit–Smoke: Music of Marc Mellits(Innova)
36. Odetta Hartman-Old Rockhounds Never Die(Northern Spy)
37. Oliver Coates-Shelley's on Zenn-LA(Rvng Intl.)
38. Robbie Fulks & Linda Gail Lewis- Wild!Wild!Wild!(Bloodshot)
39. Robert Haigh-Creatures of the Deep(Unseen Worlds)
40. Rosali-Trouble Anyway(Scissor Tail)
41. Roseanne Cash–She Remembers Everything(Blue Note)
42. Sam Gendel–Pass If Music(Leaving Records)
43. Simian Mobile Disco–Murmurations(Wichita)
44. Stu Mindeman-Woven Threads(Sunnyside)
45. The Essex Green–Hardly Electronic(Merge)
46. Thea Hopkins-Love Come Down EP(S/R)
47. Tissues-Veil(S/R)
48. Ty Segall-Freedom’s Goblin(Drag City)
49. U.S. Girls–In a Poem Unlimited(4AD)
50. Warm Drag-S/T(In the Red)
51. Yo La Tengo-There's A Riot Going On(Matador)

Songs:

• Orchestra of Spheres- "Koudede" - Mirror(Fire Records)
• Richard Thompson- "The Storm Won't Come" -13 Rivers(New West)
• Johnny Marr- "Actor Attractor" - Call The Comet(New Voodoo)

Suhnharini Vasahn Suundelehguntah

Ten Alleviating Albums Released/Re-collected in 2018

• Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids - An Angel Fell (Strut)
• Patrick Cowley - Afternooners (Dark Entries)
• Earth Girl Helen Brown - Four Satellites Vol. 1 (In The Red)
• Entourage Music & Theatre Ensemble - Ceremony Of Dreams: Studio Sessions and Outtakes, 1972-1977 (Tompkins Square)
• Sam Evian - You, Forever (Saddle Creek)
• Fuck - The Band (Vampire Blues)
• Kikagaku Moyo - Masana Temples (Guruguru Brain)
• Laraaji - Vision Songs, Vol. 1 (Numero Group)
• Stephen Steinbrink - Utopia Teased (Western Vinyl)
• Pauline Anna Strom - Trans-Millenia Music (RVNG)

The Muse

Some of The Muse's favorite releases from 2018

• Myra Melford & Ben Goldberg - Dialogue (Bag Productions)
• McCormick Percussion Group - Kid Stuff (Ravello)
• Wailin' Jennys - Fifteen (True North)
• Bettye Lavette - Things Have Changed (Verve)
• Egrets on Ergot - Surfeit of Gemutlich (Cleopatra)
• Rent Romus & the Lords of Outland - In the darkness we speak a song brightness and life (Edgetone)
• Baby Got Bacteria - Boo (S/R)
• Kairos Sextet - Transition (Dafnisian Music)
• Bon Bon Vivant - Live at the New Orleans Jazz Museum (Gallatin Street)
• California Honeydrops - Call it Home Vol. 1 & 2 (TubTone)
• Pandoras - Hey! It's the Pandoras (Burger)
• Low Cut Connie - Dirty Pictures Part II (Contender)
• Al Dimeola - OPUS (Earmusic)
• Ali Farka Toure - The Source (World Circuit)
• Bombino - Deran (Partisan)
• Joe Louis Walker - Journeys to the Heart of the Blues (Alligator)
• Polarity/1 - Take a Pill (S/R)
• Barrence Whitfield and the Savages - Soul Flowers of Titan (Bloodshot)
• Robbie Fulks & Linda Gail Lewis - Wild! Wild! Wild! (Bloodshot)
• Mavis Staples - If All I Was Was Black (Anti-)
• Cuasares - Afro-Progresivo (Pharaway Sounds)
• Aki Kumar - Hindi Man Blues (Little Village Foundation)
• Mackrosoft - Snakerhythms (S/R)
• Chris Butler - Better Than I Ever Was (Future fossil)

Velvet Einstein

Velvet Einstein - Best Albums/EPs of 2018

• Laurie Anderson & Kronos Quartet - Landfall (Nonesuch)
• Big Freedia - 3rd Ward Bounce (Asylum)
• 카코포니(cacophony) - 和(Harmony) (Fluxus)
• Camille - OUÏ (Balulalo)
• Coeur De Pirate - en cas de tempête, ce jardin sera fermé. (Dare to Care)
• Philip Glass - Distant Figure (performed by Anton Batagov) (Orange Mountain)
• Damien Jurado - The Horizon Just Laughed (Secretly Canadian)
• New Music Detroit - Smoke (Innova)
• Les Poules A Colin - Morose (Famgroup)
• Saintseneca - Pillar of Na (Anti)
• Shannon and the Clams - Onion (Easy Eye Sound)
• Shannon Shaw - Shannon in Nashville (Easy Eye Sound)

yan yan

Albums I Bopped to the Most 2018 Edition

• Mitski - Be the Cowboy (Dead Oceans)
• Snail Mail - Lush (Matador)
• Soccer Mommy - Clean (Fat Possum)
• Pinegrove - Skylight (S/R)
• Frankie Cosmos - Vessel (Sub Pop)
• Car Seat Headrest - Twin Fantasy (Face to Face) (Matador)
• Parquet Courts - Wide Awake (Rough Trade)
• IDLES - Joy as An Act of Resistance (Partisan)
• Ought - Room Inside a World (Merge)
• Jeff Rosenstock - POST- (Polyvinyl)
• Lala Lala - The Lamb (Hardly Art)
• Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Sparkle Hard (Matador)
• Forth Wanderers - S/T (Sub Pop)
• Kikagaku Moyo - Masana Temples (Guruguru Brain)
• Dorian Concept - The Nature of Imitation (Brainfeeder)
• Peggy Gou - Once (Ninja Tune)
• BODEGA - Endless Scroll (What’s Your Rupture)
• illuminati hotties - Kiss Yr Frenemies (Tiny Engines)
• The Spirit of the Beehive - Hypnic Jerks (Tiny Engines)
• Remember Sports - Slow Buzz (Father/Daughter)
• CHAI - Pink (Burger)
• Palm - Rock Island (Carpark)
• Various Artists - Community Records Compilation Vol. 6 (Community Records)

Local Releases that I Really Loved

• Stephen Steinbrink - Utopia Teased (Western Vinyl)
• Pllush - Stranger to the Pain (Father/Daughter)
• Tanukichan - Sundays (Company)
• Blues Lawyer - Guess Work (Emotional Response)
• Dick Stusso - In Heaven (Hardly Art)
• Madeline Kenney - Perfect Shapes (Carpark)
• Perhapsy - Kingdom Starlight Bliss (Porch Party)