10 Standouts 2018

Maybe because I'm getting older or maybe because this year was a fantastic one for music (or maybe both), I had more than 70 albums highlighted with the Best Music tag in 2018. So, as you can imagine, narrow the list down to just 50 wasn't an easy job, and that's why I wanted to create this section in which I take a moment to appreciate some albums that somehow couldn't make it to the final cut, but that are nonetheless brilliant in their own ways. This is the list I prepared for that purpose...

Clarence Clarity - THINK:PEACE 

This weird, utterly charming experimental pop artist will always have a special place in my heart because he made me think that other worlds are actually possible to make. This is his second release, another superb example of just how capable we humans are when we rely on our imagination and sense of joy.

Death Grips - Year Of The Snitch 

There hasn't been a more consistently good band over there in a long long time, and Death Grips continue to marvel, jaw-drop and enchant with their schizophrenic approach to experimental hip hop. This time around, they favour glitch, rock and electronics but, oh surprise, they still manage to sound as urban as angry.

Ezra Furman - Transangelic Exodus 

Queerness has been a topic where lots of artists could express themselves on, but few others did such a magnetic and brilliant job as Ezra here. There's a rebellious sense of independence but also a gravitational force that indicates that everything, everything is going to be okay in the end, no matter how hard the present might look like.

Hailu Mergia - Lala Belu 

The Ethiopian composer delivers a gorgeous set of songs that set the mood for trippy, energetic and sweetly familiar adventures. The artist finds a way to sound like an extension of his instruments, and the record benefits a lot from its own sense of cooperation and communion.

Jean Grae x Quelle Chris - Everything's Fine 

The marriage combined forces here to perform an album that's sarcastic, dark, humourous, perplexing and moving in all its consistency. With gut and wit, they also managed to concoct one of the most potent social critiques on modern society that we could have asked for in a year as comboluted as 2018.

Jon Hopkins - Singularity 

Jon Hopkins has always found ways to reach out for the stars while creating suffocating macro beats that tackle techno and ambient in equal measures, and his latest release is no exception. Humanity and machines can cohabit, yes, but the electronic producer makes them best friends.

Lump - Lump 

The collaborative project between Laura Marling and Mike Lindsay is a nocturnal and heavily experimental approach at indie folk/pop. It also delivers some heart-felt and sometimes awe-inspiring lyricism that synchronises perfectly well with the odd synths. Plus, the album cover and its creature are the cutest thing I saw all year long.

Mammoth Grinder - Cosmic Crypt 

The heavy metal outfit breaks jaws and spirits with their latest release: a record so immersed into obscurity and eternal flames that agonizes the listener and puts them in a disjointed trans that's easy to exit from but not so effective to un-linger apart. A cosmic journey to the bombastic crypts of the sublime.

Miya Folick - Premonitions 

The singer-songwriter and producer created a universe so raw, honest and mundane that nonetheless reaches the stars in both production, musicality, lyricism and sense. The pace might change, the mood might move, but it's Miya's undeniable talent the most precious gem we're more than happy to see being exploited.

S U P E R F L A T スーパーフラット - Midnight Ads 

There aren't as many records this year that sound this funny, this entertaining and this hyper-kinetic. I love it for its plastic happiness, its moving sensitivity and its magnetic force towards the chirpy dancefloor. Another reason why Bandcamp is one of the best inventions in humanity when it comes to discovering new talents out there.