Note

In alphabetical order. These are the albums I enjoyed the most this year. Albums in bold are the ones that I like the most. I tend to prefer the albums that break out of musical traditions rather than stick closely to conventions. Your mileage may vary.

Favorite 2018 Albums

Your yearly dose of eccentric music.

  • A.A.L. (Nicolas Jaar) - 2012-2017
  • Anna Von Hauswolff - Dead Magic
  • Bambara - Shadow on Everything
  • Beak> - >>>
  • Crack Cloud - s/t
  • Daughters - You Won't Get What You Want
  • The Ex - 27 Passports
  • Gaye Su Aykol - Istikrarli Hayal Hakikattir
  • Gazelle Twin - Pastoral
  • Guerilla Toss - A Twisted Crystal
  • Idles - Joy as an Act of Resistance
  • Idris Ackamoor & the Pyramids - An Angel Fell
  • Iglooghost - Clear Tamei
  • Jean Grae & Quelle Chris - Everything's Fine
  • JPEGMAFIA - Veteran
  • Julia Holter - Aviary
  • Lonker See - One Eye Sees Red
  • Maryam Saleh, Maurice Louca and Tamer Abu Ghazaleh - Lekhfa
  • Noname - Room 25
  • Ohmme - Parts
  • Pusha T - Daytona
  • The Skull Defekts - s/t
  • Sons of Kemet - Your Queen is a Reptile
  • Tyshawn Sorey - Pillars
  • Tommy Guerrero - Road to Knowhere
  • Tropical Fuck Storm - A Laughing Death In Meatspace

2018 was, among other things, a good year for subversive underground sounds in hip-hop, with JPEGMAFIA, Jean Grae/Quelle Chris, and Noname releasing albums vastly different in style but alike in their relentless search for new ideas.

In world music, we continue to see a melding of traditional rhythms and voices into the vocabulary of rock. The Egyptian rockers's Maryam Saleh, Maurice Louca and Tamer Abu Ghazaleh released the fantastic and rhythmically complex Lekhfa. Similarly, the Turkish singer Gaye Su Aykol put out the rich Istikrarli Hayal Hakikattir, an album that blended Turkish funk and post-rock in a way I've never heard before.

But my favorite release of the year would have to be Calgary-born and Vancouver-based collective Crack Cloud's eponymous debut album. Each side of this weird and wonderful 30 minute record is full of more new ideas than most full length albums. Their album is equal parts cacophonous and catchy, and I am excited to see where this group goes next.