The Top 17 of 18

Here we go again. The siren call of the "best of" beast was just too great to ignore in 2018. After fighting off this urge for the past couple years, I found myself running aground on these same familiar shores once again. There's nothing like late December to try and remember what I was feeling about music last Martin Luther King Day or what was dominating my Spotify playlist when the springtime came again or my opinion on the state of the music industry when the controls were set for the heart of the sun or even the assumption I can remember anything about what the hell happened in September. Still, my obligation to my OCD is to compile, to put things in formulaic lists and, most importantly, to make order out of chaos. Not to enter into the world of hyperbole but without this list, we have nothing but uncertainty and disorder in a world void of empathy and understanding.

So, yeah, this list is pretty important stuff and you could see why someone would spend a more than healthy amount of time thinking about this crap. Like I said, this is not opinion, this is scientific fact. All those other 2018 lists you've been reading, they were lying to you. This is the list you've been searching the entirety of the known world for (let's be honest- to find this, you had to be searching a little too hard. maybe take a break, right?). No need to continue searching, your quest is over and there's no need to use Sandra Bullock's Net any longer.

Gentleman Ladies and Lady Gentlemen, this was your 2018...

17

Annihilation Soundtrack

Ben Salisbury & Goeff Barrows

Invada Records

Of Beak (and less importantly Portishead), Geoff Barrows has been slowly building an impressive composing resume. In this area of his expertise, his greatest achievements have come to pass with his soundtracking partner, Ben Salisbury.  While more of a careerist in the compositional world than Barrows, Salisbury has reached his heights in their collaborative work as well.

While making their biggest splash with the score to 2015’s excellent Ex Machina, this year’s Annihialtion soundtrack has built on and surpassed that success. The score is a stand out with it’s electronically alien base smattered with humanistic touches of choral and stringed (think guitar/piano and not Barry Lindon) moments. The musical journey takes you from light and airy ambience to eerie discordant aural unrest to ethereal disorientating choral manipulations all the way to pulse quickening tension filled crescendos. 

This isn’t a movie review, you can have a separate feeling about the movie that birthed these tracks. The music stands firmly on its own ground apart from the film. Given the scope and scale of pop culture saturation the movie Annihilation achieved, it is hard not to be impressed with the leaps and bounds this release has been for Salisbury/Barrows. With this exposure, more soundtrack work is now guaranteed (personally hoping for even more in the experimental sci-fi for the masses category), but let’s take a moment to appreciate a high point of their work thus far in their promising careers.

16

Viagra Boys

Street Worms

YEAR0001 Records

A late addition to the list this year. Not as well versed in this young band’s story as I should be but their influences seem apparent on first listen. Discounting the sounds that make Viagra Boys the modern band they are, you can easily hear a history of the bands formerly distributed by Touch N’ Go records in this album. Butthole Surfers are paramount, a little Yow, a little David Wm. Simms, a Pittsburgh level of Pissed Jeans vibe and a saxophone crafted in the bathroom at CBGBs. Not to say this album is overtly punk or 50s sock hop saxophone dependent, this is definitely something all its own. Make no mistake, even with evident influences, this is very much a band of the twenty tens and post-millennial peoples. Lyrically, the anti-jock sentiment of “Sports” goes hand in hand with the modern world as it seems to be a stance on masculinity in its toxic form. Musically, there are danceable moments, electronics and production touches that have no business in the classic punk/post punk model either. Basically, I can pick out the parts of their sound that I can decipher and appreciate but this band is more than the sum of their parts. Much like the universe and black matter/energy, their sum seems to be glued together by their dark sense of humor. A sarcasm and bite that propels the songs forward even when dripping in saxophone (usually a bad thing). This band gives me a little bit of hope for the future, even if they are from Sweden.

15

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks

Sparkle Hard

Matador Records

I’ve made no bones about the fact Stephen Malkmus now has a more stellar catalog than his original claim to flame, Pavement. These solo albums have been solid, solid bricks of pop and hard earned slack. Full of twists and turns and multidimensional works in radio friendly nuggets. His standard has become ridiculously high and his bar is nothing but top shelf. With that  said, Sparkle Hard has heights that reach that lofty bench mark but falls just a couple songs short of the overall goal. Don’t get me wrong, this is still head and shoulders above all his indie pop peers even at his advanced age. An absolutely absorbing and fun listen but, even with many miles on my belt drive, this album still has a track or two that demand repeated skipping . To be sure, this is a rarity for St. Malk. As I may have mentioned before (to really hammer this point home), this slightly negative interpretation is only in comparison with his other recent works. I say to Mr. Malkmus, please keep these albums coming! I have no limit or threshold for records like this and will openly mourn his retirement from the music game if that day ever comes. This is one of the best records of the year. The strings, keyboards and piano are expanding Malkmus’ musical palate in a real organic way, mining the sounds of the past for the future just like any good slacker Dead Head new wave dad would. With 100% certainty, this is inspirational music for the next generation of musicians who will be interpreting and expanding upon this when I’m even older and the world will be even more confusing and unfamiliar than it was in 2018.

14

Big'N

Knife of Sin

Computer Students Records

Like Cherubs a couple years ago, this was a complete and very welcomed surprise Lazarus move by a formerly past tense band. It feels insane to be talking about a new Big’N record in the year 2018, but maybe less so given that our current president is a former game show host. So actually, with that perspective, this isn’t that insane at all. In fact, unlike a D-list celebrity POTUS, this is amazingly awesome! This is an example of a valued 90s band picking up the pieces after a sizable break… or at least since 2011. In all honesty, the 2011 reunion/release was also a very big(’n) surprise to this reviewer. (In fact, throw in their 2011 EP, Spare The Horses, and you have a full length's worth of new music for the "best of" purists who have major beef with EPs being included.) 

Getting to know Knife of Sin, I am proud to say it’s all still there and theirs, the low end thunder provided by a locked in rhythm section, slashing guitar lines finding their vulnerable targets and the screams/growls/ramblings of a possible sociopath. If you like the Jesus Lizard, you already know this band. If you like this band and don’t know the Jesus Lizard, well ,damn- check them out immediately. This album sounds like home to me. Meaning nothing here is going to blow you away with innovation. It’s just a very welcome feeling to hear new variations on the same comforting midwestern theme. Hey, Big’N- how about another new EP in less than 7 years if possible, too? Now is not the time for motivational and subversive music with aggression to take another long hiatus.

13 

Ovlov

Tru

Exploding In Sound Records

Somebody loves Dinosaur Jr. This time, it’s not just me. Ovlov, a 4 piece from the very unlikely home town of Newtown, Connecticut, appear to have been held captive during their teenage years in a windowless room with only the full Dinosaur catalog at their disposal. Not that their output is 100% tribute, it’s just the most J, Lou, Murph thing I’ve heard in a very long time. Believe me, that is not an insult- farthest thing from it. No that you care, but this sounds like the record I would make if music was an option for me. The solos are melodically epic and the feeling/vocals are both buried and front/center. Their sound blanket is in the red and fuzzy for this one… and very comfortable. This record was exactly what I hoped it would be after hearing the first 10 seconds of their opening track , Baby Alligator. The little choices made were all correct and it’s hard to find any real fault. No music is for everyone and this certainly isn’t either. If you like Northeastern US classic rock based indie rock made in a basement/garage in a town adjacent to the local college town, you should really give this a shot. Yeah, emotions are on the sleeve and the lyrics are not painting overly positive pictures but this isn’t meant to be a light, airy record. This is moody, sometimes heavy and sometimes poppy but always soaked in quiet pain/rage. Great production too, the mix gets everything just right. This one is going to be hard to beat for this fairly young Connecticut band but, damn, I hope they do.

12

Eric Bachmann

No Recover

Merge Records

Over the years, Eric Bachmann has proven himself to be one of the most consistently great singer/songwriters of his generation. The indie rock Neil Diamond (think about it!) with a distinctive voice, natural sense of rhythm and rock steady hands. Bachmann’s last offering (2016’s self titled release) wasn’t so hot, this one is a return to form. Yada, yada, yada. (To quote everyone quoting Seinfeld who was most likely reading a Larry David written line.) Even so, if you took the songs from both the lesser 2016 album and greater No Recover and then gave Eric Bachmann an acoustic guitar/microphone and instruction to play those songs on shuffle, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. The difference lies in the production, the layers of instrumentation attached, the additional musicians and the vision of the artist in that particular moment. Bottom lines, there is no need to dress these songs up. No doubt, it is fun and fulfilling to work with other musicians and make arrangements, but he’s also guilding his own lily to death. Basically, losing sight of what he does best. His 2006 release, To the Races, remains his best and there are not too many albums in his catalog as sparse. Unlike 2016, on No Recover, he finds a wonderful balance. This album maintains the intended emotion and the songs have arrangements that find a complimentary tone without overpowering and add value. No Recover takes you down a moody, sometimes depressing road but you’ll be better for it once it’s over. At the heart of all Eric Bachmann’s songs is an honesty and self reflection that sometimes needs the window dressing to be more palatable but, either way, will always shine brightest when laid as bare as possible.

11

Yo La Tengo

There’s A Riot Going On

Matador Records

Confession time. This album should likely be higher on the list, I just don’t have the spins with the one to justify it. For some reason, the time investment just wasn’t made this year. Indirectly, it turns out 2018 did allow for me to hear a good portion of these songs live once or twice and Spotify has run through the entire album a handful of times on my commute as well. If this was another band, I might not think too much about any of that but this is Yo La Tengo. My music mainstays since the early 90s, my very distant and impersonal friends. Looking back, it dawns on me that 2018 was a lull in our non-existent relationship.

Moving forward, after a recent deep dive into There's A Riot..., I am glad to say this album is Yo La Tengo through and through, there is no mistaking it for anything else. I like it. I like it a lot. There is a nice laid back vibe to this record. Filled with those familiar harmonic voices with their quiet trio configuration making up the majority of the songs. After a few listens, this record reveals itself to be surprisingly dense for how light the vibe is. There is a lot to feast on here. I’m thinking this is going to be a great winter record, more 2019 for me than 2018 but still a top record regardless of the date of my acceptance of that fact. Yo La Tengo has been a part of the independent music world for decades now, life is a lot less scary with this band and these songs going through your head. It is absolutely amazing how relevant this band has been since the mid-eighties. Such an amazing feat that I’m not even sure I understand how magically rare their accomplishment actually is.

10

John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter, Daniel Davies

Halloween 2018

Sacred Bones Records

Without a doubt, this is the album that I bought the most copies of in calendar year 2018. With 12 color vinyl variations to choose from, getting more than necessary was very easy to do. Did I fall victim to a marketing gimmick? Hell, yes! Is this soundtrack a gimmick? Hell, no! What we have here is Carpenter’s return to Halloween scoring after a great deal of time away. Along with his son, Cody Carpenter, and god son, Daniel Davies, they have remade the classic Halloween theme and scored the entire new female empowering, Halloween 2018 sequel/reboot/remake blockbuster that has revitalized the entire franchise for a new generation of viewers. 

This album is not only a remarkable achievement  but also historic to horror movie soundtrack fans. By my calculation, this is the first new full score by John Carpenter since the early Aughts (Ghost of Mars being the last, if I am correct). While having written new albums of music with his sons and even going out on tour together in the past few years, this album still marks the first original score by this familial collaboration. The resurgence of the Halloween franchise was a surprising moment in 2018 and, if the original formula holds true, this is going to be a very fruitful collaboration in the years to come as well.

9

Doug Paisley

Starter Home

No Quarter Records

Starter Home is the fourth full length by this Canadian country based musician (both interpretations correct). Each one of the four a joy with his signature drawl and easy feeling guitar in full force. Both usually complimented by either keyboards, female accompanying vocals, lap steel, strings, brushed drum strokes and/or acoustic bass depending on his mood. I’ve famously said this before, but I’m not sure why he isn’t a bigger deal south of Canada’s southern border. Regardless, he just keeps on plucking away. A genuine dude on stage with funny yet revealing asides between songs while he continuously tunes his guitar. Whether he realizes it or not, he comes across as someone to root for, a family man with an innate drive to make these records and then tour as much as possible without missing out on a regular life back up north. Even with the calm in his voice and guitar, you can still see the fire in his eyes. There is a patient passion that exudes from this guy and his songs. Mr. Paisley most assuredly has the talent, now he just needs the break. No Quarter is an odd record label for this type of music but they’ve been loyal. Starter Home, like his previous releases, is all substance with quality craftsmanship and a pure heart. This could have been released in any decade going back to the sixties or seventies. There is a timelessness to this music that comes with natural integrity and easy patience. A damn relaxing record that offers something new with each listen. 

8

Deeper

Self Titled

Fire Talk Records

Even after making this list, I’m still not completely convinced this isn’t a new record by OMNI under a different name. Don’t twist it, that’s no slight, it's in fact high praise. Even on first listen, you could immediately tell this was a new band that just gets it more than they have any right to on a debut album. You’re left wondering, did they just come this way fully formed or was there a struggle to get to this point?

Deeper are another band diving into the void left by the great Canadian Women. As a long time, big time fan of Women, into that sizable chasm I will always follow. Deeper is deeper with Women’s influence than most and I love every minute of it. How can you not be into Deeper’s take on this signature sound? Expanding the hope of those jangling, shimmering oblique guitars into a full album's worth of warmly cold calculation. Bottom line, this album is all about guitars, guitars and more guitars. The jams are really fun and the lines are incredibly angular. Vocals are confident, radio ready and easily find their place in the mix. The production is a little thin but picture perfect for this sound. The slow tracks have a real 80s nostalgia vibe that totally fits in with the overall atmosphere of the record. There’s a real bright future for this band. As this band is so young, their future sound could branch off in any number of ways. 2019 has a band to watch.

7

Daniel Bachman

Morning Star

Three Lobed Records

With this release, Daniel Bachman is making his claim for the top American Primitive Guitar devotee going. Bachman’s consistency over his considerable output since 2011 has been remarkable. He has shown innovation within the standard framework set forth by the original primitive, John Fahey, decades ago. When compared with his generational contemporaries, James Blackshaw and William Tyler just to name two, Bachman’s most recent attempts at staying creative are just more listenable, enjoyable and true to the original aesthetic.

On Morning Star, Daniel Bachman continues to takes chances and tone his core, succeeding in all cases. Longer track times let in air to allow his compositions to breathe while the droning tracks become meditative and add depth to the overall listening experience. The field recording style of the guitar tracks fits this album perfectly. The sounds of his surrounding environment acting as confirmation that these songs were recorded exactly where the educated mind imagines.

Every year, the album Daniel Bachman releases is better than the last. Get this, that's because Daniel Bachman is also becoming a better player every year. He is approaching his Malcolm Gladwell discussed 10,000 hours. The Daniel Bachman who was the young talented upstart back in 2010/11 is now the undisputed leader of the current pack. We are in the prime of his career and everyone should take the time to stop and appreciate his well fed and respected natural abilities.

6

Papa M

A Broke Moon Rises

Drag City Records

2018 was a big year for Drag City Records as their entire catalog finally went digital on Spotify to the cheers of their suffering streaming centric fans everywhere. By proxy, 2018 was also a big year of exposure for David “Papa/Aerial M” Pajo. His entire body of work (or at least a large portion of it) is now easily within reach of the younger generations. With news like that, 2018 became a very advantageous year to release such a stellar new Papa M record.

While Pajo only become active again as a solo artist in just the past few years, this was still his first album to reach out and grab me for quite some time. Using the same much discussed Spotify streaming service, my 2018 also included repeated listens of the extra disc in the Slint Spiderland boxset. Demos, outtakes and early versions of Slint classics offering new insight into the band and their writing process. Jumping from those demos to A Broke Moon Rises was a pleasant surprise. An almost tangible connection between those early rough cuts and the acoustic guitar based tracks on this 2018 release were coming through like a voice in my head whether I wanted to hear them or not. The guitar in both instances was played by a man with a very distinctive style and a talent that flows through him like a river of lava (burning rock, am I right?). While the growth in his playing was evident, it was the similarities that really stood out to me. A strum, a tuning, picking; only after years of listening and appreciating his playing did my ears perk up to the familiar warmth elicited from his guitar.

The acoustic tracks on this new album have emotion built into them and are real in a “punch in the gut” sort of way. The arrangements , the sparse accompaniment, the melodies are all just perfectly real and a matter of fact. On this record, David Pajo’s presence is all right there for the taking and it’s powerful.

5

Dylan Carlson

Conquistador

Sargent House Records

This is meditative bliss. Dylan Carlson has been doing this for a very long time. His catalog is numerous and his fans are legion. Yet, even after all this time, his newest record always seems to be the best one yet. Conquistador is a powerful record that you can put on and give full attention to or just let play in the background. Either way, this record affects you and the space that you inhabit. The repetitive, patient atmosphere is intoxicating. The louder you play it, the more intense it becomes.

Earth remains Carlson’s original and longest project to date though his focus of late has become his solo output. For an artist wrapped up in the PacNW in the late 80s/early 90s, Carlson was somehow able to forge his own path out of Seattle and not cash in at Hot Topic. Southern Lord claimed him long before any thought of desperate acts and he hasn’t looked back since. While his patient, slow fuzzy music seems packed with symbolism and meaning, this does not make it so. This type of music is inherently passive and made for introspective listening, deep experiences are for those with an active mind but this music is not implicitly meaningful. Remember, this is not music made by a perfect being (Carlson’s past is spotty at best) but his music is damn beautiful. Yet, it remains a beautiful empty vessel for the listener to bring value into. After nearly thirty years of Carlson’s music, you either get it or you don’t; I can only hope that you do.

4

Tropical Fuck Storm

A Laughing Death In Meatspace

Joyful Noise Recordings/TFS Records

Australian singer/guitarist Gareth Liddiard did what he does best in 2018 and continued with his healthy respect for the concept of change. No content with The Drones (who are on hiatus or broken up?) or a solo career, he enlisted his wife, Fiona Kitschin, along with a couple new cohorts (Erica Dunn & Lauren Hammel) to form this new band, Tropical Fuck Storm. This brand new, all female band (minus Liddiard) is politically aggressive (as are all his projects) and may actually be perfect for our current times- being both female empowering and angry at the powers that be.

Where The Drones and even his solo album were rooted in a more typical rock band sound (think Nick Cave, Neil Young and a mix of punk to electronica based on your point of entry in their catalog), this new band has a new take on Liddiard's old sound. Quite obviously, even with new musicians surrounding him, Liddiard can’t help but sound like himself. So, be on the lookout for similarities, overlapping concepts and his signature musical freak out moments. Yet, while looking out, you'll notice this new band also has a new sound, less chaotic in places and taking some unexpected poppy turns. No worries though, this still isn’t going to played on any Top 40 stations. More importantly, it may actually be catchy enough to grab some air budded ears from the younger generations.

After many years of attempting to break through to bigger touring venues stateside, there’s little chance of that happening with TFS. While slightly lighter and stranger than his past work, your typical American large scale modern rock bands don’t sound like this. To TFS's credit, A Laughing Death In Meatspace is a varied, eccentric, strange, challenging yet really entertaining listen but my gut tells me I’ll be seeing them on tour at a small, hot, cramped, non-seated venue for the foreseeable future.

3

Sleep

The Sciences

Third Man Records

This was the big surprise of 2018 for me, a new full length Sleep album. Even bigger surprise, not on Southern Lord Records, but on Jack White’s Third Man Records. My confused mind was blown. Especially as this was also tied into Record Store Day and came in some limited collector maddening variation that had to be hunted down on the internet by those late to the party. Perhaps my ear wasn’t properly affixed to the ground but this drop was a complete shock. Oddly, it made the listening experience that much better. Going from hearing about it one minute to directly listening to the full album on Spotify the next was kinda exciting (as much as I don’t want to condone this type of behavior). Delivery method aside, I was very thankful for this album.

Do you like Black Sabbath? Buy this album. Do you like weed? Buy this album. While not reinventing the Sunn amp here, they’re definitely using it to maximum efficiency. Even without Chris Hakius, I strongly stand behind The Sciences. Everything works on this album- the odd extra instrumentation on some tracks, the interstellar spaced out blues guitar riffs, the finger blistering solos, the correct use of vocals and even the ridiculous song titles. Need I mention the insane album art combining space travel with marijuana technologies which is pure magic brain thinking.

Even after all these years, Matt Pike and Al Cisneros are in battle ready form and Jason Roeder is even doing an admiral job of filling in for a legend. In all honesty, I’m still thrown this is on Jack White’s label and not Southern Lord but none of that detracts from it being one of the year’s best. Sleep was a needed and valued part of my 2018; let me be blunt- I'm a big fan of Sleep.

2

Old Tower

Stellary Wisdom

Tour de Garde Records

Late to everything as always, Old Tower was a new discovery for me in 2018. While the band/artist Old Tower has been doing this for a decade, his 2018 release Stellary Wisdom was my entry point. Having now gone back through the entire Old Tower catalog, it is somewhat difficult to separate the rest of his releases from Stellary Wisdom to be a completely impartial judge but I’m ok with that. Who exactly is reading this anyway? (Comment below and let me know)

Old Tower, from the Netherlands, is a prime example of Dungeon Synth. A subgenre broke off of the infamous Norwegian black metal scene much like The Jeffersons from All In the Family. Not that Old Tower is derivative but their sound fits in easily with the Dungeon Synth aesthetic with their properly dark, almost medieval, atmospherics, chanting, sparing musical accompaniment and a predisposition to synth.

Much like with any musical genre, the walls within are well defined. The music needs to have a very specific birth but develop on its own within and slightly without to expand and grow the potential of both the artist and the genre itself. Old Tower is moody, captivating music that mixes in religious history, black metal darkness and the best parts of Tangerine Dream. A sound both inviting and foreboding, mixing in the ancient and modern for a musical oddity. Old Tower's soul rests in well established ground but he can also see beyond from his lofty vantage point. A delicate balance done extremely well by an artist comfortably protected or surrounded depending on your perspective.

1

Mandy Soundtrack

Johann Johannson

Invada Records/Lakeshore Records

The Mandy soundtrack is atop 2018 Mountain. The singular shining example to hold up as musical proof of man’s reason for continued existence- a visionary composer working on an extraordinary film in collaboration with co-producer Randall Dunn and the mighty Stephen O’Malley of SUNN among other contributing artists. A unique meeting of artistic minds not to be seen again, as composer Johann Johannson unfortunately passed not long after completing this work.

Due to the grandness in scope of the film Mandy, it is hard not to keep the imagery in mind while listening to this album. However, having heard the album before seeing the film, I also know firsthand this functions expertly as a stand alone piece. In terms of Johannson’s body of work, this is a revelation. A dark, brooding piece that conveys heavy emotion and meaning to anyone within earshot. Mandy is a soundtrack allowing a talented composer to take an artistic leap into the darkest corner of his catalog. Yes, Randall Dunn and Stephen O’Malley were involved with their Southern Lord doom tendencies but it seems they were more the midwives for this creation rather than the ones doing the actual pushing.

With the rise of Death Waltz, Waxwork and Mondo records (just for example), soundtracks have become more than a niche market in the past few years. Even with a greater visibility on cinematic scores than ever before, Mandy is still miles ahead of all other soundtracks released this year. This composition’s heart is twice as big as it needed to be and its achievement is unbeatable in 2018.  A true classic work that will stand the test of time and will be Johann Johannson’s artistic crown jewel for ever more.