Top 25 Records of 2018

Some pretty great records came out in 2018... I've cobbled together a bunch of them here. There were some honourable mentions that I couldn't quite squeeze in, unfortunately. Namely Dylan Carlson's Conquistador, Chrch - Light Will Consume Us All, Pascal Savy - Dislocations, and the best soundtrack to a film that I am yet to see: MMMD - Hagazussa. 

Without further ado... Records!

25. Jenny Hval - The Long Sleep

A wonderful drift through an oneiric landscape. Full review here

24. Virginia Wing - Ecstatic Arrow

I just continually found myself reaching to spin this hoard of jaunty and majestic indie pop slices. 

23. Marie Davidson - Working Class Woman

A wry and spiteful swipe at justified targets. She kicks on this one.

22. Ian William Craig - Thresholder

A collection of leftovers from the Centres sessions. His B-sides of haunting incantations are still better than most other offerings this year.

21. Daughters - You Won’t Get What You Want

They’re back and lurching from flat out fury to disgusting rot stomps. The exact opposite of a spa day.

20. Hawthonn - Red Goddess (of this men shall know nothing)

A quiet, pastoral journey. Drones rise and fall. And underneath it all is a softly shimmering rage.

19. Hen Ogledd - Mogic
Whilst I wasn’t initially that enamoured with the single that dropped before the album, repeated listens have left me entranced by the bubbling swirls, glitchy whorls, and magical experimentation that this collective have opted for. It’ll sneak under your skin.

18. Uniform & The Body - Mental Wounds Not Healing

Both bands put out great individual records this year and, whilst I favourably reviewed  I Have Fought Against It… for Pure Grain Audio, I actually think that this collaboration is the overlooked success. Blending the two differing anguished snarls from Chip and Michael really helped to elevate this onslaught to new, ferocious, levels. Full review here

17. Emma Ruth Rundle - On Dark Horses

She captures the heroism in defiantly hanging on to hope in our desperate world.

16. Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids - An Angel Fell

Rhythms to get lost in over and over again. It sounds like a smoky Sunday spent submerged in lost conversations.

15. Grouper - Grid of Points

A quiet delight.

14. Yves Tumor - Safe in the Hands of Love

Dances between jazzy twists, overbearing drone clouds, and smart popping choruses. One for the Dean Blunt fans.

13. bvdub - Drowning in Daylight/Nights of Nine Vigils/A Different Definition of Love

If Brock Van Wey can cheat and release three records of warm, enveloping sounds in a year, then I can cheat and include all three of them as one right here.

12.Sons of Kemet - Your Queen is a Reptile

I foolishly resisted this for a long while when it first appeared… And now I have no idea why. For shame.

11. Varg - Nordic Flora Pt. 5: Crush

The Swedish producer takes us on an elaborate tour of his pimped out psyche.

10. Gazelle Twin - Pastoral

Rabid snaps of electricity that unspool rural charms.

9. Jon Hopkins - Singularity

The electronic treatise for your sunrise shroom session. Full review here

8. Christoph De Babalon - If You’re Into It, I’m Out Of It

This remastering of a 1997 release sounds so fresh and downright dismal that I find it hard to reconcile that something that resonates so well with 2018 was made over two decades earlier. By the time that ‘My Confession’ rolls round, entire blocks have been obliterated.

7. Shirt - Pure Beauty

Influences on this one shift from Def Jux to Yeezus, and there’s a dash of Kendrick in there too. But, as JLG noted, it’s not where you get your ideas from, it’s where you take them to. And Shirt has concocted something that is more than the sum of its parts. It’s a rolling, blissed-out, hip hop ride through frenzied streets and fuzzed out nights. Top notch.

6. Maria W Horn - Kontrapoetik

The juxtaposition between the washed out drones and haunting spoken word that make up ‘Ave’, might be my favourite musical discovery of 2018.

5. Jasmine Guffond - Degradation Loops

Lazy comparisons to Basinski aside, Guffond unravels her previous album ‘Yellow Bell’ over half an hour of bitcrushed mayhem and it’s sheer, tortured, wonder.

4. Low - Double Negative

With Double Negative, Low went lower than they ever have before.It captured my attention and still hasn’t let go. There’s a little dip in the middle of the album but, either side of that, it’s delightfully startling.

3. Midwife - Prayer Hands

The only reason this didn’t make it to the top of the list was that I could have done with another 20 minutes of it. Still, it’s luscious, textured and constantly moving... Just as you might expect from the magnificent Madeline Johnston.

2. Sonae - I Started Wearing Black

Ambient drones that cascade into techno thuds. Right up my noisy alley.

1.Moodie Black - Lucas Acid

I’m not entirely certain why so many people slept on this one. It’s an oppressive maelstrom of noise, singed with dextrous vocals that somehow manage to include hooks within the raging cacophony. It’s Dälek unleashed. It's the record that Death Grips wish that they'd put out. Everything feels so raw and sensitive that it’s impossible to ignore. Much like on the Low album, K Death has plumbed the emotional depths of wide-eyed distortion for us and I absolutely love it.